On Saturday, October 31, and Sunday, November 1, His Grace, Eastern American Diocesan vicar Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan, paid an archpastoral visit to St. John of Kronstadt Memorial Church in Utica, NY, and led the parish’s patronal feast day.

His Grace led the All-Night Vigil on Saturday night, co-served by parish rector Archpriest Michael Taratuchin, Priests Nikolai Meyer (rector of St. George’s Antiochian Church in New Hartford, NY) and Andrei Rudenko (cleric of the Nativity of the Mother of God Church in Albany, NY), and Protodeacons Joseph (parish cleric) and Alexander (cleric of Holy Epiphany Church in Boston, MA) Jarostchuk. His Grace delivered a sermon, in which he touched on an incident that made an impression on him. While he was traveling in Russia with the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God, one of the faithful, approaching Bishop Nicholas for a blessing, said with sadness that there hadn’t been sufficient time to pray before the Icon. His Grace stressed that prayer is something that we must all include in our daily lives, not as a formality, but internalizing our interaction with God, as the Righteous John of Kronstadt did.

The following morning, Hieromonk Anatoly (Zilin; cleric of Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY) performed the blessing of the water, after which Bishop Nicholas was greeted and celebrated the Divine Liturgy, co-served by the above-mentioned clerics (excepting Fr. Nikolai Meyers) and Deacon Peter Markevich (cleric of Holy Trinity Monastery). Praying in the altar were Archpriests Vsevolod Drobot (former rector of the Nativity of the Mother of God Church) and Nicholas Tkatschow (rector of the Entrance of the Mother of God Church in Syracuse, NY).

The rainy morning gave way to sun, which allowed for a procession after Liturgy. In his sermon, Bishop Nicholas stressed that we must look to the example of St. John’s life, which demonstrates for us how to instill our church life in our hearts, truly living an Orthodox lifestyle, not just superficially, but truly internalizing it in our spiritual lives.

Upon completion of the service, a diocesan gramota was awarded to Dr. Alexander Burashnikov in honor of his eight years as treasurer and many years of selfless labors undertaken on behalf of the parish. Certificates of Gratitude from the First Hierarch were issued to Fr. Joseph Jarostchuk and Nina K. Krivsky in honor of their longtime work in the St. John of Kronstadt Memorial Fund. Fr. Joseph, also being honored for his 46 years of diaconal service, has been the treasurer of the Memorial Fund, while Ms. Krivsky has worked in the Fund since its inception in 1954, and handles all correspondence. Since its founding, the Memorial Fund has helped many monasteries, missions, institutions and even individuals in need all over the world.

A luncheon was hosted after the service at local country club. Fr. Vsevolod Drobot offered several words of congratulation to the parish clergy and faithful, and spoke about a priest with whom he had served as an altar boy, who was himself an altar server for St. John of Kronstadt. Bishop Nicholas, in turn, praised the parish for its vibrant life, noting that the recently completed restoration of the frescoes in the church (completed by Ekaterina Piskareva) are a sign that church life in Utica is healthy and very much alive.

"Vladyka spoke from the heart; I think he really reached everybody in the parish," said Fr. Michael Taratuchin. The rector expressed his deep satisfaction with the parish’s patronal feast day, thanked his brother clergy for their prayers, and invited everyone to return next year.

Fr. Michael also related to those present the news of his recent trip to Russia, where he took part in the celebrations in honor of the 25th anniversary of St. John's glorification by the Moscow Patriarchate (1990). Fr. Michael shared touching words by clergy in Russia, who expressed their gratitude to their brothers in the Russian Church Abroad for glorifying St. John in 1964, when the communist government of the Soviet Union prevented them from doing the same. In this way, the memory of St. John of Kronstadt was preserved abroad, and served to strength the bond of love between Russian Orthodox Christians both in the homeland and in the Diaspora.