On Monday, December 4, the great feast of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, the 100th anniversary of the enthronement of the Holy Hierarch Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow & All Russia, solemn divine services were held in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, Russia.

Located in the center of the cathedral was a reliquary containing the venerable relics of the Holy Hierarch Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow, which had been brought on November 29 from Donskoy Monastery for the start of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Officiating the service was His Beatitude, the Most Blessed Pope & Patriarch of Alexandria & All Africa Theodore II, co-served by primates of the Jerusalem, Russian, Serbian, Romanian, Cypriote, Albanian, Polish, Czech & Slovak, American, and Japanese Churches, as well as delegates from the Georgian and Bulgarian Churches, and hierarchs and clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church, including the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America & New York, and Eastern American Diocesan vicar Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan.

A multitude of clergy, monastics, and laity prayed in the cathedral. The liturgical hymns were sung by a mixed choir of sings from the Moscow Diocese, under the direction of the accomplished Russian composer A.A. Puzakov. The mixed choir was comprised of the best singers of each of the capital city’s deaneries.

At the Augmented Litany, special prayers were offered up to the Lord in connection with the 100th anniversary of the All-Russian Council of 1917-1918, and a special prayer read for the prosperity of the Russian Church.

Prior to Communion, the Epistle (Russian) of the Sacred Council of Bishops to the clergy, monastics, and all faithful children of the Russian Orthodox Church was read aloud.

Upon completion of Divine Liturgy, His Holiness, Patriarch Kyrill, was vested in a copy of the enthronements koukoulion of Patriarch Tikhon, which had been presented to His Holiness by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church in Christ the Savior Cathedral on November 20, 2017.

His Holiness, Patriarch Kyrill, addressed the participants of the divine service with a sermon.

The Most Blessed Pope & Patriarch of Alexandria & All Africa Theodore II offered greetings on behalf of all of the Local Orthodox Churches.

A festal reception was then held in the banquet halls of Christ the Savior Cathedral, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the Patriarchate in the Russian Church.

Materials from the Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow & All Russia
Translation by the Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese