Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko)

Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko) of Jersey City (1873-1960)

Vitaly may be spelt Vitalis, Vitaliy.

Vasili may be spelt Vasily, Wasyl, Wasyly, Basil.

Vladyka may be spelt Vladika.

Early life of Vasili Ivanovitch Maximenko

On 8 August, 1873, Vasili Ivanovitch Maximenko was born to Deacon John Vasilievitch Maximenko and Evfrosinia Feodorovna Maximenko, not far from the Azov Sea, in the Province of Taganrog in the Russian Empire.

He was the fourth child in a family of 7 children, all of whom were raised in the bosom of the Russian Orthodox Church.

To support his large family, Deacon John Maximenko supplemented his income by fishing. One spring, in 1879, while fishing through the ice, he contracted pleurisy. As a result of this, he reposed in the Lord.

In 1880, Vasili's mother reposed from grief. At that time, at the age of 7, Vasili's orphan wanderings began. Vasili was at first shunted from one relative to another, until he was placed in a parochial boarding school on the shore of the Azov Sea.

Higher education

After he had completed the necessary primary and secondary studies, Vasili went to school at Mariupol Theological School. In the first year, he fed himself with wild plants.

 Here I was at first all alone : the other lads went home for Nativity, Pascha, summer vacations, and 
 I strolled by myself around the spacious school grounds. [...] But I have good memories even of this time.
 
 For breakfast we were given only a slice of coarse rye bread. The wealthier boys had sugar and drank tea, 
 while we — proletarians — would take our bread and a handful of salt and go out to a place where there 
 grew a patch of bitter greens.  We called it salad-cress.  Eaten with these greens, the bread was very 
 tasty.  We compared ourselves to the chosen people who spent Pascha (Passover) in the wilderness with 
 bitter herbs and unleavened bread.

He graduated with honours from the seminary, and he was accepted into the Kyiv Theological Academy.

Kiev Theological Academy

There, one of his professors made a lasting impression with his exhortation to the class of future priests :

 Know your flock and go in front of it ; lead it ; don't be like hired servants who don't know their flock 
 and barely keep up with it.  Be genuine evangelical pastors and not Gadarene swineherds.

However, there arose difficulties in the interior life of the seminary. He wrote :

 We were weak students.  Although as seminary graduates go we were the cream of the crop and each of us 
 started out with high ideals, many were later led astray by various pleasures and there hung over us a 
 spirit of discontent.

After participating in a student protest against mismanagement in the dining hall, Basil found himself amongst those dismissed at the end of the year with a “wolf’s ticket”, i.e., without the right to transfer to another academy. Denied a teaching position in a parochial school, he had to accept a job in a public school. Here, the income was miniscule, and the mothers of his students fed him.

 There was a God-forsaken village called Priadivka in the Yekaterinoslav Governorate, fifty miles 
 from the provincial capital. There I was sent on a salary of ten rubles a month.  It wouldn't have 
 been so bad had I not been preceded by a reputation as a revolutionary and a rebel.  The local 
 peasant who oversaw the school was supposed to keep an eye on me and report to the authorities.  But 
 I had interesting work teaching children — and I didn't suffer much grief from that quarter.
 
 I made the schoolhouse habitable, I installed glass panes in the windows, gathered firewood and 
 worked with the children from morning to evening.  The locals were so pleased that they began 
 feeding me pies and all sorts of goodies.  At the examinations my school, which for several years 
 hadn’t had any graduates and was considered the worst, came out on top and, thanks to my labours, 
 my successor began receiving a normal annual salary of 300 rubles.

His correspondence during that year with some of his former classmates came to the attention of the rector of the Kazan Theological Academy, young Bishop Antony (Khrapovitsky), who was sufficiently impressed to have his “wolf's ticket” cancelled and admit him directly into the second class in the Kazan academy. He wrote :

 Here I encountered a completely different atmosphere.  The rector was very approachable and students 
 often spent whole evenings with him, drinking tea and discussing theological questions, or simply 
 everyday matters. The Academy had some outstanding professors [...].  
 
 The students devoted a great deal of time to public lectures, readings and sermons — in factories, 
 prisons, inns, and likewise to debates with Old Believers.  The Academy provided us with a great 
 deal in the way of knowledge and practical experience for our future work in the Church.

