Our Parish
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Parish History
In 1988, a group of about 50 adults and children, most of whom lived in the western part of the National Capital Region, with the blessing of Metropolitan Vitaly, formed an Orthodox mission. Initially, reader’s services were held in parishioners’ homes. With the arrival from Africa of Fr. Gerasimos Kambites, who had been working as a priest and physician in Uganda, Sunday and Festal Liturgies were served when his busy schedule permitted. In August 1989 the Synod gave its blessing for the community to operate as a regular parish. Services were held in a small, temporary chapel in Fr. Gerasimos’ basement. It was here that the community, which earlier had…
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Church Etiquette or Some Things You Should Know While in Church
In the Orthodox Church, there are a lot of customs and traditions that are important parts of our worship. Some are cultural; some are pious customs. Some are essential; some are not. From time-to-time, we need to address some of these various etiquette issues to inform our communities how we can best understand each other and work together to worship the all-holy Trinity.
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Parish Sisterhood
The Blessed St. Xenia of Petersburg parish has an invaluable and active Sisterhood. The Sisterhood’s purpose is to help support and maintain the Cathedral and contribute to the life of the parish. The patron Saints of the Sisterhood are the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women, who are celebrated on the second Sunday following Great and Holy Pascha. Some of the responsibilities of the Sisterhood include the maintenance of the clerical and church vestments, occasional cleaning and decoration of the Cathedral in advance of Great Feast Days and the operation of the bookstore. To help raise funds, the Sisterhood also provides lunches for parishioners after Sunday Divine Liturgies during the school year. Together…
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Bookstore
Our bookstore offers a selection of icons, crosses, spiritual literature and CDs of Orthodox music. The bookstore is open Sundays following the celebration of the Divine Liturgy.