Author: St. Andrew's

Prepare, O Bethlehem, for Eden has been opened to all! Adorn yourself, O Ephratha, for the tree of life blossoms forth from the Virgin in the cave! Her womb is a spiritual paradise planted with the Divine Fruit: If we eat of it, we shall live forever and not die like Adam. Christ comes to restore the image which He made in the beginning!

– Troparion of the Forefeast of the Nativity of Christ

Our parish community will begin the celebration of the Great Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ, with the Festal Vigil (Compline, Lity, & Matins) on the eve, Tuesday December 24, from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM, concluding with our traditional singing of some few festive carols in the narthex. On Wednesday, December 25, we will celebrate the Festal Divine Liturgy a bit later than usual, at 10:00 AM.

We hope you will join us!

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On the evening of Friday November 29, and into Saturday November 30, the feast of Saint Andrew the “First-Called” Apostle, our parish will welcome our archpastor, His Eminence, Archbishop Michael of New York for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, on the occasion of our patronal feast.

All are welcome to join us for the divine services. The Hierarchical Vigil will be celebrated on Friday November 29 at 7:00 PM. The Hierarchical Liturgy will be celebrated on Saturday, November 30 at 9:30 AM.

The Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called was the first of the Apostles to follow Christ, and he later brought his own brother, the holy Apostle Peter, to Christ (John 1:35-42). He did not enter into marriage, and he worked with his brother as a fisherman. After the Descent of the Holy Spirit, Saint Andrew went to the eastern lands preaching the Word of God. He went through Asia Minor, Thrace, Macedonia, along the Black Sea. Along the River Dniepr, he climbed to the place where the city of Kiev now stands. Continuing to preach the Gospel, he turned towards Rome, returning to Thrace, where in the small village of Byzantium (the future Constantinople) he founded the Church of Christ. Thus, he links the mother Church of Constantinople, with her daughter, the Russian Church. He finally journeyed to Patras, in Greece, where he endured martyrdom at the hands of the pagan prefect of the city. Let us join together to honor his apostolic labors and his martyric sufferings, and his constant intercessions for our parish, by keeping holy his feast-day!

We will celebrate this feast on its eve, Wednesday November 20, with a Vesperal Liturgy at 7:00 PM.

According to Tradition, the righteous Joachim and Anna, the parents of the Virgin Mary, vowed to dedicate their child to God. When the girl was three years old, her parents brought her to the Temple at Jerusalem holding candles and singing Psalms. 

She was met by the priests of the Temple and the High Priest Zachariah himself. With no help from anyone else, the girl walked up fifteen steps. Zachariah, the father of Saint John the Baptist, took the Virgin Mary into the Holy of Holies: the most sacred place in the Temple, where she remained until at the age of twelve, when she was betrothed to Saint Joseph.

This feast celebrates the fulfillment of the Old Testament in the light of the New: the Temple’s Holy of Holies is fulfilled in the person of the Theotokos herself. In the Incarnation, she became the most-holy tabernacle of God – a high calling which we too participate in, each time we partake in the Eucharist. 

O Apostles from all the ends of the earth, who have gathered here in Gethsemane, bury my body, and Thou, my Son and God, receive my spirit! – Exapostilarion of the feast

Continue reading The Dormition of the Mother of God