News
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Mosaic Work at Saint Sophia in Victoria, British Columbia
29 October 2012
Mosaic Work at Saint Sophia in Victoria, British Columbia
Work on the series of mosaics on the eastern wall of the altar was recently completed at the church of Saint Sophia in Victoria British Columbia. Work on this series of mosaics has been ongoing over the past several years, and the final piece, the communion of the apostles, has now been installed. This work was first initiated after several members of Saint Sophia, including the rector, Archpriest John, attended the Orsoni mosaic course in Venice about 6 years ago. A variety of mosaic projects in the church have been taken on since, engaging an increasing number of parishioners whose collective hands have laboured greatly for the glory of Christ and the beautification of His church. With God’s help, perhaps, some day this entire church will be splendidly arrayed in this ancient form of church art.
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The feast of the Protection of the Mother of God in Ottawa
18 October 2012
On Sunday the 14th of October, the parishioners of the Memorial Church of the Protection of the Mother of God celebrated their church feastday. This year His Eminence, Archbishop Gabriel was unable to attend the celebrations, but the faithful in Ottawa were pleased to welcome His Eminence, Bishop Irenee of Quebec City, who presided over the services. The following clergy served alongside Bishop Irenee: archpriest Peter Perekrestov from the Joy of All Who Sorrow Cathedral in San Francisco; the rector of the parish Priest Stelian Liabotis; the assistant rector Priest Alexis Pjawka; Hieromonk Ferapont, a cleric of the Iveron Monastery in Odessa, Ukraine; Protodeacon Nazary and Deacon Jesse from the Annunciation Parish of the OCA in Ottawa; and the parish Protodeacon, Fr. Basil Milonow.
The parish choir with guests from Toronto, Montreal and Jordanville sang the Vigil. At the blessing of the five loaves at the end of Vespers the parish children’s choir sang the troparion of the feast. The Divine Liturgy was sung antiphonally by the visiting male choir of the Iveron Monastery, Odessa.
In his sermon Bishop Irenee recounted that as a young man, only a few months after becoming Orthodox, he moved to Ottawa to attend university and at the same time began to regularly attend services at the recently-founded parish of the Protection of the Mother of God. Vladyka said that it was in Ottawa that he learned to read in Church Slavonic and to sing on kliros.After the service all parishioners and guests were invited to the parish hall for a festive meal prepared by the sisterhood.
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St. Herman Youth Conference 2012
18 October 2012
The annual St. Herman Youth Conference will take place December 23-27, 2012 with the blessings of His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. St. Panteleimon Church in Hartford, Connecticut, will host the conference.
Youth between the ages of 16 and young adult may participate. Noted hierarchs and clergy of the Russian Church Abroad will lead discussions and be present for questions and social activities.
The registration fee of $300.00 includes all lectures, activities, meals and lodging (quad occupancy). Transportation will be provided from the hotel to all activities and services in the church.
If you register before the deadline, a $25.00 discount will be applied. The deadline for registration will be November 30.
Please register early as space is limited. The registration deadline is November 30, 2012. You may register online and any questions may be directed to the conference organizers on the contacts page.
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Parish of the Protection of the Mother of God in Hamilton, Ontario, celebrated its 60 anniversary
17 October 2012
During the weekend of Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 of October, the parish of the Protection of the Mother of God in Hamilton, Ontario, marked its 60th anniversary.
His Eminence, Gabriel, archbishop of Montreal and Canada, presided over the festive divine services. Vladyka was assisted by parish rector, protopriest Mikhail Luboshchinskiy, priest Viatcheslav Davidenko of Holy Trinity Cathedral in Toronto, Ontario, priest Eugene Schukin, rector of the St. Tikhon Patriarch of Moscow parish in Waterloo, Ontario, deacon Alexander Morin of Holy Trinity Cathedral in Toronto, and deacon Mark Liumes from Niagara, Ontario.
Divine Liturgy was sung by a joint choir under the direction of reader Gregory Montana, choir director of the Smolensk Mother of God church in Berezki, (Jacksons Point, Ontario).
At the end of the Liturgy was a thanksgiving prayer service and all present sent up their prayers asking the merciful Lord and His Most Pure Mother to continue protecting and strengthening the parish in Hamilton in the future.
The celebration concluded with a gracious meal in the parish hall, where a charity lottery was held. At the very end, parish children put on a small performance, a parable about a mushroom that provided cover from the rain for many animals.
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St. Herman Youth Conference 2012
10 October 2012
The annual St. Herman Youth Conference will take place December 23-27, 2012 with the blessings of His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. St. Panteleimon Church in Hartford, Connecticut, will host the conference.
Youth between the ages of 16 and young adult may participate. Noted hierarchs and clergy of the Russian Church Abroad will lead discussions and be present for questions and social activities.
The registration fee of $300.00 includes all lectures, activities, meals and lodging (quad occupancy). Transportation will be provided from the hotel to all activities and services in the church.
If you register before the deadline, a $25.00 discount will be applied. The deadline for registration will be November 30.
Please register early as space is limited. The registration deadline is November 30, 2012. You may register online and any questions may be directed to the conference organizers on the contacts page.
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XXII All-diaspora church music conference, organized by the music committee of the Synod of Bishops, was held in Toronto
9 October 2012
October 3-7, 2012, XXII All-diaspora church music conference was held in Toronto (Canada).
Guests from Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and Sergiev Posad took part in the work of the forum that gathered 75 choir directors and singers from the church choirs of Russian diaspora. The conference was organized by the Church music committee at the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.
The achievements of church singing and problems faced by church choirs during the last 20 years were the main theme of the meeting. Presentations were read by a staff member of the Department of external relations of the Moscow Patriarchate priest Mikhail Asmus, choir director of Prince Vladimir cathedral in St. Petersburg M. I. Vashchenko, many years assistant of the reposed archimandrite Matthew (Mormyl), choir director of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius’ Lavra, E. N. Sadikova, and others.
Choir director of the Moscow representation of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius’ Lavra V. A. Gorbik gave master classes for conductors and singers.
The conference culminated with Divine Liturgy at the Holy Trinity cathedral in Toronto on 7 October. The Liturgy was headed by Gabriel, archbishop of Montreal and Canada (Russian Church Abroad). Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate parishes in Canada bishop Job of Kashira and bishop Irenei of Quebec (Orthodox Church in America), rector of the cathedral protopriest Vladimir Malchenko and other clergy conference participants concelebrated.
In the course of the All-diaspora music conference work the joint choir prepared and sang the compositions of metropolitan of Volokolamsk Hilarion, archbishop Ionafan, archimandrite Matthew (Mormyl), deacon Sergei Trubachev, B. Theoktistov, nun Julianna (Denisova), K. Sander, B. Ledkovsky, M. Konstantinov, N. Schidlovsky, G. Lapaev, K. Mironov, S. Tolsokulakov, as well as the chants of the Kiev Caves and Holy Trinity-St. Sergius’ Lavras.
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Church music committee was formed in 1959 by the decision of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad. Archbishop of Syracuse and Trinity Laurus (later First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad) headed it from 1988 to 2002. Currently, the head of the committee is protopriest Andre Papkov, clergy member of the Chicago diocese.
All-diaspora music conferences are held from 1987 as a continuation of the pre-revolutionary tradition.
Communication service of the DECR/Patriarchia.ru
