Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk venerated Orthodox shrines in Skopje

DECR Communication Service, 10.01.2023.

On January 11, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, who is on a working visit to North Macedonia with a blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, venerated shrines and holy places of the Orthodox Church of Macedonia - Archdiocese of Ohrid in Skopje and its vicinity.

After the DECR Chairman’s meeting with His Beatitude Stefan, Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia, the participants in the meeting proceeded to the Cathedral of St. Clement of Ohrid Equal-to-the Apostles, where they were welcomed by a host of clergy. His Beatitude Stefan and His Eminence Anthony blessed those present with the Holy Cross. Metropolitan Anthony and his party venerated the relics of the Ven. Ioanikije of Rakotinci.

On the same day, the guests from the Russian Orthodox Church visited the Monastery of the Holy Protomartyr and Healer Panteleimon in Gorno-Nerezi (1164) to see the frescoes in the Cathedral of Archangel Michael and other sites. The guests were accompanied by the secretary of the Synod of the Orthodox Church of Macedonia - the Archdiocese of Ohrid, Bishop Clement of Heraclea, and the abbot of the monastery, Hegumen Agafon (Apostolovski), who told the guests about the centuries-old history of the monastery and its present monastic life.

In memory of the visit to the monastery, Hegumen Agafon presented Metropolitan Anthony with an Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos ‘Hodegetria’. The DECR Chairman also visited the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos (1835), one of the major churches in the Macedonian capital. Metropolitan Anthony was accompanied by Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, adviser to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia; Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, DECR vice-chairman; Archimandrite Vassian (Zmeyev), rector of the Sofia Representation of the Russian Orthodox Church; and Rev. Alexander Yershov, assistant to the DECR Chairman.

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Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk venerated Orthodox shrines in Skopje

Patriarch

Department Chairman

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Patriarch

Department Chairman

Sermons