« First Day of the Convocation of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA concludes with Evening Service »
26-05-2025 
On May 23, 2025, the eve of the feast oh Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyrill & Methodius, teachers of the Slavs, and the conclusion of the first day of the 15th Convocation of the Clergy of Laity of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, the interim Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, Bishop Matthew of Sourozh officiated Great Vespers in Sts. Peter & Paul Cathedral in Passaic, NJ. His Grace was concelebrated by clerics of the Bishop’s Council, deans and parish clergy. Before the start of the service, the reliquary containing a particle of the relics of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow was brought into the church.
At the Little Entrance, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kyrill, in honor of his dedicated service to the Holy Church as a jurisconsult to the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, Priest Gregory Winsky (acting rector of St. Michael the Archangel Church in Philadelphia, PA) was elevated by Bishop Matthew to the rank of archpriest.
In connection with the feast of the Resurrection of Christ, as a blessing for their dedicated pastoral labors, a number of clerics were presented ecclesiastical awards by Bishop Matthew: Priest Dimitry Sukhorukov (cleric of St. Nicholas Church in Bayonne, NJ) & Priest Andrew Massey (rector of Elevation of the Holy Cross Church in Hackettstown, NJ) were awarded the right to wear the gold pectoral cross; Priests Vasily Gross(rector of St. Andrew Church in East Lansing, MI) & Daniel Meyer (rector of St. Nicholas Church in Reading, PA) were awarded the right to wear the kamilavka and Hieromonk Seraphim (Balagtas; cleric of Sts. Peter & Paul Cathedral) was awarded the right to wear the nabedrennik.
The services were sung by a combined choir of parishes of the Easten States Deanery under the direction of Matushka Ekaterina Kapchits & Irene Freeman.
At the end of the service, the rector of the cathedral, Bishop Matthew, was warmly greeted by parish cleric, Hieromonk Seraphim. In turn, the archpastor, on his own behalf and on behalf of all the participants of the XV Convocation of the Parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in the USA, heartily thanked the dean, the clergy and the parish council for their hospitality and the excellent organization of the work of the convocation. Bishop Matthew addressed those gathered with a sermon dedicated to the memory of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Teachers of the Slavs and the Heavenly Patron of North America, Saint Tikhon, under whose omophorion the XV Convocation of Clergy and Laity of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA is being held.
As a blessing for their diligent work and gratitude for the hospitable meeting of the delegates of the convocation, the archpastor awarded the president of the parish council and trustees with an archpastoral gramota. For his impeccable 15-year service as treasurer of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, Bishop Matthew awarded Panagiotis Billis with an archpastoral gramota.
The hierarch presented copies to all participants of the book published with his blessing, containing the text of a new Akathist to St. Tikhon in honor of the centennial anniversary of his repose, approved by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on March 20, 2025, and translated into English by the clergy of the Patriarchal Cathedral of New York: Archpriest Alexander Golubov & Hieromonk John (Schieffler) . This gift edition of the akathist was made by the Dean of the Central States, Priest Joshua Genig.
The interaction between the bishop, clergy and laity continued over an evening meal prepared by the cathedral sisterhood and long-time patrons of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, the Brooklyn PEP Bakehouse and Coffee Shop.
Mospatusa.com/Sourozh.org