Illness ; Monastic tonsure

Whilst he was at the academy, he was diagnosed as suffering from tuberculosis.

As though in defiance of this condition, Bishop Antony gave him the name Vitaly – "full of life" – when, in his fourth year, he tonsured him to be a monk.

Ordinations, 1898

Soon afterwards, in 1898, Monk Vitaly (Maximenko) was ordained to the Holy Diaconate, and then to the Holy Priesthood.

Pastoral service

Upon graduating, Hieromonk Vitaly (Maximenko) was assigned to teach at the Ardon seminary in North Ossetia, in the Caucasus. After 3 years in the mountain air, he was cured.

Whilst he was at the Saint Alexander Missionary Academy there, Hieromonk Vitaly (Maximenko) taught liturgics, pastoral theology, homiletics and physics.

Two incidents from this period reveal his pastoral disposition. When, out of fear, local priests declined to respond to a call from a dying patient at a nearby leprosarium, Hieromonk Vitaly volunteered at once to take him the Holy Mysteries, and thereafter began to visit the lepers regularly. Further, when a seminarian accidentally knocked a hanging kerosene lamp and was set afire like a blazing torch, teachers and students stood nearby, paralysed with horror, while Father Vitaly came running with a blanket, and he smothered the flames. However, he burnt himself in the process. Even though the injured student later reposed as a result of this accident, a later comment from Father Vitaly demonstrates his own motivation :

 What's to be done in a crisis situation ? Refuse to help, knowing one's weaknesses and 
 unpreparedness ? No ! When there's a fire you don't ask yourself : Do I know how to extinguish
 fires ? When someone is drowning, you don't pause to reflect on your expertise as a swimmer.  
 You plunge in to save the situation.

In 1902, Bishop Antony (Khrapovitsky) arrived at the Volhynia cathedral. Upon seeing the Pochaev Lavra, he offered to ask for the transfer of the Hieromonk Vitaly for the purpose of organising a missionary and ecclesiastical press. Father Vitaly accepted.

On 29 November, 1902, by a decree of the Holy Synod, Hieromonk Vitaly (Maximenko) was released from his teaching position at the Ardon Seminary, and he was transferred to the Bishop of Volhynia.

Pochaev Lavra, 1902

On 2 December, 1902, Hieromonk Vitaly (Maximenko) was assigned to serve as a teacher of the Law of God (“Zakon Bozhii”), the head of the printing-press operation, and a member of the spiritual court of the Pochaev Lavra. The lavra is situated beside the Pochaev (Pochaiv) village, 18 km (11 mi) southwest of Kremenets, 70 km (45 mi) north of Ternopol (Ternopil), and 405 km (252 mi) northwest of Kiev (Kyiv). This territory came to be included in an independent Ukraine.

In 1903, Hieromonk Vitaly (Maximenko) was elevated to the dignity of archimandrite.

In 1903, Archimandrite Vitaly was assigned to be the editor of the “Pochaev Newsletter” (“Pochaevskii Listok”) and of the official section of the “Volhynia Diocesan Bulletin” (“Volynskiye eparkhial’niye vedomosti”).

Pochaev Dormition Lavra

Pochaev Lavra printing-press management

Under his management, the print-shop was transformed into a major enterprise which occupied an immense 3-storey building and engaged up to 150 monks in the work. As Bishop Antony later recalled about Father Vitaly, “He slept little, often right at the printing press, somewhere underneath the machines, and he turned his archimandrite’s cell into a regular dormitory for the monks”. Using the most modern equipment, the shop produced service books, books for schools, popular religious literature and 5 periodicals. In the years before World War I, the shop’s annual turnover exceeded 150,000 rubles.

Work in the monastery print-shop was well suited to his nature which preferred action to words. In his memoirs, Vladika Vitaly notes :

 All my peculiarities can be explained by the fact that I was raised exclusively in a school and 
 church environment, without experiencing the influence of family or society, and even fearing them.

He forced himself to overcome his social reticence for the sake of his pastoral work : he organised church processions through local villages, gave sermons along the way, led discussions with pilgrims who came to the Lavra. He also helped organise the Volhynia Russian People’s Union, a unique democratic institution of peasant co-operatives and banks, formed to resolve in a peaceful way the question of land distribution. The union was so successful that the revolutionaries were unable to gain a foothold in that part of the country. Of all his ecclesiastical “awards”, a pectoral Cross, a gift from the peasants, was Vladika Vitaly’s most cherished decoration.

