On Friday the 10th and Saturday the 11th of September, St. Matrona Mission held its first services in Versailles, KY. Priest Jonah Campbell, mission rector and rector of Christ the Savior Church in Wayne, WV, served the All-Night Vigil and celebrated Divine Liturgy for the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. Protodeacon Jeremiah Davis (mission secretary and cleric of Christ the Savior Church) assisted Fr. Jonah at the divine services. There were 21 men, women, and children in attendance, and many of them received Christ’s Holy Mysteries.

In his homily, Fr. Jonah spoke about the great significance of the day, which was both a solemn Church feast and the 20th anniversary of 9/11 terrorist attacks. He exhorted those working to establish the new Central Kentucky parish to focus on acquiring a spirit of peace and holiness, and on guarding the mind from sinful and distracting thoughts.

Immediately following Divine Liturgy, Fr. Jonah received a local man as a catechumen. The parish sisterhood provided a lovely fellowship meal.

St. Matrona Mission is a new parish of the Eastern American Diocese in the Greater Lexington area of Kentucky. His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion blessed the establishment of the mission earlier this year. St. Matrona Mission holds services in space provided by St. Andrew Anglican Church in Versailles. For more information, please contact Fr. Jonah Campbell, at frjonah@gmail.com.