Welcome

Welcome to the official website of the
Orthodox Church of the Mother of God,
Joy of all the Sorrowful

We are a growing parish in the Diocese of New York and New Jersey, of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA).
We are in historic Mays Landing, New Jersey, easily reachable near where Route 40 meets Route 50 in Atlantic County

We have no other help, we have no other hope, but you, O Lady.
Help us, for in you we hope,
and of you we boast, for we are your servants.
Let us not be put to shame.

Street address:
Orthodox Church of the Mother of God
115 Hudson St.
Mays Landing, New Jersey 08330

Temporary Rector:

V. Rev. Dr. Matthew Searfoorce

207 Myrtle Ave
Turnersville, NJ 08012

Our Bishop:

The Most Reverend Michael

Archbishop of New York and the Diocese of New York and New Jersey

Sunday Mornings Services


Sunday Mornings

9:40 AM – Hours (The Third and Sixth Hours are usually read together before the Liturgy)

10:00 AM – Divine Liturgy  – Holy Communion is offered to those baptized Orthodox Christians who have prepared themselves for the reception of the Sacrament by prayer and fasting. Blessed Bread is available for all our visitors at the very end of the Divine Liturgy.

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Great Lent Services 2026 (Holy Week and Pascha)


Great Lent Services 2026 (Holy Week and Pascha) Fasting for Presanctified Liturgy should begin after consumption of Lunch. Fasting through Great Lent should include abstaining from meat after Meatfare Sunday, and dairy products as well after Cheesefare Sunday. We may eat shellfish at any time, and fish with back bones on Annunciation, and the Entry… Read More

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Holy Week


Holy Week

By Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann
“Having fulfilled the Forty Days we ask to see the Holy Week of Thy passion.”  With these words sung at Vespers of Palm Friday, Lent comes to its end and we enter into the annual commemoration of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection. It begins on the Saturday of Lazarus. The double feast of Lazarus’ Resurrection and the Entrance of the Lord to Jerusalem is described in liturgical texts as the ‘beginning of the Cross’ and is to be understood, therefore, within the context of the Holy Week. The common troparion of these days explicitly affirms that ‘by raising Lazarus from the dead Christ confirmed the truth of general resurrection.’ It is highly significant that we are led into the darkness of the Cross by one of the twelve major feasts of the Church. Light and joy shine not only at the end of Holy Week but also at its beginning; they illumine darkness itself, reveal its ultimate meaning.

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Reminders


The Sisterhood’s food drive is ongoing. Donation bins are located both downstairs and in the back of the church. Please be generous. Thank you!

More…

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The Paschal Service


The Paschal Service

Enjoy ye all the feast of faith; receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness.
(Sermon of St. John Chrysostom, read at Paschal Matins)

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the center of the Christian faith. St. Paul says that if Christ is not raised from the dead, then our preaching and faith are in vain (I Cor. 15:14). Indeed, without the resurrection there would be no Christian preaching or faith. The disciples of Christ would have remained the broken and hopeless band which the Gospel of John describes as being in hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. They went nowhere and preached nothing until they met the risen Christ, the doors being shut (John 20:19). Then they touched the wounds of the nails and the spear; they ate and drank with Him. The resurrection became the basis of everything they said and did (Acts 2-4): “… for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Luke 24:39).

The resurrection reveals Jesus of Nazareth as not only the expected Messiah of Israel, but as the King and Lord of a new Jerusalem: a new heaven and a new earth.

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2026 Pysanky Class


2026 Pysanky Class – See photos
On march 15th, Mat. Holly held a class on Pysanky egg decorating after the Coffee Hour.

Pysanky eggs are Easter eggs decorated using a wax-resist dyeing method. Designs are “written” in hot wax before being dyed. This tradition dates back to ancient times and incorporates both pagan and Christian symbols, making pysanky a significant cultural and religious artifact.

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Our Church Building


Our Church Building

Photo of our Church
Our church building, and the services celebrated within it, are from the tradition of the church, from the vision of St John the Apostle, as well as the Old Testament Temple. The interior of the Orthodox Church buildings are particularly styled to give the experience of the unity of all things in God. They are not constructed to reproduce the upper room of the Last Supper, nor to be simply a meeting hall for peope whose life exists solely within the bounds of this earth. The church building itself, is an image of the world.

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About the Patron of our Parish


(the Icon of the Mother of God “the Joy of All the Sorrowful”  is Commemorated on July 23, October 24, and November 19)

About the Patron of our Parish

By Helen Creticos Theodoropoulos

Deep within the heart of the Church, in the place where sorrow and joy meet and where our bitter tears are kissed away by a mother’s love, we encounter the Most Holy Mother of God. The Church in its devotion to the Ever-Virgin Mary has always known that she is a mystery and a gift given to us by God. The Theotokos is a mystery that can be experienced and encountered, and yet never explained or described in words of logic and science, and she is a gift that brings radiant joy and comfort in the midst of darkness and need. Through the centuries the Church has expressed its love for her through countless hymns, has praised her in its most exquisite poetry and song, and has portrayed her in its most beautiful and beloved icons. No other saint is the subject of so much devotion, and no other saint has so many miracles attributed him or her.

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Purpose


Purpose

As the local community of the Church of the Mother of God, this parish, exists for the purpose of worshiping God according to the Holy Scriptures and Tradition of the Holy Orthodox Church, to encourage union with God among the members of the parish, to seek out the lost, the searching, and the un-churched and to strive to bring them into union with the Church, to provide religious education to its members and potential members, provide charitable aid, and to defend, promote, and witness to theOrthodox Christian Faith in southern New Jersey.

This website is a tool to help in this purpose. Primarily to publicize our existence in southern New Jersey, and hopefully, encourage people to “come and see”.  

The many pages on this website contain information we hope is helpful. 

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