Further activities of Archimandrite Vitaly

A complete lack of self-interest enabled Archimandrite Vitaly (Maximenko) to direct all his energies wherever he saw a need. For example, during one church procession in 1908, his attention was drawn to a place where, in 1651, at the Battle of Berestechko, a vastly outnumbered force of cossacks under the Hetman Bohdan Khmelnitsky were annihilated by the Poles. They were never given proper burial, and more than 200 years later, their bones still lay there, partially exposed, a shame to their descendants and to all the Russian Orthodox. Archimandrite Vitaly (Maximenko) took immediate action. He built a large sepulchre and above it a memorial stone Temple with an enormous Altar. The Temple had extensions into the open courtyard so as to accommodate the crowds which came for the memorial services in honour of these heroic defenders of Orthodoxy at the “Cossack Graves” near Berestechko, in the Horokiv County of the Volyn Province.

Saint George Temple complex ; Cossack graves (Berestchko)

In 1910, Archimandrite Vitaly (Maximenko) was assigned to be the editor of the periodical “Russian Monk” (“Russkiy Inok”). He also organised a publishing brotherhood, and expanded Pochaiv’s publishing work.

In time, Archimandrite Vitaly became the de facto head of the ecclesiastical-patriotic organisation, “Union of Russian People” (“Soyuz Russkogo Naroda”), which promoted independence from economic exploitation and alcoholism, and which established a “People’s Bank” that provided low-interest credit to peasants.

Revolution, 1917 ; incarceration, 1919

In 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution shocked Archimandrite Vitaly. He travelled to Movilev, because he wished to serve a Divine Liturgy in the presence of the Tsar. However, he found that he was denied access to the Tsar.

Archimandrite Vitaly (Maximenko) was arrested twice. The first time was in 1919, at the “Cossack Graves”, when Archimandrite Vitaly, in the middle of serving the Divine Liturgy, was arrested by the Poles and charged with organising a revolt. He was imprisoned in the bowels of a fortress at Demblin, Poland, in a damp hole in the wall whose single window was submerged beneath the waters of the Vistula River. He was imprisoned together with Metropolitan Antony (Khrapovitsky) and Archbishop Evlogy (Georgievsky) in the Uniat (Ukrainian Catholic) monastery of Buchach in Galicia, then inside the walls of the Temple of the Cossack Graves, which he had built.

Later, in the presence of Roman Catholic priests, who bore him a grudge for a critical brochure he had written years before, he was interrogated, beaten and threatened with execution. Preparing himself in case of death, Archimandrite Vitaly communed himself, using his own chest in place of an antimins, after the example of Hieromartyr Lucian. Through the intercessions of other kind persons, he evaded execution.

Upon his release, he served in the diocese of Belostok (Byałystok) under Bishop Vladimir (Tikhonitsky).

Exile ; Yugoslavia, 1922

Finally, Metropolitan Antony (Khrapovitsky) (his faithful “abba” (spiritual father), who had by then become the Metropolitan of Kyiv and Halychyna (named for the ancient Halych), and who had fled to Yugoslavia) received help from the Serbian Patriarch Dimitrije (Pavlović), and Archimandrite Vitaly was released, first to Warsaw and then to Yugoslavia. There, he joined the metropolitan at the headquarters of the Russian Church diaspora in Sremski Karlovci.

Ladimirova, 1923

From Yugoslavia, after volunteering, he was sent to Ladomirova (Vladimirova), Czechoslovakia (this particular region is now known as Slovakia). He settled in a peasant hut, but a monastery soon formed around him. This move was a consequence of his having had to flee from Pochaev. During the turmoil of these years of war and revolution, Archimandrite Vitaly had never abandoned his responsibility for the Saint Job Press, which he had had to evacuate from Pochaev ahead of the German advance. Almost the entire stock of books had to be left behind, as well as 2 presses and part of the type. The rest of the equipment he managed to get by wagon and rail to Kyiv, Odessa, Zdolbunov and Kazatin. During the revolution, nearly all of it was seized by the Bolsheviks and Ukrainian nationalists.

