Preparations for the annual pilgrimage sponsored by the parish of Washington’s Cathedral of St. John the Baptist began long before the actual event. Groceries had to be purchased and food prepared to feed the multitude of pilgrims, as well as the monks of Holy Trinity Monastery, over the course of the two-day pilgrimage. This arrangement, which Metropolitan Laurus – ever-memorable rector of the monastery – had once asked us to observe, has been our practice since the very first of our pilgrimages, and is intended to lessen the distraction of the monks from their activities in pursuing a life of prayer.

At 7:00 PM on Friday, October 24, the eve of our pilgrimage, the festive greeting of the myrrh-streaming Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, brought from faraway Hawaii, took place at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. In the cathedral, filled to capacity with faithful from a variety of Orthodox parishes in the nation’s capital, there followed a moleben and akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos. For a long time after the conclusion of the service, the faithful venerated the Icon and sang beloved chants to the Mother of God. Many people, wanting to set out on their journey with pure hearts, went to confession.

The next day, Saturday, October 25, 70 people gathered at the church at 5:00 AM. The bus was loaded, an enormous amount of provisions, as well as passengers’ luggage, was stowed aboard, and we were soon underway. A number of private automobiles filled with pilgrims followed the bus. The journey entered our church community history as the 17th annual pilgrimage to the "Diasporan Lavra" of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. The pilgrimage was made to afford people an opportunity to worship at the holy sites and treasures of the monastery, and to pray at the grave of the guardian of the myrrh-streaming "Montreal" Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, Jose Muñoz-Cortes, who was murdered in Athens in 1997. The myrrh-streaming "Hawaiian" Iveron Icon of the Mother of God and its custodian, Reader Nectarios, accompanied the pilgrims.

The journey from the capital to Jordanville is long (lasting seven hours), but thanks to prayers, fraternal fellowship, and religious discussions about the history of the monastery and Brother Jose’s martyric, ascetic struggle, the time flew by. Over the course of the journey, each pilgrim was blessed with the opportunity to hold the miraculous Iveron Icon on his lap.

At 3:00 PM, the pilgrims arrived at the cemetery of Holy Trinity Monastery, and began to prepare for the first panihida for Brother Jose. Waiting for us were Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of ROCOR, Metropolitan Jonah, former Primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), and faithful from Canada, as well as from New York, Detroit, and other U.S. cities, who revered Jose and had come to honor his memory. The weather was warm and sunny. The "Hawaiian" Icon rested against the cross on Brother Jose’s grave. Candles were distributed to everyone, and the first panihida began. Metropolitan Hilarion, with the assistance of four priests, served the panihida; the faithful in attendance sang the service. At the conclusion of the requiem service, Metropolitan Hilarion delivered a sermon in which he recounted Brother Jose’s 15-year-long ascetic struggle, crowned in 1997 with a martyr’s death. Vladyka Metropolitan thanked those assembled for their support in honoring Brother Jose. Following the Metropolitan’s sermon, the author of this account noted that the 17th annual pilgrimage to Holy Trinity Monastery and to Brother Jose’s grave providentially coincided with the celebration of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God and the feast day of the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, which had defeated the heresy of iconoclasm, and had confirmed the propriety of venerating icons. He also noted that the sign manifested by the myrrh-streaming "Hawaiian" Icon was a direct continuation of the miracle of the Montreal Icon, and he expressed the hope that the day would soon come for the people of God to have an opportunity to gather not for a panihida for Brother Jose, but for molebens addressed to him…

All in attendance were anointed with holy myrrh from the "Hawaiian" Iveron Icon of the Queen of Heaven, and all who wanted one received a little bottle of oil from the vigil lamp at Brother Jose’s grave, a little soil from the grave, a postcard of the murdered Chosen One of the Mother of God, and booklets with the Canon and Akathist to the Montreal Icon of the Mother of God, as well as kutia blessed at the grave.

After the Saturday panihida, the Iveron Icon was taken to the monastery cathedral in time for the beginning of the Prayer Rule for Holy Communion. For a long time, the pilgrims did not disperse. Some continued to pray at Brother Jose’s grave, others talked with the resident monastics and seminarians, while others visited the graves of friends and relatives.

