Mitred Archpriest George and Matushka Helen Benigsen

Mitred Archpriest George M Benigsen (1915-1993)

and

Helen (Elena) I Benigsen (born Kraubler) (1918-2004)

George may be spelt Georg, Georges, Georgy, Georgiy, Georgios.

Helen may be spelt Elena, Ellen, Helena, Helene.

Early life of George

On 14 April, 1915, George Mikhailovich Benigsen, the youngest of 4 children, was born (during World War I), in the city of Kazan, in the Kazan Governorate (now Tatarstan) of Imperial Russia, into the family of a military engineer, Mikhail Ivanovich Benigsen.

The Benigsen family was related to the well-known Leonty Leontyevich, Count von Bennigsen (who, before baptism in the Orthodox Christian Faith, had been called Levin August Gottlieb (Theophil) von Bennigsen). He had joined the Russian army in 1773, and he was a significant personality within the Russian Empire during the Napoleanic Wars.

George Mikhailovich was baptised on the day of the Holy Trinity (the Feast of Pentecost) in 1915, by an Orthodox priest of a Tatar background, and he was raised in the bosom of the Russian Orthodox Church. Some have understood this to foreshadow the future missionary and international character of his life. Only 2 years after his birth, the Bolshevik Revolution of October, 1917, took place. While Kazan fell to the Bolshevik forces and was burning, his family attempted with many others to flee to the east and meet the White Army in Siberia. The retreat was long and difficult. However, they fell into the clutches of the Red Army. God was merciful and led the family through fire, freezing weather, arrests, famine, typhus, and the disorder caused by the Red bands. Through all these wanderings, the family was accompanied by a small and modest icon of Saint Nicholas the Wonder-worker, the only treasure that the family was able to carry through all its tribulations.

Nevertheless, they were finally able to move, in 1921, to the city of Smolensk, 360 km (225 mi) southwest of Moscow.

Exile from Russia, 1924

In 1924, the Benigsen family was able to emigrate to the then independent country of Latvia, where they joined the grandparents. At that time, all 3 Baltic States were independent countries. Although the country still bore the wounds of war and revolution, it seemed to the Benigsen family to be utter paradise. At that time, George was 9 years of age.

The family settled in the city of Dvinsk (now Daugavpils), 223 km (140 mi) southeast of Riga. It was in this city that the future Archbishop Sylvester (Haruns) was born and grew up. It was in Dvinsk that George’s childhood and youth were spent, and where he established the roots of his Orthodox Christian Faith within the Orthodox Christian Church. In Dvinsk, he received his primary and intermediate education. The Benigsen family observed all the feasts and fasts, and they attended the Divine Services regularly. In the schools of Latvia at that time, religion was freely taught. However, by the time George had entered high school, the faith of his childhood began to waver, and his life in the Church and her worship became sporadic. He felt a youthful skepticism. He also had a feeling of vague sadness, dissatisfaction, and disappointment. He maintained a minimum effort in order not to sadden his relatives. Besides the fact that such feelings often occur at such an age, it cannot be overlooked that this young man had already passed through many traumas which could not but have affected him.

In 1933, his oldest brother died before the Feast of Pascha, a death that greatly impacted George’s soul. Nevertheless, that Sunday of Pascha remained a vivid memory for him. Although during that year, he attended some of the services of Holy Week and the Easter Matins, in the spiritual perspective, all this had had no apparent effect on him. However, that evening of the day of Pascha, he was passing by the parish church, where the bells were ringing. For some reason, he decided to enter the Temple (now almost empty), where the Paschal Vespers were being celebrated. There was nothing especially solemn or impressive about that particular service. Nevertheless, it was here and at this moment that all his future life was decided. In a way that was mysterious, during that Vespers in the nearly deserted church, he suddenly felt and understood that it was precisely here that the solution to all his problems could be found, as well as the answer to all his questions. All the vague plans for a future career to become an artist, a lawyer, or an architect, fell away. One thing became clear : he was to become a priest. In this only was the whole meaning of his existence, of his life, of his creativity. Precisely in this was the justification for everything. That evening, he left the Temple with a very firm decision that never afterwards changed. There was a plan for the life that lay before him.

