St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Chester, Pa. was down to literally a handful of parishioners within the last year.
The church, built and organized in 1916, had fallen into disrepair. For the last 10 years, the church only had a visiting priest who would come for marriages, baptisms, funerals and holidays, said church member Elena Batrakova-Mallett. The church board disbanded some time ago as well. No one really knows when.
The sanctuary was all but empty with three worshippers some Sundays, said Batrakova-Mallett of Milltown, who began attending the church in September. She had been attending St. Andrew’s Orthodox Cathedral in Philadelphia but opted for the nearby St. Nicholas.
But Father Alexey Bocharnikov was appointed as the permanent priest two months ago, and he has been working to rebuild the congregation ever since. As recently as Nov. 9, as many as 40 people filled the pews of St. Nicholas.
“What I’m so glad about is the children that were there,” said Father Alexey, who also came from St. Andrew’s Orthodox Cathedral. “It means we have a future. We’re trying to keep the church alive. We pray.”
The church aims to reach members of the Orthodox faith and anyone else in the area, Father Alexey said. He would like to see the congregation grow to 200.
Eastern Orthodox applies to a group of churches that have roots in the earliest days of Christianity and do not recognize papal authority over their activities. The Russian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox are part of the Eastern Orthodox churches, which together have about 200 million members.
“We are brothers. They are our sister church. We are the same,” Father Alexey said.
| St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Chester, Pa. holds vigils Saturdays at 4 p.m., confession Sundays at 9:30 a.m., with the Divine Liturgy following at 10 a.m.
Christmas will be celebrated Jan. 7 in keeping with the Orthodox faith. More information: Father Alexey, (267) 242-7400 or alexeybock@yahoo.com; Elena Batrakova-Mallett, lenochka68@verizon.net. |
In August 1916, the deed to the church premises was executed in the name of Archbishop Evdokim of the Russian Church in the U.S.A., the priest Father Gholevich and three laymen as trustees of the church congregation. In May of 1917, Archbishop Evdokim, at the request of the congregation, executed a mortgage of $20,000 on the church property. In 1917 the church was incorporated and in 1918 it adopted its own by-laws. It belongs to the Moscow Patriarchy.
“It’s a pity that such a gorgeous building that is almost a hundred years old was neglected for a long time,” Batrakova-Mallet said. “It was actually erected according to all the Orthodox rules, with great acoustics inside.
“In the lower area, the floor was rotten and we took it out. But the building was so well done, according to all the standards, it’s still in very good condition. You won’t see any cracks on the wall. We have such a wonderful heritage from our ancestors.”
Father Alexey agreed.
“In the church, everything is good,” Father Alexey said. “It’s a real Russian, small church. There’s not many in the United States like this. If you see our church inside, you’ll see a real Russian or Greek church.”
Saturday was a day of volunteer work in the Soviet Union – cleaning streets, fixing public amenities, collecting recyclable material and other community services. So as part of that tradition, on Nov. 15, the church will begin to replace the downstairs floor – formerly made of wood - with concrete to compensate for the humid conditions of the church. This area will eventually be used for get-togethers.
Work will continue on Nov. 22. Volunteers are welcome to the “subbotniks,” from the Russian words for Saturday, Batrakova-Mallett said.
“If there are any people interested in helping physically and do not want to donate money and prefer to donate their time, experience, knowledge – whatever it is – is greatly appreciated,” Batrakova-Mallett said. “Because every drop is in the same bucket where we are drinking together from.”
Along with some physical improvements, Father Alexey and Batrakova-Mallett are planning to run a Sunday school where children can study the Bible and the Russian language.
“We’re hoping that more and more children will be brought by their parents,” Batrakova-Mallett said. “My daughter [Nonna] is going to the church with me. She has to understand what is going on. Keep in touch with you’re your roots.”
The Liturgical language is Church Slavonic, English and, on occasion, Georgian and Greek. Slavonic is related to Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Chec, Serbian – all the Slavic languages, Father Alexey said. “If I talk to a Ukrainian, I understand what he says even though I don’t speak Ukrainian,” And he understands Russian; it’s so close.”
