On Tuesday, October 30, 2012, following much prayer for the deliverance from disaster, Holy Trinity Seminary canceled classes along with many schools in New York State in expectation of the effects of Hurricane Sandy. His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, who had celebrated the feast of his patron saint in Holy Trinity Monastery on the previous Saturday, was forced to remain in the Monastery on account of the effects of the hurricane, which had made landfall by that time.

At the request of the Rector of HTS, Archimandrite Luke, Metropolitan Hilarion met with all of the seminarians for an informal talk. Following a brief address, the students took advantage of this opportunity to ask the Metropolitan for his perspective and pastoral guidance concerning large and important issues of our time, including the mission of ROCOR, the convening of the Episcopal Assembly, the relationship of the Russian Church with other jurisdictions and other topics.