His new way of life, in which active Church life was prominent, led George to an encounter with an organisation which was destined to become not only a stimulating human environment, but also a school of theology and a school of practical Christianity. This organisation was the Russian Student Christian Movement, which in those years experienced a special spiritual and organisational development in Europe. It had a branch in Latvia, called the “Russian Orthodox Student Unity”, formed in 1928. This organisation was a true fellowship of idealistically-inclined young people, who found in the personal and Eucharistic community strength for the religious formation of their life. Amongst the spiritual and intellectual leaders of the movement were the great exemplars of contemporary and theological thought. The movement gave to the Church a large number of young and talented priests and it nurtured generations of believers and church-oriented laity. George’s life in this movement culminated, in 1937, in accomplishments that for most people are spread over longer periods of time.

Early life of Elena Ivanovna Kraubler

Elena (Helen) Ivanovna Kraubler was born in Estonia in 1918. There, she grew up and in the course of her studies, she became active in the life of the local Orthodox Christian Church. It was at this time that she met George Benigson.

Marriage, 1937

In 1937, at the age of 22, George married Elena (Helen) Ivanovna Kraubler (19 years old), a fellow member of the Russian Student Christian Movement from Estonia. From that time, she accompanied her husband on the many travels, labours, adventures, dangers and works of Christian service which followed.

Higher education

Then, in the autumn of 1937, George entered the theological faculty of the University of Latvia in Riga.

Diaconal ordination, 1937

Almost immediately, on 14 September, 1937, George Mikhailovich Benigsen was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by Metropolitan Augustine (Peterson +1955) of Riga in the Nativity of Christ Cathedral in Riga.

Diaconal service

Deacon George Benigsen then entered into a diaconal service at the cathedral which was combined with his studies at the university and with teaching religion in several primary schools in the city of Riga.

Meanwhile, in northwest Russia

During the Great Terror of 1937-1938, the clergy in northwest Russia, as elsewhere in the Soviet Union (USSR), had been almost completely annihilated. By the summer of 1941, there were no more than 10 Temples still active in the huge territory of the 3 dioceses of Leningrad (Saint Petersburg), Pskov and Novgorod (with the exception of the area of Leningrad itself and its suburbs, where there were a few more Temples remaining open).

Soviet invasion, World War II, 1939

In 1939, at the beginning of World War II, as a result of the secret Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, there began the so-called repatriation of Baltic Germans to Germany. The very great majority of such persons with German ancestry had no concrete nor recent relationship with the land from which their ancestors had moved to the Baltic States. These Teutonic Germans had begun to appear there in the 12th to the 14th centuries during the establishment of the trading confederation, the Hanseatic League. Others migrated there at other times. Now, their descendants were pressured to go to Germany. Hundreds of thousands of people were moved, most of them to the “Polish Corridor”, the Province of Posen, from which they were later displaced again. This transfer of population was accelerated in 1940. By 1945, it could be said that the entity known as “Baltic Germans” had become extinct.

The short span of religious freedom in the 3 neighbouring Baltic republics (“Baltic States”) came to an end in June, 1940, when the Soviet Union invaded the Baltic countries of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, and they were all incorporated into the Soviet Union. This event led technically to an increase in the numbers of believers belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church. Consequently, on 24 February, 1941, an “exarchate” (a special metropolitan region) was established in the Latvian and Estonian dioceses, and Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky) of Vilnius and Lithuania was assigned to serve as its exarch. These events took place early in World War II, also called the “Great Patriotic War”.

The 4 years of the diaconate of Deacon George, this “spring of the priesthood”, were sadly at an end. The life of theological studies and theological conversations came to an end as militant atheism began to put heavy pressure on the Church. Religious teaching in the schools was stopped. The theological faculty of the university was closed and the future became bleaker. Then, in view of the likelihood of arrest, prison, execution, or exile to a concentration camp, Deacon George decided that with the real prospect of jail or exile to Siberia or perhaps to Karaganda, it would better to go down that road with not only a knapsack on one’s back, but with the fulness of the gifts of Divine Grace, as a priest.

Presbyteral ordination, 1941

In 1941, on the day of Pentecost (the Feast-day of the Holy Trinity), in the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Holy Trinity-Saint Sergius Women’s Monastery in Riga, Deacon George Benigsen was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by the Exarch of the Baltic states, Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky).

Pastoral service

Under Vladyka Sergius' episcopal leadership, Father George combined his diaconate and priestly service with the duties of the secretary of the Baltic Exarchate of the Patriarchate of Moscow. Metropolitan Sergius was an outstanding bishop, a courageous servant of the Church, a talented and daring administrator, and an inspired and inspiring teacher.

