There will be Panikhida served at the graves of our parishioners and clergy at Rock Creek Cemetery on Memorial Day - tomorrow - Monday, May 31 at 11:00 AM. All are welcome - please join us!
For Memorial Day
This weekend our nation observes Memorial Day - a date set aside to revere and honor those Americans who died while defending our nation and its values. We pause to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that we continue enjoying the freedom envisioned by our founders.
Our own Saint Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral was built to join our nation’s other National War Memorials and in remembrance of all Russian Orthodox faithful who lost their lives in the struggle for the highest ideals of liberty and religious freedom. The National War Memorial Shrine is dedicated to all who lost their lives in Russia and the Revolution. It is dedicated to the martyrs. It is dedicated to the Orthodox servicemen and women who gave their lives in World I and II, the Korean War and all conflicts that followed. People like us, people we loved, people others loved, all heroically rose to the call of a nation to protect it and the fundamental human right of religious freedom. It is in their memory.
Joining the many war memorials in Washington D.C. as a war memorial shrine, Saint Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral stands as a beacon in this nation – a living national monument. It was built as a labor of love not only by its local founders, but by an entire nation of Orthodox Christians as well. These were people devoted to the idea of having a memorial not only to remember the fallen heroes, but to proclaim that another Cross of Christ had been lifted among the churches of our nation's capital for the worship of God in the Orthodox tradition. During the Liturgy and intercession and requiem services, we commemorate the departed as well as our armed forces. Our communion with the departed never ends, as our union with them through Christ never ends. God “is not the God of the dead, but of the living – for all are alive to Him" (Luke 20:38). And so, we pray for the living. We pray for the dead.
Many of our founders and parishioners have fallen asleep in the Lord and have been laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery and other Veterans’ cemeteries across America. In remembrance of those fallen heroes, a special commemoration is held on Memorial Day Weekend with the reading of their names in the altar during Liturgy, followed by the chanting of Eternal Memory for those departed.
As this weekend has come to signify many things - the start of summer, pool openings, or perhaps an extra day off - save a moment to remember the sacrifice of our fallen in war. Our cathedral stands to remember those who have given unselfishly and to honor them with gratitude. They have given us not only the freedom to worship, but the beautiful cathedral as well. May we never take for granted the freedoms for which they fought.
May their Memory Be Eternal.