His Eminence, Benjamin, Archbishop of San Francisco
and the West, led the annual pilgrimage of clergy and
faithful from the Diocese of the West to Fort Ross State
Historic Park on Saturday, July 4, 2015. Faithful have
been gathering at Fort Ross every year since July 4, 1925
for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy and fellowship
at the first Orthodox chapel of prayer in the lower
forty-eight.
Following the Divine Liturgy, the
faithful went in procession to the Cemetery of the
nineteenth century Russian settlement and celebrated a
memorial service. The Fort’s Chapel, dedicated to
the Most Holy Trinity, was built in the mid-1820s.
Although Ross had no resident priest, in 1836 Father
Ioann Veniaminov — glorified in 1977 as our St.
Innocent of Alaska — visited the settlement and
conducted sacraments of marriage, baptism, and the
Divine Liturgy. The faithful of the Bay Area worked
with the State of California and other benefactors in
the twentieth century to preserve the Fort and the
Chapel. More history can be read here. The annual Fourth
of July visit to Fort Ross is a beautiful opportunity
for the faithful of the Diocese of the West to gather
together and to offer thanksgiving to God for those who
brought the faith to this land and for the United
States, where we are free to worship the Most Holy
Trinity in the Orthodox manner.
6 июля 2015 г.