Nazi invasion, 1941

In June of 1941, Riga heard the terrible thunder of war. Then, on 1 July, 1941, the first detachments of the German army entered the city. Having lived through Soviet terror, Riga met its new “liberators” with open arms as the Nazi German army entered Riga. Since the noose of the Soviet terror had not had enough time to finish its task of subjugating Lativa and Estonia, and obliterating the Orthodox Church there, with this arrival, there was now presented an opportunity to care for others in the Soviet newly-“liberated” territories nearby. There was an initial freedom given to the Church. However, the joy they had initially felt did not last very long, since a new dictatorship under the Nazis replaced their so-called “liberation”.

Pskov Orthodox Mission, 1941

Under these conditions, the Pskov Orthodox Mission was a God-inspired and supported effort which was initiated in the autumn of 1941 by the Exarch Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky) of Vilnius and Lithuania. The Pskov Orthodox Mission, which was officially called the “Orthodox Mission in the Liberated Regions of Russia” was a pastoral-missionary venture aimed at reviving Orthodox Church life in northwest Russia. The territory included the 3 dioceses of Leningrad, Pskov and Novgorod, the territory of the 3 neighbouring Baltic republics, and also the Kalinin region (also called Königsberg), during their occupation by the German Army from 1941-1944. The area’s population was about 2,000,000 people. Formal authorisation to establish this Orthodox mission in the liberated regions of Russia was received from the commanding officers of the German Army Group “North” in mid-August, 1941. The mission nevertheless remained in canonical submission to the Moscow Patriarchate.

The metropolitan sent a group of priests as missionaries to the northwestern regions of Russia which were then occupied by the German army. With his family, Father George moved to the northeast and they became part of the missionary effort that was centred in Pskov, an ancient Russian city only a short distance from Estonia.

Pskov had naturally become the centre of the Orthodox mission. Russian-speaking émigrés who lived in Western Europe followed the developments in their native land, and they could perceive that the Orthodox Faith was not dead in Russia, despite the very cruel and violent system of universal anti-religious indoctrination. The reality that the missionaries met on the Russian territories exceeded all their expectations. The work of the mission was the first experience (since the revolution) of Church work in Russia without the presence of communism. This work was undertaken and pursued in the context of the harsh and difficult conditions of the German occupation. Nevertheless, they were conditions of a sort of limited freedom of the Church and the Orthodox Faith. Together with other priests and missionaries, Father George Benigsen witnessed the spontaneous religious revival, the revival of Church life, and the great thirst for the Orthodox Christian Faith in the hearts of the people there.

The clergy who served in the Pskov Orthodox Mission were mostly from amongst the clergy under the omophor of Metropolitan Evlogiy (Georgievsky) in Paris. The administration of the mission was led by Father Boris Efimov, Father Nikolai Kolibersky, and Father Kirill Zayets (formerly the Dean of the Riga cathedral). Other clergy participating included : the Priests Kirill Zayets, Vladimir Tolstoukhov, Alexy Ionov, Nikolai Troubetskoy, John Lepoi, Yakov Nachis, Fedor Yagodin. Of these, and the many others who participated in the mission, those who did not leave the region in 1944 generally suffered persecution by the atheistic authorities. For instance, Metropolitan Sergiy (Voskresensky), who had fully supported the Pskov mission was murdered in his automobile in 1944 ; Archbishop Makariy (Vasiliev), who had been imprisoned in the 1920s because he was a bishop, was killed by shrapnel during the Soviet bombing of Pskov in 1944 ; Protopresbyter Kirill Zayets was sent to Kazakhstan, where he reposed in Christ in 1948 (aged 79) ; Father Sergiy Efimov, who had built a Temple in Abren, spent 10 years in prison in Karaganda. He ended his days in Latvia in 1955 (aged 77) ; Archpriest Nikolai Kolbersky served briefly in the mission, but he had to return to Riga because of his age and poor health. He soon reposed in Christ in Riga.

The administration consisted of 2 sections : one section was for the development of Christian life (led by Father George Benigsen), and the other was for daily practical affairs, led by Ivan Obodnevyi. The head of the Pskov Mission reported directly to Metropolitan Sergius. The majority of the participants in the mission were priests from the dioceses of Riga and Narva. At their departure, Metropolitan Evlogiy reminded them :

 Do not forget that you arrived in a country where, for over 20 years, religion has been most cruelly 
 corrupted and persecuted, where people have been intimidated, humiliated, de-personalised. It is 
 necessary not only to establish Church life, but also to awaken the people to a new life from years 
 of hibernation [...].

