On January 29, on the 32nd Sunday after Pentecost, we had a nice celebration at St. George Church. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy. After the Gospel lesson he preached a homily in Russian. An English translation of that homily is as follows:

“Today’s Sunday is the first of the five Sundays preparing us for Lent. And today’s lesson from the Gospel of St. Luke is about Zacchaeus the publican. Why this reading is selected for today? Because it is about conversion, about how a soul can change. Change of the soul is the purpose of the Christian life. So, we may observe how the soul of the publican named Zacchaeus changed because of the encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“Zacchaeus was a publican, a tax collector. It means that he was a very sinful and evil man. Publicans were known to be corrupt, crooks and evildoers. And Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, thus he was the worst of the lot. Interestingly, that the name “Zacchaeus” means “the just one” or “the fair one” in Aramaic, the language spoken by the people in the Middle East at the time of Jesus. So, he did not live up to his name. And yet when our Lord Jesus Christ passed through the city of Jericho, Zacchaeus changed.”
“First of all, he probably decided to seek the Lord. All his actions demonstrated that wish. Then he started looking for Jesus who passed by. Zacchaeus climbed the tree to see Jesus. The trees are mentioned several times in the history of salvation. Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise because of the tree. Now their heir, a sinful man Zacchaeus uses a tree to acquire salvation. This was a sycamore, a fig tree. The fig leaves were used by Adam and Eve to cover their bodies after they sinned and became aware of their nakedness. Now another sinner being aware of his transgressions uses a fig tree to receive back the grace of the Creator. The Gospel tells us that he climbed it up because of his short stature. There is no doubt that it’s true. But any sin makes us smaller in the spiritual sense, so it is hard for us to see God. But Zacchaeus made an effort to see the Lord. Many people never make any effort to get closer to God. If it is easy for them to receive the grace, they get it. But if it becomes harder and requires an effort on our part, we do not bother to act. Zacchaeus acted and was successful. Jesus noticed him and spoke to him.”
“When Jesus expressed His willingness to visit the house of Zacchaeus, the latter made haste, came down the tree, and received the Lord joyfully. This is the sign that a sinful man rejoices becoming closer to the Lord, having Him under his roof. Conversion means being open to God to come and dwell within us, to work by His grace in us.”
“Further, Zacchaeus makes a statement saying: “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” (Lk. 19, 8). Now this is a real conversion. Zacchaeus not just declares that he becomes a changed man, he promises to give away a half of his wealth. He also wishes to restore justice by compensating the people he defrauded. And not just by giving back what he acquired by false accusations, but by returning fourfold! It was really a great conversion and true change that occurred in that man whose name was Zacchaeus, “the just one”. Now he began to live up to his name.”
“Observing the actions of Zacchaeus we should notice that he decided to change, struggled to do so, accepted God’s grace and made a proper resolution to convert truly. These are the four steps of conversion everybody should take if we truly wish to become changed or better. We must decide to convert, then struggle, make an effort to do it. Then we have to accept joyfully the Lord’s help, His divine grace. And, finally, we have to make a resolution to restore justice and to live up to our name, to our spiritual purpose. Our name, the name of a man, a human being, is great and our purpose is to be saved.”

Following the Liturgy dismissal the Rector preached a short sermon in English to stress the main thoughts of his Russian homily. He also congratulated our young parishioner and altar server Anton Malyshew on the occasion of his tomorrow’s name day, the memory of Venerable Anthony the Great. Traditional Polychronion (Mnogaia leta!) was proclaimed.

Our celebration continued during the coffee hour held on this day. The Rector and parishioners enjoyed coffee and refreshments, as well as a nice conversation.

