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.

On December 18, on the 26th Sunday after Pentecost, as well as feast of St. Sabbas the Sanctified, we had a nice celebration in our Parish. The Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy in our temple. Following the readings from the Sacred Scripture he preached the following homily:

“Dear brothers and sisters! The first Gospel lesson we have heard today is about the importance of being grateful. It is also read for the Church services of thanksgiving. When the Holy Fathers speak about prayer – and prayer is our communication with God – they indicate that the highest sort of prayer is a prayer of thanksgiving. The Fathers say that this is the prayer by which the Angels constantly praise the Lord before His heavenly throne. And they find joy, happiness and the whole sense of their existence in that prayer. Thus it is very desirable to learn this kind of prayer, the prayer of thanksgiving.”
“Our spiritual experience shows that it is much easier to learn the prayer of petition. Our very life forces us to ask God for help. When we are in trouble, we begin to pray and to ask God to help us. We also ask for health, for success in our deeds, for the forgiveness of our sins. This kind of prayer is also important. Because of our sorrows and misfortunes we convert to God and pray to Him asking for something. And because of this prayer we understand that our life without God has no sense and that He is the only one who can really help us.”
“It is good that we realize that. But we should also realize that God is the only one who can heal us from our sins. And if we may remember to give thanks to the Lord for His help in our life situations, we often forget to be grateful to God for His power to heal us from sin. This happens because we get used to our sins. They become our second nature. And we do not notice them. This attitude of not noticing our sins, not realizing our sinfulness is very dangerous for the soul. And one of the results of such an attitude is our inability to be grateful to God.”
“To realize how bad is ungratefulness we can imagine a very casual example. Let’s say we rescued our next door neighbor from a great danger. Let’s say that we saved his life. It may happen – life is full of surprises. And let’s imagine that after a week or so this person does not wish to talk to us, to say “hello” and even look at our side, turns his face away from us. Would we like that? Of course, not. We would be offended and shocked. Comparing that example to our own spiritual situation we may see that God is the one who rescued all of us from a great danger of being condemned, He saved us from our sins, from our spiritual death. He also established His Church on the earth; and the Church holds the keys to eternal life. The Lord granted us the greatest Mysteries which make our souls alive, heal them from a sinful state. The Lord opened for us His embrace, so we may not perish in sin and in our wickedness. But we ungratefully turn away from Him and do not wish to see the Lord in our life. How evil is such ungratefulness!”
“Today we heard about such ungratefulness in the Gospel lesson (Lk. 17, 12-19). Our Lord healed ten lepers. Leprosy is a terrible disease when the human body is decaying but a sick person does not feel pain. Thus it is an image of a sinful soul that does not feel its sins. And those ten lepers lifted their voices crying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Lk. 17, 13). And the Lord performed a miracle. He sent them to the priests to be examined, and while they went, they became cleansed. And behold, only one of those ten returned, began to glorify God and thanked Jesus. And the Gospel indicates that he was a Samaritan, not a Jew. Again, we hear that Samaritans who were heretics and enemies, could be better than the Jews who were expected to be more pious and just. Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” (Lk. 17, 17-18).”
“Dear brothers and sisters! Let us hear these words of Christ which can be related to us, the ungrateful ones. Where are we who were healed by God from sin? Where are we who are born in the font of Baptism and anointed with the gift of the Holy Spirit? Which is our gratefulness to the Lord? How do we show it? Do we glorify the Lord? Do we praise Him by our life? Where are we, the Christians called for eternal life? Will we give thanks to our Lord and Savior! Let us hear that voice of Christ! And let us give thanks to Him by our words, our deeds and by our lives!”

During the time of preparation for Holy Communion the choir prayerfully performed hymns dedicated to Venerable Sabbas.

After the Liturgy dismissal the Rector preached a brief sermon in Russian to stress the main ideas of his English homily. He also congratulated our Sacristan Andrew Malyshew on the occasion of his past name day wishing him God’s help, good health and success in his service to the Church. Traditional Polychronion was sung.

