On July 7 our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov visited St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Church in Little Falls, NJ. That parish celebrated its Patronal feast on that day, the Nativity of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John.

F. Igor served the Divine Liturgy headed by the Rector of the parish, Priest Alexey Paranyuk. Hieromonk Stephen (Bushman) was present and prayed in the temple.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy Fr. Igor preached a sermon greeting the parishioners on their Patronal feast. He also pointed out that Orthodox faithful should attempt to relate to the Holy Forerunner. The Gospel says that St. John the Baptist, from the beginning of his life, lived in the wilderness.  We are nowadays also live in the wilderness, a spiritual wilderness which is our country. If we get out of the church, of course, we would say that there is no such thing as wilderness around us. There is a vibrant civilization. But, in fact, it is spiritual wilderness because most of the people around us are not religious or pious, plus most of them are not Orthodox. That is why we need to consider that and to relate to St. John. He was preaching in the wilderness, and we should also. We may not even say much but we need to show a Christian way of life – that could be a preaching.

Following the liturgical service the clergy and the parishioners had a potluck luncheon in the parish hall.