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 2026
Saturday 11 April (29 March)
Holy and Great Saturday
22:00 Church open
23.00 Midnight Service and Paschal Procession
Sunday 12 April (30 March)
Holy and Great Sunday of Pascha
00:00 Pascha Matins and Divine Liturgy: Acts 1:1-8; John 1:1-17
After the Liturgy
Appr. at 03:00 AM: Blessing of the Paschal dishes in the church
16:30 Vespers of Pascha: John 20: 19-25
Thursday 16 April (3 April)
10:00 Divine Liturgy: Acts 2:38-43; John 3:1-15
Announcements
Pascha in Amsterdam
The past week has been something of a rollercoaster for the parish, but in a positive sense. From Palm Sunday onwards, there were daily services in the church, leading us step by step towards the mystery of Christ’s death and Resurrection. Whilst preparing spiritually for Pascha, countless parishioners were busy behind the scenes with the practical preparations. Thanks to these preparations and to the support of all these volunteers, the spiritual and the practical came together in one magnificent celebration.
Following the service of the burial of Christ on Friday evening, the Gospel was read throughout the night near the epitaphion – the image of Christ in the tomb, which was adorned with the flowers the faithful had brought for the afternoon service of the epitaphion. On Saturday morning, the liturgical colour in the church changed from black to white, coinciding with the first Gospel reading about the angel at the empty tomb. Also dressed in white were several adults from the parish in Kampen, who had been baptised prior to the liturgy.
Despite the huge number of people, the paschal procession took place in a prayerful and peaceful atmosphere. Hundreds of people walked through the Jordaan carrying candles and singing together “Your Resurrection, O Christ Saviour…” with the help of a sheet that had been handed out. On returning to the church, they were met by a sea of light and candles, joyful singing and the timeless, dynamic Easter Vigil service. Father Joan joined the service at the last minute; he had just celebrated a paschal service at 9.00 pm at the monastery in The Hague!
After the night service, the hundreds of people in the church were treated to a hand-painted Easter egg and a delicious meal. To top it all off, during the procession a van arrived delivering 200 delicious Easter cakes (called kulitch or paska) which a baker decided to donate to the parish. For the many people who cannot bake themselves, this was a lovely surprise.
On Sunday morning, the church was already open again for the many people who wanted to light a candle or simply inhale the Easter atmosphere. Meanwhile, the rear of the church was being transformed into a refectory. The festive Vespers service was followed by a communal meal with food brought along by those present. More than 180 parishioners were thus able to share the joy of the Resurrection with one another – and afterwards, to tidy up, wash up and restore the church to its original state together.
This celebration was made possible by countless people who sacrificed time, energy and comfort to the Feast of Feasts, Holy Pascha. As a community, we are enormously grateful to all of them!
Orthodox camp in Belgium 1-8 August 2026
Sunday School
The lessons in our Sunday School are for children aged 5 to 12 and take place on Sundays at the end of the Liturgy after Communion and last until approximately 12:30.
Dear parents, here is the Sunday School schedule for Spring 2026:
15 March 2026; 19 April 2026; 10 May 2026; 7 June 2026
Please save these dates.
On 3 August 2025, Father Oleg Karlashchuk passed away
The obituary can be read here.
Photos of Father Oleg can be found here.
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
Bulletin 373 – Easter Sunday – 12 April 2026
Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!
My dear Friends,
Pascha is not simply one feast among many. It is the Feast of Feasts, the Victory of Life over death, the triumph of light over darkness, and the revelation that nothing – not even death itself – can separate us from the love of God.
Everything we have done throughout Great Lent leads to this moment. And yet, what we celebrate today is not only an event in the past, but a reality that is present now.
The text for the Gospel reading is rather surprising, as it does not explicitly mention the Resurrection. Instead, we hear the prologue of St John’s Gospel, which in many ways is the best summary of the entire Gospel which we possess (John 1:1-17):
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me”.) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
In the Orthodox icon of the Resurrection – the Anastasis – Christ is not shown emerging alone from the tomb. Instead, He is shown descending into Hades and raising Adam and Eve by the hand.
This image reveals something essential:
- The Resurrection is not an escape
- It is a rescue
- It is not private
- It is universal
- It is not actually about there and then: it is about Here and Now.
Christ enters into the deepest places of human existence – even death itself – and fills them with His presence.
