On November 22, on the 25th Sunday after Pentecost, we had a beautiful celebration in our parish church. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy. After the reading from the Holy Gospel he preached the following homily:

”Today’s Gospel reading from St. Luke (Lk. 8, 40-56) tells us about two miracles, one the healing of an illness and the other the overcoming of death. This double miracle is also reported in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark (Mt. 9, 18-26; Mk. 5, 22-43). Thus, these two miracles should be viewed as related, for both illness and death have the same origin, the same cause, they are both the result of sin, both entered the world as a result of the sin of Adam. As the Apostle Paul says, “The wages of sin are death” (Rom. 6, 23).”
“Let us consider the healing of the woman with the issue of blood. We should note that this issue of blood was not that monthly issue of blood suffered by all women, but something else. It had lasted for twelve years. On this subject, it is worth making clear that the monthly issue of blood endured by all women is not of course the result of personal sin, but a result of the general sin of Eve. It is written in the Book of Genesis that women will suffer this as a result of the fall: “In pain you will give birth”  (Gen. 3, 16). In the same way men are forced into having to work for a living, into “toiling by the sweat of their brow”. Both men and women suffer from the fall, but in different ways.”
”The issue of blood suffered by this woman was then an illness and it was healed by her touching the fringe of the clothes of Our Savior, Who, as it is written, felt ‘the power go out of Him’ (Lk. 8, 46). In these words we have a description of the nature of all illness. If it takes the power of Christ to heal an illness, then it is clear that every illness is in fact some lack, some absence of the power of Christ. Sickness is not something that is added, it is rather the sign of absence of the grace of God. As we are told in the Gospel when the woman was healed, or in other words she was ‘made whole’. Thus, a sick person suffers from a lack, that person is not whole. Such a person lacks the fullness of the power of Christ.”
“How and why was the woman in the Gospel “made whole”? This question is easy to answer, for Christ Himself says to her that: “Your faith has made you well” (Lk. 8, 48). In other words, if any of us is to be made whole, to be made well, we must first have faith. If we do not have faith, we lack something, we are without something, we are faithless or godless. But if we have faith, then healing can be inspired in us by the power of God.”
“This combination of faith and the power of God is so special that it can even overcome death. We see this very clearly in the second miracle, the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter. Here was this young girl, twelve years old, dying. We can easily imagine the frustration of her father Jairus. And yet he had faith, for he was seeking out Christ, the Only One Who could heal his daughter. As a result of Jairus’ faith and the power of Christ, his daughter was not only healed, but restored from death before the eyes of those who mocked Christ.”
”Reflecting upon those two closely related miracles, we may see that today our Lord Jesus Christ says to us all: “Have faith and I will give you all the power that you need to do My will”. Let us then hear His words to be made well in this life and later to be raised from the dead, especially for the eternal blessedness after His second coming.”

Following the Liturgy dismissal the Rector preached a short sermon in Russian to stress the main ideas of his English homily. He also reminded the parishioners that next week we begin the Nativity, or St. Philip’s Fast which is a special time of spiritual preparation before the celebration of the Birth of Christ. The Rector mentioned that right before we start fast we could celebrate Thanksgiving Day. Although it is not a Church holy day, it has an important spiritual significance – we have an opportunity to give thanks to the Lord for all the blessings we received during the past year. Fr. Igor encouraged the parishioners to spend the Thanksgiving in the spirit of gratitude to the Lord. We can also have a nice traditional turkey dinner but we should remember that next day, on Friday, we begin fasting. Thus our festal food should be all consumed on the Thanksgiving Day.

Following the service the Rector and parishioners already enjoyed Thanksgiving meal together, having a very abundant luncheon with a delicious turkey and other meals prepared by our great cooks.

