Home page News
Patriarch Kirill celebrated Divine Liturgy at Inte…

Patriarch Kirill celebrated Divine Liturgy at Intercession Church in Harbin

On May 14, 2013, Radonitsa, the day of the joy of the Resurrection when the memory of the dead is celebrated after Pascha, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the church of the Protecting Veil in Harbin.

 

There were a great many Orthodox Chinese and Russian-speaking compatriots, but not all of them had an opportunity to enter the church. Upon his arrival at the church, His Holiness came up to believers who gathered in the street and talked to them and bestowed on them his primatial benediction.

 

Among his concelebrants were Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, Bishop Sergiy of Solnechnogorsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s administrative secretariat, Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, vice-chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, Archpriest Dionisy Pozdnyaev, rector of the church of Ss Peter and Paul in Hong Kong, Archpriest Sergiy Yakut, dean of the Vladivostok diocese’s second district, and
Rev. Sergiy Voronin, rector of the church of the Assumption at the Russian embassy in China.

 

The church was prepared and renovated by the Diocese of Vladivostok, whose priests also helped to take confessions from those who wished to take the Holy Communion.

 

The liturgy was celebrated on the corporal, which used to be in the church of Our Lady of Tabyn in Beijing. It is signed by Archbishop Victor (Svyatin) of China and Beijing, head of the 20th Russian Orthodox Mission in China. The choir of the New Monastery of the Saviour in Moscow sang, and the Holy Gospel was read in Church Slavonic and Chinese.

 

Among the worshippers were Russia Ambassador A. Denisov, V. Legoida, head of the Synodal Information Department, and S. Paltov, Russian general consul in Shenyang. During the Litany of Fervent Supplication, a prayer was lifted up for the victims of the flood in China.

 

During the service, liturgical mentioned was made of the dead archpastors, pastors and lay people of the Russian Orthodox Mission and the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church.

 

After the Divine Liturgy, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church addressed the clergy and numerous faithful, noting that Radonitsa is the day when the dead are remembered after Pascha. Besides, due to the fact that in 2013 the Victory Day fell on the Bright Week, a special annual commemoration of the dead warriors who died for the faith, the Motherland and the people and all those who were killed during the Great Patriotic War was made on the Radonitsa Day.

 

Speaking about the divine service celebrated in the church of the Protecting Veil in Harbin, His Holiness Kirill said in particular,

 

‘We prayed in the first place for those who have sown the seeds of Orthodoxy in China, who have remained faithful to our Lord and Saviour. In 1993, I had an opportunity to come to Harbin. Father Gregory Ju was still alive then, and he told me about this church and the Orthodox community in Harbin. I believe a considerable part of the Orthodox Chinese, who worshipped today, were very young people or even children at that time. I would like to thank you all, dear Chinese brothers and sisters, for having preserved the Orthodox faith despite the difficult situation. After Father Gregory died, there have been no permanent priest in this church, and in spite of it, you would gather together for prayer and support your community and your parish.

 

I have come to China to pray together with you, to meet with the country’s leaders and those who are responsible for religious life. We felt a special tie during the liturgy. I prayed to the Lord that He may show mercy for Russia and China, that peace and well-being, friendship, cooperation, and mutual support may strengthen relations between Russia and China. I also prayed for the blossoming of the life of the Chinese Orthodox Church as a Church which has professed faithfulness to our Lord and Saviour for long decades’.

 

Speaking about the Reading of the Gospel of the day, Patriarch Kirill said in particular that ‘the light came into the world’ (Jn. 3:19) so that in this light, people could distinguish between truth and falsehood, between good and evil. ‘They can do it because God has instilled conscience in our nature as an amazing instrument which works in the same manner both in the soul of a Russian and a Chinese and the soul of any other. God came to the world to strengthen human conscience so that nothing could darken it. And then, living by conscience, people will fulfil divine laws, both believers and non-believers, as it happens that non-believers also turn to their conscience and moral law’.

 

Speaking about his meeting with the PRC Chairman Xi Jinping, Patriarch Kirill noted that they agreed that traditional Chinese culture preserved many values characteristic of the Christian culture as well. ‘And it means that there is a common ethic foundation, a common basis for life and cooperation. I am confident that China and Russia will preserve this foundation and manifest their power to the world – the world in which these notions are obscured’.

