Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
May the Lord bless you!
Congratulations on this wonderful feast of St. Vladimir!
Though we do not have services today (I am in St. Louis with my mother this week, returning on Saturday), we still ask for the prayers of holy St. Vladimir for our Holy Russian Orthodox Church, our parish and all our parishioners and friends who bear his holy name!
The importance of St. Vladimir has long been recognized by the faithful, including by Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko) who made plans to build a memorial church in honor of the baptism of Rus’ dedicated to St. Vladimir in the late 1930s. Vladyka Vitaly served on the east coast and chose to locate this new church in central New Jersey in the town of Jackson. This parish holds annual celebrations which, for the last several years, have included the participation of our own Fr. Deacon Alexander Petrovsky as the choir director. Fr. Alexander’s father, Archpriest Philip Petrovsky, was ordained at this parish and served there many years, so there is a long and deep family connection with this parish.
A brief recollection of this important parish follows in English: http://eadiocese.org/news_170727_4.html
And in Russian: http://ru.eadiocese.org/news_170727_4.html
We magnify thee, O holy Equal-of-the-Apostles Grand Prince Vladimir, and we honor thy holy memory, for thou didst trample down the idols, and enlighten with baptism the whole Russian land!
Services this weekend will be as usual: Confession on Saturday at 5:30 p.m., followed by Vigil at 6 p.m.
Divine Liturgy on Sunday at 10 a.m.
Sincerely in Christ,
priest Daniel