Metropolitan Nikolai (Shkrumko)

Metropolitan Nikolai (Shkrumko) (1927-2015)

Nikolai may be spelt Nicolas, Nicholas, Nikolay, Mikola, Mikolai.

Early life of Nikolai Yakovlevitch Shkrumko

On 22 May, 1927, Nikolai Yakovlevitch Shkrumko was born into a peasant family in the village Kizya, which at that time was in Poland. After the borders shifted, it was situated in the Kamenets-Podilsk county of the Khmelnitsky province of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (now Ukraine).

Despite the atheistic-communist environment of the Soviet Union of the time, Nikolai Yakovlevitch was raised by his family to be an Orthodox Christian within the Ukrainian part of the Russian Orthodox Church.

As a boy, Nikolai Yakovlevitch began to serve in the Altar and to help the clergy of the Temple in his village.

After completing primary and secondary school, he served as a layman in the Holy Ascension Sobor (a "sobor" is a large Temple) in his native village.

World War II (Great Patriotic War)

In the course of World War II (1939-1945), during the “Great Patriotic War” (1941-1945) (called in the West the "Eastern Front" or the "Nazi German-Soviet War"), when he was fleeing from hunger, Nikolai Yakovlevitch lived for a short time in the Pochaev Dormition Monastery, where one of the elders predicted to him that in the future he would become a monk of this monastery.

Incarceration because of his Faith, 1948

On 22 March, 1948, while going to church for worship, Nikolai was arrested because he was an Orthodox Christian in an Orthodox Christian family which had been repressed (sent for a time to a concentration camp). The parents had been repressed, and now their son was exiled for 8 years in the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic. While serving this term, he worked in forestry (at the Engozero Station ; the Petchnaya Guba ; the Ambarnaya Station) and on the development of mica mining and production (at the Chupa Station, and the Vuat-Varovka mine).

In the last year before their release, Nikolai Yakovlevitch served as a mechanic at the construction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Petrozavodsk. He was released early in 1953.

During all this time, life overwhelmed him and Nikolai forgot about the predictions of the Pochaev monk. However, while he was living and working in Petrozavodsk (Olonets Diocese), he secretly attended the Holy Cross Sobor there.

Exaltation of the Holy Cross Sobor, Petrozavodsk

This was very dangerous, since he was forbidden to go to the Temple. There, he was noticed by the rector (later to be Bishop Nikon (Fomichev) of Perm) and he managed to achieve the abolition of the official ban.

From that moment on, Nikolai Yakovlevitch served in the Temple as a reader, singer, and subdeacon.

Higher education

Also in 1953, Nikolai entered the Leningrad Theological Academy of the Russian Orthodox Church. The restrictions associated with the sentence he had received did not give him the opportunity to live in the seminary. He had to live 101 km (61 mi) away. In order to learn, he had to live at the railway station. He said “I was exhausted ; I wanted to sleep forever". Thus, the whole year passed. Under these conditions, Nikolai was not able to complete the course of studies.

[Leningrad returned to its former name Saint Petersburg in 1991.]

Leningrad Theological Seminary and Academy

Monastic tonsure, 1954

Nevertheless, on 13 November, 1954, Nikolai Yakovlevitch Shkrumko was tonsured to be a monk, and he was given the name Nikolai, in honour of Saint Nicholas (Kochanova) of Novgorod (a different Saint Nicholas from that of his baptismal name).

Holy Diaconate, 1954

On 21 November, 1954, Metropolitan Gregory (Chukov, †1955) of Leningrad and Novgorod ordained Monk Nikolai (Shkrumko) to the Holy Diaconate.

Diaconal service

Hierodeacon Nikolai (Shkrumko) was assigned to the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in the city of Valdai in the Novgorod diocese.

Because of his "criminal" record, there were substantial risks involved in all these events, so he regarded everything that happened as being a true miracle.

