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May 26, 2011
Washington, DC: The Holy Myrrhbearers Diocesan Women’s Choir adorned
the divine services in St. John the Baptist Cathedral
In
the joyous Paschal days celebrating the holy Myrrhbearing Women, at
the invitation and with the blessing of the rector, Archpriest
Victor Potapov, and at the initiative of the choir’s longtime friend
Sergey Olhovsky, members of the Holy Myrrhbearers Diocesan Women’s
Choir, headed by director Eugenia Temidis, arrived at
St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Washington, DC, to mark their
patronal feast day at the divine services in honor of their heavenly
patronesses.
The eleven diocesan choristers arriving from the New York
metropolitan area were joined by several guests: two singers from
the New York City Deanery, two from the New Jersey Deanery, two from
Philadelphia, PA, one from Baltimore, MD, and six members of the
local cathedral choir. Preparatory rehearsals were held earlier in
New York and at St. Vladimir Memorial Church in Jackson, NJ. With
the help and support of St. John the Baptist Cathedral’s choir
director, Youri Petcherkin, and his wife Inna, local Washington
choristers were invited and prepared, as well. On Saturday morning,
May 7, all of the feast day’s participants met for the first time in
the spacious, marvelously adorned church hall next door to the
cathedral, where a general rehearsal and other preparations for the
upcoming services were held. There was some tension at first when
the newly acquainted singers began to sing together, but this soon
fell away, supplanted by concentration and sincere effort. All of
the women were united in their love for glorying the Savior’s
Resurrection in song.
After the rehearsal, the rector greeted the newly arrived
choristers, after which volunteers from the cathedral sisterhood,
brotherhood, and choir, under the leadership of Sergey Olhovsky,
prepared a delicious luncheon for all. Many of the singers took
advantage of the opportunity offered to walk outside in the
beautiful weather and see the sights of the American capital. Some
stayed behind at the church to rest, enjoying the hospitality of the
parishioners and the wonderful surroundings in the newly renovated
parish hall.
The hour arrived for evening prayer, and about 20 singers gathered
in the choir loft of the marvelously adorned St. John the Baptist
Cathedral. In the altar, Archpriest Victor Potapov was co-served by
cathedral clerics Priest Alexander Resnikoff and Protodeacon Leonid
Mickle, as well as Deacon Paul Drozdowski (cleric of St. Vladimir
Memorial Church). The first hymns and exclamations of the All-Night
Vigil resounded: Christ is risen!!! It was impossible to remain
indifferent to the cathedral’s rich acoustics, the heaven-inspired
frescoes, the warm, flickering light of the lamps, the joyous,
prayerfully resounding hymns, or the graceful service of the
clerics. The Greek chant of the proemial psalm, the work of Samarin,
sounded out. A multitude of spiritual compositions and arrangements
then followed, works by such composers as Sofronov, Trubachev,
Kastalsky, Ledkovsky, Arensky, Tolstokulakov, and Mussorgsky, as
well as chants from Holy Trinity-St. Sergius and the Kiev Caves
Lavras and the Mount of Olives Convent, all arranged for female
voices. The choir joyfully sang the Paschal Canon, and time stood
still… On the heels of the First Hour, by the flickering light of
the lamps alone, as though following in the footsteps of their
heavenly patronesses, who came early in the morning with trembling
to the Tomb of their beloved Teacher, the women quietly descended
from the choir loft to the middle of the dimly lit church and,
standing together before the four festal icons of the Radiant
Resurrection of Christ, St. Mark the Apostle, the Holy Myrrhbearing
Women, and St. Mary Magdalene, triumphally sang Ledkovsky’s To thee,
the Champion Leader. None
wished
to
leave
the
church.
All of the serving clergy and members of the women’s choir, along
with several representatives of the cathedral choir, were invited to
a bountiful, friendly supper, once more prepared by Sergey Olhovsky
with the help of the choristers and sisterhood. A wonderful
opportunity was offered to converse, share impressions, congratulate
one another and even sing a little. Everyone parted ways owing only
to the fact that a festal Divine Liturgy was waiting for them in the
morning. The members of the local choir graciously hosted members of
the women’s choir, who had traveled there from afar, in their homes.
The following morning, an even greater number of local guest singers
filled the ranks of the diocesan women’s choir, and once more the
divine service was sung joyously and triumphally. Of special note
was the exceptionally prayerfully singing of the Cherubic Hymn,
chanted to "The Noble Joseph," "To Thee we sing" in the Serbian
chant and, before Communion, the singing of "Having fallen asleep in
the flesh" in the Jordanville tradition, all arranged specially for
the diocesan women’s choir. Upon completion of the Liturgy, Fr.
Victor emphasized the beauty that the women’s voices had added to
the service, citing as an example the words offered by the
ambassadors of St. Prince Vladimir, Equal-of-the-Apostles, who,
having attended an Orthodox service in Constantinople’s Hagia Sophia
and reporting to the prince who had sent them, reported that they
knew not whether they were on earth or in heaven. Father Victor
relayed that, in the same way, standing and praying at the holy
Altar Table and listening to the singing of the women’s choir, he
knew not whether he was in his own church, or in St.
Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery, or in the Convent in Gethsemane. At this
touching moment, the rector presented the diocesan women’s choir a
piece of the Lord’s Tomb, to be inlaid in the choir’s festal icon;
he then invited the choir to return to St. John the Baptist
Cathedral to celebrate the Holy Myrrhbearers again next year.
The festal days concluded with a reception and bountiful luncheon in
the parish hall, where members of the Holy Myrrhbearers Diocesan
Women’s Choir were able to spend time with their newfound friends
and sincerely gracious parishioner-hosts before departing. Fr.
Victor read aloud a congratulatory letter written on behalf of His
Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, by Eastern American Diocesan
secretary Archpriest Serge Lukianov. On behalf of the whole women’s
choir, director Eugenia Temidis addressed the rector, Fr. Victor,
and all of the choir members and parishioners to express her abiding
gratitude, after which gifts were presented on behalf of the choir
to those who had helped organize the festal event. Parting ways and
having received a blessing, the choir members, bewinged with Paschal
joy, prepared for the long journey home.
Matushka Eugenia Temidis
Director, Holy Myrrhbearers Diocesan
Women’s Choir
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