Dear and Faithful Orthodox Christians,
How joyous that we celebrated the great Feast of Pentecost on June 7 & 8, 2025 with our blessed and faithful Hierarch and steadfast follower of the Holy Apostles, Gregory, Metropolitan of Boston and Toronto!
‘Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God, who hast shown forth the fisherman as supremely wise, by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit!’
Metropolitan Gregory blesses the Five loaves on the Eve of Pentecost
Saint John Chrysostom says in his homily for this day, ‘This Holy Spirit also ordains priests, consecrates churches, purifies altars, perfects sacrifices and cleanses people of their sins. This Holy Spirit abides with the godly, refines the righteous and guides Kings… This Holy Spirit enlightens souls and sanctifies bodies. It is the same Holy Spirit Who descended upon the Apostles and filled them with divine wisdom.’ And it is this same Holy Spirit, our God, who consecrated the successors of the Apostles and our Metropolitan Gregory as Bishop and Hierarch of our holy Church.
Divine Liturgy of Pentecost amongst the trees in the Cathedral
As the Metropolitan said in his sermon, ‘the Holy Spirit comes so that we should have access and be connected to the redeemed nature of Man that Our Saviour has and through which He defeated Death. (And) when the Holy Spirit came visibly upon the heads of the Apostles…at that moment, the Apostles were ordained as High Priests of the Church after Our Saviour, the True High Priest…. It is through this gift of Priesthood that allows us to celebrate all the Divine Mysteries.’ This holy Mystery of the Hierarchical Liturgy was celebrated by the Metropolitan together with Father Anthony, Father Sergey, and Father Protodeacon George.
After the Divine Liturgy, we celebrated Vespers of Pentecost and as a congregation, we knelt together for the first time since Holy Week as the Metropolitan read over us the great Kneeling Prayers asking for the rich mercies of God upon us. The Chanters magnified the Holy Trinity saying, ‘The Holy Spirit hath ever been, and is, and shall be, neither beginning nor ending; but He is ever ranked and numbered together with the Father and the Son.’
Metropolitan Gregory with Clergy and Servers on Pentecost
After the conclusion of the Kneeling Prayers, we continued our celebrations with a festive luncheon outside on the Church grounds, having the opportunity to socialize, and also to receive some further instruction from the Metropolitan who answered questions on prayer and the spiritual life. It was an edifying and happy day! God bless everyone who contributed toward the celebration with donations, food preparation, flower arranging, chanting, bell-ringing, serving, hosting guests, cleaning the Church and grounds, the clean up afterwards, and all the other detail work that with Our Saviour’s blessing brought us such a grace-filled Pentecost.
Enjoying time together on Holy Pentecost
Through the prayers of the Holy Apostles, O Saviour, save us!
Father Anthony