It was required that he (as everyone) have an acceptable passport for movement within the USSR. The head of the passport office, an Orthodox Christian believer, helped him. The official (at the risk of his own status and freedom) offered to stage the loss of a passport. Then, on the basis of a certificate received from the police, he issued a new passport to the hierodeacon, in which there were no marks about a criminal record or restriction of residence.

From 1956-1960, Hierodeacon Nikolai (Shkrumko) served in parishes of the Diocese of Kalinin (now Tver and Kashin).

From 1960-1968, Hierodeacon Nikolai (Shkrumko) served in the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral of Ivanovo, and for 2 of these years he served as Secretary of the Diocesan Administration. Ivanovo, in Ivanovo Oblast, is situated about 254 kilometres (158 mi) northeast of Moscow (also approximately 100 kilometres/62 mi from Yaroslavl, Vladimir and Kostroma).

Holy Transfiguration Cathedral, Ivanovo

In 1968, Hierodeacon Nikolai (Shkrumko) served in the Diocese of Tula, again as the Secretary of the Diocesan Administration. Tula is situated 193 kilometres (120 mi) south of Moscow.

Presybyteral ordination, 1969

On 11 May, 1969, Bishop Juvenaly (Poyarkov) of Tula and Belev ordained Hierodeacon Nikolai (Shkrumko) to the Holy Priesthood at the Cathedral of All Saints in Tula.

All Saints Cathedral, Tula

Pastoral service

On 11 May, 1969, Hieromonk Nikolai (Shkrumko) was assigned to serve at the Cathedral of All Saints in the city of Tula (about 195 km/122 mi south of Moscow).

Official government photo

Further education

In 1970, Hieromonk Nikolai (Shkrumko) entered the Moscow Theological Seminary in absentia (through correspondence).

In 1971, Hieromonk Nikolai participated in a pilgrimage of the Russian Orthodox Church to Mount Athos.

In 1973, Hieromonk Nikolai (Shkrumko) graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy. He was given the degree of Candidate of Theology (Ph.D. in theology) for his thesis about the chairman of the Faculty of Canon Law, “Professor V N Beneshevich and his Writings on Church Law”.

Moscow Theological Academy

Service in Jerusalem, 1973

By the decision of Patriarch Pimen (Izvekov) of Moscow and the Holy Synod on 13 February, 1973, Hieromonk Nikolai was assigned to be a member of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.

This assignment preceded only by a few months the "Yom Kippur War" between Israel and Syria. The war itself was brief (in October), but it left long-lasting after-effects in occasional bombing from either side, and in difficult border-crossings (which were constantly required by Igumen Nikolai in the course of his pastoral duties).

On 26 December, 1974, Hieromonk Nikolai was assigned to serve as the Deputy Chief of Mission and elevated to the dignity of igumen.

In 1977, he was assigned to serve as the Head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, and he was elevated to the dignity of archimandrite.

By a decision of the Holy Synod on 16 July, 1982, Archimandrite Nikolai (Shkrumko) was released from the duties of Chief of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, in connexion with the expiration of the mission there.

During his years of service in the Jerusalem Russian Mission, Archimandrite Nikolai had many experiences which he enjoyed speaking about with others. These experiences ranged from the annual appearance in Jerusalem of the Resurrectional Holy Fire at the Lord's Sepulchre in the Cathedral of the Resurrection, to the annual arrival of the Cloud at the Transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor.

Both these events greatly encourage the faithful believers in their perseverance. On Mount Tabor, on the Feast of the Transfiguration, people leave their baskets out-of-doors during the services in the Temple, and when they exit, their baskets of first-fruits are wet with the dew of the cloud. All there consider their baskets to have been blessed by the Lord. This cloud appears at a dry time of year, and only on this mountain.

