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Cherished Relic, Head of St. John Chrysostom, Visits New York Feb. 6-12

NEW YORK, NY [OCA] -- With the blessing of His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the head of Saint John Chrysostom, which is enshrined in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior, will be available for veneration in New York February 6-12, 2010.

The relic will arrive at the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia's Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign, 75 East 93 Street, New York, during the celebration of the Vigil at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 6. Following the Vigil, it will be available for veneration by the faithful. The following morning, the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m.

On Monday, February 8, the Vigil for the Feast of Saint John Chrysostom will be celebrated at 6:30 p.m., while the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy the following morning will begin at 8:30 a.m.

The Vigil will be celebrated on Wednesday, February 10, at 6:30 p.m.. The following morning, His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, ROCOR First Hierarch, will preside at the Divine Liturgy at 8:30 a.m., after which the relic will be taken to Saint Nicholas Representation Cathedral, 15 East 97 Street, New York, where it will remain until the departure of the Moscow delegation on Friday, February 12.

The head of Saint John Chrysostom was brought to Russia from the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos in the 17th century. It was enshrined in the Moscow Kremlin's Assumption Cathedral until 1922. From 1930 until 1988, the reliquary with the shrine belonged to the Foundation for Guarding of Russian Silver of the 19th century.

Several reliquaries, including the one bearing the saint's head, were returned to the Russian Orthodox Church in the State Armoury Chamber on the eve of celebration of the 1000-year anniversary of the Baptism of Rus' on May 26, 1988.

For further information please contact Protopresbyter Andrei Sommer at rev.a.sommer@synod.com.