On January 22, on the Sunday after the Theophany, Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy in our parish temple. Following the reading from the Holy Gospel he preached the following homily in English:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today we celebrate Sunday after the Theophany. Last week we had a great holy day of Theophany, which is the Baptism of Christ. The Gospel of today says that after Christ was baptized, He began to preach the same theme as St. John the Baptist did. He appealed to the people saying, “Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt. 4, 17). Why? Because after we have been baptized, we are always tempted and the only way to end temptation is to repent. Our Gospel lessons proclaimed on Sundays do not tell us all the details of the life of Christ, but those lessons are rather some short messages telling us about His teaching. But if we read the Gospel of Matthew we would learn that after being baptized Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit in the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Christ did not fall after temptation and began His ministry. Thus His first sermon to the people was to repent because the Kingdom of heaven is near. But what exactly do these words mean? What is repentance? What is the Kingdom of heaven?”
“Sometimes we hear how people say, “We are sinful, but we will repent…” They may imagine that repentance is some abstract thing, a mood or an idea. But it is not just an idea, a thought. First of all, it is an action. Repentance is a change of mind which leads to a practical and visible change in our way of life. It does start in our mind, but it must produce action.
“Repentance is a conversion to God. Every time we repent, we must undertake a mini-conversion. Because if we commit a sin, especially a grave sin, we turn away from God, and we need to come back. It is like being lost on some road. Very often if we took a wrong highway we need to exit and go back. Our highway system is very comfortable. We can easily find our way. If we are lost we usually take an exit and go back to get to a proper route. Thus, repentance is like an exit from the wrong highway. We get out, come back and find the right way.”
“If this is repentance, what then is the Kingdom of heaven? First of all, the Kingdom of heaven is Christ Himself Who spoke these words to the people of that time, before whom He stood. The Kingdom of heaven was indeed at hand, for He stood before them. Secondly, the Kingdom of heaven is at hand and stands before us here and now. The Kingdom of heaven is here and now, but it depends on our willingness to accept Christ. At this very moment each one of us is in fact able to meet God and enter into His eternal joy, but only if we wish to do so through deep repentance. The joy of the Kingdom of heaven is a state of our soul, a state of our mind, and it is open to all those who wish to accept Christ.”
“Yes, it is true that our well-being does depend on whether we have a roof over our heads, enough money to pay our way in the world. But none of these things is absolutely essential, for there are people who have all these things but are still unhappy, they do not have the Kingdom of heaven. And there are people who have none of these things and yet they are happy, they have the Kingdom of heaven.”
“Some people marry and then divorce, remarry and re-divorce and do this even several times, and each time blame the others for the divorce. In fact it is them who bear the problem inside themselves, in their selfishness and hardness of heart. Some people may go from country to country and from job to job, blaming each failure on others. In fact the problem is carried in their suitcase, the problem is with the instability of the person, their inability to get on with others.”
“Dear brothers and sisters! The presence of the Kingdom of heaven depends ultimately not on our circumstances but on us, on our interior disposition, on our ability to repent. Indeed it is only if we repent that the Kingdom of heaven at hand. Therefore, let us ask our Lord baptized in the Jordan to grant us a desire and an ability of true repentance.”

The choir beautifully performed the hymns of the Theophany during preparation of the faithful for Holy Communion.

After the Liturgy dismissal the Rector preached a short sermon in Russian to convey the ideas of his English homily.

At midnight, January 19, the great feast of the Baptism of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA led the Great Blessing of Water of the Atlantic Ocean. His Grace was co-served by clergy of St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York City. At the conclusion of the service, many braved the cold temperatures as well as the freezing ocean water and took part in the long-standing tradition of plunging into the sanctified waters.

On January 19th Orthodox Church celebrates great feast of the Theophany, or Baptism of the Lord. Our parish had a beautiful celebration of that holy day conducted by our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov. He served the Divine Liturgy in our temple. Following the Gospel lesson the Rector preached a homily in Russian.

In his homily the Rector pointed out that according to the words of the Gospel “no one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (Jn. 1, 18). Only our Lord Jesus Christ manifested God to the people. And such appearance of God occurred at the Baptism of Christ. God one in the Holy Trinity had appeared during that event.
Jesus condescended to us, the sinners, accepted a visible image of repentance, willing to be baptized in order to help us to do proper repentance. Because we do know that we need to repent, but we possess no proper spirit to perform it. The Holy Spirit is assisting us, the weak and the sinners. We do know what is the will of God, but the voice of God is now being heard in our hearts sanctified by the holy Baptism, as it was heard from heavens at the Baptism of Christ: “This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3, 17).
St. John the Baptist said that he is unworthy to touch the sandals of Christ because the greatness of the Son of God is in His service to the human kind. Each one of us could serve his neighbor; someone could even lay his life for his friends. But only God who became Man could bear the sins of all of us and the sins of each one. And only He is able to grant us His true grace to change our lives. For He united divinity and humanity, and through Him we became the dwellers of heaven, because He opened for us His eternal heavens and granted us eternal salvation. We only need to be faithful to Him, to keep the Orthodox faith and to come to the temples for prayer, asking His grace in our daily life.
Being in the temple of God we possess a great happiness because Christ is now with us. And we not only touch His sandals – no! We partake of His Most Pure Body and His Precious Blood. And He stays with us sanctifying and comforting us.

