“А Constant Doxology of Light and Beauty” – Bishop Irinej officiates in New York City

Out of a tremendous Archpastoral sense of love and concern for his faithful in New York City, on Sunday, August 15, the 8th Sunday after Pentecost, and on Thursday, August 19, 2021, the Great Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord, His Grace Bishop Irinej of Eastern America, celebrated the Divine Liturgies in New York City for the Serbian Community at St. Eleftherios Greek Orthodox Church in Manhattan. Liturgical responses were angelically rendered by the St. Sava Cathedral Choir, which is now beginning to reassemble following Covid restrictions. Messrs. Milovan Jovanovic and Srdjan Maksimovic assisted in chanting.

In his Sunday homily on the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes, His Grace, among all else, appropriately pointed out that in order to understand the Gospel lection, one must first heed the Epistle lesson from I Corinthians 1:10-18, wherein St. Paul admonishes the nascent Christian community not to have any divisions among themselves, as they do not belong to any one apostle, rather to Christ alone. When unity is affected, as a community, then we can begin to comprehend the need to divide food and other such necessities among ourselves. As such we will be able to follow the example of Christ, in His multiplication of the loaves and fishes among the 5,000 gathered to hear the Word of God.

The Sunday Divine Liturgy was followed by an informal gathering and conversation with Bishop Irinej and Serbian young adults and university students in New York City.

Several days later, during the Festal Liturgy of the Great Feast of Transfiguration, following the Gospel reading, Bishop Irinej interpreted the mystery of Christ’s Transfiguration on Tabor, by stating: "Today's feast day is best described as a Constant Doxology of Light and Beauty. It is the radiant Feast of Beauty, as on this day, for the first time, beauty has shown forth from Christ as light in glory. Beauty has become an event, a visible event. We perceive with our spiritual eyes, i.e., the eye of the heart, Christ transfigured, manifesting His Divine light and Divine energies as to His apostles.”

Following the Prayer behind the Ambo, Bishop Irinej blessed the grapes which the faithful of the Saint Sava Cathedral brought for blessing, with everyone departing, after the distribution of the antidoron and blessed grapes, in the inexpressible joy and light of the Feast.

Source: Eastern American Diocese of the SOC