Lenten Vespers held by the Clergy Brotherhood of Tampa Bay

On Sunday, March 12, 2017 10 priests from the Orthodox Clergy brotherhood of Tampa Bay gathered together with Orthodox Christians from St. Petersburg and all of Tampa Bay for the Lenten Mission Vespers celebrated by the Brotherhood during each  Great Fast.

Sadly, the St. Petersburg Deanery is too vast for the Serbian Orthodox priests to gather together regularly, but we do have local brotherhoods which help to fill the void. Both Fr. Stephen Zaremba, from St. Sava in St. Petersburg and President of the Brotherhood, and Fr. Dragan Zarić, from St. George in Clearwater, are active in the brotherhood. Each parish hosts a vespers service on alternating years.

It was a joy and blessing for priests and faithful that were gathered not only from our Serbian Orthodox Church, but also from the Greek Archdiocese, the Antiochian Archdiocese, the OCA, the Moscow Patriarchate and the American Carpatho-Russian Diocese.

After the vespers service, Fr. Joseph Ciarciaglino made a plea to support the orthodox clinic in northern Uganda. This is a project that the Orthodox Clergy brotherhood of Tampa Bay has supported in recent years. All the collections made at vespers during the lenten season go to this project. It is a tremendous yet marvelous undertaking. A true work of God. Go to ugandaclinic.org and give thanks to God with your support.

After sharing the wonderful meal prepared by our Kolo of Serbian Sisters, Fr. Gregory Edwards who completed his doctoral work at the Aristotle University in Thessalonica, gave a wonderful talk on St. Gregory Palamas and Theosis. It was a wonderful and blessed evening.

Source: easterndiocese.org