On Bright Monday, April 13, Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan, vicar of the Eastern American Diocese, celebrated the Divine Liturgy in St. Alexander Nevsky Diocesan Cathedral in Howell, NJ. Prior to the start of the service, the clergy exited the church to the peal of bells to greet the bishop, and returned in procession, chanting the Troparion of Christ’s Resurrection.

At the festal Liturgy, His Grace was co-served by cathedral clerics: Protopresbyter Valery Lukianov (pastor emeritus), Archpriest Serge Lukianov (cathedral dean), Archpriest Boris Slootsky, Priest Seraphim Chemodakov, Protodeacon Leonid Roschko, and Deacon Paul Drozdowski, as well as visiting clergy: Archpriest Rafael Melendez (Albanian Orthodox Church), Priest Leonid Goferman (rector of Holy Protection Church in New Brunswick, NJ), and Priest Serge Ledkovsky (deputy rector of St. Vladimir Memorial Church in Jackson, NJ. The Liturgy took place under the aegis of the Protectress of the Russian Diaspora – the wonderworking Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God, which had just returned on the eve of Pascha from her travels to the Diocese of Australia & New Zealand.

Upon completion of the service, Bishop Nicholas addressed the faithful with a sermon, in which he recalled, in part, the final living hours of Christ the Savior before His glorious Resurrection, when He was abandoned at the Cross by everyone but the myrrh-bearing women and the Holy Apostle John. "But even then Christ was alone, because when the Savior was taken to be tried and crucified, even the myrrhbearers lost hope. But one faithful man was found – Joseph of Arimathea, a secret follower of the Savior, who then openly professed his faith. And early in the morning, when the myrrh-bearing women came to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, they were met by the risen Lord Himself, and heard the first preaching of the New Testament. The Lord says to the myrrhbearers: ‘Rejoice!’ And truly, we celebrate all of these days as a single day, when the angels and saints rejoice, and when we ourselves must rejoice, as well – rejoice in that we have the Holy Church, the Church Sacraments, and that we have one another."

Bishop Nicholas congratulated the clergy and faithful with the glorious feast of Christ’s Resurrection and wished that the clergy, altar servers, singers, and faithful might always preserve the joy of Pascha in their hearts.

After the Liturgy, a procession was held around the cathedral, and prominently featured the parish’s children and young students from the Russian School. The traditional and much-loved Easter Egg Hunt was organized for the children, while adult parishioners proceeded to the church’s refectory, where a festal luncheon was offered, and where interaction between the hierarch, clergy, and parishioners continued.