Christmas Greetings - Kursk-Root Ikon at Church

First I want to wish a Merry Christmas to all my friends who are celebrating Christ's birth today. I hope you are having a wonderful time among your friends and family. May there be much joy in your life on this day. You are all in my thoughts. I'm working tonight but am off work for the Julian Calendar celebration of Christ's Nativity on January 7th. So today is a quiet day at home for me, with many little birds outside enjoying the seed and suet I put out this morning. I did drive over to Staunton Wednesday afternoon and stayed with my friends Nick and Katherine. We had a great dinner and talked of this and that - so I too spent a Christmasy time with friends.

This is the Theotokos of Kursk-Root on its ikon stand during the liturgy.

Yesterday on western Christmas Eve I was at church for liturgy in the morning for a very unusual reason. The Kursk-Root ikon of the Theotokos was visiting my parish church of All Saints of North America. This ikon was found in 1295 in Russia. It has 3 survived Tarter invasions, the burning of its monastic church home and the destruction of that same monastery by the Soviets. In 1921 in was smuggled out of Russia, it was in Serbia and other Balkin lands for a time, and then it was brought to the USA in 1951. Since then it has been honored and loved by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. Currently it is being taken on pilgrimage as it were to the ROCOR parish churches of the eastern USA.

Here are the priests who served the liturgy. Fr. Michael on the far left is from the St. Innocent of Alaska Bulgarian Orthodox mission in Roanoke, Virginia and Archpriest Serge on the near left is from St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Howell, New Jersey. Fr. Serge is one of the clerymen bringing the Kursk-Root ikon to the eastern diocese parishes. He also accompanied it to Moscow and Kursk last September. Fr. Gabriel is holding the ikon and Fr. John is on the right. Fr. Gabriel and Fr. John are my parish priests.

This website has a synopsis of the parish visit and a YouTube video from the service. I'm one of the 6 people singing in the choir. There is also a link on this page to pictures from the service:
www.eadiocese.org/News/2009/dec/middlebrook.en.htm

For a brief history of the Kursk-Root ikon of the Theotokos:
www.eadiocese.org/News/2009/november/kurskicon.en.htm

A Joyous and Happy New Year to All.