On Monday, October 10, Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov attended the funeral of the newly-departed senior cleric of the Patriarchal Parishes, Mitered Archpriest John Kassatkin who passed away on October 6.

Burial services were held at Elevation of the Holy Cross Church in Hackettstown, NJ. The Divine Liturgy was headed by Chancellor of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, Archpriest George Konyev. At the conclusion of the Liturgy the memorial Litia was performed and our Rector arrived for that service and participated in it.

The funeral was also attended by Archpriest Basil Micek (Rector of St. Peter & Paul Church in Scranton, PA), Archpriest Michael Lepa (Administrator of St. Nicholas Church in Wilkes Barre, PA), Archpriest John Vass (Dean of the Atlantic States), Abbot Nicodemus (Balyasnikov) (Dean of St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral in New York City), Priest Yulian Ryabtsev (Dean of the Eastern States), Priest Andrew Massey (local parish Rector), and Priest Nicholas DeGraaff (cleric of Three Saints Church in Garfield, NJ).

Following the Litia the body of the newly-reposed Archpriest John was brought in procession around the church which he had served for almost 40 years, with the singing of the Canon of St. Andrew of Crete.

Fr. Igor Tarasov expressed his condolences to the spouse of the newly-departed, Matushka Maxine and assured her in his prayers, as well as of the warm memory of Fr. John in Bayside, NY where he had been serving for several years before his appointment for the Hackettstown parish in New Jersey.

Archpriest John was interred in St. Peter & Paul Cemetery in Saddle Brook, NJ among other departed priests of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA.