On the day of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in our church.
The Liturgy was celebrated by the rector of the church, Priest Igor Babakov.
At the end of the service Fr. Igor addressed the faithful with a sermon and congratulated the parishioners and all the worshippers on the feast.
… "The Annunciation in Greek is 'Evangelion' — the Gospel, the Good News. This is precisely what the first four books of the New Testament, the most important books of the Bible, are called. The prophecy of the birth of the Savior of the world, whose fulfillment was so eagerly awaited in Judea, came to pass like a light breath of wind, unnoticed by the whole world. Bowing before the strength of the Mother of God's faith and her complete trust in God, the Orthodox Church gives the Virgin Mary the primacy of honor among all people ever born. For the Annunciation is the Good News that God conveyed to the Virgin Mary through the Archangel Gabriel. And the Gospel, which came as a result of the incarnation of the Son of the Virgin Mary, the Son of Man and the Son of God, is also Good News — but now not to one person, but to the whole human race. The Gospel is good news, and in modern language, happy news. Sometimes, when a person tells us he has some news for us, we fearfully ask: is it something bad or something good? And we rejoice when he says: something good. Even good human news can calm us, lift our spirits and give us strength — so what can be said of the divine, kind, good and happy news contained in the Gospel? This is the very news that is truly able not only to lift our spirits, but to change our lives radically, to subject them to God's law, and therefore to the good that this law brings to people"…
After the service a festive table was laid in the refectory.
