On April 7 Holy Orthodox Church celebrates feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Mother of God. On that day Dean of Eastern States of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, Priest Alexey Paranyuk celebrated his 10th Anniversary of priestly ordination.
Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov visited S. John the Baptist Church in Little Falls, NJ where Fr. Alexey is serving as the Rector. Our parish priest concelebrated Vespers with Divine Liturgy at that temple. Service was attended by Hieromonk Stephen (Bushman) and by a number of faithful.
Following the dismissal of the Liturgy Fr. Igor greeted our Dean on joyful occasion of his anniversary of priesthood. He pointed out that Fr. Alexey was ordained on a special feastday commemorating the Annunciation, the Good News that our Lady conceived the Child, the future Savior of the world. The whole priestly ministry is a proclamation of the Good News, of the Holy Gospel to the faithful. And in the course of 10 years Fr. Alexey had such an opportunity to be a messenger of the Gospel, as well as to serve God and the people.
As a sign of appreciation, Fr. Igor presented the Dean with a special gift – a pectoral cross having the engraved images of 12 major holy days of the Church year. He also wished Fr. Alexey that that cross would remind him of the great sacrifice he has to offer bearing his cross as a priest, a family man and a human being. Such sacrifice is demanding but it is also delightful, especially if we remember about the joy of the holy days reminding us about the rejoicing events of our salvation.
At the end of the service Archpriest Igor Tarasov proclaimed the Polychronion to Priest Alexey.
