On Saturday the 26th of February, 2011, Holy Trinity Monastery and Seminary received a visit from the head of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, His Beatitude Metropolitan Christopher, who was accompanied by his Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.

At 12:30 the metropolitans arrived and entered the Holy Trinity Cathedral, accompanied by the joyous ringing of bells.  Once inside, a short moleben was served; after which the Abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Luke, greeted Metropolitan Christopher warmly and made mention of the wonderful significance of Metropolitan Christopher’s visit.  Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko), the abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery from 1948-1960, founded the Hermitage of St. Job of Pochaev in present-day Slovakia in the village of Ladomirova. Among the brethren that came from Ladomirova to join the brethren of Holy Trinity Monastery after the Second World War were Metropolitan Laurus of blessed memory and Archimandrite Flor, who still lives at Holy Trinity Monastery.

Metropolitan Christopher, in his address, spoke of the great joy he felt at being able to visit Holy Trinity Monastery and called to mind the work done by the brotherhood of Holy Trinity Monastery in regard to the printing and distribution of spiritual literature. This work of the brotherhood was especially important during the times of religious persecution in Communist Russia, when literature of this sort was not allowed to be printed. Metropolitan Christopher shared memories of how he would spread these books in Czechoslovakia and how he used to use them while he studied as a seminarian at the Moscow Theological Academy.

Everyone gathered in the brotherhood refectory for a nice lunch and afterwards met in the Seminary Hall for a talk with Metropolitan Christopher. Metropolitan Christopher showed a very interesting film about the history of Orthodoxy in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, beginning from the missionary work done there by Saints Cyril and Methodius. Afterwards, he answered questions from those gathered. 

When asked to tell a little about himself, Metropolitan Christopher spoke about the hierarchs in Prague who were monumental in his spiritual formation: Archbishop Savvaty, who was a close family friend; and Metropolitan Dorotheos, who blessed Metropolitan Christopher to study first at the Moscow Theological Academy and then at the Athens University, where he received a doctorate of Theology.

In 2000, after the death of Metropolitan Dorotheos, he was made Archbishop of Prague and the Czech Lands. In 2006 he was chosen to be the first hierarch of the Czech Orthodox Church.

At the end of the meeting, Metropolitan Christopher presented the monastery a gift of an icon of Saints Cyril and Methodius, which had been blessed at places in Moravia where the saints had carried out their missionary endeavors. Archimandrite Luke, in memory of Metropolitan Christopher’s visit, gave him a present of an icon of the Three Holy Hierarchs: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom, the protectors of the Holy Trinity Seminary; a beautiful prayer rope made by one of the seminarians, and some monastery publications.

Metropolitan Christopher then visited the monastery museum, the seminary library and was given a tour of the monastery grounds. Metropolitan Christopher served a short panikhida at the tomb of Metropolitan Laurus and concelebrated the All-Night Vigil with Metropolitan Hilarion in the Holy Trinity cathedral, after which the guests departed for New York.