On 18 August, 1941, the first 14 missionaries arrived in Pskov. They included some graduates of the Saint Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris (such as Father Vladimir Tolstoukhov and Father Alexei Ionov), and former members of the Russian Student Christian Movement.

As a priest in Pskov, Russia (during the German occupation), Father George served at the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Pskov. He served as the secretary of the mission. Later, he became the rector of the Temple of the Holy Martyr Demetrius, where he and his wife organised a church school for 200 students and an orphanage for 40 children who had lost their parents in the war through death, separation or imprisonment. One of the young men from Riga who participated actively in the missionary work was Alexander A Kaminski, who later served for several decades as choir-director at Saints Peter and Paul Sobor in Montréal, Québec.

Church of Saint Dimitriy in the Field, Pskov (east and west views)

In 1942, there were only 84 priests who cared for 221 Temples and their congregations. Under such circumstances, the work was arduous. According to Father Alexei Ionov’s memoirs, in Ostrov, on Sundays, services began at 7 a.m. and they continued until 4 p.m. Following the Divine Liturgy, between 500 and 800 persons would make Confession and receive Holy Communion. Sundays were not the only days on which there were many services offered in these Temples.

 Eighty babies were baptized at the same time, ten burials were conducted at 
 once, three to five couples were married at once.

Sanctifications of new Temples frequently required driving more than 50 km (30 mi) from the city (not always by car, often by horse, and on unpaved roads or tracks). Despite these and other difficulties, the missionaries worked with great enthusiasm. As Father Alexei later wrote, so the other participants in the missionary work would agree :

 The best time of my ministry was the time I spent in the Pskov Mission [...].

In the newly-opened Orthodox Temples, the name of Metropolitan Alexei (Simansky) of Leningrad was commemorated during the worship services.

Members of the mission at the Pskov-Pechersky Lavra, with German military personnel

By November, 1942, Metropolitan Sergius was able to open a theological seminary in Vilnius in Lithuania, which was led by the Protopresbyter Basil Vinogradov. Anyone over 17 years of age who had a secondary or primary education could attend, and the first group was taken without entrance examinations. The following group was given examinations in general subjects.

The magazine “Orthodox Christian”, published by the mission, was oriented towards a young readership. In 1942, 5 issues were published with print-runs of 30,000 copies ; and in 1943, 14 issues were published, although the print run was reduced to 20,000 copies. The editorial office of “Orthodox Christian” was located in Riga. Because of this, distribution was difficult. As is frequently the case, the magazine and other printed materials suffered consistently from insufficient funds, despite assistance from the Exarchate and donations from private donors.

A significant event in the Church at that time was the transfer of the Icon of The Theotokos of Tikhvin to Pskov. With the participation of German soldiers, the icon was rescued from a burning Temple in the Monastery of Tikhvin, taken away to Pskov, and transferred to the Orthodox community there by the German authorities. The icon was taken to Riga when the mission had to be abandoned, and Bishop John (Garklavs) of Riga (who had been previously serving in the Kolka parish) became the custodian.

The missionary priests paid particular attention to the prisoners of war from the Soviet army. In some of the camps, they succeeded in opening Temples or chapels for the spiritual help of the prisoners, and they collected donations, food, and clothing for them.

In the autumn of 1943, there arose a particular difficulty and challenge. After Patriarch Sergiy (Stragorodsky) had been elected to be the Patriarch of Moscow in September, the German authorities forbade Metropolitan Sergius from commemorating the patriarch. The authorities forced a conference to pass a binding resolution against the patriarch. However, in the draft document, neither the name of the patriarch nor any possible separation of the mission from the patriarchate was mentioned (which would neutralise such a resolution).

Although the region of Tikhvin suffered greatly from the German blockade of Leningrad during World War II, during a brief window of opportunity in 1943, the church community was reborn in Tikhvin itself. This was possible because of the work of this mission. Services then began in the Tikhvin Temple, better known under the nickname "Krylechko", which opened in 1944 and was officially registered in 1945.

The mission itself at Pskov continued for 2½ years until 1944, when the advancing Soviet forces ended the brief period of religious freedom. By then, there were about 200 parishes and 175 priests. Some of the churches that had opened during the occupation continued to operate in the postwar years.

