Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Feast of the Holy Cross

On Thursday 14 September 2006, new calendar, Holy Cross Antiochian Orthodox Church in Linthicum MD (suburb of Baltimore MD) celebrated its patronal feast day. The parish was blessed by the visit of His Grace Bishop THOMAS on the previous weekend. Vesperal Liturgy was celebrated by Fr. Gregory, Fr. Ted, and Fr. Gregory (Four Evangelists) and Deacon Mark on Wednesday evening. Fr. Dean and Fr. Karl were also present.

Bishop Thomas came to Baltimore for the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos and stayed through Sunday. On Saturday morning we had practice to go over what we need to do the next morning. I received an e-mail the previous Sunday instructing me to be at the church at 9:00 Saturday morning.

After practice, I went to the Ukranian Festival for a few hours and then back home for a short period. Then I returned to the church for Vespers. My job was to stand next to the bishop and do what Russian subdeacons do when a bishop is present. The other subdeacons served on the altar for Vespers.

Basically subdeacons are like body guards for the bishops. They stand next to him to assist him when he needs it. Often we do not do very much, but our presence sometimes makes a big difference in the service.

The next morning I served at the Liturgy. I did not even bring out my camera, although it was readily available. Plus, we had a photographer who knew what he was doing and I had my Kodak camera on my belt where I usually keep it.

After the Liturgy I made a comment on the wonderful job that Deacon Mark did. I said that he really knew his stuff and told everybody what to do. Bishop Thomas said, "I am the boss, but Deacon Mark gave me permission to say that." If this is not a sign of a good sense of humor and a sign of humility, what is?

In his sermon Bishop Thomas talked about the bees and the flies. Put flies in a box with one bad fruit, they all would go to that bad fruit. Put bees in a box with one flower, and they all would go to that flower. We should be like bees and go for the beautiful things and not for garbage.

After the Liturgy we had a nice reception and Bishop Thomas was very accessible and many people took advantage of the opportunity to meet him and talk with him. I managed to get some photos of Anna on the bishop's lap. He told us about one parish where he was a priest and there was a little girl there and every time he was ready to chew out the parish, she would come up and hug him and after that he could never remain angry. We are so blessed to have Anna at Holy Cross and to have Vera at Holy Trinity. Vera is considerably older, but she still has the same effect.

We had a question and answer session and it was a real treat being able to ask the local bishop any questions that were on our minds for years. It was very informal and edifying. Even the number of people who had their picture taken with the bishop speaks volumes about his leadership.

I am looking forward to the next opportunity that I have to serve with Bishop Thomas. People flock around him when he is here and this is how the people should be with their bishop.

Meanwhile, I invite you to enjoy some of the pictures which I took.