This year, the Lord gave Washingtonians a wonderful gift: excellent weather conditions in which to prayerfully remember the Passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and His Glorious Resurrection.  This year, Christians throughout the world celebrated Christ's Resurrection on the same day, and a Paschal atmosphere was palpable everywhere.  Along the Potomac River and in other parts of the Capital, the famous Japanese cherry trees and other trees were in full bloom, and various types of azaleas were becoming a treat to the eye. 

The warm, sunny, weather on Lazarus Saturday made it possible for the parishioners of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist to thoroughly clean the church, to clean up the church yard and Parish Hall and  to prepare bundles of pussy willows and palms for distribution on the eve of the Lord's entry into Jerusalem, to dye one thousand eggs, and to perform a host of other necessary domestic tasks. The work continued between Services throughout Passion Week.

This year, the clergy of the Cathedral had help from Fr. Oleg Oreshkin, who, at the invitation of Archpriest Victor Potapov, parish rector, had come to Washington from Moscow at the beginning of Great Lent. Thanks to the participation of Fr. Oleg and of Priest Vasiliy Raskovskiy, who joined us on Great Thursday, our clergy were able to offer Communion to the faithful from five chalices.  From Lazarus Saturday through the night of Pascha, 1,077 people communed.  Our priests Fr. John Johnson and Fr. Alexander Resnikoff, and our Protodeacons Leonid Mickle and John Cavin showed great dedication in their performance of a great many tasks.

Divine services throughout Passion Week and Pascha were enhanced by the splendid chanting of two choirs — the Slavonic choir under the direction of Yura Petcherkin, and the English choir under the direction of Jared Brewer.

His Excellency Sergei Ivanovitch Kislyak, Ambassador Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation, cultural attache Vyacheslav V. Moshkalo, and other high-ranking Embassy officials shared the joy of the Paschal night with our parishioners.  

The Paschal Service ended at 3:00 AM.  Hundreds of our parishioners stayed for the communal Paschal breakfast prepared by the parish Sisterhood.  After getting some rest, we once again gathered together in the church at 2:00 PM for the Paschal Vespers.

After Matins and Divine Liturgy on Bright Monday, we had our traditional children's Procession of the Cross, in which over 100 children took part, along with their pleased and happy parents.  Each child carried an icon.  After the Service, the children received some gifts: a red hard-boiled egg, chocolate, and a copy of a children's Parish Bulletin with materials on the subject of Pascha.  The wonderful religious magazine «Rodnik» [Well-spring], published in New York through the efforts of Priest Vadim Arefiev, was given out to the parents and to the other faithful.

It is our wish for all who visit our website that the grace filled joy of Pascha might increase in their lives.

Christ is Risen! Truly, Christ is Risen!

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