Particularly impressed by the Russian Orthodox liturgy and choral singing, Hapgood wanted to translate them for American audiences. Tikhon, then Archbishop of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, supported her efforts and became her friend. Hapgood helped organize the choir for his consecration of St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York City in 1903. Tikhon's successor after his return to Russia and promotion, Archbishop Nicholas, gave Hapgood a complete set of Church Slavonic texts. The first edition of her translation appeared in 1906. In 1916-1917 Hapgood was visiting Tikhon, who had become Patriarch of Moscow, and editing a second edition of the work during her trip to Moscow when the Russian Revolution broke out. She became one of the first to report on the execution of the Romanov family. Hapgood escaped with the assistance of the American Consul and returned to the United States. Because Patriarch Tikhon was under house arrest, the second edition was not published until 1922 (by the Young Men's Christian Association), but it did contain Tikhon's endorsement dated November 3, 1921. For those eleven years of work, Hapgood accepted a $500 honorarium. The book received favorable reviews by Orthodox and Anglican reviewers; several editions were also published by other Orthodox denominations, including the Antiochian Orthodox, after her death.