On January 7 Russian Orthodox Church observes feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, also known as Christmas. Most of our parishioners, as well as some visitors to our temple 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 preached a short sermon expressing a desire that we may keep the Newborn Infant Jesus in our hearts all the time, not just during Christmas celebration. He called the faithful to imitate righteous Joseph, the head of the Holy Family who preserved and defended Infant Jesus. Remembering that if we receive Holy Communion, we receive Jesus Himself physically and spiritually, we should keep Him and His grace just as like on this holy day, so the Lord may be 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 his successful defense of the doctoral thesis and awarding him a PhD in Theology.