On January 7 Russian Orthodox Church observes feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, also known as Christmas. Despite the winter weather most of our parishioners gathered at St. George Church for the celebration of this great holy day. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy.
After the Gospel lesson the Rector proclaimed Christmas Sermon of Venerable Father Isaac the Syrian.
During the preparation for Holy Communion the choir beautifully performed different liturgical hymns of the Nativity.
After the Liturgy dismissal the Rector and altar servers performed the rite of glorification singing the troparion, kontakion and magnification of the Nativity before the festal icon in the middle of the church.

Following the Liturgy the Rector greeted the faithful on the occasion of the great holy day of God’s Incarnation. He expressed his heartfelt wishes of all the blessings to be bestowed upon us, but especially wished that Jesus who was born in the manger of Bethlehem may be born in our hearts and stay there all the time.

Our celebration continued at the trapeza table where the Rector and parishioners enjoyed delicious meals and a nice company. A toast was raised in honor of Fr. Igor on the occasion of the 27th Anniversary of his priestly ordination and a traditional Polychronion (“Mnogaia leta!”) was proclaimed.