On December 19, on the 26th Sunday after Pentecost, feast of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, St. George Parish family gathered for a beautiful celebration. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov headed the Divine Liturgy in our temple. After the Gospel lesson he preached the following homily:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today we celebrate 26th Sunday after Pentecost, as well as feast of the Holy Father Nicholas the Wonderworker”.
“Our first Gospel reading is about gratefulness. Among the ten lepers cured by our Lord Jesus Christ, only one came back to the Savior to give Him thanks (Lk. 17, 12-19). The other nine people healed from a terrible disease did not return to show their appreciation”.
“That story makes us wonder how corrupt and bad our human nature is. And we are not really surprised by what happened in the Gospel reading. We know from our life experience that such things happen. Our lack of being grateful takes place when we do not really appreciate good things that we have. We do not appreciate God’s blessings. Or we take them for granted. Celebrating St. Nicholas day, we may recall that in many Orthodox countries children are expecting presents from St. Nicholas. And the parents before that day keep telling their kids that they should be nice, obedient and kind, otherwise St. Nicholas won’t bring them presents. But what usually happens is that children get their presents anyway. And such children learn that no matter how good or bad you may be, St. Nicholas will bring you something anyway. So, such a little thing may teach us from our childhood that good things come easily”.
“How can we change that wrong attitude when we either do not appreciate God’s blessings in our life or take them for granted? We can change it by keeping in mind that all good things we have are from the merciful Lord. And He distributes those things through different circumstances of our life and through different people in our life. We need to use our mind to understand that. Usually in religious life we prefer to use our faith and our heart. In this case we need our mind to help us to understand and appreciate the divine care and God’s grace. Therefore, let us attempt to use it”.
“Let us think of those ten lepers. We should imagine how miserable and horrible their life was. Leprosy is a terrible disease, causing your flesh to decay while you still alive. But in addition to physical sufferings, the lepers, especially in those times of Christ, had to suffer the alienation from the society. They were the outcasts, they were considered unclean and could not approach the people. This is why, as the Gospel mentions, they stayed afar off (Lk. 17, 12). Now Jesus healed them from that illness and cleansed them from their impurity. Their life changed completely, from being miserable to being at least normal. And yet most of them did not give thanks. Was it a right attitude? Of course, not”.
“Using our mind we may also imagine the opposite situation. Someone is feeling good but suddenly gets sick or something bad happens. How do most of us react? We begin to be disappointed or even angry. Often become angry even with God”.
“Dear brothers and sisters, when we feel disappointed by some things, let us again recall those ten lepers. Let us recall other people who suffer from terrible diseases, who are in great pain, who are dying or suffering all their lives! There are many such people all around us. Let us remember about that. And maybe then our mind will tell us that we are in a much better situation. And maybe then we will begin to appreciate the great blessings of the Lord bestowed upon us, who are unworthy”.
“Consider the case of the 3 military generals in the life of St. Nicholas whom we honor today. They were wrongfully accused and sentenced to death. How miserable and desperate they had to feel! But they prayed the Lord to save them through the intercession of St. Nicholas. And he appeared in a dream to the Emperor and defended those generals. As a result, the Emperor reviewed their case and found them not guilty”.
“Consider the father of the 3 daughters who was very poor and could not arrange for their marriages. That man was so desperate that he planned to force his daughters to become harlots. But St. Nicholas learned about that family and left a sac with money in their hut. He was doing it 3 times, so all the 3 daughters could be married”.
“In both instances people were miserable but through the grace of God and by the good works of the Lord’s Saint were made happy. Did they give thanks? At least, the father of the 3 daughters did. The life of St. Nicholas tells us that the man saw the Saint secretly leaving the money for the third time and he followed the benefactor. He caught him up and fell on his knees thanking him”.
“Dear brothers and sisters! Let us use our mind, let us think and learn that we have to be grateful to the Lord for everything. First of all, our Lord deserves our thanks just for the fact that we live. And everything good we have in that life is His generous gift. Since now, before Christmas or on St. Nicholas day, is time of presents, let us remember that the most important present from God is our own life. Let us avoid the wrong attitude of the ungrateful people like the 9 out of those 10 lepers. Let us also not fall in anger or bitterness when we encounter misery or different disappointing things in our life. Let us remember that very often our problems are much lesser than sorrows of some other people. Let us ask the Lord through the prayers of His great Saint, Holy Wonderworker Nicholas to make us mindful, strong and faithful and make us learn to appreciate divine blessings and to be truly grateful for them!”

During the Litany of Fervent Supplication, Fr. Igor proclaimed a petition beseeching the Lord to spare the faithful from the outbreak of the disease, as well as a petition of thanksgiving requested by Malyshev family.

During preparation for Holy Communion the choir prayerfully performed the magnification of St. Nicholas and pre-Nativity hymns from the Christmas canon.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector greeted our Sacristan and altar server, Andrew Malyshev on the occasion of his past name day and our guest Nicholas on his celebrated name day. Traditional Polychronion (“Mnogaia leta!”) was proclaimed and the Theotokian prosphora divided among those two persons. Then Fr. Igor handed the presents from St. Nicholas to the parish children.

On December 12, on the 25th Sunday after Pentecost, our Parish family gathered for a nice celebration. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov performed the Divine Liturgy in our St. George Church. After the reading from the Holy Gospel he preached the following homily:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today’s Gospel tells us about a miracle of healing performed by our Lord Jesus Christ over a sick woman. She had a spirit of infirmity 18 years, and was bent over and could not raise herself up (Lk. 13, 11). As in many other instances when our Lord healed the people, He had compassion, He felt for this woman, thus He called her and said, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity” (Lk. 13, 12). He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God (Lk. 13, 13). We should recall that St. Luke whose Gospel we read today, was a physician, therefore he attempted to describe people’s illnesses with precision”.
“If we were present there at that glorious miracle of the Lord, we would probably rejoice for the woman who was healed and for the glory of God revealed. But the reaction of some people present there was different. We read that the ruler of the synagogue was not happy because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. So, the ruler said to the people that they may come to be healed on the other six days, but not on the Sabbath. In such a reaction we see a very formal and superficial observance of the law of Moses. The ruler of the synagogue, as well as all the Pharisees and scribes, kept the letter of the law, instead of the spirit of the law. Such an observance can still be seen in the orthodox Jewish communities. In this city of New York, if you go to certain neighborhoods populated by the religious Jews, like Borough Park or Williamsburg, you can see that they observe Sabbath and other different rules very meticulously. These people do not drive their cars and do not use the elevator on the Sabbath. If you analyze that, you may find that they are very specific about keeping lots of rules and continue what the Pharisees did in the times of Jesus being on the earth”.
“Thus, these people, as well as their ancestors mentioned in today’s Gospel, keep the letter of the law, not the spirit. This is why the Lord called them hypocrites. He said, “Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?” (Lk. 13, 15). Certain things should be done no matter whether today is Sabbath or any other day. Especially, good deeds of mercy should be performed on each day. Furthermore, Jesus wishes us to understand that such works of love and charity should especially be done on the holy days. Good Christians understand that. We are also called to keep Ten Commandments, to honor and sanctify the Sabbath. For us Sunday is our Sabbath, the holy day of the week, the day of rest and the day of worship. However, we cannot think that a miracle could not be performed on such a day. We further cannot imagine that works of mercy could be prohibited on Sunday. In addition, we agree that certain jobs like emergency help or works necessary for your life or health may be done on Sunday”.
“Of course, on Sunday you should not do any physical work, you should and you have to go to the church. If you are working on Sunday because you want to and you want to make more money – you do commit a sin. But if you have to perform an emergency work, you can do it on Sunday. And people who are on duty on Sunday, like police officers or firefighters – they do not sin when they work on their Sunday shifts”.
“This is why today’s Gospel teaches us to observe the spirit of the God’s law, not just the letter of it. We have to live by our faith, and not just show that we are so religious. Our piety has to show what is in our hearts. Otherwise we risk to become similar to the Jewish scribes or Pharisees who demonstrated their piety and zeal in external observance of the rituals, but inside of their hearts were evil. Our Lord called them “whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness” (Mt. 23, 27). Jesus warned His disciples from the “leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy” (Lk. 12, 1)”.
“We may ridicule the orthodox Jews but we have to admit that we may see similar attitude among us, Orthodox Christians. Sometimes we also keep the letter of our faith, not its spirit. Being recently in Ukraine, I met a man who was in pain. He has a problem with his spine. When I spoke with him, he complained that he was suffering the whole night. But, as he told, he could not take the pain killers because he was supposed to receive Communion. I was a little surprised and told him that taking medicine with some water in such a case would not break the Eucharistic fast. But he said, “No, you in America can do that. We here are strict in our piety”. So, what do we see? A person suffers because he thinks he cannot break the fast before Communion. But it is permissible to take medicine if you are sick. It is permissible to take the pain killers if you are in pain. It is permissible to drink some water if you need it for medical reasons. We are not talking about eating a breakfast. But even some breakfast is allowed to the people having high blood sugar. In the large parishes, where an early Liturgy is celebrated, such people can come for Communion very early, and then they would keep the fast. They can eat breakfast after the early service. But in a parish like ours, we have only one Liturgy, so if someone has diabetes and needs to eat something in the morning, such person may be blessed to do so before Communion. Again, the spirit of our faith should be observed, not the letter.”
“The spirit of the law is found in the whole works of divine grace. The healing, life-giving, renewing power of God, His grace has no limits. It cannot be limited to the certain days, to the certain places or certain nations. It acts everywhere. And we have to be joyful to receive it and to see it at work. This was the purpose of the Lord to come into this world, that His grace may be shed upon every person. As a sign of that Jesus Himself cured all the infirmities and diseases among the people whom He encountered in pain. And the whole human race had to be healed, made well and straight the way the Lord healed and made straight the woman in today’s Gospel. Thus, dear brothers and sisters, let us be grateful and adhere to His commands, fulfilling first of all the spirit of His law, to be worthy of His eternal ruling”.

During the Litany of Fervent Supplication, Fr. Igor proclaimed a petition beseeching the Lord to spare the faithful from the outbreak of the disease.

During preparation for Holy Communion the choir prayerfully performed the pre-Nativity hymns from the Christmas canon.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector addressed again the importance of fulfilling the spirit of our faith in religious life, not the superficial observance of the rules. Especially now, during the Nativity Fast, such issues arise. People ask how should they fast, what should they eat. Of course, trying to keep the canons and regulations of our Church, we have to understand that the most important thing in fasting is to spiritually attune to the works of salvation. The Rector also made some announcements regarding coming feasts.

Following the Liturgy the Rector performed the Mystery of Baptism over Johnmark Deleon who desired to convert and to join the Holy Orthodox Church. In the Holy Baptism he was given the name Mark. Following the Sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation Mark received his first Holy Communion. The Rector then congratulated him on that very solemn and important occasion.

