Orthodox Parish of Saint Nicholas of Myra in Amsterdam
About us
Welcome to the site of Saint Nicholas parish! We are an Orthodox Christian community in the Russian liturgical and spiritual tradition for more than 50 years. After many years with the Moscow Patriarchate, in 2022 our parish was received into the Exarchate of the Benelux of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Our diocesan bishop is Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium.
Our church is open to one and all. Feel free to come in, light a candle or just take a look around. Of course, the services are open to everyone as well. On Sundays we have hosts and hostesses to welcome visitors and show them the way.
After the Sunday service we share coffee and tea. This is the opportunity to ask questions, to visit the Information Centre to ask for information about parish activities. You can also register for the weekly bulletin or parish activities.
The church is open when there is a service. The schedule of services you can find here.
Schedule of services
Our services are alternately (mainly) in Dutch and Church Slavonic.
- The first and third Sunday of the month, the service is predominantly in Church Slavonic,
- the second and fourth in Dutch,
- if there is a fifth Sunday in the month, we also use some English
Schedule of Services April 2025
Monday 14 April (1 April)
19:00 Matins of Great Tuesday
Tuesday 15 April (2 April)
19:00 Matins of Great Wednesday
Wednesday 16 April (3 April)
19:00 Matins of Great Thursday
Thursday 17 April (4 April) Holy and Great Thursday
9:30 Vespers and Liturgy of Basil the Great
19:00 Matins of the Twelve Gospels
Friday 18 April (5 April) Holy and Great Friday
14:00 Vespers of descent of the Lord from the Cross
19:00 Matins of the Burial of the Lord
Saturday 19 April (6 April) Holy and Great Saturday
9:30 Vespers and Liturgy of Basil the Great
22:00 Church open
23.30 Midnight Service and Paschal Procession
Sunday 20 April (7 April)
Holy and Great Sunday of Pascha
00:00 Pascha Matins and Divine Liturgy
16:30 Vespers of Pascha
Announcements
Radonitsa
Tuesday April 29 is Radonitsa, the first day after Easter to commemorate the deceased in the Church. At 11 a.m. there will be a Panikhida at St. Barbara in Amsterdam (Spaarndammerdijk 312, 1014 AA) and, also at 11. a.m., there will be a Panikhida on the grave of fr. Sergi at Westerveld in Driehuis (Duin en Kruidbergerweg 2-6, 1985 HG).
Volunteer Day Friday 2 May 2024
This week Friday, 2 May, is again volunteer day in our church.
We start with the morning prayers in the church at 09.30, the end time is around 14:00- 15:00 hrs. Around noon there is a catered lunch. Among other things, there are cleaning works, and we carry out maintenance and simple repairs.
Everybody is welcome!
Interorthodox celebration in Heemstede on Saturday, May 24th
You can find the poster here:
https://orthodox-amsterdam.nl/en/announcements/
Information center & bookshop
In the bookstore of our church you can find various Orthodox goods: icons, crosses, books, oil (consecrated), candlesticks, incense and coal, censers, rosaries, Orthodox calendars, etc. Volunteers working in the Orthodox Information Center can answer simple questions about the Orthodox faith and our church, or direct you to a priest.
From the Rector
Letter nr. 322, Monday 21 April 2025
My dear Friends,
Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!
As we stand once more in the light of the empty tomb, our hearts echo with the cry that has shaken the world for two thousand years: Christ is Risen! This is not a metaphor, nor a poetic flourish—it is the heartbeat of our faith, the dawn that breaks the long night of human sorrow. The Resurrection of Christ is not merely an event in history, but a continual and cosmic reality, ever-present and ever-transforming.
The Gospel accounts, with their unique voices, converge upon this central truth: the tomb was empty, and He who was crucified now lives. From Mary Magdalene’s tears to Thomas’s hesitant faith, the Gospel narratives lead us into a mystery both tender and transcendent. They do not offer easy answers. Instead, they invite us to encounter the Risen One personally—as the disciples did on the road, in the garden, behind locked doors, and by the breaking of bread.
The Resurrection is not simply proof of life after death. It is the overturning of death itself, the vindication of love, the manifestation of a Kingdom that does not end. It is, as St Mark the Ascetic says, “the death of death, and the rising of the whole of humanity.”
In the Orthodox tradition, the Resurrection is not one feast among others—it is the Feast of Feasts, the triumph at the heart of everything. Our Paschal hymns sing of a joy that no sorrow can extinguish. At the beginning of the Paschal Vigil, we are invited to process into the darkness bearing light. In the Greek tradition, we hear these words from the priest as we receive the new light: “Come, receive the light from the Light that is never overtaken by night!” This is no mere symbolism; it is an ontological truth: the Light has come into the world, and the darkness cannot overcome it.
The Fathers of the Church speak of Christ descending into Hades not as a victim, but as a victor. In icons of the Resurrection, we see Him not emerging alone, but raising Adam and Eve by the hand, shattering the gates of death, breaking the locks, and setting the captives free. This is not just a rescue mission. It is a new creation. As St Gregory of Nyssa writes, “When He descended into death, He filled it with Himself.”
