On May 20th, on Sunday of the Blind Man, Rector of St. George Church, priest Igor Tarasov celebrated the Divine Liturgy.
After the Gospel lesson Fr. Igor lectured on the Liturgy. He discussed the conclusion of the Eucharistic canon. Following the invocation of the Holy Spirit upon the Gifts and after the Gifts are being sanctified, the priest continues the Eucharistic canon by commemoration of the Saints, living members of the Church and those who fell asleep. Since the sacrifice of the Liturgy is “on behalf of all and for all”, the priests commemorates different kinds of members of the Body of Christ: living, departed and the Saints in heaven. That prayer is said in a low voice but it is interrupted by a loud commemoration of the Most Holy Mother of God. The congregation responds to that exclamation with a hymn in honor of the Theotokos. In the usual time it is a very known hymn “It is truly meet…”. On the holy days or some other occasions we use some other, substitute hymns. During that singing of the hymn the priest continues to commemorate the Saints: St. John the Baptist, the holy Apostles, the Saints whose memory is celebrated on that day. Then the living and the dead are being also commemorated. At the end the priest exclaims: “Among the first, remember o Lord, our great lord and father…, the Patriarch of Moscow…” Thus, the Church hierarchy is being remembered. The congregation responds: “And each and everyone”. The priest finishes the commemoration with the blessing of the people, asking that the mercy of God be always with them. The people respond: “And with your spirit”. In this manner the faithful ask God to bless the priest with the grace necessary for the functioning of his office, ministry and for his dignity.
At the end of the Liturgy Fr. Igor reminded that on that very day the Church commemorates the Apparition of the Sign of the Cross in Jerusalem which took place in 351 AD. At that time in the 4th century the Church was suffering from the dangerous heresy of Arianism. The first Christian emperor, St. Constantine, died and his successor, emperor Constantius, became a supporter of the heresy. At that point the Sign of the Cross appeared in the sky over Jerusalem. Many people saw it. It was shining brightly and shimmering with all the rainbow colors. This event was recorded by the historians. Many Jews and Gentiles converted to Christian faith due to that miraculous sign. Fr. Igor further preached that such an event teaches us that people who have the true and firm faith may be able to see with the spiritual eyes. “Today’s Sunday of the Blind Man presents us a story about a person who was born blind but received his sight from Jesus. That man acquired both physical and spiritual sight, for he became able to see both the world around him and the Lord of that universe. He worshipped Christ. But the Pharisees being able to see physically, were blind spiritually, for they did not recognize Jesus as their Messiah. In our times, there are a lot of people who are unable to see Jesus as the Lord and Savior. And even if they would witness a sign like an apparition of the Cross in the sky, they would probably refuse to believe. You need not just physical vision to believe. If you have a spiritual vision, then you are able to see the signs of God’s presence in many things. Take the nature. If you explore it having faith you will see the Creator and His wisdom. Science along with faith is a great thing. But science without faith is a perfect evil. Therefore, let us cherish and keep the true faith and attempt to acquire and preserve the spiritual sight, not to be blind spiritually,” – said our Rector.
After the service, due to a gorgeous weather, Fr. Igor and parishioners enjoyed our common trapeza outside of the church, under the shadow of the old trees.

On May 13th, on Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, priest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy at St. George’s Church. On this day we also celebrated feast of the Holy Apostle James.
During his sermon following the reading from the Gospel Fr. Igor told about St. James, who was one of the 12 Apostles, the son of Zebedee and the brother of St. John the Theologian. He then continued his regular lectures on the Liturgy. This time he discussed the Epiclesis which means the invocation of the Holy Spirit to come and sanctify the Gifts on the altar, to make them the true Body and Blood of Christ. Fr. Igor pointed out that Orthodox Christians hold that the Epiclesis completes the mysterious change of the Gifts. Therefore, bread and wine offered at the Liturgy turn into the Body and Blood of Christ when the invocation of the Holy Spirit is performed. The priest blesses the bread and the chalice and then makes a bow or prostration before them as a sign of reverence before the Lord present there.
At the end of the Liturgy the Rector congratulated all the women and, especially, the mothers and grandmothers in the parish on the occasion of the Mother’s Day. The choir sang “Mnogaia leta” (“Many years”) to the mothers.