After the Prayer behind the Ambo the Rector performed the Great Blessing of water.

Following the Liturgy dismissal the Rector and the altar servers came before the icon stand and performed the rite of glorification singing the troparion, kontakion and magnification of the Theophany. Then Fr. Igor congratulated parishioners on the occasion of the great holy day.

On January 15, on the Sunday before the Theophany, we had a nice celebration in our parish temple. Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy. Following the Gospel reading he preached a homily in Russian.

In his homily, the Rector said that on Sunday before the feast of the Theophany in all the Orthodox churches we read the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark. If on Sunday before Christmas we read the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, today we listen to the beginning of the Gospel of Mark. It tells us about St. John the Baptist who preached in the wilderness. The people came to the wilderness to hear his words. St. John was the Forerunner of Christ, the one who was coming before the Messiah to prepare His appearance to the world. But St. John called the people themselves to be prepared. He called them: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight” (Mk. 1, 3).
Often we complain that God does not help us in our life. When we have troubles, sorrows and sufferings, it may seem that God abandoned us. But for God to be with us in our sorrows and for Him to bless us in our lives we need to prepare our souls top receive Him. We need to follow the call of St. John the Forerunner and make an effort, perform a spiritual labor.

The choir prayerfully sang the hymns during the preparation for Holy Communion.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector preached a brief sermon in English addressing the main ideas of his Russian homily.
Following the Rector’s sermon our parish Warden Olga Roussanow congratulated Fr. Igor on the occasion of his past birthday and presented him with a small gift. Traditional Polychronion (“Mnogaia leta!”) was proclaimed.

At the request of Malyshew family the Rector also performed a memorial service (Litia) in commemoration of Maria Malyshew’s deceased mother Irina.

Our celebration continued at the trapeza table where the Rector and parishioners enjoyed delicious meals and a nice company. 

On January 7 Russian Orthodox Church observes feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, also known as Christmas. Despite the winter weather most of our parishioners gathered at St. George Church for the celebration of this great holy day. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy.
After the Gospel lesson the Rector proclaimed Christmas Sermon of Venerable Father Isaac the Syrian.
During the preparation for Holy Communion the choir beautifully performed different liturgical hymns of the Nativity.
After the Liturgy dismissal the Rector and altar servers performed the rite of glorification singing the troparion, kontakion and magnification of the Nativity before the festal icon in the middle of the church.

Following the Liturgy the Rector greeted the faithful on the occasion of the great holy day of God’s Incarnation. He expressed his heartfelt wishes of all the blessings to be bestowed upon us, but especially wished that Jesus who was born in the manger of Bethlehem may be born in our hearts and stay there all the time.

Our celebration continued at the trapeza table where the Rector and parishioners enjoyed delicious meals and a nice company. A toast was raised in honor of Fr. Igor on the occasion of the 27th Anniversary of his priestly ordination and a traditional Polychronion (“Mnogaia leta!”) was proclaimed.

Your Eminences the Archpastors, esteemed Fathers and Deacons, all-honorable monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters!

