On Saturday the 7th and Sunday the 8th of September, the parishioners of St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Washington, DC marked a wonderful milestone in the life of their parish: the 75th anniversary of its founding. On September 11, 1949, on the feast of the Beheading of St. John the Forerunner, the Holy Hierarch John of Shanghai celebrated Divine Liturgy for the first time in the newly established Washington community.

The rich liturgical life of the parish began with this Liturgy, served in the humble setting of a small private apartment. Later, services were held in the Resurrection Chapel in the lower part of the National Cathedral of Sts. Peter & Paul, and then in a house chapel.

The first rector was Fr. Emmanuel Essensky, who served the spiritual needs of the new congregation for two and a half years. He was later consecrated Bishop of Brisbane, Australia. After nine years in Australia, he was made vicar Bishop of Boston. He was replaced briefly by Archpriest Boris Kritsky, who later became the custodian of the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God. In 1953, Archimandrite Nicholas (Pekatoros) was assigned rector of St. John’s. He served the needs of our congregation for 28 years until his retirement in 1981. After Fr. Nicholas’ retirement Archpriest Victor Potapov was entrusted the obedience of heading the parish. He has held this position for 47 years.

In 1956, land for the present cathedral was acquired on the corner of 17th and Shepherd Streets, and in 1958 the congregation was finally able to worship in the new parish hall with the future church to be built on the second floor of this edifice. However, after a few years it became evident that a church on the second floor would be impractical: climbing nearly 40 steps to enter the church would be difficult for the elderly and frail people.

As a result, it was decided to radically revamp the church’s design. A search was begun to find an architect who would develop a new architectural plan. This project was entrusted to Fr. Dimitry Alexandrov, who later was made vicar bishop of the Eastern American Diocese. He patterned the church after the Moscow-Yaroslav style of the 17th century. Responsibility for the construction of the new church was entrusted to a longtime parishioner, the venerable Adam Gootan, who earlier built the parish house next to the church. The new church structure was subsequently completed in 1978, and during the next ten years parishioners meticulously worked on completing the interior with a four-tiered iconostasis and murals covering every single square inch of the interior walls. The temple was consecrated by Metropolitan Vitaly (Ustinov) in 1988 – the year of the Millennium of the Russian Church.

Parishioners prayerfully remember the late Bishop Daniel (Alexandrov), the church’s architect, and Theodore Huko, who built the four-tiered iconostasis. They likewise remember the late Fr. Theodore Koufos, Victor Kazanin, and Alexander Sokolov – the three principal iconographers who completed the murals and mosaics of the church according to the design conceived by Bishop Daniel Alexandrov.

Now, glory be to God, the parish offers communal prayer in a magnificent temple, raised up through the efforts of many people, both living parishioners and those who have since departed for a better world.

The labors of their forebears are greatly honored, and their legacy is continued by many more parishioners. Thirty-seven of these members were honored with diocesan gramotas ‒ certificates of merit.

During the past 75 years, the clergy of the parish have conducted 2,547 baptisms, joined 630 couples in Holy Matrimony, and 814 parishioners and other Orthodox Christians have been escorted into the Life beyond the grave.

The celebration began on the evening of September 7th with the arrival of the First Hierarch, Metropolitan Nicholas. He was joined by Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal & Canada, Bishop Luke of Syracuse, abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY, and Bishop Jerome (Shaw). All of the hierarchs participated in Vigil that day. They were joined by 11 priests and as many deacons.

The Hawaiian Icon was brought to the church after the start of Vigil. Fr. Victor met the icon and brought it into the temple without interrupting the flow of the service.

The two cathedral choirs – the Slavonic choir, under the direction of Paula Genis, and the English choir, led by reader Constantine Ogora – sang magnificently. During Vigil, four priests heard the confessions of a multitude of the faithful, who were preparing to receive Holy Communion the next day.

After Vigil, the Holy Protection Sisterhood treated the clergy to a sumptuous dinner in the parish hall.

The next day, the meeting of the Hawaiian Icon and Metropolitan Nicholas took place at 9:00 AM. The First Hierarch was met with the traditional bread and salt at the entrance to the church by the warden, Maxim Agapov.

During the reading of the Hours, three parishioners – Readers Yuri Gripas, Artem Asoskov, and John Daily ‒ were elevated to the rank of subdeacon. Joseph McLeod from the Holy Innocents Church in Bristow, VA was also ordained a subdeacon.

At the Little Entrance, parish clerics Priest Alexander Resnikoff was awarded the rank of archpriest for his diligent service to the parish, while Deacon Gregory Trubetskoy was elevated to the rank of protodeacon.

After Metropolitan Nicholas’ sermon-greeting, a thanksgiving moleben and cross procession were held. The weather was perfect, with not a cloud in the sky. At the end of the procession, a group photo was taken.

At the end of the procession, His Eminence awarded Matushka Maria Potapov the Order of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign, and Fr. Victor was presented a certificate of merit, signed by the members of the Synod of Bishops for his 50 years of service to the Church. A second certificate was presented to the entire parish on the 75th anniversary of its founding.

Since the gala banquet was scheduled to begin at 4:00 PM, in place of the regular Sunday luncheon, finger food was provided to the faithful.

