NEW YORK: 23 January 2025
Metropolitan Nicholas celebrates Epiphany of the Lord at the Synodal Cathedral of Our Lady "of the Sign" in New York

On Saturday the 18th and Sunday the 19th of January, the great feast of the Theophany of the Lord, the All-Night Vigil and Divine Liturgy in the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign in New York City were officiated by Metropolitan Nicholas of Eastern America & New York. Serving alongside the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad were cathedral clerics: Archpriests Andrei Sommer (dean) and Seraphim Chemodakov, Hieromonk Theognost (Kogan), and Protodeacon Serge Arlievsky.

The Synodal choir sang beautifully at the divine services under the direction of conductor Vadim S. Gan.

The festal divine services were held under the aegis of the Protectress of the Russian Diaspora – the wonderworking Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God. The church was full of worshippers: parishioners of the cathedral and believers from other churches in the city. At Liturgy, most of the faithful received Christ’s Holy Mysteries.

Upon conclusion of Liturgy, Metropolitan Nicholas led the Great Blessing of Water and greeted all with the feast. He reported that the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God will be departing on a pilgrimage to Boston and California and will return only in a month’s time; and, on February 8, the myrrh-streaming Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Mother of God would arrive at the cathedral. The holy icon will remain in the cathedral during the All-Night Vigil on the 15th and Divine Liturgy on the 16th of February, the feast of the Holy Equal-of-the-Apostles Nicholas of Japan.

In the cathedral hall, the sisterhood hosted a meal, during which interaction between clergy and parishioners continued.

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