After the evening meal, the pilgrims gathered together in the cathedral for the meeting of the "Hawaiian" Icon and for the three-hour-long monastic Vigil. Throughout the evening services, St. John the Baptist Cathedral rector Archpriest Victor Potapov and Priest Alexander Resnikoff, a cleric of the cathedral, were in the lower church of St. Job of Pochaev, hearing confessions of pilgrims who wished to commune of Christ’s Holy Gifts the following day.

On Sunday, October 26, celebration of the Divine Liturgy was led by Their Eminences, Metropolitans Hilarion and Jonah, assisted by 16 priests and five deacons. The faithful were deeply moved by the chanting of the seminary choir, under the direction of the young Nicholas S. Kotar. After the prayer behind the ambo, Metropolitan Jonah delivered a homily filled with profound theological thoughts. He spoke of the two Iveron Icons of the Mother of God – the "Moscow" Icon celebrated that day, and the "Hawaiian" Icon present in the cathedral, as well as about the Seventh Ecumenical Council, at which the Holy Fathers pronounced the dogma of reverence for icons. In his homily, Metropolitan Jonah especially emphasized that we are all called to be "…perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect…" (Matthew 5:48). In other words, every day, every Orthodox Christian is called to strive to become a living icon of the Living God.

After a meal, the pilgrims, in small groups, viewed the remarkable exhibition "Word & Image" at the monastery’s new museum. The exhibition presented rare and exceptional items depicting life and culture over the course of three centuries of Romanov Dynasty rule and of the post-imperial era. Our guide was the young museum curator, Michael P. Perekrestov. One should note that the museum is designed and furnished at a highly professional level.

While groups of pilgrims were looking through the museum, Fr. Victor was escorting other groups of pilgrims on a tour of the monastery’s two principal churches – the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, and the lower Church of St. Job of Pochaev – and described the order of life at the monastery.

At 3:00 PM, we again gathered at the cemetery at Brother Jose’s grave for a farewell panihida. The day was cold and rainy, but glory to God, the rain stopped before the beginning of the service. The carefully tended grave was, as usual, covered with a multitude of candles placed by the faithful. At the panihida, which was served by Metropolitan Jonah, we also commemorated Schema-Abbot Clement, who in 1982 had given Brother Jose the Iveron Icon, which soon thereafter began to stream myrrh, Archbishop Leonty (Filippovich) of Chile, who had converted Jose to the Orthodox Faith, and Metropolitan Laurus, who served the funeral for the last Orthodox martyr of the 20th Century. After the panihida, Metropolitan Jonah delivered a sermon about Christian martyrs, and reminded the assembled flock that righteous ones, people such as Brother Jose, hear our prayers.

Before leaving the cemetery and Brother Jose’s grave, Reader Nectarios opened the "Hawaiian" Icon’s frame, so that everyone present might witness how abundantly the Holy Icon was streaming myrrh.

No one wanted to leave the holy spot, but the time had come to go home.

Before setting out, we took the "Hawaiian" Icon to visit the women’s skete dedicated to Holy New Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth, where we prayed in the skete’s church, and visited with the nuns.

On the way back to Washington, the participants of the 17th annual pilgrimage, so spiritually enriched by their visit to Brother Jose’s grave at Holy Trinity Monastery, heard very interesting stories told by Reader Nectarios, guardian of the "Hawaiian" Icon. He spoke in detail about how in Hawaii, on October 6, 2007, the feast of the Conception of St. John the Baptist, a print reproduction of the Montreal Icon of the Mother of God, given to him on the occasion of his namesday and later to become known as the "Hawaiian" Icon, manifested the miracle of myrrh-streaming. With bated breath, the pilgrims listened attentively to Nectarios’ stories about his recent extended visits with the Icon to Alaska and Georgia, about the marvelous miracles that occurred there, and especially about his vision of Brother Jose’s role in the history of ROCOR and world Orthodoxy.

Thanks to those stories and the warm and friendly fellowship among the pilgrims, the seven hours on the ride home simply flew by. As on the first day of the pilgrimage, each pilgrim on the bus had the opportunity to hold the Holy Iveron Icon in his arms.

May God grant that ever more numbers of people may at all times visit and support the monastery of the Holy Trinity and the place where the Chosen One of the Mother of God has found eternal rest.

Archpriest Victor Potapov

Excerpts from both panihidas and sermons given at these services at Brother Jose’s grave can be seen here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcnVgSUrdnk

Metropolitan Jonah’s sermon in Holy Trinity Cathedral on October 26th can be heard here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DkOupy8twQ

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