On Monday, August 6/19, 2024, His Eminence KYRILL Archbishop of San Francisco and Western America presided over the patronal feast day of Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in Los Angeles, CA, as well as two ordinations.

After the Great Entrance, Deacon Joseph MacPherson was ordained priest.  After the consecration of the Holy Gifts, Subdeacon Patrick Gill was ordained deacon. Both men are assigned to All Saints of North America Orthodox Church in Phoenix, AZ, the parish that they have served for many years.

After the communion of the faithful, His Eminence led a throng of the faithful in procession around the cathedral at which time he performed the Rite of Blessing the First Fruits.

A festal meal followed in the church hall, bursting with parishioners.

Many years to the Father Rector, Protopresbyster Alexander Lebedeff, Archpriest Janis Terauds, and all of the clergy and faithful of Holy Transfiguration Cathedral, and the newly ordained Priest Joseph MacPherson, and Deacon Patrick Gill!

With the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill, Archbishop of San Francisco and Western America, the 31st Annual Orthodox Church Musicians’ Conference will be hosted in Los Angeles at the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral from October 2-6, 2024. The theme of the conference: "The Future of Church Singing: Paths to Performance." Lectures, master classes, and rehearsals will be held in the Cathedral.

Among the guests are Archpriest John Drobot and Protodeacon Alexander Kedrov (Paris). The conference will close with a Divine Liturgy presided by a hierarch.

You can get detailed information and register here.

"Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19)

Today we heard that legislation was adopted in Ukraine to prohibit the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Alas, this is not the first form of persecution, and as we know from history, not the last as predicted in the Apocalypse.

This lawlessness can only be characterized by the words of the Holy Scripture: “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way” (2 Thessalonians 2:7).

What could we expect from those who adopt such laws, who think that the Church of Christ is a political society, adhering to nationalistic viewpoints or other social tendencies?

Most Reverend Brother-Archpastors, Reverend Fathers,

Dear in the Lord Brothers and Sisters!

I cordially greet you all with the ongoing Dormition Fast, when we are once again called to temperance and the active doing of good deeds, that we might worthily prepare ourselves for the upcoming Pascha of the Theotokos!

Attached to this appeal by my unworthiness to the Fullness of the Russian Church Abroad is a video about the history and significance of the Synodal Residence in New York City, which is the House of the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God “of the Sign,” the Protectress of the Russian Diaspora. Please familiarize yourselves with this short film, prepared by the Diocese of Germany, about the building that houses our spiritual and administrative center, and provide us with all possible assistance in the major renovation of the Synodal Residence.

Since the arrival in the United States of Metropolitan Anastassy (Gribanovsky) - second First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad - in 1950, and then of the wonderworking Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God, Russian Orthodox émigrés took care to acquire a more spacious church and worthy premises for the Metropolitan’s residence and the chancery of the Synod of Bishops. This search was resolved many years ago in 1957, when the Synod of Bishops received a very generous gift in the form of a large house on the corner of 93rd Street and Park Avenue in New York City. The house was purchased with a donation from Serge Yakovlevich Semenenko, first vice-chairman and director of First National Bank in Boston, as well as a director at many other corporations. Serge Semenenko hailed from a pious Russian family that lived in Odessa before the revolution. His parents, Iakov and Maria, were well known to Metropolitan Anastassy, who visited them many times both in Odessa and Constantinople. They were generous donors toward the needs of the Church. It was in their memory that Serge Semenenko, whom Metropolitan Anastassy had known since he was 11 years old, made his donation.

“The angel cried unto her that is full of grace:
O Pure Virgin, rejoice, and again, I say rejoice;
for Thy Son hath risen from the grave on the third day…”
Paschal Matins – 9th Irmos

CHRIST IS RISEN!

