« On St. Demetrius Parental Saturday, His Grace Bishop Matthew celebrated the Liturgy at St. Nicholas Church in Bayonne »

On November 2, 2024, on St. Demetrius Parental Saturday and the day of remembrance of the Great Martyr Artemius, Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, Temporary Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA and Canada, visited St. Nicholas Church in Bayonne, New Jersey, where he celebrated the Divine Liturgy.

At the entrance to the church, Vladyka was warmly greeted by the students of the Sunday School and members of the Parish Committee. Vladyka was assisted at the service by the Rector of the church, Dean of the Eastern States, Archpriest Mikhail Kapchits, acting  Secretary of the Diocese, Hegumen Nikodim (Balyasnikov), Rector of the Church of All Saints Who Shone Forth in the Russian Land of the Patriarchal Estate in Pine Bush, Priest Artemy Kulikovsky, as well as clergy of the St.Nicholas Church, Priest Dimitry Sukhorukov and Deacon Nikolai Arabidze. The deacon's rank was led by the head of the service of the hierarchical protocol, Deacon Alexei Golubov.

At the Little Entrance, for his zealous service for the good of the Church and in connection with his name day, Priest Artemy was awarded by Bishop Matthew his first liturgical award - the right to wear a nabedrennik.

During the service, Vladyka offered up special prayers for the repose of deceased hierarchs, clergy and laity of the Russian Orthodox Church who carried out their obedience in North America.

At the end of the Liturgy, the Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA and Canada was warmly greeted by Rector of the church, Fr. Mikhail Kapchits. Vladyka thanked the Rector for the warm welcome and the significant assistance that Fr. Mikhail provides to Vladyka in his archpastoral labours in the USA, as well as his multifaceted sacrificial service to people both as an Orthodox pastor and as a physician – Doctor of Medical Sciences. 

At the request of Bishop Matthew, in recognition of his diligent work and the 60th anniversary of his birth, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' awarded Archpriest Mikhail Kapchits a high award of the Russian Orthodox Church – the Order of St.Luke the Confessor (Voino-Yasenetsky), 3rd degree. 

Vladyka cordially congratulated the awarded clergy on the well-deserved signs of attention from the Holy Synod, thanked the participants of the divine service for their joint prayers and called upon God's blessing on everyone so that they could be worthy successors of our predecessors in the holy work of preaching Orthodoxy in North America.

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