On May 6th our parish celebrated Patronal fest of the Holy Great Martyr George. This year it fell on the 4th Sunday of Pascha, of the Paralytic. Our Rector, priest Igor Tarasov celebrated solemn Divine Liturgy. He was joined by other clergy who came to celebrate with us despite the Sunday duties at their places of service. The Liturgy was concelebrated by Hieromonk Eutychius (Dovganyuk), Hieromonk Zosimas (Krampis) (both from the ROCOR) and Deacon John Peters from St. Nicholas Cathedral.
Following the reading from the Gospel Fr. Zosimas preached a homily.
Our temple was almost filled with the guests from other parishes, among whom were the youth representatives from St. Nicholas Cathedral headed by Igor Kochan, our friend and benefactor Captain Stelios Tatsis and some parishioners of the other Russian churches of the area.
At the end of the Liturgy the Rector preached a brief sermon about our holy Patron, St. George. He stressed that this Saint has a great favor with the Lord and is honored in all the Orthodox nations, as well as among other Christians. A number of countries, regions or cities have him as their heavenly Patron. It is known that even some non-Christian people honor St. George. For instance, many Muslims come to a monastery in Turkey where they venerate the miraculous icon of the Saint, despite their religion which prohibits veneration of the icons. Fr. Igor congratulated all the parishioners and guests on the occasion of this joyful feast of the Victorious and Wonderworking Martyr George. He also expressed his gratitude to the clergy and lay people who came to share our joy on this special day. At the conclusion the Rector proclaimed a polychronion (singing of the “Mnogaia leta!, “Many years!”) to the hierarchy, present parishioners and guests and all the Orthodox Christians.
Celebration continued on the church property where our ladies and the youth organized a picnic. At this point we were happy to welcome the Rector of the Annunciation Church in Flushing, Archpriest Alexi Ohotin who came after the Sunday service in his own parish. Fr. Alexi joined us at the table and was asked to give a blessing of the trapeza. Everybody enjoyed delicious food, nice company, interesting conversations, as well as singing of the Russian and Ukrainian songs.

On April 29, on Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, priest Igor Tarasov celebrated the Divine Liturgy at St. George’s Church.
After the Gospel lesson the Rector preached about the Divine Liturgy. Fr. Igor discussed the words of our Lord Jesus Christ pronounced during the Eucharistic Anaphora and taken directly from the Gospels: “Take, eat, this is My Body which is broken for you, for the remission of sins”, and “Drink of it, all of you. This is My Blood of the New Testament which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins”. These words are very important because they are the very words of Christ. And due to that Western theologians in the Middle Ages came to a conclusion that these words pronounced over the Gifts at the Liturgy change them over to the true Body and Blood of Christ. However, Eastern Orthodox Church never considered that. We always held that the whole Eucharistic Anaphora is essential for the mysterious change of the Gifts. And our common and strong belief is that the Gifts turn into the Body and Blood of Christ after the serving priest invokes the Holy Spirit upon them.
Fr. Igor also talked about an important part of Eucharistic celebration called the Anamnesis. It is translated from the Greek as ‘remembrance’. After exclaiming the words of Christ the priest in a low voice says that prayer of the Anamnesis. In the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom the priest says: “Remembering this saving commandment, and all those things which came to pass for us, the Cross, the Tomb, the Resurrection on the third day, the Ascension into heaven, the sitting at the right hand, and the second and glorious coming”. This short prayer is a sign of fulfillment of the commandment of Christ to make the sacrifice of the Liturgy in memory of Him. He left this Sacrament with us and ordered the Apostles to perform it. Thus we fulfill the will of the Savior, do it in memory of Him, as a commemoration of His life, death and Resurrection.
At the end of the Liturgy Fr. Igor preached a very short homily in Russian. He pointed out that in the former Soviet Union many of us who used to live there celebrated the Women’s Day, March 8th. Most of the countries emerged after the collapse of the Soviet state still celebrate that holiday. However, the idea and spirit of that Women’s Day is very strange to Orthodox Christians. Our women’s day is Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women. “Today we honor those holy women who were equal to the Apostles, who were the disciples of Christ. The Lord did not call the women to be the Apostles, but He did call them to the discipleship and a unique ministry. They helped the Apostles and served the Lord Jesus Himself. And they continued to serve Him after He died on the Cross. The Gospel tells us that those women came to the tomb early in the morning to anoint the body of Jesus with fragrant oils. And the Scripture tells us that those women became the first witnesses to the holy Resurrection of Christ. Therefore, the critics of the Orthodox Church who claim that we do not give women enough respect, are very wrong. Women were those to whom our Lord appeared first after His Resurrection. According to the Scripture He appeared to the Myrrh-Bearing Women. And according to the Tradition, He first appeared to His Blessed Mother.”
After the Liturgy Fr. Igor served a panikhida to commemorate the newly-deceased Nicholas Koretz, the brother of our parishioner and parish Treasurer Vera Koretz.
On this day our church services were not limited to our temple. At this point after Pascha we have a proper time for the commemoration of the deceased. Last Tuesday the Church celebrated the Memorial Day called ‘Radonitsa’. Therefore, priest Igor Tarasov visited Flushing and Cypress Hills Cemeteries where he served Litia and blessed the graves of our deceased parishioners, relatives of Vera Koretz and Natalia Soho.