On Sunday, December 11, Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov was invited to perform a blessing of the Seniorcare Home Health Agency office in Rego Park, NY.

The Rector came to Rego Park after Sunday Liturgy. He performed an abbreviated Blessing of water and the rite of Blessing of the office. Fr. Igor was assisted by our parishioner and choir singer Olga Vnukova-Stateikin.  

Following the rite of blessing our Rector preached a brief sermon on the importance of the Church blessing and spiritual direction for any area of human life, and also encouraged the office staff to attend the holy temple.

On December 11, on the 25th Sunday after Pentecost, the Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy in our temple. After the Gospel lesson he preached a homily in Russian.

In his homily the Rector pointed out that after frequent reading of the Holy Gospel we may learn that the main Commandment of Christ is the Commandment of love. The very coming of Christ into this world was a manifestation of God’s love. This is why Jesus performed different miracles of healing. One of them is described in today’s Gospel lesson (Lk. 13, 10-17). Our Lord healed a woman who had a spirit of infirmity and was bent over for 18 years. But that healing provoked an improper reaction from a ruler of the synagogue because Jesus performed a healing on the Sabbath. That person forgot that Sabbath was the Lord’s day, thus it should be dedicated to the works in honor of the Lord, to the works of love. We should remember that when we find different excuses not to help our neighbors.
The Rector also stressed that the sick woman is an image of our sinful soul. Our souls are also bent over by sin and they cannot see the heights of heaven. In the Church language, heaven means the God’s dwelling, an invisible world. Our souls in sin cannot see God, but can only see the ground beneath our feet, the earth. And the earth means this material world which contains good things, as well as evil things, it contains sin. Such is the state of our souls. But we should not fall into despair. The same Jesus Christ who healed the woman who had been bent over, can heal our souls if we desire so. In order to be healed we need to be with the Church, in a gathering of the faithful. In today’s Gospel story the sick woman encountered Jesus in the synagogue, in a place of gathering of the believers. And we also encounter God in the temple. And if that sick woman met Jesus once in her life, we meet the Lord every time in our Christian temples. We meet Him in a mystical, but also a very efficient way.

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

On December 4, on the 24th Sunday after Pentecost, as well as on the feast of the Entrance of the Most Holy Mother of God into Temple, our parish family gathered at St. George Church for a nice celebration. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy. Following the readings from the Gospel he preached a homily in English:

“Today’s first Gospel lesson is telling us about a wealthy man whom God called “fool”, although he was not a fool by this world standards. He was a good and successful businessman, a landowner. Yet he was fool in the eyes of God because he grew rich for Himself instead of becoming rich toward God.”
