On July 18, on the 4th Sunday after Pentecost we had a nice celebration at St. George Church. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy after his return from Ukraine. After the Gospel lesson he preached the following homily:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today’s Gospel reading tells us about a healing of a paralyzed servant of the Roman centurion. Our Lord Jesus Christ performed such a miracle even without seeing or approaching the sick person. It was done through faith and intercession of the ill servant’s master. Let us reflect upon this event described in the Gospel of Matthew”.
“A centurion was a Roman army officer who commanded one hundred men. This person mentioned in the Gospel was a Gentile. But he had a faith that Jesus is the One who can help his servant to be cured from the disease. Although Christ usually stressed that He came to save His own people, the Jews, the whole ministry and the whole message of His teaching was encompassing the whole human race, regardless of the people’s origin. Jesus is really the Savior of all. For Him ethnic or social distinctions are void. In the eyes of the Jews, especially the Pharisees who were always ready to criticize Jesus, coming to the house of a Gentile was inappropriate. If Jesus entered the centurion’s home, it would make Him unclean. However, the Lord could act without entering the Gentile’s house. Doing so, He showed that salvation will come upon all the people of faith”.
“In the words of the centurion we hear the recognition of Jesus’ authority. He calls Jesus the Lord. It was significant for a man who himself had authority. But although the centurion had the power over men, he understood that only Jesus had the power over disease. He also understood his own limitations and unworthiness. Therefore, he said to Christ: “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof “(Mt. 8, 8). But his sense of humility was perfected by his firm faith in the healing power of the Lord. Thus he continued: “But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed”(Mt. 8,  8).  The word of the Savior is enough for a man to be freed from his disease”.
“This event teaches us about the importance of faith. Our Lord Jesus Christ praised the faith of the centurion. He speaks highly about that Gentile person, lifting him up as an example. The Lord goes further and declares nullity of the Jewish supremacy, saying that many from other nations will share the heavenly blessings with the Jewish patriarchs. He prophesizes: “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness” (Mt. 8, 11-12). We know that the sons of the kingdom are Jews, who had a sense of racial or national superiority as the chosen people of God. Coming of Christ demonstrated that not the Jews but all the people who believe in the Savior will become the chosen nation, the New Israel”.
“The last time I served here, was on the feast of the Pentecost. But then we celebrated two consecutive Sundays dedicated to the Saints. We had Sunday of All Saints and then we had Sunday of the Russian Saints. I was away and celebrated them there. You were celebrating them here. Those two Sundays made us recall that as a result of the descending of the Holy Spirit different nations acquired the right to become the true worshipers of God. Many nations accepted the preaching of the Gospel and produced lots of holy men and women, people we call the Saints. Today we celebrate feast of one of our own Saints, the Uncovering of the relics of Venerable Father Sergius of Radonezh. That Saint certainly did not belong to the chosen people of the Old Testament. He was our Russian, Slavic person. But since he was a Christian, since he cherished his Orthodox faith in Jesus Christ, he was one of the chosen ones, belonging to the New Testament chosen nation. His holy life in Christ and in a special devotion to the Most Holy Trinity made him worthy to sit with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Heavenly Kingdom”.
“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us keep and cherish our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior. Let us recognize His power and authority over the whole world and over any little thing in our lives. Let us believe that He can help us if we have faith. Let us also understand our limitations and unworthiness and humbly ask Him to help us. And let us be worthy of the name of Christian that means to be among the chosen people of God, His holy nation which is prepared to sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, also with the Holy Apostles, Martyrs and other Saints in the Kingdom of heaven”.

During the Litany of Fervent Supplication, Fr. Igor proclaimed a petition beseeching the Lord to spare the faithful from the outbreak of the disease. After the Litany he also offered a special prayer for the deliverance from pestilence.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector made some announcements. He expressed his gratitude to those parishioners who assisted in removing the tree fallen after the storm. Especially he commended Emilian Suric who found a tree removing company and donated part of the payment, as well as Alexander Bezkrovnyj who helped working.

Following the Liturgy the Rector served a memorial Litia for the repose of Valentina Malyshev and Larisa Vnukova requested by their families.

