On the great feast of the Entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday), the All-Night Vigil on Saturday the 12th and Divine Liturgy on the 13th of April in the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign in New York City were officiated by Metropolitan Nicholas of Eastern America & New York. Serving alongside the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad were cathedral clerics: dean Archpriest Andrei Sommer, Archpriest Seraphim Chemodakov, Hieromonk Theognost (Kogan), and Protodeacons Nicolas Mokhoff and Serge Arlievsky.

The Synodal choir sang masterfully under the direction of Vadim S. Gan.

The services were held under the aegis of the Protectress of the Russian Diaspora ‒ the wonderworking Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God.

Numerous parishioners and believers from other churches in the city gathered to pray in the Synodal Cathedral. Most of these received Christ’s Holy Mysteries.

Upon conclusion of Liturgy, His Eminence congratulated those gathered on the feast and in his sermon told us what the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem teaches us.

Traditionally, on Palm Sunday, a collection was held in the cathedral to benefit the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.

His Eminence served a litia for Archpriest Alexis Kotar (dean of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Seattle, WA), who reposed in the Lord that morning.

In the cathedral hall, the sisterhood arranged a festal meal for the clergy and faithful.