On December 5, on the 24th Sunday after Pentecost, Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy in our parish temple. After the Gospel reading he preached the following homily:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today’s pretty short Gospel reading tells us about man’s foolishness in the eyes of God. A man had a good harvest, he had a lot of riches and he was planning to store them. At the first look, there is nothing wrong with his reasoning. People who have certain possessions or business, do plan for the future. It is natural and necessary to look at the future perspective of your affairs. There is even some area of scholarship called “business planning”. Thus that man appeared to be reasonable”.
“But God calls him fool. And God says, “This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” (Lk. 12, 20). We may say that God is right because very often we do not know when we will pass from this world. Very often death is unexpected. And this is the first lesson from today’s Gospel for us. We have to be prepared. Holy ascetic fathers always kept thinking of death. “Memory of death” is considered a very important ascetic tool. “Remember the end of your life, and then you will never sin”, says the Scripture (Sir. 7, 36). Many ascetics were praying, “Lord, grant me the memory of death!””
“St. Ignatius Brianchianinov wrote, “Remember and mourn yourself alive, says the memory of death, I came to disappoint you charitably, and I brought with me a host of thoughts, most beneficial to the soul…. She is a performer of the will of the Most Holy God. Once she hears the command, she rushes for execution just like a lightning. She will not be ashamed neither of a rich man, nor a hero, nor a genius, she won’t have mercy for youth, for beauty, for earthly happiness: she relocates man into eternity. And by death a servant of God enters into the blessedness of eternity, and the enemy of God into eternal torment””.
“Thus, let us remember about the end of our earthly life. Holy Apostle Paul says, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5, 15). Here again, we hear the word “fool”. St. Paul calls us not to be as fools but as wise. He teaches to “redeem time”. That means that the time of our life has to be spent in good works, in spiritual endeavors and in acquiring the grace. He is warning us that the “days are evil”, meaning that we never know when our soul will be required of us. Thus, time must be used for salvation, for the purpose of becoming “rich toward God” (Lk. 12, 21)”.
“Now we may come to the second lesson from today’s Gospel. It teaches us that all our earthly achievements, treasures, ranks, educations, talents, powers and riches – all this is in vain if we do not become rich toward God. All this will pass away. Only our riches acquired with God, our treasures laid up in heaven will remain forever. But how can we be rich toward God? The answer to that is simple. We have to use our talents, or anything else we received from God in this life, to serve God and to serve the neighbor. Not everybody enjoys material wealth like the person in today’s parable, but everybody is gifted by some talent, some achievement. Thus, that gift we have to use, we have to share it with others”.
“Yesterday we celebrated feast of the Entrance of the Most Holy Mother of God into the Temple, and today we continue its church observance. We commemorate that the holy parents of the Most Holy Theotokos, righteous Joachim and Anna, brought their 3-year-old daughter to the holy Temple in Jerusalem. She was their most precious treasure; She was the dearest person they had. Yet they entrusted Her to the Lord and left in the Temple to be educated and instructed there. And we all know how rewarded they were because the special daughter became the Mother of the Savior, the Bearer of God, the living Temple of the Most High”.
“Dear brothers and sisters! Hearing the words from the Scripture and from the wise Saints, let us strive for becoming rich toward God, for being not fools but wise, for redeeming the time of our earthly life, for having the memory of death and for acquiring everlasting treasures in heavenly Kingdom!”

During the Litany of Fervent Supplication, Fr. Igor proclaimed a petition beseeching the Lord to spare the faithful from the outbreak of the disease.

The choir prayerfully performed the magnification of the feast of the Entrance, and for the pre-Nativity hymns from the Christmas canon.

On December 4, on the feast of the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, we had a beautiful celebration at St. George Church. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy. After the Gospel lesson he preached the following homily:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! On this day we celebrate feast of the Entrance of the Most Holy Mother of God into the Temple. We commemorate a wonderful event from the history of salvation, a day when the Blessed Mother of the Savior, being only a 3-year old girl, was brought to the holy Temple of Jerusalem by her righteous parents. She entered the holy place and was even allowed in the Holy of the Holies where only the high priest could enter. That was a strange thing but it happened because of the God’s will to show who that little girl was – the future Mother of the Messiah, the future living Temple of God”.
“Celebrating this feast we should think about the significance of the holy temple in our life. As the Jews of old had the holy Temple in Jerusalem, we Christians have our holy churches. But if the Old Testament Temple was only one, in Jerusalem, our New Testament places of worship are many. We are blessed to have them everywhere. In our Orthodox temple we begin our Christian life being baptized and chrismated. Then we are blessed in our childhood years if our parents bring us to the church to be at the divine services and to receive Holy Communion. Thus in the temple, from our early age, we may imitate the Most Holy Mother of God who entered the holy place. And if She entered the holiest place of the sanctuary, we are partaking of the true Body and Blood of the Lord. We may do it from our earliest age until our passing, do it in the holy temple. Growing up, we come to the temple as to a hospital to seek the cure from our spiritual illnesses, to receive forgiveness of sins in confession. And if we desire to be married, we receive a blessing being crowned in the church in the Sacrament of Matrimony. And when we leave this world, the temple can do us the last favor when our body may be brought here for the burial service”.
“These are the main spiritual but also practical things to consider when we talk about the meaning of the temple. But apart from that, the holy church is meaningful because it is a holy place by itself, because it sanctifies the environment where we live. This is a place where the grace of God is being always bestowed upon us; the place where the Holy Church offers its prayers; the place where a real miracle happens all the time. When the Divine Liturgy is served in the temple, the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. And as we believe, the Holy Angels are present in the temple during the divine services. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, such is the great meaning of the holy temple in our life”.
“Thinking of all these exalted and sublime things, we need to admit how often we disregard the holy temple. Needless to speak about people who have no faith or very little faith: they do not come to the church or come very rarely; they cannot appreciate the holy temple. However, even if we speak of them, many of them were baptized and will be buried in the church. But it is important to speak of those who have faith. But even they sometimes disrespect the temple. Sometimes people miss the services or come late. Let us remember that if the Jews in the Old Testament times could come to the Temple in Jerusalem only once or twice a year, we ought to come to the church every Sunday and major holy day. If we don’t, we commit a sin. Sometimes people do not pay attention in the church or disturb the solemnity of the service. Let us remember that the temple is a holy place and let us not disrespect it”.
“Another unpleasant thing seen nowadays is that the holy temple is treated like some business providing ritual services. People come to baptize their children, to get married or to commemorate their deceased, but many of them do not come to the church again. This is the great spiritual problem especially seen in the old country, but also existing here. Unfortunately, many priests, being kind and gentle, give in and act like some providers of the ritual services. And then the people are encouraged to think in a wrong way”.
“You can also hear of the “parish shopping” when the people choose the church they like. In one parish they don’t like that the choir is singing poorly, in another they do not like how the priest looks, then they want certain special treatment for themselves – you name it. Of course, in New York we have a lot of option, many Orthodox churches, even several Russian churches in one city. People do have a choice where to go. But they should be members of one parish and stay in that parish. And in the places where they have only one Orthodox church in the area – what should they do if they don’t like something? Sometimes people leave and don’t go anywhere. Then their souls are almost lost. But people should be humble and patient. They should stick with their church and don’t exercise pride”.
“Dear brothers and sisters! The holy temple of God is the place of worship. The Lord said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer” (Mt. 21, 13). It cannot be called as a house of vanity or pride. We come here to pray, to participate in the divine services, to receive the Sacraments, to be healed and comforted. We do not come just to see the friends, to demonstrate our clothes or cars. It is no club. We do not come here to get served but to serve the Lord. It is no shop or business. I can talk a lot about these issues and these problems but we are limited in time”.
“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us then respect, honor and love the holy temple of God! Let us imitate the Most Holy Theotokos and Her righteous parents coming into the holy church, entering the sacred place and desiring to stay here to acquire God’s blessings and true salvation”.

