December 11, 2011
Miami, FL:
Celebration of
Metropolitan Hilarion’s Namesday concludes the Winter Pastoral
Conference
Due to the
First Hierarch’s being outside the Diocese on his namesday (November
3), the event was officially celebrated on December 8, the last day
of the Winter Pastoral Conference in Miami, FL. The First Hierarch
celebrated the Divine Liturgy in St. Vladimir’s Church, co-served by
his vicars, Their Graces, Bishops George of Mayfield and Jerome of
Manhattan, and participants of the clergy conference. During the
Divine Liturgy, special prayers were read for the health and length
of days of the Metropolitan, as well as for Bishops George and
Jerome, who this week celebrate the third anniversary (December 7
and December 10) of their respective consecrations to the
episcopate.
Prior to the
start of Liturgy, Metropolitan Hilarion tonsured Innocent Correa, a
parishioner of Holy Optina Elders Church in Winter Garden, FL, a
reader. With the blessing of His Eminence, Reader Innocent has begun
collaborating with the Eastern American Diocesan Media Office, where
he will work on filming and producing documentaries within the
framework of the Pastoral Resources Program (PRP). Reader Innocent
is currently working on a documentary about the Winter Pastoral
Conference and on video recordings of the lectures.
At the Small
Entrance, for their zealous service to Christ’s Holy Church, the
Metropolitan bestowed awards upon the following clerics:
- Archpriests
Andrey Pastukh and Daniel McKenzie were awarded the jeweled cross.
- Archpriest Nicholas Bargoot was awarded the palitsa.
- Priest
Mark Mancuso was elevated to the rank of archpriest.
- Priest
Gregoire Legouté was awarded the kamilavka and gold cross.
-
Priests Gregorio Justiniano and Viktor Orda were awarded the
nabedrennik and purple skufia.
- Priest Steven Webb was awarded
the nabedrennik.
With the
blessing of Metropolitan Hilarion, Archimandrite Meletios (Webber)
delivered the sermon. Click here
to read the sermon.
Upon
completion of the Liturgy, diocesan secretary Archpriest Serge
Lukianov congratulated His Eminence on his namesday, presenting him
with a carved wooden icon of the Savior and the Theotokos "Weep not
for Me, O Mother." The icon was but one of several the Metropolitan
would receive from his grateful flock and the diocesan clergy, many
of whom came to Miami to congratulate their hierarch.
"Every time I
serve with the Metropolitan, I feel an influx of new spiritual
strengths," said Archpriest Mark Mancuso. "He exudes a tangible love
for the Church and her clerics. We among the clergy have been
granted a tremendous grace: to be able to be present here and show
him our love. Clergy came here to celebrate His Eminence’s namesday
from Maine in the north of the Diocese to Haiti in the south, just
to congratulate him and thank him for his fatherly care for us."
Bishops
George and Jerome were also presented gifts in honor of the third
anniversary of their hierarchal consecrations. In gratitude for
their labors in organizing the conference, the First Hierarch
presented the rector, Fr. Daniel, and the entire St. Vladimir’s
parish a diocesan gramota.
In the parish
hall, a festal banquet was held in the First Hierarch’s honor,
during which many warm words of congratulation and thanks were
spoken. The parish sisterhood presented Metropolitan Hilarion a
large, homemade pie prepared for his namesday. The Metropolitan
thanked the sisterhood for the hospitality and love they had shown
to the clergy and hierarchs during the conference. In gratitude for
their hard work, His Eminence gave each sister a small gift.
After the
banquet, Metropolitan Hilarion thanked the participants for the time
they had dedicated to the conference, as well as for the well-wishes
and love shown to him on his namesday. His Eminence called down
God’s blessing on all present, thereby officially concluding the
Winter Pastoral Conference.
Republication of materials must include a reference to:
"Eastern American Diocese www.eadiocese.org."
Media
Office of the Eastern American Diocese
