Home page News
Primate of Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Litu…

Primate of Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow on Sunday of Orthodoxy

On 5 March 2017, 1st Sunday of Lent, feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia celebrated the Liturgy of St Basil the Great and the Office of the Triumph of Orthodoxy at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow.

Concelebrating with His Holiness were an assembly of hierarchs and clergymen of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as representatives of the Local Orthodox Churches: Metropolitan Niphon of Philipopolis (Orthodox Church of Antioch), Bishop Antonije of Moravicí (Serbian Orthodox Church), Archimandrite Feoktist (Dimitrov) (Bulgarian Orthodox Church), and Archimandrite Seraphim (Shemyatovsky) (Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia).

Among those who attended the service were ambassadors of Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, and South Ossetia.

After the Litany of Fervent Supplication the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church said a prayer for peace in Ukraine.

The Office of the Triumph of Orthodoxy followed the Liturgy. To conclude the celebrations, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill addressed his flock with a Primatial homily, saying in particular:

“Today we are commemorating the victory over heresies, joining in our mind the celebrations that took place in Constantinople in the 9th century, when with the active participation of the pious Empress Theodora and with the full support of bishops and laypeople, it was made possible to put an end to a hardest period of iconoclasm…

“What was the danger of this heresy? Why was it met with a brave and strong opposition by hierarchs, priests, and monks, and why did, after all, the pious Empress Theodora get into this fight? It happened because by rejecting the icons the heresiarchs rejected the reality of God’s Incarnation. For if the Lord Jesus Christ became incarnate, if He left His countenance, if the Mother of God lived, then the question arises: why cannot we reproduce these faces? Why, looking at the images, cannot we apply to those who have already left our earthly life and abide in the heavenly realm? Why, looking at an image, cannot we lift up our mind to its prototype? It seems so evident: if icons are ousted, then the very idea of God’s Incarnation is ousted. Yet, many people did not realize that and yielded to the temptation whose father is the deceiver, the enemy of mankind…

“What does it mean to preserve dogmata, to preserve faith? We often say that an Orthodox Christian is the one who preserves faith. Yet, it is not enough to repeat old wordings of the dogmata. In order to preserve the faith in an active and, I would say, creative way, we should correlate the Divine truths fixed in those dogmata with the reality of our life. If we base our life on faith, on those very dogmata, then we can oppose devil the deceiver, the enemy of mankind who again and again tries to fill human judgments with his lie. This is where the importance, the power and the topicality of what we call the Orthodox faith lies. May Our Lord help us through the prayers of our holy predecessors whose names we have solemnly commemorated today to uphold the Orthodox faith and to proclaim it with wisdom and persuasiveness for the next generations.”

Patriarchal Press Service/

DECR Communication Service

Photo 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