On September 27th, on the feast of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-giving Cross, we had a solemn celebration in our temple. Before the Hours Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov placed the cross in the middle of the church and venerated it.
At the Divine Liturgy, after the Gospel lesson the Rector preached a homily in Russian. An English translation of that homily is as follows:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today we celebrate feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. It is a Lord’s holy day but it is not dedicated to some event in the life of Christ, but to the Precious and Life-giving Cross. But the Cross of Christ cannot be separated from the crucifixion. Therefore, in today’s Gospel lesson we hear the sorrowful story of the holy Passions of the Lord, the story of His crucifixion. And today’s Epistle lesson proclaims that “we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness” (1 Cor. 1, 23).”
“To the ancient Graeco-Roman world, the Christian claim of the cross was complete foolishness. If you are familiar with Greek mythology, you remember that Greek gods could also take on human appearance. For instance, Zeus did it to chase after women, causing more harm than help. We, Christians, believe that God assumed a human body and soul, not to find pleasure but to enter into our pain. This is the mystery and the glory of the Holy Cross.”
“The sign of the cross is often reduced to a good-luck charm. We wear it around our necks or we may make a sign of the cross when we begin something important. But let us remember that the Cross of Jesus Christ does not promise us success, health, or pleasure. The Cross only promises us that Jesus will be with us, no matter how badly we suffer, no matter how badly we fail, and no matter how horribly we feel. Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Mt. 28, 20).  It is through His Cross that Jesus is with us. That is the meaning of the Cross and that is the meaning of our Christian faith.”
“God enters into the depth, the pit of human experience through Jesus’ crucifixion and death. We are not alone. We wish that the Holy Cross meant that we don’t have to suffer, but it means that God chose to suffer with us. God’s ways are not our ways. The lesson of the Holy Cross is still very hard for us. That is why the Holy Cross became the sign of the Christian faith. Every Orthodox church is adorned by the cross, and the cross is everywhere among the Christian people. It is an emblem of our faith, the most known symbol of Christianity.”
“The Holy Cross is also a sign of hope. When we look on the Holy Cross, we can believe that there is hope beyond our suffering, our failures, and our loss. We can believe that there is hope for the suffering and heavy-burdened. There is hope because God will not abandon us in our sufferings.”
“And finally, the Holy Cross is a sign of love. God sent His Onlybegotten Son because He loved the world. Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross because He so loved the world. And the Cross is stretching its sides as the Lord Jesus stretched His arms on the Cross to embrace us in His infinite love.”
“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, we must always exalt and lift up the Cross of Jesus Christ. We must exalt and honor that sign of our faith, the sign of our hope and the sign of God’s love. If the Greek gods played their games with humans, the God of Jesus Christ suffered with human kind. And He suffers with us. Exalting the Precious and Life-giving Cross we should realize that God is indeed with us.”

Our Cantor, Olga Roussanow beautifully performed hymns dedicated to the Holy Cross during preparation for Holy Communion.

Following the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector and altar server performed the rite of Glorification before the Cross and the icon of the feast singing the troparion, kontakion and magnification of the Exaltation. After that the Rector and parishioners venerated the Cross.

On September 24, on the Sunday before Exaltation of the Cross, our Parish also observed feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God. Divine Liturgy in our temple was served by our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov. Following the lessons from the Holy Gospel he preached a homily in Russian. An English translation of that homily is as follows:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today the Church celebrates Sunday before the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. And we also celebrate feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God which we decided to transfer it to this Sunday. But even if we did not transfer it for today, we would still commemorate that feast because the Church continues to celebrate it for several days. But the Church already prepares us for another great holy day, feast of the Exaltation. Thus today we would have to reflect upon those two important matters: on the birth of the holy Theotokos and on the words of Christ heard in today’s Gospel telling us that “God so loved the world that He gave His onlybegotten Son…” (Jn. 3, 16).”
“The Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God is the first holy day of the New Church year. “The present Feast is for us the beginning of feasts” – says about it Ven. Andrew of Crete. It is understood because the birth of the One who had to give birth to the Savior of the world should be considered as a beginning of our salvation. “Thy Nativity, o Virgin Theotokos, has proclaimed joy to all the universe” – we sing today in the troparion dedicated to this feast. The troparion goes on and explains that the universe should rejoice in the birth of the Mother of God because from Her the Sun of righteousness, Christ our God, is risen. He broke the ancestral curse and gave the blessing; He destroyed death and granted us life eternal.”
“If we recall the story of the Nativity of the Mother of God, we could observe that Her parents, Joachim and Anna, were advanced in age but were childless. In those times and in the Jewish society it was considered a great misfortune and reproach. It could be viewed as a curse. But the whole human race was under a similar curse, lived in a great misfortune of sin. Although children were born to the people, they had no future of holiness and pleasing God.”
“Sometimes people say that eternal life means our continuation in children. It is true to some extent. Our sons and daughters look like us, behave like us, have our traits. Joachim and Anna thought that they did not have such a continuation. They were first deprived of the hope to have a future in their children. But even people blessed by the offspring could not have the true eternal life. Every generation before the coming of Christ lived under condemnation, lived in the fallen state. Children looked like their parents, behaved like their parents and repeated their parents’ sins and mistakes. Only with the coming of the Divine Savior into the world, only with the incarnation of the Son of God, the human race was given a future to become holy and to join God in the eternal life. Such life was granted, the ancestral curse was broken through Jesus Christ redeeming us. But in order to accomplish that Jesus had to be born as a Man. And His birth was given by the Most Holy Theotokos. She had to come to this world first. And She did, and today we celebrate Her wonderful Nativity.”
“Holy grandparents of God, Joachim and Anna, became blessed. They conceived a child, gave birth to the holy Virgin Mary. In the same way God, in His endless love, blessed the whole humanity and gave His only begotten Son. Humanity was perished, but God wanted it to live. Preparing to celebrate another holy day, feast dedicated to the Precious Cross, and observing Sunday preceding that solemnity, let us understand how God acted for us. His love freed us from the curse of our ancestors. God gave His only Son for us to grant us life, life everlasting. Instead of childlessness of Joachim and Anna He gave them a child who bore Christ into the world. They were blessed with life, with the continuation of their family. And all of us became blessed with life.  Instead of absence of hope God gave the future. Instead of death He granted life.”

