For SS. Peter & Paul, we may be tempted to Rector’s Letter, imagine we cannot make a difference, or that the cultural and linguistic barriers with others are too December, 2019 great. But St. Herman showed us that God bless- es us when we simply refuse to be discouraged Dear brothers and sisters: from living out the Gospel: to love the Lord with This coming year marks the fiftieth anniver- all our heart and to love the people we meet, no sary of the canonization of the first saint in matter how unfamiliar and no matter how we North America: Saint Herman of Alaska. Our find them. parish is blessed to have a large icon of the life of Yours in Christ, St. Herman, with his relic. Father Hermon was part of the first missionary team sent to share the Gospel with the Aleuts of Alaska. Along the way, all the other, more experienced members fell ill, turned aside to other work, or died. St. Herman, Around the Parish a humble and junior monk, was left alone on Ko- John Wigglesworth departed this life last diak island. He was no linguist or theologian, so month, having been surrounded by his family. he simply built a small hermitage in the woods May his memory be eternal! and lived as a monk alongside the Aleuts, who came to love and revere him as Grandfather or We are grateful for the new children’s icon “Apa” Herman. When St. Innocent arrived after stands for our church. John Barone built the his death, to establish a Church in this land, he stands and donated for the icons for them, in found a people already honoring the God to memory of His Eminence, Archbishop Nikon. whom St. Herman dedicated his life, and they Sarah Massaro donated the cost of the materials were eager to learn more. for the stands in memory of her parents, Rufus 2020 is also the fiftieth anniversary of the and Edith Nichols. Memory eternal! granting of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church We are in the midst of the Nativity Fast. This in America. Obviously, we still have much work season prepares us for the Feast of the Nativity of to do to bring about a united witness in America, Our Lord Jesus Christ. As the shop displays and but the OCA is committed to humbly holding catalogs already warn us, Christmas is approach- fast to that vision. Our Synod of Bishops has pub- ing fast. For the world around us, this means a lished a Proclamation on these two anniversaries, frenzy of shopping, decorating, and partying. If found at the end of the newsletter. we would enter into the blessings God has set before us, we need to begin a different sort of la- day commemorates the eighth day from the Na- bor: being mindful of God for the gift of his Son tivity of the Lord, when he was actually given the and showing gratitude in every aspect of life. We name “Jesus.” The Church still has prayers for the observe the Nativity Fast by refraining from meat Eighth Day of a child’s birth, to name that child and rich foods, by prayer and confession, and giv- before God. Come celebrate the feast and pray ing to the needy. May we be blessed with peace! for the new year, with Vespers & Liturgy at 5:00, For the feast day of St. Nicholas, we will cele- Monday, Dec. 31. brate an akathist service on Thursday, Dec. 5, at 6 Please remember that, if severe weather condi- PM. The service is a simple and poetic celebra- tions force church service or event cancella- tion of the whole life and character of St. tions, announcements will be posted on WFSB Nicholas. Come and rejoice! (channel 3) and WNBC/WVIT (channel 30), as All children are invited to participate in our an- well as on our own parish website: nual St. Nicholas Celebration after the Litur- <www.sspeterpaul.org>. gy on Sunday, Dec. 8. We will have the story of St. Nicholas’ life, a festive coffee hour and a mysteri- Proclamation of the ous festal visitor! Holy Synod of Bishops of the For the beloved American saint, our Venerable Orthodox Church in America Father Herman of Alaska, we will celebrate Announcing the Anniversary Vespers & Liturgy on Thursday, Dec. 12, at 6 PM. Celebrations for the Canonization of We are planning a Christmas Carol Sing dur- St. Herman of Alaska, ing coffee hour on Sunday, Dec. 15. and the Reception of the Tomos Looking ahead to our celebration of the Nativi- of Autocephaly ty of the Lord: we celebrate the Christmas Vigil on Christmas Eve at 4 PM, and the Divine Litur- To the beloved clergy, venerable monastics, gy on Christmas Day at 9:30 AM. On Sunday, and pious laity of the Orthodox Church in Dec. 23, at 6 PM, we will also celebrate Vespers America; to all Orthodox