On Tuesday, April 7 – the great feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos – His Grace Theodosius, Bishop of Manhattan, celebrated the festal Divine Liturgy in the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign in New York City. Concelebrating with His Grace were cathedral clergy: dean Archpriest Andrei Sommer, Hieromonk Theognost (Kogan), and Protodeacon Serge Arlievsky.

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

Despite it being a weekday, many parishioners and faithful from other churches in the city and neighboring states gathered to pray and express their love for the Most Holy Theotokos. Almost all those present communed of Christ’s Holy Mysteries.

At Liturgy, the protodeacon prayerfully commemorated the newly departed Deacon Andrei Antchoutine and Synodal choir singer Isaiah Trofimenko.

Upon conclusion of the service, Pavel Chesnokov’s setting of "The Pre-eternal Counsel" was beautifully performed by Synodal choir singer Olga Shyp.

Bishop Theodosius greeted the clergy and the faithful with the great feast and addressed those present with a sermon.

"Today we celebrate one of the twelve great feasts of the Church: the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos. This event took place in the city of Nazareth. If we turn to the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, we discover that Nazareth is not mentioned in a single one of its books. This city was so small and so unassuming that the prophets never once mentioned it in their writings or prophecies, even though it is known that when the Prophet Daniel was in the Kingdom of Babylon, and when Jeremiah was writing letters to the Jews – telling them that the Messiah was to come and that the Jews would have to remain in the Babylonian Captivity for 70 years – Daniel spoke of how times and seasons would pass, and a Child would be born of a Virgin, and He would be Emmanuel, the Savior of the world. And those who were dwelling in pagan lands understood what was to come, and they were awaiting His advent at the very moment when the Lord came to earth…

"The Annunciation took place in Nazareth. The Mother of God, who was betrothed to the holy and righteous Joseph, went to the well to draw water. And the Angel of God, Gabriel, appeared to her and proclaimed the glad tidings to her with these words: ‘Rejoice, thou who art full of grace! The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women.’ And the Mother of God began to ponder these words. Angelic powers had appeared to her on numerous occasions before: both when she was dwelling in the Temple in Jerusalem, and when she was being raised within the Holy of Holies… Angels would bring her bread, and she communed with the Heavenly powers; yet this greeting was of a different kind. Tradition recounts that the Mother of God returned to her home (the remains of which have survived to this day), opened the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, wherein it was written that a Virgin would conceive in her womb and bear a Son, and He would be given the name Jesus. And at that moment, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her once again and revealed to her what was to befall her.

"And, indeed, if we look at what he says, we see prophetic words – words already known to the Mother of God. Yet he says nothing more. He speaks not of the Savior’s sufferings, even though the Mother of God knew the Holy Scriptures well – she had studied them during the eleven years she lived within the Temple in Jerusalem. Thus, it had already been revealed to her that she would become the Mother of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

"She asked how this would come to pass. The Archangel, first and foremost, said to her: ‘Fear not.’ When we look at the appearances of angels, their very first words are invariably: ‘Fear not.’ We do not often commune with the otherworldly realm; and upon encountering them, such fear seizes us that we are rendered unable even to pray.

"But the Archangel said to her: ‘Fear not,’ for ‘the Spirit of God shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you.’ That is to say, in this manner – at the moment of the Annunciation – the conception of our Lord Jesus Christ was to take place. And at that very moment of the Annunciation, the Star of Bethlehem was kindled.

"Those who have visited the Holy Land may have descended into the lower chambers of the Catholic basilica, where lie the remains of the home of the Righteous Joseph, the very place where he lived together with Mary. There still remain portions of the masonry from the church originally founded in the 4th century by the Holy Empress Helen. This Church of the Annunciation stands as one of the largest churches in the Middle East; and inscribed upon stone tablets encircling the sanctuary is the Gospel reading we heard today during the Divine Liturgy: that passage from the Apostle Luke which recounts the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ into the world. We often fail to reflect deeply upon the very word associated with this feast: though called the Annunciation in English, in Slavonic it is called Благовѣщеніе, in Greek Εὐαγγελισμὸς – ‘good news’ or ‘glad tidings.’ This is the very name of the Gospel itself; for if we distill the words ‘Good News,’ the Annunciation stands as an image of the message proclaimed to us by the Holy Apostles: those through whom the Holy Gospel was written. Furthermore, if we turn our attention to the prayer that surely all of us know by heart: ‘Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos; Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,’ we discern within it a synergy: a convergence of two salutations. It unites the greeting delivered by the Archangel Gabriel to the Mother of God – the Virgin who, in obedience, gave birth to the Savior –with the greeting offered to her by St. Elizabeth, who, in her old age, bore a child: St. John the Forerunner."

Bishop Theodosius noted that, earlier today, we heard a beautiful hymn performed by the Synodal choir, dedicated to the Mother of God. He exhorted the faithful, reminding us all that we must constantly nourish our lives and our deeds through prayer; for the Mother of God remains ever present on earth, offering her assistance in these moments to all who turn to her, to those who open their hearts to her and entreat her to be their Intercessor and Protectress.