2016-08-04. The Head of the House of Romanoff and the Tsesarevich express their condolences on the passing of Schema-Archimandrite Jeremiah, the abbot of the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos

On July 22/August 4, 2016, on the feast day of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene (the name day of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia), the abbot of St. Panteleimon Monastery, Schema-Archimandrite Jeremiah, reposed in the Lord. Fr. Jeremiah had been the abbot of St. Panteleimon Monastery since 1979, and last year he marked his 100th birthday. The formal expression of congratulations from the Russian Imperial House was personally conveyed to Fr. Jeremiah by H.I.H. The Heir, Tsesarevich, and Grand Duke George of Russia while he was on a pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain in April 2015. For his services to the Holy Church and to his country, Schema-Archimandrite Jeremiah was awarded the Imperial Commemorative Medal “In Memory of the 400th Anniversary of the House of Romanoff” and the Imperial Order of St. Anna First Class. (See:

It was with enormous grief and sadness that I and my son and Heir, Grand Duke George of Russia, learned the news of the death of Schema-Archimandrite Jeremiah, abbot of the Russian Monastery of St. Panteleimon on Mount Athos. We extend to the brethren of the monastery and to all of Fr. Jeremiah’s many spiritual children our deepest condolences.

Fr. Jeremiah was born in the Russian Empire and lived through all the hardships that befell Russia and its people during the 20th century. He experienced the Revolution and Civil War, mass persecution and repression, the Second World War, and German imprisonment. In the late 1950s, at a time when the persecution of the Church by the godless government was again intensifying, Yakov Filippovich Alyokhin chose the path of monasticism and soon received a blessing from his spiritual father, the venerable St. Kuksha of Odessa, to go to the Holy Mountain. He had to wait 14 years to realize this blessed goal, but in 1974, Hieromonk Jeremiah finally entered the Monastery of St. Panteleimon and in 1978 was elected by the brethren its abbot.

The name of Schema-Archimandrite Jeremiah is inscribed in gold letters in the history of the Athonite monastic community, the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, and of Orthodoxy around the world.

In our hearts we will always preserve the treasured memory of how this great ascetic of our time so warmly and genuinely received our son during his pilgrimage to Athos in April 2015.

Exclaiming the words “Memory Eternal!” for the newly reposed Schema-Archimandrite Jeremiah, we believe that he stands now and always at the Throne of God, praying for our country.

H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia

Madrid
July 22/August 4, 2016
Feast day of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene