In the joyous Paschal days celebrating the holy Myrrhbearing Women, at the invitation and with the blessing of the rector, Archpriest Victor Potapov, and at the initiative of the choir’s longtime friend Sergey Olhovsky, members of the Holy Myrrhbearers Diocesan Women’s Choir, headed by director Eugenia Temidis, arrived at St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Washington, DC, to mark their patronal feast day at the divine services in honor of their heavenly patronesses.

The eleven diocesan choristers arriving from the New York metropolitan area were joined by several guests: two singers from the New York City Deanery, two from the New Jersey Deanery, two from Philadelphia, PA, one from Baltimore, MD, and six members of the local cathedral choir. Preparatory rehearsals were held earlier in New York and at St. Vladimir Memorial Church in Jackson, NJ. With the help and support of St. John the Baptist Cathedral’s choir director, Youri Petcherkin, and his wife Inna, local Washington choristers were invited and prepared, as well. On Saturday morning, May 7, all of the feast day’s participants met for the first time in the spacious, marvelously adorned church hall next door to the cathedral, where a general rehearsal and other preparations for the upcoming services were held. There was some tension at first when the newly acquainted singers began to sing together, but this soon fell away, supplanted by concentration and sincere effort. All of the women were united in their love for glorying the Savior’s Resurrection in song.

After the rehearsal, the rector greeted the newly arrived choristers, after which volunteers from the cathedral sisterhood, brotherhood, and choir, under the leadership of Sergey Olhovsky, prepared a delicious luncheon for all. Many of the singers took advantage of the opportunity offered to walk outside in the beautiful weather and see the sights of the American capital. Some stayed behind at the church to rest, enjoying the hospitality of the parishioners and the wonderful surroundings in the newly renovated parish hall.

The hour arrived for evening prayer, and about 20 singers gathered in the choir loft of the marvelously adorned St. John the Baptist Cathedral. In the altar, Archpriest Victor Potapov was co-served by cathedral clerics Priest Alexander Resnikoff and Protodeacon Leonid Mickle, as well as Deacon Paul Drozdowski (cleric of St. Vladimir Memorial Church). The first hymns and exclamations of the All-Night Vigil resounded: Christ is risen!!! It was impossible to remain indifferent to the cathedral’s rich acoustics, the heaven-inspired frescoes, the warm, flickering light of the lamps, the joyous, prayerfully resounding hymns, or the graceful service of the clerics. The Greek chant of the proemial psalm, the work of Samarin, sounded out. A multitude of spiritual compositions and arrangements then followed, works by such composers as Sofronov, Trubachev, Kastalsky, Ledkovsky, Arensky, Tolstokulakov, and Mussorgsky, as well as chants from Holy Trinity-St. Sergius and the Kiev Caves Lavras and the Mount of Olives Convent, all arranged for female voices. The choir joyfully sang the Paschal Canon, and time stood still… On the heels of the First Hour, by the flickering light of the lamps alone, as though following in the footsteps of their heavenly patronesses, who came early in the morning with trembling to the Tomb of their beloved Teacher, the women quietly descended from the choir loft to the middle of the dimly lit church and, standing together before the four festal icons of the Radiant Resurrection of Christ, St. Mark the Apostle, the Holy Myrrhbearing Women, and St. Mary Magdalene, triumphally sang Ledkovsky’s To thee, the Champion Leader. None wished to leave the church.

All of the serving clergy and members of the women’s choir, along with several representatives of the cathedral choir, were invited to a bountiful, friendly supper, once more prepared by Sergey Olhovsky with the help of the choristers and sisterhood. A wonderful opportunity was offered to converse, share impressions, congratulate one another and even sing a little. Everyone parted ways owing only to the fact that a festal Divine Liturgy was waiting for them in the morning. The members of the local choir graciously hosted members of the women’s choir, who had traveled there from afar, in their homes.

The following morning, an even greater number of local guest singers filled the ranks of the diocesan women’s choir, and once more the divine service was sung joyously and triumphally. Of special note was the exceptionally prayerfully singing of the Cherubic Hymn, chanted to "The Noble Joseph," "To Thee we sing" in the Serbian chant and, before Communion, the singing of "Having fallen asleep in the flesh" in the Jordanville tradition, all arranged specially for the diocesan women’s choir. Upon completion of the Liturgy, Fr. Victor emphasized the beauty that the women’s voices had added to the service, citing as an example the words offered by the ambassadors of St. Prince Vladimir, Equal-of-the-Apostles, who, having attended an Orthodox service in Constantinople’s Hagia Sophia and reporting to the prince who had sent them, reported that they knew not whether they were on earth or in heaven. Father Victor relayed that, in the same way, standing and praying at the holy Altar Table and listening to the singing of the women’s choir, he knew not whether he was in his own church, or in St. Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery, or in the Convent in Gethsemane. At this touching moment, the rector presented the diocesan women’s choir a piece of the Lord’s Tomb, to be inlaid in the choir’s festal icon; he then invited the choir to return to St. John the Baptist Cathedral to celebrate the Holy Myrrhbearers again next year.

The festal days concluded with a reception and bountiful luncheon in the parish hall, where members of the Holy Myrrhbearers Diocesan Women’s Choir were able to spend time with their newfound friends and sincerely gracious parishioner-hosts before departing. Fr. Victor read aloud a congratulatory letter written on behalf of His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, by Eastern American Diocesan secretary Archpriest Serge Lukianov. On behalf of the whole women’s choir, director Eugenia Temidis addressed the rector, Fr. Victor, and all of the choir members and parishioners to express her abiding gratitude, after which gifts were presented on behalf of the choir to those who had helped organize the festal event. Parting ways and having received a blessing, the choir members, bewinged with Paschal joy, prepared for the long journey home.

Matushka Eugenia Temidis
Director, Holy Myrrhbearers Diocesan Women’s Choir

Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese

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