When we think about saints in America, a few names usually come to mind. St. John Maximovitch in San Francisco. St. Herman of Alaska. St. Raphael of Brooklyn. These are the figures we hear about when people speak of pilgrimage.
But here’s something most Greek Orthodox in our community don’t realize: there are other places within driving distance of Philadelphia where you can venerate Orthodox saints and holy relics.
- Ligonier, PA – Antiochian Village (near Bolivar): The relics of St. Raphael of Brooklyn are enshrined at St. Ignatius Church on the Village grounds, with a graveside shrine outdoors. Pilgrims visit year-round, and the Village hosts an annual St. Raphael pilgrimage.
- South Canaan, PA – St. Tikhon’s Monastery: The relics of St. Alexis Toth rest in the monastery church in a canopied reliquary, venerated by the faithful.
- Pittsburgh, PA – St. Anthony Chapel: Among thousands of authenticated relics, the chapel preserves the skull of St. Macarius of Jerusalem, a bishop who took part in the First Ecumenical Council in 325 AD.
- Washington, DC – Franciscan Monastery (Brookland): In the replica catacombs, visitors on guided tours can see the relics traditionally identified as the martyrs Benignus and Innocent, early Christians who gave their lives for the faith.
A quick clarification: the first two sites, Ligonier and South Canaan, are Orthodox shrines with the relics of modern Orthodox saints. The shrines in DC and Pittsburgh house pre-schism saints whose relics are kept in Roman Catholic churches. These saints lived long before the division between East and West and are fully part of the Orthodox calendar.
If you’ve never visited a Catholic site for relics, don’t worry. Orthodox hierarchs, most famously St. John Maximovitch, encouraged honoring local, pre-schism Western saints wherever their relics are found.
So the next time you’re heading west to Pittsburgh, north toward the Poconos, or down to Washington, DC, remember that the saints are not as far away as we might think. Some are waiting for us just a few hours from Philadelphia.