On April 22, on Sunday of St. Thomas, or Antipascha the Rector of St. George’s Church, priest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy.
At his sermon following the Gospel lesson he continued his lectures on Liturgy. Fr. Igor described the actions of the deacon (or of the priest if there is no deacon serving) during the Seraphic Hymn. The star is being taken off the discos and the priest touches the four edges of the discos with the star. The practical reason for that is to open the gifts (the bread) on the discos for further consecration. And the symbolism of that rite of touching or hitting the discos four times is to show how the Angels are praising God standing at the four sides around Him. This is also a symbol of the four Gospels which tell the world about God and about His Good News. In addition, as we read in the book of Revelation, the four animals are standing around the Lamb praising Him. That vision of St. John meant that the four Gospels are preaching the truth about Jesus Christ. Finally, the ritual of hitting the discos has its origin in the ritual of the Jerusalem Temple where the people who brought up the gifts and burning the incense, hit with the small shovel on the plate during the sacrifice.
Fr. Igor also discussed the content of the Anaphora of St. Basil the Great and St. John Chrysostom. He pointed out that both of them describe the mission of our Lord Jesus Christ in redeeming the human race and leaving us the Mystery of His Body and Blood.
After the Liturgy the Rector preached shortly about the celebrated feast. He stressed the importance of faith which is lacked by many people in today’s world. St. Thomas also had doubts and required proof of Christ Resurrection. But when he recognized the risen Lord he believed. Nowadays people do not even wish to believe or believe in one thing but refuse to believe in other truths of faith. “We need to keep the firm faith in order to be called the blessed ones who have not seen, but yet believe”.
In conclusion of the service Fr. Igor distributed the particles of the Artos blessed on Pascha.

We express our sincere condolences to our parishioner and parish Treasurer, Vera Koretz for the loss of her brother Nicholas.
Memory eternal! Вечная память!

There were some renovations done in our temple. Our parishioners Andrew and Vitaliy Malyshew made a nice Easter gift to our parish. They sacrificed their time and effort and painted the walls and ceiling of the sanctuary before the approaching holy days.
We express our gratitude to Andrew and Vitaliy and wish them many healthy and good years! Спаси Господи! Многая лета!

On April 8 we celebrated Palm Sunday which is the feast of the Entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem. Priest Igor Tarasov celebrated solemn Divine Liturgy at St. George’s Church. Before the Liturgy Fr. Igor blessed the pussy-willows and distributed them to the parishioners. Faithful present at the Liturgy were holding the blessed branches resembling the people of Jerusalem who greeted our Lord Jesus Christ entering the holy City.
Following the Liturgy dismissal Fr. Igor preached a homily regarding the holy day celebrated. He said that Lent is coming to the end; we finished the very time of the holy Forty-day fast period and start the Holy Week. It was not easy to keep fasting, especially because many people around us did not observe the same rules, and the whole atmosphere in the society was not telling us about Lent. “In the old days of the Russian Empire Lent was noticeable: a lenten bell was constantly rang to remind the people of that season, theaters were closed and public entertainment stopped. Even if not everyone was observing fast, everybody knew about it, and the whole society was aware of that season. Now we are on our own, especially in this country where the Church and state are separated. But that separation should not mean that faith should be separated from the society, from the people. But sometimes it is understood in such a way. And we also feel some separation within ourselves, a separation between our religious life and our worldly life. We feel some duality in our lives. On one hand we are Orthodox Christians. On the other hand, we must live in this world, and the world does not always notice who we are. A similar duality was seen in the conduct of the people of Jerusalem when Jesus entered that holy City. As today’s Gospel lesson tells us, the people of Jerusalem met Jesus with the palm and olive branches, greeted Him as their King and Messiah, shouted ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord!’ But in several days these same people condemned Him to death and shouted ‘Crucify Him!’ We have to admit that such a duality is seen in the man as a result of fall. We do good and bad things. Therefore, we should strive to avoid a duality in our lives, to avoid division in our hearts and to be good followers of Christ, subjects of His Kingdom and pledge a true allegiance to Him. If we take those branches today, let us hold them and follow our Lord in His triumph, as well as follow Him in His Passions in order to enter into His Kingdom.”

On April 7 we celebrate great holy day of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Mother of God. Russian Orthodox Church in Flushing observes its patronal feast. Our Rector, priest Igor Tarasov and our Warden, Olga Roussanow joined our neighbors in their parish celebration. Fr. Igor served the Divine Liturgy which was headed by the Holy Annunciation’s Rector, Mitred Archpriest Alexi Ohotin. A luncheon was followed the Liturgy in the church hall.