During the Litany of Fervent Supplication, Fr. Igor proclaimed a petition beseeching the Lord to spare the faithful from the outbreak of the disease.

The choir nicely performed festal hymns, and for the first time in the year began singing the pre-Christmas hymns from the Nativity canon.

After the Liturgy dismissal the Rector and the altar servers performed the rite of glorification in front of the icon of the feast. Then Fr. Igor greeted the faithful on the occasion of the feast and praised the parents who brought their children to the temple on this day resembling righteous Joachim and Anna.

Недавно стало известно, что 22 октября 2021 г. на 86-м году жизни скончался митрофорный протоиерей Георгий Чувяков, священник, который когда-то крестил нашего настоятеля.
Прот. Георгий родился 25 января 1936 года в Украине. В 1956 году в он поступил в Одесскую духовную семинарию. В 1958 г. на Успение Божией Матери был рукоположен в диаконы патриархом Алексием І.
Позже о. Георгий приехал в Кишинев (Молдавия), где прослужил много лет. Сначала он был диаконом, а потом священником кафедрального собора в честь св. великомученика Феодора Тирона, где и крестил будущего священника Игоря Тарасова.
Отец Игорь всегда тепло вспоминает о. Георгия как хорошего пастыря, всегда радостного, веселого и приятного человека. Детство и юность о. Игоря прошли в частом присутствии на богослужениях и требах совершаемых покойным прот. Георгием.
В 1993 году о. Георгий перебрался в Россию, в город Димитровград в Симбирской епархии, где совершал своё пастырское служение в Свято-Никольском храме 25 лет. В августе 2018-го он вернулся в Молдавию, где жил последние годы.
О. Георгий служил Господу в алтаре более 60 лет и пользовался огромным уважением и любовью со стороны клира и паствы. Похоронили батюшку 25 октября в г. Кишенев за алтарем храм св. мученика Валерия. Отпевание совершил еще один добрый знакомый о. Игоря, прот. Николай Флоринский, однажды посетивший наш Святo-Георгиевскиой храм.
После того как мы узнали о кончине о. Георгия, наш настоятель совершил заупокойную литию в преддверии 40 дней после преставления крестившего его священника.
Царствие Небесное дорогому батюшке!
Просим молитв о новопреставленном протоиерее Георгие!

Recently it became known that on October 22, 2021, at the age of 86, Mitred Archpriest Georgе Chuviakov, the priest who once baptized our Rector, passed away.
Archpriest George was born on January 25, 1936 in Ukraine. In 1956 he entered the Odessa Theological Seminary. In 1958, on the Dormition of the Mother of God, he was ordained a deacon by Patriarch Alexy I.
Later, Fr. George came to Chisinau (Moldova), where he served for many years. At first he was a deacon, and then a priest at the Cathedral in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Theodore Tyron, where he baptized the future priest Igor Tarasov.
Fr. Igor always remembers Fr. George as a good shepherd of souls, always a joyful, cheerful and pleasant person. Much of Fr. Igor’s childhood and youth was spent in a frequent presence at divine services  performed by the deceased Archpriest George.
In 1993, Fr. George moved to Russia, to the city of Dimitrovgrad in the Simbirsk diocese, where he performed his pastoral service in St. Nicholas Church for 25 years. In August 2018, he returned to Moldova, where he lived in recent years.
Fr. George served the Lord at the altar for over 60 years and enjoyed great respect and love from the clergy and of the flock. He was buried on October 25 in the city of Chisinau, behind the altar of the church of the Holy Martyr Valerius. The funeral service was performed by another good friend of Fr. Igor, Archpriest Nicholas Florinsky, who once visited our St. George Church.
After we learned about the death of Fr. George, our Rector performed the memorial Litia on Sunday, November 28, on the eve of 40 days after the repose of the priest who baptized him.
May the Lord grant Heavenly Kingdom to dear Father!
We ask for prayers for the newly-departed Archpriest George!

