Mother of God, Joy of All Who Sorrow Church

Diocese: Diocese of New York and New Jersey

Deanery: New Jersey Deanery

Address

904 Cherry Hill Rd
Princeton, New Jersey 08540

Website: mogoca.org

Office: 609-466-3058

Parish Contacts

Directions

General Location
The Mother of God, Joy of All Who Sorrow Church is located in central New Jersey, approx. 4 miles northwest of Princeton University.

From New York City and the north
Take the New Jersey Turnpike South to Exit 9, Route 1 South.  Turn slight right onto Finnegan Ln/County Hwy-682.  Turn left onto State Route 27/NJ-27. Continue to follow NJ-27.  Turn slight right onto County Hwy-518/County Road 518. Continue to follow County Hwy-518.  Turn left onto Cherry Hill Rd. Proceed 1.10 miles and the church is on your right.

From Philadelphia and points south
Take Interstate 95 North toward Trenton. Take the NJ-31 N. exit, EXIT 4, toward Pennington. Turn left onto Pennington Rd/NJ-31. Enter next roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto County Hwy-640. Turn right onto E. Delaware Ave/County Hwy-624. Continue to follow County Hwy-624.  County Hwy-624 becomes Pennington Rocky Hill Rd. Pennington Rocky Hill Rd. becomes Cherry Valley Rd.  Turn left onto Cherry Hill Rd. Proceed half a mile and the church in on your left.

Schedule of Services

All services are in English.

5:00 PM Vespers, followed by Adult Education classes.
Saturday Evening

9:15 AM Reading of the Hours, 9:30 AM Divine Liturgy.
Sunday Morning

For a complete list of upcoming services, please visit the parish website.

Parish Background

Mother of God Orthodox Church was founded in 1998 in Rocky Hill, New Jersey by a dedicated group of lay people, including Dr. Albert J. Raboteau and Jacqueline and Nicholas DeLarato. V. Reverend Father Paul Kucynda, the OCA priest in charge of OCA missions for the Diocese of New York and New Jersey, celebrated the first Divine Liturgy for the community in Rocky Hill.  Archbishop Peter assigned Father John Cassar to serve the liturgical services of the mission, which he did for nearly 17 years. Because of steady growth, the church moved to a larger worship space at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Princeton, NJ on March 23, 2003.

Mother of God, Joy of All Who Sorrow, is a local parish of the Orthodox Church in America; which by virtue of the Holy Spirit and continuing in the teaching and experience of the Apostles is a visible and historical continuation of the early church of Christ. We see ourselves as a community of believers called into unity by the Holy Trinity to become “saints” (1 Cor. 1:2); to be the “Body of Christ” (1Cor. 12:27) and to manifest the Kingdom of God here and now.

St. Paul’s reference to the church as the “Body of Christ” reveals to us the very nature of the church. That is to say, the church is not just another human institution. Nor is it simply a collection of people who believe in Jesus. The church, by virtue of the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, forever remains to be the very presence of Christ. Thus, with faith, love, humility and God’s grace—we at Mother of God—fervently seek with fear and trembling, to actualize this great and holy vocation of being the “Body of Christ”.

Presently, our community consists of approximately 50 parishioners which includes 17 children in our church school. With a significant number of converts entering our parish each year we are a community dedicated to growth in Christ. Our hope is that every person who is a member of our community will know what it means to be a member of a true Christian extended family; to know first hand, by our personal witness, what it means to be brothers and sisters in Our Lord Jesus Christ—“God’s own special people” (1 Peter 2:9).  We welcome all who seek to know Christ in His Word and in His Church.