On May 6th Russian Orthodox Church celebrates feast of the Holy Victorious Great Martyr George. This is the Patronal feast of our parish. On this day we had a beautiful celebration in our temple. The Divine Liturgy was headed by our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov who was co-served by Abbot Eutychius (Dovgan) from the ROCOR Synodal Cathedral. Service was attended by our parishioners, as well as a large number of guests from other parishes. Among the visitors was Hieromonk Zosimas (Krampis), our former Rector who was present at the Liturgy.

On this holy day our choir was joined by several guests, so the singing was especially beautiful. Hymns in honor of St. George, as well as Paschal hymns were nicely performed before the rite of the Holy Communion.

Following the Liturgy dismissal the Rector preached a homily in which he pointed out that our Patron Saint was a Martyr for Christ. Christianity very often means martyrdom for Christ. Today’s two Epistle lessons from the Acts of the Holy Apostles were telling us about persecutions of the Holy Apostles, especially Peter and Paul. And the Gospel reading reminded us that, according to the words of the Lord, “A servant is not greater than his master” (Jn. 15, 20). If our Lord Jesus Christ Himself was persecuted, His servants were persecuted also. Holy Apostles were persecuted and most of them died as Martyrs. And later many other followers of Christ had to become Martyrs. Our Patron, St. George was one of them. Therefore, being a Christian always means to be ready for becoming a confessor or even a martyr for Christ. But if this idea is disturbing, let us remember that our Lord is always with us and He conquered death and rose from the dead. Today’s feast of St. George always falls during Paschal season, and our Church hymns dedicated to the martyrdom of St. George are mixed with the Paschal hymns of the Resurrection. This is why we have to be of a good cheer remembering that the Lord is the Victor of evil, so the Saints like Great Martyr George are also the victorious in the Risen Lord.

The Rector also expressed his gratitude to the parishioners who labored to prepare for this celebration, as well the guests who joined us at this parish solemnity. Traditional Polychronion (“Mnogaia leta!”) was proclaimed to all the faithful present.

Our celebration continued at the abundant and delicious trapeza prepared by our ladies. Our clergy at the trapeza table was now joined by Archpriest Alexandre Anchoutine, Rector of Holy Protection Church in Glen Cove and Dean of the local ROCOR parishes. He had a speech congratulating the Rector and our parishioners on the occasion of Patronal feast and wishing all God’s blessings in our future religious life as a community. Fr. Alexandre also congratulated our Rector on the occasion of his recent appointment as Chancellor of the Patriarchal Parishes and expressed his wishes of God’s help at this responsible obedience. Another speech was later delivered by our Sacristan, Andrew Malyshew who on behalf of our parishioners expressed gratitude to our Rector, Fr. Igor, as well as the former Rector, Fr. Zosimas for their labors for the good of this parish. He pointed out that despite all the difficulties in our parish life, our church keeps serving the spiritual needs of the Orthodox believers and is under ongoing protection of its Holy Patron, St. George.

On April 30, on the Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women, we had a beautiful service at St. George Church. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov celebrated the Divine Liturgy. Following the reading from the Holy Gospel he preached the following homily in English:

“Dear brothers and sisters! On this Sunday after Pascha we honor holy Myrrh-bearing Women, righteous Joseph and Nicodemus who participated in the burial of our Lord Jesus Christ. Later some of them became the witnesses of His Resurrection, as we heard in today’s Gospel lesson. A huge stone was rolled against the door of the tomb where Jesus was laid, but when He rose from the dead the stone became rolled away. As we think today of that tomb of Jesus, other tombs come to mind – tombs where Jesus is buried today, strong tombs, heavily sealed, tombs that are designed to keep Jesus isolated from our lives.”
“An author who is known as “A Monk of Eastern Church” writes: “In many souls, Jesus seems to be buried as if in a sepulcher. He seems to be paralyzed, immobilized, even dead. He is covered by a heavy stone; the stone of sin, of ignorance, of indifference, the stone of bad habits that have accumulated over years.” Buried by those errors we cry out like the Myrrh-bearing Women: “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” (Mk. 16, 3).”
“The sin is the first stone by which we can cover Jesus in His sepulcher. Our sins don’t let us give our Lord a place in our life; they keep us away from Him. First of all, it happens when we let our sins rule over us. Then we serve sin, not our Lord. And second, when our sins, or a particular sin of ours, keeps us away from God.”
“The second stone is ignorance. What kind of ignorance buries Jesus? The ignorance about Him. Ignorance about our faith, ignorance about religious matters, ignorance about basic, but very important things in our life. Many people don’t know our faith, why we believe in this or in that. Many people don’t know the pious traditions: why we do certain things in our Church, what we are supposed to have in our Church… This is the great stone that keeps Jesus buried in the tomb. If you don’t know something – ask, inquire. Talk to the priest, ask or simply listen when the priest is telling you about it.”
“The third and the greatest of the stones is indifference. Indifference is what keeps Jesus buried in the terrible grave of apathy. A priest once stopped in a coffee shop and sat at a counter next to a man. The man glanced at the priest and asked where his church was. When the priest told him, he said, “That’s the church I go myself”. “Isn’t that strange?” the priest said, “I’ve been a rector there for five years and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you.” The man replied, “Come on, Father, I didn’t say I was a fanatic”. It is OK to be fanatic about football but there is something wrong with you if you are serious about Jesus. It is that kind of indifference that keeps Jesus buried. It is an extremely heavy stone and it needs to be removed if Jesus is to become a living presence in our lives.”
“In addition, there are the people who bury Christ in their hearts, in their souls. They are the people who tell us: “I may not come to church, but God is always in my soul”. It is a very popular attitude, especially among the Russian people. They don’t participate in the Liturgy. They don’t receive the Sacraments. They don’t support the work of Christ through His Church. They seldom pray and yet – they tell us – God is in their souls. Maybe He is! But then, that’s where they keep Him dead and buried.”
“If there are those today who claim that God is dead, it is also because we Christians have buried Him in our sins, in our ignorance, in our indifference, in our souls. And if we have buried God, there is no wonder why we are so anxious and worried people today.”
“Dear brothers and sisters! Roll the stone away from the tomb and let the Risen Christ step out of our indifference, out of our sins, out of our ignorance, even “out of our souls” into our lives and see what happens as a result! See what power He brings! What joy! What peace! What love!”

The choir prayerfully performed the Aposticha of Pascha during the time of preparation for Holy Communion.

Following the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector preached a short sermon in Russian stressing the main thoughts of his English homily. He also congratulated our ladies on the occasion of this Sunday which is the Orthodox Women’s day. Traditional Polychronion (“Mnogaia leta!”) was proclaimed.

Following the Rector’s sermon the Parish Warden, Olga Roussanow spoke and congratulated Archpriest Igor on his appointment as Chancellor of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA. She wished that the Lord may assist him to fulfill his new obedience as a superior official of our Church in the United States and an assistant to our local Bishop. Fr. Igor expressed his gratitude to the parishioners for their nice and heartfelt wishes and asked for their prayers, so he may worthily and effectively fulfill his new obedience.

Our celebration continued at the trapeza table where the Rector and parishioners enjoyed delicious meals and a nice company. The toasts to the Rector due to his new appointment, as well as to our ladies were raised. At this time we also were happy to welcome our guests from the Syrian Orthodox community who visited our parish and were present at our service. They stayed for our trapeza and shared interesting information about their community suffering from the Islamic extremists in the Middle East.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Following main services the Rector blessed Easter food.

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

         CHRIST IS RISEN!       ХРИСТОС ВОСКРЕСЕ!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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