On July 12, on the feast of the Holy Major Apostles Peter and Paul, St. George Church held a nice celebration. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy.

Following the Gospel lesson he preached a homily in which he pointed out that we should ask ourselves the question asked by our Lord Jesus Christ to His Disciples: “Who do you say that I am?” (Mt. 16, 15). Holy Apostle Peter answered that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt. 16, 16). His answer was correct and was based on his firm faith. And we should ask ourselves whom do we consider our Lord Jesus to be. Different non-Christian religions give different answers, but to a true Christian Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God. In the same manner we should question ourselves what does the Church is for us. In today’s Gospel lesson the Lord proclaimed that He will build His Church on Peter the Rock. But to many people the Church seems to be just an opportunity to receive certain services such as christening for a child, a marriage ceremony for the newlyweds or a funeral for the deceased. And the very membership in the Church is acquired very easily – through Baptism. But for a true Christian believer the Church is the Body of Christ, a community of salvation. The Church has an authority to bind and lose given by the Lord, thus our salvation depends on our good standing in the Church. Therefore, we need to cherish our faith and to stay in the Holy Church of the Apostles, the Church of Peter and Paul who by their own lives showed their firm faith and that on such faith the Church was built.

Our cantor Olga Roussanow nicely performed hymns in honor of the Holy Apostles.

Following the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector and the altar server performed a rite of glorification before the icon stand in the middle of the church singing the troparion, kontakion and magnification of the feast.