Archbishop Mark's visit - November 23-24, 2024

Over the weekend of Nov. 23-24, His Eminence, Archbishop Mark made a pastoral visit to our parish. Vladyka prayed in the altar at Vespers on Saturday evening, and presided at the Divine Liturgy on Sunday.

rior to Vespers, our catechumen Michael was received into the Orthodox Church. Welcome home, Michael!

During the Liturgy, in his homily on Luke 13:10-17 about a woman who had a spirit of infirmity, Vladyka encouraged everyone to face our daily struggles, by the grace of God and through faithfulness, by standing up straight.

Fr Aleksey was also elevated to the rank of Archpriest by His Eminence.

Many years to Archbishop Mark, whose 20th episcopal ordination anniversary is coming up on Dec. 5; to newly-received servant of God Michael; to Matushka Natallia, who celebrates her birthday this week; and to Katerina, celebrating her nameday on Sunday.

Picture of the altar table lit by candle light. The table is covered by red cloth, and there are three objects on the foreground side of the table. The item on the left is only partially visible but appears to be an icon. There's an ornate bible in the center, and a cross on the right. The back half of the table has several candles on the sides and back of a model church that is enclosed in what appears to be a glass enclosure. There's a large, ornate cross behind and towering above the enclosure. Stained glass windows and a life-sized icon of a person, painted on the wall, are visible in the background, with a bit of blue, evening light showing through the top of one of the windows.

Fr. Aleksey and Archbishop Mark are stand before the iconostas and looking at each other. The view is a wide shot from the left side of the church, near the front.

Photo of the altar table similar to the one shown earlier, but this photo was taken during the day, and light is streaming through the stained glass windows. The red cloth on the table now shows more detail, and the archbishop's mitre is on the table near the cross on the right. Archbishop Mark is shown on the left-side of the frame at a table, preparing holy communion.

Archbishop Mark is shown standing before the altar table with his hands raised in prayer. He appears on the left side of the frame, and Fr. Aleksey is standing, facing him, on the right side of the frame.

View of the opening archway for the Royal Doors along with the two side doors. Fr. Aleksey's head and right shoulder are visible through the archway as he stands at the altar, with Archbishop Mark standing behind him. There are two altar servers behind and to either side of Archbishop Mark. There's also a table in the foreground displaying three icons, with a cross that's surrounded by small flowers and a red vigil candle on either side of the cross.

A view of the previous photo but shown from a side angle. Fr. Aleksy can now be seen holding an ornate bible, and the aforementioned table is out of frame. Light is streaming in through a stained glass window on the left frame, as well as through an altar window seen through the archway.

Close-up view, taken from the choir loft, of Archbishop Mark standing in front of the iconostas, and looking at a book that is being held by an altar server to his right. There's also an altar server to his right, and Fr. Aleksey is standing in front of Archbishop Mark.

View of the Fr. Aleksey standing at a podium in front of the opening archway for the Royal Doors. There are altar servers on either side of him, and each is holding a large candle.

Archbishop Mark is standing with his crozier at the bottom of the three steps that are in front of the iconostas, and he is addressing congregation.

Archbishop Mark stands in the archway of the open Royal Doors holding up a covered chalice towards the congregation. Fr. Aleksey is standing to his right, with another chalice that is similarly covered by an orange and gold cloth. The cloth match the clergy's vestments. There's also an altar server at the foot of the three steps that lead up to the archway. The alter server is facing Archbishop Mark and is wearing a gold vestment and holding a large candle in a gold candle holder.

Fr. Aleksey and Archbishop Mark are standing at the altar table, holding an orange and gold cloth over a chalice and bread during preparation of communion. The archbishop's mitre appears on the table in the left-bottom corner of the frame, and a few parishoners who are seated in pews in the body of the church are visible through the open archway along the right-hand-side of the frame.

Father Aleksey is standing at the front of the church, facing the congregation. He's holding the communion chalice in his left hand, and a red cloth is draped over his right hand. A male communicant is waiting off to his left-hand-side, and a table with three icons, a cross, flowers, and candles appears in the photo's foreground.

Archbishop Mark is standing in front of the altar table, looking to his left at a book that is sitting on a podium. His hand is resting on the book. The photo was taken from the back of the altar, and smoke from incense can be seen in the background through the royal archway. Beyond the smoke, a few pews and parishoners are also visible in the body of the church.

Father Aleksey is standing at the front of the church, speaking to the congregation, and holding a piece of paper in his hands. Fr. Aleksey is in sharp focus, appearing in the right-hand third of the frame, while Archbishop Mark, who is slightly out of focus, appears in the center of the photo. The archbishop is standing in front of the open Royal Doors and is holding a sliver cross in his right hand, and a crozier in his left hand. He's looking in the direction of Fr. Aleksey and listening.

A portrait photo of Katerina, Matushka Natallia, Father Aleksey, Archbishop Mark, and Michael. They're posing in front of the left front corner of the body of the church, and the iconostas appears across the right two thirds of the background, with a stained glass window and its corresponding wall appearing on the left third of the background. There's an American flag in the corner, between the wall and iconostas. Archbishop Mark is holding a cross in his right hand, and his crozier in his left hand; he's also wearing his mitre. Michael is holding an icon of St. Michael the Archangel..

Parishoners sitting at tables in the church hall while eating and talking. There are two parallel tables that are covered by orangey-gold table cloths and that run at a diagonal from the lower right corner to the center of the left frame.

A table, covered in an orangey-gold tablecloth, in the church hall, where parishoners are seated while eating and talking. The table runs from the lower right corner to the middle of the left side of the frame.

Two cakes and slices of cake on a table that is covered with a gold table cloth. The half of the table closest to the view has two cakes with white icing and yellow writing. The cake on the left says Welcome Arch Bishop Mark, and the cake on the right says Welcome Home Michael. Both cakes have an orange rose with smaller yellow roses and green leaves in the lower left corner of the cake. Both also have orange trim around the edges of the cake. The back half of the table has places with chocolate cake slices with a light brown icing (looks like a maple icing color but may not be maple-flavored). There's a white collander filled with Mandarin oranges to the right of the cake slices, and it appears almost in the upper right corner of the photo.

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