This year, the feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist coincided with this Sunday’s service.  The monastery was blessed with a pilgrimage of faithful from the parish of St. Panteleimon in Hartford, CT., along with its pastor, the Very Rev. Dionysii Nalitov.

Because of the feast day, the Vigil service included a litya.  Among the monastery’s many holy relics is a piece from the head of St. John, which is contained in a reliquary gifted to the Brotherhood of St. Job from the Patriarch of Serbia while the brotherhood was still in Ladomirovo in Slovakia.  This reliquary was placed In the middle of the church for the veneration of the faithful.

The Divine Liturgy was served by His Grace Bishop Luke along with the monastery clergy, which today included our three priests from the Philippines, who have returned to study in the seminary.