Annual arrival of the Holy Light (Holy Fire) in the Temple of the Holy Resurrection, Jerusalem

The annual arrival of the Cloud on Mount Tabor, Feast of the Transfiguration

Archimandrite Nikolai also had many experiences which involved the Lord's intervention as he crossed the borders between Israel and Syria and Lebanon, particularly during times of political tension between these countries. Such experiences are very re-assuring to those who hear about them.

In this context, no-one in his family could understand how he was generally released to travel abroad, because all his relatives knew that he had served a sentence in prison. “It was all thanks to the man who had been the head of the passport office”. For this person, he said that he “prayed and prayed all my life. And thank God ! I only thank God for such a page of life”. No-one also knew, perhaps, that he was the son of an archpriest.

Archimandrite Nikolai carried warm memories about the Russian nuns in Jerusalem. He said that they were truly devotees of piety, who linked their lives with the Holy Land. While he had been yet living in the world (before being tonsured), he had worked as an electrician. After becoming a monk, the skills of working with electricity were not forgotten. Somehow, one of the nuns asked him to repair the wiring in her house which was in the Gorniy Monastery (at Ein Karem, the birth-place of the Holy Forerunner John). “So how can I thank you ? Well, somehow I will repay you all the same”, said Mother Tamara with a smile when the wiring was repaired. She made milk from nuts, by grinding them on the millstones. These millstones also had to be repaired by Igumen Nikolai. At that time, Mother Tamara was already over 100 years old, and she reposed in Christ at 114 years of age.

Gorniy Monastery at Ein Karem, near Jerusalem

His duties were to give spiritual nourishment to the entire Middle Eastern region : Syria, the current Lebanon and Iraq. He had long wanted to visit the Temple of the Prophet Elias in the Golan Heights. Once, such an opportunity presented itself when, with the blessing of the Antiochian Patriarch, he was able to serve on the Feast Day of the Prophet in that place. The people very loudly met the Russian archimandrite. Amongst their screams, he suddenly heard in Russian but with an accent : “Many years of summers and of health !” [Probably better translated “God grant you many years”.] It was being shouted by 2 old men. After the service, they met each other. One of them was 92 and the other was 96 years old. Before the Bolshevik Revolution, both had studied in Russian schools in Palestine which had been opened by the Tsarist government. “They were taught for free by Russian nuns who were trained in Arabic and Eastern traditions. Therefore, we have been received and accepted here now because of the merits of that Tsarist Russia”.

Return to Russia, 1982

On 31 July, 1982, by a decree of Metropolitan Nicholas (Iurik †1984) of L'viv and Ternopil, Archimandrite Nikolai (Shkrumko) was assigned to be the Vicar-Abbot ("Namestnik") of the Dormition Lavra in Pochaiv. Thus, the prediction (prophecy) of the elder long ago was fulfilled.

Archimandrite Nikolai (Shkrumko), "Namestnik" of the Pochaev Lavra

By the decision of the Holy Synod of 26 June, 1985, Archimandrite Nikolai (Shkrumko) was chosen and elected to be a bishop.

On 20 July, 1985, in the White Hall of the Moscow Patriarchate, the service of electing Archimandrite Nicholai (Shkrumko) was led by Patriarch Pimen (Izvekov) of Moscow and all Rus’ ; with Metropolitan Aleksey (Ridiger) of Tallinn and Estonia ; Metropolitan Juvenaly (Poyarkov) of Krutitsy and Kolomna ; Metropolitan Vladimir (Sabodan) of Rostov and Novocherkassk, and Patriarchal Exarch of Western Europe ; Archbishop Pitirim (Nechayev) of Volokolamsk ; Archbishop Job (Tyvoniuk) of Zaraysk ; Archbishop Methodius (Nemtsov) of Voronezh and Lipetsk ; and Bishop Sergiy (Fomin) of Solnechnogorsk.

