Christmas in Brooklyn

By the wall, not far from the green marble raised Altar, lay lumber of all sizes, sheets of wood and all types of construction paraphernalia…and the impression they created was that of a manger in a cave. Most probably, that Manger, in which lay the Great Child, was also prepared from the plainest of wood, and most probably built by plain carpenters, who did not even imagine that in this Manger would lie He Who was surrounded on Earth by the Mother Mary, by the earthly father Joseph and the Wise Men, and in Heaven--by the choirs of Angels…

But only one day remained until Christmas. During that one day, much still needed to be done--the iconostasis needed to be finished and set up, the final analogia built and vested, the icons had to be decorated, the candlestands (“podsveschniki”) needed to be cleaned, and the church store and its goods had to be put out in good order. In this remaining maze of our “to-dos”, that which was most important had to be kept in mind--not to lose the Grace of Christmas in the expectation of the Great Mystery that was to come into the World that Night…

This was the scenario of preparing for Holy Nativity of the Brooklyn Parish of the Holy NewMartyrs and Confessors of Russia…

In fact, we should have begun from another perspective…After a long and trying series of obastacles, difficulties on the very eve of Christmas Eve, a great event occurred--by agreement with the Vice-Chancellor of the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, our Parish received, for a long but indefinite time period, the downstairs Church of the Catholic Cathedral of St. Hierarch Finbar (an interesting note--St. Finbar was an ORTHODOX, pre-schism Saint of the West) and it is not coincidental that we rented their upper Church--the actual Cathedral for the Pascha 2002 Night services, when up to 3000 believers came to worship the Resurrected Christ. Then there was the lengthy process of negotiations with the Catholic authorities and the local clergy of St. Finbar’s. An agreement was reached with God’s help…

From now on, the following services will occur in this Church on a weekly basis: on Saturdays and on the eve of Feast days, vigil, and on Sundays and major feast days, divine liturgy. This means that hundreds of recent Russian and Russian-speaking immigrants, residents of South Brooklyn who seek God, who thirst for spiritual life, all of these people will be able to come to Church to pray.

But all this, of course, still lies ahead.

In the meantime, the preparations for Christmas continue. After the divine liturgy on Sunday, 5 January 5, (the first at our new location) the Parishioners were in no hurry to go their separate ways. Our rector, Archpriest George Kallaur, asked all who could to help prepare the Church…and the hammers began hammering, and the sawdust began to fly…

The Iconostasis and the Altar were completed late into the night…Our wooden house, as it were--of course, still devoid of icons--solidly appeared on the green marble floor of the Altar. Lampadas were lit, and again the feeling came upon me that this “wooden house” was the Manger, and soon, very soon, a great Mystery will occur, in this Manger will come down the Great God-Child, and the sinful world will be saved…

The beginning of confession and after that the vigil with great compline was earmarked for 4:30 pm. To the amazement of Father Rector, by 4 pm, there was already a large line leading to the confessional analogion. Many came having found out just the day before, from flyers and newspaper advertisements, of the existence of our Parish. Some curiously and sincerely inquired--were the Canons violated? The church, after all is Roman Catholic. Fret not, the Canons have not been trespassed. The Church has been blessed by Batiushka, and look at our new iconostasis--our Icons! And look around--don’t you see and feel? Incense, the icons adorned with flowers, prosphoras…All is ours, Orthodox…

It is difficult to approximate the number of those in attendance. If one were to say approximately--there were about 600 people both for Vigil and for Liturgy. And another statistic--more than 300 prosphora were brought to the Altar. About 80 believers, including children, communed of the Holy Mysteries.
Personally, I was impressed by the great number of young people, both men and women. Christmas fell on a weekday--meaning that these people had to take the day off from school or work, asking for permission from superiors or teachers. And in the morning, people waited patiently in line for confession from 8-10 am.

Christ is born! Glorify Him! This is what was written on their faces and rung in their hearts.

Of course, descending from the heavenly realm to the mundane, we should mention that the path of the Parish of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia will not be a garden path. Not at all. The temporary Church is only rented out to the Parish, and at that, for a high price. It will still take time, money and effort to lend an Orthodox visage to this Catholic Church--the iconostasis must be completed, the pews slowly taken out, the bookstore set up. Plus there is the monthly rent. Plus, the constant taking down and hanging up of the icons. Plus the continued and constant search for our own, permanent, church. In a word, there are still so many things to do. There are even reasons for doubting the Parish’s success in its mission: the preaching of the Good Word in Brooklyn, to carry the Word of Truth to the souls of the confused, lost and suffering Russian immigrants…

But there is another side. The Parish of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia appeared in Brooklyn only two years ago. The first Liturgy was served in the apartment of a parishioner. Fr. George served and seven (!) people showed up. Then the Parish moved to a pizza parlor for 6 services and then to a children’s theater, where services occurred only every 2 weeks. But during this time, a Parish Council was formed, a bank account was opened, the parish seal made, but mainly, regular parishioners, whose number has grown to about 60. There were periods when it seemed that this seedling, still very weak, would die. But the faith of Fr. George and his words regarding the Brooklyn Parish being a missionary parish, existing not only to spiritually feed believers, but to minister to those who are still weak in their faith, and that the Brooklyn parish would become one of the largest in the Russian diaspora, gave us strength. Out First Hierarch, Metropolitan Laurus, and Bishop Gabriel of Manhattan also believe this.

And now, two years later, in the blink of an eye, this parish is renting the lower church of a giant cathedral, because there is not enough room in the studio, because more and more Orthodox Brooklynites are coming…

On Christmas morning, looking at the Faithful, awaiting the Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, I unwittingly thought: the seedling has become stronger. Now it is a young tree. Strong. Now it cannot be broken…

Peter Nemerovskiy

Address of the Parish:
138 Bay 20th Street
The lower Church of St. Finbar’s (on the corner of Bay 20th Street & Benson Avenue)
Bensonhurst – Brooklyn

Telephone of the Rector, Archpriest George Kallaur: (718) 265-3925

Telephone of the Warden: (718) 259-6892