Bishop Spyridon, having visited the Dormition Cathedral in Ferndale, Michigan for the great fest of the Dormition of the Theotokos, and having the day after the feast visited the St. George Parish in Michigan City, Indiana to mark that parish’s 115th anniversary, completed his tour of southern Michigan by leading the Divine Services at the St. Vladimir Parish in Ann Arbor, Michigan August 29 and 30.
His Grace arrived in the midst of the All Night Vigil at the Ann Arbor community, having traveled as expeditiously as possible from Michigan City after the Divine Liturgy and banquet the morning of August 29. Following the Vigil, as is the parish’s tradition, a meal was held at the home of the Assistant Starosta. This is an especially interesting venue, as it contains a private museum of the Russian Legion sent to the Western Front of World War I by St. Tsar Nicholas II. Here the clergy, choir, parish brotherhood and sisterhood enjoyed a meal and conversation with Bishop Spyridon.
On the Sunday, Bishop Spyridon arrived to rain showers, but the bells rang nonetheless, and the parish children in traditional dress greeting Vladyka just inside the entrance to the packed parish church. In addition to His Grace, the following clergymen participated in the Divine Liturgy:
Archpriest Gregory Joyce, Rector of St. Vladimir Parish
Archpriest Mikhail Volzhanskii, Rector of Dormition Cathedral in Ferndale, Michigan
Priest Moses McPherson, Rector of Holy Mother of God Parish in Georgetown, Texas
Priest Colin Bower, Cleric of St. Vladimir Parish
Priest Vladimir Pyrozhenko, Cleric of St. Vladimir Parish
Priest Dmitri Mihaliov, Cleric of St. Ambrose Mission in St. Ignace, Michigan
Priest Maximus Fard, Cleric of Christ the Savior Parish in London, Ontario
Protodeacon Alexander Kichakov, Cleric of Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral in Des Plaines, Illinois
Protodeacon Ioann Feloniuk, Cleric of Dormition Cathedral in Ferndale, Michigan
Protodeacon Joseph Appling, Cleric of the Serbian Church
Deacon Peter Longin, Cleric of St. Vladimir Parish
Deacon Matthew Kaminsky, Cleric of St. Sergius Cathedral in Parma, Ohio Deacon
Dimitriy Kashchenko, Cleric of St. Vladimir
Parish Deacon Artemii Laukaitis, Cleric of Holy Mother of God Parish in Georgetown, Texas
Following the consecration of the Holy Gifts, Subdeacon Artemii Laukaitis was ordained a Deacon for service at Holy Mother of God Parish in Georgetown, Texas.
The parish choir sang magnificently at the Divine Services, led by parish Choir Director Julia Easson.
The vast majority of those present partook of Holy Communion from three chalices. The rain continued throughout the Divine Liturgy, and therefore, rather than proceeding directly to the ground breaking for the new parish church immediately after the Divine Liturgy, first the meal prepared by the parish’s St. Xenia Sisterhood in honor of Bishop Spyridon’s first ever visit to the Ann Arbor parish was held. During the meal the rain abated, and the sun even began to shine from time to time.
Following the meal, the clergy and faithful again gathered in the church and the Moleben before Every Good Work was begun. After the singing of the troparia, a cross procession was held from the present church to the site of the new church (approximate 200 yards north of the present church). There the moleben continued, and after the prayer calling down God’s blessing on those about to begin this work, His Grace Bishop Spyridon broke the ground for the building of the new church. He then sprinkled the entire 75’x75’ footprint of the future church with Holy Water. After a picture to commemorate this historic event, the procession returned to the church, the moleben was concluded, and the Divine Services for the day officially ended. Interestingly, however, many people stayed well into the afternoon – even after Bishop Spyridon had left for Chicago where he would serve Divine Liturgy the next day in commemoration of the icon of the Theotokos “Queen of All”. The clergy and faithful lingered in the warm Michigan afternoon, many walking about the footprint of the future church.
The parish thanks all who so diligently worked to prepare for Bishop Spyridon’s visit and the ground breaking for the new church. Further, many thanks are due to those that “prepared the ground” for the ground breaking, whether that be the founders of the St. Vladimir parish (most of whom now gone to their rest), or those more contemporary parishioners who worked diligently with architects and engineers to prepare the plan for the new church and hall that was approved by the local Planning Commission just a few days before Bishop Spyridon’s arrival. We now ask the prayers of all for a successful building project, one that will unite the community in a common labor to glorify God.
The first and most important effort towards success of the project is prayer most certainly, but the contractors would also like to get paid. Having asked for help with the first of these key aspects of a successful project, we also appeal for assistance with the second. Please visit the project GiveSendGo page to make a donation if you are able:
Pictures of the weekend’s events can be found at the parish photo album page: https://tinyurl.com/stvphotos
Learn more about the new St. Vladimir Church Project: https://tinyurl.com/newstvproject
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