Mission in North America
Appointed Bishop of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska on September 14, 1898, Tikhon undertook the organization and expansion of Orthodoxy across North America. In 1900 he reorganized the diocese, renaming it the 'Diocese of the Aleutian Islands and North America' to reflect its continental scope, and in 1905 he was elevated to Archbishop when the American mission became an Archdiocese, relocating its headquarters from San Francisco to New York.
His building and consecrating activity was extensive. He blessed the cornerstone of St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York City on May 22, 1901, with the first liturgy held in its basement on July 20, 1902, and the main hall dedicated on November 10, 1902. On November 9, 1902, he consecrated St. Nicholas Church in Brooklyn for Syrian Antiochian Orthodox immigrants, and in 1903 he consecrated St. Vladimir's Church in Chicago. In June 1905 he blessed St. Tikhon's Monastery in South Canaan, Pennsylvania, and on September 4/17, 1905, he consecrated Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
He encouraged the publication of English-language liturgical materials, including a catechism based on the Nicene Creed and the Lord's Prayer, and was made an honorary U.S. citizen. He is venerated as the 'Apostle to America' and as patron of Western Rite Orthodoxy. He returned to Russia in 1907.
Patriarch under Persecution
Tikhon was elected ruling bishop of the Moscow Diocesan Congress on June 21, 1917, raised to Metropolitan of Moscow on August 14/15, 1917, and selected as the eleventh Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia on November 5, 1917, through the drawing of lots among three candidates. He served as primate for seven and a half years.
As Patriarch he condemned the 1918 murder of Tsar Nicholas II and his family and protested Bolshevik attacks on the Church. In 1920 he granted autonomy to dioceses cut off from Moscow, a decision that eventually led to the formation of the Orthodox Church in America. During the famine, in August 1921 he called for the voluntary donation of non-liturgical church valuables to relieve the suffering; but after a decree of February 23, 1922 mandated total confiscation, he protested, calling it 'sacrilege.'
From April 1922 to June 1923 he was imprisoned, held under house arrest at Donskoy Monastery during the confiscation crisis, a period in which, according to the sources, roughly 2,000 trials were held and over 10,000 believers were shot. A Soviet-sponsored 'Living Church' (Renovationist) council purported to depose him in 1923, an act never recognized as valid; those who remained faithful were called 'Tikhonites.' Though placed under pressure to issue a declaration of loyalty to Soviet power, he affirmed in 1924: 'I will not come to agreement or make concessions which could lead to the loss of the purity and strength of Orthodoxy.'
Repose
Tikhon served his final Liturgy on Sunday, April 5, 1925, and died two days later on April 7, 1925 (Old Style March 25) in Moscow, at the age of sixty. His last words, spoken as he crossed himself, were 'Glory to Thee, O Lord.' Nearly one million people are said to have attended his funeral, and he was buried on April 12, 1925, at Donskoy Monastery.
Relics & Shrines
Tikhon's relics were discovered on February 19, 1992, in a hidden crypt at Donskoy Monastery. The crypt was opened on February 22, 1992, and the relics were found almost entirely incorrupt. They were transferred to the Katholikon of Donskoy Monastery on April 5, 1992.
Glorification
Tikhon was glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia on November 1, 1981 (Old Style October 19) in New York City, and by the Moscow Patriarchate during the Bishop's Council on October 9, 1989 (Old Style September 26), an event understood as marking the improved relations between Church and state during the Glasnost era.