“Our Lord says, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters” (Lk. 11, 23). It happens that a man is working all his life gathering his wealth, taking a good care of his business, worrying about making more and more riches and thinking that it will sustain him for many years. But at the end it turns out that all these efforts are useless because this treasure is gathered without God. God is not there, thus it has no worth. Thus all such man’s labors become unsuccessful and fruitless. The only true wealth and true possession is the one which a man does not lose here on earth, but takes it along with himself into afterlife. Such a treasure is gathered in the Lord.”
“How could we become rich toward God? All our actions and all our desires need to be in accordance with the faith of Christ. They need to be in accord with the Commandments of God. Jesus Christ has to lead our lives. Then we could gather the treasures that will be in Christ and become rich toward God. And such a treasure will never be taken away from us. Just as Mary from today’s second Gospel lesson listening to the words of Christ acquired a better part than her sister Martha who worried about unnecessary things. The Lord said that Mary will not be deprived of her chosen part (Lk. 10, 42).”
“Dear brothers and sisters! We are living in the world where we may find two areas: the area of good and the area of evil, the area of truth and the area of falsehood. The true wealth which may never be taken away from us consists of things belonging to the good and to the truth. And the good and truth belong to Christ. Therefore, if we do not labor and do not gather with the Lord, we cannot acquire any good or any truth. And if we possess anything without Christ, it is illusionary, not real, not valuable. Therefore, all our efforts and our works will be useless.”
“Celebrating today’s feast of the Entrance of the Most Holy Mother of God, we see the Virgin Mary as a four-year-old girl brought to the Temple by Her parents Joachim and Anna. Their daughter was the most precious treasure they possessed. And they wished to offer that treasure to God. Most Holy Virgin stayed in the Temple until such time as She Herself will accept to become a temple, Her womb becoming the dwelling for God Incarnate. The Virgin becomes the Mother of God, She who from that day on inhabits the Temple, Herself becomes the Temple of God. What treasure can be greater than that?”
“Through the Most Holy Virgin we clearly see that we all become what we inhabit.  If we choose to live in a world of violence, greed, envy, lust, thirst for power, those vices will dwell within us. We will become them. We become what we inhabit. But if we inhabit the Church of God, then the Church of God will inhabit us. In the words of the Apostle Paul, we will become living temples of God.”
“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us ask ourselves: which world do we inhabit? Do we inhabit a world of evil or a world of God? And which world therefore inhabits us? Which is our choice? Or to ask: in which area do we labor? In the area of truth or in the area of falsehood? Do we gather with Christ or do we scatter? In today’s Gospel Jesus speaks to us: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (Lk. 11, 28).  Let us, therefore, not only hear the words of Christ, but also keep them, inhabiting the world of God, the area of good, so that God will then come and inhabit us.”

