Russian Ecclesiastical
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Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
 
History

The Compound of the Noble Grand Duke St. Alexander Nevsky in Jerusalem under the Omophorion of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia

This year the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the 800th anniversary of the birth of the holy blessed Grand Duke St. Alexander Nevsky. Many Russian churches around the world consecrated in honor of this great Russian saint celebrated this Jubilee.

Church of St. Alexander Nevsky at the Alexander Compound in Jerusalem, 1900. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is visible on the right. Initially, the Alexander Compound was called the Russian House. Photo: Illustrated addition to the newspaper “Moskovsky Listok”

In the historical center of Jerusalem, opposite the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, there is the Alexander Compound with the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem as part of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and is rightfully one of the most important churches in the Russian Diaspora. At the Alexander Compound, which has been under the omophorion of the ROCOR for more than 100 years, there is another great shrine associated with the Way of the Cross of our Savior – the Threshold of the Judgement Gates, at which, according to a tradition established even before the Russian Revolution, an unbroken reading of the psalter is kept.
The St. Alexander Nevsky Church in Jerusalem was consecrated on May 22, 1896 by Patriarch Gerasim I of Jerusalem, co-served by the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, Archimandrite Raphael (Trukhin). Back in 1859, the first Russian consul in Jerusalem V.I. Dorgobuzhenov planned to build a Russian church at this holy place, but only after Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin) found the great relic from the times of Christ, the Threshold of the Judgement Gates in 1884, the chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, decided to build a temple at this holy place. In 1894, the brother of the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, Emperor Alexander III, died. The IOPS leadership decided to perpetuate the memory of the emperor by building a church in the name of His heavenly patron – Saint Alexander Nevsky, at the threshold of the Judgment Gate in Jerusalem. From that time to the present day, this temple has had the status of a memorial, and therefore, for 125 years, the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem has celebrated the Memorial Liturgy every Thursday, at which not only Emperor Alexander III is commemorated, but also the deceased honorary members of the IOPS.

The last Russian consul general in Jerusalem Aleksey Fedorovich Kruglov with his wife at the Alexander Compound in Jerusalem, 1920’s. A.F. Kruglov was an honorary member of the IOPS since 1911 and lived with his family at the Alexander Compound from August 1920 to May 1948.

Despite the hard trials that fell to the lot of the Russian people in the 20th century; wars, revolution, terror and exile, prayer for the suffering Holy Russian land and the Russian people in the fatherland did not cease at the St. Alexander Nevsky Church at the threshold of the Judgement Gates. Those living in the diaspora, who experienced there own “way of the Cross” are also commemorated.
After the collapse of the Russian Empire and throughout the entire 20th century, the faithful children of the Russian Church Abroad prayed and served in the Alexander Nevsky Church in Jerusalem.

Reader Mikhail Georgievich Khripunov and nuns of the Bethany Community during liturgy in the church of St. Alexander Nevsky. Major General M.G. Khripunov (1889-1983) became a member of the Orthodox Palestine Society, while in exile in Geneva. In 1959 he moved to Jerusalem, where he lived in the Gethsemane Convent. In 1968 he headed the OPS in Jerusalem

By agreement with the Palestinian Orthodox Society and the resolution of the Holy Synod, the temple is under the jurisdiction of the Head of the REM in Jerusalem. Despite the wars, the repeated change of state power and other vicissitudes that Jerusalem experienced in the 20th century, the clergy of the REM (ROCOR) and the staff of the OPS in Jerusalem zealously carried out their ministry in the temple at the Threshold of the Judgement Gates. This holy place has been visited by pilgrims from different countries throughout the world who came to worship at the Holy Sepulcher. In the era of the most severe persecutions against Christians in the Soviet Union, the functioning Russian temple, built in memory of Emperor Alexander III in the center of Jerusalem, was, as it were, a symbol of Holy Orthodox Russia, which the God-fighters and desecrators of Russian Orthodoxy could not destroy in the 20th century.

At the entrance to the Alexander Compound, Jerusalem, 1960’s. First row: Chairman of the Orthodox Palestine Society, General M. G. Khripunov, member of the REM in Jerusalem, Archimandrite Seraphim (Sedov), wife of General Khripunov Nina Georgievna. Second row: Olga Asafovna Wachbe, Prince Vladimir Dmitrievich Golitsyn (Paris), engineer of the REM in Jerusalem -Timothy Stepanovich Denke

In the reception room of the REM (ROCOR) at the Alexander Compound in Jerusalem, 1970. Sitting from left to right: Bishop Pavel (Pavlov), First Hierarch of the ROCOR Met. Philaret (Voznesensky), Patriarch Benedict of Jerusalem. Standing: head of the REM (ROCOR) Archim. Anthony (Grabbe) and secretary of the Synod of Bishops – ROCOR Archpriest George (Grabbe). Photo from the archives of the ROCOR Synod of Bishops. Published for the first time.

