News
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Fourth Sunday of Great Lent
11:48 PM
“…This kind comes out only by prayer and fasting…”
These words of the Lord again encourage us on the fourth Sunday of Great lent. At times we forget, or completely fail to see, the reasons why the Church calls us to the feat of temperance. Regrettably, sometime in our understanding lent has only a dietary value, and the prayers and chants of the Great lent – capable of warming our cold hearts – are understood by us only as a variety of the church’s repertoire.
That is why it is necessary to pay careful attention to the message of this Sunday’s Gospel. Having heard that His disciples were unable to free the pitiable young man, the Lord chastises the father of the sufferer for unbelief. “All things are possible for him, who believes,” says the Lord and – as an answer to the cry of the father: “I believe, Lord, help my unbelief!” – He heals the one, who was tormented by the unclean spirit since childhood.
From the question of the disciples “why couldn’t we…” one can see that they believed in the Lord. But He, by His mercy, did not leave them without saving instruction. Having pointed the father to faith as the necessary means of healing, the Lord points the disciples to the perfection of the faith, setting forth prayer and fasting as the means of achieving perfection.
Thus, the Lord teaches that it is necessary to have faith, and not only to have it, but also to perfect it by fasting and prayer. We always need faith, whether we ask the Lord on behalf of others or for ourselves. It is also very important that it not be like that of demons: they believe and tremble, but do not repent. The true fruit of fasting and prayer is a heart that is broken and humbled.
Let us, therefore, break our hearts by fasting and prayer, and humbly cry out: “I believe, O Lord, help my unbelief!” So that we, by the mercy of God and by temperance according to our strength, may be delivered from passions and unclean spirits which destroy us, and may meet the radiant resurrection of the Lord with joy. Amen.
Priest Viatcheslav Davidenko
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Visit of the Church of Protection of the Holy Virgin in Rochester. 2014
03:27 PM
To be published soon.
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Pastoral Retreat & Assembly Of the Priests & Clergy of the Diocese of Montréal & Canada March, 2014
01:17 PM
The 2014 Lenten Pastoral Conference of the Canadian Diocese
This year the Lenten pastoral conference of the Canadian Diocese was, for the first time, held at the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY. This monastery was called the “lavra of the Russian Church Abroad” by the ever-memorable Metropolitan Anastasy, whose earthly remains rest under the altar of the monastery cathedral. It is not unreasonable to say that the hearts of Orthodox Christians of Russian descent that have found themselves outside of Russia have a special place for Holy Trinity Monastery. The 17th of June, 2015 will mark the 80th anniversary of the first service held at the newly-constructed wooden church at the then recently organized Holy Trinity Monastery.
On the same day of that historic liturgy, a fire began in the newly consecrated church and it appeared that after many labours all was lost, but the Lord judged differently. One of the witnesses of the fire remarked that this baptism by fire did not lead to the destruction, but on the contrary to the flourishing of the monastery, which exists up to our day as the true spiritual centre of the Russian Diaspora, which in recent years has also become better-known in Russia itself.
The Canadian Diocese has a special tie to Holy Trinity Monastery. The first abbot of the monastery, the former archimandrite of the Pochaev Lavra, his Eminence Archbishop Vitaly (Maksimenko), was to become the ruling bishop of the North American and Canadian Diocese. And now the present ruling bishop of the Canadian Diocese, Archbishop Gabriel, is this year marking the 30th anniversary of his graduation from Holy Trinity Seminary, which is located at the monastery in Jordanville.
In his opening remarks Archbishop Gabriel reminded the participants of the clergy conference of the history of the monastery. Vladyka remarked that just a few steps away from the seminary graduation hall, where the conference was taking place, in the monastery cemetery many of the founders and guardians of the Russian Church Abroad are buried. Some of these remarkable hierarchs, pastors and teachers include: the first hierarchs of the Church abroad, Metropolitans Anastasy, Filaret and Laurus, Archbishop Averky (Taushev), Archimandrite Constantine (Zaitsev), and the great iconographer Archimandrite Cyprian (Pyzhov), who helped to reestablish a traditional style of icon painting in the diaspora. Through his efforts many Orthodox churches in North America with adorned with icon murals, including in the main monastery cathedral, the cemetery church and monastery refectory. Here are also buried other luminaries of the Church Outside of Russia as well as many pious monks who struggled in prayer and fasting and entreated God to show mercy on the much-suffering Russian land, not losing hope that Holy Russia will one day rise up again.