On November 28, on the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost, Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy in our parish temple. After the readings from the Sacred Scripture he preached the following homily:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today we begin the Nativity Fast. We are going to start spiritually preparing for Christmas, for the celebration of the Birth of the Savior. And today’s Sunday Gospel lesson offers us a great instruction from the parable about Good Samaritan (Lk. 10, 25-30). Interestingly, those two words were not imaginable by the Jews in the time of Christ. Samaritans were enemies and could not be called “good”. However, our Lord tells this parable and wishes His listeners to change their mind. By this He teaches us that God’s commandment of love towards the neighbor concerns all men, and not just our relatives or compatriots. It is very difficult in our times when people are so divided. From time to time we talk about the fact that this country is so divided politically. And many other countries and nations are either divided or hostile to each other”.
“Withdrawing from any political talks, we should now reflect on the spiritual meaning of that parable”.
“A certain man goes down from Jerusalem to Jericho. A certain man means any man, any one of us. Jerusalem signifies heaven and Jericho signifies the earth. This is the destiny of us all, to be on earth, although our home is in heaven. This man falls among thieves who strip him of his clothes, wounding him and leaving him half-dead (Lk. 10, 30). Here the thieves mean the demons who attack us through our weaknesses and wound us, leaving us stripped of our spiritual clothes and spiritually dying, having lost grace and faith”.
“A priest and then a Levite pass by and do not help (Lk. 10, 31-32). By them we understand those who, having a higher rank and duty, have hard hearts and show no love, for they are hypocrites and “pass by on the other side”. But a Samaritan helps the man, shows compassion. Although the Samaritan does not share the fullness of the outward faith, his heart is kind, and he shows mercy. This Good Samaritan represents Christ Himself. Christ was rejected by the Jews, but had great compassion which the Jews did not have”.
“The Samaritan, that is Christ, went to the man and bound up his wounds and poured in oil and wine and then set the man on his own animal. This is what Christ did for us: He came to us. In other words He became man, one of us. He then bound up our spiritual wounds with His word and poured on us His grace of salvation, the oil and wine of our souls. Then he set us on his own animal, in other words he gave us faith. Without faith we are not able to walk, so faith is our ride to salvation, our transport”.
“The Samaritan then took the man to an inn, cared for him and gave the innkeeper two denarii to look after the man, telling the innkeeper that if it cost more, he would repay him when he returned. (Lk. 10, 34-35). By the inn, we would understand the Church, where men can receive Christ’s healing and care. Faith transports us to the Church. Then the innkeeper is the priest, the dispenser of the grace and healing. But it is true that all members of the Church are also innkeepers, dispensers of spiritual and other help to those in the world around us”.
“The two coins represent the two ways in which we are saved. First of all, we need to repent through prayer and fasting. That is the first coin. The second coin, however, is the grace of the Sacraments that we receive from God in response to our repentance and prayer and fasting. Thus these two coins are both very important. Together they form a virtuous circle”.
“And finally, if we, members of the Church of God, the “innkeepers”, stretch our hands to others and give more of ourselves, spend more on loving care of others – then Christ will reward us when He returns at the end of the world”.
“Dear brothers and sisters! This is the spiritual meaning of today’s parable. Christ tells it to the lawyer who knows the commandments but does not apply them. And Christ says to him: “Go and do likewise” (Lk. 10, 37). Thus today Christ says to each one of us also: “Go and do likewise””.

During the Litany of Fervent Supplication, Fr. Igor proclaimed a petition beseeching the Lord to spare the faithful from the outbreak of the disease as well as a petition of thanksgiving due to the last week’s celebration of the Thanksgiving Day.

During preparation for Holy Communion the choir nicely performed the Psalm 33.

Following the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector reminded the parishioners of the beginning of the Nativity Fast and made some announcements. He also congratulated the Suric family on the occasion of their son’s past name day. Fr. Igor greeted little Victor, handed to him the Theotokian prosphora and proclaimed the Polychronion on his behalf.

After the Liturgy the Rector performed the memorial Litia for the newly-departed Archpriest George Chuviakov, a priest who baptized Fr. Igor, as well as commemorating Elena Malyshev, the deceased spouse of Andrew Malyshev on the day of her passing.

On November 21, on the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost, as well as feast of the Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Michael and All the Bodiless Powers, our Parish family gathered for a beautiful celebration.

Before the usual Sunday service our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov performed the Holy Sacrament of Marriage of Emilian Suric and Phoebe Ching-Huei Li. Then the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served as scheduled.

