Metropolitan Nicholas (Olhovsky)

Metropolitan Nicholas (Olhovsky) (1974-____)

Nicholas may be spelt Nikolai, Nicolas.

Olhovsky may be spelt Olhovski, Olhovskiy, Olkhovsky.

Shohov may be spelt Zhokhov.

Early life

On 17 December, 1974, Nicholas Alexandrovich Olhovsky was born in Trenton, New Jersey, USA, to Alexander Nikolaevich and Evdokia Grigorievna (born Rusinovich) Olhovsky. They had been Soviet refugees who fled the USSR during World War II.

The Olhovsky family were parishioners of the Church of the Holy Dormition in Trenton, New Jersey, and Nicholas Alexandrovich was baptised in that Temple on 18 January, 1975. He was raised by his family as an Orthodox Christian in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR).

Nicholas Alexandrovich graduated from the Saint Alexander Nevsky Parochial School in Howell, New Jersey, in 1991, and then from Hamilton West High School in 1993.

In 1994, Nicholas was tonsured to be a reader by Bishop Hilarion (Kapral) of Manhattan on the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, in his home parish in Trenton.

Holy Assumption (Dormition) Temple, Trenton

Higher education

Nicholas Alexandrovich entered the Holy Trinity Orthodox Theological Seminary at Jordanville, New York, in September, 1993. During his time of study, he also served obediences in book-binding, iconography, and typography. He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology in 1998.

Holy Trinity Monastery and Seminary

Following his graduation, Nicholas entered the State University of New York (Suny) Institute of Technology, from which he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Information Design in 2000.

From March, 1999, to March, 2008, he served as cell attendant to Metropolitan Laurus (Škurla) |Archbishop Laurus (Škurla), of the Diocese of Eastern America, who, from October, 2001, to March, 2008, was Metropolitan and First Hierarch of the ROCOR).

Subdeacon Nicholas with Metropolitan Laurus

In May, 2004, Nicholas accompanied Metropolitan Laurus on the first official visit of a First Hierarch of the ROCOR to the Russian Orthodox Church.

Marriage, 2004

On 14 November, 2004, Nicholas Alexandrovich Olhovsky was married to Elisabeth Panteleymonovna Shohov, grand-daughter of Bishop Mitrophan (Znosko-Borovsky) of Boston, Massachusetts.

Born on 7 March, 1972, she was a daughter of Panteleimon and Anna Shohov. She had a sister, Tatiana, and a brother, Serge.

After their marriage, she and her husband were resident at Holy Trinity Monastery at Jordanville, New York. Elizabeth came to be working as a registered nurse (RN) at the Neighbourhood Centre in Utica, New York, and at the Rome Memorial Hospital in Rome, New York. She went on to prepare to become nurse practitioner.

In addition to these responsibilities, Matushka Elisabeth also came to the responsibility of serving as assistant to the Chancellor of the Synod of Bishops.

On 8 January, 2005, Metropolitan Laurus (Škurla) ordained Nicholas Olhovsky to be a subdeacon.

In May, 2005, they visited Metropolitan Laurus's homeland of Carpathian Russia in Slovakia.

In May, 2006, Subdeacon Nicholas served as a delegate to the Fourth All-Diaspora Church Council in San Francisco, California.

Deacon Nicholas, Matushka Elizabeth Olhovsky

Diaconal ordination, 2006

On 11 June, 2006, the Feast of Pentecost, Subdeacon Nicholas Olhovsky was ordained to the Holy Diaconate.

Ordination to the Holy Diaconate

Diaconal service

Deacon Nicholas Olhovsky was assigned to Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanvile, New York.

In May, 2007, Deacon Nicholas took part in the celebrations of the Act of Canonical Union of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia with the Moscow Patriarchate in Moscow, Russia. Just after this, he accompanied Metropolitan Laurus (Škurla) on a pilgrimage to the Diocese of Kursk and to the Church of Ukraine.

On 16 June, 2006, Deacon Nicholas Olhovsky was awarded the double orarion.

In July, 2008, Deacon Nicholas accompanied the reliquary containing the right hand of the Holy Martyr Abbess Elizabeth and also some particles of the Holy Relics of the Holy Martyr Nun Barbara on a visit to parishes in Australia. The main portions of both Holy Martyrs reside at the Monastery of Saint Mary Magdalena at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, Israel.

In September, 2008, Deacon Nicholas Olhovsky was assigned to duties in the central office in New York City of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

In May, 2009, Deacon Nicholas was assigned to serve as a member of the working-group charged with organising the details and itinerary of the travels of the Holy Kursk Root Icon of the Theotokos.

In September, 2009, Deacon Nicholas was a member of the entourage that accompanied the Holy Kursk-Root Icon of the Theotokos to Russia.

In 2010, Deacon Nicholas Olhovsky again accompanied the Holy Kursk-Root Icon of the Theotokos on a visit to the Diocese of Kursk in Russia, and to the Diocese of Sumy in Ukraine.