After the services the Rector and parishioners interacted at the coffee hour.

The Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov from June 22 until July 16 was in Ukraine.
First, he visited the ancient city of Kiev where he had a chance to pray at the Kiev Cave Lavra monastery, to venerate the relics of the Saints in the Caves and to attend the temples there.
Then Fr. Igor headed to the city of Kamianets-Podilsky where he stayed for the rest of his trip to Ukraine. On Sundays and some feasts he served in the local cathedral of S. Alexander Nevsky. The services like All-Night Vigils and Divine Liturgies were usually headed by the local ruling bishop, His Eminence, Metropolitan Theodore.
Following the services our Rector had an opportunity to interact with the clergy and the faithful.

On June 20 of this year all Orthodox Christians celebrated Pentecost, the feast of the Most Holy Trinity. Our St. George parish family had a beautiful celebration in our temple. The church was nicely adorned with greenery. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy. After the Gospel lesson he preached the following homily:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today we celebrate the receiving of the Holy Spirit by the Apostles. After such receiving they became what they really meant to be: people chosen by God, filled with God’s power, able to work miracles, having special gifts and converting others to the discipleship of Christ. They became the true Church”.
“This is similar to what the nature is experiencing now, at this season. Everything is green and blooming. This is what nature is meant to be. Now it reaches the most fulfilling point”.
“Now we have to become what we are meant to be: the people of God, people filled with His grace. We have to become temples of the Holy Spirit. In order to become that, we have to acquire the Holy Spirit. How can we do that?”
“Holy Spirit is not acquired by knowledge. Knowledge and intellect are helpful but not necessary. Today’s Gospel shows that knowledgeable and learned people were unable to accept Jesus. Holy Apostle Paul says, “Where is the wise one? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made the wisdom of world foolish?” (1 Cor. 1, 20). Holy Apostles were not educated, some of them were plain fishermen. But today we sing that God revealed fishermen as wise sending them the Holy Spirit. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, Holy Spirit is acquired by divine grace, by the gift of faith”.
“Holy Spirit is not acquired by skills or working experience. Skills are also helpful, especially to fulfill certain earthly goals. But what skills would you need to acquire the gift of the Holy Spirit? What experience could help us in that? Only the skills and experience in spiritual life”.
“To acquire the Holy Spirit we need faith, commitment to God and obedience to His holy will. We also need prayer. If we pray, live a spiritual life filled with faith, hope and love, then each of us and all of together are able to experience the true Pentecost. Either personal or our common Pentecost we would experience as the one Church of Christ. Then like the Holy Apostles we would be able to receive the Holy Spirit, to become the people of God, to become the temple of the Holy Spirit, His earthly dwelling”.
“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! On that holy and great festal day let us ask the Lord to help us in our spiritual work, so by our life we may become worthy to receive the Holy Spirit. Let us pray and ask the very Holy Spirit, the Lord the Giver of Life to come and to dwell in us, to cleanse us of all impurity and to save our souls!”

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 piously performed the magnification of the feast along with the verses during the preparation for Holy Communion.

Following the Liturgy dismissal the Rector and the altar server performed the rite of Glorification singing the troparion, kontakion and magnification of the feast before the festal icon in the middle of the church. Then the Rector greeted the faithful on the great holy day. He also congratulated our men on the occasion of the Father’s Day. A traditional Polychronion (“Mnogaia leta!”) was performed.

After the Liturgy the Rector served Pentecostal Vespers with kneeling prayers. Following that service the Rector made some announcements.

Please, note that due to the Rector’s absence we are not going to have any services on 3 consecutive Sundays: June 27, July 4 and July 11.
Our updated schedule for June and July is available on this site.
Parishioners are encouraged to visit other Orthodox churches during the Rector’s leave.

