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Jul 5th, 2025
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I came across this little article on the Internet. I don't know how old it is, but I'd like to share it with y'all: http://www.sanfrancisco-direct.com/activity/pray-at-the-holy-virgin-cathedral Pray At The Holy Virgin Cathedral
The Holy Virgin Cathedral is one of the most beautiful churches in San Francisco and well worth a visit if you are in the area. It is one of the most colorful churches in San Francisco.
The Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Cathedral was built by St. John, and the elaborate murals were frescoed by Archimandrite Kiprian. The building itself has 5 golf leaf onion shaped domes which are covered in real 24 carat gold! The mosaic over the front door is also covered in gold and depicts the Virgin Mary.
There are over 20 Russian churches in San Francisco. This church is just one of three Russian Cathedrals in the city which are known for their beautiful churches and murals. There is a large Russian section of the population and this is evident from the many Russian restaurants and museums. For visitors from Russia there are even Russian newspapers and book stores.
This church has three choirs which are a delight to watch. Daily Liturgy takes place at 8AM and daily Vespers and Martins at 6PM. The church welcomes visitors. If you do plan attend make sure to dress respectfully as they are an orthodox community. This means skirts for women!
The holy Virgin Cathedral is situated in Richmond district and is easily accessible on the Muni bus 38. The Holy Virgin Cathedral is situated on Geary Blvd. and 26th Avenue.
After seeing the church there are plenty of quaint coffee shops and restaurants in the immediate vicinity to enjoy afterwards.
Come see the Holy Virgin Cathedral and experience a service in one of the most beautiful churches in San Francisco! **************************************************** Nice to see a cathedral with daily Divine Liturgy and All-Night Vigil!  It seems to be just like the cathedrals in Russia that I've read about online! Now, my question is... How did San Francisco end up becoming a hub of Russian Orthodoxy, and of a very conservative mold at that? I'm aware that even the OCA's most "traditionalist" and "Russian" parishes (Julian Calendar and all) are in San Francisco, not to speak of the ROCOR presence. How did that come about? I'm also interested to know if the Russians in SF are, in effect, a "counter-cultural" force in that city. I hope I won't offend anybody here by stating this, but San Francisco is synonymous in many circles with "liberalism gone berserk" and I'm highly intrigued by the idea that a traditionalist Russian Orthodox presence is actually in the heart of that city.
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X.B. C.I.X.
Crossing the Pacific Ocean San Francisco became a natural destination seat of the Tsarest sponsored Russian mission in the US. Remember they owned Alaska. It wasn't until the Carpathian Rusyan workers from the Austro-Hungarian Empire immigrated to the eastern US mines and mills at the turn of the XX century where they were proselytized as Russian Orthodox that the Russian focus split.
I wonder about the choice of term "counter-cultural". Any peaceable ethnic subculture or religious expression comprised of citizens should not be considered a negative force in any US city?
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Dear Mykhayl;
"Counter-cultural" is a positive rather than negative evaluation.
In the context of my question, it means swimming against tide of moral permissiveness and religious indifference.
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Christ is Risen!!
I'm more than a little sceptical about the "news quote" above. Because of my linguistics training and my passion for anthropology and culture, I do strange things like read the Yellow Pages listings for churches and other ethnic oriented groups when I'm out of town.
Although it's been about a year and a half, I only saw the ROCOR Holy Virgin Pokrov/Protection cathedral, Holy Trinity (OCA)Cathedral on Van Ness (a lovingly maintained old building) and the Russian Byzantine Catholic church affiliated with the University of San Francisco (Jesuit parish). I do believe that there was a Russian language Baptist congregation that worshipped in a borrowed facility. So, this information about 20 parishes surprises me no end. As for newspapers, to my knowledge there is the Novoye Russkoye Slovo, but I think that comes out of New York.
So, I think New York wins the "Russian" award, hands down.
Blessings to All!
Dr John
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Dear AMM;
Thanks for the link. I am aware that San Francisco was, at one point, the hub of Orthodoxy in North America. My question is more of why it has retained a strongly "traditional Russian" character, so to speak, in San Francisco and California. Even OCA's Old Calendar partisans" are concentrated in California and the Russian mission in SF.
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I do strange things like read the Yellow Pages listings for churches and other ethnic oriented groups when I'm out of town. John, And here I thought I was the only one strange enough to do that  Many years, Neil
"One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."
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I do strange things like read the Yellow Pages listings for churches and other ethnic oriented groups when I'm out of town. John, And here I thought I was the only one strange enough to do that Many years, Neil Neil, I do the same thing no matter where I go. There has to be a hunky church everywhere!
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How did San Francisco end up becoming a hub of Russian Orthodoxy, and of a very conservative mold at that? I'm aware that even the OCA's most "traditionalist" and "Russian" parishes (Julian Calendar and all) are in San Francisco, not to speak of the ROCOR presence. How did that come about? There is a large "post-Soviet" emigration of Russians who are involved in the computer industry in California.
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Dear AMM;
Thanks for the link. I am aware that San Francisco was, at one point, the hub of Orthodoxy in North America. My question is more of why it has retained a strongly "traditional Russian" character, so to speak, in San Francisco and California. I don't know to what extent that is actually true. Even OCA's Old Calendar partisans" are concentrated in California and the Russian mission in SF. The lower 48 follows the new calendar, aside from a couple of monasteries and the cathedral in Washington which for who knows what reason observes both. Look at the web site of Holy Trinity Cathedral in San Francisco and you can see they follow the new calendar.
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