The humble atmosphere of the monastery descends on all who visit and thus the discussions of the diocesan conference were calm and peaceful. Within the last two or three years the situation in the Canadian diocese has improved noticeably. Two new missions, one in Red Deer, Alberta the other in Nanaimo, British Columbia have been formed recently. Soon, with God’s help, a new mission will be opened in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Holy Trinity Parish in Toronto, the largest parish in the Church Abroad, this past year organized and hosted the celebration of the 400-year anniversary of the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty. During these festivities a meeting of the Synod of Bishops was also held in Toronto.
During the diocese meeting, Archimandrite Luke (Murianka), the abbot of the monastery, gave a talk at which he explained the present-day situation in the monastery and seminary. Deacon Andrei Psarev, one of the instructors at Holy Trinity Seminary, read a lecture entitled “The Current Law of the Russian Orthodox Church.”
Archbishop Gabriel commented that the main goal of our lenten meetings is to prepare ourselves spiritually for the Feast of Feasts, the bright day of Christ’s Resurrection. The monastery services, which were attended by all of the participants of the conference, helped tremendously in this task. The hight of the pastoral lenten retreat was the hierarchal Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts served on Wednesday the 26th of March.
Archbishop Gabriel presided at this service and was assisted by the clergy of the Canadian Diocese, Archimandrite Luke and the priestmonks of the monastery as well as archpriest Alexis Duncan from Albany, NY.
Many of the participants of the pastoral conference expressed a hope that this will not be the last time the Canadian Diocese meets in Jordanville.
Below is a photo-report of the conference in Jordanville.
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Nativity of Christ Celebrations at New York’s Synodal Cathedral of Our Lady “of the Sign”
12:20 PM
On Tuesday, January 7, 2014, the great holiday of the Nativity of Christ, Divine Liturgy was celebrate at the Synodal Cathedral of Our Lady “of the Sign” in New York, NY, headed by His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada. Vladyka Gabriel was joined in the service by Senior Priest of the cathedral, Protopriest Andrei Sommer; Priest Nicholas Olhovsky, Caretaker of the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God “of the Sign”; Hieromonk Evtikhy (Dovganyuk); Protodeacon Nicolas Mokhoff; Deacon Nathan Mousselli; Deacon Nazary Fataliev and Deacon Dionisy Lvov. The Christmas services were celebrated in the presence of the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God. Mr Peter Fekula directed the Cathedral Choir at the services. After Liturgy, the clergymen and parishioners were invited to a festive trapeza prepared by the cathedral sisterhood.
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Jubilee Celebration of the 40th anniversary of church service of mitred archpriest o.Vladimir Malchenko.
08:37 PM
In December 2013 Holy Trinity parish in Toronto celebrated with great joy the special date of its history: the 40th anniversary of the Priesthood of its perpetual Prior – Mitred Archpriest Father Vladimir Malchenko. Father Vladimir was ordained into Deaconate on December the 2d, 1973, in Saint Nicholas Cathedral of Montreal by the Ruling Bishop of Canadian Diocese at that time, of blessed memory, His Grace Vladyka Vitaly (Ustinov), the future Metropolitan and Hierarch of Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. Only a few months later Father Vladimir was honored by the Priesthood and from that very time never left the Holy Trinity parish, having received it from another and also prominent representative of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad – memorable Father Archpriest Mathew Andrewszhenko.
His Eminence Vladika Gabriel, The Archbishop of Montreal and Canada, who arrived to Toronto especially for this parish’s celebration, in his greeting Word mentioned the above stated stages of the career of Father Vladimir. We also would like to remind here that throughout the years, when Father Vladimir has been the prior, Holy Trinity parish became the biggest of all that belong to the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. About half thousand people gather in this church for every Divine Liturgy, not speaking about the Feast Days and Easter time… This is, truly, “Russian”, almost “Moscow”, scale, that is common now for the revived Orthodox Church in our Motherland… Let us add that till the resent time Father Vladimir had been the only Priest of the grand Holy Trinity Cathedral, but the Liturgies and Vesper Services in this Cathedral took place almost every day. Holy Trinity parish is also famous for its church school for children with its more than 200 students.
