St. Irene of Chrysovalantou Church, a parish of our Holy Metropolis in Troy, Michigan, recently celebrated its first parish patronal feast on 28 July OS, the feast of our Righteous Mother Irene of Cappodocia, Abbess of Chrysovalantou Monastery in Constantinople, the great ascetic and wonderworker beloved of the Orthodox Greek people, whose fame has spread in the 20th and 21st centuries throughout the whole Orthodox world.
Following Divine Liturgy on Sunday 27 July/9 August, the feast of St. Panteleimon, Great Vespers for St. Irene was celebrated with a Liti and Artoklasia. This was followed by a festive meal at a nearby banquet facility.
On Monday, the Feast of St. Irene, we celebrated Orthros and Divine Liturgy in memory of our beloved saint.
According to pious custom, apples were blessed after Divine Services on both days, and distributed to the faithful, in memory of St. Irene’s miraculous reception of apples from Paradise at the end of her earthly life, and for the help of the faithful.
55 people were present at services on Sunday, and 28 were present on the morning of the Feast itself. We glorify the Lord, Who has granted stability, growth, and peace to our small community in less than a year.
Our rector Fr. Steven Allen, Protopsaltis Leonidas Pittos, our Parish Council, and our entire parish brotherhood wish to thank our beloved archpastor Metropolitan Demetrius, for his guidance and holy prayers, and to thank also beloved fellow Orthodox of our Holy Metropolis who travelled some distance, as well as well-meaning Orthodox guests from the Detroit area, who came to be with us on this holy day.
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