On November 15, on the 24th Sunday after Pentecost, Archpriest Igor Tarasov, Rector of St. George Church, 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:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today’s reading from the Holy Gospel takes us to the country of the Gadarenes which is opposite of Galilee. Our Lord Jesus Christ came there along with His disciples after crossing the Lake of Gennesaret, and there He cast out the evil spirits from a possessed man (Lk. 8, 26-39).”
“Reflecting upon this Gospel story we may say that the power of Christ was able to cast out the demons. It was able to command the forces of the invisible world. It is important to remember that evil is not more powerful or even equally powerful to God.”
“Further we read in today’s Gospel that the demons asked Christ to permit them to enter the herd of swine. And He did. This indicates that God allows evil things to happen for a reason. Last Sunday we said that God allows terrible disasters to happen due to our sinfulness. And in today’s Gospel story we are talking about a much less terrible, but still impressive loss – the demons entered the swine and the whole herd ran down the steep place into the lake and drowned (Lk. 8, 33). According to the Old Testament, pigs were unclean animals, but they are still God’s creatures. And the demons, although it sounds weird, are also God’s creatures! God created them as good, but they chose to be evil and fell away from Him. But today’s Gospel story tells us that the Lord heard their request and allowed that the animals would suffer because of them. And what is a request from a creature to the Creator? It is a prayer. Thus, although it sounds weird, the demons did pray Christ and He answered their prayer.”
“But the demons remained those who they were – the evil spirits. They killed the swine. It shows us their malice, their hatred towards all the God’s creatures. St. John Chrysostom says that if they could, the demons would destroy all God’s creation. They would kill all the people if they could and would not be restrained by God. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, if not for God’s power the evil spirits would long ago destroy all the human kind.”
“The Gospel lesson further tells us that the people from the country of the Gadarenes asked Jesus to depart from them (Lk. 8, 37). This was an evil choice. They did it because they do not wish Jesus to break, to change their usual way of life. He would disturb their sinful way. Those people were pagans, not the Jews. The fact that they had swine tells us that. So, they did not really know the faith in one God and did not probably wish that their pagan lifestyle would be disturbed. They have already suffered a loss, losing several thousand head of cattle, when he was only approaching the town! What might happen if he comes to the city itself? This is an example of selfish fear, a fear before something high and divine, a fear that the Lord may enter into our life and change it. He may make us different while we are so used to be what we are, sinful and unclean, just like those pigs. Something similar happens now, when a person is afraid to let the Lord somehow enter into his soul. Did not we hear sometimes even from the church going people about someone who wants to pray more, fast more and to exercise more piety: “We are no monks! Is it possible to us to demand what is required of the monks and the clergy? We are ordinary laymen.”
“We have to beware of that attitude and avoid it. It makes us renounce God’s grace. In the same way the people from the country of the Gadarenes renounced God’s grace in today’s Gospel lesson when they asked Jesus to depart from their land. But again, we become convinced that God may hear the prayers of those who even wish evil things to happen. When the demons beg Him to permit them to enter the swine the Lord allows them. When the sinful people ask Him to depart from their country, He departs. But today’s Gospel is telling us that before His departure Jesus has left instead a preacher, the healed man (Lk. 8, 38-39). That man who had been freed from the demons and who desired to follow the Lord, he was left by Christ in his own city to preach. He had to instruct his relatives and do not allow at least some of them to perish.”
“Dear brothers and sisters! Today’s Gospel story teaches us a few things. It teaches to pray in faith. God listens to the prayers, He heard the prayer of the demons. It also teaches us to avoid evil. We need to stay away from any forms of the evil forces in this world such as occult teachings, spiritism, fortune telling, sorcery and different superstitions. Otherwise, the evil spirits could have a power over us. And finally, today’s Gospel teaches us not to chase Jesus away, but ask for His grace, and preach Him to others. Asking for His grace and instructing others about the Lord and about His salvation we may be delivered from all evil and to may be not among those who chases the Lord away, but among His faithful disciples who follow Him everywhere, follow Him in their earthly life and will follow Him into the eternal blessedness!”

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

Following the service our parishioners and the Rector enjoyed delicious food and a nice company at the trapeza table during the coffee hour. At the end of the coffee hour a special Parish Meeting was held and some newly emerged issues had been discussed.

On November 8, on the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost, as well as on the feast of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius, the Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy in our parish temple. Following the readings from the Gospel he preached a homily:

