Centennial Year Church Services

June 19, 2005 -   Holy Pentecost - the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles (icon below left) - occurs on the fiftieth day after Holy Pascha and always on a Sunday. This day is considered the "birthday", as it were, of the Orthodox Christian Church inasmuch as it was on this day that the Apostles were infused by the Holy Spirit with the ability to speak and understand multiple tongues. It was from this day forward that the Apostles went forth into the entire known world at that time to preach the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The Feast Day is observed at SS. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church - in her one hundredth year - with Great Vespers with Litiya on the eve of the Feast Day and with Divine Liturgy and the Vespers of Pentecost with Kneeling Prayers on the day of the Feast. The fifty day period of abstinence from penitential kneeling between Holy Pascha and Holy Pentecost comes to an end. Clergy and parishioners wear green vestments and green articles of clothing, respectively, and the Church is adorned in greenery, both inside and out. The joy and magnitude of the Feast is such that there is no fast in the week which follows Pentecost, one of the few weeks in the year where there is no fast. The day following the Feast Day of Holy Pentecost is dedicated to the Third Person of the Holy Trinity - the Holy Spirit (icon of the New Testament Trinity is below right) - and Divine Liturgy is celebrated on this day as well. The Divine Liturgy and the Vespers which followed were concelebrated by the Rector of SS. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, Rev. David F. Garretson, and by the Pastor Emeritus of our parish, V. Rev. Sergius S. Kuharsky. Rev. Kuharsky sang the Great Gradual (Prokimen) of Pentecost Vespers ("Who is so great a God as our God? Thou art God who doest wonders.") in his sonorous bass voice this day, as he has done for some thirty years in our parish. Below are scenes from the Divine Liturgy on the morning of the feast, accompanied by the Epistle and Gospel readings for the day. Appended to this photoreport as well are the observance of Father's Day in our Church and the blessing of the new bell system donated to our Church by the Men's Club of SS. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church.

You may click on the panoramic composite photo above to view an enlarged image.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

You may click on the photo above to view an enlarged image.

And they were amazed and wondered, saying, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God." (Acts 2:1-11).

You may click on the photo above left to view an enlarged image.

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, "If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. When they heard these words, some of the people said, "This is really the prophet." Others said, "This is the Christ." But some said, "Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ is descended from David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?" So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

The officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why did you not bring him?" The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this man!" The Pharisees answered them, "Are you led astray, you also? Have any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, who do not know the law, are accursed." Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, "Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?" They replied, "Are you from Galilee too? Search and you will see that no prophet is to rise from Galilee." Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 7:37-52,8:12)

This Sunday was also Father's Day. Those fathers of our parish, both living and reposed, were honored and commemorated this day. Above right, Mrs. Carol Deerson pins a carnation on the lapel of Mr. Edward Boshko before the beginning of Divine Liturgy. Below left, a brief requiem for reposed fathers was held at the conclusion of the Vespers of Holy Pentecost. Below right, the "Many Years" was sung for our living fathers.

You may click on the photo above left to view an enlarged image.

Holy Pentecost also marked the occasion of the blessing of the new bell system for the Church which was donated by the Men's Club of SS. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church. Members of the Men's Club (photo above left) gathered with Father David at the back of the Church before Divine Liturgy for the brief blessing service. Below right, Men's Club President, Mr. Lou Silva, is shown reading a passage from the Book of Needs whence the brief blessing service was taken. Below left and right, Father David is shown praying with the members of the Men's Club.

The new system consists of two solid state components capable of playing both pre-recorded and programmed selections of bell ringing as well as custom selections of bell ringing as may be found on CDs. The new system replaces the old vacuum tube system, circa 1960, which was the size of a small kitchen refrigerator. Above right, at 42 seconds before 9:00 a.m., the bell system was officially consecrated to the Glory of God. Below, festive braches decorate the Cross outside the Church Hall.

return to photos menu

return to homepage

 

---

Copyright © 2005, Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, South River, NJ