On June 13, on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy in our parish temple. After the reading from the Holy Gospel he preached the following homily:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! These days after the feast of the Ascension we come to celebrate Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. This first large gathering of the bishops of the universal Church took place in the 4th century. The most important document issued by these Holy Fathers was the Nicene Creed, a greater part of the Creed we recite today at our Liturgy. The Nicene Creed contains the truths of our faith: it declares what we believe in. The Church wishes us to commemorate those Fathers today because we are now going through the celebration of the Ascension of the Lord into heaven. Jesus has ascended into His Father’s house in order to prepare there a place for us. Heaven is eternal life. This life is expecting us. But it is not an automatic reward”.
“In today’s Gospel reading our Lord Jesus Christ pronounces His Pontifical Prayer, a prayer to God the Father performed by Jesus as the High Priest. As a High Priest the Lord is praying for His Disciples asking that they may have the gift of eternal life. He further explains that eternal life is “that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (Jn. 17, 3). Thus to have eternal life means to know the only true God and His Jesus Christ whom He sent. What kind of knowledge is that? The knowledge of God goes far beyond rational or academic pursuit. Many people may study Christian doctrine, even Theology, but may not have the true knowledge of God. Knowledge of true God is a participation in divine life in communion with God. It is an ongoing, loving knowledge of God in Christ. It is sometimes very intangible and not easy to grasp. But it is also very easily distinguished in the holy lives of the Saints. If you examine their lives you will learn about knowledge of God they had. It can be easily recognized as living according to the Christian commandments”.
“Many other people in the history failed to have this knowledge of God. First people knew God, but when they agreed to commit a sin of disobedience, it seemed that they lost that knowledge. After Jesus Christ came to redeem the human race, the Jews could not recognize God in Him. Later many Gentiles who listened to the preaching of the Apostles were not able to grasp the idea of God being human and crucified. Therefore St. Paul had to say: “We preach Christ the crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness” (1 Cor. 1, 23). Different false teachings, religions and cults lacked that knowledge”.
“One of those was condemned by the Fathers of Nicaea, the heresy of Aranism. It held that Jesus Christ was not God, but created by God, so there was time when the Son of God did not exist. In today’s Gospel we find the words of Jesus Christ bearing witness to His divinity and His sonship to the Father. It is a sufficient testimony to dismiss Arainism. Therefore, it was selected for today’s reading”.
“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us pursue the gift of eternal life which consists of knowledge of God and His Son, Jesus Christ, God and Man. Let us cherish and acquire that knowledge, an intimate and loving experience of the true God manifesting itself in the holy life according to the teaching of the Holy Gospel. Let us be worthy of heaven prepared for us”.

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 performed the magnification of the Ascension along with the verses.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector made an announcement regarding our services on the next Sunday of Pentecost.

Following the Liturgy Fr. Igor performed the memorial Litia to commemorate the newly-departed Valentina Malyshev on the occasion of the 9th day of her repose.

Please, be advised that our schedule for Pentecost had changed.
Hours and Divine Liturgy will be served at 9 am.

On Thursday, June 10, Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov performed Burial service for the newly-departed Valentina Malyshev. It had been served in our temple following the Divine Liturgy of the feast of the Ascension.

After the dismissal of the service Fr. Igor preached a sermon in Russian. He recalled that yesterday the Church celebrated the final day, the leave-taking of Pascha. In the Greek books that day is called “telos tou Pascha” meaning the goal of Pascha while final days of the other feasts are called the “apodosis”, leave-taking. The goal of Pascha was the Ascension of the Lord into heaven. And since our Lord ascended there along with His human body, we are also expected to be there. Our goal of Pascha is to be in heaven. Thus our newly-departed Valentina has a right to join the Lord in Heavenly Kingdom.
Fr. Igor turned to an example. A young boy asked his father to give him a puppy. After some time something happened and the dog died. The little boy was in tears. His father then gave him a kitten, but the kitten, too, got sick and died. The son came weeping to his father saying, “Daddy, why can’t you give me something that doesn’t die?” This is true: we can’t have someone that does not die. Everybody dies. Only some lifeless thing may survive us but it is not going to be forever either. However, there are those who do not die: our soul does not die, our Lord Jesus does not die. He was dead but He rose from the dead. And we will rise on the last day. But before that our souls do not die. Therefore, our beloved Valentina’s soul did not die and is called to the Kingdom of Heaven.

