June 17, 2013
Ipswich, MA: Metropolitan Hilarion led the Patronal Feast of St. John the Russian Church

On Saturday the 8th and Sunday the 9th of June, the feast of the New Confessor St. John the Russian, the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, His Eminence Hilarion, Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York, paid an Archpastoral visit to St. John the Russian Church in Ipswich, MA and led the divine services in honor of the patronal feast day. This year marks the 36th anniversary of St. John the Russian parish.

On Saturday evening, parish clerics rector Archpriest Spyridon Schneider and Priest Maximos McIntyre greeted His Eminence, joined by fellow clergy from neighboring parishes, including Archpriest Constantine Newman (rector of Annunciation Greek Church in Newburyport, MA), Priest Thomas Reske (cleric of Holy Epiphany Church in Boston), Deacon Alexander Doohovskoy (cleric of St. Xenia Church in Methuen, MA), and Hierodeacon Tikhon (Gayfudinov; accompanying the Metropolitan). The First Hierarch led the Great Vespers and Litiya. After the evening services, the parish sisterhood, led by Matushka Xenia Schneider and Ariadne Clifton, served a light meal which was especially delicious, though doubtlessly overshadowed by the joy of the feast and the delight of the faithful.

On Sunday morning, Metropolitan Hilarion was greeted by the parish warden, Mark Knudsen, with the traditional offering of bread and salt. Upon entering the church and donning his mantle, His Eminence was greeted by the clergy and by the beautiful singing of the choir, led by Juliana Schneider and her sister Seraphima McLean, in concert with Reader James Hanson and Sasha Clifton and other faithful choristers.

When the Divine Liturgy began, it became apparent to all that, in the person of our beloved Metropolitan Hilarion, the Apostolic ministry established by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was magnificently present in the parish. Indeed, on this important day the life of the parish, a successor to the Apostles of the Lord was present among us! At the Little Entrance, His Eminence awarded Fr. Maximos the right to wear the nabedrennik. At the end of the Liturgy, the Metropolitan, surrounded by the clergy and faithful, processed to the parish well for the lesser Blessing of the Waters, a parish tradition. Upon returning to the church, His Eminence delivered a beautiful sermon and, after the dismissal, presented Gramotas to three parishioners for their faithful service and dedication to the parish: Reader Joseph Picard, Matushka Xenia, and Ariadne Clifton.

The divine services were followed by a festal banquet prepared by Matushka Xenia and the sisterhood. During the banquet, congratulatory remarks were made, with thanks and appreciation enthusiastically extended to Metropolitan Hilarion for his loving visit. When the Metropolitan took his leave in the early afternoon, the church and parish community were left with the presence of God’s grace and the joy of this wonderful event.

Archpriest Spyridon Schneider
Rector

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