The San Francisco ROCOR Cathedral

DIscussion and News concerning Orthodox Churches in communion with those who have fallen into the heresies of Ecumenism, Renovationism, Sergianism, and Modernism, or those Traditional Orthodox Churches who are now involved with Name-Worshiping, or vagante jurisdictions. All Forum Rules apply. No polemics. No heated discussions. No name-calling.


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Barbara
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Re: The San Francisco ROCOR Cathedral

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Well, I am not sure, but let's hope that NO demons infest that sacred place. Think, St John served there; the holy Abp Tikhon of SF began it [ though I think Sarah B. got her information incorrectly, though I don't know if there WERE arches constructed by the time Abp Tikhon reposed [ in Jordanville ]]. And many many incredible clergy and people have served there or visited it over these decades. I hate to think of any demons attacking it !

Justice
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Re: The San Francisco ROCOR Cathedral

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My apologies, the statue I was looking at was in a different area.

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Barbara
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Re: The San Francisco ROCOR Cathedral

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Feast of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" today !

Here is a recent article which appeared in a local San Francisco publication describing the Cathedral and its place in the Russian community. The Chinese author explains things quite well in general and even describes the shrine to St John as 'relics' which is excellent. However, he writes "the orthodox church" instead of saying the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, which is confusing to outsiders.
Click on the link right below for a great picture of the recently repainted façade, for I could not get it to transfer over here :

https://thumbs.mic.com/YjllMjg0YjJjOCMv ... C5qcGc.jpg

Five miles west of downtown San Francisco, gilded onion domes rise against the angular skyline shimmering in the distance. Holy Virgin Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox church, has been an unmistakable landmark in the city’s Richmond District since its construction in 1965. More than half a century later, it continues to serve as the Russian community’s spiritual and educational hub.

....Though Russian-speaking fur traders and other settlers were already living in northern California in the 18th century, the first significant wave of Russian immigration to San Francisco took place after the Russian Civil War ended with the Bolsheviks’ victory in 1921. Aristocrats, intellectuals and officers of the Imperial Russian Army fleeing the Bolsheviks arrived in droves, sometimes by way of Asia. After World War II, another wave followed when the sizable Russian émigré community in Shanghai and Harbin fled China when the déjà vu threat of a communist takeover loomed...

The urban cacophony of Geary Street fades away the moment visitors step through the golden doors of Holy Virgin Cathedral, underneath frescoes depicting saints. For the community’s non-Jewish members, Holy Virgin Cathedral remains the symbolic and spiritual heart. For visitors, this is the most scenic sight. A sign, both in Russian and English, welcomes non-worshipers to the orthodox church.

Buried within the church walls are the relics of St. John, also called the “miracle worker” of Shanghai and San Francisco — an apt moniker, given the community’s ties to the Far East and, coincidentally, its proximity to the Chinese community here in San Francisco. The foyer leads into a cavernous hall filled with exquisite icons, mosaics and frescoes. As Orthodox services require attendants to stand, there are only a handful of pews pushed against the back of the hall, leaving most of the space open for ambling when there is no service.

An older woman in a headscarf saunters from one painting of a saint to another, crossing herself at each stop. The air is pleasantly bittersweet with incense.
... Sitting in the back, another woman closes her eyes in prayer. A preteen next to her, probably her daughter, engages in her own form of ethereal communication: texting."

https://mic.com/articles/185129/the-com ... .LC2w47sKL

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Barbara
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Re: The San Francisco ROCOR Cathedral

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Unlike that earlier survey from "Must-See in SF" [ see page 1 of this thread ], a new vote took place for San Francisco's best INTERIORS, with this Cathedral coming in - strangely - 2nd place behind the Salon Dore at the Legion of Honor Museum. Still, that is far better than being topped by a monster sculpture like "Must-See in SF" rated this Church ! The Salon Dore [ Golden Room ] was restored in 2014, I think it was, to its original French neoclassical splendor. One can see why it should be included in the list of SF's 22 best interiors, but certainly Holy Virgin Cathedral should have been the very top choice. That selection likely reflects the secular tone of the US society.

Also included were New St Mary's Cathedral that I mentioned above, tackily described by the author as nicknamed "Our Lady of Maytag", again reflecting the anti-spiritual spirit prevailing in the Bay Area and across America. The Fairmont Hotel's penthouse suite also made this list, with a billiards room featuring Persian tiles of a heavenly shade of blue covering the walls from floor to ceiling.

Here is the article :

https://sf.curbed.com/maps/best-interio ... -francisco

Photo from a professional photographer, [Lynds], taken some time since 2007, when the large icon of Archangel Michael which would have shown on the far left of this photo was unfortunately moved to the back of the Church, same side.

Image

Beneath : the interior of the Crypt, now a Chapel itself, under the main Cathedral, where St John was originally buried and where services were conducted, sometimes permitted more often and sometimes less so, until his glorification July 1994. Then thereafter through the present. People still place prayer requests under the Saint's mitre atop the original burial place on left :

Image

Nice comment to an interview of the Cathedral's senior priest about the history of this parish, to be excerpted in a future post :

"Trudy says:

November 24, 2015 at 7:58 pm

"Some day I will visit this glorious church, by the prayers of St. John. He has heard and answered so many of my prayers. I love him like I knew him personally."

God willing, Trudy was able to make a pilgrimage to Holy Virgin Cathedral ! Hopefully, she received all the help needed from the great miracle-worker, whose shrine is upstairs on the main floor.

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