St. Michael the Archangel Russian Orthodox Church
A Patriarchal Parish in the USA
335 Fairmount Avenue Philadelphia
Paschal Message

 
 
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
 
Once again this year, as sure as the dawn follows the dark, we will stand aright before the glowing radiance of the Holy Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. With the Light that never fails illumining the candles that we will carry in the Cross Procession at midnight, we will once again this year sing: “The angels in heaven praise Thy Resurrection, O Christ Our Savior! Make us also who are on earth worthy to glorify Thee with a pure heart!”
 
Just as in the familiar hymn, “Every Generation” each and every year has inherited the promise of eternal life that comes only from the empty tomb, the tomb in which Joseph of Arimathea laid the body of Christ, the tomb from which Our Lord emerged triumphant after His victory over death. We should make no mistake; this is not a hope, this is reality, reality in that each and every year, no matter what happens in the secular world, every generation will celebrate the joy that manifests itself on each and every Pascha, the Feast of Feasts, the Triumph of Triumphs!
 
With love in the Risen Christ,
Fr. Gregory
Great Lent 2023

Fr. Gregory has put out a schedule for the months of March and April with the dates and times of the Lenten services he will be serving.  It can be viewed here. Also provided is a Lenten Calendar for your convenience and a list of Sunday Lenten Vespers put out by the Philadelphia Brotherhood of Orthodox Clergy. 

Please consider attending these services as we journey through lent.

2023 Church Council

Fr. John Vass, our Dean, celebrated Divine Liturgy on February 5 in our parish.  The 2023 Church Council was sworn in following Liturgy. An updated list can be found here.

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Christmas Message By Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, Interim Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA

Dear fathers, brothers and sisters!

I wholeheartedly greet all of you on the blessed feast of the Nativity of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ!

In these holy days full of Christmas joy, all our hearts with trembling and reverence rush to "God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory (1 Tim. 3:16)”. This is one of the many mysteries of the spiritual world invisible to us - the mystery of the Incarnation, in which the incomprehensible power and depth of the infinite love of God's Son is manifested both for humanity as a whole and for each of us. He came into the world to bring hope to our hearts and open to us the path of salvation.

And today, in the days of difficulties and severe trials, we trust in the Lord with all our hearts, because we believe that the Lord God is “an everlasting stronghold” and in Him “our strength and eternal salvation (Isaiah 26:4).”

Sharing with you the joy of the great feast, I sincerely wish you spiritual and physical health, and I pray with you that the feast of the Nativity of Christ will become for all of us a day of our spiritual enlightenment and rebirth, that the coming New Year be filled with peace and prosperity. The way the Nativity light of the Star of Bethlehem will sanctify us with Divine grace and fill our hearts with infinite joy, the gracious spirit of peace, love and hope.

I invoke God's blessing on all of you. With love in the newborn Savior,

+Matthew,
Bishop of Sourozh
Interim Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA & Canada

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