On August 9th, the church of St. Panteleimon in Minneapolis celebrated its patronal feast day. Both the All Night Vigil as well as the Divine Liturgy were officiated by His Grace, Bishop Peter of Cleveland. Concelebrating with His Grace were Archimandrite John (Magramm) (Resurrection Skete, Fridley, MN), Rev. Kristijan Petrovic (St. George Serbian Orthodox Church, Duluth, MN), Rev. Antony Alekseyenko (Rector), Rev. Zachary Rose (Holy Virgin ProtectionMission, Kansas City, KS), Rev. Innokenty (Reichert) (Sts. Sergius and Herman of Valaam Russian Orthodox Church, Houghton, MI), Rev. Radomir Plavsic (St. Vasilije of Ostrog Serbian Orthodox Church, Chisholm, MN), as well as Protodcn. Basil Gilliland (St Panteleimon's) and Protodcn. John Calvin (Resurrection Skete).
Following the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy on the day of the feast, a molieben and procession with the Cross were served, ending with a prayer to the Greatmartyr & Healer Panteleimon. As Bishop Peter has noted before, "martyr" in Greek means "witness". We celebrate the memory of this great Saint as one who through his life laid witness to Christ and became an example to all of us.
Bishop Peter congratulated the parish with its feast day, its "second Pascha". In return, the rector of the parish wished His Grace many years and the parish presented him with flowers and a recently published book about the new Heiromartyr Peter of Krutitsa, who is the patron saint of Bishop Peter.
A meal was offered in honor of the Feastday by the parish sisterhood in the church hall and many people remained long after to share in the joy of the feast.
