Consecration of Dome and Cross at St. Nicholas in Red Bank, NJ

The parish of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Red Bank, NJ which was founded in 1950, will soon celebrate its 75th anniversary.

The church building is over 110 years old.  Over time, the parish has experienced both periods of prosperity and decline.  God tested the community’s faithful in the second decade of the present century when the former Rector of the parish emptied it of its holy objects and destroyed its interior in an effort to illegally close the church.  Through the  prayers and the determination of its parishioners St. Nicholas was saved from complete destruction and permanent closure.  The building was in desperate need of repair.  After a seven-year restoration, the first Divine Liturgy was performed in the newly refurbished church.

On May 7, the fourth Sunday after Easter, a Divine Liturgy in remembrance of the Holy Great Martyr George the Trophy-Bearer (which is usually celebrated May 6) was performed in the Red Bank parish.  The Divine Liturgy was led by the Rector, Archpriest Rostislav Zadorozhnyy, with Archpriest Eduard Chervinsky and Archdeacon George Hero, visiting clerics from the Cathedral of St. John the Forerunner & the Baptist in Brooklyn.  Numerous parishioners attended the festive service, taking holy communion and venerating an icon with the relics of the Holy Great Martyr George.  The parish choir sang solemnly and touchingly.  At the end of the liturgy, Archpriest Rostislav delivered a sermon and then thanked the clergy, singers and laity present, congratulating all those celebrating their name day.  On behalf of the parish, Fr. Rostislav awarded Vasily Goryansky a Certificate of Appreciation for his invariable work in restoring the church, in particular his decoration of the outside eastern facade with a magnificent cross.  The clergy then  proceeded to consecrate it.  The celebration continued with a performance of poetry by the Sunday School students.  The festivities ended with a trapeza (dinner) organized by the sisterhood of the parish.

Previously on March 19, the Sunday of the Holy Cross, an event took place that parishioners had been awaiting for 10 years.  After the Divine Liturgy, Archpriest Rostislav consecrated the new dome of the church, which was donated by Ivan Belya, Warden of the Brooklyn Cathedral, a good friend and supporter of the Red Bank parish.

For centuries, Orthodox Slavs have crowned their churches with the onion-shaped domes resembling burning candles, which symbolize the prayers of the faithful directed to Heaven.  Thus, the candle of the church of St. Nicholas was lit once again!  “God is in the midst of it and does not move” (Ps. 45:5).  For the parishioners it had great significance that after a ten-year struggle to restore their destroyed church, the beautiful golden Cross atop the dome, personifying eternity, shines again.  It is the image of the Lord’s sign of victory, which brings unspeakable joy, eliminating the sorrows and hardships of the recent past.