Christians so- from the Eve of the Nativity, when we hear the journing in North America; to all men and prophecies that foretold Christ’s birth. women of goodwill! New Year’s Day is also a feast celebrated in our We beseech our heavenly Father, the Author church: The Circumcision of the Lord. This of every good gift, to grant to everyone who hears and reads these words an outpouring of the son of goodwill to join our Church in our celebra- great and manifold gifts of faith, knowledge, and tions. salvation that can only be found in Him. Through Throughout this anniversary year, the Ortho- the revelation of Him in the person of His Son, dox Church in America will honor our Venerable our Lord Jesus Christ, by the grace of the Holy Father Herman of Alaska. The Psalmist assures us Spirit, may our faith in Him become ever greater, that “God is glorified in the council of his saints our knowledge of him more profound, and may (Ps 89.7),” and so as we celebrate this holy man, we all attain unto the salvation that He alone of- St. Herman, as we come to know his deeds, and fers. From of old the great Prophet David has ex- works, and words, all of us will come to know horted God’s faithful people, “Know that the evermore the glory of God revealed in him. We Lord is God! It is he that made us, and we are his; exhort everyone to come to this same knowledge, we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture to have their faith strengthened and nourished by (Ps 100.3).” Our Great God has created us, and honoring this great saint for all Orthodox Chris- made himself known to us, and we have become tians. Our Venerable Father Herman of Alaska his people, the Church. While the members of stands as a patron for all Orthodox Christians in our Church live and work in Canada, the United America according to the inscrutable providence States, and Mexico, they and we are united with of God. He was a simple monk, but he serves as a the men and women throughout the world and great example for all Christians. He was well from all the ages who share the same Catholic versed in the scriptures and the traditions of the faith that was delivered to the Apostles once for Church. He maintained an ardent faith in Jesus all time. On behalf of this faith, we labor; for this Christ. He acted as a protector and defender of knowledge, we rejoice; to this salvation, we hope. the downtrodden, the weak, the widows, the or- In 2020, the Orthodox Church in America phans. He labored in the fields of evangelization will celebrate the anniversary of two foundational of the native Alaskans—people of this continent. events in her history: the reception of the Tomos Blessed is our God who has raised up this simple of Autocephaly from the Venerable Russian Or- monk, our Father Herman, as a great and highly thodox Church, and the canonization of Our exalted man of God, who even now serves the Venerable Father Herman, Elder and Wonder- faithful as the brilliantly shining North Star, guid- worker of Alaska. We, the Holy Synod of Bishops ing the Church to the salvation given by our Lord of the Orthodox Church in America, give glory to Jesus Christ. God for these wonderful gifts that have allowed The autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in the Church to take root in North America, and America also provides a moment for all Ortho- invite all Orthodox Christians, indeed, every per- dox Christians to celebrate. The venerable Russ- ian Orthodox Church gave the Tomos of Auto- internal problems in a conciliar manner with the cephaly to the Orthodox Church in America with fullness of the Church according to the tradition the hope that this Tomos and the autocephaly it it has received. The Orthodox Church in Ameri- gave “might serve the good” of Orthodox Chris- ca gives thanks to God for the great blessings he tians in North America. The Orthodox Church in has given us, and also to the communion he has America remains committed to this good, the allowed us to maintain through our common canonical normalization of our common ecclesial faith with the other local Orthodox Churches. situation in North America, as a mandate. And it In this coming year, the Holy Synod of the is to this good, the promise of the unity of all Or- Orthodox Church in America is pleased to an- thodox Christians, we hope, but also, in these nounce that these anniversaries will be marked by fractured times, we put forward as a reason for all three Divine Liturgies concelebrated by the Holy the Orthodox Churches in North America to cel- Synod and guest hierarchs and clergy.