About the time of the forced closure of the mission, Father George wrote :

 We were the last to leave everywhere, doing our work to the end : the work of Christ's victory. 
 When leaving, the Germans increased the scale of their insane atrocities.  Villages were burning, 
 cities were burning, and the unfortunate population, who had nothing to choose anyway, was forcibly 
 fleeing before the retreating German troops in panic.  We walked with the population, again leaving 
 our native land, which was making sacrifices : those who fell under the bullets of partisans, or 
 Gestapo agents, and those who simply decided not to leave or did not have time to leave.

Exile from the Baltic region, 1944

On 18 February, 1944, after the first raid on Pskov by Soviet aircraft, the German authorities ordered the evacuation of the mission. The next day, Father George Benigsen and his family left the city with a group of students. They were soon followed by other members of the mission to continue its activities in the Baltic states and in other European countries. After the war they found themselves in the position of being émigrés. The heads of the mission (Father Kirill Zayets, Father Kirill Shakhovskoy and several other missionaries) remained in areas that were liberated by the Soviet army. Some of them were arrested and held for years in labour camps. At the same time, not all the missionaries who did not evacuate faced reprisals after the war, and they continued to serve in the Pskov region.

It was on 28 April, 1944, that Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky) was assassinated by the Soviet partisans (there were reports that the responsibles were dressed as German soldiers).

Reactions to the Baltic mission

 2010 Film
 In response to the activities and influences of the mission, in 2010, a film was made by the director 
 Vladimir Khotinenko.  It was called «Поп» (“The Priest” or, “The Priest of the Orthodox Flock”). 
 Based on a novel, it tells a romanticised story of the Pskov Mission with reference to Father Alexei Ionov.

In his memoirs, Father Ionov wrote :

 We have moved to our native borders, standing on our own legs, singing Easter hymns.  We are filled with joy 
 at everything that met us on our way : the sky, air, the scraggy trees, the yellowed autumn grass.

It seems that the reactions towards the historical event as expressed in the novel and the film are either strongly favourable or strongly dismissive, and apparently for various reasons on either side. Current political opinions (more than 70 years later) seem sometimes to be involved in the responses.

In the apparent understanding of anti-Soviet scholars, and for many émigré historians, the Pskov Mission was one example of an attempt at self-organisation in the occupied territories, the establishment of a normal life “with neither the Nazis nor the Communists”. Accordingly, in the opinion of these researchers, the mission’s organisation was something that happened “from the bottom up”, that is, coming from “the people” who were seeking to return to the bosom of the Church. It is suggested by these writers that the people were the ones who actively encouraged this, with the German authorities reluctantly agreeing.

In fact, the leadership of the Orthodox Christian Church provided Divine Services through which the people were enabled to return to the Church. Indeed, the movement involved the desire of the Faithful to return to the Church, and the ecclesiastical authorities simultaneously (not subsequently) provided the means. The clergy and the people were of one mind. The reluctance of the Nazi German authorities in their sporadic support is likely, since their support was linked to their purposes, much as was the case in Ukraine at the same time.

Exile to Germany

With the advance of the Soviet forces, Father George and his family fled towards the West. After first having participated in the funeral of the assassinated Metropolitan Sergius in Riga, they fled into Germany. There, they experienced the city of Berlin in the midst of her suffering from the bombings of the last year of the war ; the over-filled trains, and the poor conditions in the refugee camps. In Berlin, Father George served briefly under the omophor of Metropolitan Seraphim (Lade) of Berlin at the Berlin cathedral. Metropolitan Seraphim proved to be most gracious. There, where they ministered to the growing number of displaced persons, Father George provided spiritual care for Russian-speaking refugees and forced-labour workers who had been brought to Germany (mostly from Ukraine and Poland).

Then, in February, 1945, with a group of clergy and laity, the Benigsen family fled to southern Germany. There, in a small Swabian village, they witnessed the last street fighting between the conquered Germans and the conquering American forces.

The threat of forced “repatriation” of Russian-speakers into the Soviet Union hung over the “Displaced Persons” community (or “DP”s as they were called). This could happen because of the almost complete ignorance amongst the “Allies” of the political situation in the Soviet Union and in liberated Europe. Some such Russian-speakers had actually never lived either in the empire or in the soviet territories. Through a miracle, however, Father George and his family escaped repatriation when Father George found out that the secretary of the American commandant was a former schoolmate.

In the context of the turmoil at the end of the war, Father George and Matushka Helen began a new period of pastoral services amongst the refugees. In the ruins of the partly-destroyed German cities of Munich, Hamburg, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt, modest new Temples arose. Similar Temples were created in the larger refugee camps. They were made with great creativity from whatever could be found. For instance, the banners of Nazism were made over into vestments and banners ; American tin cans became the first censers ; empty artillery shells were made into chalices and church bells. The Church became what she always is, a unique place of comfort, defence, and peace for the millions who had lost their homeland, their homes, their loved ones, and who, instead of being citizens of this or another country, had become the sneered-at “displaced persons”.

Then the years of service in the refugee camps began, first in the British occupation zone near the city of Hanover. The danger of forced repatriation gradually faded, and social and cultural life revived and became more organised. Newspapers, magazines, and books began to be published. All this took place with the active participation of the Church and the clergy. Eventually, departures of people for other countries overseas began.

The pastoral service of Father George in the refugee camps ended in 1947, when he was assigned to the Saint Seraphim Church at the “Home of Mercy” in the city of Munich, Bavaria. The Home of Mercy was founded by Father Alexander Kiselev, in the former home (now partly-destroyed in the bombings) of the Hitler Youth. On the fourth floor of this house, by some miracle, an icon was found : a small icon of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, in whose name the chapel was sanctified. Besides the chapel, the Home of the Good Samaritan accommodated a full Russian high school (“gymnasium”), a school of nursing, a clinic, a dental institute, a printing shop and editorial office, a dormitory and a public dining hall. Father Alexander Kiselev immigrated to the USA in 1948. After his departure, Father George became the director of the Home of Mercy. He combined his pastoral, administrative and educational responsibilities for the Home of Mercy with editorial work for the reborn “Messenger of the Russian Student Christian Movement” (“Vestnik”), and with the duties of religious consultant for the headquarters of the YMCA in the American zone of occupation.

Emigration to the USA, 1950

On 10 November, 1950, on a plane of the IRO (International Refugee Organisation), the Benigsen family landed in La Guardia aeroport at New York City. By this time, the family included their son.

Father George first encountered the administration of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in North America in New York, and it was after his formal reception by Metropolitan Leonty (Turkevich) (who was the newly-installed primate of the Church) that his pastoral assignments began.

Pastoral service in North America

Saint John the Baptist Church, Berkely, 1951

Two months later, at the end of January, 1951, Father George was assigned by Bishop John (Shahovskoy) of San Francisco to serve as the rector of the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Berkeley, California. This was his first American parish.

Just as was the case in the Pskov Mission, Matushka Helen worked together with and supported the work of her husband. Most of the time, she served as a choir-director in the parishes. She was also involved in teaching the young, and in organising summer camps.

Holy Trinity Cathedral, San Francisco, 1951

At that Temple, Father George was to spend less than a year, because on 9 December, 1951, Bishop John transferred Father George and assigned him to serve as the Dean of Holy Trinity Cathedral in San Francisco, where he served for more than 9 years. There, he combined his pastoral work in the cathedral with the duties of secretary of the Diocese of San Francisco and the West. During these years, Father George founded a church school at the cathedral, in which 130 students were enrolled. Father George actively participated in the pan-Orthodox, the “ecumenical”, and the social life of the city. The Mayor of San Francisco acknowledged his service to the city by the presentation to him of the “key to the city” at the time when he was transferred away.

Holy Transfiguration Church, Denver, 1960

In February, 1960, Father George was transferred and assigned to the Church of the Transfiguration in Denver, Colorado, a parish that greatly needed pastoral help. He was also assigned to serve as the Dean of the Colorado Deanery. There, he organised a church-school. Matushka Elena Benigsen organised a choir and assisted in strengthening the life of the parish. Besides singing at the usual services, the choir also sang at many other Orthodox services including at the chapel of the US Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs. Father George's mother reposed in Christ in Denver, and she was interred at the Orthodox cemetery there. Father George found love and complete support in all his pastoral endeavours from his new parishioners. As in San Francisco, he took an active part in the pan-Orthodox and the ecumenical life of the city.

