Nikolay (Sayama)

Born November 22, 1914 in Taipei, on the island of Taiwan, where his father (a sociologist) was sent to work from Japan with his whole family. Shortly after the birth of a son, the mother returned to Japan with her children and settled in the city of Miyazu , near Kyoto , where the future hierarch with the name of Peter was baptized in the Orthodox Church.

Then the whole family moved to Tokyo, where Peter studied in high school and even then had a firm decision to become an Orthodox priest. After graduation, he entered the university at the theological faculty.

In 1941, he graduated from Tokyo Theological Seminary under the leadership of Metropolitan Sergius (Tikhomirov) and wanted to continue his theological education, but this was prevented by military operations.

After the end of World War II, most Orthodox parishes in Japan found themselves in the jurisdiction of the Russian "American Metropolis", and in 1954 Peter Sayama was sent to the New York Vladimir Seminary .

In October 1956 he was ordained deacon , and in November of that year, he was ordained a presbyter and appointed assistant rector of the seminary church.

In 1959, Father Peter graduated from seminary and, wishing to study the basics of the Orthodox faith more deeply, went to Greece and lived in Athens for a year and a half, having visited many churches in Greece and Mount Athos .

In 1961, he returned to Japan and in August of the same year, while in Japan, a delegation led by Archbishop Sergiy (Larin) , transferred to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate .

In 1962 he came to Russia and was tonsured a monk with the name of Nikolai on September 1 at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

On August 28, 1966, in the Transfiguration Cathedral in Leningrad, Metropolitan Nicodemus (Rotov) of Leningrad and Ladoga was elevated to the rank of archimandrite, after which on September 8, 1966 he was appointed dean of the churches of the Moscow Patriarchate in Japan.

December 10, 1967 in the Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in Leningrad, was ordained bishop of Tokyo and Japan . The consecration was performed by the Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod Nicodemus (Rotov), ​​the Archbishop of Alma-Ata and Kazakhstan Joseph (Chernov) , the Bishops of Arkhangelsk and Kholmogorsky Nikon (Fomichev) , Tula and Belevsky Bartholomew (Gondarovsky) , Zaraiskyu Yevinsky ( Mikhail Gondarovsky) , Zaraysky (Yudinsky) Mikhaevsky Yojuvinsky (Yuryvinsky) ) , Podolsky Germogen (Orekhov) , Smolensky and Vyazemsky Gideon (Dokukin) .

In 1968, Bishop Nicholas by definition of the Holy Synod was included in the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church at the IV Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Uppsala . In the same year, he participated from the Russian Orthodox Church at the III All-Christian Peace Congress in Prague . In 1969 he was included in the Commission of the Holy Synod for Christian Unity.

Since April 10, 1970, when the parishes formerly under the jurisdiction of the American Metropolitanate constituted the Japanese Orthodox Autonomous Church , Vladyka Nikolai became bishop of Mozhaisk (titular), vicar of the Moscow diocese and rector of the Russian Orthodox Church in Japan.

As a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church, he participated in the World Conference "Religion and Peace" in Kyoto on October 16-22, 1970, on September 16, 1971, was included in the delegation of the Russian Church at the IV All-Christian Peace Congress in Prague on September 30 - October 3, 1971 , and on April 17, 1975 he was appointed a member of the delegation of the Moscow Patriarchate to the V Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Nairobi .

July 16, 1984 was elevated to the rank of archbishop .

On December 25, 1986, he was relieved of his post as rector of the Patriarchal Compound in Tokyo and remained at rest on his own request, being the rector of his summer house on the ground in the village of Matsuo Pokrovsky, and then Sofia, monastery .

According to some reports, in the early 1990s, Archbishop Nicholas, together with his monastery, passed under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople , but soon returned to the omophorion of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Since May 16, 1996 - Archbishop of Ramensky, Vicar of the Moscow Diocese.

In 2003, the St. Sophia Monastery was formed in the residence of Lord Nicholas in Chiba Prefecture , and mother Ksenia and mother Magdalen were sent here from Yuzhno-Ussuriysk.

In June 2008 he did not arrive at the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church due to illness ^[1]

He died on August 26, 2008 at the 94th year of his life, being the oldest bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church. Archbishop Nicholas was buried in the Matsuovsky Sophia Monastery by the Bishops of Sendai Seraphim (Tsuji) and Ussuri Sergius (Chashin) , and then was buried in the foreign Yokohama cemetery.

• Speech in the name of Bishop of Tokyo and Japan on December 9, 1967 (in English).
• “To the Separated Brothers” (appeal), ZhMP. 1969, No. 2, p. 21-22.

• Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh , 2nd degree
• Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, 1st Degree
• Order of St. equapap. Prince Vladimir 2nd degree
• Order of the Holy Right Prince Daniel of Moscow , 2nd degree.

• Nikolay (Sayama) // Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "Tree"
• In memory of the Archbishop of Ramenskoy Nicholas (Sayama)
• Archbishop Ramensky Nikolay (Sayama) Dies