Holy Trinity Cathedral, San Francisco, California
August 16, 2025
Our Lord Jesus Christ, whose image we honor today, has gathered us together to participate in this glorious liturgy and in the sacred office for the ordination to the holy episcopacy of His Grace Bishop Vasily.
Before I address the newly-ordained, I welcome his co-consecrators and those who are now his brother bishops on the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America:
- His Eminence Archbishop Melchisedek of Pittsburgh and the Diocese of Western Pennsylvania;
- His Eminence Archbishop Michael of New York and the Diocese of New York and New Jersey;
- His Eminence Archbishop Daniel of Chicago and the Diocese of the Midwest;
- His Eminence Archbishop Benjamin, Emeritus Bishop for the Diocese of the West; and
- His Grace Bishop Gerasim of Fort Worth, auxiliary to His Eminence Archbishop Alexander in the Diocese of the South.
For this sacred event, the members of our Holy Synod were honored to be joined by His Grace, Bishop James of Sonora, representing His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco from the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. Your Grace, it is a joy to concelebrate with you so soon after the grace-filled services in Alaska marking the glorification of Saint Olga of Kwethluk and we trust that your fraternal support of the newly ordained bishop will continue to grow.
Among the many clergy who have gathered today, I should recognize:
- Archpriest Alessandro Margheritino, the Chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America
It is also a distinct honor to be joined by our honored representatives from other Churches
- Archimandrite Jeremy (Davis), Archiepiscopal Vicar for Toledo and the Midwest, of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America;
- Hieromonk Basil (Gavrilovic), representing His Grace, Bishop Maxim of the Western American Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church; and
- While they could not be with us this morning, His Eminence, Metropolitan Gerasimos of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco along with Bishop Ioannis of Phocaea will be joining us for the festal lunch this afternoon.
We are truly moved by this expression of fraternal support for the newly-ordained Bishop Vasily and the continued strengthening of the bonds between our churches.
In his acceptance remarks last evening, Bishop Vasily referenced both his academic formation and his monastic journey. We are grateful for the presence of so many monastics from the communities of the Diocese of the West and recognize Dr. Ionuț-Alexandru Tudorie and others from St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary along with faculty, alumni, and friends from Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville, NY.
We also welcome our ecumenical guests, especially His Excellency, the Most Reverend Salvatore J. Cordileone, [Roman Catholic] Archbishop of San Francisco. We are grateful for this expression of collaboration in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Finally, while clergy who are ordained during the service of the consecration are often overshadowed by the main event, we offer our congratulations to the newly-ordained Deacon Serge Liberovsky, who now begins his diaconal service with the knowledge that he has been blessed to be the first canonical and liturgical act of the new bishop.
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Your Grace Bishop Vasily, newly-ordained bishop of San Francisco and the Diocese of the West:
Please accept my congratulations upon your episcopal and high priestly consecration. As you assume your new see, I welcome you to the episcopal brotherhood and to your place on the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America.
Today, as we celebrate the feast of the holy image of Edessa, the holy icon of Christ Not-Made-by-Hands, I remind and exhort you that the bishop is called to present an icon of Christ to his flock – not an icon of wood and paint, but a living icon. As an overseer and archpastor of the Church, the bishop must be the first to show forth Christ in his words and actions, through his entire way of life. You must emulate, incarnate, and become the Good Shepherd who today calls you to episcopal service.
The holy prophet Zechariah declares that a true shepherd is one who cares for the perishing, seeks the wandering, heals the maimed, and nourishes the sound. Indeed, our Lord Jesus Christ sought us out when we perished in sin, wandering in darkness, maimed by the devices of the devil, and he did so by means of his Cross.
Today, you are called to take up the Cross of episcopal ministry, and to lay down your very life for your flock, your clergy and all the faithful. You are called to die daily to yourself and your desires so that you can better serve them. We die to ourselves so that we may say, with St. Paul, that it is not we who live, but Christ who lives in us.
You are called to become Christ to every member of your flock, but in particular, as archpastor and high priest, you have the responsibility to shepherd the shepherds, the presbyters of your God-protected See. This entails administrative and canonical responsibilities, clergy assignments and clergy discipline. But more than this, you must be a true father to your pastors. Just as you expect them to care for their parishioners, so you must care for them.
To this end, I exhort you always to remember that your clergy are not mere employees or charges; they are not nuisances or liabilities: they are your spiritual sons, the precious lambs whom God has entrusted to your care. You are responsible for each of them and will be held accountable for their souls on the dread day of Christ’s Judgment.
This is a dread and difficult calling. However, we who are called to the episcopal ministry take courage. After all, the image that we celebrate today was not made by hands, but by a miracle of God. Likewise, though you must cooperate with the grace given to you through ordination, the bishop does not become an image of Christ by his own efforts, by his own hands. Rather, we rely on the hands of Christ to make and fashion us into the holy image of himself, for the sake of our salvation and the salvation of the flock he has entrusted to us as the successors of his holy apostles.
With that said, I now bless you to:
[Here follows the prayer of the bestowing of the pastoral staff]
Receive this pastoral staff that you may lead the flock of Christ entrusted to your care. May the Lord Himself be your strength and support in your exercise of the archpastoral ministry in this God-Protected diocese. We ask you now to ascend the episcopal cathedra and give your blessing to those who have taken part in this celebration and to all Christ’s flock.