September 24, 2011
Richmond, ME: Bishop Jerome led the Divine Services in St. Alexander
Nevsky Church
On
Saturday the 17th and Sunday the 18th of September, His Grace,
Eastern American Diocesan vicar Bishop Jerome of Manhattan, visited
Richmond, ME and led the divine services in
St.
Alexander Nevsky Church. His Grace visited the parish to
celebrate its patronal feast day on September 12 – the feast day of
the Holy Right-Believing Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky.
Before the start of the All-Night Vigil, His Grace was given a tour
of the new parish center, which was donated to the church the
previous year and has undergone remarkable renovations.
At the divine services, His Grace was co-served by parish rector
Archpriest Chad Williams and Protodeacon Dimitri Temidis (cleric of
Holy Virgin Protection Church in Nyack, NY). The prayerful singing
of the parish choir, under the direction of Reader Nathan Williams,
contributed to the festal joy felt by all those present.
Upon completion of the Liturgy, Bishop Jerome addressed worshippers
with a sermon in Russian on that day’s Epistle reading:
"He hath given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts."
The earnest is a large quantity, a promise for the future, and at
our baptism and chrismation, on the one hand, we receive from the
Lord God many promises, some of which are given to us to know, while
others, although promised to us, remain as yet unknown, mysterious,
as an unopened present. But on the other hand, we too make promises
at our baptism. The more we strive to fulfill our baptismal oaths,
the greater the unexpected joys that await us: both in this temporal
life, and in the next. Let us follow the example of the Holy
Right-Believing Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky in his loyalty to Holy
Orthodoxy!
His Grace then delivered a second sermon in English on the Gospel
reading:
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees." These words stand in the Gospel
for a reason, because they still have some relevance for us today,
even though there are no more scribes and Pharisees. Even though we
live in the New Testament Church, we still run the danger of falling
into the errors of those who are thus rebuked. There are still
people who pride themselves on their strict observances, and pass
judgment on others, whom they suppose to be less strict. But in
reality, the "strict" often really do only what they enjoy, or from
which they gain some reinforcement, and the "strictness" they call
for is to be applied to others, rather than to themselves. A clear
example can be seen in those who broke away in schism, because of
the "laxity" they claimed to see, yet refused all obedience to the
Canons of the Church, if those Canons did not suit them. Still
others do not go to church, in reality because they lack
instruction, but justify themselves by finding fault with the
shortcomings they point out in parish life. If we justify ourselves
and
pass judgment on others, we are
simply following the example of the scribes and Pharisees, and the
warnings in the Gospel are for our edification.
After the sermon, an engraved plaque was presented to the parish,
made by a local engraving firm, and containing a Paschal poem
composed by longtime parishioner Francis Ackerman. Fr. Chad greeted
Bishop Jerome on behalf of the parish and thanked him for his
archpastoral care of the parish and for the blessing of his visit.
A festal luncheon was held in a local hall, during which His Grace
and Fr. Chad spoke about the encouraging developments in the parish
during the past year, and their hopes for further good growth in the
months to come.
Media
Office of the Eastern American Diocese