Bereavement, 2010

On 4 January, 2010, Panteleimon Shohov, MD, father of Matushka Elisabeth Olhovsky, fell asleep in the Lord in New York.

Panteleimon Shohov, son of Leonid and Alexandra (born Kupreyanov) Shohov, was born in Thessalonika, Greece, in 1927. His parents had come to Thessalonika as refugees following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917. Panteleimon had been educated in a German School in Greece, and he continued his studies in Austria after the family evacuated there, again as refugees. After World War II, he studied in a medical school in Munich, Germany. Upon arriving in the USA in 1950, he received a Bachelor's degree from Davis and Elkins College in West Virginia in 1952. He graduated from Boston University Medical School in 1956. He served his residency at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. He served in the armed forces during the Korean War, and he served as a Captain at the Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. Upon completion of military service he returned to Sea Cliff, and he worked as a pathologist. He worked for the Nassau County Medical Examiner's office. He also worked for Mercy Hospital for many years, after which he retired in 1995. Nevertheless, he continued working at the Quest Diagnostics Laboratories until January 2008.

He was survived by his wife, Anna Shohov (born Znosko Borovsky), his daughters Tatiana Shohov and Elisabeth Shohov-Olhovsky, his son Serge Shohov, and his sister Alexandra Zezulin, as well as nieces, nephews, and many other relatives.

The Funeral Service for the Burial of a Lay-person was served at Saint Seraphim Russian Orthodox Church in Sea Cliff, Long Island, New York, on Friday, 8 January, 2010. The interment was at the Holy Trinity Monastery Cemetery in Jordanville, New York.

Bereavement, 2010

On Wednesday, 8 September, 2010, Matushka Elisabeth Olhovsky unexpectedly fell asleep in the Lord in Maine, USA.

The Funeral Service for the Burial of a Lay-person were held at 6 p.m., Sunday, 12 September, 2010, at Saint Seraphim Russian Orthodox Church, Sea Cliff, Long Island, New York, Archpriest Seraphim Gan led this service.

On Monday, 13 September, 2010, at 1 p.m., there was a Memorial Service (Panikhida) offered at Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, New York. Following this service, the body of Matushka Elisabeth (Olhovsky) was interred at the Holy Trinity Monastery Cemetery.

After the funeral services we completed, a memorial fund was established in Matushka's name in order to assist in the frescoing of her home parish of Saint Seraphim of Sarov in Sea Cliff, New York.

Saint Seraphim Temple, Sea Cliff, Long Island, New York

Grave-marker at Jordanville

Further diaconal service, 2010

In December, 2010, Deacon Nicholas Olhovsky was assigned to serve as Care-taker of the Holy Kursk-Root Icon of the Theotokos.

Deacon Nicholas with the Holy Kursk-Root Icon

In January, 2011, Deacon Nicholas was assigned to serve in the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign of the Theotokos in Manhattan. He was also given a place of residence in the Synod Building.

Later in 2011, he travelled again with the Holy Icon : in September, to the Diocese of Kursk and then to the Metropolia of Kazakhstan ; and in November, to Australia.

On 11 December,2011, Deacon Nicholas Olhovsky was elevated to the dignity of protodeacon.

Presbyteral ordination, 2012

On 1 August, 2012, Deacon Nicholas Olhovsky was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral) on the occasion of the dedication of the Church of Saint Seraphim of Sarov as a Memorial Church to the Re-Establishment of Unity in the Russian Church.

Pastoral service

At the time of his priestly ordination, Priest Nichlas Olhovsky was awarded the nabedrennik.

In 2012, Priest Nicholas Olhovsky, visiting along with Archbishop Mark (Arndt) of Berlin, accompanied the “Protectress of the Russian Diaspora” (the Kursk-Root Icon of the Theotokos) to the dioceses of Samara, Kursk, and Perm Dioceses.

He travelled also with the Holy Icon to Seattle and to the Hawaiian Islands.

On 6 January, 2013, Priest Nicholas Olhovsky was awarded the purple kamilavka, and the gold pectoral Cross by the Synod of Bishops.

In 2013, he accompanied the Kursk Root Icon to the Canadian Diocese, to Japan and the Primorsk Metropolia of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Nomination to become a bishop, 2013

On 9 December, 2013, Priest Nicholas Olhovsky was nominated by the Holy Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR to be a candidate for the vacant Manhattan cathedral see of the Diocese of Eastern America and New York.

The nomination was confirmed by the Holy Synod of the Church of Russia on 19 March, 2014.

Monastic tonsure, 2014

On 4 April, 2014, Priest Nicholas Olhovsky was tonsured to be a monk in Holy Trinity Monastery at Jordanville, New York.

At that time, he was given the name “Nicholas” in honour of the Holy Hierarch Nicholas (Kasatkin) of Japan.