On this holy night I extend my heartfelt greetings to you all and from the depths of my soul I congratulate you on the great feast of the Nativity of Christ: the feast of the fulfillment of the promises of old for the salvation of the human race, the feast of the ineffable love of the Maker towards his creation, the feast of the coming into the world of the Son of God who is the Messiah.
The Fathers have spoken much over the centuries on the mystery of the Incarnation of God. And now we, as the Fathers before us, hearken to the words of the Church’s prayers and hymns, with reverence listen to Scripture which tells us of this glorious event, and cease not to be amazed at this wondrous miracle.
In his reflections on Christ’s Nativity, St. Symeon the New Theologian writes the following:  “God, as he came into the world … united the divine nature with human nature, so that the human person could become god, and that the Most Holy Trinity may mysteriously abide in this person who has become god by grace” (10^th Homily). And St. Ephraim the Syrian speaks of the Incarnation of God thus: “Today the Godhead sealed itself upon humanity, that so with the Godhead’s seal humanity might be adorned” (Hymns for the Nativity of Christ).
In attending to these wise words, we ask ourselves: in what manner may we be adorned with this divine seal? How can we attain the likeness of God, to which all people have been called since the creation of the world? How are we to live so that “Christ be formed in us” (Gal 4:19)? The answer is simple: let us observe the commandments of the Savior. Together with the apostle Paul I address you all, my beloved: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Gal 6:2). Cover all things with love and you will find peace and tranquility of soul. Be of generous spirit when forgiving all – and in your hearts there will reign the joy which “no man taketh from you” (Jn 16:22). “In your patience possess ye your souls” (Lk 21:19) – and you will inherit life everlasting.
How important it is that we Christians not only call upon others to follow lofty moral ideals, but endeavor to embody these very same ideals in our everyday lives and in the first instance in ministering to our neighbors. And then by God’s grace we may obtain within ourselves the true fruits of the spirit: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Gal 5:22-23).
“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” (Heb 10:24). When we overcome conflict and division, we speak convincingly to the world of the Savior who is born and in our deeds we testify to the unusual beauty and spiritual power of the Orthodox faith.
We have embarked upon the year 2017. Exactly one hundred years separates us from events which radically transformed the life of Russia – a great multinational country, and plunged her into the madness of civil war, when children rose up against their parents and brother against brother. The subsequent losses and afflictions which our people endured were in many ways determined by the destruction of our thousand year-old statehood and the struggle against the peoples’ religious faith, generating a profound division within society.
With awe and reverence we recall the great endeavors of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Church of Russia, through whose prayers, we believe, the Lord never abandoned our people and granted to it the strength to accomplish many great feats of labor and military feats leading us to victory in the most terrible of all wars, to restoring the country, to achievements which evoke admiration.
We give thanks to God for the miracle he has revealed to the world – the resurrection of faith and piety within our people, for the restoration of holy sites once destroyed, for new churches and monasteries, the construction of which is a visible sign of the profound changes that have taken place in peoples’ hearts.
Over recent decades there have been and there remain today many difficulties and hardships. But they are all transient, and that is why we are not afraid of them. The experience of the past century has taught us many things and is to serve as a warning against many things.
Let us fearlessly tread the paths of salvation, “for God is with us.” Let us be stronger in our faith, “for God is with us.” Let hope assert itself within us, “for God is with us.” Let us grow in love and accomplish good, “for God is with us.”
Let us place all our hope in the Lord, for he is “everlasting strength” (Is 26:4) and, as the apostle Peter testifies, “there is no salvation in any other” (Acts 4:12). May the light of Christ illumine all our earthly path, and may this path lead us to the kingdom of heaven, which the Lord has prepared for those who love him.
As I spiritually rejoice today together with all of you who live in various countries, cities and villages, yet making up the one Church of Christ, my prayerful wish is that each of you shall enjoy health of soul and body, peace in your families and success in your labors. And may the Lord and Savior who was born in Bethlehem grant to each of us the opportunity with renewed strength and with all our heart to feel his presence in our lives.

The Nativity of Christ
2016/2017

On January 1, 2017, on the Sunday before the Nativity, we gathered to have a liturgical celebration in our parish temple. The Rector of St. George, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy. Following the Gospel lesson he preached the following homily in English:

