On October 7, 2022, the 228th anniversary of the establishment of the Orthodox Mission on the North American Continent in 1794, at the intersection of Madison Avenue and East 97^th Street in Manhattan, where St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral is located, with the blessing of the Interim Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA & Canada, Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, the opening of the street sign "Saint Tikhon Way" took place. The ceremony was attended by the clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate in the USA and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, parishioners, management and partners of the Russian American Heritage Center (RACH-C).

The decision of the authorities of New York City to award the honorary name of a section of the street in honor of St. Tikhon, who built and consecrated the cathedral in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in 1902, was the result of more than a decade of work by the clergy, parishioners, religious and public organizations. The initiator of perpetuating the memory of St. Tikhon in the tautonymy of New York and the first chairman of the working group was Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) during his tenure as Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA (2010-2014).

On Sunday, October 9, the feast of the glorification of St. Tikhon (1989), Divine Liturgy was celebrated in St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York City amongst a large gathering of believers. After the service, it was announced to the parishioners about the dedication of the street. The Secretary of the Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, Abbot Nicodemus (Balyasnikov), expressed deep gratitude for the invaluable help in organizing work with the authorities of the city at all levels, to the President of the Russian-American Heritage Center, Olga Sergeevna Zatsepina, and, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow and All Russia, awarded her the Patriarchal medal in honor of St. Tikhon.

O.S. Zatsepina noted that she perceives the sign of Patriarchal attention as a reward to all those who have worked to perpetuate the memory of St. Tikhon: parishioners, the Youth Department of the Patriarchal Parishes in the United States, representatives of local religious and public organizations, members of the New York State Assembly, the business community of New York and those who composed official letters of support to the initiative of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Liturgy ended with the glorification to St. Tikhon and the polychronion to His Holiness Patriarch Kyrill, the authorities of New York and all those who labored for the good of the Holy Church.

Photos: Rdr. George Konyev