"Rejoice, thou who art full of grace!"

On Monday, September 1, the myrrh-streaming Hawaiian-Iveron icon of the Mother of God visited Holy Apostles Church in Beltsville, MD. The parish meets for worship in an office park, in a small, 1,250 square foot space, where it has been since 2002.

Parish rector Priest Christopher Johnson and Deacon Christopher Capp served a moleben and akathist before the icon. Additional clergy present at the service were: Archpriests Gregory Safchuk (rector of St. Mark OCA Church in Bethesda, MD) and John Johnson (rector of St. Thecla Church in Wheaton, MD), Priest Nectarios Yangson (guardian of the Hawaiian Icon), and Deacon Seraphim Andov (cleric of Holy Theotokos of Iveron Church in Kailua HI).

Archpriest George Johnson of Holy Apostles Church was ill and unable to attend but after the service, he and Matushka Deborah were blessed by a visit to their home of the holy Icon, when Fr. Nectarios anointed Fr. George with holy myrrh.

In the hymn entitled "To thee, the Champion Leader," which was sung during the akathist, the word "leader" is rendered as воевода ("voevoda") in Church Slavonic, having a more martial flavor. On this radiant night, our Most Holy Mother’s awesome power was indeed manifested. It was the miracle of Pentecost in Beltsville, Maryland.

The parking lot, with enough spaces to serve 26 office park units, is normally empty on Labor Day. But this evening, it was full of cars. The small church at Twin Chimneys Office Park was packed, and an overflow crowd assembled outside the door, spilling out into the lawn and parking lot. An estimate by the warden placed attendance at 200 people indoors, and at least another 50 outside, probably more, exceeding that of any service celebrated at Holy Apostles since its founding in 2001.

The faithful outside were streaming the live service on their phones and, as they did so in real time, they prostrated themselves to the ground at the appropriate times during the evening. All of the faithful were anointed by Fr. Christopher Johnson with the fragrant myrrh which streamed abundantly from the holy icon. There was a constant stream of people approaching to be anointed, both those inside and those who came in from outside the church. The anointing lasted about an hour. It is very moving to watch the livestream of this wondrous event, available on the parish YouTube channel.

There were people present from about 20 different Orthodox churches, representing many jurisdictions. Also present were people from Protestant and Catholic churches and inquirers into the Orthodox Faith. Two blind people, a paralyzed man, and many sick people came to ask for the Mother of God’s intercessions and to be anointed.

The parishioners of Holy Apostles were overwhelmed with awe at the unexpected large number of people in attendance at their small office park church. Glory to God, there are 32 Orthodox churches within 25 miles of Holy Apostles, and 71 Orthodox churches within 100 miles. This is such a wonderful thing – the Holy Orthodox Faith is thriving in the greater Washington area! On this night, it seemed as if many of the people from these surrounding churches were packed into the little office park church.

The parishioners of Holy Apostles are fervently praying to the Theotokos to help them to plant her Son’s vineyard in Beltsville, building a new parish hall and restoring and renovating the lovely historic 1880 brick chapel, which was given to the parish in 2009. Parishioners long for the day when their little parish can move out of the office park, into their permanent parish home which the Lord has given them. They ask the readers of this article, to pray with them for this goal.

If you are looking for a parish in which you can be planted and grow deep roots, you are invited to come visit Holy Apostles and consider making it your parish home. As Fr. Christopher said in a recent interview: choose a parish, plant yourself and your family there, and you will grow spiritually and help others to find our holy Orthodox Faith. If you are an inquirer or new to Orthodoxy, visit some parishes and then, with fervent prayer to the Lord, ask Him to help you to find your home.

If you are not new to the Faith but have found yourself wandering from church to church, remember that a plant grows only when it is rooted in good ground, and a parish grows by the prayer and sacrifices of its members, working together in the vineyard toward their salvation, as a family. This is parish life, and the true and best means of evangelizing our neighbors and thus spreading the Faith in our native land. St. Tikhon of Moscow said, "The spread of Christ’s Faith ought to be near and precious to the heart of every Christian."

Thanks be to God for this wonderful visitation from the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, our True God! O Most Holy Theotokos, save us!