Vladika Michael graced us with a visit for Vespers on December 28, and Liturgy on the 29th. An extended coffee hour with caroling followed the service. Thank you to His Eminence, Archbishop MICHAEL, Rev. Deacon Staphan Karlgut, and SubDeacon Mark Federoff for spending their time in celebration with us!

Select photos from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Thanks to Fr. Samuel who visited us from St. Simon of Cyrene in New Brunswick on Christmas Eve.

We had a busy day this past Saturday. We had a great team clean the Church candlestands and carpeting from all the candle wax. And, the Senior R Club hosted a Pierogie Dinner, with soup, salad, awesome dessert, and lots of fellowship. 

The Men's Club threw their annual Holiday Party on Thursday, December 19th. The club members and their spouses provided a great spread of "pot-luck" fare. We had our own version of an "aquavit" table, as well as some old-fashioned eggnog. We were even able to take "The 12 Men of Christmas" picture. (No calendar will be forthcoming!) Thanks to everyone who attended. Merry Christmas!

This past Saturday, we welcomed a new member to our Parish flock. Dave Kaminsky was Chrismated at a 4:00 service, by Father David. Dave (aka Santa) and his wife Barbara have been attending services at Ss. Peter and Paul for decades. Barbara has been a member for life (and was a past webmaster). David made the leap after years of reflection. Welcome Dave! May God grant you many years!

On Sunday, the Church choir led by Basil Kozak performed it's Annual Community Christmas concert. There are only a few pictures, because the best way to experience this, is to listen to it. Please go to our Youtube page for a sample of this excellent concert. Our Parish on YouTube

The St. Nicholas Pagaent (Yolka) was performed today after Liturgy on December 8th. The theme was 'The Friendly Beasts'! Even the audience helped out by singing along with the Lyric sheets that Basil provided. Below are pictures from the final rehearsal on Saturday, as well as Sunday's performance.  This year marked the introducation of a new Maestro, Lizzy Leoniuk who helped Phil out in the keyboard department. Her little sis, Patricia and Sophia Mekmeb shared the narration as the rest of the cast sang and acted out the animals parts. I dont have every child's picture with St. Nicholas. If you took a picture of your child with St. Nick, please forward to my email. (See website contact list)

By the way, Basil wouldn't mind having an Assistant Director to help him out as well, so please give him a shout, should you be so inclined. Thanks to everyone who helped with the costumes, scenery, lighting, directing, playing and of course acting and singing.. (Basil, Jennifer, Amanda, Allison, Karen, Phil, Lizzy.. and I probably missed a few)

Although it was a bit colder this year, our Fall Festival was a resounding success. (Perhaps avoiding all the OctoberFest events helped out!) Thanks to all who participated (servers, cooks, tricky tray peeps, cashiers, entertainers, and cleaners). Thanks to all who attended, and thanks to Rebecca Kozak for chairing the event.

On November 1st, the R Club hosted a Cabaret style event held at the Ria Mar.  In addition to a very bubbly MC, the acts included dancing ladies with boas, a barbershop quartet, a wonderful rendition of Pierogies are a Girl's Best Friend, Story telling time by Fr. David, a surprise appearance by Elton John, and the South River Balalika Orchestra.

The Men's Club Picnic was held on Saturday, September 8th.. The weather was beautiful. All who attended had a great time, despite the issues with the grill!

August 5th and 6th marked Vespers and the Transfuguration Liturgy with Blessing of the Fruit afterwards. Fruit of the Transfiguration: Here is a natural expression of sacrifice to the Lord of His blessings of rain and sunshine which make it possible to reap a bountiful harvest.

Another busy weekend at Ss. Peter and Paul... The Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul commenced with Vespers on Friday evening, followed by Liturgy on Saturday morning. Afterward, a potluck luncheon was held in the hall.

On Sunday, Vladislaw Kachur completed his Church School final essay with a presentation on St. Vladimir. Congrats and Nice Job!

Lastly, the 2019 installment of the Parsih Council was made in the Church with the swearing in of the following members: Congratualations to Starista James Kornafel, First Asst. Starista Hank Dziemian, 2nd Asst. Starista Jay Pelleriti, Recording Secretary Stacia Essl, Sonya Harris, Mike Steffaro, Deb Silowka, Lena Illenya, Paula Mindzak, Karen Berezniak, Greg Berezniak and Phil Rogozenski.

The Holy Spirit descended upon our Church today in the form of both food and entertainment! First, we had the Taste of the Parish where dishes from around the world were displayed and eaten. What a dsiplay it was! Next, our Church school youth entertained us with an on-stage Talent Show. The Event was hosted by Andrew Steffaro. Nine of our youth participated.. (See the talent show green program in the pictures for a list of names and their talent. Sadly, due to technical difficulties, Alex and Greg could got play their saxes for us today.. However, Nia Lomjaria stepped up as a late replacement and dazzled us with her piano playing! Thanks Jakub Pieniazek, Alexander Pieniazek, Nia Lomjaria, Sophia Jaworuk, Sophia Mekmeb, Sebastian Deerson, Sara Jaworuk, Veronica Jaworuk and Arianna Steffaro. AND.. thanks to Allison Steffaro and Basil Kozak for coordination and background guitar! (Allison, your mini-xylophone talent was second to none... probably because we never heard anyone else play one before!)

