It occurs to me that the members of the Byzantine Forum might appreciate knowing that the head of St. John Chrysostom is being sent to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign, in New York City, from the Church of Christ the Saviour, in Moscow, for a week, early in February. This Cathedral is located at 75 East 93rd Street in Manhattan, in the Headquarters of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and is often referred to by the faithful as "Synod."

Apparently, the Head of St John Chrysostom has not left Russia since it arrived there during the reign of Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, in the early 1600s. This happy event is a gesture of gratitude on the part of the Church of Russia toward the Russian Church Abroad for our sending the holy relics of the New-Venerable Martyrs Elizabeth the Grand Duchess and the Nun Barbara to tour Russia a couple years ago.

The sacred head will not be touring America, but will remain at Synod until the final day of its stay, when it will be taken to St. Nicholas Cathedral, the Russian Patriarchal Cathedral a few blocks away.

When services are not being celebrated, the head will be available for the faithful to venerate. Priests and choirs may schedule time to sing services of supplication (molebens) before the relics.

Details may be accessed at the following link:

Official Website of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia


NEW YORK: January 26, 2010
The Schedule of the visit to New York of the Honorable Head of St John Chrysostom

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, on February 6, 2010, the honorable head of the great teacher and hierarch St John Chrysostom, which is kept at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, will be brought to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign in New York. Here the holy relic will be displayed for veneration by the faithful until February 11, when it will be taken to St Nicholas Cathedral in New York. The delegation of the Moscow Patriarchate accompanying the relic will depart for Moscow on February 12.

Saturday, February 6
All-night vigil at 6 pm.
During “Praise the Name of the Lord,” the reliquary will be brought into the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign.
From this time on, it will be available for veneration by the faithful.

Sunday, February 7
Divine Liturgy will be performed in the hierarchal rite at 9:30 am.

Monday, February 8
All-night vigil at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign at 6:30 pm.

Tuesday, February 9, the feast day of St John Chrysostom.
Hierarchal Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign will begin at 8:30 am.

Wednesday, February 10
All-night vigil at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign at 6:30 pm.

Thursday, February 11
Divine Liturgy will begin at 8:30 am, headed by His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, along with the members of the Synod of Bishops. At the end of the service, the relic will be taken to St Nicholas Patriarchal Church, where it will remain until the departure of the Moscow delegation on Friday, February 12.

Clergymen of the Russian Orthodox and other Local Orthodox Churches who wish to perform a prayer service before the head of St John Chrysostom should contact the Senior Priest of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign, Protopriest Andrei Sommer, at: rev.a.sommer@synod.com or by telephone at: (646) 320-7382.

Dear Father David,

Bless! Thank you for iforming us.

I have been to both these churches. They are very nice and in nice neighborhoods, so I urge any one reading this and who is interested to not hesitate to visit and venerate this venerable and great Church Father of both the East and the West.

I will pass on this information.

Respectfully,
In Christ,
Alice

Dear Alice,

May the Lord bless you. Thanks. I hope to get there one of the days. It's a unique opportunity.

Fr David

Glory to God! This is lovely news. I only wish I could come to New York and be there myself to venerate this precious relic. Since I cannot, would those of you who are so blessed do me the great kindness of offering a prayer or two and lighting a candle or two for my parish and my unworthy self? My thanks in advance.

Fr. Serge

Father Serge,

Your pm box is full. If you pm me your mailing address, I will have an icon of St John touched to the Relics and mailed to you.

Alexandr

I went the first night.

ROCOR now has pictures up on their web site. These are the ones from the first night.

There are more photo sets on their news page.

Glad to see the relic came here - and JBenedict, thanks for the link to the photos.

I was blessed to be able to venerate one part of St. John's skull (with an incorrupt ear!) when I visited the Monastery of Vatopedi. I was actually confused at first - was this a second relic? - but apparently the monks at Vatopedi split the relic some time in the 1600s and gave one piece to Russia. Photographs of the reliquary and the relic are available in the picture book "Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi" - apparently only available as an import from Greece and quite expensive, but the two-volume set is well worth buying.

eh. isn't the head of St John in Florence?

At first, I thought you might have been thinking of Saint John the Baptist, but after doing some searching through the internet, I found out that you're right!

The cathedral in Florence claims to have the head of St. John Chrysostom.

Here is the account of a Greek Orthodox priest who went to the cathedral to see the relic: http://savaonarolla.blogspot.com/2008/11/theres-no-place-like-duomo.html

And here is a photo that he took of the relic itself: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bishopsavas/3019393182/in/set-72157608242916694/

I would assume it is much more common to be of two minds than it is to be of two heads.