On the morning of Great and Holy Saturday, April 15, the Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, His Grace Bishop John of Naro-Fominsk led the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great with the reading of the 15 Old Testament readings in St Nicholas Cathedral in New York City.
Before the reading of the Holy Gospel, the vestments of the clergy and altar were changed from black to white representing the appearence of the Ressurrected Christ to the Myrrh-bearing Women and the apostles.
At the conclusion of the Liturgy, Bishop John blessed the paschal baskets brought by the parishioners into the cathedral.