“Our today’s celebration combines the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost and feast of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius. In addition, our calendar mentions that on this day the imperial city of Constantinople suffered a terrible earthquake in the year 740 AD. As we mention such a disaster we may recall that 3 years ago our contemporary imperial city of New York suffered a terrible hurricane Sandy. Hundreds of people died in accidents, many houses were flooded or destroyed, a lot of damage done to the areas of the ocean shore. Indeed, it seems that not a day goes by without some natural catastrophe happening and lives lost – here floods, there a hurricane, here a volcano, there an earthquake. And people tend to blame somebody for these losses. Some people blame governments for not being prepared, some blame big companies for changing the earth climate, and very often we tend to blame God. Even the insurance companies called the damages resulting from natural disasters the “acts of God”. Thus, we blame others but not ourselves. Like children we argue that “it isn’t our fault”. Such a way of thinking is not the way of the Holy Gospel.”
“In today’s Gospel, Lazarus did not blame anyone for his poverty and misery. He never blamed the kings and the rulers or some other human forces for his state. And he never blamed God. He did not even reproach the rich man for his meanness. No, he accepted his situation in humility. And because of his humility he went to heaven, to the bosom of Abraham.”
“As for the rich man, he never thought of thanking God for his wealth. He did not show his gratitude to God by caring for the poor men at his gate. He had only hard-heartedness, allowing Lazarus to die at his gates, surrounded by stray dogs who licked Lazarus’ sores, while he was feasting. And because of his hard-heartedness he went down to hell.”
“Now we may ask: what is the spirit of the Gospel tells us about different catastrophes in the world? Why does God allow natural disasters to happen? And who is to blame? The answer is: man himself is to blame, simply because man does not ask God for catastrophes not to happen, because man does not accept God’s power. Man does not seek God’s protection through prayer and repentance, through confession and Communion. Man has persuaded himself through modern technology that he is so smart that he can live without God. But modern man has so blinded himself with his intelligence that he forgot that he can do nothing to protect himself from the natural elements, only God can do that. Modern man so blinded himself that like the rich man in today’s Gospel, he cannot see Lazarus starving in agony at his gates.”
“On the other hand, it is also true that there could be many more natural disasters. Why not the whole cities and lands are being destroyed by earthquakes? Why not whole countries are being consumed by tidal waves? Why has the earth survived for so long despite the accumulation of human sin? Why God is so patient that He does not allow all these things to happen? Only because there are those who prayed and continue to pray. The Mother of God keeps interceding for us. The Saints like Holy Great Martyr Demetrius continue to pray the Lord being in front of Him in heaven. And the righteous people living on earth keep praying for the peace of the whole world and for the salvation of all. This is the only reason why we are still here. The world hangs by the thread of prayer.”
“The world is run not by governments, or politicians, or generals, or businessmen. In reality it is run by prayer and lack of prayer. There will be peace in the world until there is prayer. And we too shall perish like the rich man unless we pray, unless we hear to Moses and the Prophets and unless we truly follow the One Who is truly risen from the dead, Christ our True God.”

Since there was 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.

After the Liturgy dismissal the Rector reminded parishioners to pay their parish dues for the current year.

On November 1, on the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost, our parish family had a nice celebration. St. George’s Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy. After the Gospel lesson he preached a homily in Russian. An English translation of that homily is as follows:

“Today’s Gospel reading contains very famous parable about the Sower who went to sow his seed (Lk. 8, 5-15). The seed falls to the different ground, and in most of the cases it did not produce any fruit. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself explained that parable to His disciples saying what it means. We easily learn that the seed is the Word of God which is sown by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Sower of the Word. Now, the grounds are different types of people, different types of human souls. And the Lord tells us what kind of souls He is talking about. In one case they hear the word but the devil comes and takes the word away. In another case people have no root for the word and fall away at the time of temptation. In the third instance the people are too busy with their daily cares, riches or pleasures, so they cannot grow the seed of faith. Only in the fourth example Jesus talks about some “good ground”, about those who have a “noble and good heart”. They hear the word , keep it and bear fruit with patience.”
“As we may see, our Lord teaches us in a very simple and easy way. Christianity is a simple and direct teaching. It may be hard, but it is not complicated. And in today’s Gospel we are given four different way of receiving the Word. Three of them are inappropriate, failing. Only one is right and appropriate. It looks like a multiple choice question with one correct answer.  How can we find the right answer? The right answer is given in today’s Gospel in twelve simple words: “But that on the good ground are they, which in a noble and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” (Lk. 8, 15).”
“First of all, so that the seed of God does not fall by the wayside and may not be trampled down or devoured by the demons, we must have an ‘honest and good heart’. Our hearts must be ready to receive the word.”
“Secondly, so that we do not fall into careless excitement, we must cultivate the seed of God, giving moisture to it, so that it puts out roots and develops, in other words, we must ‘keep the word’. How the word is kept? By obeying the Commandments. If we live according to them, then we keep the Word of God”
“Finally, so that the seed of God is not choked with the thorns and weeds of our passions, we must ‘bring forth fruit with patience’. We cannot expect sudden and astonishing progress, with our many worldly cares. We have to be patient and persevere, making what at first may only be a mere interest into our priority and living it as a way of life. Sometimes people complain that they fight their passions and sins but see little or even no progress. We have to be patient. It could happen that we do not totally overcome certain sins in our life. However, if we repent and fight those sins, the Lord may still bless and receive us into His blessedness, for we were patient in our fight. Such a fight can produce a fruit.”
“Thus today Christ gives us not learned volumes of complicated instructions to live by, but three simple rules for salvation: to have an ‘honest and good heart’, to keep the word, and bring forth fruit with patience. If we follow that simple rules, we may become a good ground for the seed of God to grow and to make us worthy of eternal blessedness.”

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

After the Liturgy the Rector performed a memorial service (Litia) for the victims of the Russian aircraft crash occurred in Egypt.