By 4:00 PM, the great hall of the Sts. Peter & Paul Antiochian Church in Potomac, MD was filled with 400 parishioners and friends of the parish. The hall was beautifully decorated by volunteers.

Four analogia were set up in front of the stage. One for the Hawaiian Icon, the second for the icon of Christ, painted by the martyred José Muñoz-Cortes, the third for the icon of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, with a piece of his skull and an icon of the St. John of Shanghai & San Francisco, the founder of the parish, was placed on the fourth analogion.

After the prayer before the meal, Metropolitan Nicholas addressed the guests and expressed his wishes that St. John’s parish prosper and grow spiritually.

After His Eminence’s address, the English-language choir of St. John’s performed several chants, followed by a presentation by the rector, Fr. Victor.

Fr. Victor recalled the beginnings of St. John’s parish and pointed out the grace-filled labors of those who came before us and thanks to whom the parish now has a well-established community.

The rector expressed his gratitude to the ruling bishop: His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas, Archbishop Gabriel, Bishop Luke, and Bishop Jerome and the other guest clergy for taking the time from their busy schedules to be with them on this momentous day, leading the faithful in their prayers, and granting their hierarchical blessings.

Fr. Victor then expressed his profound gratitude to Fr. Nectarios Yangson, custodian of the myrrh-streaming Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Mother of God for bringing this sacred image halfway around the world for the feast. The Hawaiian Icon is a laminated copy of the famous myrrh-streaming Iveron Icon of Montreal. The custodian of that icon, the martyred Brother José, loved the Washington parish, which was the first church community outside of Montreal that the ever-memorable custodian of the icon visited after the miracle of myrrh-streaming was revealed. Many of the relics of saints that are kept at St. John’s were given to the parish by José. May God grant him eternal rest!

At the gala banquet, Fr. Victor congratulated Frs. Alexander Resnikoff and Gregory Trubetskoy with their well-deserved awards, as well as the new Subdeacons Yury Gripas, John Daily, and Artem Asoskov. Axios!

The efforts of the parish forebears are greatly honored, and their legacy is continued by many parishioners. On September 8th, 30 of these members were honored with diocesan gramotas.

Fr Victor also thanked the hard-working clergy and many volunteers from the parish who worked tirelessly for the past few months organizing this joyous event.

After Fr. Victor’s speech, the parish children’s dance group MatreshkiDC performed a few folk dances.

After this performance, a short greeting from the former warden of 30 years of service, Dimity Saretzky, was read by Mark Potapov. Sadly, Mr. Saretzky’s health prevented him from participating in the festivities.

The next to speak was Maxim Agapov, the present warden, who said:

"Today we celebrate the 75th anniversary of our parish. These years were full of events, challenges, works of wonder, various circumstances and stories. Many of those memories were written down, recorded, published, and became part of our parish’s rich heritage. I believe, however, that there is a lot more that Fr. Victor, Matushka Maria, Protodeacon Leonid and many of our veteran parishioners can share for hours. Let us convince them and perhaps start a coordinated effort to write it down, for the benefit of future generations of parishioners and faithful Christians. I am confident that we can have our own publication of ‘Несвятые святые’ ‒ ‘Everyday Saints’ (bestseller by Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov))."

After the warden’s talk, the parish Slavonic choir performed a few chants.

Mr. Dimitry Gontscharow, a senior member of the local scout troop "Putivl’" of St. George Pathfinders of America, took the microphone and congratulated Fr. Victor with his 50th anniversary as rector of St. John’s, presenting him with a commemorative plaque as thanks from the scouts for his many years of service as the troop’s spiritual father.

This was followed by a performance of Russian folk songs by a group of young parishioners.

The next to speak was Marina Zacharin, chairman of the hard-working Holy Protection Sisterhood:

“I am happy to report that I do not have a prepared speech. What I do have is a big THANK YOU to all who came to support our parish holiday and a big WELCOME from our Protection of Theotokos Sisterhood to all who wish to attend our parish services and functions. When I lost my dear husband, I felt I had no one to turn to until Fr. Victor told me ‘God will not forsake you.’ I then knew it was through service to Him and His House that I would find consolation. Not one of you ever need to feel forsaken – you are welcome at St John's!"

Two new videos on the history of the parish and Fr. Victor’s 50 years of priesthood were shown, to the delight of all.

The official program of the gala banquet ended with a moving address by Lazar Aliev, chairman of the 75th Anniversary Committee. He spoke about his conversion to the Faith and the important role the Church plays in his life and the life of his family.

Lazar then invited the members of Fr. Victor’s family to the stage and presented them with a large family icon depicting their patron saints – a gift from the entire parish.

75 years ago, St. John of Shanghai entrusted the parish to the protection of St John the Forerunner, the greatest among those born of women (Luke 7:28) and the "friend of the Bridegroom" (John 3:29).

May St. John the Baptist and Forerunner of our Lord and St. John of Shanghai & San Francisco continue to support the Washington parish by their prayers in the vitally important work of continuing the sacred labors of those who came before.

Archpriest Victor Potapov

Photos:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBH3wH
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBGzCE