On Sunday, December 22, when the Holy Church celebrates the Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos by Righteous Anna and venerates the icon of the Mother of God "Unexpected Joy", Bishop Jerome (Shaw) paid an archpastoral visit to the eponymous church in Staten Island, NY, and celebrated Divine Liturgy on the occasion of the parish’s patronal feast.

Concelebrating with His Grace were: Archpriest Serge Lukianov (dean of New Jersey), Archpriest Vasily Zelenyuk (parish rector), Abbot Arseny (Manko; diocesan cleric), Abbot Eutychius (Dovgan; abbot of St. Nicholas Skete in Freehold, NJ), and Deacons Alexander Sarandinaki (cleric of St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Howell, NJ) and Alexis Golubov (cleric of St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral in New York City).

Many parishioners believers from other churches in Brooklyn, New York, and New Jersey gathered to pray at the service and share the joy of the feast. Many communed of Christ’s Holy Mysteries.

The clergy served a short moleben before the festal icon.

Bishop Jerome addressed those present with a sermon on the Gospel reading and the feast, in which, in part, he noted that in the Parable of the Ten Lepers, the Lord reproaches the other nine ‒ why they did not give thanks to God, as only one of them did? "We must reflect on what joys ‒ unexpected and expected ‒ we receive from the Lord, but we do not always return to thank God and the Most Holy Theotokos."

Bishop Jerome also spoke about the history of the feast of the icon of the Mother of God "Unexpected Joy," and spoke about a man who had large, vast lands and, nevertheless, seized money from and abused the people who lived on his lands.

"When this rich man was dying, the Most Holy Theotokos asked her Son to have mercy on him and free him from his posthumous torments. And Christ said that He would do this only for her sake, His Mother, because it is proper to honor one’s parents, and the Son of God cannot violate this commandment. We often receive grace from the Lord God, but instead of thanking Him, we think that it is accidental, and when we have misfortunes, something painful happens in our lives, then our fallen nature often grumbles at God."

His Grace also said: "Today is a dual feast: we also celebrate the Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos by St. Anna. This is the day when Catholics celebrate the Immaculate Conception. But not everyone understands the difference between these two feasts. The Immaculate Conception does not refer to the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. In addition, the Blessed Virgin Mary, according to Catholic teaching, was born without original sin, that she was not partaker of fallen human nature. There is an error in this, because the Most Holy Theotokos had a choice – she could have refused and not accepted the good news of the Archangel Gabriel that she was to become the Mother of Jesus Christ.

"She had free will, and to say that she was already chosen for this service before birth, without her decision, without her will ‒ this fact takes something away from the Theotokos, that the Lord God saw that she would agree. Yes, God knows everything, but He does not take away free will and does not take away from the Most Holy Theotokos the honor that we give her not only for the unexpected joys that she sends us in earthly life, but also for the fact that she freely agreed to become the Mother of God."

Fr. Vasily thanked Bishop Jerome and the clergy for their joint prayers.

The sisterhood of the church then prepared a delicious festal meal for all, during which the cordial interaction between the clergy and the faithful continued.

Parish Information

The parish of Our Lady "Unexpected Joy" was founded in 2008 with the blessing of Bishop Gabriel of Manhattan (now Archbishop of Montreal & Canada). Its first rector was Archpriest George Kallaur. The church did not have its own building and therefore rented several buildings in different places.

On May 25, 2023, Archpriest Vasily Zelenyuk was appointed rector of the parish by Metropolitan Nicholas of Eastern America & New York.

The parish is currently located at 190 Cebra Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10304.

The iconostasis and liturgical vessels were transferred from a closed church in New Jersey. The rector and parishioners traveled there over the course of a whole month, dismantled the iconostasis and stained-glass windows, collected icons and liturgical vessels, and transported everything to the current church, where it was all installed. The parishioners, under the leadership of the rector, did a great deal of work to reconstruct the interior of the church. Now the church has been transformed, with a magnificent iconostasis in the center by Bishop Daniel (Alexandrov; +2010) and icons by Archpriest Nikolas Papkov adorning it.

As Fr. Vasily said, it remains now to change the floors in the church, install the stained-glass windows, and paint the walls and ceiling. He also noted that the parish is getting stronger every day. Services are held on Sundays and feast days, while on Wednesdays a water-blessing service for the sick is held. After each Sunday service, the sisterhood organizes lunch or coffee hour and the rector conducts Sunday school classes for adults. Small children’s concerts, plays, and "matinee" showcases are organized for feasts. Currently, groups of children gather for Sunday school classes. The parish has website and a Facebook page.

However, there are also problems. The owner of the building where the parish rents a large space for the church on the second floor has decided to sell the building. The parish is trying to find sponsors and benefactors to raise part of the funds for the down payment and arrange a loan for the rest. In total, $1,200,000 is needed for the purchase. With God’s help, it is planned to arrange a spiritual and cultural center in the two-story building: then organize the church on the second floor, while the first floor will host a refectory, classrooms for the school, an apartment for the rector, and two guestrooms. The parish has opened a page on GoFoundMe to raise funds for the purchase of a building for the church and spiritual center in Staten Island.