Fr. Ross Pilgrimage 121 images Created 4 Jun 2024
99th annual visit of the Northern California Russian Orthodox community as they honor their faith and the diaspora interred in the Ft. Ross cemetery.
The Western American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia held its annual pilgrimage to the historical Fort Ross on Memorial Day, May 27, 2024.
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 St. Innocent of Alaska—visited the settlement and conducted the 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 20th century to preserve the Fort and the chapel.
About 1841, John Sutter purchased Fort Ross to use the lumber in the building of Sutter's Fort in Sacramento.
Beginning around 1922 or 1923, Russian Orthodox Christians have been coming to Fort Ross annually with exception during Covid lockdowns. They came remembering their roots and praying at this holy place consecrated by the presence of Saints such as Holy Hierarch Innocent of Moscow, Holy Martyr Peter the Aleut, Hieromartyr Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow, and Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco the Wonderworker.
This year’s festivities were presided over by His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco with the priests and diaconate of several Northern California parishes. The Orthodox faithful attended the morning liturgy followed by a memorial Lytia to bless and pray for the more than 130 buried in the nearby cemetery.
The Western American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia held its annual pilgrimage to the historical Fort Ross on Memorial Day, May 27, 2024.
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 St. Innocent of Alaska—visited the settlement and conducted the 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 20th century to preserve the Fort and the chapel.
About 1841, John Sutter purchased Fort Ross to use the lumber in the building of Sutter's Fort in Sacramento.
Beginning around 1922 or 1923, Russian Orthodox Christians have been coming to Fort Ross annually with exception during Covid lockdowns. They came remembering their roots and praying at this holy place consecrated by the presence of Saints such as Holy Hierarch Innocent of Moscow, Holy Martyr Peter the Aleut, Hieromartyr Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow, and Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco the Wonderworker.
This year’s festivities were presided over by His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco with the priests and diaconate of several Northern California parishes. The Orthodox faithful attended the morning liturgy followed by a memorial Lytia to bless and pray for the more than 130 buried in the nearby cemetery.