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

On October 25, on the 21st Sunday after Pentecost, as well as Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council, we had a nice celebration in our parish church. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy. Following the readings from the Scripture he preached a homily:

“Today’s first Gospel lesson tells us about the resurrection of the son of the widow of Nain (Lk. 7, 11-16). Reflecting on that event we may conclude that such a miracle happened for two reasons: because our Lord Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and because He was also the Son of Man.”
“First, we have to say that our Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Divine Word which created the world. As such, Christ had the power to work miracles, restoring the laws of creation as they had been intended before the fall, when there was no sickness or death. Through miracles He showed this power, the unique power of the Son of God.”
“Secondly, this miracle happened because Jesus was also the Son of Man. Christ in His human nature felt compassion on those who were suffering. In this particular case, there was great reason for compassion. In those days a woman who lost her husband, became a widow was likely to have a miserable life unless she was supported by her children. Now the only son of the widow of Nain was the only one who could take care of her. Without him she could become very poor, she could become a beggar and perhaps could die of starvation on the streets.”
“This miracle of the resurrection of the son of a widow was quite unique, unheard of and unseen in human history – only the Son of God could accomplish this. No human healer can raise from the dead. It occurred at His word because Jesus is the Word of God. It also occurred through His physical touch, because only contact with the divine and immortal nature can confer resurrection, the overriding of death. Only immortality can overcome death, only deathlessness is greater than mortality.”
“This miracle shows that the power of the Holy Spirit flows not from, but through Jesus Christ, through His pure and sinless human nature. Both Christ’s Word and Body are life-giving. This was later proved by His own Resurrection. Now since the Church is the Body of Christ, this means that the same power flows through the Church and confers life, healing and resurrection on all who touch Christ in the Church, participating in the spiritual life of the Church.”
“Celebrating today the memory of the Holy Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council we need to remember that those were the bishops of the Church who declared certain truths of our faith. And the second Gospel lesson read today which is always assigned for the celebrations of the Fathers of the Councils, tells us about eternal life. In His pontifical prayer our Lord is asking God the Father that His followers may have eternal life. And eternal life is to know the true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent (Jn. 17, 3). Therefore, if we are in the Church then we know the true God and His Son, Jesus Christ. If we adhere to the Orthodox Church and its teaching, we know true God and may partake of eternal life. As the Holy Spirit flows through Jesus Christ, it flows through the Church and bestows His glory to make us able to receive life everlasting.”
“In addition, we may say that today’s Gospel has also certain mystical or symbolic meanings. The widow described in the story is the soul without God. Such a soul is left miserable, poor and begging. It may soon die. The dead son who was carried outside the town to be buried is the human mind which is outside the Church. It is spiritually dead, unable to understand and speak words of reason. It is fit only for the burial of all its mortal ideas and speculations. The coffin in which the body of the widow’s son was placed is the human body, which when touched by God is thus brought to life. Thus it begins to speak divine words, for now it has something to say, it is no longer mute, but is resurrected from the dead. In this way a human body which is touched by God is a mind raised from death, a soul which lives, human nature restored and saved from death.”
“Dear brothers and sisters! Let us ask the Lord to restore us from the spiritual death around us and within us. Many today’s young people being perfectly alive and relatively healthy, are in fact spiritually dead. Their souls sometimes live without God, their minds are very often wander outside the saving gates of the Church and their bodies are often abused by the sins of flesh, by drugs and alcohol. Let us pray so the Lord will wake them up by His life-giving Word and restore them to life by His divine touch as He restored to life the son of the widow of Nain. Let us strive for eternal life which is in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!”

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

On October 18, on the 20th Sunday after Pentecost, Archpriest Igor Tarasov, Rector of St. George Church served the Divine Liturgy in our temple. On this day we also observed great feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God which had been transferred to Sunday. After the Gospel readings the Rector preached a homily in Russian. An English translation of that homily is as follows:

