[Auburn, NY] - On Sunday, May 4, the parish family of St. Nicholas Church in Auburn, NY, joyfully welcomed His Eminence, Archbishop Michael, for the celebration of Great Vespers and the Divine Liturgy on the Third Sunday of Pascha, the Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearing Women.

During the Divine Liturgy, Archbishop Michael awarded Archpriest Michael Speck the Jeweled Cross in recognition of his 38 years of ordained ministry—28 years as a deacon and 10 years as a priest.

Clergy serving with His Eminence included Deacons Paisios Daniels (St. Tikhon’s Seminary), Alexander Anderson, and Michael Speck; Subdeacons Mark Federoff and Andrew Karlgut; and Readers Peter Speck and Nathaniel Donch. They were joined by altar servers Ivan Alexander, Carl Stanley, Gabriel Anastasiou, and John and Michael Federoff.

The responses for Great Vespers were sung by the St. Nicholas Church Choir under the direction of Reader Peter Speck. For the Divine Liturgy, a beautifully blended octet of singers from St. Tikhon’s Seminary, directed by Seminarian John Carpenter, offered the responses.

At the conclusion of the Liturgy, a copy of the icon of St. Nicholas—originally written for the parish by renowned iconographer Matthias von Reutlinger—was presented to Archbishop Michael.

The celebration continued with a festive Paschal dinner in the Parish Center, shared in joy and gratitude by the parish community.