Episcopal ordination, 1985

On 21 July, 1985, in the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow (at that time, the main cathedral of Moscow), Patriarch Pimen I (Izvekov), Metropolitan Juvenaly (Poyarkov), Metropolitan Vladimir (Sabodan), Archbishop Pitirim (Nechaeyev), Archbishop Job (Tyvoniuk), Archbishop Methodius (Nemtsov), Bishop Sergiy (Fomin), and Metropolitan Aleksy (Konoplev †1988) of Kashin and Kalinin (Tver) ordained Archimandrite Nikolai (Shkrumko) to the Holy Episcopate.

Episcopal service

Bishop Nikolai (Shkrumko) was assigned to serve as the Bishop of Zvenigorod, Vicar-Bishop of the Moscow Diocese, and the Representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, to the Patriarch of Antioch in Damascus, Syria. The Diocese of Zvingorod is within the Moscow Oblast (province), and a vicariate of the Moscow Diocese.

Holy Ascension Cathedral, Zvenigorod

Assignment to Canada, 1987

On 23 March, 1987, Bishop Nikolai (Shkrumko) was transferred to become the Bishop of Orekhovo-Zuyevo, Vicar-Bishop of the Moscow Diocese and the Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate Parishes in Canada. His residence was in Edmonton, Alberta, and the main Temple of this administration was Saint Barbara's Russian Orthodox Cathedral in that city. In fact, he had to form the office of the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada from scratch and establish the work of the office. After he received a visa, and when he arrived in Canada on 14 September, 1987, he did not have any housing, and he had to live in a small room in the apartment of the priest of the cathedral for almost a year.

Saint Barbara's Cathedral, Edmonton, Alberta

Most likely, the most important contribution of Vladyka Nikolai to the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada was the acquisition on 17 May, 1988, of a building for the needs of the Office of the Canadian Patriarchal Parishes and for the residence of the bishop in the city of Edmonton. The process involved receiving subsidy funds from the Moscow Patriarchate ; the purchase ; the completion of the necessary documentation ; renewal of fixtures and repairs to the home. Everything took place with the participation and under the direction of Vladyka, and it took a lot of time. Since then, the leaders of the Patriarchal parishes have a decent, modest building in the centre of the city (including the domestic chapel of the Pochaev Icon of the Theotokos). In later times, the bishop sometimes shared the house with one of the priests.

Bishop's residence, Edmonton, Alberta

Celebration of the Millennium Anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', 1988

Under his leadership, the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus' in Canada was observed. He received the official delegation of the Moscow Patriarchate which arrived for the celebration of the anniversary. The delegation was led by Archbishop Job (Tyvoniuk) of Zaraysk, the Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate (DECR), and Vladyka Nikolai accompanied him on trips to the various parishes where the Divine Liturgy was to be served. The main celebrations took place in Saint Barbara's Cathedral on Sunday, 31 July, 1988. Also under his leadership and with his blessing, the first remarkable book on the history of the Patriarchal parishes in Canada was compiled and published. It was dedicated to the 1000th anniversary of Christianity in Russia.

While he was in Canada, Vladyka Nikolai had experience not only of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), but also of The Orthodox Church in America (OCA). The parishes of the 3 jurisdictions were intermingled in Alberta. At the time, he was very concerned that the 2 branches of the same Church could not be reunited (that is, the ROCOR and the Moscow Patriarchate). The OCA had been given official autocephaly by the Moscow Patriarchate in 1970. When he was asked about the reasons for this division, he replied : "We were divided by misfortune". “What ?” they asked him. He commented, “I didn’t always answer this question, but here, in Canada, I said that the Revolution divided us, and the time will come and the Church will be one”. Vladyka always had good relations with those archpastors who headed the ROCOR. He was well-acquainted with Metropolitan Laurus (Skurla), the First Hierarch of the ROCOR in New York. They had met in 1972 at a night service in the Church of the Holy Resurrection (Sepulchre) in Jerusalem.

On 20 May, 1987, Bishop Nikolai (Shkrumko) was elevated to the dignity of archbishop.

