Orthodox Believers In US Commemorate 20th Anniversary Of Russian Bishop Basil's Death

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2019) Orthodox believers in the United States are commemorating 20 years of Russian Bishop Basil death, Orthodox Church in America (OCA) priest Valery Shemchuk told Sputnik.

"We will have Divine Liturgy at St. Nicholas cathedral in Washington and memorial service (panikhida) at the grave in memory of Bishop Basil," father Valery said.

Bishop Basil, whose secular name was Vladimir, was born in 1915 in the renowned Rodzianko family and his grandfather served as the last president of Russia's State Duma (Parliament) from 1911 until the Bolshevik revolution in 1917.

In 1919, Vladimir Rodzienko emigrated with his parents to the then Kingdom of Yugoslavia because the Bolsheviks issued an order to execute his family.

Vladimir Rodzienko became a priest in 1941 and served his first Liturgy under the bombardment of the Axis forces during their quest for territorial aggrandizement in the Balkans.

When the Yugoslav communists came to power and transformed Yugoslavia into a republic - a federation of six co-equal republics - Rodzianko was imprisoned for several years and then moved to the United Kingdom upon being released.

In London, Rodzianko started to work for the BBC and was broadcasting a radio program about Orthodoxy that was reportedly listened to by believers inside the so-called "iron curtain."

Upon moving to the United States, Rodzianko continued his radio broadcasts and also worked on the Committee for the Defense of Persecuted Orthodox Christians in the Soviet Union.

"Bishop Basil was an extraordinary person, a man of God," Marilyn Sweezy, who was his personal assistant for 18 years, told Sputnik. "Working with him was a living education in Orthodoxy."

Sweezy recalled how they were recording programs and delivering them to the BBC office in Washington for further broadcasting.

"I listened to all these recordings. He spoke in beautiful language of old Imperial Russia," Sweezy said.

Sweezy noted that Bishop Basil retained his love for Russia throughout his life,

Sweezy was the last person who saw the bishop alive on September 16, 1991 and found him dead the next day.

"I came to take him down to the US Archives to receive American citizenship," she said.

However, Bishop Basil got a Heavenly citizenship instead, Sweeny added.