The choir was prayerfully performing for the first time of this year the pre-Nativity hymns, as well as the hymns of the feast of the Entrance.

After the Liturgy dismissal the Rector and the altar servers performed a rite of glorification in front of the icon of the feast. The Rector then preached a short sermon in Russian to convey main ideas of his English homily.

On November 27, on the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost, St. George Parish held a beautiful liturgical celebration. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov headed the Divine Liturgy. Following the Gospel lesson he preached a homily in Russian. An English translation of that homily is as follows:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today in the Holy Gospel we heard a parable about a Good Samaritan in which Christ is telling us about salvation. Some lawyer which means a scholar of Jewish religion asked Jesus a very important question, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Lk. 10, 25). Of course, this scholar tested the Savior, tried to argue with Him and to show Him his knowledgeable superiority. But this question is really important: what should be done to be saved? At this question Christ is asking another, no less important question, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” (Lk. 10, 26).”
“Christ puts everything in a right order. He immediately shows who is who in this conversation, who is the Savior and who is the saved one. From now on the lawyer is not testing Jesus but Jesus is testing that Jewish scholar. We should notice that the scholar gave a right answer, he rightly indicated to what Jesus Himself called “the foundation of the law and the Prophets: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Lk. 10, 27).  However, giving a right answer the lawyer does not understand who is his neighbor. In the ancient Judaism the neighbor was considered your compatriot while a stranger was not viewed as a neighbor, thus according to the Law of Moses he could not be loved as oneself. With modern Christians it could be just the opposite: we are readily help to the needy somewhere in a remote country, but we do not notice the need of the people around us.”
“To answer that question, “who is my neighbor”, Jesus tells a parable about a Good Samaritan. This is the parable about Christ who came to save the dying humanity. A Jew who would listen to that parable could relate to the man who fell among thieves. And perhaps the Lord wished to create such an understanding of this parable. But a more profound sense of that story is that this unlucky man represents the whole human kind who had been robbed and bitten by the devil, so being half dead and covered with the wounds of sin, it could not reach its destination which is the Kingdom of heaven.”
“And behold there appears a Samaritan, a man strange to the Jews. Samaritans were considered heretics and sectarians, they were the enemies of the Jews. But he helps that man on the road. That Samaritan is an image of Christ, the Savior of the humanity. And we should notice that our Lord Jesus Christ, although He was born as a Jew, was very often rejected by the Jews and viewed as a heretic. In one passage of the Gospel we read, “The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”” (Jn. 8, 48).  And yet in the parable a man strange and hostile to the Jews is rescuing a Jew. Revealing the mystery of salvation Christ is telling how a Samaritan rescued a man from certain death. But he did not just rescue that man, he also took care of him until he was going to become well, he paid for the care and treatment and he promised to come back.”
“The parable also mentions a priest and a Levite who passed by (Lk. 10, 31-32). What can we say about them? Perhaps these people were not really bad, cruel or indifferent. They were heading to the Temple to fulfill the Law, and to touch a man who could be already dead, would defile them and would make them unfit to fulfill their obligations. Thus, on one hand, they were right in their actions, however the story gives them no justification. Christ made it very clear to His listeners that the Law does not save a man and that the Law can be fulfilled, but a man may die.”
“This is important for us to understand during the days of prescribed fasting. Tomorrow we will begin the Nativity fast. The Church calls us to fast, but the fast by itself is not a goal. You can fulfill the law and fast, but at the same time you may not help the needy, may not fulfill the works of mercy.”
“Thus, this parable is very symbolic. Among the symbols is a Jew on the road who is the whole dying humanity; a Samaritan who is Christ the Savior; bandaging the wounds and pouring of oil and wine is spiritual healing; the inn and the innkeeper is the Church to whom Christ left His wealth, the grace of the Holy Spirit to care about human souls; finally a Samaritan’s promise to come back is our Lord’s second coming. But all these meanings were hidden from the first listeners of the parable. The only thing they did understand is that it is bad to be robbed and bitten while it is good to be rescued. And that initial understanding was enough.”
“Thus when the scholar of law understood what is good and what is bad, Christ gives him a command, “Go and do likewise” (Lk. 10, 37). Here the Lord reveals another mystery of salvation. He reveals what do we need to enter into eternal life. Thus in those words – “go and do likewise” – is the answer of Christ to the scholar’s question. Salvation is cooperation with God. It is not enough to be forgiven, not enough to be justified, not enough to be healed – you need to act in the same way, to become like Jesus, to become His Body. As St. Paul says, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2, 20). It is not enough to know what is good, you need to do it.”
“Dear brothers and sisters! Those who know about faith, about good and about morals are many among us, but those who labor are few. The dreamers are many, but the actors are few. The called are many, but those who respond to the calling are few. Therefore, let us fulfill the Savior’s command, let us go and do likewise. Then we would become worthy to enter into eternal life!”

