On Saturday the 27th and Sunday the 28th of December – the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers – His Eminence Nicholas, Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York, paid an archpastoral visit to St. Elizabeth the New-Martyr Church in Columbia, SC. To the joy of the faithful, the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad was accompanied by the Protectress of the Russian Diaspora – the wonderworking Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God.

Metropolitan Nicholas officiated All-Night Vigil on Saturday evening and celebrated Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning, co-served by parish rector Archpriest Mark Mancuso, parish Protodeacons Dimitri Temidis and Columba Wilson, and Deacon Pavel Roudenko.

The faithful venerated the Kursk Root Icon throughout the divine services. As a gift, His Eminence brought many paper copies of Kursk Icon – as well as an icon of the Holy Hieroconfessors Patriarch Tikhon and Jonah of Hankou, commissioned in honor of the centennial of their repose – for distribution to the faithful.

On Sunday morning, the First Hierarch was greeted at the entrance to the church by parish warden Joshua Shaw, who thanked him for his archpastoral visit and asked for his prayers as the parish continues to grow and thrive with God’s help.

At the Sixth Hour, the Metropolitan tonsured Thomas Venkatesh a reader for service at St. Peter the Aleut Mission in White Pine, TN.

In his sermon, Metropolitan Nicholas first noted how appropriate it was for the Kursk Root Icon – in which the Mother of God is surrounded by the Holy Prophets who foretold the coming of her Divine Son, including Moses, Daniel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah – to visit on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers, when we commemorate the righteous of the Old Testament. His Eminence then spoke on the Gospel reading for the Sunday, wherein our Lord compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a "great supper", to which the master of the house summoned those invited beforehand. But these made many excuses, citing worldly cares. And so the Lord called "the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind," and when there was still room in his house, invited those along "the highways and hedges" to attend.

The Metropolitan called on the faithful not to make excuses when it comes to our spiritual life, but to attend the "great supper" – the divine services and ultimately eternal life. He pointed to the Mother of God and the Holy Forefathers as examples of those who did not make excuses, but instead heard the summons of their Lord to the supper, and came.

His Eminence greeted the clergy, parishioners, and guests. He thanked Fr. Mark for his diligent service in the deanery and the Diocesan Council, and Matushka Anne Mancuso for her labors in the sisterhood and assisting Fr. Mark. He presented them with an icon of the Holy Hierarch John of Shanghai & San Francisco, with a piece of the saint’s relics.

After Liturgy, the sisterhood prepared a festal meal in the parish hall, during which fellowship between the clergy and faithful continued long into the day, until the First Hierarch departed with the Kursk Root Icon for local visits to the faithful.