Sts Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Institute
3 Apr 08: Bells chime at time of Metropolitan’s death
Bells chime at time of Metropolitan’s death
By David Jepson
Dean of the High School, Saint John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy,
Holy Virgin “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Cathedral, San Francisco, USA
On Saturday night, 15th March, 2008 I got home from choir practice rather late, and stayed up much later than normal, as I had a very late dinner. I had finished eating and was reading a book at about 11:30 pm when my flatmate came in and asked if I knew why the bells of Holy Virgin “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Cathedral, San Francisco (ROCOR) were ringing. He had been in his bedroom, which, like mine, faces the street and has a view of the Cathedral a block away. In the kitchen, a couple of rooms away, I couldn’t hear the bells, but I agreed that it seemed strange for them to be ringing at that time of night. I went to bed about a half hour later and thought nothing more about it.
At church at the Cathedral next morning, the Sunday of Orthodoxy, we were all shocked to hear that Metropolitan Laurus, the leader of the Russian Church Outside Russia, had reposed. Our priest got a telephone call from a former parishioner just before the service started at 9.00 a.m.
We heard about the chronology of events later on Sunday from the Matushka of one of the Cathedral priests, whose son is at Holy Trinity Seminary, Jordanville in New York (the Seminary is part of Holy Trinity Monastery). Sometime on Sunday morning, when Metropolitan Laurus was noticed to be absent from the morning service in the Monastery church, someone went to his skete and discovered that he had reposed in his sleep. The police were called etc., and people there began notifying the rest of the world. No one here in San Francisco knew about it until 8.00 am or so on Sunday morning (11.00 am New York time). As the day went on, word about his death continued to spread. People here were discussing going to the funeral in Jordanville on Friday the 21st of March.
As we talked about these events, the issue of the bells came up. Others living near the Cathedral, including Archpriest Peter Perekrestov, his Matushka and Archdeacon Andronik (Taratuchin), had also heard the bells ringing late on Saturday night. When they came to the early service at the Cathedral (it starts at 7.30 a.m.), they found the bells tied up in the normal way, which seemed puzzling. Someone had to have gotten into the locked place where the bells are, untied them, rung them (very beautifully, my roommate said), and tied them back up, all in the darkness of near midnight. No one in the group I was talking to, which included the wives of both Cathedral priests, knew who could have done it.
But, then, as we were talking, we also learned that the New York police estimated that Metropolitan Laurus had died between 2.00 and 3.00 a.m. Sunday 16th of March, the Sunday of Orthodoxy. That’s between 11.00 p.m. and 12.00 midnight here in San Francisco. Then, everything seemed obvious.
Our ruling bishop, His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill, of the Diocese of Western America, told us that the bells had been rung by the angels.
David Jepson’s flatmate, Ryan Thompson, made the following statement: “I attest that I had just begun reading the pre-communion canons when I heard bells…. Orthodox bells… ringing with the melodies familiar to us at the Cathedral. I first thought it was my CD player… when I checked, I found that it was off. David was reading in the kitchen and I went and asked him if he was playing music. We weren’t. Others in the vicinity, including Cathedral clergy, heard the bells at the same time, roughly the time when Vladika Metropolitan passed away. (Note the bells are behind two locked security gates and everyone who has access and who knows how to properly ring the bells have all sworn that they did not ring them).”
Source: by email from Hieromonk Joachim