Dean

the Very Rev. Constantine White

Dean Emeritus

the Very Rev. Dmitry Grigorieff

Attendance

about 75

Sample Worshipper Dress

pink dress, pink scarf, gray jacket, brown hose

Service Length

about 90 minutes

Languages

Old Church Slavonic, Russian

Pews

none

Congregational Fervor

Save for a few chairs that are reserved for the elderly, St. Nicholas offers no organized seating during its liturgy. As a result, it can be hard to get the congregation focused. Many attendees milled around chatting for at least 10 minutes after the service had begun. HHHHH

Food for the Soul

Although the 10:45 a.m. service’s sermon was given in Russian (the rest of the liturgy is in Old Church Slavonic), a fluent congregation member was willing to summarize Grigorieff’s sermon. “The general idea is that as humans we face a lot of problems that are hard to overcome without the help of a higher power—if you aren’t doing that, you’re just going down and down,” he explained. “Of course, that’s only my very free interpretation.”HHHHH

Food for the Body

A recent postservice coffee hour offered a satisfying luncheon that included sausage, kasha, bagels, coffee, and homemade pirozhki. HHHHH

Overall Worship Power

In keeping with Orthodox tradition, St. Nicholas keeps a number of relics on hand for worshippers to venerate—typically small splinters from the bones of saints that are housed in a case or icon. While White can point out a few luminaries contained in the reliquary—such as St. Herman, St. Innocent, and St. Nicholas himself—he has difficulty recalling the full roster. “Don’t ask me to name them all,” he says. “I can’t remember everybody that’s in the case.” HHHHH

—Aaron Leitko