After the readings from the Sacred Scripture the Rector preached a homily. He was speaking about the two miracles performed by our Lord Jesus Christ described in the Sunday Gospel lesson, as well as about the meaning of the celebrated feast dedicated to the Bodiless Powers, the Holy Angels.
Fr. Igor pointed out that both miracles from the Gospel lesson concern women (Lk. 8, 41-56). Healing of the woman with an issue of blood and resurrection of the 12-year-old girl, the daughter of Jairus, revealed that our Savior came to free the human kind from the sin of the forefathers. These particular miracles showed that the Lord Jesus came to save the women from the results of the sin of Eve. Those results included special pains and sorrows all the women suffer because of the original sin. The issue of blood that woman from today’s Gospel had was not the regular flow the women have each month. But it still reminds about the special kind of sorrows women undergo due to the original sin. As to the resurrection of the 12-year-old girl, here we see the result of the original sin effecting both men and women: the human beings are mortal. The Lord came to save us from the sin of Adam and Eve.
Further the Rector underlined that the first woman, Eve, was tempted to sin by the devil. And the devil is a fallen Angel. Celebrating feast of the Bodiless Powers, we have to speak of that. The first chapter of the Scripture says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1, 1). The “heavens” means the invisible, spiritual world, the Holy Angels. But some of them led by Lucifer rose up against God. The warfare in the spiritual world took place and the rebellious Angels were thrown down from heaven. The Holy Angels faithful to God were led by Archangel Michael. Thus we honor them celebrating feast of their Synaxis. But the fallen Angels became the evil spirits. They are jealous of human beings being created in God’s image while they have to be thrown from heaven. Therefore, the devil tempted the first men. And he was successful. From that time the warfare between God and Satan is taking place also in our human hearts, as Dostoevsky pointed out. And the Holy Angels of God who are the serving spirits assist us in that fight. Especially it concerns our Guardian Angels given to each baptized person.
Fr. Igor also referred to the second Gospel lesson which spoke of the Apostles being joyful that the demons obey them in the name of Christ (Lk. 10, 16-24). With Christ evil spirits can be defeated. And Jesus Himself recalled that He “saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven” (Lk. 10, 18). But He said to the Apostles, “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Lk. 10, 20).  In Christ we become worthy of heavenly paradise lost by our ancestors. If we are baptized, our names become written in heaven and we may be there with the Holy Angels. However, we have to become worthy of that because not everyone baptized ends up in heaven. Our pious and godly life, our spiritual efforts with the assistance of the Holy Angels may lead us to the heavenly abode of God and of the Bodiless Powers.

During the Litany of Fervent Supplication, Fr. Igor proclaimed a petition beseeching the Lord to spare the faithful from the outbreak of the disease.

The choir performed the magnification of Archangel Michael and the Bodiless Powers, as well as other festal hymns during preparation for Holy Communion.

Following the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector made the announcements regarding the upcoming Thanksgiving Day and the Nativity Fast which follows after that. He also spoke about the importance to behave appropriately in the temple during special solemn times of the Liturgy. Unfortunately, sometimes piety and solemnity of such moments is disturbed by unnecessary movements, sounds or actions. The Rector called the faithful to have the fear of God and a pious attitude during the Divine Liturgy.

After the Liturgy the Rector performed the memorial Litia for the newly-departed Vitaliy Malyshev on the 40th day of his passing.

After finishing all the services, the Rector and parishioners had a sumptuous luncheon enjoying delicious meals, including the Thanksgiving turkey.

On November 14, on the 21st Sunday after Pentecost, the Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy in our parish temple. After the Gospel lesson he preached the following homily:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today’s reading from the Holy Gospel takes us to the country of the Gadarenes which is opposite of Galilee. Our Lord Jesus Christ came there along with His disciples after crossing the Lake of Gennesaret, and there He cast out the evil spirits from a possessed man (Lk. 8, 26-39)”.
“Reflecting upon this Gospel story we may recall that the demons asked Christ to permit them to enter the herd of swine. And He did. This indicates that God allows evil things to happen for a reason. Last Sunday we said that God allows terrible disasters to happen due to our sinfulness. And in today’s Gospel story we are talking about a much less terrible, but still impressive loss – the demons entered the swine and the whole herd ran down the steep place into the lake and drowned (Lk. 8, 33). According to the Old Testament, pigs were unclean animals, but they are still God’s creatures. And the demons, although it sounds weird, are also God’s creatures! God created them as good, but they chose to be evil and fell away from Him. But today’s Gospel story tells us that the Lord heard their request and allowed that the animals would suffer because of them. And what is a request from a creature to the Creator? It is a prayer. Thus, although it sounds weird, the demons did pray Christ and He answered their prayer”.
“But the demons remained those who they were – the evil spirits. They killed the swine. It shows us their malice, their hatred towards all the God’s creatures. St. John Chrysostom says that if they could, the demons would destroy all God’s creation. They would kill all the people if they could and would not be restrained by God. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, if not for God’s power, the evil spirits would long ago destroy all the human kind”.
“The Gospel lesson further tells us that the people from the country of the Gadarenes asked Jesus to depart from them (Lk. 8, 37). This was an evil choice. They did it because they do not wish Jesus to break, to change their usual way of life. He would disturb their sinful way. Those people were pagans, not the Jews. The fact that they had swine tells us that. So, they did not really know the faith in one God and did not probably wish that their pagan lifestyle would be disturbed. They have already suffered a loss, losing several thousand head of cattle, when he was only approaching the town! What might happen if he comes to the city itself? This is an example of selfish fear, a fear before something high and divine, a fear that the Lord may enter into our life and change it. He may make us different while we are so used to be what we are, sinful and unclean, just like those pigs. Something similar happens now, when a person is afraid to let the Lord somehow enter into his soul”.
“I heard a story of a man who lived a regular secular life, a life in different little sins. His family members were good Christians and attended the church, but he did not. When the people were asking that person why he would not join his family and begin to come to the church, he answered: “If I will, I will have to go to the church, go to confession, stop drinking; I will have to fast, to pray and be a good person. It’s hard and I don’t need that.””
“Dear brothers and sisters! It may sound funny but it is really sad. We have to beware of that attitude and avoid it. It makes us renounce God’s grace. In the same way the people from the country of the Gadarenes renounced God’s grace in today’s Gospel lesson when they asked Jesus to depart from their land. But again, we become convinced that God may hear the prayers of those who even wish evil things to happen. When the demons beg Him to permit them to enter the swine the Lord allows them. When the sinful people ask Him to depart from their country, He departs”.
“Dear brothers and sisters! Today’s Gospel story teaches us a few things. It teaches to pray in faith. God listens to the prayer. It also teaches us to avoid evil. We need to stay away from any forms of the evil forces in this world such as occult teachings, spiritism, fortune telling, sorcery and different superstitions. Otherwise, the evil spirits could have a power over us. And finally, today’s Gospel teaches us not to chase Jesus away, but ask for His grace. Asking for His grace we may be delivered from all evil and to may be not among those who chases the Lord away, but among His faithful disciples who follow Him everywhere, follow Him in their earthly life and will follow Him into the eternal blessedness!”