“The words of our Lord Jesus Christ that we heard in today’s Gospel lesson may sound to us little strange and too demanding. The Lord says, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?.. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?” (Lk. 6, 32-33). He goes on and says, “Love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return” (Lk. 6, 35). We may notice that such rules are not very much followed among the people. Jesus says that sinners do good to those who do good to them. Thus the rules of this world are the rules for the sinners. But we, if we wish to be the followers of our Lord, need to have different rules, a different way of life. Then we could be called Christians and be worthy of such name.”
“If we read the Gospel we may notice that our Lord Jesus Christ very often taught His disciples to be a little better than average people. He said, “If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two” (Mt. 5, 39-41). Jesus wished His followers to be more than just “nice people”, more than just good. He wanted them to strive for perfection.”
“In the Gospel lesson dedicated to the Most Holy Mother of God we hear that Jesus was speaking with Mary, the sister of Lazarus. That woman sat at His feet and listened to His words while her sister Martha was preoccupied with much serving to the Guest and could not listen but came to complain that Mary left her to serve alone (Lk. 10, 39-40). The Lord told her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her” (Lk. 10, 41-42). Like Mary, the sister of Lazarus, we also are called to choose a good part. And that good part will not be taken away from us.”
“The good part which will not be taken away is spiritual life. Martha was doing a very important and nice thing: she was serving the Guest, she showed great hospitality. The Old Testament morals taught to be hospitable. We may recall how Abraham treated the three men who once visited him. We know that it was God who appeared as three men to Abraham. And they were warmly received by that Old Testament hero of faith. To be hospitable is very good. Yet it is not perfect. The New Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us to do more than that. It teaches us to be not just good. This is why Martha was not commended by Jesus for her work, but Mary who did nothing about receiving the Guest, was praised for choosing spiritual instruction. And what Mary could learn from listening to Jesus, would never be taken away from her. But what Martha did with her cooking and other kinds of serving would be remembered but would be lost next day. The food and drinks she prepared would be consumed, the warmth of her fireplace would be extinguished and the Guest Himself would leave. Being too much busy with serving the Guest, Martha could not be really benefited from His presence. But Mary preserved the words she heard from Him in her heart.”
“What happened to Mary could happen to us, dear brothers and sisters! If we will choose spiritual learning, prayer and participation in the holy services of the Church, if we choose receiving the Holy Mysteries, these things will never be taken away from us. They will remain as a great gift and benefit for our souls. However, if we choose to be busy with our earthly cares and forget about spiritual life, we will labor and won’t get a reward or commendation from the Lord. Those cares will disappear one day and we will be left with nothing.”
“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us live our lives choosing a good part, choosing what is spiritual and not material, choosing what is eternal and not temporary, choosing what is better than just “good”. Let us do more that it is required by the usual rules of this world. Let us love our enemies, do good and then our reward will be great, and we will be sons of the Most High (Lk. 6, 35)!”

The choir conducted by Olga Roussanow sang beautiful festal hymns in honor of the Most Holy Mother of God during the service.

Following the Liturgy dismissal the Rector and the altar servers performed a rite of Glorification in front of the icon of the feast singing the troparion and the kontakion of the Protection. Then Fr. Igor preached a short sermon in English to convey the main ideas of his Russian homily.

After the Liturgy we continued our celebration at the trapeza table where the Rector and parishioners enjoyed delicious meals and a nice company.

On October 11, on the 19th Sunday after Pentecost, we had a nice celebration in our parish. Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy. After the Scripture readings he preached a homily:

“Today’s Gospel lesson takes us to the shores of the Lake Gennesaret, also called the Sea of Galilee. Jesus preached there to the people and because the multitude pressed upon Him, He used a boat belonging to Simon Peter to preach from it. Then Jesus commands Peter to launch out into the deep and let down the nets for a catch. When Peter, after some doubt and distrust in the words of Jesus, obeyed Him, the Apostles caught a great number of fish. The Lord then called Peter to follow Him and promised to make him a catcher of men (Lk. 5, 1-11).”
“Dear brothers and sisters! This Gospel story gives us a lot of important spiritual ideas. Simon Peter was an experienced fisherman. So, he knew that trying to catch fish after a night of hard labors in attempt to have a catch and being unsuccessful, launching the boat into the deep again makes no sense. As a fisherman and as a man he was right. But our Lord Jesus Christ had a different understanding. He, as God, had a different vision. And we see that Peter was wrong and Jesus was right. However, we also see that Peter obeyed Jesus. He let down the nets and was rewarded for that.”
“In this story we see the difference between the vision of men and the vision of God. The whole human understanding of life, of human relations and human history are relative if we compare it to God’s will and God’s Providence. Being human we often rely on our own experience, our views and ideas, as well as we rely on other people, on the societies and governments, forgetting that our most important trust should be in God. Same happened to Simon Peter. He relied on his experience and on human understanding of fishing business and could not believe Jesus. But we praise Peter for his obedience to the Lord which can be understood also as his trust in the words of his Teacher.”
“The difference between human and divine in today’s Gospel is also seen in the way Peter reacted to the miraculous catch of fish. He fell down at the knees of Jesus and exclaimed, “Depart from me, for I am sinful man, o Lord!” (Lk. 5, 8).  At that moment Peter understood that Jesus is not just a great Teacher but someone much higher than that. He is the Lord, and any man is strange and inferior to Him. In Peter’s words we see the fear of man standing before God. He expresses human incomprehension of God and acknowledgement of man’s unworthiness. But God tells Him in today’s reading, “Do not be afraid” (Lk. 5, 10).”
“Dear brothers and sisters! We, like Simon Peter, should also understand our unworthiness before God. We should acknowledge our sinfulness and be humble. But, on the other hand, we should remember that through Jesus Christ, the great Teacher of men and Divine Son, we are able to approach God and even unite with Him. Yes, we must be humble and express our unworthiness in repentance, but we also can draw near to the throne of grace in confidence, as St. Paul says (Hebr. 4, 16). Such opportunity is given to us in the offering of the Eucharist and in receiving it ion Holy Communion.”
“In today’s Gospel story our Lord was preaching from the boat. Thus, the boat represents the Church. Jesus preaches from it and the Apostles catch a great number of fish placing it to that same boat. It represents the holy ministry of the true Church. The boat before Jesus stepped into it was the Church of the Old Testament, the synagogue. The fishermen toiled all night and could not catch anything. It tells us that the Old Testament Church could fulfill nothing before Christ. But once Christ stepped in, with His divine presence, everything is possible. The net which is the Gospel catches a lot of fish which represent a lot of nations caught by the holy teaching of Christ.”
“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us stay in the boat of Christ. Let us stay in His Holy Church. Let us listen to what Jesus Christ is telling us and obey Him. Let us also acknowledge our unworthiness and sinfulness before God and attempt to cleanse it by true repentance. But let us also remember the encouraging words of Jesus pronounced to St. Peter, “Do not be afraid”. Let us trust in God and in His vision and let us draw near to Him with confidence, so we may follow Him into His eternal Kingdom!”

