On Sunday, December 8th, the Leavetaking of the feast of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, with the blessing of His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas, Bishop Job of Stuttgart paid his first archpastoral visit to Holy Virgin Protection Church in Nyack NY.

He was met by the warden, Sergei Rylov, who greeted him with the traditional bread and salt on behalf of the parish. His Grace celebrated Divine Liturgy, co-served by parish clerics: rector Archpriest Elias Gorsky, Priest Andrew Podymow, and Deacon Nicholas Ilyin

The choir sang beautifully under the direction of Subdeacon Victor Gonchar. A multitude of the faithful prayed at Liturgy, thankful unto God for this rare chance to meet His Grace.

During his sermon, His Grace greeted the faithful with the leavetaking of the great feast, noting that the Holy Theotokos herself was a greater gift in the Temple than all the lambs and rams that were sacrificed in the Old Testament due to her humility, love, sacrifice of her own desires and needs, and giving her full faith to our God, accepting only Him in her heart.

Upon completion of Liturgy, Bishop Job greeted the clergy and faithful with feast, thanking all for their warm greeting. Fr. Nicholas intoned the Polychronion to His Grace and all the Catherines, who the day prior celebrated their namesday. Fr. Elias, in turn, thanked the archpastor for visiting the parish; the parish children presented Bishop Job with a bouquet of roses, and on behalf of the parish, Fr. Elias presented him with an icon of the Holy Trinity and a biography of Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy, the builder of the Nyack church.

His Grace’s visit continued in the parish hall, where he shared a meal with the parish and was able to meet many. Of particular interest to all was hearing the vicar of the German Diocese speak of the recent receipt of the keys to Seifriedsberg Castle in Bavaria, where there is hopes to establish a larger Russian Orthodox monastery and build a church. His Grace addressed the parish again as a whole in English, again thanking all for their warm greetings and noted that there is no better way to share friendship and love than to gather and celebrate the Liturgy, as was done today.

Bishop Job’s visit concluded with a tour of the parish property and a visit to Matushka Catherine Larin to congratulate her on her recent namesday, before departing back to Synod to rejoin the ongoing Council of Bishops.