SAN FRANCISCO: November 8, 2010
The First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad Officiates at Feast-Day Celebrations at the Cathedral of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow”
 On Saturday, November 6, 2010, the feast day of the miracle-working Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the Cathedral devoted to this holy image in San Francisco, which houses the uncorrupt relics of St John of Shanghai and San Francisco (Maximovich, +1966).
At the invitation of His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America, sharing in the celebrations were: His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia; His Eminence Archbishop Ionafan of Tulchinsk and Bratslavsk (Ukrainian Orthodox Church); His Eminence Archbishop Justinian of Naro-Fominsk, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA of the Moscow Patriarchate; His Grace Bishop Peter of Cleveland, Administrator of the Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America, and His Grace Bishop Theodosius of Seattle, Vicar of the Western American Diocese.
The archpastors celebrated Divine Liturgy that day along with the clergymen of the Western American Diocese of the Russian Church Abroad, the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA and representatives of other Local Orthodox Churches.
At the conclusion of the service, Metropolitan Hilarion departed for Atlanta, GA, to lead divine services at that God-preserved city’s Joy of All Who Sorrow Church. Archbishop Kyrill welcomed the multitude of worshipers who attended an official reception in honor of the guests, among whom was VN Vinokurov, Consul General of the Russian Federation in San Francisco. In his response, Archbishop Justinian reminded everyone of the approaching 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Russian Church Abroad and expressed joy that the jubilee will be marked by a united Russian Church, whose hierarchs, clergymen and laity lived for all those years in hope of reunification.
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