Our Cantor, Olga Roussanow performed beautiful hymns of the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos during preparation for Holy Communion.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector and altar servers came out of the sanctuary and performed the rite of glorification in front of the festal icon, singing the troparion, kontakion and magnification of the feast.

The Rector also preached a short sermon in English addressing the main thoughts of his Russian homily.

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

On September 10, on the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, St. George Parish held a nice celebration. In addition to the Sunday observance we celebrated feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist that had been transferred to Sunday. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy. After the readings from the Scripture he preached the following homily in English:

“Today along with our Sunday celebration we observe feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. Both Sunday Gospel lesson and the reading of the story of the Beheading of the Forerunner may give us a sad and negative impression. In our Sunday Gospel assigned for today we hear a parable of the Wedding Feast. It shows that so many people neglected the invitation of their king, and even among those who came to the banquet there were people not dressed appropriately. Our Lord finishes that parable by saying, “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Mt. 22, 14). And in the Gospel story of the execution of St. John the Baptist we hear that this just man was killed by the unjust people and there was no one to defend him.”
“Listening to such sad stories we may recall the words of the Prophet Isaiah: “The righteous perishes, and no man takes it to heart” (Is. 57, 1). St. John was beheaded to honor the request of a loose dancing girl and because of the hatred of her adulterous mother, and no one took it to heart. The birthday banquet of king Herod was not stopped, no guest became indignant and no man became frustrated that such a righteous man was murdered. And in some time after that crime, another villainy had been done, another just Man was killed – our Lord Jesus Christ. Not to honor the request of some dancing girl, but to please the angry crowd an innocent Person of Christ was crucified. And no man took it to heart. We say “no man” because a small number of the Apostles and the Most Holy Mother of God were like a drop in the ocean of the enemies of Christ.”
“These two examples of the execution of St. John the Baptist and of Christ suggest that evil is very successful and reigning in this world while good is very often defeated and humiliated. It may also be observed through the whole history of mankind. It is seen right now in many places of the world. And today’s Gospel lesson about the Wedding Feast may lead us to a conclusion that our human nature is so corrupt and ungrateful that God won’t allow most of us to enter into His Kingdom. Thus today we may tend to think negative and become filled with pessimism.”
“But let us try to think positive. The whole idea of the Kingdom of God where all of us are invited should overcome all kinds of pessimism. Our Lord is describing His eternal Kingdom in an image so understood to the people – as a wedding feast. In the times of Christ and in East weddings were celebrations of human love, and the families that made them attempted to invite as many guests as they could. So the Lord compared His Kingdom to such a feast. Everyone is welcome. It is now our own choice whether to accept that generous invitation. If we accept and do our best to get there, to enter into God’s Kingdom, to participate in His everlasting celebration of Love – we will be there. And our garment will be appropriate if we will prepare and put such garment on. So, the Lord won’t throw us out of His banquet hall into the outer darkness. It is totally up to us.” “Even if we fail to do our preparation, even if it seems difficult for us to accept God’s invitation, the Lord is always willing to help us. He provides His divine grace, He assures us that if with men it is impossible, with God everything is possible (Mt. 19, 26). And despite that only few are chosen, the Lord keeps saying, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11, 28). And the whole Scripture is full of very optimistic and positive assurances of God’s love and willingness to save everyone. But on the other hand, of course, God won’t save us without our desire to be just. The book of Revelation says, “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteousstill; he who is holy, let him be holy still “ (Rev. 22, 11). God gives us a choice. If we are unjust or filthy, He will judge us; if we are righteous and holy He will bless us.”
“Sometimes God allows unjust to be punished even before His judgment, even in this life. The punishment of Herod, Herodias and her foolish daughter was terrible. They suffered a very tragic death. But as regards St John who called and still calls to repentance – his name lives on forever.”
“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, despite the sadness of today’s Gospel lessons, let us remember that God’s justice will always prevail. Let us also remember that we are all invited to share in the joy of our Lord in His eternal Kingdom. An invitation is sent and the doors of the banquet hall are wide open. The Wedding Feast is waiting for us. It is now up to us whether we will accept that invitation, do our best to come and be dressed appropriately. If not, we will join king Herod, Herodias and her foolish daughter the dancer. We will join those who condemned Christ. But if we will do our best we will join the holy ones, we will be among the Saints such as John the Baptist, the Most Holy Mother of God and our Lord Jesus Christ!”

