On April 19, 2017, by the decree of His Grace, Bishop John, Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov had been relieved of his obedience of the Dean of Eastern States and had been appointed Chancellor of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA.

The decree was handed to Fr. Igor on Sunday, April 23, during the meeting with His Grace.

Chancellor of the Patriarchal Parishes is the Bishop’s assistant, a Church official who provides administrative and operational support in a number of areas of the functioning of our Parishes in the United States. Particularly, he has to coordinate the work of the Bishop’s Chancery, to oversee all archival, recording and managerial functions in the Patriarchal Parishes and to participate in the work of all the governing bodies of the Administration.

On April 23, on the Sunday of Antipascha, also known as Sunday of St. Thomas, we had a nice service at St. George Church. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy in our temple. Following the Gospel lesson he preached a homily in Russian.

In his homily the Rector pointed out that today’s Sunday is teaching us about the importance of faith in God and in His love towards mankind. Holy Apostle Thomas had doubts about Christ’s Resurrection and required a proof of that. And he was given an opportunity to believe that Jesus was truly risen. Unfortunately, many people in today’s world do not believe and demand proofs of the existence of God, of the validity of Orthodox faith and of other supernatural things. The difference between many of them and St. Thomas is that St. Thomas wished to believe while they often do not. For many such people no proof can be working. But if we, who wish to believe, look at the visible world around us, we may see many proofs of the existence of the Creator.
A European man was crossing the desert with an Arab guide. Day after day the Arab prayed during that journey. One evening the unbelieving European asked him, “How do you know that there is God?” The guide replied: “How did we know that this morning that it was a camel and not a man that had passed our tent while we slept?” The European man laughed and said: “We could tell it by the print of the hoof in the sand. That print was not from a foot of a man”. The guide then looked at the West where the setting sun threw shafts of red and gold and purple into the vaulted canopy of heaven, and pointing toward the sun, he said: “Neither is that the footprint of a man”.
The world around us is filled with the footprints of God! Every sunset, every sunrise, every tree, every flower that is blooming at this time of spring, every lake, every blade of grass, every twinkling star – is a footprint of our Creator. The Scripture tells us: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handwork” (Ps. 19, 1).
But God has not left us only His footprints. He has revealed Himself to us through His only-begotten Son who lived among us, who died on the cross and who was risen from the dead. The footprints of the setting and the rising sun may tell us that God exists. But only the nailprints in the hands of the Savior can tell us that God is Love. Jesus appeared to the Disciples, and to Thomas, showing them the wounds in His hands and side – wounds that were proof of His love; wounds that were the proof of His victory over death and evil; wounds that were the proof of our future blessedness in Heavenly Kingdom.
Therefore, we need to keep and to cherish our faith and to resemble St. Thomas – not necessarily in his unbelief, although we may have doubts, God will certainly give us an opportunity to believe. We should resemble St. Thomas in his desire to believe, especially because many people do not wish to believe. Let us ask the Lord to help our unbelief in order to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. For St. Paul the Apostle teaches that it is impossible to please God without faith (Heb. 11, 6).

The choir beautifully performed the Apostichas of Pascha and of St. Thomas Sunday during preparation for Holy Communion.

Since we did not hold a service on Bright Saturday when the Paschal blessed bread, called the Artos is usually distributed, the Rector proclaimed the prayer for the breaking of the Artos following the Ambo prayer.

Following the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector preached a short sermon in English explaining the ideas of his Russian homily. Then he distributed the Artos among the parishioners.

On April 16 of this year 2017 all Orthodox Christians celebrated the greatest holy day, the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Pascha.

Celebration at St. George Church began at 11:30 PM on Saturday, April 15. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov performed Midnight service at the Lord’s Tomb and transferred the holy Shroud to the altar.

Right after midnight joyful Paschal celebration began. The Rector assisted by the altar servers led faithful in the procession around the temple. At the end of the procession everyone stood in front of the closed church doors where Fr. Igor began Resurrection Matins and proclaimed the Easter greeting, “Christ is risen” in Slavonic, English and Greek languages. Faithful responded and sung Paschal troparion. Then the priest opened the doors of the temple and faithful entered into the church.

After the Matins the Rector served the Divine Liturgy. The Gospel lesson on Pascha is traditionally read in several languages. The faithful had an opportunity to listen the verses of the reading in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Church Slavonic, English, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Romanian, Belorussian, Polish and Spanish. Following the Gospel reading Fr. Igor proclaimed Catechetical Sermon of St. John Chrysostom on Pascha.