Holy Transfiguration Church, Denver

Father George was invited to teach the Russian Language at the University of Colorado. He used this opportunity to enrol in the graduate school of the university and to earn a Master’s Degree in Russian Studies. From that time through 1978 (when he retired), Father George combined his pastoral service with academic work. Father George's son Nicholas also graduated from the University of Colorado. Both his pastoral and academic experience in Colorado gave Father George a closer acquaintance with American life and the chance to join in the American social milieu.

Pascha, 1962, Denver

In the summer of 1964, Father George and Matushka Helen were in Europe, where Father George was in charge of a special programme for students of Russian in Finland. It was organised by the Universities of Colorado and Kansas for especially selected students. The Benigsens were able to visit several European countries, and to observe Orthodox Church life in Europe.

Berkeley University Chaplaincy, 1964

In September, 1964, Father George was invited to be the Orthodox chaplain for the students of the University of California, Berkeley, in Berkeley, California. At Berkeley, Father George created the Orthodox Student Centre with its chapel dedicated to Saint Joseph of Arimathea.

The following year, he was also asked to organise the Russian programme at the campus of the newly established University of California at Santa Cruz, where he also opened another university Orthodox chapel, this one dedicated to the Resurrection of Christ.

Holy Protection Cathedral, New York, 1967

In 1967, Father George was assigned to serve as the Dean of the Holy Protection Cathedral in New York by Metropolitan Ireney (Bekish). However, this assignment was brief.

Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Montréal, 1968

On 1 June, 1968, Father George was assigned to serve as the Dean of Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in Montréal, Québec, Canada, and as secretary of the Archdiocese of Canada. At the cathedral, Matushka Elena organised a children’s choir in addition to the main cathedral choir. When Elizabeth Troubetskoy went away from Montréal in 1969, Matushka Helen took over the direction of the main cathedral choir.

Elizabeth S Troubetskoy Saika recalled about Matushka Helen that she was very self-disciplined and

 neatly dressed.  She had a lovely soprano voice.  She wrote music in the neatest hand ever.  They were 
 masterpieces.  Not to forget that all music was written by hand as there was no such thing as internet or 
 computer technology.  She enjoyed writing musical arrangements and composition.

Elizabeth Sergeievna and other people have recalled the particular reserve that was a characteristic of Matushka Helen's behaviour. Not only is this a common characteristic of Baltic and Scandinavian cultures, but it is very likely also a result of the very difficult experiences of life in the Pskov Mission, the turmoil and narrow escapes during the population moves during and at the end of World War II, and life in various displaced persons' camps.

One of the fruits of the choral singing labours of Matushka Helen was the English language setting of the Paschal Apostikha Stihera, "Let God Arise", in which she used the traditional Znamenny Chant melody, but combined the harmony with portions of unison singing (instead of the usual setting that uses all harmony). This effectively-set version became widely used.

This assignment proved also to be somewhat short, but the time in Montréal was very active. In 1969, there was a great danger of a split in the parish. This was because of various misunderstandings about the negotiations between the “Metropolia” and the Moscow Patriarchate about the granting of autocephaly to the North American Church. Father George Benigsen was able to explain the situation and to reassure the Faithful that there was no schism involved in this action, but rather a return to a properly canonical relationship with the Church which had established the North American Orthodox Christian Mission. Very few persons therefore left the parish in 1970.

Saint Nicholas Church, Saratoga, 1970

In the summer of 1970, Father George and his family returned to California, when he was transferred and assigned to serve as the rector of Saint Nicholas Church in Saratoga, California. While he was serving this parish (until 1979), he also returned to the Santa Cruz campus of the University of California, where he served as the director of the Summer Language Institute. In addition, he taught at the Defence Language Institute in Monterey, California. Because of this service, he was able to bring many new converts into the Church. At the Church of Saint Nicholas, he had the current iconostas made, and he introduced the English language into the Church services.

During this time, he also served as the chancellor of the Diocese of San Francisco and the West (OCA).

Saint Nicholas Church, Saratoga, California

Retirement, 1978

In 1978, Father George retired from his university activities.

In early 1980, Father George was again assigned to serve as Dean of Holy Trinity Cathedral in San Francisco, and he was assigned to continue serving as the diocesan chancellor.

In every instance throughout these years, Matushka Elena Benigsen had served as choir director and assisted with educational and camping programmes.

Then, on 1 July, 1981, Father George again retired from active pastoral service, although he continued to serve on a voluntary basis at the Holy Assumption Monastery in Calistoga, California. He and Matushka Helen lived on the premises. In retirement, at the invitation of Radio Liberty, Father George produced (from 1983 to 1991) a weekly religious broadcast to Russia. Some of his radio-talks were collected and published in 1997 in Moscow under the title "Not By Bread Alone" (by the Brotherhood of Saint Tikhon).

