On January 17, on the Sunday before the Theophany, the Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy in our parish temple. Following the Gospel lesson of Mark (Mk. 1, 1-8) he preached a homily in Russian.

In his homily the Rector pointed out that preparing for the holy day of the Theophany the Church commemorates the preaching of St. John the Baptist who called for repentance. Any true spiritual life begins with repentance, therefore it was the main theme of St. John’s preaching. And the baptism he performed in the Jordan River was a symbol of cleansing from the sins. Holy Forerunner fulfilled his mission to prepare the people for the appearance of Christ. We also should advance in faith living justly and prepare ourselves for the encounter with Christ for we call ourselves, as the Apostle said, “those who loved His appearance” (2 Tim. 4, 8). The Rector called the faithful to prepare worthily for the celebration of that appearance, for the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord.

Following the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector preached a short sermon in English to stress the main ideas of his Russian homily.

After the Liturgy our Warden and Choir Director, Olga Roussanow congratulated Archpriest Igor Tarasov on the occasion of his 50th Jubilee. She presented him with a gift from parishioners and a flower bouquet. Traditional Polychronion (“Mnogaia leta!”) was sung.