After the Liturgy dismissal the Rector greeted the parishioners on the occasion of the greatest Christian holy day, wished them to be blessed by the Risen Christ.

Following main services the Rector blessed Easter food.

Rector and parishioners continued their celebration of Pascha at the tables where they had an opportunity to enjoy delicious meals after the long time of Lenten restrictions.

         CHRIST IS RISEN!       ХРИСТОС ВОСКРЕСЕ!

On April 14, on the Holy and Great Friday we had two special services in our parish temple. This day is the most sorrowful day in Christian calendar. On Holy Friday we commemorate crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, His death on the Cross, as well as His burial. St. George Church’s Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served Vespers with the procession of the Shroud at 4:00 PM. At the end of this service holy Shroud had been solemnly carried out from the altar to the middle of the church and placed there for veneration.

At the end of Vespers the Rector preached a sermon in Russian. He pointed out that the Lord Jesus Christ died on that day for the human kind, so we may now inherit eternal life. We humanly fear death and do not like to think of that subject. However, all of us should remember that through Baptism all of us are supposed to die spiritually, to become dead for sin and alive for Christ. Baptismal font represents the tomb in which we become dead for sin. Jesus allowed Himself to die on the cross and to be laid in the tomb, so we may enjoy eternal life in Him. On this day of the Great Friday we have a procession with the Shroud and we place the Shroud in the middle of the church to be reminded of the burial of the Lord. In some parish the new pastor reviewed the list of parishioners and he noticed that some names were marked by an abbreviation “F.B.P.O.”. The pastor asked a parish activist what this abbreviation meant. The response was that these are the members who do not attend the church but pay their dues, so they could be buried by this church. The abbreviation meant “for burial purpose only”. Such Christians are already dead spiritually although they are much alive and are interested in many life things, but they are not interested in Christ and their salvation. Therefore, we have to live spiritual life to be really alive in Christ. Even if we die eventually, our life will continue in Jesus who died and was buried for us.

 At 7:00 PM the Rector celebrated Matins on the Lord’s Tomb. Most of this service was performed before the Shroud placed in the middle of the church. After the Great Doxologion the Rector, altar servers and parishioners performed the procession around the church. The priest carried the holy Shroud resembling burial of the Lord.

On April 12, on Holy and Great Wednesday, when the Church commemorates the betrayal of Judas, St. George parish community gathered for the service of the last Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in this year. It was served by our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov.

Following the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector preached a short homily about the significance of this day of the Holy Week and also about the specifics of the Presanctified Liturgy.

On April 9, 2017 the Orthodox Church celebrated feast of the Entry of our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, also known as Palm Sunday. The Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov headed festal liturgical service in our parish.

Before the reading of the Hours the Rector blessed the pussy-willows and distributed them to the parishioners who were holding them during the service resembling the people of Jerusalem who greeted Jesus Christ with the olive and palm branches during His triumphal entry to the city.

Following the readings from the Scripture at Divine Liturgy the Rector preached a homily in Russian. An English translation of that homily is as follows:

“Dear brothers and sisters! This year we look at this time of Lent and Holy Week as at some journey to the Kingdom of Heaven. And today we came to this great holy day of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem which is called Palm Sunday. In the Russian Church it is known as the Willow Sunday when we bless and hold the branches of the pussy-willows imitating the people of Jerusalem, especially children, who greeted the Savior with the palm and olive branches.”
“Reflecting upon our spiritual return to paradise, we may recall that there were many various trees grown in the Garden of Eden. There was a tree of knowing good and evil from which Adam and Eve ate, but there was also the tree of life. The trees have a great significance in the history of mankind and in human salvation.”
“And behold, today, on this holy day we picked up the branches of the tree and came to the God’s temple to resemble those children who greeted the Savior of the world, Lord Jesus Christ who was entering the city of Jerusalem. The Gospel says that they cut down the branches of the trees and spread them on the road and greeted Him saying, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Mt. 21, 8-9). And the Savior indeed was coming in the name of the Lord; He was walking upon those branches of the trees, so in five days He could take up another tree, the tree of the Cross, upon His shoulders. He was walking to walk later to the Calvary and to die there on the tree of the Cross.”

