The St. Elia parish family celebrated the blessing of the waters at the Ohio-Erie Towpath Canal in Akron on Sunday, Jan. 6, for the feast of the Theophany of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. An ice cross was placed in the water during the singing of the troparion. A covered dish meal followed in the parish hall.

The Waters Are Made Holy

by St. Proclus of Constantinople

Our father among the saints, Proclus, was noted for his prayerful life and that he studied the Holy Scripture. He became a reader at an early age. He was a disciple of John Chrysostom and was ordained a deacon and priest by him. From the great saint, Proclus received a profound understanding of Holy Scripture and learned to present his thoughts in a polished form. In 429, he preached his famous sermon on Incarnation and defended the title of the “Theotokos” before Nestorius, Archbishop of Constantinople, himself. This sermon was later made part of the Acts of the Council of Ephesus, at which Nestorius was deposed. It was during the time of Proclus that the Trisagion prayers came into use.

Christ appeared in the world, and, bringing beauty out of disarray, gave it luster and joy. He bore the world’s sins and crushed the world’s enemy. He sanctified the fountains of waters and enlightened the minds of men. Into the fabric of miracles he interwove ever greater miracles.

For on this day land and sea share between them the grace of the Savior, and the whole world is filled with joy.

Today’s feast of the Theophany manifests even more wonders than the feast of Christmas.

On the feast of the Savior’s birth, the earth rejoiced because it bore the Lord in a manger; but on today’s feast of the Epiphany it is the sea that is glad and leaps for joy; the sea is glad because it receives the blessing of holiness in the river Jordan.

At Christmas we saw a weak baby, giving proof of our weakness.

In today’s feast, we see a perfect man, hinting at the perfect Son who proceeds from the all-perfect Father.

At Christmas the King puts on the royal robe of his body; at Epiphany the very source enfolds and, as it were, clothes the river.

Come then and see new and astounding miracles: the Sun of righteousness washing in the Jordan, fire immersed in water, God sanctified by the ministry of man.

Today every creature shouts in resounding song:

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Blessed is he who comes in every age, for this is not his first coming.

And who is he? Tell us more clearly, I beg you, blessed David:

The Lord is God and has shone upon us.

David is not alone in prophesying this; the apostle Paul adds his own witness, saying:

The grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all men, and instructing us. Not for some men, but for all. To Jews and Greeks alike God bestows salvation through baptism, offering baptism as a common grace for all.

Come, consider this new and wonderful deluge, greater and more important than the flood of Noah’s day. Then the water of the flood destroyed the human race, but now the water of Baptism has recalled the dead to life by the power of the one who baptized.

In the days of the flood the dove with an olive branch in its beak foreshadowed the fragrance of the good odor of Christ the Lord; now the Holy Spirit, coming in the likeness of a dove reveals the Lord of mercy.

Christ is baptized in the Jordan! Glorify Him!

His Eminence, Archbishop Tikhon, Archbishop of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, was elected Primate of the Orthodox Church in America during the 17th All-American Council f the Orthodox Church in America at Holy Trinity Church in Parma, Ohio, on Nov. 13.

His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon of All America and Canada was born Marc R. Mollard in Boston, MA on July 15, 1966, the eldest of three children born to Francois and Elizabeth Mollard.

After brief periods living in Connecticut, France, and Missouri, he and his family settled in Reading, PA, where he graduated from Wyomissing High School in 1984.  In 1988 he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Sociology from Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, after which he moved to Chicago.

In 1989 he was received into the Orthodox Church from Episcopalianism and, in the fall of the same year, he began studies at Saint Tikhon’s Seminary, South Canaan, PA. One year later he entered the monastic community at Saint Tikhon’s Monastery as a novice.  He was awarded the Master of Divinity degree from Saint Tikhon’s Seminary in 1993, after which he was appointed Instructor in Old Testament and subsequently Senior Lecturer in Old Testament, teaching Master level courses in the Prophets and the Psalms and Wisdom Literature. He also served as an Instructor in the seminary’s Extension Studies program, offering courses in the lives of the Old Testament saints, the liturgical use of the Old Testament, and the Old Testament in patristic literature.

He collaborated with Igumen Alexander [Golitzin]—now Bishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America—in the publication of “The Living Witness of the Holy Mountain” by Saint Tikhon’s Seminary Press.

In 1995, he was tonsured to the Lesser Schema with the name Tikhon, in honor of Saint Patriarch Tikhon, Enlightener of North America. Later that year, he was ordained to the Holy Diaconate and Holy Priesthood at Saint Tikhon’s Monastery. In 1998 he was elevated to the rank of Igumen, and in 2000, to the rank of Archimandrite.

In December 2002, he was named Deputy Abbot of Saint Tikhon’s Monastery.  Two years later—on February 14, 2004—he was consecrated to the episcopacy at Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk Monastery Church.  On May 9, 2012, he was elevated to the dignity of Archbishop.

Our parish wishes a joyous welcome to our newly consecrated bishop. May God grant you many years!

His Grace Bishop Alexander [Golitzin] of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese was consecrated during a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at Saint George Orthodox Cathedral in Rossford, Ohio, on May 5.

His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, presided at the consecration Divine Liturgy. Concelebrating were His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel; His Grace, Bishop Nikon; His Grace, Bishop Tikhon; His Grace, Bishop Benjamin; His Grace, Bishop Melchisedek, who served as Locum Tenens of the diocese; His Grace, Bishop Michael; His Grace, Bishop Matthias; His Grace, Bishop Irineu; His Grace, Bishop Mark; and His Grace, Bishop Irenee.

Raised at Saint Innocent Church, Tarzana, CA, Bishop Alexander received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Divinity degree from Saint Vladimir’s Seminary. He spent seven years pursuing doctoral studies at Oxford University in England under His Eminence, Metropolitan Kallistos [Ware]. During this time, he also spent two years in Greece, including one year at Simonos Petras Monastery on Mount Athos.

After receiving his D.Phil. in 1980, Bishop Alexander returned to the US. He was ordained to the diaconate in January 1982 and to the priesthood two years later. In 1986, he was tonsured to monastic orders. He served OCA missions in northern California and headed the Diocese of the West’s mission committee.

In 1989, Bishop Alexander took a teaching position with the Theology Department at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI, a position which he left at the end of April this year. While teaching at Marquette University, he had been attached to Saints Cyril and Methodius Church, Milwaukee, WI. For 22 years he preached, taught and served at Saints Cyril and Methodius Church, and witnessed to the Gospel and to Orthodox Christian theology at Marquette University. He helped attract a dozen Orthodox Christian students to doctoral work in theology at Marquette.

Bishop Alexander becomes the second Bishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese. He succeeds His Eminence, the late Archbishop Kirill [Yonchev]. Archbishop Kirill had overseen the diocese from 1964 to 2007; in 1976, Archbishop Kirill brought the diocese under the omophorion of the Orthodox Church in America.