After the Burial service our Rector went to the Holy Trinity Cemetery in Hewlett, NY where he finished the burial of the newly-departed by serving a Litia and sealing the grave.

Following the funeral Rector and parishioners present at the services were invited to the Malyshev family residence where they had a memorial dinner.

On Thursday, June 10 of this year the Orthodox Church celebrated great feast of the Ascension of the Lord. St. George parish had a nice celebration on this day. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy in our temple. After the Gospel lesson he preached the following homily:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today, in 40 days following the Resurrection of Christ, we came to celebrate feast of the Ascension of the Lord into heaven. Today’s Epistle and Gospel lessons are telling us about that special event: how Jesus led His Disciples to the mountain in Bethany, to Mt. Olive where He was lifted up to heaven before the eyes of the Holy Apostles and “the cloud received Him out of their sight” (Acts 1, 9)”.
“Thus, our Lord ascended into heaven. Heaven is a spiritual realm, the abode of God, of the Angels and of the souls of the just. Every Christian has to wish to be in heaven. This is why our Lord Jesus Christ who desired to save the human kind ascended into heaven along with His human body. He ascended to prepare a place for us”.
“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, heaven is our eternal homeland. We must love that homeland and strive to become worthy to enter it. It is not like today with entering the United States: one President limits the number of those who come in and another President allows almost anyone to enter the country. Heaven has different rules of entry. In order to be admitted, you have to deserve it by Christian conduct, by your piety and love during your earthly life. And again, every Christian person should desire to end up in that homeland and to use all worthy and necessary means to be admitted there”.
“That does not mean that we should not like or should despise our earthly homeland. According to the teaching of the Holy Fathers we have to love our country where we were born or the country we now live.  And although our goal is to be in heaven, it does not mean that we have to despise our earthly life and try to make it shorter. No, we have to endure all our sufferings and difficulties in order to be worthy of heaven. Our Lord Himself gave us a perfect example when He became Man. He did not rush to go back to heaven. He had to teach, to perform miracles, to fulfill His ministry on earth. Then He had to suffer, to die on the cross. Even after He had risen from the dead, He did not return to heaven but stood on earth for 40 days instructing His Disciples. Only after fulfilling all His mission on earth the Lord left His Disciples and returned to His heavenly abode”.
“Dear brothers and sisters! Let us strive to be in heaven along with our Lord Jesus Christ, “His Blessed Mother and the Saints. Let us love that eternal homeland but still love our earthly country and the people surrounding us. Let us remember that only Christian life lived to the fullest extent of our spiritual ability and filled with the works of faith and love may grant us a passage to eternal blessedness in heaven!”

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 beautifully performed the hymns of the feast during preparation for Holy Communion.

After the Liturgy dismissal the Rector and the altar servers performed the rite of Glorification in front of the festal icon singing the troparion, kontakion and magnification of the feast. Then the Rector had a brief speech in Russian to stress the main thoughts of his English homily and to greet the parishioners on the occasion of the great feast.

Following the Liturgy the Rector performed Burial service for the newly-departed Valentina Malyshev.

We announce with a deep sorrow that our parishioner, Valentina Malyshev, fell asleep in the Lord on Saturday, June 5.
Valentina, the mother of our Sacristan and altar server Andrew, will be remembered by St. George Parish family as a pious parishioner, a good mother and grandmother, and a very nice and sweet person.

Burial service for the newly-departed servant of God Valentina will be held in our parish temple on Thursday, June 10, at 12 noon, following the Divine Liturgy of the feast of the Ascension of the Lord.

MAY HER MEMORY BE ETERNAL!

С глубоким прискорбием извещаем, что в субботу, 5 июня, спочила в Бозе наша прихожанка Валентина Малышева.
Валентина, мать нашего пономаря и алтарника Андрея, останется в памяти членов приходской семьи святого Георгия как благочестивая прихожанка, хорошая мать и бабушка и очень приятная и добродушная женщина.

Чин отпевания новопреставленной рабы Божией Валентины состоится в нашем храме в четверг, 10 июня, в 12 часов дня, после Литургии праздника Вознесения Господня.