After the Liturgy dismissal the Rector preached a short sermon in Russian to stress the main ideas of his English homily preached before. He also congratulated Maria Malyshew on the occasion of her name day celebrated on this day in commemoration of St. Maria, the mother of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Traditional Polychronion (“Mnogaia leta”) was sung.

On October 4, on the Sunday after the Exaltation of the Cross, St. George’s Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy in our parish temple. Following the Gospel lesson he preached a homily:

“Sunday after the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-giving Cross gives us a clear direction what a follower of our Lord should do. This makes certain sense. We have celebrated feast of the Exaltation, the cross is exalted and venerated in the church. We have revived again the holy passion and death of the Lord. Now, after all this is accomplished, the Gospel lesson gives us a rule our Savior wished to leave for us.  It is as follows: if we want to go after our Lord Jesus Christ we must deny ourselves, take up the cross and follow Him.”
“That means that we must make a certain effort, to do some work and to undergo difficulties and sufferings. The way of the Christ’s follower is not easy. On the contrary, it is hard and painful. Let us see what it implies.”
“First of all, according to the words of our Lord, we have to deny ourselves. That means that we have to renounce our pride, selfishness and a desire for our own advantage. If someone wants to go on a journey, he would not take many things with him, but he would be satisfied with having something most important. And if a soldier is called to go to war, he is not taking all his belongings with him. In order to accomplish something a person needs dedication to the cause and renunciation of things which may cause an obstruction. Many people give up a lot of things in order to achieve earthly goals: to acquire an education, to become someone, to get a high position. If it is possible to do for the achievements which are temporary, why it should not be appropriate to achieve eternal glory?”
“The second part is to take up a cross. The Cross of Jesus consisted of His sufferings, temptations and His death. He underwent all these things for our sake. Therefore, He has a right to demand the same from us, so we would undergo all this for Him. But He does not require us to carry His cross; such a yoke would be too heavy for us to bear. He wants us to take up our own crosses and carry them with dignity. He wishes us to be ready to bear as many sufferings and temptations as we are given. And we should understand that those sufferings and temptations will encounter us anyway. No matter whether we wish that or not, this earthly life is full of them. Jesus does not wish to deceive us. He tells us the truth. Yes, our life is like carrying the cross. But we can do it and we can do it with dignity. He comforts us saying: “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (Jn. 16, 33).”
“Also, after doing so, we will have a relief and a reward. When our Lord died on the cross, His sufferings ended, He was relieved. And after three days He rose up from the dead. This was His reward. If He, being without sin, had to go through sufferings in order to enter into His glory, how can we, being corrupted and weakened by sin, achieve such a glory without being purified in temptations and made strong in sufferings? What lives within us now is Adam of old along with his passions and evil desires. How can we take off the old man and clothe in a new one without pain and sufferings? We have to take up a cross and “crucify our flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5, 24), “put to death your members which are on the earth” (Col. 3, 5), to die in a mystical way and to have a life hidden in Christ.”
“Dear brothers and sisters! This is the teaching of the Cross, a teaching so needed and important that the Church does not limit herself with proclaiming it, wishes us to use many other signs to remember about it, first of all the image of the cross which we encounter everywhere. As we mentioned last Sunday when we celebrated feast of the Exaltation, the Cross is always with us if we live a religious life.”
“Therefore, let us listen to the words of Jesus and let us deny ourselves, take up the cross and follow Him, let us follow Him into eternal life!”

Since we celebrated the final day (a leave-taking, or apodosis) of the feast of the Exaltation, after the Liturgy dismissal the Rector and altar servers came out from the sanctuary and venerated the Cross. Then the Cross had been taken to the sanctuary.

After that ceremony the Rector congratulated our parishioners Vera Koretz and Sophia Kay on the occasion of their past name day. Traditional Polychronion was sung.

