On Sunday, October 1st, 2023, the feast of the Protection of the Mother of God, the Romanian Orthodox monastery in Allegan, MI was in great celebration for the main feast day and the great event of the consecration of the monastery’s church.
The celebration began on Saturday evening when His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae together with His Grace Ioan Casian, Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada, surrounded by several priests, celebrated the Great Vespers with Lytia and the service of placing the holy relics on the holy disc in preparation for the consecration of the church the following day. At the end of the service, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae spoke about the life and sufferings of St. Epictetus and St. Astion, martyrs of the early 4th century in Dobrogea, whose relics were to be placed in the Holy Table.
The consecration of the church began on Sunday morning at 9:00 am in the presence of the two hierarchs and a group of eight priests and one deacon: Protosinghellos Jeremiah, abbot of the monastery of St. Dimitrios the New in Middletown, NY, Protosinghellos Daniil from Portugal, Fr. Călin Barbolovici, Dean for the Central USA, Fr. Vasile Mureșan from Ss. Constantine and Helen Cathedral in Chicago, Hieromonk Ignatie from Portugal, Abbot Policarp from the Elevation of the Holy Cross Monastery in Mono, ON, Canada, Fr. Petru Neaga from Cleveland, Fr. Evanghelos Pepps from Michigan, and Deacon Alexander Lazar from Ss. Constantine and Helen Cathedral in Chicago. The responses were given by a psaltic group led by Monk Hristofor.
The consecration service began with a procession with the relics of the martyrs Epictetus and Astion and the consecration of the outer walls of the church. The clergy and the faithful then entered the church for the consecration of the holy altar. Bishop Ioan Casian read the Hrisov which records the history of the monastery:
"By the will of the Father, with the help of the Son, and together with the work of the Holy Spirit, the church of the Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Protection of the Mother of God, St. John Jacob of Neamt, and St. Hierarch Nicolai Velimirovich, in Allegan, Michigan, was consecrated in the year of salvation 2023, October 1, on its principle feast day.
This monastery was originally founded in the town of Ellenville about ninety miles north of New York City and ninety miles southwest of Albany... It was the desire of a group of believers to purchase property for the monastery and build a Romanian Orthodox church for the Romanian community in the northeastern United States. On this property a group of nuns established the first monastic group of the Monastery of the Protection of the Mother of God. In February 2001, at a meeting of the Eparchial Council in Detroit, the Monastery was accepted into the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of America and Canada... Saint John Jacob of Neamt was chosen as the second patron of the monastery in 2012 when Father Hieromonk Iacob Barsan, the spiritual "grandson" of Saint John Jacob, visited the monastery and left a priestly belt of the Saint as a blessing. Also in 2012, the relics of St. Nicolai Velimirovich were brought from the Lelici Monastery in Serbia for veneration being offered by Bishop Milutin of Valjevo.
In 2018, by decree of His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae, the monastery was moved to Allegan, Michigan... The Allegan property was purchased by Ss. Constantine and Helen Cathedral in July 2014 from Cheshire Hills Baptist Church and set up as a camp for children and youth from Archdiocesan parishes... On June 17, 2019, on the Feast of the Holy Trinity, the cornerstone was consecrated for a new building that will include a church, trapeza, library, and rooms for monks.
For the consecration of the church, restoration and adornment projects have been accomplished through the zeal and love of the current monks and benefactors of the monastery.
The consecration of the church of the Protection of the Mother of God Monastery took place on October 1st, 2023 in the presence of His Eminence Nicolae, Metropolitan of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas, His Grace Ioan Casian, Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada, several priests from Orthodox parishes in Central USA and Romanian Orthodox faithful from this area. The names of all the founders, donors and benefactors of this monastery were placed in the holy table for eternal remembrance!"
The Hrisov was placed in the cylinder together with the list of all the founders and benefactors of this monastery, from the beginning until today, together with the relics of the holy martyrs. The cap of the holy table was then sealed and the consecration of the holy table began by washing with soap and water, sprinkling with rose water and anointing with Holy and Great Myrrh. The Holy Evangelists were glued in the four corners and then the holy table was dressed in a shirt and sealed with the Metropolia’s seal. The proper coverings and the placing of the holy vessels concluded this part of the service. The consecration of the church ended with the consecration of the interior walls and the iconostasis. According to the Romanian Orthodox tradition, all the faithful present, men, women and children, were able to venerate the newly consecrated Holy Table.
The Divine Liturgy followed, celebrated in a special tent on the monastery property. In his gospel sermon, Bishop Ioan Casian referred to the importance of the moment of the consecration of a church and commented on the Gospel of the day and the main feast: "Today is important because it is the moment of the foundation of a new church. The church is the place where the faithful gather to hear the word of God and to be strengthened in faith..." Commenting on the Gospel of the feast day, Bishop Ioan Casian pointed out the importance of serving the Church by word and deed: "From the Gospel of the main feast day - The Protection of the Mother of God - we learn that the bodily work of satisfying material needs is important but limited as it was fulfilled by Martha. Mary, on the other hand, had chosen obedience to the Word of God which is an eternal work. Within the Christian community, the Church, we need both."
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae explained to the faithful the significance of the consecration of the church:
"The building of the new church is first sanctified on the outside to mark out the sacred space as 'the house of God' and 'the gate of heaven' (Genesis 28:17). First, Solomon's prayer from the sanctification of the Temple in Jerusalem is read in front of the new church (III Kings 8:22-31), asking God: "let thine eyes be open day and night unto this house, and whatsoever they shall ask in this place, hear thou out of the place of thy heavenly dwelling (...) and be gracious unto them".
When we go around the new church, we carry in procession the relics of the holy martyrs who are then laid at the foot of the Holy Table. Because the martyrs showed the greatest love for Christ, a sacrificial love greater than the fear of death, the first Christian churches were built on the tombs of the martyrs. Since the entire consecration service of an Orthodox church is also a praise of the holy martyrs, this hymn was chanted several times: "Holy Martyrs who have fought the good fight and have been crowned, pray to God that our souls may be saved!"...
After the external consecration of the church, the church doors are opened and, entering inside, we see the iconostasis and the iconography. Orthodox iconography is both a visual memorial of the history of salvation and a prophetic anticipation of the Kingdom of Heaven... Then follows the consecration of the church Altar, which represents Christ the crucified, dead and risen Lord, i.e. the Holy Table symbolizes all at once: the table of the Mystical Supper, the tomb of Christ and His Throne of glory. After the consecration of the Altar, the new church is consecrated inside, also with holy water and the Holy and Great Myrrh, and then all those present are blessed and sprinkled with the same holy water, in which perfume has been poured as a symbol of the good smell of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which simultaneously sanctifies the church, the souls and bodies of the faithful..."
In conclusion, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae thanked the founders and all the faithful for their hard work and involvement in preparing this event. In recent weeks, the church has been renovated, an Axionită has been built, new holy vessels and coverings have been purchased, and royal icons have been adorned. Metropolitan Nicolae invited everyone to visit the construction site of the new building for the monks and to help make this project a reality.
On behalf of the clergy and supporters, Protosinghellos Daniil thanked the hierarchs and offered an icon of the Protection of the Mother of God. Also, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae presented the monastery with an icon of Ss. Constantine and Helen, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian with an icon of the Theotokos and two volumes of documents on the history of the Romanians in America. Bishop Ioan Casian presented the monastery with an icon of the Mother of God.
The celebration ended with an agape meal for pilgrims prepared with great love by those close to the monastery.