Archbishop Nikolai

While he was in Canada, he was being visited at a certain time by a Canadian bishop and others. Archbishop Nikolai (Shkrumko) related to them his recollection about one celebration of the Feast of Pascha during one of the times of repression when he was a younger man. He said that on this one particular Feast of Pascha (either during one of the repressions in his youth, or during the Khrushchev repression), there was no possibility for believers to gather in a Temple anywhere in his region in order to serve for the Resurrection of Christ. Therefore, he said, the faithful people gathered deep in a forest, where the snow that year was yet "hip-deep", and there they served. Everything had to be improvised, because there were no vestments or appropriate vessels. They offered only what they had — which was a loaf of bread, and juice squeezed by hand from berries. He recalled that the snow appeared as diamonds, and that it was the most memorable and moving Pascha of his whole life (even more than in Jerusalem).

In Mundare, Alberta

The faithful people of the Alberta region were thankful that their archpastor was simple and sociable, wise and judicious, loving God and the flock entrusted to his care, caring for Temples and praying during worship services. Vladyka Nikolai was a wonderful preacher and connoisseur of the history of the Holy Places of Palestine. Archbishop Nikolai was loved and honoured by the clergy and believers of the Patriarchal parishes.

At the invitation of Vladyka Nikolai, young priests with an academic education and knowledge of the English language were sent from Ukraine to Canada (Archpriests Michael Fourik and Michael Kit). In those years, when there were not enough clergy in the Patriarchal parishes, Vladyka himself conducted worship services in the farm Temples which are widely scattered throughout the prairies.

Return to Russia, 1991

Diocese of Vladivostok and Primorsky Krai, 1991

In February, 1991, Archbishop Nikolai (Shkrumko) was transferred, and assigned to serve as the Archbishop of Vladivostok and the Primorsky Krai (Maritime Region).

Holy Protection Cathedral, Vladivostok

Diocese of Izhevsk and Udmurtia, 1993

On 25 March, 1993, he was transferred, and assigned to serve as the Archbishop of Izhevsk and Udmurt. Udmurtia is an autonomous oblast (province) in the Volga Federal District. It is north of Tatarstan, west of the Ural Mountains). It has borders with Kirov, Perm, Bashkortostan, and Tatarstan.

Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Izhevsk

Moleben on the Feast of Pentecost

After his arrival at the Izhevsk and Udmurtia Diocese, Vladyka Nikolai was occupied with searching for the secret burial place of his predecessor in the Izhevsk Diocese, Archbishop Juvenaly (Kilin, † 28 December, 1958). This search was a part of the project of making repairs to the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Izhevsk. In early May, 2003, he announced that the archbishop's coffin had been found, and that his body remained incorrupt. Since that time, the tomb of Archbishop Juvenaly began to be frequently visited by those who love him. Amongst these are included faithful people of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) who have an association with Harbin in Manchuria.

Archbishop Nikolai and clergy

In the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral of Izhevsk, there is kept an old wooden Cross with a piece of stone from Calvary embedded in it, and a piece of the Tree of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord. It was made 100 years ago by the Athonite monks for the 300th anniversary of the house of the Romanovs, and sanctified at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. It is taken out during the Week of the Cross in Great Lent, and on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Patriarch Benedict (Papadopoulos) of Jerusalem had passed the Cross to the future Metropolitan Nikolai with the words : “This Cross has been prepared for Russia, for the Russian people, and for more than 100 years it has been here on Calvary. I will give it to you, and you will take it to Russia”. Since that time, he took this Cross with him everywhere, and he ultimately bequeathed this Cross to the Izhevsk and Udmurt metropolia.

Vladyka Nikolai serving

Those who knew Vladyka Nikolai recollect that he was very exacting and strict about worship. Therefore in Udmurtia there are some of the best examples of worship and Church singing. In personal communication, he liked to joke, and was paternally friendly and caring. Vladyka Nikolai could find an approach and a topic for conversation with each person. Practically everyone felt encouraged. He loved little children. On each of his visits to distant parishes, he gave all the children an icon and, blessing, he kissed the top of the child's head.