During the past week the Church also commemorated St. Igor, the patron Saint of our Rector. Thus our Warden and Choir Director, Olga Roussanow had a speech. She congratulated Fr. Igor on the occasion of his past name day and wished him God’s help in his service to the faithful, spiritual joy and especially, patience in his pastoral ministry. Another Polychronion was sung for the Rector.

Our celebration continued at the trapeza table where the Rector and parishioners enjoyed delicious meals and a nice company. A number of toasts had been raised in honor of Fr. Igor and parishioners who recently celebrated their name days. A nice and delicious cake with an inscription in honor of the Rector’s name day was presented to Fr. Igor.

On September 27th, on the feast of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-giving Cross, we had a solemn celebration at our temple. Before the Hours St. George’s Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov placed the cross in the middle of the church and venerated it.
At the Divine Liturgy, after the Gospel lesson Fr. Igor preached a homily:

“Today we celebrate the Lord’s holy day dedicated not to some event in the life of Christ but to His Holy Cross. We celebrate Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-giving Cross of the Lord. Three centuries after our Lord was crucified, the Cross of Christ was discovered by the pious Christian people and following the order of the Holy Empress Helen. After being found on the Calvary in Jerusalem the Cross was exalted, elevated before the multitude of people by Archbishop Macarius. He exalted the Cross and blessed the people and the multitudes many times exclaimed the petition, “Lord, have mercy!” (“Kyrie eleison”). Today’s feast was established to remember that event and to honor the Holy Cross.”
“Celebrating this feast we may, first of all, reflect upon the great sacrifice our Lord Jesus Christ offered for us on the Cross. The Cross being a tool of shameful execution and horrible death, now became a tool of glorious salvation and new life for the human kind. This is why our pious hymns sung for this holy day call the Cross “the door of paradise”, “the invincible weapon”, “the haven of salvation” and “the resurrection of all the dead”.  Without the Holy Cross our salvation could not happen because the Lord in His merciful Providence willed to redeem us by His own death on that holy tool.”
“Dear brothers and sisters! Honoring the Holy Cross we should also remember that the sign of the Cross and its precious image should be with us all the days of our life. Once we are born, the Cross should bless us in the holy rites of the Church, especially in the Mysteries of Baptism and Chrismation. When we live and grow up, we have to learn how to bless ourselves with that sign; how to perform that sign appropriately and rightly, without haste and neglect, but with piety and awareness. Making a sign of the Cross is essential in the life of an Orthodox Christian, so it accompanies us all our life as the Cross itself does. The Cross is everywhere in our religious and spiritual life: on the domes of the holy temples, in the churches and in our homes. The pastors bless the people and pious parents bless their children with that sign. And, finally, when we die the Church blesses our remains and our tomb with the cross and a cross is being placed over our grave. But we believe that if we live by the Cross, there will be no death: the Holy Cross will open to us the doors of paradise, the same way as the priest opens the temple doors with the cross on the early morning of Pascha.”
“However, in order to open for us the doors of eternal life the Cross of Christ has to be really honored. We have to live by the Cross. We have to follow the crucified Christ and to accept our own crosses. We should not forget the words of Christ, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Mt. 16, 24) “And he that takes not his cross, and follows after Me, is not worthy of Me” (Mt. 10, 38). Life is carrying the Cross. Many of us desire to free themselves from the cross, to live a life of pleasure and well being, but such people forget or do not know that such freedom from the cross is a true slavery to sin and passion. Such freedom is finally a warrant for our eternal death. Our modern society is very much after that kind of freedom. And we Christians should beware of that.”
“To live by the cross also means to confess Christ the Crucified. Let us not forget the other words of the Lord: “Whoever… shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy Angels” (Mk. 8, 38). Let us not be ashamed to declare our faith in Christ before the world. Let us not be ashamed to make the sign of the Cross in public. Let us not be ashamed and afraid to call the wrong by its name, to call the sin ‘sin’ and to call the evil ‘evil’! Jesus expects that from us. Nowadays even some so-called Christians avoid doing that.”
“Two days ago the pope of Rome came to visit our country. He spoke several times before the multitudes and he never, never mentioned that America did wrong when it legalized same-sex marriage. Instead, he just repeated our important but trivial words, “God bless America!” Yes, we need God’s blessings, but we cannot believe that God blesses all our wrongs and iniquities.  And we could expect more profound statements from the person who claims to be the leader of universal Christianity. And later, when the pope began his sermon in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, he said that his sentiments are now with his “Islamic brothers” celebrating their holiday and suffered a tragedy in Mecca. What about the sentiments with real brothers and sisters in Christ? What about the sentiments with Christians who are now suffering new martyrdom and horrible persecutions from the extreme Muslims in Syria and Iraq? Their churches are being destroyed, the icons are being desecrated, and the holy crosses from the temple domes are being thrown off! They themselves are being tortured and murdered by evil extremists in the name of Islam. What about those Christians, and not those whom the pope called his “brothers”?”
“Dear Orthodox Christians! Let us not be led astray and become like those who forget the truth. Dear true brothers and sisters in Christ! Let us today and always honor the Holy Cross! Let us worship Jesus Christ the Crucified, and let us not be ashamed of Him and of His words. Let us also take up our own crosses and follow Him. Let us follow Him with the Cross, so the Cross may open for us the doors to eternal life!”

