Father Anthony Rout

Holy Pentecost 2026

July 4, 2026 By Father Anthony Rout

St. Nicholas English Orthodox Parish

Our Celebration with Metropolitan Gregory
at Pentecost
May 31 & June 1, 2026

Dear and Faithful Orthodox Christians,

‘Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God, who hast shown forth the fisherman as supremely wise, by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit!’

A most blessed and great Feast of Pentecost was celebrated by all this year together with our steadfast and faithful Hierarch, Gregory, Metropolitan of Boston and Toronto! Following is Metropolitan Gregory’s outline of his visit and our receiving of the holy Relics of Saint George the Great Martyr at Saint Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral.

Saint George, the Great Martyr, intercede in our behalf!
Father Anthony

Metropolitan Gregory on his Pastoral Visit to Toronto, Pentecost 2026

Metropolitan Gregory delivers the Relics of Saint George on the Eve of Pentecost

As Locum Tenens of the Metropolis of Toronto, I undertake a pastoral visit to the parishes of the Canadian Diocese each spring, commencing in Toronto and proceeding sequentially through the western provinces. The Vigil for the Feast of Pentecost was celebrated at Saint Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in Toronto. This year, the occasion was marked by added solemnity due to the reception of the relics of Saint George the Great Martyr, which were gifted to the Parish by Holy Transfiguration Monastery and which I was privileged to bring with me to Toronto as a sacred treasure. Prior to the commencement of the Sunday Vigil, the clergy and the faithful of the Cathedral welcomed the relics of Saint George with flowers, candles, incense, and hymns of thanksgiving. All present were afforded the opportunity to approach and venerate the newly acquired relic.

Blessing of the Five Loaves at the Vigil of Pentecost

On Sunday morning, I celebrated the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, accompanied by Protopresbyter Anthony Rout, Presbyter Sergey Zhukov, and Protodeacon George Janchev. Before the start of the Service, two new Taper Bearers were blessed for the Cathedral, both, incidentally, called George.

Metropolitan Gregory blesses George and George our two new Taper Bearers

Father Protodeacon George proclaims the Metropolitan in the Divine Liturgy

Following the Divine Liturgy, the Vespers of the Sunday of Pentecost were served, during which the awesome Kneeling Prayers of the Sunday of Pentecost, traditionally attributed to Saint Basil the Great, were read. The Divine Services were followed by a Festal Trapeza, concluding with a customary Question and Answer Session that lasted for several hours.

Metropolitan Gregory with Clergy and Servers amongst the trees after Liturgy

On the Monday of the Holy Spirit, I had the further opportunity to serve the Divine Liturgy at our Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, thereby concluding my visit to Toronto and the first stop of the Canadian tour.

+ Gregory, Metropolitan of Toronto and Boston

40th Anniversary of the Founding of the Mother of God Church in Calgary

July 17, 2025 By Father Anthony Rout

St. Nicholas English Orthodox Parish

40th Anniversary of the Founding of
the Mother of God Church in Calgary

Hierarchical Celebration with Metropolitan Gregory of Boston and Toronto
June 14 and 15, 2025

Dear and Faithful Orthodox Christians,

Thy most pure Icon of the Portal, O Virgin Theotokos, is a font of spiritual healing for the whole world!
(from the Service to the Mother of God, Keeper of the Portal).

The Church of the Mother of God ‘Keeper of the Portal’ in Calgary celebrated the 40th Anniversary of their founding on Saturday and Sunday June 14 and 15, 2025. How joyous and grace-filled were those two days! Our Chief Shepherd and Hierarch Gregory celebrated the Hierarchical Liturgy on Sunday with the faithful of the Church and those who had travelled to participate in the happy occasion and in thanksgiving to the Mother of God.

Metropolitan Gregory blesses at the Hierarchal Divine Liturgy

We made a short video of the celebrations with photos and recordings from the day and offer this as a memory of the Saviour’s blessings as we honoured His holy Mother. In sharing this, we pray it is indeed a reminder to all of the protection of God’s holy Mother. As you enjoy the video, we would also ask to please not forward this in personal social media without prior permission.

Most holy Mother of God, intercede for the Church built in honour of you holy Icon, ‘Keeper of the Portal,’ and ask Thy Son and Our God for strength in proclaiming His truth and mercy.

Icon of the Mother of God of the Portal installed on the Iconostas of the Church
(Icon was written at the Holy Nativity Convent, Brookline)

In thanksgiving to Our Saviour two new hand-painted Icons were commissioned for the Iconostas of the Church: an Icon of the Saviour, and an Icon of the Mother of God, Keeper of the Portal.

Link to the Video of the 40th Anniversary of the Calgary Parish

Most holy Mother of God, save us!
Father Anthony

Holy Pentecost 2025 – Hierarchical Liturgy with Metropolitan Gregory

June 18, 2025 By Father Anthony Rout

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

Pascha 2025 – Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

April 25, 2025 By Father Anthony Rout

St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral
Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!
Pascha 2025

Dear and Faithful Orthodox Christians,

Christ is Risen!

Truly He is Risen!

May Our Saviour’s victory over Hades, trampling down death by death, and His glorious Resurrection from the dead, be for all of us a wellspring of enlightenment and hope throughout the year ahead.

How blessed we were throughout Holy Week to hear together the magnificent hymns, readings from the Scriptures and to be present in the sacred Services. We stood at the Cross of our Saviour and in the deep of night on Saturday heard the announcement from the Gospel of Matthew: ‘He is Risen, He is not here… go quickly and tell His disciples that He is Risen from the dead.’

“Christ is Risen from the dead, by death hath He trampled down death,
and on those in the graves hath He bestowed life!”

We rejoiced also at the Baptisms of the newly illumined servant of God Edward, and the newly illumined servant of God Laurence. May Christ our God strengthen them on the firm foundation of the Faith and Traditions of the Apostles in the holy Orthodox Church! And how magnificent a blessing it was at the Agape Vespers of Love on Sunday afternoon to hear the holy Gospel read in thirteen different languages: English, Slavonic, Cantonese, Amharic, Italian, French, German, Hindi, Greek, Macedonian, Telugu, Ukrainian, and Spanish!