Beautiful Plaque for RoyalMartyrs' Centennial installed

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Barbara
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Beautiful Plaque for RoyalMartyrs' Centennial installed

Post by Barbara »

Image

A tasteful, imperial-looking plaque was consecrated on the Feast Day of the Holy Virgin Cathedral in San Francisco, November 6, 2018, a Tuesday. Fastened to a wall surrounding the Church above a set of stairs, it appears from the pictures, the striking new addition creates a permanent educational lesson for all visitors, both religious and secular, to this famous San Francisco monument.

The plaque says in Russian and English the poignant words :

"In Memory
of the Holy Royal Martyrs
tormented and slain
by the Bolsheviks in Ekaterinburg
on the 4/17 of July, 1918."

The prayer said at the consecration was also moving :

"PRAYER AT THE DEDICATION OF THE MEMORIAL PLAQUE
For the 100th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of the Holy Royal Family

O Creator and Companion of the human race, Giver of spiritual grace and Bestower of salvation: Do Thou, O Lord, through Thy Holy Spirit, send forth Thy great blessing upon this monument, raised up to the memory of Thy Holy Royal Martyrs: the Tsar-martyr Nicholas, Tsaritsa-martyr Alexandra, Tsarevich-martyr Alexei, the Princess-martyrs Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, together with their faithful servants, martyred at the hands of the atheists. We pray, O Lord: forgive the sins of Thy people, who did not forestall the murder of their Tsar, Anointed by Thee. Deliver, O Lord, the Russian land from all evil, wrought by our sins and departure from Thee; and raise up anew the throne of Orthodox Kings. Grant us the forgiveness of sins and establish us in every good deed, that with the deep humility, strength and love that Thy Martyrs revealed, we also might attain the Heavenly Kingdom, where, united with all the Holy New-Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, we may glorify Thee: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages."

>>> Note the inclusion here of the key petition to God to "raise up anew the throne of Orthodox Kings".
Also note that the prayer wisely does not specify the Romanov dynasty, but requests Heaven to grant the return of [ presumably a lengthy line of God-guided ] Orthodox monarchs to rule Russia.

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Barbara
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Re: Beautiful Plaque for RoyalMartyrs' Centennial installed

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I happened across news of a similar plaque unveiled two weeks later at the Holy Protection Church in Los Angeles.

This Church is the site of that well known picture of Metropolitan Philaret and St John Maximovitch serving together in summer 1965, by the way.

As for the memorial plaque, this might be the only mention in English on the facebook page of the Russian Monarchist chapter in Los Angeles..
Here is the link to go to in order to see the 2 photos available. 1 is of the traditional Russian architecture of the front door, while the other shows the plaque itself, which was blessed on November 23, 2018 :



For a brief history of this Church

"The foundation of our parish started on 16 June 1952 with blessing of Metropolitan Anastasy. The official being of the parish came on September of 1952.

First parish Temple was arranged in a building at 150 S. Alexandria Ave. However, our parish by 1964 grew so much already that the new Temple was not big enough to fit everyone. That was why it began necessary in September of 1964 to start looking for a more suitable building. Thus, an Old Catholic Church at 2041 Argyle Ave was acquired.

Solemn great blessing of the new Temple occurred on 4 June 1965. The blessing was done by First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia Metropolitan Philaret, Saint John of San Francisco and bishop of Edmonton Savva."

So Bishop Savva [ Sarachevich - ( 1902-1973 ] was present as well ! This earliest collector of materials to honor the saintly life of the now world-famous St John Maximovitch does not show in that famous picture of the consecration.

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Barbara
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Re: Beautiful Plaque for RoyalMartyrs' Centennial installed

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Has anyone seen this Icon or know from whence it came ?

It shows a realistic St John Maximovitch bearing the Icon of Tsar Nicholas II attired as Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich, son of the founder of the Romanov dynasty, with whom Nicholas II was often compared [ in SOME respects only, in my personal opinion ] :

Image

We know that St John, the Archbishop who pushed through -- a Herculean task -- the building of San Francisco's Holy Virgin Cathedral, was a staunch supporter of the last Tsar. Thus, St John is probably happy to see the new plaque affixed to the outdoor walls of that Cathedral complex which he endured so much suffering to see through to completion.

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Orthodox in Michigan
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Re: Beautiful Plaque for RoyalMartyrs' Centennial installed

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You know I do not want to be disrespectful, but it sadly reminds me of those realistic tattoos people are getting and for a icon it ruins it for me i would not like to see any more done this way in the future.
Or it almost looks like a photo shop and its not real like someone is trying to play a joke.

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Barbara
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Re: Beautiful Plaque for RoyalMartyrs' Centennial installed

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Not sure what the current trend of realistic tatt... are - are they anything like THIS, OrthodoxinMichigan ?? That would be absolutely terrible if someone used this image that way !

It is an odd icon. I would not have posted it but for the [ Slavonic, I assumed ? ] writing on the side. That made me assume it was more authentic.

I actually looked at the original link, which was a Greek blog. But this depiction was no longer there, so perhaps protests had resulted in its removal ?

There is a photo of St John which has something like this expression. Perhaps that was commandeered into the manufacture of this icon.

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