McKeesport, Pennsylvania, November 21, 2022
Photo: eadiocese.org
Earlier this month, the parish of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia) in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, celebrated its 105th anniversary.
The celebration began on Saturday evening, November 12. Parish rector Archpriest Dimitri Ermakov celebrated the All-Night Vigil, and His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas, the First Hierarch of ROCOR, prayed in the altar and anointed the faithful, reports the Eastern American Diocese of ROCOR.
The next morning, Met. Nicholas celebrated the Liturgy with Fr. Dimitri and visiting clergy of ROCOR, the Orthodox Church in America, and the Moscow Patriarchate.
During the service, a parish reader was ordained a subdeacon, an altar server was tonsured a reader, and Deacon Andrei Garine was elevated to the rank of protodeacon.
At the end of the service, Met. Nicholas presented the parish with an icon of the Archangel Gabriel that had belonged to his predecessor, His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion. He asked all the faithful to remember Met. Hilarion in their prayers for the departed.
Fr. Dimitri and Matushka Natalia were then presented with a diocesan gramota for their dedicated service to the Church.
The anniversary was then celebrated with a grand banquet, during which it was noted that the parish has been blessed with a stable life. Since 1935, there have been only three parish rectors: Archpriest Peter Kreta (1935-1970), Archpriest Dimitri H. Ermakov (1970-1999), and Archpriest Dimitri D. Ermakov (1999-present).
At the end of the festivities, Met. Nicholas presented Fr. Dimitri with a jeweled cross in honor of the centennial of ROCOR celebrated in 2020.
Last week, OrthoChristian reported on the anniversaries of two OCA parishes.
Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!