As the Liturgy continued, the Rector included a petition of thanksgiving into the Litany of Fervent supplication due to our recent celebration of Thanksgiving Day. The choir prayerfully performed the hymns dedicated to Holy Apostle Philip whose memory was celebrated on that day.

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

Following the Liturgy the Rector served a Memorial service (Litia) at the request of Malyshew family to commemorate the deceased Elena, the late wife of our parishioner and Sacristan Andrew Malyshew.

After all our services had been finished the Rector and parishioners enjoyed delicious meals, including a Thanksgiving turkey, at the trapeza table.

On November 20, on the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost, the Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy in our temple. After the Gospel lesson he preached the following homily:

“Dear brothers and sisters! Today’s Gospel reading is telling us about the two great miracles performed by our Lord Jesus Christ: the healing of a woman who suffered from a flow of blood and the resurrection of a girl who has just died. Thus we may say that today our lesson from the Scripture concerns women.”
“The woman from today’s Gospel lesson had a flow of blood for twelve years and she spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any (Lk. 8, 43-44). According to the Law of Moses she could not approach people because any woman having a flow of blood was considered unclean. Thus she was not supposed to be in the crowd pressing on Jesus and she was not supposed to touch Him. This law had been given to the people of God as a result of the original sin of Eve which brought certain impurity to all women. Due to the fall of Eve God imposed a number of sorrows upon all the women which were summarized in His words, “In pain you will give birth” (Gen. 3, 16). This pain also includes other difficulties of physiological nature that all the females suffer in this life. And as all humans suffer from different diseases, women may suffer from many illnesses resulting exclusively from their gender. One of such illnesses was the continuous flow of blood suffered by the woman from today’s Gospel. In addition to pain and sorrow that accompany all the diseases, such illnesses made those suffering women unclean and thus made their lives much more difficult. This was the strict law of the Old Testament the remnants of which we still retain in our Church life.”
“But with the appearing of Christ, with the coming of the Son of God into this world, many old ways became overruled. Our Lord came to redeem the human kind from its transgression, came to save the people from their sins. This is why He was the One who would stop the flow of tears of our foremother Eve. And this is why He healed the woman suffering from the flow of blood. Jesus did not condemn her for violating the law of Moses. He did not rebuke her for touching Him. On the contrary, He praised her faith that she so firmly believed that touching the border of His garment will bring her healing (Lk. 8, 48). He manifested that now, in Christ, all the old shame is taken away and a new life with loving and caring God begins.”
“In a similar way, in today’s Gospel, the Lord brings a recently dead girl back to life (Lk. 8, 50-56). Among the results of the original sin the most sorrowful and dreadful outcome was that all the heirs of Adam and Eve have to die. In today’s Gospel lesson we can read about a mature woman who is suffering from an illness and about a young woman, a girl who died. Both were the heirs of Eve and both had to undergo the penalty for the Eve’s fall. But when Jesus Christ appeared He overruled these condemnations. He did not just heal the woman, He even resurrected the girl. In His life-giving words “Little girl, arise” (Lk. 8, 54) the Lord called all the women of the New Testament to arise from sin, to overcome their weak nature and to strive for salvation. He also gave all of us, especially women, the great hope of resurrection and new life in His Kingdom.”
“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Human kind had been created as two sexes, men and women. Both have a great and equal value in the eyes of the Creator. But they have different nature and different tasks. Today’s reading from the Gospel mentions to us how the Lord helped the two women showing them His abundant mercy and His life-creating power. But the Lord unites all of us, men and women, in His new life with God. In this new reality many old rules had been set aside. In today’s Epistle lesson St. Paul reminds us that in Christ there is no need for men to be circumcised “for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation” (Gal. 6, 15). In the same way St. Paul teaches that in Christ “there is neither male nor female” (Gal. 3, 28). Therefore, let us come to understanding that in Christ Jesus we all should be united and all should follow the steps of our Lord. As men and women we will still be different in our nature, we will still possess different qualities and have different tasks in life, but we all pursue the same goal to be blessed in the Kingdom of God!”

Following the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector proclaimed the Polychronion (“Mnogaia leta!”) to His Holiness, Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and of All Rus’ who was celebrating his 70th Anniversary of birth.

Then the Rector preached a short sermon in Russian conveying main ideas of his English homily. He also wished all our parishioners a nice celebration of Thanksgiving Day reminding them that everybody should give thanks to God for His abundant graces bestowed upon us this year.

