Source: Eastern American Diocese (ROCOR)
December 21, 2017
On Sunday, December 17, the feast day of the Holy Great-Martyr Barbara, celebrations were held at St. Alexander Nevsky Diocesan Cathedral in honor of the 90th birthday of the cathedral’s pastor emeritus, dean of New Jersey, and president of the Synodal Arts & Architecture Commission, Protopresbyter Valery Lukianov. The eve prior, the wonderworking Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God, renowned throughout the Russian Diaspora, was brought down from Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY, accompanied by monastery clergy, seminarians, and members of the seminary choir.
The festal All-Night Vigil and Divine Liturgy were celebrated by Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal & Canada. His Eminence was co-served at Liturgy by Fr. Valery, cathedral dean Archpriest Serge Lukianov, Archpriests Michael Taratuchin (rector of St. John of Kronstadt Memorial Church in Utica, NY), Petro Kunitsky (cleric of Holy New Martyrs & Confessors of Russia Church in Brooklyn, NY), Boris Slootsky (cathedral cleric), Vasily Raskovskiy (diocesan cleric), and Rafael Melendez (Albanian Orthodox Church), and Peter Heers (professor at Holy Trinity Seminary), Abbots Eutychius (Dovganyuk; diocesan cleric) and Cyprian (Alexandrou; cleric of Holy Trinity Monastery), Archpriests Athanasios Kyritsis (Orthodox Church of Greece), Seraphim Chemodakov (cathedral cleric), Protodeacons Joseph Jarostchuk (cleric of St. John of Kronstadt Memorial Church), Stephen Howanetz (cleric of St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Mayfield, PA), Nicholas Lukianov, Leonid Roschko, and Paul Drozdowski (cathedral clerics), and Deacons Michael Pavuk (cleric of St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Mayfield) and Sergei Kosov (cleric of Holy Trinity Monastery).
The All-Night Vigil was sung by a joint male choir of singers from the diocesan cathedral and Holy Trinity Seminary, under the direction Alexandra Lukianov. Divine Liturgy was sung by the cathedral’s mixed choir.
The church was filled with worshippers, who had come from various states to congratulate Fr. Valery and wish him good health and many years of life.
Upon completion of the service, a multitude of the faithful communed of Christ’s Holy Mysteries from three chalices.
Letters of congratulation on his jubilee were sent to Fr. Valery from the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev & All Ukraine, and the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America & New York, who was performing an archpastoral visit to the Diocese of Australia & New Zealand.
...Read the rest at Eastern American Diocese (ROCOR).
