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
Saturday 3 January (21 December)
17:00 Panikhida. 17:30 Vigil: Tone 5. 8th Gospel, John 20:11-18
Sunday 4 January (22 December)
30th Sunday after Pentecost, before the Nativity of the Lord, of the Fathers
9:30 Hours. 10:00 Divine Liturgy: Hebrews 11:9-10, 17-23, 32-40; Matthew 1:1-25
Tuesday 6 January (24 December)
Eve of the Nativity of the Lord
19:00 Vigil of the Nativity: Gospel, Matthew 1:18-25
Wednesday 7 January (25 December)
The Nativity of our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ (Sviatki)
9:30 Hours. 10:00 Divine Liturgy: Galatians 4:4-7; Matthew 2:1-12
Saturday 10 January (28 December)
17:00 Panikhida. 17:30 Vigil: Tone 6. 9th Gospel, John 20:19-31
Sunday 11 January (29 December)
31th Sunday after Pentecost, Sunday after the Nativity (Sviatki)
9.30 Hours. 10:00 Divine Liturgy: Galatians 1:11-19; Matthew 2:13-23 (Sunday after)
Announcements
“The other Amsterdam City Map”
At the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the City of Amsterdam, recently a web page has been developed that provides an overview of the rich religious and cultural diversity of our city. The site also mentions our church, for instance the icon of the Saints of the Low Countries.
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.
The dates are: 23 November, 21 December, 18 January 2026, 15 February, 15 March, 19 April, 10 May, 7 June 2026.
Please give your children a small snack to take with them.
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 No. 359 – 5 January 2026
My dear Friends,
Happy New Year!
This Sunday, we are given one of the most unusual Gospel readings of the year: a genealogy, followed by a quiet, almost hidden, story of obedience. At first sight, it may seem like an odd choice – a list of names and a dream. Yet together they reveal something essential about how God enters human history.
Here is the text: (Matthew 1: 1–25)
An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.
And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.
So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