“In the same way as in there was the tree of life in the middle of the Garden of Eden, thus the Cross on the Calvary became the tree of life that gave back to men paradise which was lost by him. Paradise was lost because of man’s disobedience, because of the man’s will contradicting to the will of God. Now the Son of God and the Son of Man gives up His human will and submits to the will of God and He ascends on the Cross to die for the sins of Adam, so by the Cross the paradise will be returned and we could enter eternal life.”
“This is why, dear brothers and sisters, today we hold the branches of the trees. In this way we commemorate the spiritual sense of the redemptive sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. We may not fully understand the depth of those symbols, as those children who cried out and greeted Christ, did not understand what they were doing. But the scribes and Pharisees who had to have a better understanding, they got angry and told Christ: “Rebuke your disciples” (Lk. 19, 39), “Make them stop!” But Jesus answered to them: “Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?” (Mt. 21, 16; Ps. 8, 3).  Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, today we resemble those children of Jerusalem who had faithful hearts. And we also come to the Lord’s temple holding the branches.”
“Children had no idea what Jesus was going to endure. They did not know that those who forbade them to welcome Christ, later will teach the adults to cry “Crucify Him!” We do know that and we know Whom we are greeting. We know why the Lord entered Jerusalem; we know but we joyfully and piously praise the Savior of the world who is coming to save us. If He did not come, if He did not enter into Jerusalem, if He did not ascend on the Cross, we would never see the God’s paradise, we would never be able to acquire salvation. But through the Savior of the world, Lord Jesus Christ, through His death on the Cross and through His Resurrection on the third day the gates of paradise which became closed because of our transgressions, became open again.”
“Dear brothers and sisters! Let us then turn to the Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, so like those branches of the trees which now, after the winter again become green and blooming, thus our souls would become blooming by the virtues and good deeds; our souls would be risen from the dead as righteous Lazarus was risen by the word of God; so eternal life and eternal joy would be open for our souls; so these branches of the trees would become a reminder of our sins, but also a reminder of our salvation. Since the grace of the Holy Spirit had gathered us today, let us then cry out together to our Savior: “Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!””

The choir beautifully performed holy day hymns selecting special melodies for the most parts of the Liturgy.

Following the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector preached a short sermon in English explaining the ideas of his Russian homily. He also reminded the parishioners about our service schedule for the Holy Week and Pascha.

After the service parishioners and the Rector enjoyed delicious meals and interesting conversation during the coffee hour.

On April 7, on the Annunciation of the Most Holy Mother of God, our neighboring parish, a Russian Orthodox Church in Flushing, NY celebrated its Patronal feast. The Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov visited that temple and participated in its celebration. Vespers with the Divine Liturgy was served by His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad. His Eminence was co-served by our Rector, as well as by Archpriest Ion Arama, Rector of the Annunciation Church and other ROCOR clergy.

Some of our parishioners, including our Warden, Olga Roussanow attended that celebration.

Following the beautiful hierarchical service clergy and the faithful continued the Patronal feast celebration in the church hall. They had an opportunity to enjoy lenten but delicious meals and a nice company. Members of the clergy made toasts having interesting and instructive speeches. Our Rector, Fr. Igor had a speech also. He stressed that it is very fortunate to have a parish temple dedicated to the Annunciation. That feast signifies the Good News of salvation in Christ. Many of us living this earthly life feel preoccupied with different troubles and cares. But we should remember that the Good News of Christ had been brought to mankind two thousand years ago, so we should not be troubled. The people of God are led by the Church to salvation in Christ. He also greeted all the faithful present on the occasion of the Patronal feast and expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to have a liturgical and prayerful celebration together on this remarkable holy day.

On April 2, on the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov, Dean of the Eastern States of the Patriarchal Parishes participated in this year’s third Lenten Mission Vespers served in our Deanery. This day the service had been celebrated at the Three Hierarchs Church in Garfield, NJ.

Mission Vespers was headed by the parish Rector, Chancellor of the Patriarchal Parishes, Archpriest George Konyev and co-served by our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov, as well as by Archpriest John Kassatkin, Rector of the Holy Cross Church in Hackettstown, NJ, Priest Aleksiy Paranyuk, Rector of St. John the Baptist Church in Little Falls, NJ, Deacon Nicholas DeGraaff, cleric of the Three Saints Church in Garfield, NJ and Deacon Andrew Massey, cleric of the Holy Cross Church in Hackettstown, NJ.

Following the Great Prokimenon a sermon in English was delivered by Deacon Andrew Massey.