On the 14th of December a splendid Episcopal Vesper Service took place in the Cathedral, at the end of which all clergy and the guests were invited for the dinner.
The next morning, on Sunday the 15th, the Episcopal Divine Liturgy, conducted by His Eminence Archbishop of Montreal and Canada Gabriel, together with the arrived for this celebration His Grace Bishop George, the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Canada, was served. The Mitred Archpriest Vladimir Malchenko and the second Priest of the Holy Trinity Cathedral Fr. Vyacheslav Davidenko, as well as Archdeacon Fr. Vassiliy Milonow ( The Protection of The Mother of God Church in Ottawa), Fr. Stephan ( Serbian Orthodox Church), Fr. Alexandre Morin and Fr. Boris Bakhvalov ( Holy Trinity Cathedral, Toronto) were co-serving to our church’s hierarchs.
The Church choir, conducted by the Reader George Anatolyevich Skok, whose brilliant regent’s skills are renown well beyond the border of Canadian Diocese, as usually, was singing very touchingly and inspiringly.
After The Divine Liturgy had been served, His Eminence Vladika Gabriel spoke to all who were present in the Cathedral. He heartily greeted his confrere , His Grace Bishop George, and underlined that such service was held for the first time in the Canadian Diocese, but, with the help of God, Our Lord, won’t be the only one, for Orthodox Serbian and Russian peoples are tied together by the special spiritual bonds, which have always been and will always be sacrosanct. Then His Eminence Vladyka Gabriel announced that, according to the resolution of the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, to commemorate 40 years of serving in the rank of a Priest and for the outstanding diligence, dedication and hard-working for the well-being of our Mother Church, Mitred Archpriest Vladimir Malchenko was to be rewarded by the Church Order “The Sign”, of the Third Degree, with presenting to him all the insignia of the Order ,as well as the appropriate certificate.
At the ceremonial dinner, that followed, over 200 guests were present. In His greeting Word His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel, as it was already noted, touched several life circumstances of Father Vladimir, and also mentioned multiple years of work of his faithful companion – Matushka Elisaveta Stepanovna. According to the words of Vladika Gabriel, “Matushki might be imperceptible, but the more invisible for the surrounding people their everyday role in the life of a parish is, the more powerful and beneficial is their influence into this life…” Then Serbian Bishop of Canada Vladika George addressed Fr. Vladimir and the present guests. Having expressed what an exquisite joy the possibility of such a joint Service together with His Eminence Vladyka Gabriel is, Bishop George also touched the topic of the spiritual unity of the Serbian and Russian peoples.
In this connection, let us point out at the fact that in the coming 2014 year another anniversary- 30 years of serving of His Grace Bishop George in Canada – will take place. For this time the number of the Serbian Orthodox parishes in this country has grown from 8 to 30.
With the touching words of gratitude the central figure of the feast – Father Vladimir himself- addressed everybody, who was sitting in the banquet hall. In his Word Archpriest Vladimir reminded, in particular, about that excessive brotherly help ,which was offered by the Serbian Patriarchate and the King’s House of Serbia to the suffering Russian Church in the years of the Second Russian Turmoil. It was Serbian Kingdom that sheltered Russian Bishops, headed at that time by the blessed Metropolitan Antony, and Serbian Patriarchs bequeathed to Russian Orthodox Church practical autonomy and the right of spiritual guidance of the Russian immigrants who had come to live in Serbia.
On behalf of the Holy Trinity parish, the second Priest Father Vyacheslav, presented Father Vladimir with a memorable gift: a golden pectoral Cross with incrustations.
The concert started when the dessert course was over. First the Cathedral choir, conducted by the Reader G. A. Skok, sang, among the rest, the favorite song of Father Vladimir: “Russia, You are all covered with snow!” Later another two choir groups of younger singers also performed very successfully under the guidance of Matushka Maria Valerievna Bakhvalova.
At the end of the feast the overall gratitude was expressed towards the Sisterhood of the Cathedral of Holy Trinity for traditionally perfect banquet, for which this parish has been famous for a long time.
Glory to God, Our Lord, for everything!
The participant of the Feast -