It was in the hope of restoring the Saint Job of Pochaev printing brotherhood and its missionary witness, that he volunteered to fill a request from Vladimirova (Ladimirova) for an Orthodox priest. Ladmirova is situated near the border with Poland.

Holy Trinity Orthodox Temple in Ladimirova

Many Carpatho-Rusyns from this region had gone to the USA temporarily to work. There, these “Americans” (as they were called on their return) rediscovered the Orthodox Christian Faith of their fathers. Entire parishes in the Slovak region began voluntarily leaving the Unia and returning to Orthodoxy. However, they were rather timid in the face of the area’s still Roman Catholic majority, and they greeted the zeal of their new priest with apprehension. On the way from the station, he was asked to “bald himself”, i.e., to shave, and to put on a black “reverend” coat for the sake of appearances. He refused on both counts.

Archimandrite Vitaly's only “luggage” was a bundle containing a New Testament, eucharistic vessels and vestments. At first, life there was very difficult. He had no money, no Temple, no apartment. Nevertheless, his 11 years in Ladomirova (Vladimirova) left him with the happiest recollections of his life. He arrived in the town on the eve of the Feast of the Annunciation :

 That evening I served the vigil in an old inn bought by the American. [...] The service, with 
 congregational singing following Latin books, was animated.  In the morning the old women rebelled : 
 'Why should we have services in the inn ! Let's go into the old church ; it's also ours'.  They went. 
 The service was already in progress.  But this didn't stop the women.  They carried the vested Uniate 
 priest out of the altar.  I did not, however, enter the church and served in the yard, under some 
 willow trees.  Later the women had to appear in the circuit court. Only then did the people 
 understand that they couldn't use the old church ; they had to build their own.  They wrote to 
 America asking for help.  Meanwhile, services had to be held somewhere ; the Orthodox priest had to 
 be lodged somewhere.  They asked a young couple, Ivan and Maria, who had bought another old inn, to 
 give the adjoining cottage for services and for my residence.  It was crowded, but there was nothing 
 to be done.  And so I began to fulfil my spiritual duties without any funds whatsoever.  The women 
 fed me by turns, as they did the village shepherd.

Within 6 months, he had acquired some printing equipment which had been evacuated to Prague from Omsk via Vladivostok and Trieste, and which was given to him by the Lemkovo Student Committee (students of the Lemko population of the region). It consisted of a press (an "Amerikanka"), 450 pounds of loose Russian type, 900 pounds of poor paper and some 65 pounds of ink. Two young volunteers arrived from Yugoslavia and, in April, 1924, the historic Saint Job of Pochaev Press resumed operation.

Russian hand-driven "Amerikanka" printing press

The press was located temporarily in a nearby town, but within 2 years it had its own building in Ladomirova (Vladimirova). By that time a stone church had been built, and, as the brotherhood grew, a refectory and guest house were added. Archimandrite Vitaly (Maximenko) himself took an active part in these undertakings : digging foundations, setting type, proof-reading. Hearing of his labours, the Pochaev Lavra sent a large icon of Saint Job, in which was embedded a piece of his relics. “This blessing”, wrote Vladika Vitaly, “was for me and for the printing brotherhood gathered there in Ladomirova (Vladimirova) a great joy and strengthening : in this way my alma mater, the Pochaev Lavra, transferred to us the right and the blessing to continue in Ladomirova (Vladimirova) the great work of Saint Job’s service to the Church and to the Russian people by means of the printed word”. Every morning, the brethren went to this icon for a blessing from their heavenly patron.

Within a short time, Ladomirova (Vladimirova) became a treasury of service books for the entire Russian diaspora, and, in the Pochaev tradition, the brotherhood began publishing a newspaper, “Orthodox Carpatho-Rus’”, still published today as “Orthodox Rus’” by the “Saint Job of Pochaev Press” at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York. The brotherhood also laboured locally as pastors and missionaries, continuing the Pochaev tradition of church processions through the countryside, which spiritually inspired the area’s inhabitants.

In 1928, in Ladomirova (Vladimirova), Archimandrite Vitaly (Maximenko) baptised Vasily Škurla.

