Palm Sunday - April 28, 2024

On April 28th, Father Aleksey celebrated a beautiful Liturgy for Palm Sunday, and following Liturgy, he blessed pussy willows, which were given to parishioners and guests.

Father Aleksey, looking solemn and with his head bowed, as he blesses the church and parishioners with his silver scensor. He is wearing green vestments and is standing in front of three steps that lead to the Royal Doors behind him. In front of him is a table, covered in a green (but leaning more towards teal) tablecloth, that holds several objects, including a gold cross, an icon, a small, blue prayer book, and some candles. The carpeting on the floor is a deep red, and part of a large chandelier is visible on the left side of the frame. Light blue rectangles, in a somewhat circular pattern, appear on the right side of the frame. They are apparently reflections on the camera lens from the chandelier.

A view of iconostas and empty pews as seen from the back of the church. Pussy willows are on a table near the front, and the table has a white tablecloth. A man in a light blue shirt is also partially visible on the left side of the frame. He's up near the front of the church, and while I'm not sure what he's doing, my guess is that he was lighting candles before the start of the service.

A view of part of a procession around the church. Two men carrying large, cloth icons on long, black poles are visible on the right and left sides of the frame. The man on the right side is about to walk into the church, and only a small portion of the back side of the cloth, along with the bottom part of the pole he's carrying, appears in the frame. The icon more visible is a deep red, with gold crosses and embellishments, and also tassels. It depicts the Virgin Mary holding the Christ child. A few other parishioners are seen in the background as the proceed around the side of the church to the front.

A view of the front part of a procession around the church. Father Aleksey is standing at the steps that lead into the church, and he's wearing a green vestment and carrying a gold cross. A line of parishioners, holding pussy willows, follow behind him, and the line leads around to the side of the church.

A group of parishioners sitting at a table in the church hall. They're working with scissors, and there's a pile of bows on the table along with bunches of pussy willows.

A young girl and a younger boy smile and pose for the camera as they sit on red, carpeted steps that lead up to the choir loft. Somewhat ornate beige posts that are part of a handrail run along the right side of the frame, and a stone-like-patterned, light brown wall runs along the left side of the frame.

Father Aleksey is standing behind a table that is covered by pussy willows on a white tablecloth. He's wearing green vestments and holding a sliver scensor that he's using to bless the pussy willows. An icon, two white vases, and a red vigil candle holder are on a table visible in the lower left corner of the frame. The table has a green tablecloth, and the icon is rimmed by flowers and pussy willows that match those in the white vases. An altar boy, wearing a gold vestment, is partially visible on the left side of the frame.

Imagery similar to that in the previous photo, but this picture was taken from the left-front corner of the table, and Fr. Aleksy is now walking towards the table and looking at the camera. The altar boy is now visible in the center of the photo.

A side view of a young woman holding an icon that has a gold frame. She's wearing khaki-green pants and a light blue jeans jacket, and her hair is in a pony tail. There are two children in the foreground who are holding pussy willows and facing the camera, although only the young boy is looking towards it. The woman holding the icon is standing directly behind the boy, who is to her left. On the right side of the frame, behind the woman and to the boy's left, is a young girl who appears to be younger than the woman but older than the boy. The woman holding the icon is facing the front of the church, and there are pews to her right, in the background. The priest's and altar boy's vestments are partially visible on the left side of the frame.

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