JERUSALEM: August 7, 2017
Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan Makes a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
 On Wednesday, August 2, 2017, the feast day of Prophet Elias, His Grace Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan, Deputy Secretary of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, arrived in Jerusalem with a large group of clergymen and laity from the USA, Canada and Australia.
The next day, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and All Palestine warmly received Vladyka Nicholas, after which the pilgrimage went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher of Christ, Golgotha and other holy sites.
On Friday, the feast day of Gethsemane Convent's St Mary Magdalene Church, Bishop Nicholas officiated at Divine Liturgy and led a moleben and procession of the cross along with Archimandrite Roman (Krassovsky), Chief of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem of ROCOR, his clergymen and pilgrims in clerical rank. At the end of the service, Patriarch Theophilos arrived, joyfully congratulating all in attendance on the feast day.
 After the veneration of the cross, a fraternal luncheon was offered at the Archimandrite's residence, with the hierarchs being joined by Abbess Elizabeth (Smelic) of Gethsemane Convent and the newly-appointed Acting Abbess of Ascension of the Lord Convent on the Mt of Olives, Nun Varvara (Novikova) and the clergymen who participated in divine services. After Vladyka Nicholas bade farewell to His Holiness, the trapeza continued at Gethsemane Convent.
On Saturday, the feast day of Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God, the pilgrims, led by Vladyka Nicholas, participated in Divine Liturgy at Gorny Convent, and later that day, hey celebrated midnight Divine Liturgy at the Life-Giving Sepulcher of the Lord.
Vladyka Nicholas' pilgrimage, organized by St Seraphim Memorial Church of the Reestablishment of Unity Within the Russian Church in Sea Cliff, NY, was to mark the 50th anniversary of the consecration to the episcopacy of Metropolitan Laurus (Shkurla) of blessed memory, who co-signed the Act of Canonical Communion, and will continue until August 14.
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