November 3, 2018, on the eve of the feast of the Kazan icon of the Mother of God in Kazan Church of Gornensky female monastery in Jerusalem was committed vigil, which was concelebrated by the clergy of the Gorny monastery was headed by the head of the Russian ecclesiastical mission in Jerusalem Archimandrite Alexander (elisov), reports patriarhiei.
Traditionally lithium on the vigil was made with a procession around our lady of Kazan Church.
At the end of Vespers, Archimandrite Alexander addressed the faithful with a pastoral in which he congratulated all believers with the celebration of the Kazan mother of God, through the intercessions Which in 1612 in Russia ended the time of Troubles and the sisters congratulated with the feast day and the 120th anniversary of the monastery.
Before leaving the monastery in the Abbot case Archimandrite Alexander congratulated on the significant events abbess George (Shchukin).
On 4 November, the feast of the Kazan icon of the Theotokos, divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of All saints resplendent in the Russian land, with the blessing of his Beatitude Patriarch of Jerusalem and all Palestine Theophilus III led the Archbishop of gerash (Jerusalem Patriarchate).
His Eminence was assisted by Bishop Livenskaya and maloarkhangel Nektarios, head of the Russian ecclesiastical mission in Jerusalem Archimandrite Alexander (elisov), Abbot of the monastery of St. Nicholas. Spyridon Archimandrite Sergius (the Patriarchate of Jerusalem), the clergy of the Gorny monastery and pilgrims in Holy orders from the diocese of Moscow, St. Petersburg Archdiocese and other dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church, and archdeacon of mark (Jerusalem Patriarchate) and the cleric of the Russian ecclesiastical mission in Jerusalem, deacon Vyacheslav Senin.
Praying at the Liturgy were mother superior of the Vvedensky Tolga convent in Yaroslavl diocese hegumeness Varvara (Tretiak), sisters of the Jerusalem monastery of the ascension the mount of Olives and Gethsemane (RPSC), representatives of the diplomatic corps and the Russian media, as well as numerous pilgrims from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and different parts of the Holy Land.
After the dismissal of divine Liturgy, the clergy and many pilgrims in procession went from the Cathedral of All saints resplendent in the Russian land, in the Kazan Church, where the miracle-working Kazan mother of God was made a festive prayer service, which ended with the proclamation of the singing of many years to his Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos and his Holiness Patriarch Kirill and all consecrated Cathedral.
Next to all guests of the Gorny convent in the refectory of the monastery was a gala dinner.
Welcoming the hierarchs, clergy and guests of the festival Archimandrite Alexander (elisov), in particular, said: “the Russian Orthodox Church keeps as a precious treasure the centuries-old experience of fraternal and Eucharistic communion. 170 years of the Russian spiritual mission and the 120 years of the Gorny convent also lay down in this treasure, because these years have been devoted to the development and deepening of relations between our churches, which to this day faithfully keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3)”.
In response, the Archbishop of gerash stressed his confidence that the current difficulties that are observed in the relationship between some Orthodox Churches, no doubt, of a temporary nature. The Lord said that the Russian Orthodox Church is on the right position in defending its canonical territory from the encroachments of external forces, and the rightness of this position is its strength.
Archbishop Theophan was especially impressed that joint worship at the Tomb of Jesus are for our Churches special domain, and no external forces can shake the unity of our Churches.