Welcome to Holy Apostles Orthodox Church

 

Holy Apostles Orthodox Church is a parish of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), Eastern American Diocese, founded with the purpose of bringing the Gospel and Divine Services of the Russian Orthodox Church to the people of America in the English language. We invite you to come to any of the Divine Services or events at our mission church. In 2009 we were gifted a beautiful, historic chapel and two-acre campus by the Christian Brothers. Our vision is to establish the parish in its new home, from where the parish can continue to thrive and grow as a living icon of Orthodox missions in America.


Watch our Visual History of our Historic Chapel and Parish Hall

UPDATED FOR 2024! In 2009 our parish was gifted an historic chapel surrounded by two acres of beautiful land. Since then we have been restoring the chapel, and planning the construction of the new parish hall, which would enable us to move from our current location at Twin Chimneys Office Park.

We are approaching the groundbreaking for construction of the new Parish Hall. The visual history below tells our story.

Hover over images to pause the presentation.  Use right and left arrows to navigate forwards or back.

Clicking on an image opens the presentation in gallery view, with the ability to play the slide show, or view individual slides.

 

Learn more here, and help us build our new Parish Hall, and move to our Historic Chapel Campus!


Views of Parish Life at Holy Apostles
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Learn about the Hawaiian Iveron Icon
Learn about the Hawaiian Iveron Icon
FROM THE RECTOR

Dear Family of Holy Apostles Orthodox Church and Friends,

Our encounter with the Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Mother of God this past Monday the 9th almost literally shone out so that the experience was said to be a "radiant night."  Since Father Nectarios was coming from a long distance, our scheduled prayers and akathist were complete before his arrival.  All who came remained and grouped together in front of the church awaiting her.  Her overwhelming grace dispelled all possible anxiety resulting from such a delay.  Through all the time of prayer and waiting, a sense of elevation of spirit persisted putting us all above time.

For all of the sense of spiritual elevation, her icon's arrival in the arms of Father Nectarios and conveyed to the arms of Father Christopher, was equal to the warmest possible family embrace.  We held her in a way that she held us.  We live with the knowledge of being God's family through our membership in Christ's Body, the Church.  We know too that, therefore, the Theotokos mothers the Church.  We were in her arms.  This overall sense that pervaded the evening was further marked by a number of miraculous events, one of which we mention here.

Our dear friend, iconographer Paraskeve Kalvesmaki, had already executed a transcendent icon of the Annunciation for us.  Very recently, she wrote another icon showing the Mother of God with her protecting veil, along with our heavenly patrons, the Holy Apostles, and Holy Great-Martyr George.  All are assembled in front of our lovely historic chapel which was given to our parish as a gift in 2009. 
 
We call this icon the Mother of God of Beltsville.  In the course of the Iveron Icon visit, Matushka Deborah took the Mother of God of Beltsville from its kiot and Father Nectarios opened the Iveron Icon's case.  He placed the Mother of God of Beltsville on the Iveron Icon and anointed it with a copiously streaming piece of cotton from the Iveron Icon.  The parish hall which we are working on building is dedicated to the protection of the Iveron Icon.  The historic chapel which we are restoring is under the Protection of the Mother of God.  The meeting of the two icons was a great blessing for our parish.

Dear brothers and sisters, we must hold this overwhelming blessing we have received ever in our very sense of being, together with all the other blessed happenings rising out of this "radiant night." 

