REPOSE OF H.E. ARCHBISHOP SERAPHIM (SIGRIST)
His Grace Bishop Seraphim (Sigrist), former Bishop of Sendai, fell asleep in the Lord on February 6, 2026.
Bishop Seraphim was born Joseph Sigrist on December 13, 1941 in New York and baptized in a Presbyterian Church. He was brought up in Pleasantville, NY and studied at Nyack College. While studying at Nyack he began to attend the Orthodox Church and, on completing his degree there, he was received into the Orthodox Church at Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral in New York. He then began study at Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary and, after graduating in 1967, went to Japan to assist the Orthodox Church in Japan.
In Japan working first as a teacher in a church related school and assisting as a deacon at the Toyohashi Church, he was tonsured a monk with the name Seraphim and served first as a parish priest in the town of Nakanida and then, being consecrated in Tokyo on December 19, 1971, from that time served as Bishop of East Japan living in Sendai.
Bishop Seraphim served in Japan for 19 years, returning to the United States in 1987. He taught in the graduate department of religion at Drew University, wrote three books, and visited Russia frequently in recent years in support of mission especially to youth in Russia.
The funeral services for Bishop Seraphim will be held at Holy Trinity Church, Yonkers, NY and is as follows:
Monday, February 16
6:00-7:00 PM Viewing
7:00 PM Burial Service
Tuesday, February 17
9:00-10:00 AM Viewing
10:00 AM Divine Liturgy followed by Panikhida (served in the presbyteral manner)
A catered meal will be in the hall following Divine Liturgy, followed by interment at New Skete.
May Bishop Seraphim’s memory be eternal!
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ARCHPASTORAL MESSAGE OF HIS BEATITUDE MET. TIKHON ON GREAT LENT
February 23, 2026 02/001
To the clergy, monastics, and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America, beloved children in the Lord:
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
First, please be assured of my prayers for you, my flock throughout North America, as we enter into this great and holy season of the Fast. May God grant each of you his aid and support, comfort and blessings, as we all take up our Lenten podvig.
In our present media-mad, ever-online cultural atmosphere, opinion often appears to be our society’s highest value, both morally and economically. To hold and express an opinion on all manner of “issues” is cast as the highest form of self-realization. In the meanwhile, the so-called attention economy coddles our biases in order to peddle us all manner of products. Many of you, beloved in the Lord, will know that I have written of this before, but I do so again because the reign of opinion has only become more firmly entrenched, and the spiritual dangers which this situation presents have become only more pervasive.
However, I exhort you to remember, especially during this sacred season of the Holy Forty Days, that, no matter how entrenched or pervasive these realities have become, we find in our Orthodox Christian tradition spiritual medicines, therapies, and inoculations for every temptation, sin, trial, and affliction. Thus, against the background of the technological and social developments and trends that have led us to the present moment, the sacred tradition of Orthodox Christianity appears more distinct perhaps than ever before. In marked contrast to our society’s lionization of opinion and constant public self-expression, our faith highlights the spiritual value of dispassion, restraint, sobriety, balance, and discernment.
This is not to deny that our faith may sometimes call us to speak and act. Rather, it is a reminder that our starting point should be, not certainty of our own moral superiority and clarity of judgment, but rather humility and self-examination. As the spiritual classic Unseen Warfare points out, we must be suspicious of any thought of ours, no matter how apparently good it may be on the surface. We do not blindly trust our every notion; rather we submit all our thoughts to a process of discernment, in accordance with St. Paul’s exhortation: “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (2 Cor. 13:5).
If we try to make this practice our own, we will find that, perhaps unexpectedly, such sobriety and restraint do not limit our God-given freedom, our human agency, but rather increase it. After all, the opinionated person is battered by the winds of change, forced to react to every event and controversy, forced to take a
P.O. Box 31409 Alexandria, Virginia, 22310 516-922-0550 - metropolitan@oca.org - www.oca.org
stance on every issue and topic. On the other hand, the sober-minded person, the practitioner of discernment, is free from the shackles of the news cycle, free from the expectation and compulsion to take a stance on the issue du jour. He who is accustomed to restraint is free to form his own opinions—or not— and to do so in his own time, with recourse to prayer, reflection, and unhurried reasoning.
In the end, however, we do not practice discernment, self-examination, restraint, and dispassion as an end in and of themselves. Yes, they may help to liberate us from the whirl of current events and the churning waves of controversy, and this can bring us a measure of temporal peace and well-being. But as Christians we desire not merely to be free from evil, but to be free for good. From this perspective, restraint and sobriety are simply spiritual tools—albeit invaluable spiritual tools—and we use these tools to draw nearer to Christ, or rather, to allow Christ, in his great mercy and love for mankind, to draw closer to us. As the holy apostle James says, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (Jam. 4:8). For, if we are obsessed with our own opinion, what room do we leave for understanding and acting in accordance with God’s will? If we are loudly pointing out the wounds of others, what time and space to we leave for Christ to tend own wounds?
