St. Athanasius Orthodox Church • Nicholasville/Lexington Kentucky

October in the Parish

Abp. Alexander to visit Oct. 25-27

October is a liturgically calm season in the Orthodox Church. For newcomers, this month is a great time to plug into church life:

Our Fall Catechesis (Christian Teaching 101) is in full swing each Wednesday at 720pm (immediately following our regular Wednesday Vespers at 630pm.) Newcomers and inquirers are welcome at these classes — alongside our official catechumens. The weekly series will conclude in mid-December.

Sunday School has resumed!  Children’s Sunday School (ages Pre-K through High School) takes place after the Liturgy (20-30 minutes) and our virtual Adult Sunday School is live each Thursday. You can join the online conversation each Thursday here.

Our Archbishop Alexander is planning his final visit to St. Athanasius before his retirement this October 25-27. Please mark your calendars for this festive weekend (when we also celebrate the newly-canonized St. Olga of Alaska!) You can see the full schedule on the calendar below and at the main schedule page here. Learn more about Archbishop Alexander here.

We welcome those who are in (or close to) Madison County to consider a visit our daughter community, St. Nina Mission (213 Pauline Drive #5, Berea, KY,) which helps extend the reach of the Orthodox Faith along the I-75 corridor & Wilderness Trail. St. Nina Chapel is drawing people from Somerset, London, Corbin, and beyond. We are now serving services twice a week on Tuesdays (630pm) and Saturdays (6pm.) We also are trying to serve two Sunday Liturgies per month in Berea. Our lead priest at St. Nina this year will be Fr. David Thatcher, who can be reached at fr.david@bluegrassorthodox.org.

Below is a collection of photos from October 2025, showing the full range of our parish life including both physical improvements at our church and a big annual multi-parish Fall St. Herman Campout (Sept. 26-28) that was held in Corbin, KY. We hope these photos inspire you to visit our church or mission (or one of the local Orthodox parishes.) If you have questions about our calendar or any aspect of our Faith or parish life, please reach out to our associate pastor Fr. Giorgi Lomsadze at fr.giorgi@bluegrassorthodox.org.

Pentecost Liturgy on the Hill

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We begin our summer schedule this Sunday, June 15, 2008 with Liturgy beginning at 9:30am. Our first Sunday of summer will not served in our chapel (as it will be on other Sundays of the summer) but rather on our church’s land at 2500 Chrisman Mill Road. [directions to the hill] (Note: the …

Christ is Risen!

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Christ has risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!   — Troparion for Pascha The whole creation keeps a feast, my brethren, and everything that hath breath praises the Lord, as the Psalmist [says], on account of the destruction …

The Great Fast: Keeping it in Spirit and in Truth

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–Fr. Justin Patterson In the English language, Orthodox Christians call the season of preparation before Pascha (Easter) “Great Lent.” The word “Lent” comes from an early English word indicating spring. Indeed, both the feast of Passover in the Jewish tradition and the …

Behold, I Make All Things New

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“It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the end.” — from Revelation 21 One of the most poignant prayers Orthodox Christians pray is a morning prayer addressed to the Theotokos, the Mother of our Lord. As we pray, we confess our brokenness and our many …

Feasting on the Faith—Even as We begin to Fast

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The Feast of The Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple — Fr. Justin Patterson On November 21st, not even a full week into the Nativity Fast, we celebrate one of the Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church: the Presentation, or Entry, of the Theotokos into the Temple. What does this feast …

The Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos

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On October 1 the Church celebrates the Feast of the Protection of the Theotokos. On September 30th at 4:30 PM, our parish will gather on our land on Chrisman Mill Road to keep the Vespers of this Feast. With the pan-Orthodox community of Kentucky, we will together glorify the works of God which have …

The Dormition of the Theotokos: Our Summer Pascha

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by Father Justin Patterson In the Orthodox Church, the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ–which we call “Pascha”–lies at the center of all that we do. It has often been said that we, as Orthodox Christians, live from Pascha to Pascha. Everything before Pascha is lived in …

The Apostles’ Fast: the Result of Pentecost

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The Feast of Pentecost remains one of the most beloved feasts in Orthodox Christian piety and experience. I’ll never forget my “Pentecostal” experience in Russia. As I walked into the church for the Pentecost Kneeling Vespers on Sunday afternoon, the smell of freshly cut greenery …

Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!

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Christ has risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!   — Troparion for Pascha The whole creation keeps a feast, my brethren, and everything that hath breath praises the Lord, as the Psalmist says, on account of the destruction of …

Thanksgiving, Sorrow, and Joy

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With much joy, St. Athanasius Orthodox Mission welcomed their beloved archbishop, his eminence, Dmitri, for an archpastoral visit the weekend of December 2-3, 2006. We were also blessed by the presence of Father Stephen Freeman, who is the dean of our Appalachian Deanery and priest-in-charge at St. …