July 28, 2014
Jackson, NJ: Traditional St. Vladimir’s Day Celebrations held at St.
Vladimir Memorial Church
On
Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th of July, the traditional
annual St. Vladimir’s Day Celebrations were held at
St.
Vladimir Memorial Church in Jackson, NJ.
Divine services were led by His Eminence Hilarion, Metropolitan of
Eastern America & New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Church
Abroad, co-served by Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal & Canada, and
Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan, vicar of the Eastern American Diocese.
Co-serving the hierarchs during the Vigil were Protopresbyter Valery
Lukianov (dean of New Jersey), diocesan secretary Archpriest Serge
Lukianov, Archpriest Boris Slootsky (cleric of St. George’s Church
in Howell, NJ), Priest Seraphim Chemodakov (cleric of St. Alexander
Nevsky Cathedral in Howell), Priest Serge Ledkovsky (deputy rector
of the memorial church), Protodeacon Leonid Roschko (cleric of St.
George’s), and Deacon Dionysius Lvov (cleric of the Synodal
Cathedral of the Sign in New York City). The choir sang under the
direction of Deacon Alexander Petrovsky, cleric of the Mid-American
Diocese.
Bishop Nicholas served the Litiya, while all three hierarchs led the
Polyeleos before an icon of St. Vladimir and an especially venerated
miraculous copy of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God, brought
from Jordanville.
The
St. Vladimir’s Day Celebrations continued on Sunday, July 28, when
the hierarchs and clergy who served on the eve of the feast were
joined by Archpriest Alexander Belya (dean of New York City),
Archpriest George Kallaur (rector of the Church of Our Lady
"Unexpected Joy" on Staten Island, NY), Archpriest Liubo Milosevich
(rector of Holy Trinity Church in Vineland, NJ), Archpriest Rafael
Melendez, Archpriest Petro Kunitsky (cleric of Holy New Martyrs &
Confessors of Russia Church in Brooklyn, NY), Protodeacons Vadim Gan
and Alexander Kichakov (clerics of Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral
in Chicago), Deacon Anatoly Revitskyy (cleric of Joy of All Who
Sorrow Church in Philadelphia), and Hierodeacon Panteleimon
(Jigalin; cleric of the Diocese of Australia & New Zealand).
At the Little Entrance, for their dedicated service to the Holy
Church, Metropolitan Hilarion awarded diocesan clerics Archpriests
Petro Kunitsky and Boris Slootsky the right to wear the palitsa.
Upon completion of the Liturgy, Fr. Valery Lukianov addressed the
faithful with a sermon. Touching upon St. Vladimir’s role both among
his contemporaries and the current generation of Orthodox
Christians, and on what qualities we must acquire in order to become
worthy inheritors of the work begun by the Enlightener of Rus’, Fr.
Valery said, in part:
"Great Prince Vladimir was our ‘Beautiful Sun.’ These two
remarkable, historic words contain with them a whole harmony of all
of the possible experiences and right decisions regarding his
mission for Russia. The sun, first and foremost, is light; the sun
is power and energy; the sun is warmth; the sun is life itself. And
Prince Vladimir brought these qualities in particular to the Russian
people…
"Why
did they begin calling him ‘Beautiful Sun?’ Because his reign was
not only political in nature; his rule was not marked by aggression
and despotism; rather, his reign was from the Lord God, and it
manifested itself in him through exclusively Christian qualities. In
him was found sincere kindness, honor, forthrightness, fairness,
love of the needy and care for the sick, a deep faith in the Lord
God, and heart filled with love for God and man and for his entire
baptized people.
"...All of us are the heirs of Prince Vladimir, and we must
ourselves become ‘beautiful suns.’ Is
this
possible,
you
ask?
It
is,
in
fact,
quite
possible.
We must ennoble ourselves with love and kindness, as our first
ruler, the Great Prince Vladimir, desired. …We all live in a world
anxious about current events. Look what is happening in almost every
country: people are filled with sorrow and fear. And America is
undergoing a crisis of moral struggle. We, Orthodox Christians, feel
this, sense this, and bear responsibility for this…
"How can we ennoble ourselves in this day and age? Only through love
and kindness, kindness and love… We will not accomplish this in a
day, but by laboring in this direction, we can achieve success in
the spiritual life. And I propose taking this step: first and
foremost, learn these three great virtues: know when to be silent,
when to pray, and when to love."
Fr. Valery wished for the faithful to deposit these words in their
hearts, and congratulated all of those gathered for the celebration
on the occasion of the feast.
Addressing
the believers, Metropolitan Hilarion also sincerely congratulated
everyone and thanked the deputy rector and warden for the fitting
preparations, and expressed his gratitude to the choir for their
touching hymnody. He wished everyone good health and the strength to
continue worshipping the Lord and attaining salvation.
"Every [Orthodox] people honors its preceptors, those who led them
to the Orthodox Faith," His Eminence said. "So we, too, venerate the
Great Prince Vladimir, who spiritually changed both himself and his
people. That is why we gather every year in this memorial church and
thank God for the inheritance that we have received from St.
Vladimir. In these days especially, when Russia and Ukraine are in
turmoil and facing fratricidal war, we are in need of the Heavenly
protection and prayers of our enlightener, the Great Prince
Vladimir, the Great Princess Olga, and all of the saints who shone
forth in the Russian land. We pray that the Lord might grant peace
to our homeland, that all Orthodox people might live in peace, and
that the Church might prosper ‒ by the prayers that we offer up
today."
His
Eminence also reminded the faithful of the celebrations taking place
this year in Russia and abroad in honor of the 700th anniversary of
the birth of the greatly revered Russian saint – Venerable Sergius
of Radonezh. On this feast day, the faithful gathered in the
memorial church were able to venerate an icon of St. Sergius from
St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral in New York City. The icon
appeared at the cathedral in miraculous fashion. A woman who lived
close to the cathedral had a dream in which she saw a monk, who told
her that he wanted to be in church. Among her departed mother’s
belongings, she found an icon of St. Sergius, and brought it to St.
Nicholas Cathedral.
Upon completion of the services, the participants of the feast posed
for a photograph with the hierarchs and clergy with the church
serving as the backdrop, and were immediately able to purchase
copies in memory of the event. The traditional moleben and blessing
of the water were served in front of the church, after which the
faithful gathered for a banquet, prepared by the memorial church’s
sisterhood. There, Metropolitan Hilarion called on the clergy and
faithful to honor the memory of the founders of the Diocese and the
memorial church, and all of the preceptors and clergy who had served
therein. He thanked the sisterhood for the luncheon, and
congratulated Fr. Serge Ledkovsky on the birth of his new son. After
the luncheon, His Eminence departed for the airport, from whence he
flew to Moscow at the head of a pilgrimage group traveling to visit
Russia’s holy sites.
The feast continued in the open air. Visitors were able to by
shish-kabobs and appetizers, listen to music and dance, meet with
old friends, and interact with one another.
Media Office of the Eastern
American Diocese
