Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia

The Orthodox Church consists of jurisdictions. Ours is by far the largest and most diverse: the global communion of the Russian Orthodox Church. In particular, we are a religious house of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, a semi-autonomous Church established during the 1920s as the Soviet regime murdered 200,000 Orthodox clergy and desecrated or destroyed countless parish churches and cathedrals. Also called the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, our cherished home became settled mostly in the English-speaking world: the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and England, with parishes in Western Europe. She recently celebrated her centennial year.

The ROCOR stands strong against the withering blasts of atheism, the brutality of a largely anti-Christian world, and the evil one's "two great commandments": "Live and let live" and "Don't judge me" — fueling a rampant immorality now burning out of control throughout the West. Westerners seem almost to have forgotten the essence of Christian life: the self-denying love of God and His holy ways; the love of neighbor which truly engages the lives around us; the caring for all children, who need stability, rectitude, role models of goodness, and a mother and father joined in permanent vows of self-giving, sacrificial love.

The social catastrophe of 1960 to the present time has gutted life in the United States. Meantime, spiritual refugees dot the landscape as longtime institutions stumble and fail. If your background is Western Christianity, and you find yourself without a Church home, we promise, here you will find safe pastures, protected by a Church who will never kow-tow before the cruel tyranny of global woke culture. Here you will be welcomed as family. We are not ashamed of the Gospel (Rom 1:16). Our sacraments and ordinations are without shadow or doubt. Our bishops are holy men. Our warm-hearted priests and monastics are reliable spiritual fathers to our children and their parents.

We at the Hermitage are a monastery of a non-geographical ROCOR vicariate: the Western Rite Communities. You will recognize our prayers. And we emphasize happily that all is safely Orthodox. Our theology, our beliefs, the lives we live are grounded wholly in the early centuries of the Church. Our emphasis is life, which is the gift of the Lord of Life. His great Passion day after day was to empty Himself of Heavenly glory that He might enter the narrow confines of our narrow humanity in order to lead unto into His Divine life. Come, join us for worship celebrating this luminous life. Our icons shine pouring the light of Heaven into the Hermitage. We gather every day before the Gate of Heaven with angels and archangels and all the company of Heaven. Why choose anything less?

Our Patriarch
His Holiness, Kirill, is Patriarch of the global Russian Orthodox Church, home to more than half of all Orthodox Christians. The worldwide Russian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous jurisdiction of the Orthodox Catholic Church, the second largest Christian communion on earth.

The Patriarch's recent remarks emphasizing love of God and self-sacrifice remind us that the Living God requires the gift of self for the good of all (Mk 9:35ff) following the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. The denial of personal prerogatives in deference to the Kingdom of God, which is the totality of human good, is the central teaching of Christian life.

And we remember the Lord Jesus when He said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Mt 5:3). For to have a heart for the poor, to stand in their shoes, to see the world through their eyes, is to have a heart for God (Mt 25:31-46). The Christian way is to "live simply that others may simply live."

Our Primate & First Hierarch
His Lord, the Most Reverend Nicholas is Primate and First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) celebrating its 100th year in the United States in 2023. With the Orthodox New Year of 2022, the ROCOR elected its seventh First Hierarch, succeeding His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion (venerated here as St. Hilarion of Spirit River), who named our monastery Our Lady of the Angels Hermitage and who ordained and tonsured our priest-monk, Father Columba.

Following a long tradition, the ROCOR again has chosen holiness as the first mark of its leader. Earlier on, as his holy character became generally known, Nicholas would be entrusted with the responsibility of guardianship of the Kursk Root Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. Such a filial and intimate relationship with the Holy Mother began a most profound formation and attests the soul and heart of her steward. He would later be elevated to the monastic rank of Archimandrite. The people of the ROCOR may be confident that their First Hierarch, in a world gone mad, continues in his holy vocation as guardian of the faith, protector of the holy things, and devotion to purity.

Our Archbishop
His Grace, Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America, is the ruling bishop of the Western American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. His Grace played a key role as delegate to the Russian Orthodox Church in 2004, leading to the ROCOR's renewed formal ties with Orthodoxy's largest jurisdiction.

The Hermitage is a community of the non-geographical Western Rite vicariate. Nonetheless, we enjoy the fatherly care of our Archbishop. In particular, he is Spiritual Father to our monastery and our trustee who guarantees that Our Lady of the Angels continue in the bosom of the Church long after the present hermits have completed their several earthly journeys.

Our Vicar General
The Very Reverend Mitered Archpriest, Mark Rowe is Vicar General of the Western Rite Communities. Under his leadership, the twenty or so parishes and monasteries of our non-geographical vicariate enjoy standing in the Church. We give thanks for the pastoral love we have received from the Holy Synod of the ROCOR, permitting us to pray the ancient prayers of the Western Rite, to venerate her saints, to observe her particular customs and holy days while living into the fullness of Holy Orthodoxy in the Russian tradition. And we give thanks for Father Mark, who has tirelessly upheld the Western Rite Community's favored place at the Holy Synod's table.

We give thanks to Almighty Providence for our home, truly, where sheep may safely graze. We conclude with words from our beloved Archpastor: