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On Friday, December 7 2007 , the feast of St. Catherine the Great Martyr, His Holiness, Patriarch ALEKSY II of Moscow and All Russia celebrated the festal Divine Liturgy at St. Catherine the Great Martyr Church – the Moscow Representation of the Orthodox Church in America.
Concelebrating with His Holiness, Patriarch ALEKSY were His Grace, Bishop ALEKSANDR of Dmitrov; His Grace, Bishop ZOSIMA of Yakutsk and Lensk; Archimandrite Zacchaeus, Parish Dean; Archpriest Vitaly Kosovsky, Secretary of the Kiev Metropolia; Archpriest Alexei Yuschenko, Representative of the Church of the Czech lands and Slovakia; Archimandrite Tikhon, Abbot of Sretensky Monastery; Archimandrite Zinovy, cleric of the Kursk Diocese; Archpriest Nikolai Krechetov; Dean of the Zamoskvorechie Deanery; Archpriest Viktor Grozovsky of St. Vladimir Cathedral in St. Petersburg; Archpriest Oleg Kirilov of Holy Trinity Cathedral in Toronto, Canada; visiting clergy from the Diocese of Yakutsk; parish and local clergy.
Following the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy, Archimandrite Zacchaeus greeted His Holiness, Patriarch ALEKSY and presented him with an icon of St. Catherine the Great Martyr flanked by St. Aleksy, Metropolitan of Moscow and the Venerable St. Herman of Alaska – the patron saints of the Primates of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church in America. Following Archimandrite Zacchaeus’ greetings, the Ambassador of the United States of America to the Russian Federation, Mr. William Burns offered remarks during which he thanked the parish and its Dean for labouring to build bridges between Russia and America.
His Holiness, Patriarch ALEKSY thanked Archimandrite Zacchaeus for the gift of the holy icon of Sts .Catherine, Aleksy and Herman and expressed his joy in seeing the renovation that has occurred in the temple since his last visit in 2005. Also, during his words to the congregation, His Holiness expressed his brotherly love and respect for the Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, His Beatitude, Metropolitan HERMAN.
Also in attendance at the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy were the Papial Nuncio in Moscow, Monsignor Antonio Mennini, the Ambassadors of Serbia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Belgium and Namibia as well as the Military Attaché of the Embassy of Spain, representatives from the Embassies of Egypt, Ethiopia and Cuba.
Following the Divine Liturgy a festal meal was offered to the concelebrating clergy and guests in the parish dining hall and a reception for the Ambassadors and hierarchs was held in a nearby restaurant.
Photogallery: The Feast of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine 2007 |
