Father Anatoly Tikhai was a

hieromonk A hieromonk ( el, Ἱερομόναχος, Ieromonachos; ka, მღვდელმონაზონი, tr; Slavonic: ''Ieromonakh'', ro, Ieromonah), also called a priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church and E ...

who went to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in the early 1870s to assist Fr. Nicholas in his missionary work in Japan. Initially, the future St.

Nicholas of Japan Saint Nicholas (Kasatkin), Equal-to-the-Apostles, Archbishop of Japan, born Ivan Dmitrovich Kasatkin (russian: Иван Дмитриевич Касаткин; – 16 February 1912) was a Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Р� ...

assigned Fr. Anatoly to his original church in

Hakodate is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 279,851 with 143,221 households, and a population density of 412.8 ...

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

island in northern Japan. During his years in Japan before he returned to Russia due to illness,

Archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") who ...

Anatoly organized and taught schools in Hakodate and

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

as well as serving as dean of the language school and organizing the Tokyo Orthodox Seminary in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Life

Fr. Anatoly was originally from

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

. He was born 23 November 1839 in Tărăsăuţi, Hotin district (later known as

Khotinsky Uyezd Khotinsky Uyezd (''Хотинский уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Bessarabia Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the northwestern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Khotyn (''Khotin''). Demog ...

) in the northern part of Moldova (Bessarabia). He graduated from Chişinău Theological Seminary and from

Kiev Theological Academy The Kiev Theological Academy (1819—1919) was one of the oldest higher educational institution of the Russian Orthodox Church, situated in Kyiv, then in the Russian Empire (now Kyiv, Ukraine). It was considered as the most senior one among simila ...

. He lived on

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...

for four years before he was assigned to assist Fr. Nicholas with his mission work in Japan. The hieromonk Anatoly arrived in Japan during December 1871 while Fr. Nicholas' activities were still centered in Hakodate. After reviewing the status of the missionary effort in Japan with Fr. Anatoly, Fr. Nicholas assigned Fr. Anatoly to the existing

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

at Hakodate, thus continuing the community that had formed there. This allowed Fr. Nicholas to move his activities to Edo (Tokyo). In 1873, Fr. Anatoly established the Motomachi Orthodox Primary School in Hakodate where he taught for the next seven years. By 1880, the school had an enrollment of 300. In 1880, Fr. Anatoly was raised to the rank of Archimandrite and also was called by Bp. Nicholas to come to the Kanda Surugadai headquarters in Tokyo to become the dean of the language school and the newly organized

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

. Here he taught theology to the seminarians and assisted Bp. Nicholas. As the Mission expanded, Fr. Anatoly was assigned in 1882 to organize a mission school in Osaka. In the late 1880s Archimandrite Anatoly's health began to fail, and in the summer of 1890 he returned to Russia where he reposed in 1893.

External links

MISIONARI ŞI APOSTOLI ORTODOCŞI ROMÂNI ÎN JAPONIA SECOLULUI XIX

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tikhai, Anatoly 1839 births 1893 deaths People from Chernivtsi Oblast Athonite Fathers Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox missionaries Romanian Christian missionaries Romanian expatriates in Japan Orthodox Church in Japan Christian missionaries in Japan Kiev Theological Academy alumni People from Khotinsky Uyezd

Life

See also

External links

References