Once, in one of the medical institutions, a prayer-room/chapel was opened, and Vladyka Nikolai came for the sanctification of the chapel. After the service was completed, the clergy were shown the room in the institution where they stored in alcohol the remains (various organs) of people (for study by students). In one of the large glass flasks an unborn baby was placed, including the umbilical cord, in the same position as in the womb. Vladyka stopped in front of this flask with the dead child. He stood silently for about 5 minutes. Obviously, he was praying for the soul of this departed infant.

On 25 February, 2007, by the decree of Patriarch Aleksey II (Ridiger), Archbishop Nikolai (Shkrumko) was elevated to the dignity of metropolitan.

In June, 2008, because of illness, Metropolitan Nikolai was unable to travel to participate in the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Retirement, 2015

On 5 May, 2015, by a decision of the Holy Synod, Metropolitan Nikolai (Shkrumko) retired.

His retirement was accompanied by an expression of gratitude on the part of the Holy Synod "for his 22-year-long archpastoral care of Udmurtia, which is marked by the establishment of new dioceses, a multiple increase in the number of parishes, the opening of monasteries, the establishment of a fruitful dialogue with local authorities and public structures. The Synod determined the city of Izhevsk to be the place of the episcopal residence".

Repose, 2015

On 3 June, 2015, Metropolitan Nikolai (Shkrumko) suddenly fell asleep in the Lord at 11:40 a.m. in City Hospital #6 in the city of Izhevsk.

On 6 June, 2015, the Funeral Services for the Burial of a Bishop were offered in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral of the city of Izhevsk. The services were led by Metropolitan Victorin (Kostenkov) of Izhevsk and Udmurt, together with Bishop Victor (Sergeyev) of Glazov and Igrinsk, and the clergy of the Udmurt metropolitanate ("metropolia").

After the Services for the Burial of a Hierarch, the body of Metropolitan Nikolai was interred on the territory of Izhevsk Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, in accordance with his will.

He was survived by his nephew, the Archpriest Nikolai Babichuk, and by Rostislav and Roman Goraki.

Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Izhevsk

— Bishop of Zvenigorod 1985-1987. Preceded by : Bishop Valentine (Mischuk). Succeeded by : Bishop Nikandr (Kovalenko).

— Vicar-Bishop of the Moscow Diocese 1985-1987.

— Representative to the Patriarchate of Antioch 1985-1987.

— Archbishop of Orekhovo-Zuyevo 1987-1991. Preceded by : Bishop John (Shirokov). Succeeded by : Archbishop Alexei (Frolov).

— Vicar-Archbishop of the Moscow Diocese 1987-1991.

— Administrator of the Canadian Parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate 1987-1991. Preceded by : Bishop Kliment (Kapalin) (as Bishop of Serpukhov). Succeeded by : Archbishop Makary (Svistun) (as Archbishop of Klin).

— Archbishop of Vladivostok and the Primorsky Krai 1991-1993. Preceded by : Archbishop Benjamin (Novitsky). Succeeded by : Metropolitan Benjamin (Pushkar).

— Archbishop of Izhevsk and Udmurt 1993-2007. Preceded by : Archbishop Juvenaly (Kilin.

— Metropolitan of Izhevsk and Udmurt 2007-2015. Succeeded by : Metropolitan Viktorin (Kostenkov).

Reflections

Immediately upon receiving the news of Vladyka Nikolai's repose, Bishop Job (Smakouz) served a series of panikhidas in Edmonton, Alberta, and he directed the other parishes in the region to do the same for their beloved former archpastor.