Since in the beginning of September the Russian Church holds a special day of prayer for the preservation of God’s creation, during the Litany of fervent supplication the Rector offered special petitions for that cause.

The choir prayerfully performed hymns dedicated to the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, as well as in honor of the Saints commemorated on this day (Ven. Moses the Black and Ven. Job of Pochaev).

Following the Liturgy dismissal the Rector preached a short sermon in Russian explaining the main ideas of his English homily.
The Rector also congratulated our parishioner Moses Dunetz on the occasion of his nameday, the memory of Ven. Moses the Black. Traditional Polychronion (“Mnogaia leta!) had been sung.
After that the Rector offered a prayer for the schoolchildren who begin their new school year and performed a blessing of the young child Elena Malyshev who is starting her school year by entering the preK group.

After the liturgical service the Rector and parishioners enjoyed delicious meals and a nice company at the trapeza table.

On September 3, on the 13th Sunday after Pentecost, Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy in our temple. Following the Gospel lesson he preached a homily in Russian. An English translation of that homily is as follows:

“Today’s reading from the Gospel is telling us a parable about evil tenants of the vineyard. This parable speaks about the history of Israel, about the relationship between God and His chosen people. However, we may interpret this parable in a number of other ways. We may say that today’s Gospel parable is related to us. The vineyard is then our life and soul. And here in some way we resemble those evil tenants.”
“Our life and our own soul is the vineyard the Lord planted exclusively for us. He granted us the gift of life, He gave us different other gifts to support that life. If we are Christians, let us recall that being baptized we are given an opportunity to live a blessed life in God’s eternal Kingdom. We are also chrismated by the seal of the Holy Spirit and we are able to live a holy, joyful and happy life. But we are called to bring the Lord and Creator “His share of the grapes”. That means that our life has bear a fruit, our soul has to show the works of mercy, love and piety. We are expected to love our fellow men, to show mercy towards the needy and we are also expected to be pious. In the parable we hear that the owner dug a winepress and built a tower (Mt. 21, 33). The winepress is the altar and the necessity of offerings. The tower is the temple. Thus we are called to make sacrifices and to honor the temple. We are expected to live a pious and religious life.”
“Let us now ask ourselves, “Do we bring the Lord His share of the grapes? Do we bear a fruit of love, mercy and piety?” If we are honest, we may see that it does not happen all the time. Therefore, we resemble those evil tenants, those wicked vinedressers.”
“But we may try to justify ourselves and say, “Do we kill the messengers of God like those evil tenants?” Let us think. Do we always listen to voice of our conscience? Remember that our conscience is the voice of God within us. Do we listen to that voice sent to us by God or we try to silence, to hush it, to kill it in ourselves because we do not wish to change our sinful life? How many times our conscience chastised us but we silenced it and chased it away, so it may not disturb us in our way of living? Then we may ask, “Do we kill the “heir of the owner”, the Son of God?” But if we read the Holy Fathers and if we are knowledgeable in spiritual matters, we may recall that every time when we sin, we crucify our Lord Jesus Christ. For the Son of God took all our sins upon Himself, and thus every our sin is a mockery of His sacrifice on the Cross.”
“Realizing all these things makes us understand that the parable of the wicked tenants is related to us. Very often we do not fulfill the will of the Lord, do not bear a good fruit in our lives, and disrespectfully treat our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. What should we do to change our attitude? Jesus asked the Jews in today’s Gospel, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: the stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone” (Mt. 21, 42). Here Jesus was speaking about Himself, the Chief Cornerstone on which our salvation is built. Therefore, our only way is to put Jesus Christ as the cornerstone of our life. It would mean that we will have to base our lives on the faith in Christ, to live a pious and religious life according to the Gospel, to show the works of mercy and love. Only then the Lord will not treat us as the wicked tenants of His vineyard but will award us and bless us for eternity.”
“Dear brothers and sisters! Hearing that serious and convoluted parable about evil vinedressers, let us pray that the Lord Creator, through the intercession of His Blessed Mother, will grant us strength and ability to cultivate the vineyard of our life and our soul entrusted to us, so we may bear a good fruit of piety and Christian life leading us to life everlasting!”

Our Cantor, Olga Roussanow beautifully performed hymns in honor of the Most Holy Mother of God during preparation for Holy Communion.

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