In 1932, a Serbian bishop, Bishop Damaskin (Grdanichki), sanctified the premises where Archimandrite Vitaly lived.

In 1933, The Russian Church Press of Saint Job of Pochaev was incorporated and registered with the government. Having been founded in 1618 and being run continuously until 1918, it was now re-established in 1933. At the same time, he worked with formerly-Uniat parishes. The Church of Serbia had jurisdiction over these parishes, while the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) had jurisdiction over the monastery and press.

Election to the Holy Episcopate, 1933

In 1933, Archbishop Apollinary (Koshevoy) of North America and Canada reposed. Metropolitan Antony asked Archimandrite Vitaly (Maximenko) to fill the vacancy left by Archbishop Apollinary’s repose, and to serve as the ruling hierarch of North America and Canada. This was a position which, in view of the sharp jurisdictional conflict with the followers of Metropolitan Platon (Rozhdestvensky), demanded strong leadership. Archimandrite Vitaly had already refused the episcopal service 6 times, but this time, after Metropolitan Antony threatened to refuse to be his spiritual father any longer, he agreed.

Before his ordination to the Holy Episcopate, he promised God to put all his strength into making peace within the Church. More than any other hierarch he burned with the desire to unite ecclesiastically the entire Russian diaspora. To his great sorrow, he did not succeed in this. However, despite some strong differences of opinion about certain matters of how Church life should develop in North America, the future Metropolitan Leonty (Turkevich) of the North American Metropolia, later eulogised Vladyka Vitaly as he said that he was “a man of God” whose name will live “from generation to generation, from age to age”.

Episcopal ordination, 1934

On 6 May, 1934, Archimandrite Vitaly (Maximenko) was ordained to the Holy Episcopate in Sremski Karlovci in Yugoslavia.

Episcopal service

On 6 May, 1934, Bishop Vitaly (Maximenko) was assigned to be the Bishop of Detroit in the USA.

On 3 September, 1934, Bishop Vitaly (Maximenko) was elevated to the dignity of archbishop.

At that time, he was assigned also to serve as the Archbishop of North America and Canada.

Transfer to the USA, 1934

Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko) arrived in New York City on 15 October, 1934.

Again in 1934, for the sake of peace, Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko) removed the suspensions on Metropolitan Platon and his Vicar-Bishops in the "Metropolia".

On 27 December, 1934, Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko) incorporated the diocese.

Reconciliation of the ROCOR with the "Metropolia", 1935

In 1935, through the efforts of Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko), the Metropolia returned to communion and co-operation with the ROCOR. In this same year, Archbishop Vitaly participated in the ROCOR council of bishops in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. During the following decade, the ROCOR and the Metropolia lived as one in one united administration in North America.

In 1936, Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko) participated in the episcopal ordination of Metropolitan Antony (Bashir) of the Antiochian Orthodox diocese in America.

Despite his demanding new duties as hierarch, Vladyka Vitaly’s thoughts were never far from his monastic family. He had arrived in the USA just as a foundation was being laid for Holy Trinity Monastery, at Jordanville, New York, and he was asked to bless the newly-built wooden Temple. The very same day, this fruit of 5 years of labour went up in flames. Here, at this baptism of fire, as it were, a bond was forged between Vladika Vitaly and the new brotherhood. In 11 years, this brotherhood was joined by the Saint Job brotherhood, evacuated from Czechoslovakia because of the war. Together, they formed one family with Vladyka Vitaly at the head. A seminary was established, a stone church was built, and everywhere Vladyka Vitaly’s energy and whole-hearted dedication to the work of God stood as a most compelling example.

In 1938, Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko) inspired the construction of the Temple of Saint Vladimir, a Memorial Church in Jackson, New Jersey, which was to serve as a focus of prayer for all Russian-speakers in the USA.

Archbishop Vitaly serving in the Bronx, 1940

In the early 1940s, Vladyka Vitaly took part in the life of Saint Vladimir's Seminary. He replaced Metropolitan Theophilus (Pashkovsky) as rector, and he presided over a joint meeting of the Paedagogical Council with the Academic Commission.

Vladyka Vitaly was a consistent anti-communist and anti-Soviet. In 1941, he opposed the policy of President F D Roosevelt aimed at rapprochement with the Soviet Union and assisting the USSR in the war against Nazi Germany.