 

Harbin, His Holiness said, has a special place in our hearts. It is directly related to Russia in its history and culture. It is the place where the greatest number of the Chinese Orthodox people lives. Addressing both the Chinese and Russian faithful, who come to Harbin in large numbers, among other thing, for the medical treatment of their children there, His Holiness invoked God’s blessing on all of them and the Orthodox community of Harbin and the whole city. ‘May He grant his blessing upon Russia and China so that our people may live in friendship and prosperity’, he said in conclusion.

 

As a token of the Patriarchal service in Harbin, the Primate of the Russian Church presented the church of the Protecting Veil with the Gospel for the communion table and the liturgical Apostolos.

 

The parishioners greeted His Holiness Patriarch Kirill. Speaking on behalf of the community, the warden Catherine Uy Shun said, ‘We have eagerly excepted your coming and can assure you that we will keep this church forever’.

 

The community presented Patriarch Kirill with canvasses executed in traditional Chinese manner, bearing the images of the church of the Protecting Veil in Harbin and roses and a quotation of the Gospel from Matthews.

 

After that His Holiness had a talk with children who came to Harbin for medical treatment and blessed them.

 

All those present at the service received small icons of the Risen Christ.

 

DECR Communication Service

Photos by the Patriarchal Press Service

Share:
Congratulations of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill to the President of Turkey on his 70th birthday

26.02.2024

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill's condolences in connection with the murder of the monks of the Ziquala Abo Monastery in Ethiopia

24.02.2024

Address by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill at the XII Christmas Parliamentary Meetings at the Federation Council of the Russian Federation

23.01.2024

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill: Patriarch of Constantinople is not a free man

07.01.2024

Christmas Message from Patriarch KIRILL of Moscow and All Rus’

06.01.2024

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill had phone conversation with Metropolitan Ioann of Belgorod and Stary Oskol

02.01.2024

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill expresses condolences over deadly earthquake in northwest China

19.12.2023

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill congratulates Mr Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on his re-election as President of Egypt

19.12.2023

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill welcomes the opening of an exhibition dedicated to the decoration of the Church of St Sava in Belgrade

19.12.2023

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill presides over jubilee meeting of Inter-Religious Council of Russia

07.12.2023

Address by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill at jubilee meeting of Inter-Religious Council of Russia

07.12.2023

Patriarchal greetings on the occasion of 60th anniversary of the Diocese of Vienna and Austria

26.11.2023

Primate of Russian Church presents historic miracle-working Kazan Icon of the Mother of God to the faithful and celebrates Liturgy in the Kremlin Dormition Cathedral

04.11.2023

Address by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ to the participants of the World Conference of Compatriots Living Abroad

01.11.2023

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill met with the Primate of the Assyrian Church of the East

31.10.2023

Metropolitan Hilarion: Many things in a person's life depend on faith

29.08.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: The Holy Spirit is the main treasure of the Christian soul

01.08.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: Holiness is a constant striving to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ

27.06.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: God does not want to condemn, but to save us

07.03.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: The Lord always grants to us the opportunity to display our talents

24.01.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: The Lord has imbued the waters of Jordan with his divine presence to wash away human sins

19.01.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: to repent means to change your way of life

17.01.2021

On commemoration day of St. Catherine, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk officiated at the Church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr In-the-Fields  the representation of the Orthodox Church in America

07.12.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: We can always show compassion for people

29.11.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion celebrates on commemoration day of St. Varlaam of Khutyn at the church of ‘Joy to All the Afflicted’ icon of the Mother of God

19.11.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: We should remember that the life of each human being is in the hands of God

06.11.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: For God there is nothing impossible

25.10.2020

Metropoplitan Hilarion: The cross which was an instrument of dishonourable execution becomes the symbol of salvation for millions of people

27.09.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: Eucharist is the wedding feast, to which Lord Jesus Christ invites each of us

13.09.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: Faith alone is not enough for salvation

30.08.2020

Page is available in the following languages
Feedback

Fields marked by * are mandatory required

Send a message
Рус Укр Eng Deu Ελλ Fra Ita Бълг ქარ Срп Rom عرب