Tonsure of Priest-monk Nicholas (Olhovsky)

On 27 April, 2014, in Holy New-Martyrs and Confessors of Russia Cathedral in Munich, Germany, at the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy (on the second Sunday of Holy Pascha), in the presence of the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God, and in accordance with the resolution of the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR, Archbishop Mark (Arndt) of Berlin and Germany elevated Hieromonk Nicholas (Olhovsky) to the dignity of archimandrite.

On 25 June, 2014, Archimandrite Nicholas (Olhovsky) was elected to be a permanent member of the ROCOR Synod of Bishops, in order to serve as deputy secretary of the ROCOR Synod of Bishops.

Episcopal ordination, 2014

On Saturday, 28 June, 2014, at the Cathedral of the Theotokos, “Joy of All who Sorrow” in San Francisco, California (during the 20th anniversary of the Glorification of the Holy Hierarch John (Maximovitch) of Shanghai and San Francisco), the Rite of Profession of Faith and Nomination was performed by the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

On Sunday, 29 June, 2014, at the Cathedral of the Theotokos “Joy of All who Sorrow” in San Francisco, California, during the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, Archimandrite Nicholas (Olhovsky) was ordained to the Holy Episcopate.

He was ordained by Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral), Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Outside Russia, together with Archbishops Mark (Arndt) of Berlin ; Kirill (Dmitrieff) of San Francisco ; Gabriel (Chemodakov) of Montréal ; Michael (Donskov) of Geneva ; and Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Naro-Fominsk ; Bishops John (Berzin) of Caracas ; Peter (Lukyanoff) of Cleveland ; Theodosius (Ivashchenko) of Seattle ; George (Sheifer) of Mayfield ; Panteleimon (Shatov) of Orekhovo-Zuevo ; Jonah (Cherepanov) of Obukhov ; Bishop Nikolai (Soraich) former Bishop of Sitka and Anchorage.

Episcopal ordination

Joy of All who Sorrow Cathedral, San Francisco

Episcopal service

Bishop Nicholas (Olhovsky) was assigned to serve as Bishop of Manhattan, and Vicar-Bishop to Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral) in the Diocese of Eastern America.

On 16 May, 2022, Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral), First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, fell asleep in the Lord.

On 17 May, 2022, following the repose of Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral), Bishop Nicholas (Olhovsky) was assigned to serve as Locum Tenens and Administrator of the Eastern American Diocese by decree of the Synod of Bishops.

Election to be First Hierarch, 2022

On 13 September, 2022, at the Meeting of the Holy Synod of Bishops in New York, he was elected to be First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. He was to be elevated to the dignity of Metropolitan, and to be the ruling bishop of the Diocese of Eastern America and New York.

On 14 September, 2022, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church approved his election.

On 17 September, 2022. he was elevated to the dignity of metropolitan in the New York Synodal Cathedral of the Sign of the Theotokos.

On 18 September, 2022, Metropolitan Nicholas (Olhovsky) was assigned by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church to be First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

He was later elected to serve as a Member “ex officio” of the Presidium of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Enthronement as First Hierarch, 2022

On Sunday, 18 September, 2022, Metropolitan Nicholas (Olhovsky) was enthroned by the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) as Archbishop and Metropolitan of New York and the Diocese of Eastern America, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. The enthronement took place during the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy in the Sign of the Theotokos Cathedral in New York City, New York. A video of the enthronement service may be found here.

Service as First-Hierarch

— Bishop of Manhattan 2014-2022. Preceded by : Bishop Jerome (Shaw). Succeeded by : ____.

— Archbishop of New York and Eastern America 2022-____. Preceded by : Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral). Succeeded by : ____.

— First Hierarch, Metropolitan of ROCOR 2022-____. Preceded by : Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral). Succeeded by : ____.

Reflections

Awards

Double orarion (16 June, 2006)

Nabedrennik (1 August, 2012)

Purple Kamilavka and Gold Pectoral Cross (6 January, 2013)

Synodal Order of the Sign 2nd class (2019 : ROCOR)

Writings

The words of Archimandrite Nikolai (Olkhovsky) at the nomination as Bishop of Manhattan, Vicar of the Eastern American Diocese

References

Biography on the official website of the Russian Orthodox Church

Biography on the official website of the Eastern American Diocese of ROCOR

Orthodoxwiki biography

Orthodoxlife biography

Wikipedia biography

Additional information :

Seide, Gernot (Archpriest George), ‘History of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russian from its Beginning to the Present (1983)’ in “Rocor Studies”.

Tarasar, Constance J, ed., "Orthodox America 1794-1976 : Development of The Orthodox Church in America" (Syosset, NY : The Orthodox Church in America Department of History and Archives, 1975). ASIN : B000ZLZAUE.

The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia web-site

Orthodoxwiki article about the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia

Wikipedia article about the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia

Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York

Short History of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia

History of the ROCOR by Saint John (Maximovitch)

Diocese of Eastern America and New York

Metropolitan Antony (Khrapovitsky)

Metropolitan Anastasy (Gribanovsky)

Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky)

Metropolitan Vitaly (Ustinov)

Metropolitan Laurus (Škurla)