On May 8, the 3rd Sunday of Pascha, dedicated to the Holy Myrrh-bearing Women, His Grace, Bishop Jerome, paid an archpastoral visit to Holy Virgin Protection Church in Nyack, NY, where he celebrated Divine Liturgy. The visit to the Nyack parish on this weekend has become an annual tradition for the retired diocesan vicar.

Concelebrating with His Grace at Liturgy were Archpriest Elias Gorsky (parish rector), Priest Andrew Podymov and Protodeacon Dimitri Temidis (parish clerics), and Deacons Alexey Pnev and Fr. Konstantin Aleshin (clerics of Nativity of the Mother of God Church at the New Kursk Root Hermitage in Mahopac, NY). Praying in church was a visiting priest from the Diocese of Kaluga.

The choir sang impressively, the more so as the church has excellent acoustics.

Bishop Jerome delivered two sermons; in Russian, on the Holy Myrrh-bearers and the misconception that religion and the Church are mostly for women and that men need not be too religious; and in English, on the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark, on the Liturgy of St. Mark, and on the importance of knowing the liturgical riches of the Orthodox Church, for which it is needful to attend the whole Divine Liturgy and not just the latter part of it.

On the double occasion of Myrrhbearers Sunday and Mother’s Day, the men of the parish organized and prepared the luncheon, so that the sisterhood would be able to relax and enjoy it.