On Friday, November 8, 2024, the day of remembrance of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessaloniki, the monastery for men in Framingham, Massachusetts, prayerfully celebrates its patronal feast. The Divine Liturgy on the day of the feast was celebrated at the monastery by the temporary Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA and Canada, Bishop Matthew of Sourozh.
The Bishop was assisted by the rector of the monastery, Hieromonk Savvaty (Ageyev), the acting secretary of the diocese, Hegumen Nikodim (Balyasnikov), and a cleric of the Novo-Diveyevo Monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, Deacon Alexei Pnev. The brothers of the monastery, the rector of Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Manchester, New Hampshire, Mitred Archpriest Alexander Androsov, and the Bishop's personal secretary Nikolai Trubnikov prayed, sang in the choir, and received the Holy Mysteries of Christ during the service. The liturgical hymns were performed in Church Slavonic, English, and Greek.
Before the beginning of the Divine Liturgy, the archpastor ordained altar boy Pavel Morin as a reader at the Peter and Paul Church in Manchester, and novice Dionysius Lvov of the St. Demetrius Monastery as a subdeacon.
After receiving the Holy Mysteries of Christ, Bishop Matthew and the concelebrating clergy performed a glorification of the Heavenly patron of the monastery, the Great Martyr Demetrius, at the icon containing a particle of his holy relics.
At the end of the service, Hieromonk Savvaty warmly greeted the archpastor on behalf of the brethren, parishioners and pilgrims of the monastery. In turn, Bishop Matthew addressed those gathered with a sermon dedicated to the memory of the Great Martyr Dimitry, and also expressed gratitude to Fr. Savvaty and the brethren for their hospitality and tireless work. "The monks called to the episcopal service, obediently engaged in the organization of the diocese entrusted to them, visit parishes, deal with various issues of diocesan life, but each of us rests in heart and soul when there is an opportunity to visit the monastery and pray with the brother monks," the Bishop noted in particular. In memory of the divine service held on the day of the patronal feast, Bishop Matthew presented Father Savvaty with a diary for the coming year, expressing the wish that the abbot of the monastery would mark more than one more episcopal divine service on its pages.
The archpastor’s communication with the brethren and pilgrims continued over the meal, after which Bishop Matthew became familiar in detail with various issues of the monastery’s life and approved the work plan for the coming year proposed by Hieromonk Savvaty.