On November 13, on the 21st Sunday after Pentecost, we had a beautiful celebration in our church. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy. He was co-served by a visitor from the Eparchy of Moscow in Russia, Archpriest Georgi Bolgarsky. Following the Gospel reading Fr. Igor preached a homily in the Russian language. An English translation of that homily is as follows:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! The Gospel lesson we have just heard is about casting out the demons from a possessed man in the country of the Gadarenes (Lk. 8, 26-39). This story is very impressive and is presenting us a number of pictures. We hear about the dialogue between our Lord Jesus Christ and the demons, we see that the demons entered a herd of swine which runs violently down the steep place into the lake and perishes there. Then we learn that the man freed from the evil spirits became sound and in his right mind. Let us now reflect upon this story from the Holy Gospel.”
“Being Orthodox Christians we certainly believe in the existence of the evil spirits. Unlike some modern Christian communities who do not take into account the existence of the devil or even reject his personal being, we do believe that he and his evil angels exist. This is why when we say the Lord’s Prayer, we finish it with the words “and deliver us from the evil one”. Many other denominations just say “from the evil”, thus leaving a room for discussion, whether the devil is a real person or just some abstract evil power. For us he and his dark followers are personalities fighting against God and having a powerful influence upon us. Such an influence of the evil one was especially strong in the times before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. People lived under the direct power of their sinful passions and were the toys for the devil. In some instances the evil spirits even entered the bodies of the people, as it was described in today’s Gospel.”
“But with the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into this world the power of the evil one became seriously weakened. Even before His death on the Cross and His Resurrection which became the victory over the sin and death, the triumph over the forces of evil, the Lord chased out the devil from human life. In today’s Gospel story we hear that the Lord delivered the possessed man from the demons. We should also notice that the demons were afraid of Jesus. The possessed man fell down and begged Christ not to torment him (Lk. 8, 28). The demons also beg Jesus not to send them out into the abyss (Lk. 8, 31). Thus, they recognized Jesus to be the Lord of the universe and they had to obey Him. This should remind us that the power of the devil is limited, and he is not as powerful as the Lord. God is the Creator and the demons are just His creatures who raised against Him.”
“However, Jesus permitted the demons not to be cast out into the abyss, but to enter the herd of swine. This tells us that the Lord allows the devil and his angels to stay in this world before His second coming, before the Last Judgment. Then the devil and his demons will be finally condemned and sent out into the everlasting fire. But before that the Lord permits them to perform their evil deeds and to attack us. But the Lord gives us a powerful assistance in this spiritual warfare. The power of the risen Christ which is given to us Christians is able to chase the devil away from us. Holy disciples of the Lord rejoiced that they had the power to cast out the demons, the same way as Jesus could cast them out. Today we commemorate several disciples of Christ who were among the 70 Apostles. So, the Gospel says that “the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”” (Lk. 10, 17). Same power is granted to the whole Christian Church. But many of us are not able to use it because we are often prisoners of our passions and we are too weak to be the agents of the divine power.”
“Dear brothers and sisters! The devil has a great influence in this earthly life, so he is even called the prince of this world. His evil demons are constantly attacking us and tempting us to give in to our passions, to commit sins. But the power of the risen Christ, the power of His Life-creating Cross and the divine grace are much stronger than all the intrigues of the evil one. Today’s Epistle lesson instructs us that if a man has been crucified with Christ, it is no longer he lives, but Christ lives in him (Gal. 2, 19-20). That means that if we live Christian life and fight our sinful passions, Christ dwells within us. Not evil spirits but Christ possesses our souls and sanctifies our bodies. Let us then acquire unity with Him through spiritual life, repentance and sanctification of His abundant grace.”

After the Liturgy dismissal the Rector said a few words to welcome the guests from Russia, Fr. Georgi and his Matushka Ksenia. He also congratulated Maria Malyshew on the occasion of her past birthday. Traditional Polychronion (“Mnogaia leta!”) was proclaimed.

Following the liturgical service the Rector, our guests and our parishioners enjoyed delicious meals, especially the pelmeni, as well as a nice company at the trapeza table.