During the Litany of Fervent Supplication, Fr. Igor proclaimed a petition beseeching the Lord to spare the faithful from the outbreak of the disease.

During preparation for Holy Communion the choir nicely performed hymns in honor of St. Cosmas and Damian whose memory was celebrated on that day.

Following the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector made some announcements.

After the service of the Divine Liturgy the Rector performed the Mystery of Baptism over Naomi Pugliese who desired to convert to the Christian faith and to join the Holy Orthodox Church. In the Holy Baptism she was given the name Johanna. Following the Sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation Johanna received her first Holy Communion. The Rector then congratulated her on that very solemn and important occasion, as well as her Godmother, Paraskeva Kosmidis.

On November 7, on the 20th Sunday after Pentecost, we had a beautiful celebration at St. George parish. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy in our church. This time our temple was filled with many faithful because in addition to our usual parishioners there were a number of guests from Brooklyn who came along with their spiritual father, Abbot Eutychius (Dovganyuk). During the Liturgy Fr. Eutychius prayed in the sanctuary.

After the reading from the Holy Gospel our Rector preached the following homily:

“Dear Father, dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Our today’s Gospel lesson is dealing with a fascinating subject: life beyond the grave. Yesterday the Church celebrated St. Demetrious memorial Saturday and offered prayers for the departed. We also know that Western Christians recently celebrated All Saints Day and then Day of the Dead, on November 1st and November 2nd. We are then going to add a litany of commemoration of the deceased today, as we do when we pass the memorial Saturdays”.
“St. Demetrius Saturday was introduced to commemorate the warriors perished in the battles. It is a Saturday before the feast of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica which is tomorrow. In addition, our calendar mentions that on that day we commemorate tomorrow the imperial city of Constantinople suffered a terrible earthquake in the year 740 AD. As we mention such a disaster, we may recall that 9 years ago our contemporary imperial city of New York suffered a terrible hurricane Sandy. Hundreds of people died in accidents, many houses were flooded or destroyed, a lot of damage done to the areas of the ocean shore. Indeed, it seems that not a day goes by without some natural catastrophe happening and lives lost. Those disasters seem to intensify nowadays. And people tend to blame somebody for these losses. Some people blame governments for not being prepared, some blame big companies for changing the earth climate. These days we know that there was a special international summit about the climate change, so the governments are preoccupied with that problem and blame the climate change for many disasters. Finally, very often, when they see many disasters, people tend to blame God. Even the insurance companies called the damages resulting from natural disasters the “acts of God”. Thus, we blame others but not ourselves. Like children, we argue that “it isn’t our fault”. Such a way of thinking is not the way of the Holy Gospel”.
“In today’s Gospel, Lazarus did not blame anyone for his poverty and misery. He never blamed the kings and the rulers or some other human forces for his state. And he never blamed God. He did not even blame the rich man for his indifference. No, he accepted his situation in humility. And because of his humility he went to heaven, to the bosom of Abraham”.
“As for the rich man, he never thought of thanking God for his wealth. He did not show his gratitude to God by caring for the poor men at his gate. He had only hard-heartedness, allowing Lazarus to die at his gates, surrounded by stray dogs who licked Lazarus’ sores, while he was feasting. And because of his hard-heartedness he went down to hell”.
“Now we may ask: why does God allow natural disasters to happen? And who is to blame? The answer is: man himself is to blame, simply because man does not ask God for catastrophes not to happen, because man does not accept God’s power. Man does not seek God’s protection through prayer and repentance. Man has persuaded himself through modern technology that he is so smart that he can live without God. But modern man has so blinded himself with his intelligence that he forgot that he can do nothing to protect himself from the natural elements, only God can do that. Modern man so blinded himself that like the rich man in today’s Gospel, he cannot see Lazarus starving in agony at his gates”.
“In the same way, dear brothers and sisters, God will allow some, or even many of us, to end up in hell. When we die, some will be taken to the bosom of Abraham, like Lazarus, but some, as the rich man, will go down to hell. Let us not doubt about that because our Lord Himself told us the parable in today’s Gospel. And this will happen because man does not ask God for help, he does not ask God for forgiveness, does not repent through sincere confession and does not desire to receive God in Holy Communion. Again, modern man is often convinced that he may live without God. Then he will eventually live without God in hell, undergoing eternal condemnation”.
“Dear Father, dear brothers and sisters! If we really worry about our life beyond the grave, if we really care about our destiny after death, let us not be blinded but see. Let us see God in our lives. Let us see the needy at our doors. Let us not blame others or God in our misfortunes. But let us work on our salvation. Let us repent for our sins and let us receive the Lord in Holy Communion. And let us pray. Pray for the living and for the departed. Pray for ourselves and for those who need our prayers”.
“Remember that the world is run not by governments or by politicians.  It is run by prayer and lack of prayer. And we too shall perish like the rich man unless we pray, unless we hear to Moses and the Prophets and unless we truly follow the One Who is truly Risen from the dead, Christ our True God”.

