NEW YORK: April 17, 2008
A Joint Service By Clerics of the Russian Church Abroad and the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA Will Be Held on Bright Saturday at St Nicholas Cathedral

On Bright Saturday, May 3, 2008, a ceremonial Divine Liturgy will be celebrated jointly by clergymen of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA at St Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral at 15 East 97th Street, New York, NY. His Grace Bishop Gabriel of Manhattan, Secretary of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and His Grace Bishop Merkury, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, will officiate at the service, which will also include the participation of a host of clergymen of the Russian Church Abroad and of the Patriarchal Parishes in the United States. Before the service, the Miracle-working Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God will be ceremoniously brought to the Cathedral. 

After Liturgy, a joint procession of the cross will be held with archpastors, clergymen and laypersons. A greeting from the Russian Ambassador to the United States will be read by SV Garmonin, Consul General of the Russian Federation in New York. Representatives of the City of Moscow and officials from the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations will pray at the services. 

This service will be the first of its kind following the signing of the Act of Canonical Communion between the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in May 2007. Never before has St Nicholas Cathedral, the main church of the Moscow Patriarchate in the US, been the site of a joint Paschal service, and it is expected that over 60 clergymen and hundreds of laypersons will participate. 

Clergymen of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad who wish to participate in this event can contact Protopriest Andrei Sommer at (212) 410-4258.