After the Vespers dismissal parish Rector expressed his gratitude to the clergy and lay people present for their participation in the Mission service. Following the service in the temple, coffee and sweets were offered to the guests of the Garfield church in its parish hall.

On April 2, on the Fifth Sunday of Lent our parish family gathered for a liturgical celebration on our temple. Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy. Following the Gospel lesson he preached the following homily in English:

“Today we came to the celebration of the Fifth Sunday of Lent which makes us realize certain new things as we spiritually journey towards the Kingdom of Heaven. The Gospel lesson read today is telling us that the usual human and social rules may not apply in the God’s Kingdom. The Lord explains to His Disciples that if “whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all” (Mk. 10, 43-44).  Today we also honor Ven. Mother Mary of Egypt whose life is a great example of how our earthly judgments can be wrong and an example of how a person can change if he or she is being helped by the divine grace.”
“The Gospel lesson shows us that Holy Apostles were living by earthly attitudes. Since they believed that their Teacher is the Messiah, they hoped that He will achieve a great power. Therefore, they asked Jesus to reserve for them the most influential positions in His Kingdom. They wished to be set at His right and at His left hand in His glory (Mk. 10, 37). It was a typical human desire to advance, to gain the best from a leader to whom one is faithful and loyal. Jesus Himself told the Disciples that there are different positions in the Kingdom of Heaven. But the Lord had to explain to them that our ideas about the Kingdom of Heaven are not accurate. Even among His followers on earth He wishes that they behave differently than the usual worldly communities. In such communities the rulers lord over their subjects and the great ones show their importance and their power over the others. “Yet it shall be not so among you”, says the Lord (Mk. 10, 43).”
“Dear brothers and sisters! These words of Christ teach us that the Kingdom of God is different from our world. Therefore, if we desire to reach that Kingdom, we need to abandon our earthly attitudes and human ambitions. And if we wish to become more important among others, or having certain authority among men, we need to learn to serve.  The Lord does not condemn leadership or the authority among His followers. But He warns us that if we wish to become someone having such a call, we need to serve those who are entrusted to our care. Jesus reminds us that He Himself did not come to the world “to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mk. 10, 45). And we know that He proved it by His passions and sufferings, by His death on the cross.”
“And the life of Ven. Mary whom we honor today teaches us certain things. Perhaps the first lesson we can learn from it is that we should never judge, never pre-judge. Who will be saved, who will be greater or lesser in the Kingdom of God? It is impossible to answer these questions. The Lord told the Apostles: “To sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared” (Mk. 10, 40). We cannot answer these questions because it is never too late to change, to repent. We are all sinners and we may say that salvation is unlikely for us. Some of us are greater sinners and some of us are lesser sinners. We may think that great sinners are not going to be saved. But it is not true. Humanly speaking, when we consider the life of Mary until her 29th year, we might think that salvation had become impossible for her. She was a very sinful woman; she was a harlot, and she enjoyed it. And yet the service to her calls her “the greatest of saints”. Why? Because she did change; she changed completely. Humanly speaking, because of our sins, we are condemned; but by the grace of God everything, including the height of repentance, is possible.”
“The life of Ven. Mary of Egypt also teaches us that we need to accomplish our salvation along with the Holy Church. Ven. Mary retreated from the world, from human society, she lived in the desert, she accomplished all her endeavors of holiness alone. She was not in a monastery or in some parish. She was completely by herself in the desert. Yet she began her endeavors by receiving the Holy Sacraments of Penance and Communion, and she finished her life by confession and Holy Communion. She could not become a Saint without the Church. There is no salvation outside of the Church; and there is no perfect Christian life without the Sacraments.”
“Beginning the last week of Lent, let us come to an understanding that we are willing to approach a Heavenly, not earthly, Kingdom where everything will be different. Thus we should be prepared for that. And the life of Ven. Mary of Egypt is supposed to teach us how to prepare for everlasting blessedness of Paradise. We have to repent, constantly attempt to change our life and to be comforted by the Holy Sacraments of the Church. In this way we will be able to enter into the glory of Christ and to deserve our prepared seats in his Kingdom!”

The choir prayerfully performed penitent hymns during the preparation for Holy Communion.

Following the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector preached a short sermon in Russian stressing the main ideas of his English homily.

After the Divine Liturgy the Rector performed the Sacrament of the Anointing of the sick. All persons who desired to receive that Mystery participated in the service and were anointed with the blessed oil.