On Thursday July 2, the feast of St. John the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco, the Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA His Grace Bishop John of Naro-Fominsk celebrated the Divine Liturgy in St. Nicholas Cathedral.
His Grace was co-served by Archimandrite Viktor (Sayapin), Rector of St Michael the Archangel Cathedral in Ribnitsa (Diocese of Tiraspol and Dubossary); Archpriest Alexey Bocharnikov, Rector of St. Nicholas Church in Chester, PA and Spiritual Father to the Cossack Congress in the United States; Hieromonk Savvatey (Ageyev), Rector of St. Nicholas Church in Reading, PA as well as clergy of St Nicholas Cathedral in New York City.
After Holy Communion, Bishop John proceeded to the center of the church to the Holy Icon of his Heavenly Protector and sang the magnification to the Holy Hierarch. Afterwards, he delivered a sermon describing the life of the Saint. On behalf of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Abbot Nicodemus (Balyasnikov) presented Bishop John with a bouquet of flowers and a monastic paraman.
Interaction between the hierarch, clergy and faithful continued in the cathedral's refectory.