American Priest & African Priest in Russia, Serving Liturgy in English (PHOTOS)
It was an answer to prayer! I felt a strong desire to meet my Russian Orthodox brothers from Africa. I had even started looking at plane tickets . . .
It was an answer to prayer! While I am an American priest living in Russia, I was recently reading about the large number of Orthodox baptisms currently taking place in Africa. Upon reading this news, I felt a strong desire to visit Africa myself, so that I could meet my Russian Orthodox brothers there. I had even started looking at plane tickets.
Less than a week later, I was serving a liturgy with my bishop at a monastery in Borisoglebsky, not far from Rostov Veliky. I didn't say anything about my desire to meet Orthodox Christians from Africa. Out of the blue, my bishop informed me that an Orthodox priest from Uganda would be visiting the area in a few days. The priest understands English, but not Russian, so the bishop asked me if I would be willing to serve with the priest in English. Of course, I gladly agreed!
So on Thursday, February 2, at 6:00 in the morning in Solba monastery, I celebrated the divine liturgy in English, with Fr. Herman assisting. I read the Gospel in both English and Church Slavonic.
Fr. Ilya, a hieromonk from Serbia, was also visiting and helping out. Noah Bowling and my son Jeremy assisted as altar servers. The choir included multiple English speakers from Russia and from America, and they chanted the entire service in English.
After the liturgy, Fr. Herman and I enjoyed a nice breakfast at the cafe in Solba monastery, and we discussed the growth of Orthodox Christianity in Africa. Fr. Herman, who was recently ordained to the priesthood, said that he will be serving the liturgy in both English and Ateso, a language widely spoken in Uganda.
Fr. Herman said that his church in Uganda has about 80 members, and that currently they have to serve the liturgy in a large tent. In time, we pray that they will be able to build a permanent church building that will last for generations to come.
Fr. Joseph, Fr. Herman, Fr. Ilya
This article originally appeared at Global Orthodox
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