Separation from the "Metropolia", 1947

On 4 March, 1947, after the separation between the ROCOR and the Metropolia, Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko) was assigned to be the Archbishop of Jersey City and Eastern America.

Abbot of Jordanville Monastery ; founding Jordanville Holy Trinity Seminary 1948

In 1948, Archbishop Vitaly became the first elected abbot of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York.

On 13 October, 1948, he opened the Holy Trinity Theological Seminary at the monastery.

Father Michael Pomazansky provided a wonderful verbal illustration of this father of monks :

Here is Vladika at Holy Trinity Monastery. There's the nocturnal ring of the small bell ; Vladika is
first to make his way through the snow to morning prayers in the church and the midnight service ;
after compline he is almost the last to leave. Here is Vladika in his cell : you pass by, the door
is open, he is sitting at his table working ; you can see how the room is furnished : a table, chair,
an icon corner, a small chest of drawers–almost empty, no doubt, a bed. [...] That’s everything. The
mail arrives ; he receives a gift of a book ; it is sent off straightway with a note : 'for the
monastery library'. Vladika makes the daily rounds, checking on the brothers at their obediences :
he greets them with a kind word, gives them guidance, strengthens them in their labours. In the
fall there’s the potato harvest; basket in hand, Vladika goes out to the field with the brothers. [...]
Vladika usually leaves on weekends to serve in New York ; he carries his heavy suitcase–filled with
vegetables and other provisions which the brothers are sending to those working at the diocesan
headquarters. In leaving he would often say, ‘If need be, use my bed’.

A teacher, missionary, printer, pastor, preacher, church builder, monastic father, hierarch,
confessor of the Faith. [...] How did Archbishop Vitaly do it ? His mentor, Metropolitan Antony
(Khrapovitsky), said of him : 'He crucified himself for the sake of the Church and the people'. And
Archpriest Nicholas Deputatov, at the time of Vladika Vitaly’s repose thirty years ago, wrote in
tribute : 'Vladika Vitaly had no personal life: he gave everything to the Church ; he disappeared
entirely into the interests of Church life. The Church was his first love ; his concerns for the
Church were so encompassing as to leave no room for any thoughts of self [...]'.

In 1949, Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko) participated in the episcopal ordination of Archimandrite Michael (Konstantinides) to be the Archbishop of the Greek Archdiocese of America.

During the following years, Vladyka Vitaly concentrated his attention chiefly on teaching at Holy Trinity Seminary. He continued to fulfil his diocesan responsibilities weekly by

Repose, 1960

On 21 March, 1960, Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko) of Eastern America and Jersey City reposed peacefully in Christ.

The Funeral Services for the Burial of a Hierarch were offered at Holy Trinity Monastery.

After the completion of the funeral services, in accordance with his will, he was interred in the Saint Vladimir Memorial Church in Jackson, New Jersey, a project he had conceived as a unifying focal point for all the Russian Orthodox.

— Bishop of Detroit (ROCOR) 1934. Preceded by : Bishop Feodosy (Samoilovich).

— Archbishop of Detroit (ROCOR) 1934-1947. Succeeded by : Bishop Ieronim (Chernov).

— Archbishop of North America and Canada (ROCOR) 1934-1935. Preceded by : Bishop Tikhon (Troitsky). Succeeded by : Union with the Metropolia.

— Archbishop of Jersey City and Eastern America (ROCOR) 1947-1960. Preceded by : The see was created. Succeeded by : Archbishop Philaret (Voznesensky).

(Abbot of the Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville 1948-1960.)

(Rector of the Holy Trinity Seminary, Jordanville 1948-1952.)

Reflections

Guidelines for Proper Conduct in Church

By Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko).

Orthodox Christians, brothers and sisters !

On our sinful earth the holy Church is the only place where we can get away from life’s storms and inclemency, from the world’s moral filth. The Church is an image of heaven on earth ; within the Temple the heavenly powers serve invisibly. Remember and know : the Holy Temple is the house of God, in which God Himself is invisibly present. For this reason, our behaviour in the Temple should correspond to its holiness and its greatness.

1. Enter the Temple with humility and meekness, so as to leave justified, as the humble publican [Luke 18:10-14] of the Gospel.

2. When you enter the Temple and see the holy icons, think about the fact that the Lord Himself and all the Saints are looking at you; be particularly reverent and have the fear of God.

3. Always come for the beginning of the service. If for some important reason you are late, be careful not to disturb the prayer of those already there. If you come to the Temple during the reading of the Gospel, stand at the entrance doors until the end of the reading : when it is finished, quietly go to your place.

4. When you take your place in the Temple and others are standing nearby, greet them with a silent nod; never, even with close friends, shake hands or ask any questions. Be sincerely modest in church.

5. If you come to the Temple with children, see that they behave themselves properly, meekly, and that they not be noisy ; teach them to understand and know how people should behave in the Temple ; accustom them to pray. If the children have to leave the Temple, tell them to cross themselves and to leave quietly, or take them out yourself.

6. Pray in the Temple as though you yourself are participating in the Divine Services and not simply attending, so that those prayers and hymns which are being chanted come from your own heart ; attentively follow the holy service, in order to pray together with everyone and to pray for that which the whole Church is praying for.

7. While still at home, before going to the Temple, prepare your money for the prosphora, candles and the collection plates ; avoid having to make change at the candle counter ; this necessitates talking and disturbs the service and those praying.

8. Never, without extreme need, leave the Temple before the end of the service ; this indicates disrespect for the holiness of the Temple and it is a sin before God. If it happens that you do leave early, you should mention this to the priest in confession.

9. Approach Holy Communion humbly and reverently, crossing your hands on your chest ; with faith and love receive the Holy Mysteries of God ; then, kiss the Chalice without crossing yourself, so as not to bump it accidentally, and quietly return to your place. Do not leave the Temple without listening to the thanksgiving prayers to the Lord God, after Holy Communion.

Writings

• “Allied Science” (Pochaev, 1909) ; reprinted there in 1912.

• “Catechism of the Union of the Russian People” (Pochaev, 1910).

• “Cross over Berestechko : About the glorious Ukrainian Hetman Zinovy-Bohdan Khmelnitsky and about the Battle of Berestechka in 1651” (Pochaev Lavra, 1912).

• ‘On the Issue of establishing a Parish Bank in Volyn : Help, Shepherds, to redeem the People from the impending Captivity’ in “Bulletin of the Russian Assembly”, no. 7 (1911).

• “Cossack Graves near Plyasheva” (Pochaev, 1911).

• “The current Position of the Russian Orthodox Church in America” (Jordanville, NY : Holy Trinity Monastery, 1947).

• “The Motives of my Life” (Jordanville, NY : Holy Trinity Monastery, 1955), illustrated.

• “Orthodox anti-sectarian Leadership” (Jordanville, NY : Holy Trinity Monastery, 1958).

• “Report on Ecumenism”, read to the Council of Bishops in 1967 in Mahopak (Montreal, 1989).

• “Teaching Books of the Old Testament” (Jordanville, NY : Holy Trinity Monastery, 1952).

• “Prophetic Books of the Old Testament” (Jordanville, NY : Holy Trinity Monastery, 1953).

Writings by various authors about Archbsihop Vitaly (Maximeno)

• Anthony, Archbishop, ‘The ever-memorable Archbishop Vitaly of Eastern America and New Jersey’ (on the 25th anniversary of his death) in “Orthodox Russia”, no. 6 (1985), pp. 9-10.

• A N, ‘The last Days of Vladyka’ in “Orthodox Russia”1960. - no. 6 (1960), pp. 11-12.

• Bobrov, N, ‘Memory Eternal’ in “Orthodox Russia”, no. 6 (1970). pp. 5-6

• Deputies, Archpriest N, ‘On the Death of His Eminence Vitaly, Archbishop of Eastern America and Jersey’ in “Orthodox Russia”, no. 13 (1960), p. 7.

• Kosik, V I ‘Vitaly’ in “Orthodox Encyclopedia”, vol. VIII (Moscow : Church Scientific Center of the Orthodox Encyclopedia, 2004), pp. 561-563. ISBN 5-89572-014-5.

• Pomazansky, Archpriest M, ‘Life is an heroic Struggle’ (on the 25th anniversary of the episcopal Ministry of Vladyka Vitaly) in “Orthodox Russia”, no. 8 (1959), pp. 5-7.

• ......, ‘Life is an heroic Struggle : His Eminence Archbishop Vitaly’ in “About Life, about Faith, about the Church, Collected Papers” 1946-1976 (Jordanville, NY : Holy Trinity Monastery, 1976), pp. 249-271.

• Ponomarev, Archpriest A, ‘In Memory of Archbishop Vitaly’ in “Orthodox Russia”, no. 16 (1960), p. 5.

• Popovkin, A A, ‘Archbishop Vitaly (Maksimenko) as an All-Slavic Figure’ in “Slavic Almanac” (2004), pp. 69-71.

• (Rklitsky), Archbishop Nikon, ‘Archbishop Vitaly on the 100th Anniversary of his Birth’ in “Pravosl.”, no. 8 (1973), pp. 11-28.

• (Shahovskoy), Archbishop John, ‘Archimandrite Vitaly’ in “Biography of Youth : Establishing Unity” (Paris, 1977 and Moscow, 2007), pp. 375-378.

• (Skurla), Archbishop Laurus, ‘Archbishop Vitaly Maksimenko’ (commemorated 8 March) in “Orthodox Russia”, no. 6 (1970), pp. 3-4.

• ......, ‘25th Anniversary of the Death of Archbishop Vitaly’ in “Orthodox Russia”, no. 5 (1985), pp. 5-6.

• Talberg N D, ‘In Memory of Archbishop Vitaly’ in “Orthodox Russia”, no. 6 (1960), pp. 6-8.

• (Zaitsev), Archimandrite Konstantine, ‘Father Vitaly’ in “Orthodox Russia”, no. 6 (1960), pp. 5-6.

• ......, ‘The life Path of Archbishop Vitaly’ in "Orthodox Russia", no. 3 (1959), pp. 4-7.

• ......, ‘On the fifth Anniversary of the Death of Archbishop Vitaly (8/21 March)’ in “Orthodox Russia”, no. 6 (1965), pp. 4-5.

• “Collection of Materials on the History of the Holy Trinity Seminary for the fifty-fifth Anniversary of the Holy Trinity Seminary 1948-2003”, compiled by K V Glazkov, Monk Benjamin (Gomartels) and Monk Vsevolod (Filipyev) (Jordanville, NY : Holy Trinity Monastery, 2003). ISBN 0-88465-072-3.

• ‘The Death of Archbishop Vitaly’ in “Orthodox Russia”, no. 6 (1960), p. 1.

• ‘Edict of Archbishop John No. 798 to the clergy and flock on the death of Archbishop Vitaly’ in "Bulletin of the German Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad”, no. 5 (Munich, 1960), pp. 5-6.

• ‘Loyalty and Conscientiousness’ (35th anniversary of the naming of Archimandrite Vitaly as Bishop of Pochaev) in “Orthodox Russia”, no. 8 (1969), pp. 4-5.

• ‘The Sixtieth Anniversary of the Ministry of Archbishop Vitaly’ in “Pravoslavnaya Rus”, no. 4 (1959), p. 6.

References

(Maximenko), Archbishop Vitaly, “Motifs from My Life” (Jordanville, New York : Holy Trinity Monastery, 1955).

(Medvedev), Archbishop Anthony, of Western America and San Francisco, ‘Archbishop Vitaly of Eastern America and New Jersey’ in “Pravoslavnaya Rus’”, no. 6 (1985).

(Medvedev), Archbishop Anthony, of Western America and San Francisco, ‘Archpastor-Builder of Russian Church Unity’ in “Pravoslavny Put” (Jordanville, New York, 1973).

(Skurla), Abbot Laurus, ‘Archbishop Vitaly, a True Disciple of St. Job’ in “The Orthodox Word” (Platina, California, May-June, 1965).

Orthodoxwiki biography

Russian Biography, Russian Encyclopaedia

Russian Wikipedia biography

Chronos biography

Orthodox Encyclopedia biography

Drevo Encyclopedia biography

Academic Dictionary biography

Additional information :

Archdiocese of Canada — Orthodox Church in America, “The Orthodox Church in Canada : A Chronology” (Ottawa : Archdiocese of Canada, 1988).

ROCORStudies article about Vladyka Vitaly (Maximenko)

History of the Holy Trinity Seminary