On Saturday the 18th and Sunday the 19th of September, parishioners of the New Kursk Root Hermitage in Mahopac, NY held their annual celebrations in honor of the upcoming patronal feast day of the monastery’s main church, dedicated to the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.

At the All-Night Vigil on Saturday evening, His Grace, Bishop Jerome led the litia and polyeleos.

On Sunday morning, following his arrival from Synod, the greeting of Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal & Canada took place. Concelebrating with the hierarchs at Divine Liturgy were Archpriest Alexander Donchenko (rector of St. Nicholas Church in Poughkeepsie, NY) and parish clergy: Priest George Temidis (rector of the hermitage) and Deacons Alexey Pnev and Konstantin Aleshin.

Archbishop Gabriel delivered a sermon in which he touched on the Gospel parable of the wicked vinedressers, and spoke about our responsibility to know well and understand our Faith and remain faithful Christians to our Church. His Eminence noted the new blue cupolas with golden stars, recently installed on the church thanks to donations by parishioners and pilgrims, and thanked the parish and rector for their active participating in adorning the New Kursk Root Hermitage.

A majority of parishioners and guests communed of Christ’s Holy Mysteries. A small choir sang well and prayerfully under the direction of Maxim Needlman.

After Liturgy, the traditional procession was held around the church with an antique church icon of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos and with the Mahopac copy of the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God "of the Sign." On this warm, sunny day, drowning in the bright green of the forest, it was as though the New Kursk Root Hermitage was rejoicing along with the worshippers – a gentle breeze blew, the bright sun warmed the faithful, and people processed around the adorned church with gonfalons and icons, to the singing of the choir, pausing for the reading of the Gospel and sprinkling with holy water.

In August of this year, several large icons were discovered during a cleanup in the attic, and it was decided to start raising funds for their restoration. Among them are an icon of the Holy Hierarch Nicholas the Wonderworker, an icon of the Mother of God from 1911 badly weathered by time, an icon of the Holy Great-Martyr George on canvas, an icon of the Holy Myrrh-bearing Women at the Tomb of the Savior, and a full-length icon of the Holy Archangel Michael, which had been one of the deacon’s doors to the altar. This icon of St. Michael was clearly once part of the first iconostasis of the church at the New Kursk Root Hermitage, painted with his mother by the future Bishop Daniel (+2010) of Erie, at the time still the young artist Dimitri Alexandrow. Many icons in the iconostasis were significantly or even irreparably damaged by a 1994 fire in the church. The parish began raising funds to restore newly found icons, and will be grateful for any size donation. Checks can be made out to "Nativity of the Holy Mother of God" and sent to the below address:

Nativity of the Holy Mother of God Church
1050 Route 6
Mahopac, NY 10541.

Upon completion of Liturgy, a traditional bountiful luncheon was organized for all those present. Many ate next to the pond at tables set under century-old maples. Archbishop Gabriel walked with some of the guests to the lakeside chapel built by Ivan I. Nikonenko and blessed in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "of the Passion" in 1964. People remained at the monastery and interacted for a long time.

In honor of the 70th anniversary of the Hermitage, last year the parish prepared and published a Russian-language commemorative book that tells the story of the construction and difficult fate of the New Kursk Root Hermitage in Mahopac, from the days of its founding by Archbishop Seraphim (Ivanov; +1987) to today.

The commemorative book can be purchased in church for $25.00 (unfortunately, the parish cannot ship the book) or by placing an order online for $25.99 plus shipping and handling, available at this link. It includes recollections, documents, eyewitness accounts, and letters excerpts, as well as 350 photographs on 120 pages. The commemorative book is sold at cost, with no overhead, on the hope that a many people as possible are able to discover the Hermitage and its example – the mission of Russian Orthodoxy in America.