Dear Brothers and Sisters, parishioners and friends of our Russian Orthodox parish in Ottawa,

When we attend Orthodox church services, wonderful singing and chanting, icons, and incense engage all of our senses in glorifying God. Through your generous help, our parish church has steadily been adorned with new icons, vestments made with brightly-coloured brocades, and high quality liturgical vessels. Our choir, readers, clergy, and altar servers also strive to make the divine services beautiful. In such a way, those who enter the church find themselves in a place where everything is arranged in a manner that is most conducive to communing in prayer with our Creator. The time has come to take the next step in the beautification of our church building. God willing this year, a talented iconographer, who has recently immigrated to Canada from Russia, will begin to adorn the altar walls of our church with sacred images. If everything goes well and God blesses, in the following years the remaining walls, vaults, pendentives and the dome will also be decorated. We humbly ask all who are able to generously support this worthy project.

Many years ago, when St. Vladimir the Grand Prince of Kiev was searching for the true religion the ambassadors that he sent to the different nations and representatives of the diverse religions of the world were most impressed by the Orthodox faith of the Greeks in Constantinople. It was not their theology or ascetic works that attracted our forefathers, but the beauty of the divine services. Upon returning to Kiev, they reported to St. Vladimir that they knew not whether they were in heaven or on earth while attending a church service in the magnificent church of St. Sophia in Constantinople.

Let us strive together to make our church reflect the beauty of the eternal Heavenly Kingdom as much as this is humanly possible. It seems to me that if we strive to fulfill this goal, we will not only be glorifying the Lord, but will also worthily witness our Christian faith to all those who enter our church.

Donations can be made by cash, cheque, debit or credit card at the church, or online at https://www.memorialchurch.ca/en/helpus.

May the Lord God bless all of you for your generous help!

priest Alexis