During the Litany of Fervent Supplication, Fr. Igor proclaimed a petition beseeching the Lord to spare the faithful from the outbreak of the disease.

Since on the day before the Church celebrated St. Demetrius Memorial Saturday, the Rector added the Litany for the departed and proclaimed their names given by the faithful for commemoration.

The choir nicely performed Psalm 33 and a hymn in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos during preparation for Holy Communion.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector congratulated Abbot Eutychius (Dovganyuk) on occasion of his birthday wishing him God’s help in his pastoral work in Brooklyn and New Jersey, good health and great success in proclaiming the Word of God to the faithful. Taking an opportunity of seeing spiritual children of Fr. Eutychius in our church, Fr. Igor invited them to attend our temple as long as they have no place to worship in Brooklyn or New Jersey. Then he proclaimed traditional Polychronion to our guest.

The Rector also greeted our Warden and Choir Director, Olga Roussanow on the occasion of her past 80th birthday wishing her God’s blessings, good health and many years. Traditional Polychronion was then also proclaimed.

Following the service the Rector and our guests had a group photograph to remember that event. Fr. Eutychius and his spiritual children also invited Fr. Igor and our parishioners to join them for the luncheon at the Asian Garden restaurant. Our Rector and a small group of parishioners accepted that nice invitation and enjoyed delicious meals and a nice company at that famous local eatery nearby to celebrate birthdays of Fr. Eutychius and of Mrs. Olga Roussanow.

On October 31, on the 19th Sunday after Pentecost, as well as on the feast of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, St. George Church opened its doors after the three week break. On that Sunday our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov came to serve the Divine Liturgy after his return from Ukraine.

After the reading from the Holy Gospel Fr. Igor preached the following homily:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today we celebrate the 19th Sunday after Pentecost. And today’s Gospel reading contains very famous parable about the Sower who went to sow his seed. The seed falls to the different ground, and in most of the cases it did not produce any fruit. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself explained that parable to His disciples saying what it means. We easily learn that the seed is the Word of God which is sown by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Sower of the Word. Now, the grounds are different types of people, different types of human souls. And the Lord tells us what kind of souls He is talking about. In one case they hear the word but the devil comes and takes the word away. In another case people have no root for the word and fall away at the time of temptation. In the third instance the people are too busy with their daily cares, riches or pleasures, so they cannot grow the seed of faith. Only in the fourth example Jesus talks about some “good ground”, about those who are successful”.
“In today’s Gospel we are given four different way of receiving the Word. Three of them are inappropriate, failing. Only one is right and appropriate. It looks like a multiple choice question where one answer is correct while three others are not. How can we find the right answer?”
“The right answer is given in today’s Gospel in the following simple words: “But that on the good ground are they, which in a noble and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” (Lk. 8, 15)”.
“First of all, we have to possess a “noble and good heart”. A “noble heart” is an honest heart. We don’t have to make dishonest excuses for our failings, we have to be honest about ourselves. And a “good heart” is a kind heart, a heart willing good things. If our hearts are not noble, honest and kind, the seed of the God’s Word may be taken from us, devoured by the demons”.
“Secondly, we have to “keep the word”. It means that we should not fall into careless excitement, we must cultivate the seed of God, giving moisture to it, so that it puts out roots and develops. It is achieved by obeying the Commandments”.
“Finally, so that the seed of God is not choked with the thorns and weeds of our passions, we must “bring forth fruit with patience”. We cannot expect fast and wonderful progress because we have so many earthly cares. We have to be patient and persevere”.
“Usually we look at the lives of the holy people, the Saints who were able to achieve those different Christian virtues. Today we celebrate feast of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke. Let’s see how he was able to receive the seed of the Word of God and to bring forth its fruit”.
“St. Luke was one of the 70 Apostles, not one of the 12. Later he became an assistant to the Holy Apostle Paul. He was not a Jew, like most of the Apostles, but a Gentile, probably a Greek. St. Luke was a physician. In today’s second Epistle lesson St. Paul mentions him as “the beloved physician” (Col. 4, 14). He also could be a lawyer because he helped St. Paul in different legal tasks. In addition, St. Luke was an artist: he painted the first icons. A number of the holy and miraculous icons of the Theotokos were written by Luke. Among those images are the icon of Our Lady of Vladimir and the Iveron Icon. Thus he was very talented and educated. He used his gifts to serve God and the Church. And St. Luke is known as the author of one of the Holy Gospels, the Gospel of Luke, as well as the author of the book of the Acts of the Apostles”.
“It is obvious that Holy Apostle Luke had a noble and good heart, that he kept the Word of God in that heart and that he brought forth the fruit in patience. After the martyrdom of St. Paul, Luke went to preach in different places, mostly in Greece. He lived a long life in labors, in sowing the Word of God, he himself became a sower of that sacred seed, like other Holy Apostles. “Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” – says the Scripture about them and we sing it today in honor of them (Ps. 18, 5). Finally, being an old man, he was martyred, hanged on an olive tree”.
“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, the soul of this Saint became a good ground for the seed of divine Word”.
“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Let us learn to be successful in receiving the seed of the Word of God in our hearts and to bear its fruit. Let us imitate the Saints in that important task and let us be a good ground for the divine Word to be received, grown and multiplied”.

During the Litany of Fervent Supplication, Fr. Igor proclaimed a petition beseeching the Lord to spare the faithful from the outbreak of the disease.

The choir nicely performed Psalm 33 and a hymn in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos during preparation for Holy Communion.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector expressed his joy about being back in the parish and thanked the parishioners for their prayers offered for his safe return. He also made some announcements.

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