Last year’s commemoration of St. Tikhon, Enlightener of North America and Patriarch of Moscow, was marked by an extraordinary outpouring of faith on a truly national scale. Across the US, churches were filled as large congregations gathered for akathists, vigils, and solemn liturgies, creating a powerful sense of unity and shared devotion. The breadth and intensity of these celebrations brought countless people into closer prayer with a saint whose life and witness remain strikingly close to our own time.
His prayers and intercessions have strengthened many hearts and brought many to the Orthodox faith. There are also many tangible marks and influences he has left that we can directly connect with, first of all, the beautiful and active Holy Trinity Cathedral on Green Street in San Francisco, the site of which was selected by the future patriarch himself. Within the Cathedral, a set of his vestments is enshrined, and grammars signed by him hang. From its bell tower, we can share in the same sounds and vibrations from the great bells gifted by Tsar Alexander the Peace Marker. St. Tikhon not only heard them but also likely played them, and their peals brought him to prayer.
For us, these are a direct link and a living connection to St. Tikhon and his time. Elsewhere in the city and region, other relics and links to St. Tikhon continue to influence souls. I am going to write about one that has been a source of support and comfort to me in this anniversary year. One that was very unexpectedly discovered very close to my workplace.
For several years, I have taken lunch-hour walks near my Civic Center-area office. Many times these have taken me past a small, unimposing Episcopal church on Fell Street in Hayes Valley, the Advent of Christ the King. From the outside, it looks like a quiet place with a courtyard much like a convent or monastery. It blends quietly into the neighborhood, easy to pass by without a second thought. I did exactly that for years. For some reason, I became interested in it or was drawn to it, but being Orthodox, I couldn’t understand why.
Then one Wednesday, the doors were open for a midday mass, and I walked in. To the left was a full shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Walsingham. Which I immediately recognized. This is an old English image of the Theotokos, which Western Christians and Orthodox Christians both venerate. The Walsingham shrine in England is a place of pilgrimage, complete with an Orthodox Chapel and at least one Orthodox nun living nearby. Seeing this, I thought, “Oh, this must be the unknown reason for the draw to this Church”. I began visiting from time to time, but didn’t interact with anyone and just stopped to pray before the statue. It was some time later that I discovered something else that would be a much deeper draw for the Orthodox heart to this Church.
The 100th anniversary year of St. Tikhon’s began, and I started reading more about my patron saint. Books, articles, essays, and then a friend forwarded an online link to the archives of the San Francisco Call. She shared a search of articles she made of the then Bishop Tikhon. There were dozens, if not more, some with images and many with interesting insights and historical facts. I pored over these with much eagerness.
From reading his life, one can learn of a few famous interactions with the Episcopal Church in America, such as his attendance at a hierarchical ordination in Wisconsin. The newspaper articles mention several attentional interactions here in San Francisco. At that time, there was much exchange with the Anglican/Episcopal Church and the Orthodox, especially with the more traditional parts of the Anglican Communion. While reading one of these articles, a memory came to mind. Years before, someone shared that St. Tikhon had given a chalice to an Episcopal Church in San Francisco. At that point, I began to wonder, “Did this chalice still exist? Could it be found? Was it a Western chalice or an Orthodox chalice?” Would an article confirm this? This began a sort of grail quest.
As I read, I found mention of St. Tikhon being invited to an Episcopal convention in 1899 held at St. Luke’s Episcopal church. The church is just a few blocks down Van Ness from the current Holy Trinity Cathedral. However, this wasn’t the parish. No mention of a chalice, and there wasn’t any mention in other articles. After much reading, I found an article from 1960 that mentioned the chalice being on loan for an exhibit in Inverness. This article mentions that it was on loan from the San Francisco parish of the Advent of Christ the King. I nearly fell out of my chair.
After a short prayer, I reached out to Advent of Christ the King via their Facebook page. I asked if this is true and if the parish still has this gift from St. Tikhon. Within hours, I received confirmation that the chalice and also a paten were still with the parish. This initiated a series of warm conversations. I decided to visit for a full service.
On the Western calendar Feast of the Annunciation, I witnessed the Anglo-Catholic rite, which St. Tikhon would also have witnessed. Afterward, a group of three parishioners greeted me, and their faces lit up upon hearing my name, ‘Tikhon’. They knew the connection, and they all started telling me about the chalice, paten, and the community’s remembrance, love, and honor for St. Tikhon. Orthodox Annunciation is the feast on which St. Tikhon reposed. Hearing this, their faces lit up again. The Episcopal Church commemorates St. Tikhon on its own liturgical calendar, on May 7th, of course, which is Orthodox Annunciation, old style. Together, we marveled at all this and how St. Tikhon brought us together.
One of the three parishioners is an iconographer. He showed the attached photos. These were confirmations that the ‘grail quest’ was over and that the chalice is an actual Russian Chalice. A letter signed by St. Tikhon, that accompanied the chalice and paten, is framed and kept at the parish. The text is below. The letter testifies that these gifts were an act of love and mercy after the terrible loss of the parish’s place of worship in the 1906 earthquake and fire. St. Tikhon’s words and acts reveal his loving, caring, and meek character. It must be noted that the gift of a chalice from an Orthodox bishop to a non-Orthodox community is exceedingly rare and a major blessing. Mercy and love were always first in St. Tikhon’s heart. The chalice and paten are brought out for veneration on the commemoration day of St. Tikhon.
Sharing this will give those who seek St. Tikhon during this Anniversary Year another site for pilgrimage and prayer. The doors of Advent of Christ the King are open at one time or another nearly every day of the week. They would welcome the Orthodox to privately pray, seek St. Tikhon’s intercession, and contemplate his influence and mark left on many hearts and communities in San Francisco.
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