Christ’s Resurrection is an indescribable joy!  On Pascha we feel the weight of this temporal life, for a brief moment, and then purged from our souls and replaced with the love of Christ for us.  Let us reminisce of how on the Day of Resurrection we do not feel any negativity towards each other, but only brotherly love, compassion and care towards each other - former adversaries become comrades; competitors turn into friends; strangers become acquaintances.  Our Lord and Saviour’s Glorious Victory over death means not only that death no longer has dominion over us, but also we begin to personally experience the love that radiates from God towards all Creation.  It is only through this bond of love of God towards us that we can explain how Christ’s suffering and crucifixion can be turned into something beautiful and uplifting.

            The Mother of God exemplifies this manifested beauty Christ’s Resurrection has to offer to man...

Most Reverend Brother Archpastors, Beloved in the Lord Fathers, Brothers, and Sisters:

With joy and thankfulness in my heart, I greet you on this salvific night of Pascha, when our Lord Jesus Christ rose on the third day, pouring out His unfailing love and mercy on the whole world.

CHRIST IS RISEN!

This radiant and joyous Paschal greeting has the wonderworking power to call forth in the human heart joy, forgiveness of all, and love. "This… day which the Lord hath made" (Psalm 118:24) – Christ’s Pascha – gives wings of faith to those of little faith and strengthens those who despair of life. Truly, in a world frequently faced with crises and uncertainty, Pascha shines like a beacon of hope. Thus, in these difficult times, when mankind is seized by various misfortunes, let us hold fast to the Risen Christ and find in Him consolation amidst sorrows, strength in our ongoing struggle with sin, and surety of eternal life!

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill toward men. (Luke 2:14)

Your Graces, Reverend Fathers, Brothers and Sisters!

It is with the Incarnation of the Word that man can realize God’s infinite and boundless love for His creation.  Out of love for us did the Son of God humble Himself to become man, in order to heal the relationship between God and man.  Before the humble birth of Christ, in the Bethlehem cave, St. Gregory the Dialogist writes in his Dialogues, “With sin we were so distant from God that the angels, God’s citizens, eliminated us from their company.”  The rift created by the Fall between God and man was so great that it reverberated to every aspect of Creation and tore asunder the bond of love that tied the Heavens to the earth.  “It was not until the King of the Heavens took upon our flesh’, St. Gregory further writes, ‘that the Angels restored peace with us (humanity)… and once again considered us their companions.”  It is for that reason that the angelic choir appeared to the shepherds singing, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill toward men” (Luke 2:14)...

Eminent Brother-Archpastors, Reverend Fathers, Beloved in the Lord, Brothers and Sisters:

It is with feelings of humble gratitude, love and joy in the Lord that I greet everyone on this great and most joyous celebration of the Nativity of Christ—the arrival on earth of the incarnate Son of God born to the Most-Blessed Virgin Mary. May the saving grace of God, appearing now in a humble Bethlehem cave and shining upon the waters of the Jordan River, be poured forth upon us all, visiting our homes, parishes and monasteries with unearthly light and peace!

We pray also that the Holy Land, which quenched the Savior’s thirst with its waters and fed with its bread Him Who is for us even Himself our food and drink, be sated with the peace heralded by the angelic choir over the city of Bethlehem! May the Lord strengthen the clergymen and monastics of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, who are enduring difficult times as they preserve and protect our holy sites. Their courageous podvig, in the words of St John the Wonderworker, who was glorified 30 years ago, “evokes a feeling of tenderness and is worthy of reverence,” and it is our holy duty to send them our support in these sacred days.

Christmas Message
from Patriarch KIRILL of Moscow and All Rus’
to the Archpastors, Pastors, Deacons, Monastics
and All Faithful Children of the Russian Orthodox Church
Beloved in the Lord archpastors, all-honourable presbyters and deacons,
God-loving monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters,

The unutterable love of God has gathered us today so that in the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph 4:3) we may celebrate one of the most solemn and at the same time mysterious feasts of the Church – the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Glorifying our Saviour’s coming into the world, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all of you, my beloved, on the joyful event, which opened a new era in the relationship between God and humanity.