On the first annual memorial of the repose of Metropolitan Nikolai, a Requiem Divine Liturgy was served in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Izhevsk. It was led by Metropolitan Viktorin (Kostenkov) of Izhevsk and Udmurt, who was accompanied by Bishop Victor of Glazov and Igrinsky and the clergy council of the Udmurt metropolia. Present also were relatives of Vladyka Nikolai who had arrived from Moscow and Ukraine. At the end of the liturgy, Metropolitan Viktorin addressed the congregation and the clergy with a word in memory of Vladyka Nicholai :

 Vladyka Nikolai was awarded numerous awards, but awards are not important now.  Rather, memory is important.  
 His memory is kept in the numerous Temples that he sanctified ; kept in the hearts of the clergy, on whom 
 he laid his holy hands.  Thousands of people keep his memory, whom he brought to the Lord through Holy Baptism.  
 The memory of him is kept by people in different parts of the earth, but especially here in Udmurtia.  After all, 
 Vladyka loved Udmurtia so much that he bequeathed himself to be buried here.  And how we loved him ! A year has passed, 
 but this year we seemed not to have parted from him.  For me, Vladyka Nikolai is alive, and I think that for many it is so !

At the end of the liturgy, the clergy held a memorial service at the grave of Metropolitan Nicholai, led by Metropolitan Victorin, along with Bishop Victor and Bishop Anthony (Prostikhin) of Sarapul and Mozhgin. Metropolitan Victorin also sanctified a new tombstone that had been installed on the archpastor’s grave.

The Orthodox Christian believers of Udmurtia sincerely loved Metropolitan Nikolai in the same way that he had loved them. Throughout the year, the faithful people approach the tomb of Metropolitan Nikolai daily, and they will continue to come. People lay flowers, pray for him, and ask an archpastoral blessing as though they were in his living presence.

According to Peter Vasilyevich Nedzelsky, nephew of Metropolitan Nikolai, Vladyka Nikolai had certainly served in many and various places ; but he said that most of all, he loved the people of the Udmurt land. “We often met with Vladyka Nikolai in Moscow and he often liked to talk about Udmurtia. He said that there are very wonderful people here, and they are very pious”.

Panikhida in Izhevsk, 2016

During the course of his service (and particularly after the fall of communism), his work has been recognised officially by the Russian Federation. He was given awards in recognition of his work in strengthening the prison system, and many other positive contributions towards the improvement of the justice-system and the corrections-system in the Russian Federation. During the 22 years of his service in Izhevsk, there were 110 Temples and chapels opened, and also 3 monasteries.

While he was an archbishop, Metropolitan Nikolai was the first bishop to begin service as a longer-term resident bishop in Canada. Since the time of Archbishop Panteleimon (Rudyk), most bishops had to care for the USA as well. In Archbishop Nikolai's time, it was intended that there would be appointed a bishop separately for the USA. The function of the bishops has remained as before, but this change in policy may have been in some way caused by changes in the Canadian and US immigration policies.

 Around Vladyka Nikolai was always felt an atmosphere of quiet (not ostentatious) holiness, 
 selfless love for God and the Church.  He summoned the unconditional trust of priests, 
 high church officials, statesmen and ordinary people as the embodiment of everything honest, 
 decent, moral.  His Church career was excellent : the future Vladyka served 9 years in 
 the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.  It was then that he received the dignity 
 of archimandrite as he became a respected and reliable representative of the Russian Orthodox Church 
 abroad.  He was a member of the Holy Synod.  He was awarded a host of Church and secular awards.  
 — Glazov diocese obituary

Awards :

Church

Russian Orthodox Church

• Order of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, 1st and 2nd degrees

• Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, 2nd degree

• Order of the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow, 2nd degree

• Order of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, 2nd degree

Other local Orthodox Churches

• Patriarchate of Jerusalem Patriarchal Cross, all 3 degrees

• Patriarchate of Jerusalem, a medal in honour of the 1500th anniversary of the Jerusalem Patriarchate

• Patriarchate of Antioch Order of the Holy Apostle Paul, 1st degree

• Patriarchate of Antioch Order of the Mountains of Lebanon, 2nd degree