On December 25, on Sunday of the Holy Forefathers, our parish held a nice celebration in our temple. The Rector of S. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy. After the Gospel lesson he preached a homily in Russian.

In his homily the Rector pointed out that the Forefathers are the righteous men and women who lived before the coming of Christ into this world. At this time of the year, when we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, we commemorate those Old Testament times when the Holy Forefathers lived. All of them were just but they realized that they were not able to achieve righteousness by their own abilities. Only God could help them to be just. For instance, Adam and Eve could not resist temptation, but following their expulsion from paradise they repented and kept praying God.
Lives of the Forefathers were the images and symbols of the events in the life of Christ. We can learn about them in the Bible. Thus it is very beneficial for us to read the Sacred Scripture.
Holy Forefathers lived by faith and were saved by it. Therefore, we also need to acquire such a faith. Unfortunately, our faith is weaker, thus we need to ask the holy righteous ancestors to pray for us.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector preached a short homily in English conveying the main ideas of his Russian homily.

Following the liturgical service the Rector and the parishioners enjoyed delicious meals and a nice company during the coffee hour.