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Special legislation initiated by Senate Majority Leader Ellen M. Corbett (D-East Bay) will allow Archimandrite Theodor Micka, who has been the Abbot at the Holy Cross Monastery in Castro Valley since its founding, to be buried on the monastery’s grounds.
Governor Jerry Brown signed the bipartisan-approved bill Tuesday that allows the special burial.
Due to Abbot Theodor’s terminal illness, the monks at the Holy Cross Monastery requested that Corbett assist in fulfilling the ailing religious leader’s wish to be buried on the monastery’s grounds. In order to expedite the request through the legislative process, Senator Corbett introduced urgency legislation (SB 124) that granted this specified permission.
Holy Cross Monastery serves Orthodox Christians of all ethnic backgrounds and is the only orthodox monastery in the Bay Area. Along with the monks’ daily prayers, it also offers weekly worship, baptisms, weddings and memorial services for Orthodox Christians in the region.
“I thank Governor Brown for signing SB 124 that will fulfill Abbot Theodor’s final wish to be buried on the grounds of the monastery that he helped found over three decades ago,” Corbett said.
“Over the years, Abbot Theodor has dutifully served all those who have come to Holy Cross Monastery to visit, work, meditate, pray and celebrate,” she added. “I am particularly pleased that the Legislature compassionately approved this bill with strong bipartisan support so that we could grant him this last wish to permanently remain at the monastery that Abbot Theodor so loved and served.”
Students at the Stanford University Law School’s Religious Liberty Clinic worked closely with the monastery to originally present and advocate for the special legislative request to Corbett.