On February 25, on the First Sunday of Lent, the Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov participated in one of the traditional Lenten Mission Vespers served in our Deanery. This day such service had been celebrated at St. John the Baptist Church in Little Falls, NJ.

As the Chancellor of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, our Rector headed the celebration of Vespers. He was co-served by the Dean of Eastern States, Priest Aleksiy Paranyuk, Rector of St. John the Baptist Church in Little Falls, NJ; Archpriest John Kassatkin, Rector of the Holy Cross Church in Hackettstown, NJ; Archpriest George Konyev, Rector of the Three Saints Church in Garfield, NJ; Hieromonk Stephen (Bushman), cleric of the Deanery; Priest Demetrius Sukhorukov, cleric of Nicholas Church in Bayonne, NJ; Deacon Andrew Masey, cleric of the Holy Cross Church in Hackettstown, NJ, and Deacon Nicholas DeGraaff, cleric of the Three Saints Church in Garfield, NJ.

Following the Great Prokimenon a sermon in English was delivered by Deacon Andrew Masey.

After the Vespers dismissal Archpriest Igor Tarasov expressed his gratitude to the clergy and lay people present for their participation in the Mission service. Following the church service, a delicious supper was offered to the guests of the Little Falls Church in its parish hall.