We had three Church School Graduates this Sunday, as well as several College graduates. Congratulations to Church School Graduates Katherine Illenye, Andrew Steffaro and Vlad Kachur. College Graduates are Natalie Siemienczuk, Julianna Illenye, and Julia Kharlamenko.  Lastly, our Masters Degree graduate is Kristen Berezniak. (Natalie and Kristen could not be with us today, no no pics.. sorry!)

Congratulations to Ewa Naumiuk and Alexis Steffaro who are winners of this year's Schemick-Tolls $500.00 Scholarship.. Well deserved to both of you!

June 8th, 2019 marked the 24th annual Run/Walk for the Church. Walkers and runners shared a gorgeous late spring day with a slight breeze. Breakfast was phenomenal, and our traditional pizza lunch was devoured after the calories were burned on the sidewalks of South River. Thanks to all the participants and workers who made the day a success.

Great Vespers and Litiya was served with Archbishop Michael in attendance. His Eminence, Archbishop Michael presented Fr. Kuharsky with the priestly mitre during the Ascension Thursday service. The council hosted a luncheon following the service. The entire Kuharsky family attended and it was a beautiful day!

The weekend of June 1st and 2nd was a very busy one. On Saturday, June 1st, we were blessed with a presentation by Bill Marianes on Church Stewardship and Ministries. Thanks to Bill for all of his insight!

On Sunday, June 2nd, we were again blessed with the final reports of two of our Church School students, Katherine Illenye whose report was on Saint Xenia, and Andrew Steffaro whose report was on Saint Andrew. Congratulations to both of them for completing their studies!

After that, the Parish met in the Hall for our Annual meeting, led by Starista Jim Kornafel, Treasurer Tania Davis, Fr. David, and the Church Council. All is well! The budget was approved, and we are blessed with a wonderfully active and vibrant parish! 

Finally, the R-Club Rib Cookoff returned as a smashing success. Four of the Parish's finest chefs competed. Congratulations to the 2019 winner - Janusz Naumiuk (or is it Yanos?.. who knows!) for winning on his inaugural attempt.

The annual Memorial Day service was held at the Church cemetery at 8:00AM. The South River American Legion was on hand to offer a 21 gun salute and commemerative service for all our departed veterens. This was followed by a Panahida served by Fr. David.  Vechnaya Pamyat.

Thanks to Pete and Debbie Silowka for taking pictures at the Cemetery for the Annual Blessing of the Graves. (Provodnoye) The Rainout date turned out to be a real scorcher. 

Ss. Peter and Paul hosted a Troika Dinner Fundraiser on May 18th, 2019 to benefit St Andrew's Camp in Jewell, NY. What a night!! Archbishop Michael was in attendance from Vespers til cleanup time! The South River Balalaika Orchestra (SoRiBO) performed magnificently. Over 150 people were in attendance for this successful new kitchen fundraiser. Thanks to Taisa Naumiuk for all these pictures...(and Janusz's phone!) As usual, thanks to Natasha Rogozenski for spearheading  this food festival, creating the baskets, and coordinating all the help. Thanks to all the cooks, servers and band members who donated their time and food for this event. 

If you would like your child to receive the benefits of a great Orthodox sleepaway camp, start by going to saintandrewscamp.org.

Pictures of the Vigil of Palm Sunday (Blessing of the Palms), as well as Palm Sunday.  Lastly, a "Trip to the Holy Land" was presented by Daniel Rogozenski and Greg and Alex Siemienczuk, based on their recent Spring Break trip from March 15th to 23rd, 2019.

Church School Students gathered after Friday night matins to make Blessing Bags for the homeless as well as a lesson on Pascha and Holy Week. Blessing Bags were to benefit the homeless of the Boston and Hoboken areas.

The sacrament of the unction of the sick is the Church’s specific prayer for healing. If the faith of the believers is strong enough, and if it is the will of God, there is every reason to believe that the Lord can heal those who are diseased. The Sacrament of Holy Unction was held on Thursday, April 18th.

The Easter Bazaar was held on Saturday, April 13th. As usual, the leadership of Deb and Pete Silowka made the day's events as smooth as ever. The Tricky Tray was a record success. (Thanks Natasha, Deb and Karen!) The potato pancakes were spearheaded by the Men's Club again. (Fortunately, noone was injured during this effort!) The R Club's Ethnic goods were a huge success, as were the Bakery and the Honey and Soaps! And we always run out of the delicious Babka! Here are just a few pics from the day.

April7th marked the celebration of our annual Lenten Youth Sunday. Our youth rang the bells, took part in the collection, held the Communion cloth, and worked the Candle desk. Ella Leoniuk read the Epistle, and Lizzie Lomjaria capped off the event with a beautifully prepared Sermon. See the pictures below.

Lenten Mission Vespers was held at our Church on Sunday, March 31, 2019. Vespers was served by various priests from the surrounding Central NJ OCA parishes, including Fr. Gary Breton (Brick), Fr. Peter Baktis (Princeton),  Fr. Volodymyr Chaikivskyi (Trenton), Fr. Maryon Chaykivsky (Perth Amboy) , Fr. Greg Rubis (So. River ) and Fr. David Garretson (So. River). A light Lenten meal was served afterwards. 

On the first Sunday of Great Lent, the Sunday of Orthodoxy, a Communion Breakfast was held in the Church hall following Divine Liturgy for the Church School Students who had partaken of the Sacrament of Holy Confession on Saturday. The Communion Breakfast was sponsored by the St. Anne's Guild.