On Tuesday, September 25, clergy and faithful of greater Philadelphia gathered in St. Michael the Archangel Church to bid farewell to their long-time pastor, Mitered Archpriest Vincent Saverino who fell asleep in the Lord on September 20. Fr. Vincent labored for many years in the Patriarchal Parishes, carrying the obediences of the Rector of St. Michael’s Parish in Philadelphia, Dean of the Atlantic States and a member of the Bishop’s Council.

The Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov attended that funeral ceremony. In the absence of our Bishop, Fr. Igor, as the Chancellor of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, headed the burial service for our newly-departed cleric.

Early in the morning, the Dean of the Atlantic States, Archpriest John Vass celebrated the Divine Liturgy being co-served by the parish Rector, Priest Gregory Winsky and a multitude of clergy from the Patriarchal Parishes, the Russian Church Abroad, and other local Orthodox jurisdictions.

Following the Divine Liturgy, the priestly burial office was served by Archpriest Igor Tarasov assisted by all other clergy. At the beginning of the service Fr. Igor read aloud condolences to the family and parishioners of St. Michael Church from the Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, Bishop John of Naro-Fominsk. After the service dismissal the traditional rite of the farewell kiss had been performed by the clergy and faithful.

The church was filled with parishioners wishing to lift their prayers and pay their respects to the priest who served faithfully their parish for more than 30 years.

Following the service in the church the clergy proceeded to the cemetery where Archpriest Igor Tarasov headed the final memorial service including the Litia for the repose of the newly-departed and the sealing of the tomb.

A repast was then held in the parish hall of St. Michael Church prepared by the parish sisterhood. 

On Friday, September 21, on the feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God, the Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov headed the Divine Liturgy at St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York. He was co-served by the cathedral clergy: Abbot Nicodemus (Balyasnikov), Protodeacon Igor Panachev and Deacon John Peters.

Following the dismissal of the Liturgy Fr. Igor preached a homily about the celebrated holy day.

On July 1, on the 5th Sunday after Pentecost, Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy in our parish temple. Following the readings from the Sacred Scripture he preached a homily in Russian.

In his homily the Rector addressed the issue of evil existing in the world. The Gospel lesson of this Sunday tells us about our Lord Jesus Christ casting out the demons from possessed men and permitting the demons to enter into a herd of swine, so the animals perished (Mt. 8, 28 – 9, 1). This shows that evil does exist although the philosophers stress that evil has no substance but it appears as a lack of good. We feel evil’s existence if we are in pain or in suffering. The purpose of coming of the Lord into this world was to fight the evil and to show us the way to avoid it. Sometimes God permits evil to have a moment of triumph. It happened with the demons entering the herd of swine and destroying the animals. It happens with the people also. For instance, it occurred when German nation became overcome by the evil ideas of Hitler. God allows such bad things to happen for certain purposes. It is our task to fight and to avoid evil in our lives, to do good and to seek God’s help in this spiritual warfare.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector preached a brief sermon in English stressing the thoughts of his Russian homily. He also made some announcements.

Welcome to St. George Russian Orthodox Church!

While we’re working on the web site, please feel free to use the following links in order to get better idea about the church, its history and location:

• Google maps, please use the following link: http://g.co/maps/ssrt2
• Parish history and contact information can be found on the official web site http://www.ruschurchusa.org/ru/9/18/12/18 (in Russian so far, however you may find the following automated translation service convenient at this point by following this url).
• Service Schedule is now available: please use the top menu.

Hope to see you soon!