On July 15/28 our parish in Ann Arbor, being named after the Holy Great Prince Vladimir, celebrates their annual feast day: the Second Pascha of the parish.

This year, with the blessing of Archbishop Peter, the festivities were led by His Eminence, Metropolitan Jonah. The vigil on Saturday evening and the Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning were sung beautifully by the parish choir under the direction of Julia Easson, the parish’s long-time Choir Director. In fact, the Metropolitan was so impressed by the choir that he noted to the parishioners “if I had such a choir in my parish we would serve Vigil every Saturday!”

After the Vigil on Saturday, according to the tradition of the Russian Church, the Metropolitan attended a meal at which the clergy, Parish Council, Brotherhood, Sisterhood, and Parish Choir were present. This gives the visiting hierarch the opportunity to interact with those who are most involved in leading parish life. On Sunday, after the Divine Liturgy, there is always a banquet to which all are invited, giving the visiting hierarch an opportunity to interact with all the parishioners.

On the day of the feast His Eminence was met by the peal of the parish bells and parish children dressed in traditional costume with bread and salt - a symbol of welcome in all Slavic cultures. At the Divine Liturgy the parish church was full to overflowing, and the vast majority partook of Holy Communion that day from three chalices. Archpriest Mikhail Volzhanskii from the Ferndale Cathedral gave a sermon during the clergy communion. According to the established practice, a cross procession took place after the Prayer behind the Ambo. Under a beautiful blue Michigan sky, utilizing Holy Water blessed before the Divine Liturgy that da, the faithful processed around the parish church, singing hymns to the Holy Great Prince Vladimir and our Lord who glorified him.

Upon return to the sanctuary, His Eminence gave a sermon with words of congratulation and encouragement to the parish family. Noting that, having completed the construction of the new parish school, construction would soon begin on the new parish church, His Eminence called all to unity, zeal, and Christian Love in the undertaking of such deeds. And further, to recall that projects such as these have an exterior beauty, but we as Orthodox Christians are called first and foremost to work on our interior spiritual life, so that those who are attracted by the exterior manifestations of parish life will find a true Orthodox witness when visiting, in hopes that these too will persist in the faith and become the sons and daughters of God.

After the Metropolitan’s words the parish gave him a gift: a copy of the St. Mardarije icon found in the parish church. Truthfully, this is the patronal icon of the parish’s Ann Arbor Orthodox Classical Academy, which begins instruction this fall. St. Mardarije reposed in Ann Arbor and thus, with Archbishop Peter’s blessing, the academy has taken him as their patron saint.

After several years of service to the St. Vladimir parish while pursuing his Ph.D at the University of Michigan in Physics, Fr. Dmitri Mihaliov and his family will be moving to St. Ignace, MI to lead the St. Ambrose Mission there. As a remembrance of his service in Ann Arbor, and with thanks to him and his family for their many efforts on behalf of the parish family, the parish gifted Fr. Dmitri a unique icon of the Mother of God.

Despite the fact that the feast fell on a Sunday this year, several visiting clergymen were able to join the celebrations. The following clergymen took part in the feast day celebrations on Saturday evening and/or Sunday morning:

Metropolitan Jonah

Archpriest Gregory Joyce, Rector of St. Vladimir Parish

Archpriest Mikhail Volzhanskii, Rector of Dormition Cathedral in Ferndale, MI

Priest Gabriel Bilas, Rector of St. Mary Magdalene Parish in Fenton, MI

Priest Colin Bower, St. Vladimir Parish

Priest Dmitri Mihaliov, St. Vladimir Parish

Hieromonk Alexei (Dixon), St. Demetrios Monastery in Spottsville, VA

Protodeacon Alexander Petrovsky, St. George Parish in Cincinnati, OH

Protodeacon Ioan Feloniuk, Dormition Cathedral in Ferndale, MI

Deacon Matthew Kaminsky, St. Sergius Cathedral in Cleveland, OH

Deacon Vladimir Pyrozhenko, St. Vladimir Parish

Deacon Dmitriy Kashchenko, St. Vladimir Parish

Deacon Basil Hinkle, Prophet Elijah Church in Ellensburg, WA

After the festivities in the church, the gathered faithful moved to the new parish school where a banquet was held in Metropolitan Jonah’s honor. Many faithful from throughout the region were present on this day, and the meal and joyful conversations continued well into the afternoon.