ВЕЧНАЯ ПАМЯТЬ!

On June 6, on the Sunday of the Blind Man, Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov performed the Divine Liturgy in our parish temple. After the reading from the Holy Gospel je preached the following homily:

“Dear brothers and sisters! Today is the sixth and final Sunday of Pascha and we commemorate the sixth sign of our Lord’s mighty power, a miraculous granting of the sight to the man who was born blind (Jn. 9, 1-38). Of all the miracle stories in the Bible, this is the only one in which the person was blind from birth. Yet nothing was impossible with God, and our Savior Jesus Christ, after appearing to the world was able to give sight to such a person”.
“The man blind from the birth is symbolic of all humanity. All the people needed to see God, to be enlightened by His light. Jesus is the Light of the world, as He calls Himself in today’s Gospel (Jn. 9, 5), and all humanity needed illumination by Him. When He came, the world could see Him and be enlightened. Thus healing of the man born blind was a confirmation of that on a certain level, on the level of human physical senses”.
“Today’s Gospel passage also is a picture of the holy Baptism. Again, we have to admit that during this Paschal season. Again, we must speak about Baptism and things related to it. We should recall that sometimes Baptism is called “holy illumination”. A person who is being baptized become enlightened by the light of Christ, his or her eyes becomes open to the spiritual things. The themes of washing, illumination, healing, faith, conversion and salvation are all presented in today’s story. The blind man was told by Jesus to wash his eyes in the pool Siloam, as a result, he received his sight, became illumined and healed. This man had to believe in the power of Jesus. He listened to Him and walked a pretty long distance to the pool. The pool of Siloam was on the outskirts of Jerusalem, a considerable distance from the temple where the blind was sitting and begging. What a spectacle was this man, blind and eyes covered with mud, making his way across the city, from the city to the pool, in faithful expectation of the healing promised by Christ! The name of the pool, Siloam, is translated, Sent, “the Sent one”. It symbolizes Christ, the One sent by God the Father. It tells us about salvation. And, finally, the blind man, after being healed, converts. He becomes the follower of Jesus. Same themes we may recognize in the holy Baptism which involves washing, spiritual illumination, spiritual healing, faith, salvation and conversion”.
“Only through the Lord Jesus Christ such processes become possible. He is the Son of God sent by the Father to the fallen, blind and crippled humanity. This is why it is symbolic that the name of the pool we mention today coincides with Jesus sent by His Father. This is why also, the Lord uses the mud to anoint the eyes of the blind man. The Gospel tells us that Jesus spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva and then anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay (Jn. 9, 6). St. Irenaeus sees in the mixture of dust and spittle a type of the creation of humanity from earth. Once God created man taking the dust of the earth, but man turned away from the Creator. Now the Son of God came to restore the fallen humanity. In the healing of the blind man He showed His deity by restoring part of the creation in the same way He created humanity in the beginning”.
“In the end of the story, the man who was born blind worshiped Jesus. Having opened the man’s eyes, Jesus opened the eyes of his heart, offering spiritual sight. Thus the man saw the divinity of the Son of Man and worshiped Him”.
“Dear brothers and sisters! Our spiritual eyes of heart were supposed to be opened by the holy mystery of Baptism. Therefore, let us live worshiping the true Light of the world, our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ”.

During the Litany of Fervent Supplication the Rector had a petition beseeching the Lord to spare the faithful from the outbreak of the disease.

The choir prayerfully performed the Exapostilarion and the Aposticha of Pascha during preparation for Holy Communion.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector congratulated Elena Sanjaktary, as well as our younger parishioner Elena Malyshev on the occasion of their past name day, memory of the Holy Equal to the Apostles Queen Helen. Traditional Polychronion was proclaimed. Then Fr. Igor expressed his condolences to the same Malyshev family  due to the passing away of  their mother and grandmother, Valentina Malyshev. The Rector pointed out that our earthly life is always filled with joy and with sorrow altogether.

After the Liturgy Fr. Igor performed the memorial Litia for the newly-departed Valentina Malyshev.