History

The Old Cathedral

The history of the Old Cathedral of the Holy Virgin “Joy of All Who Sorrow”

Rt. Rev. JAMES, Bishop of Sonora

The Old Cathedral of the Holy Virgin “Joy of All Who Sorrow” is the second oldest Russian Orthodox Church in San Francisco and was the See of the Diocese of San Francisco and Western America of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia from 1927 to 1965. During the volatile period of the Communist Revolution that began in Russia in 1917, a large group of faithful in San Francisco, under the leadership of Archbishop Apollinary (Koshevoi), formed a parish community of ROCOR in 1927. They dedicated it to the Mother of God, the “Joy of All Who Sorrow.”

The parish initially conducted the Divine Services in a building with a storefront on Sacramento Street. In 1931, it purchased the former St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church at 864 Fulton Street. Modifications to the interior of the Cathedral soon began: a magnificent iconostasis was installed in front of the main altar, and hand-carved wooden icon shrines with candle stands were placed around the walls of the church. Later on, a second altar dedicated to St. Nicholas was erected on the right side of the ambo.

In 1949, with the advent of communist rule in China, five thousand Orthodox Christians, under the guidance of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, fled China to the Philippines. In 1951, they departed the Philippines, and many arrived in San Francisco. The Cathedral was filled with people shoulder to shoulder, from the narthex to the ambo; and so candles from the candle desk at the church entrance had to be passed from one worshiper to another in order to reach the candle stands around the perimeter of the church.

In the late 1950s, because of the need for a larger church and owing to tensions in the neighborhood arising out of changing demographics, the parish sought to relocate to another area of San Francisco and planned to build a new cathedral. Groundbreaking for the New Cathedral, “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” on Geary Boulevard began in 1961 during the tenure of Archbishop Tikhon (Troitsky), the ruling ROCOR hierarch in San Francisco from 1930 to 1962.

Internal controversy over the project brought the construction of the New Cathedral to a halt in 1962. St. John, who had been the Archbishop of Western Europe since 1951, was called in the fall of 1962 to assist Archbishop Tikhon, who would retire later that year. St. John was then appointed Archbishop of San Francisco after the repose of Archbishop Tikhon in early 1963. He continued to celebrate the Divine Services at the Old Cathedral and resumed construction of the New Cathedral. The first Divine Liturgy was served at the new church on the Sunday of Orthodoxy in 1965.

The majority of the parishioners moved from the Old to the New Cathedral, which then became the hierarchical See of the Diocese. Under the guidance of Vicar Bishop Nektary (Kontsevich), a core group of parishioners and clergy remained at the Old Cathedral and maintained the continuity of Divine Services there. Through their efforts, the Old Cathedral was designated in 1970 as Registered San Francisco Landmark No. 28.

In 1962, Eugene Rose (the future Hieromonk Seraphim) entered the Old Cathedral during the Divine Liturgy celebrated by Archbishop Tikhon and heard in his heart the words, “You have come home.” He became an Orthodox Christian, and soon he was reading and singing on the kliros. Having decided to dedicate his life to Christ, he later co-founded, with the blessing of St. John, the Saint Herman of Alaska Monastery in Platina, California.

The current community of the Old Cathedral is diverse and comprises faithful from Russian, Arabic, Greek, Romanian, and Eritrean/Ethiopian backgrounds as well as converts from Western Christianity. Divine Services are conducted primarily in English and Slavonic, with certain parts served in Greek, Arabic, Romanian, and Ge’ez. A luncheon follows the Divine Liturgy on Sundays, and the buffet table often features a culturally diverse menu.

The children of the Old Cathedral are active members of the parish and contribute much to its life. Participation in singing and reading on the kliros is encouraged and promoted at the earliest possible age, with the goal of not

only cultivating future readers and singers but also inculcating in their souls the culture of Heaven. “Whoever sings, prays twice,” goes an old saying. When children can look forward to reading and singing on kliros, they will develop a love for the church services and the spiritual and theological enrichment they provide.