With love in our Lord and His most pure Mother, I remain your servant,

Fr. George

Now and Upcoming Shortly:

10/05 – Saturday 5:00 PM Evening Vigil
10/06 –Sunday 9:40 AM Hours & Divine Liturgy – the 15th Sunday after Pentecost - the Conception of St. John the Baptist

10/10 - Thursday 7-9 PM Choir Rehearsal

10/12 – Saturday 5:00 PM Evening Vigil
10/13 – Sunday 9:40 AM Hours & Divine Liturgy –the 16th Sunday after Pentecost - The Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos (transferred from the 14th) - St Romanos the Melodist, patron of our Church music labors

10/14 - Monday 7:00 PM Parish Council via Zoom

10/17 - Thursday 7-9 PM Choir Rehearsal

10/19 – Saturday 5:00 PM Evening Vigil
10/20 – Sunday 9:40 AM Hours & Divine Liturgy – the 17th Sunday after Pentecost - St. Jonah, Bishop of Hankou in Manchuria


NEW - A Pentecost Memory

 

A Pentecost Memory 

NEW! Added September 6, 2024 — This booklet is a record of the experience of a priest’s wife during the Pentecost Kneeling Vespers served in Holy Apostles Orthodox Church in Beltsville, Maryland, on June 23, 2024.  ($5 in our Lulu Store)

“Through the eyes of my heart, I saw a stream of the departed, people whom I knew throughout my life. I saw so many, many people. The Lord brought them close to my heart, as close as He is. The stream became a river. From my lost babies, to my grandfather who committed suicide, to an untold number of departed relatives, brothers and sisters in Christ, I saw a great crowd. The border between Heaven and earth dissolved as the Lord brought me to this place.” 

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Watch our Video!

Become a Church Builder!

 

From 'St John of Shanghai and San Francisco, Zealous Builder of Churches'

Everywhere he went he either oversaw the building of churches or supported the same with his attention and prayers... He wrote about the godly work of building churches: 

"In building churches here on earth, we create for ourselves eternal habitations in heaven."

 

Read the full article here...

Become a Church Builder!
Become a Church Builder!
Become a Church Builder!

General Fund Contributions

Historic Chapel Restoration

Since 2009 we have been restoring our beautiful chapel, gifted to our parish that year by the Christian Brothers.

To date, we have received and administered grants of approximately $400,000 so far, and continue to apply for the grants as they become available.



View Our Visual History

A Digital Slide Show

and

Building Project Report

 

START NOW

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Holy Apostles Orthodox Church, in Beltsville, Maryland, is a parish of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), Eastern American Diocese, founded with the purpose of bringing the Gospel and Divine Services of the Russian Orthodox Church to the people of America in the English language. We invite you to come to any of the Divine Services or events at our mission church. In 2009 we were gifted a beautiful, historic chapel and two-acre campus by the Christian Brothers. Our vision is to establish the parish in its new home, from where the parish can continue to thrive and grow as a living icon of Orthodox missions in America.


EPISTLE BOOK, published by Holy Apostles Orthodox Church

 

The only Orthodox Epistle Book using the KJV text.

Includes the Acts and the Epistles, arranged for liturgical use according to Russian Orthodox practice. An appendix features all relevant prokeimena and readings for the whole year. Rubrics, introductory notes and monthly calendar for the Church Year are also included. Hardbound with full color dust cover, 632 pages. Published by Holy Apostles Orthodox Church and St Polycarp Press.

Full info and links to order on this special page.


St Romanos the Melodist Society

 

The St. Romanos the Melodist Society produces and publishes English language music of the Russian Orthodox Church.

 

The St. Romanos website is the online extension of A Church Singer's Companion, a project started in 1998 with the blessing of Metropolitan (then Archbishop) Laurus. Inspired by the Russian Sputnik Psalomshchika, the Companion is envisioned to contain the music necessary for every service a parish choir might need to sing, while staying simple enough so that any parish choir can sing it.

The St. Romanos Society produces music in both printed and recorded formats, and conducts seminars and workshops on the proper performance of that music. The Society is a sodality of Holy Apostles Orthodox Church, Beltsville, Maryland.

To get started looking at music, proceed to the Church Singer's Companion and begin familiarizing yourself with the content. You'll find there are a few more challenging settings mixed in, marked “difficult” or “very difficult”. Audio or video examples accompany some of the music. In addition, the Introduction provides valuable advice about proper church singing and related topics.

Detailed Reviews and Endorsements by clergy and choral professionals are provided for your consideration.