Head of the REM (ROCOR) in Jerusalem, Archimandrite Anthony (Grabbe) at the Alexander Compound. 1970’s. On the wall on the right is the inscription: Orthodox Palestine Society. Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem. Administration office. Photo from the archives of the ROCOR Synod of Bishops. Published for the first time

Awarding of the Honorary Medal of the Orthodox Palestine Society to King Hussein of Jordan. Royal Palace in Amman, January 16, 1974. The badge was presented by the head of the OPS delegation, head of the REM (ROCOR) Archimandrite. Anthony (Grabbe) for patronage of Russian property in the Holy Land during the period of Jordan’s rule until 1967.

Awarding of Archimandrite Dimitry (Biakai) and Mother Superior Tamara (Bagration) as honorary members of the Orthodox Palestine Society. Jerusalem, Alexander Compound 1972. The head of the REM ROCOR in Jerusalem, Archimandrite Anthony (Grabbe), presents the gold medals. Photo from the archives of the ROCOR Synod of Bishops. Published for the first time

Awarding of Archimandrite Dimitry (Biakai) and Mother Superior Tamara (Bagration) as honorary members of the Orthodox Palestine Society. Jerusalem, Alexander Compound 1972. The head of the REM ROCOR in Jerusalem, Archimandrite Anthony (Grabbe), presents the gold medals. Photo from the archives of the ROCOR Synod of Bishops. Published for the first time

A festive dinner in the reception rooms of the Head of the REM at the Alexander Compound. Jerusalem, 1974. Photo from the archives of the ROCOR Synod of Bishops. Published for the first time

US Ambassador to Israel Sam Louis and US Consul in Jerusalem Brandon Grove are presented with honorary OPS medals. Alexander Compound in Jerusalem, February 9, 1982. Medals are presented by the head of the RDM (ROCOR) Archimandrite Anthony (Grabbe)

After the restoration of canonical communion between the Church Abroad and the Moscow Patriarchate in 2007, the name of the Patriarch of Moscow is commemorated at each Liturgy that is celebrated in the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky. The Head and the clergy of the REM ROCOR continue to regularly conduct divine services in this church at the Threshold of the Judgment Gate, which is sacred for Russia and the Russian people.

Divine Liturgy on the day of the transfer of the relics of the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky in the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky at the Russian Excavations. The Liturgy was led by the First Hierarch of the ROCOR, Met. Hilarion (Kapral). Jerusalem, September 12, 2011

Divine Liturgy on the day of the transfer of the relics of the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky in the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky at the Russian Excavations. The Liturgy was led by the First Hierarch of the ROCOR, Met. Hilarion (Kapral). Jerusalem, September 12, 2011

Patronal feast at the St. Alexander Nevsky Church in Jerusalem. Alexander Compound, December 6, 2020. On this day, Orthodox Christians celebrate the day of the blessed repose of the Great Prince Alexander Nevsky. At the Alexander Compound in Jerusalem, a solemn Divine Liturgy and a moleben for the blessing of water were served. The divine service was led by the head of the REM (ROCOR) Archimandrite Roman (Krassovsky)

Unfortunately, the presence of the Russian Church Abroad and the Orthodox Palestine Society at the Alexander Compound has recently been put under question by various Russian public organizations. At the request of the Russian Federation, several years ago, the process of the transfer of the Compound and the Alexander Nevsky Church to the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation began in Israel without taking into account the rights of the ROCOR and the Orthodox Palestine Society, which have been in the Compound for the past 100 years. It is a blatant lie to consider this Russian shrine in Jerusalem was without an owner throughout the 20th century, while all this time there were representatives of the REM ROCOR and OPS.
Despite attempts to distort historical reality and deprive the Church Abroad of the right to be in the Alexander Compound, the church authority of the Church Abroad and the REM in Jerusalem will continue to defend their rights in order to preserve this holy place for Russian pilgrims and the Russian Orthodox Church.
We trust in the Lord, through the prayers of the holy noble prince St. Alexander Nevsky, that this difficult situation will be peacefully resolved, remembering the words of the holy commander: “God is not to be found in power, but in truth!”