“Today’s lesson from the Gospel is the beginning of the New Testament. It gives us a long list of Hebrew names that compose the family tree of Jesus Christ on the human side. As we read these names, we review some two thousand years of the human history. And we learn that the history of mankind is composed of the lives of different persons.”
“Some boy undertook to read the Bible to a blind man each day. As he began reading the first chapter of Matthew which contains a list of names in the genealogy of Jesus, the boy said, “Let’s skip all those names, sir.” The blind old man said, “No, please keep reading”. The boy read with effort through all those “begats” of Matthew. Then he noted tears on the blind man’s cheeks. “What is so emotional about a list of names?” the boy asked. The blind man replied, “God know everyone of those fellows, and He knew them by name. That makes me feel important to know that God knows me and He knows my name.””
“God knows us by name and calls us by name. When Adam, seized with remorse and fear, was hiding from God, in the darkest thickets of the Garden of Eden, he heard God’s voice calling Him by name, “Adam, where are you?” (Gen. 3, 9). Indeed it is a personal call of God to each one of us that creates the person and crowns him with glory and honor. The Prophet Isaiah said, “The Lord called me from the womb, from the matrix of my mother He mentioned me by name” (Is. 49, 1). The uniqueness of each person is symbolized by his or her name. In another chapter of the Scripture God says to Moses, “I know you by name” (Ex. 33, 17). This is a great personalism of the Bible: God knows my name, I matter to Him because He loves me and cares for me!”
“So, the Gospel of Matthew that we heard today begins with a long list of names. At the end of the list we find the name above every name, the name of Jesus. The procession of the human kind passes through the centuries and comes to rest in Bethlehem. “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Mt. 1, 20-21). The whole story of the Nativity is wrapped up in that one name: Jesus, the name which means literally “God saves” or “God is salvation”.”
“God knows my name and in His grace He granted me to know His name that I may call upon Him freely and enter into His presence boldly. “Jesus” is the name of my God! “Jesus” is the name of my Savior! “Jesus” is the name by which demons are cast out. “Jesus” is the name that enables God’s power in me! “Jesus” is the name that beats in my heart and on my lips, so I keep praying, “Lord Jesus, the Son of God, have mercy on me!” “Jesus” is the name that forgives and cleanses me! “Jesus” is the name that opens the gates of heaven!”
“Dear brothers and sisters! Jesus calls us by many names. He calls us servants, followers, disciples, co-workers. He calls us friends, His holy nation. He calls us children, living stones of a new temple, temples of His Holy Spirit. All of these names are important. They bestow upon us God’s honor and love, but none of them is so important as our own personal name, the name we received at the holy Baptism: Andrew, Olga, Anthony, Mary, Paraskeva. God called us by name, he knew us before we were born. He made us and formed us in the womb of the mother. He called us into existence. He loves us with His everlasting love. He wants us to be with Him forever. He came to be born at Christmas not just in Bethlehem but in our own hearts.”
“Dear brothers and sisters! The Lord Jesus is asking everyone of us: “Will you receive Me? Behold, I have been standing, calling and knocking at the door of your soul all these years. I come to release you from sin and death, to set you free, to bring you God’s love and power, to help you achieve your fullest potential as My child. This is Jesus calling you! Do you hear Me?””

During the preparation for the Holy Communion the choir prayerfully performed the hymns of the Nativity.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector preached a short sermon in Russian to stress the main points of his English homily. He also congratulated the parishioners on the occasion of the civic New Year and encouraged them to prepare appropriately for Christmas.

On December 25, on Sunday of the Holy Forefathers, our parish held a nice celebration in our temple. The Rector of S. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy. After the Gospel lesson he preached a homily in Russian.

In his homily the Rector pointed out that the Forefathers are the righteous men and women who lived before the coming of Christ into this world. At this time of the year, when we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, we commemorate those Old Testament times when the Holy Forefathers lived. All of them were just but they realized that they were not able to achieve righteousness by their own abilities. Only God could help them to be just. For instance, Adam and Eve could not resist temptation, but following their expulsion from paradise they repented and kept praying God.
Lives of the Forefathers were the images and symbols of the events in the life of Christ. We can learn about them in the Bible. Thus it is very beneficial for us to read the Sacred Scripture.
Holy Forefathers lived by faith and were saved by it. Therefore, we also need to acquire such a faith. Unfortunately, our faith is weaker, thus we need to ask the holy righteous ancestors to pray for us.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector preached a short homily in English conveying the main ideas of his Russian homily.

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

On December 19, on the holy day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker our cathedral church in New York celebrated its patronal feast. His Grace, Bishop John of Naro-Fominsk led the Divine Liturgy on that occasion. Bishop John was co-served at the Liturgy by a number of clergy including the Rector of St. George Church in Bayside, Archpriest Igor Tarasov. 

Festal service at the Cathedral was attended by many faithful, among whom was our parish Warden, Olga Roussanow.

At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy Bishop John performed a short Prayer service before the icon of the parish Patron, St. Nicholas. His Grace also preached a brief homily and greeted the parishioners on the occasion of the patronal feast.

After the Liturgy His Grace, clergy and the faithful continued their celebration of St. Nicholas feast at the luncheon held in the cathedral hall.