The young people also join in baking the holy bread (prosphora) for the Divine Liturgy. They labor at various stations in the mixing, kneading, assembly, and baking processes while taking turns reading the pre- Communion canons, akathist hymn, and prayers. At other times, they learn and practice hymns sung in the Divine Services in order to further their knowledge of church singing. Having learned, from a recording made by the nuns of the St. Elizabeth Convent in Minsk, the four-part harmony for singing the Jesus Prayer in Slavonic, they adapted the melody to fit English and Greek, inspiring other young people to spread this practice of singing the Jesus Prayer. They also collaborate in cleaning the Cathedral after the Divine Services and the dining room after meals, and in tending the rose garden.

Architecturally, the Old Cathedral is a veritable wonder. Constructed in the 1870s in the German Renaissance style from California redwood milled by English shipwrights, it resembles the vaulted medieval cathedrals of Europe. Beautiful stained-glass windows, originally hand-crafted in England, adorn the upper walls. When pierced by sunlight, they fill the interior of the church with a variegated, luminous glow. The traditional icons are hung below them on the lower walls. The main arches of the Cathedral resemble those of a large ship turned upside down, quite literally rendering the church as a spiritual ark that keeps the faithful afloat on the often stormy seas of life.

Immediately upon entering the Old Cathedral, one encounters a warm and profound atmosphere that feels much prayed in (namolenii). This is not surprising, for the Old Cathedral was the spiritual home to hierarchs and clergy and a throng of faithful who had gone through the extraordinarily difficult trial of being uprooted three times — from Russia, China, and the Philippines — and yet held steadfastly to their Orthodox faith. It is as though the walls have absorbed and continue to exude all their prayers.

The Old Cathedral is the home to a number of holy relics, including two pieces of the Cross of Christ and bone fragments of the Holy Apostles Phillip, Andrew, and Bartholomew; the Great Martyrs George, Panteleimon, Parthenios, Barbara, Haralambos, Modestos, Antipas, Ignatius of Antioch, and James the Persian; the Martyrs Tryphon, Mamas, Pelagia, Paraskeva, and Artemy; Equal-to-the-Apostles St. Mary Magdalene; St. Julianne of Olshansk; and the Holy Fathers Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian.

The Old Cathedral is also honored to have a hierarchical mantle (mantiya) of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, with which he was vested when he entered the church at the beginning of Divine Services. The mantiya is placed on an icon stand in the center of the church and wrapped around an icon of the saint. It is venerated by the faithful at a Service of Intercession (moleben) in which his prayers are sought for various needs.

Miraculous things have taken place following these services through the prayers of St. John. Perhaps the most notable was the healing of a rare and dangerous pregnancy condition in which two embryos were discovered through an ultrasound to be contained in one amniotic sac. The doctor recommended an abortion, but the mother instead had recourse to God through St. John’s prayers. At the subsequent ultrasound, she joyfully discovered that each embryo now had its own amniotic sac within the original amniotic sac in her womb. She later gave birth to beautiful and healthy twin girls.

Increasingly becoming a place of pilgrimage for the faithful from all over the world seeking to walk in the footsteps of St. John, the Old Cathedral is preparing to host for the third time in mid-February 2014 the Symposium of the Saints Cyril and Athanasius Institute. At each of these educational symposia, more than 150 people have attended the Divine Services and lectures, given for their edification in the Orthodox faith. (See article on pg. 61)

Services at the Old Cathedral are held on weekends, major feasts, and saints’ days. Vigil begins at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 6:00 p.m. on weekdays when scheduled. Divine Liturgy begins at 9:00 a.m. The parish celebrates its altar feast day on August 5, in honor of the “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Icon of St. Petersburg (with coins). His Eminence, Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America, celebrates the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy on this day, as well as on the third days of the feasts of the Nativity of Christ and Pascha. The greeting of the hierarch for these Liturgies begins at 9:30 a.m. Inquiries may be directed to the Rt. Rev. JAMES, Bishop of Sonora at (415) 571-3539, stariisobor@earthlink.net, or at P.O. Box 642903, San Francisco, CA 94164.