Source: The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
November 16, 2015
On Sunday, November 8, 2015, the feast day of Great Martyr Dimitry of Thessaloniki, Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the Synodal Cathedral of Our Lady “of the Sign” in New York by His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York. His Eminence was joined by Protopriest Andrei Sommer, Senior Priest of the cathedral; Protopriest Vasily Raskovsky; Hieromonk Evtikhy (Dovganiuk); Protodeacon Nicolas Mokhoff; Protodeacon Vadim Gan, as well as other clergymen gathering to attend an event dedicated to the 6 th anniversary of the death of Priest Daniil Sysoev, including Priest Georgy Maksimov (teacher at Sretensky Seminary in Moscow) and Hieromonk Savvaty (Ageev), Rector of St Nicholas Church of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA in Redding, PA. A sermon was delivered by Fr Georgy on the Gospel reading about the rich man and Lazarus, during which he stressed the importance of fulfilling God’s commandments.
The sisterhood then offered a luncheon in the church hall.
At 2 pm, Metropolitan Hilarion gave the opening speech at an event marking the 6 th anniversary of the death of the renowned missionary, Priest Daniil Sysoev, a leader in the missionary movement in contemporary Russia, who was granted a martyr’s end on November 19, 2009, in the Church of Apostle Thomas in Moscow, which he built. His Eminence noted that Fr Daniil “was able to argue convincingly and calmly, with love, and leave his opponents no option but to agree with him. It was this measured, accessible and uncompromising witness to the truth that we need today. This is the kind of renewed preaching we are in such need of today.” Among the guests were Fr Daniil’s widow, Yulia Sysoeva, Fr Dionisy Pozdnyaev, rector of SS Peter and Paul Church in Hong Kong, who studied in Moscow Theological Seminary with him, and Fr Georgy Maksimov, an Orthodox scholar and Professor of Theology, head of the Apologetics Division of the Synodal Missionary Department and member of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as Sergei Stanilovsky, head of the Fr Daniil Sysoev Foundation. Acting as interpreter was Deacon Nathan Williams of St Alexander Nevsky Church in Richmond, ME.
The speakers shared their memories of Fr Daniil and his missionary service. At the end of the event, books and DVDs of the sermons of the martyred priest were offered for sale.