Repose of Father George, 1993

The Mitred Archpriest George Mikhailovich Benigsen fell asleep in the Lord on 6 August, 1993. On the New Calendar, this is the Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ.

The Funeral Services for the Burial of a Presbyter and the Memorial Divine Liturgy were served at Holy Trinity Cathedral in San Francisco, California. Metropolitan Theodosius (Lazor), the Primate of The Orthodox Church in America, presided at these services for the beloved and much-esteemed pastor and teacher. The services were attended by a multitude of clergy and faithful from all parts of America and Canada.

After the completion of the funeral services, the body of the Mitred Archpriest George Benigsen was interred at the Serbian Cemetery of San Francisco.

Repose of Matushka Helen, 2004

Matushka Helen (Elena) Benigsen fell asleep in the Lord in Denver, Colorado, at the age of 86 on Thursday, 15 July, 2004.

Bishop Benjamin (Peterson) of Berkeley presided at the Funeral Services for the Burial of a Lay-person at Holy Trinity Cathedral, San Francisco, California, on Tuesday, 20 July, 2004.

After the completion of the services, her body was interred at the Serbian Cemetery of San Francisco.

Reflections

The Mitred Archpriest George Benigsen actively participated in the national life of The Orthodox Church in America : in her All-American Councils (Sobors), and as a member of the Metropolitan Council.

He received all the ecclesiastical awards for a priest, including the mitre (an award to priests given primarily by the Russian Orthodox Church).

For the 50th anniversary of his priestly ordination, he was awarded a “gramota” (blessed certificate) by the Holy Synod of Bishops of The Orthodox Church in America.

Writings by Father George Benigsen

1946 article about the Pskov Mission, on the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Montreal, web-site

Article "On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ"

Homily "The Manger and the Cross"

Homily "The Entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem"

Homily "Feast of Pascha"

Homily "Thomas Sunday"

Homily "Fast before the Feast of the Dormition"

Homily "Feast of the Dormition of the Holy Theotokos"

Article "Minor Words of the Liturgy"

Article "Pentecost : the Gift of Hearing"

"The Millennium of Christianity in Russia", a broadcast on "Radio Liberty", 1988, pp. 221-223.

References

Holy Trinity Cathedral biography by Peter Schwalbenberg

Orthodoxwiki biography

Additional information :

Andreev, Vasily, “The Best Time of My Ministry : On the History of the Pskov Mission (1941-1944)”. Available at : Russkiy Mir Foundation (Article dated 5 August, 2009).

Kovalev, B N, “Collaborationism in Russia in 1941–1945 : Types and Forms (Veliky Novgorod, Russia : Novgorod State University named after Yaroslav the Wise, 2009). ISBN : 978–5–98769–061–1.

Pospielovsky, Dmitry Vladimirovich, “Pravoslavnaia tserkov’ v istorii Rusi, Rossii i SSSR” (Moscow, 1996) ISBN : 5-87507-019-6. Translated into English : “The Orthodox Church in the History of Russia” (Crestwood, NY : Saint Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1998). ISBN : 0-88141-179-5.

….. “The Russian Church Under the Soviet Regime 1917-1982”, 2 volumes (Crestwood, NY : Saint Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1984), vol. 1. ISBN : 0-88141-015-2.

….. “Soviet Antireligious Campaigns and Persecutions (History of Soviet Atheism in Theory and Practice and the Believers, Vol. 2)” (New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 1987). ISBN : 0-312-00905-4.

Orthodoxwiki article about the Pskov Orthodox Mission

Video film about the Pskov Mission. Title "The Priest" (Russian, with subtitles)

UCSC Photography Services Photo of Father George

Parish history of Saint Nicholas Church, Saratoga, California

Findagrave reference for Mitred Archpriest George Benigsen

Findagrave reference for Matushka Elena Benigsen

OCA obituary Matushka Helen Benigsen

‘In Memoriam : Helen Benigsen’ in “The Orthodox Vision” (Winter, 2004), p. 16.

Russian Wikipedia article about the Pskov Mission

Article about the participants in the Pskov Orthodox Mission (in Russian)

Russian Wikipedia biography of Father Aleksei B Ionov

Wikipedia article about Baltic Germans