EASTERN AMERICAN DIOCESE: 26 October 2023
The Primate of the Russian Church Abroad leads 125th-anniversary celebrations of Three Hierarchs Church

On Saturday, October 21, 2023, the feast of Venerable Pelagia the Penitent, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, at the invitation of His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, Interim Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA and Canada, celebrated Divine Liturgy in Three Hierarchs Church in Garfield, NJ, on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of parish’s founding in 1898.

Many local and visiting clergymen participated in the service. Before the start of Liturgy, Metropolitan Nicholas tonsured Basil Carr, Rodion Zaam, and Christopher Pandorf readers, then ordained them subdeacons.

At the minor entrance, His Eminence presented awards on behalf His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia: to parish rector Archpriest George Konyev – the right to celebrate Liturgy with open Royal Doors until the Cherubic Hymn, and to Priest Gregory Winsky – the jeweled cross.

Many parishioners and guests from neighboring parishes came to pray at the service. The parish choir sang marvelously under the direction of Reader George Konyev.

After the Eucharistic Canon, the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad ordained Subdeacon Basil Carr to the diaconate. The newly ordained Deacon Basil will fulfill his service at SS Peter and Paul Church in Manchester, NH.

Upon conclusion of Liturgy, Metropolitan Nicholas congratulated the clergy and parishioners with the momentous occasion in the life of the parish. In honor of the service that day, he presented the rector with a copy of the Jerusalem Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos.

A formal banquet was held next door in the parish cultural center, where numerous congratulatory addresses were delivered, and interaction continued well through the afternoon.