July 26, 2009
Jackson, New Jersey: Metropolitan Hilarion led the Divine Services for the Feast of St. Vladimir in St. Vladimir Memorial Church

The all-Russian celebration St. Vladimir's Day took place this year on Sunday, July 26, in the Memorial Church to the Millennial of Russian Christianity, in Jackson, NJ. St. Vladimir Church holds a special place not only in our Diocese, but in all of the Russian Diaspora. As in olden days, when the peoples of Novgorod, Kievan Rus and Muscovy would unite around the great cathedrals of St. Sophia or the Dormition, so would the Russian émigrés, in the years of revolution and world war, unite around the Memorial Church of St. Vladimir, "chief among the saints of Russia," the founder of Holy Russia and true Russian culture. The former rector of St. Vladimir Church, long ago reposed, said of the church – "This will be now not only a memorial to the Baptism of Russia and a church dedicated to St. Vladimir, but a uniting lighthouse that will point out the true path, becoming a symbol of our national unity and spiritual rebirth."

The feast was headed by the rector of the church, His Eminence Hilarion, Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. On Saturday, July 25, in the lower church of the Protection of the Mother of God, where the bodies of the ever-memorable Archbishops Vitaly (Maximenko) and Nikon (Rklitsky) lay at rest, a Liturgy for the Departed was served, in honor of all the builders and founders of the church. That evening, on the eve of the feast, many of the faithful gathered for the All-Night Vigil. Before the service, Metropolitan Hilarion blessed a new parish icon of St. Vladimir. Under the wings of the church, the festive singing of the service to the Holy Fathers of the 6 Ecumenical Councils rang out; present also at the service, having been brought from Holy Trinity Monastery, was the miraculous icon of the Pochaevsk Mother of God. On Sunday, the Divine Liturgy was served by His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, who was co-served by a multitude of clergy. During the Liturgy, the First Hierarch performed the ordination to the diaconate of Subdeacon Andrei Psarev, a professor at Holy Trinity Seminary. After the Liturgy, a procession took place, as well as the blessing of the waters under an open sky. After the service, the protodeacon proclaimed a Synodal Gramota to Fr. Boris and Matushka Kizenko on the 25th anniversary of their service in St. Vladimir's Church. A festive banquet was later held in the parish hall.

Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese