WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th September, 2021) The Russian Orthodox church St. Alexander Nevsky in Howell, New Jersey, will celebrate the 800-years anniversary of its patron saint by serving hierarchal worships, special Cross procession, liturgical choral concert and a Cossacks presentation, the cathedral's rector father Serge Lukianov told Sputnik on Friday.
"Our services will start on September 11. We are expecting the miraculous Kursk icon of the Mother of God and the miraculous mirth-streaming Hawaiian Iveron icon of Mother of God, which are arriving," Lukianov said. "On Sunday morning, September 12, at the day of feast, we will have a liturgy and a special procession around the church."
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral) will lead both services. Six bishops will co-serve, including bishop Feoktist, who is coming from Pereslavl-Zelessky in Russia, the city where St. Alexander was born.
Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky is one of the greatest Russian heroes, who served as Prince of Novgorod, Grand Prince of Kiev and Grand Prince of Vladimir during some of the most difficult times in the history of Kievan Rus. He preserved Russian statehood and Russian Orthodox Christianity by reaching an agreement with the Golden Horde in the East and fighting against the Livonian Order in the West.
The Russian Orthodox Church announced 2021 as the year of Alexander Nevsky.
The church in Howell is one of the largest and oldest Russian parishes in the United States, founded in 1936.
Lukianov said the church is also celebrating its own 85th anniversary.
"For this feast, we had commissioned the beautiful icon of Alexander Nevsky icon to be painting," he said.
The icon depicts the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, Russia, and two only churches dedicated to him in North America - in the US cities of Howell and in Richmond, Maine, Lukianov said.
Church services will be followed by a special concert of the youth choir, named Osanna, which will present pieces for Alexander Nevsky, as well as traditional "horse dancing" presented by Kuban Cossacks, Lukianov added.