Following the end of the Liturgy the Rector 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 20, on the Sunday before Exaltation of the Cross, St. George parish had a proper liturgical service. We also observed feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God which was falling on the next day. Despite a small number of people attending the temple we had a nice celebration.
Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy. Following the readings from the Scripture he preached a homily:

“Today’s reading from the Holy Gospel mentions the events from the Old Testament history. It says that “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (Jn. 3, 14). Our Lord Jesus Christ recalled that to teach His disciples about His own mission in the world, the mission of salvation. And He compared His mission to the mission of Moses who led the chosen people of God from the Egyptian captivity to the promised land. The Jews were wandering in the wilderness for the long 40 years. But God was taking care of them. He gave them food and water, He provided for His people. But the people complained and regretted that they left Egypt where they had a lot of food. They forgot that they were slaves in that country, and remembered only some good things they used to have there. A punishment for that ungratefulness to God and to Moses came soon. The Israelites came to an area full of poisonous snakes. Those serpents bit and killed a lot of people. Everybody could perish there if God did not stop that. God told Moses to make a copper snake and to raise it on a pillar. God told that any person who would look at the copper snake will not die of the poison.”
“This event is the symbol of what happened at Calvary, and a prophecy of what is going on with the whole human race. Desert is this earthly life. It is full of poisonous snakes. Evil bites any human from birth and up to the last hour of his or her life. Countless snakes surround human life from all the sides. These are the sins and passion that surround us.”
“We remember that when Adam and Eve, our ancestors, committed the first sin, they were tempted by a serpent. And when we may become bit by a snake? When we meddle with a snake, come into a close contact.  Adam and Eve sinned because they entered into a contact, a conversation with the snake. When we commit sins, we do the same. We converse with the snake. We enter into a close contact with it. And it bites us with the deadly poison, it pours that poison right into our soul. And there is no cure to any man. No cure, if not a merciful God, who sends us not Moses, but His Onlybegotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“Only if our gaze is turned to Christ, to His Cross, to the copper serpent of our faith, then we get healed. Just as the copper serpent had no poison, so Christ was similar to all of us, being one of us. He experienced all human sorrows, the pains and sorrows which encounter us in the desert, in our human life. He was similar to us in everything, except sin. Thus as the copper serpent was similar to a living serpent but was not poisonous, so Jesus was not sinful. And when we turn to Him, He will deliver us from the evil. We have to turn to Him and gaze at Him not just with our external eyes but with the eyes of our heart and with our faith. We have to ask for the forgiveness of our sins, and beg for the sanctification of our lives. Then the Lord will grant us deliverance from all the snakes of this world. Evil in the world is extremely frantic. It seems that only a few men left who actually turn to Christ and His Holy Cross. But we know about the best kept secret of life: what is sin and what is death, and where salvation is. Only the cross of Christ is giving us such a salvation.”
“Let us also remember how such a salvation was actually obtained. Our Lord was born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. Since today we celebrate feast of Her Nativity, Her Birth, let us remember that She was the one who brought our Savior into the human world. As we sing in today’s troparion to Her, “The Sun of righteousness, Christ our God, has shone from You!” Without Her we could not have Jesus, our Savior. and if today we celebrate the day of Her Birth, we celebrate the beginning of the history of our salvation.”
“The Most Holy Mother of God had always been with Her Son, if not physically then She was always with Him in spirit. She followed with Him to Calvary and She was standing besides His Cross. Thus the Theotokos has a special connection to the Sacrifice on the Cross made for all of us. And being always with Christ in His earthly mission, She is always with Him in His glory. The Mother of God now stands besides His throne in the blessedness of heaven. Therefore, we should always remember that She is our Helper and Protectress. Our salvation comes from Jesus Christ alone, but also through the Most Holy Mother of God. Let us honor Her and ask to save us!”
“Let us then, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, turn our spiritual eyes to the holy Cross of Christ, let us ask for the forgiveness and delivery. Let us remember that God redeemed us, purchased us with great price of His own Blood shed on the Cross. Let us also ask the Most Holy Mother of the Savior to help us in our journey to salvation. Let us pray that She may be with us always in this life, as well as at the hour of our departure from it. Thus, we would not die but have life everlasting.”

After the Liturgy dismissal the Rector performed the rite of Glorification in front of the icon of the feast, singing the troparion, kontakion and magnification of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.