On November 6, on the 20th Sunday after Pentecost, we had a nice liturgical celebration in our parish. Rector of St. George Church, 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:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today’s Gospel lesson is telling us about life beyond the grave. It is describing the destiny of the two human souls after death. It tells us about a rich man who lived very nice life and a beggar who suffered. They lived totally different kinds of life, but their lives came to the same end: both of them died. However, this was not the end of their existence. They continued to live, and their destiny became different again (Lk. 16, 19-31).”
“So, today we may talk a little bit about life after death. This subject is very mysterious and pretty much unknown to us. People had always been puzzled by the question, “what happens when we die”.”
“The Church of Christ teaches us that death is a separation of the soul from the body. It also teaches that after death the soul continues to live and awaits its future resurrection and the Last Judgment. When we recite or sing the Creed we finish up by saying, “I wait for the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting”. But even before the resurrection of the dead the souls of the dead people are alive. Furthermore, after death they already receive a partial judgment according to their deeds. Today’s Gospel story about a rich man and Lazarus describes what happens to the human souls after they are judged. After his death, poor Lazarus was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom while the rich man ended up in hell.”
“Today we can reflect what is expecting us beyond the grave. Unfortunately, many contemporary people do not hear much truth about that. Teaching of the Church, the opinion of the Holy Fathers and even direct words of the Sacred Scripture regarding life after death are often replaced by the ideas of different preachers, by the authors of popular books or simply by some charlatans who dare to speak different false things about that subject. This why many of us tend to think that after death “everything is going to be just fine”, we will suffer no longer, we will probably go to heaven, and so on. Well, let me tell you that according to teaching of Christ it is not totally so. For many of us, first experiences after death may not be pleasant. After all, not all of are going to end up in heaven. And for the most of us the first experiences after death are not going to be easy. Why? Because we will enter in a totally different world of which we know very little. When you go to a different country, even if you know about it, you still need some time to get used to the local life, to adapt to the climate, language and customs. Many of us came to America, so we had to get used to the life here. For many of us it was not easy. Some immigrants even after many years of living in the United States cannot feel totally home here. This happens in this world. But what is going to be when we will have to enter into a completely different reality of life beyond the grave? It will certainly be difficult. It is not quite easy for a soul to start living without a body. Our funeral hymn composed by Venerable John of Damascus reflects that in the following impressive words, “Woe is me! What manner of ordeal does the soul endure when it is parted from the body! Alas! How many are then its tears, and there is none to show compassion! It raises its eyes to the angels; unavailing is its prayer. It stretches out its hands to the people, and finds none to succor…” Thus, dear brothers and sisters, the beginning of life after death is not quite easy.”
“But we are not going to be there alone. Today’s Gospel tells us that the angels accompanied Lazarus and carried him to the bosom of Abraham. Just as at the hour of death the dead body is surrounded by relatives and friends, so also is the soul which abandons the body is accompanied by the spiritual beings related to it. The virtuous soul is surrounded by bright angels of light, while a sinful soul is surrounded by dark and evil beings, that is, the demons. Thus, while the soul of Lazarus was escorted by good angels, the soul of the rich man, as St. John Chrysostom says, “was claimed by certain fearful powers”. St. John also says, “If we need a guide to go from one city to another, the soul certainly needs guides, when separated from the body”. The All-merciful God sends His holy angels to help the righteous souls to start their life after death, while the souls claimed by the devil become surrounded by evil spirits. Therefore, we have to realize that life after death is not going to start just as a fairy tale. It is going to be a serious beginning of our eternal existence. We are going to be judged according to our deeds. And we have to prepare ourselves for this.”
“The rich man in today’s Gospel was condemned not because he was wealthy, but because he had not done enough to help others, particularly, the poor Lazarus who was lying at the gates of his house. This was a person near him, his neighbor in a very literal sense, but he did nothing to help Lazarus, to make his life easier, to show him love and compassion. We are going to be judged by the same principles. Our life, our actions and our choices are going to be evaluated in the same manner. This why it is important for us to realize what is going to happen and to prepare. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself stated when He anticipated His sufferings and death, “For the ruler of this world is coming, but he has nothing in Me” (Jn. 14, 30). The ruler of this world is the devil. He was coming even when our Lord Himself was going to die. He was coming to attempt to claim what belongs to him. But he had nothing which could belong to him in Jesus, since Jesus was without sin and was the Son of God. It is different with us who are the sinners. The evil one will try to claim what is his because of our transgressions. And in the case of the sinful and unrepentant souls he, unfortunately, will be successful.”
“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us not fool ourselves but prepare by good deeds, prayer, acts of charity, repentance and receiving of the Sacraments. Let us be aware that the time will come when we will be confronted with life after death, with the judgment of Christ and with anticipation of the Last Judgment. Thus let us prepare in order to be blessed and carried to the Abraham’s bosom.”

Since we had no services on the previous day which was the St. Demetrius Memorial Saturday, the Rector proclaimed the Litany of commemoration of the deceased which is not usually taken in our parish on Sundays.

The choir prayerfully performed some hymns in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos due to the celebration of Her Icon called “Joy of All Who Sorrow”.

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