Department for External Church Relations
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Patronal feast at the church in Russian General Consulate residence in Istanbul
On June 3, 2015, the Day of Ss Constantine and Helen, their memory was celebrated by the church dedicated to them in the Russian General Consulate summer residence at Buyukdere near Istanbul.
His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew arrived for the celebration together with members of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Archpriest Nikolay Lischenyuk, rector of the Karlovy Vary Representation of the Russian Orthodox Church, took part in the liturgy as representative of the Moscow Patriarchate.
The service was attended by Russian General Consul in Istanbul A. Yerkhov and other Russian diplomats, as well as Bulgarian General Consul A. Radoslavov and Russian compatriots, among them descendants of the first wave émigrés who hold dear the history and traditions of Russian Orthodoxy in Turkey.
After the Divine Liturgy celebrated by Great Ierokiriks of the Church of Constantinople Archimandrite Vissarion (Komzias), His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew addressed the congregation. He shared the warm memories of his consecrating the church together with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill in 2009 and conveyed him a brotherly greeting through the representative of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Archpriest Nikolay Lischenyuk addressed Patriarch Bartholomew on behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church and presented him with an image of the Ss Peter and Paul church in Karlovy Vary, one of the most beautiful Russian Orthodox churches in Europe. He also presented the consulate’s church with an icon of Ss Cyril and Methodius the Enlighteners of the Slavs.
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The small church of Ss Constantine and Helen was built in 1832 in the summer residence of the Russian Empire’s Embassy. It was closed after the 1917 Revolution.
In the Soviet period, it became a boiler house. As of today, major restoration work has been carried out in the summer residence including the church.
On July 6, 2009, Patriarchs Bartholomew and Cyril blessed it in the Office of Lesser Consecration, after which Patriarch Kirill celebrated the Divine Liturgy in it.
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