From our vantage at the beginning of the Great Fast, all of this serves to remind us that our entire Lenten effort, indeed our entire Christian life-long struggle, is ultimately directed toward joy – not the passing joys that stimulate our passions, but the everlasting joy of communion with God the Father, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit. The path of repentance may indeed lead us through valleys of sorrow and up rocky slopes of adversity, but the end of the path is true freedom, true happiness, true delight, true love, true existence.
Therefore, when we draw the contrast between the world and its opinions and Christian sobriety, we do not offer dour moralism in place of excitement and expression. Instead, Christ offers us every good gift—now and eternally—if we desire to receive those gifts. Instead of being dragged along in the wake of shifting events, the Lord shows us the way toward lasting peace of mind and heart: through dispassion, yes, but ultimately through his own presence in us: the true Peace of God in our hearts and in our midst, now and ever.
To him, our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, our Peace and our Salvation, be all honor and glory, together with his Father and his Holy Spirit, the Comforter, now and always and unto endless ages of ages.
Once again, please be assured of my prayers for you during this sacred season, and may God sustain all of us as we prepare, through our Lenten struggle, to meet the supreme feast of his radiant Pascha.
Yours in Christ,
+ Tikhon
Archbishop of Washington Metropolitan of All America and Canada
P.O. Box 31409 Alexandria, Virginia, 22310 516-922-0550 - metropolitan@oca.org - www.oca.org
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ROCOR FIRST HIERARCH ISSUES STATEMENT IN DEFENSE OF THE FAITHFUL OF THE UOC
On 21st November 2025, Metropolitan Nicholas of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, issued a statement, in which he explained the purpose of the meetings held earlier in Washington, denounced their misinterpretation in the media and expressed support for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church suffering under ongoing pressure.
As Raskolamnet web portal reports citing the Union of Orthodox Journalists, Metropolitan Nicholas had visited Capitol Hill and participated in several meetings with the U.S. officials as a member of an inter-Orthodox delegation advocating the freedom of religion in Ukraine and recognition of the grievous plight of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The delegation acted under the auspices of the Society of Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco.
Commenting his trip, Metropolitan Nicholas wrote, “It is a pity that our visits coincided with a media article that so misrepresented all our Churches, attempting to cast Orthodoxy in a negative light; but we were grateful that the actual reception we had by our political leaders in Washington was warm, filled with a desire for understanding and an awareness of our shared wish to work together for peace.”
“As Orthodox Christians, it is our particular responsibility to advocate for those who are members of our own household of Faith,” the ROCOR First Hierarch continued, “We therefore seek to ease pressures and hostile actions being directed against our brothers and sisters in Christ who belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, including the forced closure of their churches and violence directed against their clergy and people”.
As was reported by the western media, the Archons of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the United States had issued a statement, accusing the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of persecuting and attacking the OCU members. The statement was made following the meeting of the Orthodox Churches’ delegation with the U.S. officials in Washington, during which they discussed the grievous plight of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Source: https://www.patriarchia.ru/en (Official website of the Moscow Patriarchate)
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DIOCESAN LENTEN WOMEN'S RETREAT TO BE HELD AT ST. ANDREW'S CAMP
The Diocese of New York and New Jersey of the Orthodox Church in America invites all women of the Diocese to participate in the 2026 Lenten Women’s Retreat, to be held Friday, March 27 through Sunday, March 29, 2026 at St. Andrew’s Camp and Retreat Center.
This year’s retreat is titled “Becoming Myrrhbearers,” inviting participants to reflect prayerfully on the witness, courage, and devotion of the Myrrhbearing Women as we journey together through the holy season of Great Lent.
The keynote speaker will be Elissa Bjeletich Davis, an Orthodox author and podcaster devoted to ministry for all ages. She writes for children and adults, contributes to curriculum projects, teaches Sunday school, and frequently speaks at women’s and family retreats. She and her husband, Chris, reside near Austin, Texas.
His Eminence, Archbishop Michael, will also be visiting during the retreat.
The retreat fee is:
Registration is available online.
2026 Lenten Women's Retreat Fly…
For additional information, please email.
All women of the Diocese are warmly encouraged to attend this spiritually enriching weekend of prayer, fellowship, and reflection as we prepare our hearts for Holy Pascha.
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