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May 13, 2010

The Consecration of Bishop Michael of New York and New Jersey: An Outpouring of the Holy Spirit

by Archpriest Joseph Lickwar

JERSEY CITY, NJ [OCA] -- On Saturday, May 8, 2010, over 1000 faithful -- including nine bishops, 125 clergy, and 100 seminarians and their families -- gathered at Saints Peter and Paul Church here to celebrate the consecration of His Grace, Michael as Bishop of New York and the Diocese of New York and New Jersey.

Consecration of Bishop Michael of New York and New Jersey.
The consecrating hierarchs included His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah; His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate; His Eminence, Archbishop Seraphim of Ottawa and Canada; His Grace, Bishop Nikon of Boston and New England and the Albanian Archdiocese; His Grace, Bishop Tikhon of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania; His Grace, Bishop Benjamin of San Francisco and the West; His Grace, Bishop Melchisedek of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania; and His Grace, Bishop Mark and His Grace, Bishop Thomas of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.

In keeping to a tradition, the newly consecrated Bishop Michael ordained Deacon Danial Doss to the priesthood and Subdeacon Thaddeus Franta to the diaconate. Both are students at Saint Tikhon's Seminary, at which Bishop Michael served as dean for many years.

A banquet with over 600 attendees followed, with a program consisting of reflections and congratulations offered by Metropolitan Jonah; Bishop Tikhon; Archimandrite Matthias [Moriak], a seminary classmate of Bishop Michael; Priest John Weir, who represented the student body of Saint Tikhon's Seminary; and Protodeacon Peter Skoog, who had served with Bishop Michael when he was a parish priest.

Bishop Michael, humbled and grateful, announced that he would use the gifts he received in an effort to the revitalize parishes by creating a fund to supplement priests' salaries. He said that his work as bishop is not about himself, but the Church.

On Sunday, May 9, during the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at which Metropolitan Jonah presided at Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection , New York, NY, Bishop Michael was enthroned and presented with his archpastoral staff. Concelebrating were His Eminence, Archbishop Justinian of Naro-Fominsk, Administrator of the Patriarchal parishes in the USA; Antiochian Bishop Mark of Toledo; Archbishop Nathaniel of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate; Bishop Melchisedek of Pittsburgh and Western PA; and His Grace, Bishop Seraphim, formerly of Sendai, Japan, and 15 priests and six deacons. During the Liturgy, Bishop Michael ordained Subdeacon John Diamantis to the diaconate. A reception followed.