Nativity services celebrated in Church Slavonic in the UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrein and Oman.

DECR Communication service, 10.01.2025. 

Late in the evening of 6^th January at the Church of the Holy Apostle Philip in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates the service began for the Nativity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Matins and the Divine Liturgy was headed by the church rector archimandrite (Zarkeshev). The parish choir sang at the service with special solemnity.

The church was decorated for the occasion of the feast day with fir trees and tinsel made from actual fir tree branches that were illumined. The scent of fresh evergreen needles reminded the worshippers of their distant homeland covered in snow. In the centre of the church above the icon of Christ’s Nativity there was a crib in a manger made from fir branches and actual flowers. The church was lit up on the outside by spotlights and lanterns.

At matins during the Polileos the choir of clergy and parishioners sang the magnification hymn for the Nativity and the rector read the Nativity Gospel reading.

At the festive Liturgy deacon Alexei Kostin read the reading from the apostle while deacon Igor Taslitsky read the Gospel for the feast.

The majority of the parishioners received Holy Communion. During Communion the choir sang Christmas carols in Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian.

After the dismissal at the Liturgy the troparion and the kontakion for the Nativity were sung before the Nativity candle which symbolizes the star of Bethlehem. The archimandrite Alexander congratulated the faithful on the occasion of the Nativity of Christ and expanded to them the great and salvific meaning of this event in the history of humankind.

The Nativity Liturgy in the Church Saint Philip was also celebrated in the morning of 7^th January. The festive service was headed by archimandrite Alexander (Zarkeshev). Many of the parishioners also received Holy Communion.

At the conclusion of the service Father Konstantin Orlov, a cleric of the church, read aloud the Nativity message of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill.

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A service for the Nativity of Christ was celebrated for the Orthodox community on the night of 6^th-7^th January at the Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Teheran.

The Liturgy was celebrated by abbot Varlaam (Dulsky), a cleric of the church, with the small parish choir singing.

Praying at the service were Orthodox Christians who were in Teheran for the feast.

At the conclusion of the service Father Varlaam congratulated the worshippers on the occasion of the feast of the Nativity and New Year.

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In the emirate state of Kuwait in the evening of 7^th January Orthodox Christians marked the feast of the Nativity of Our Lord and God and Saviour Christ. The festive service in Church Slavonic was celebrated in the church of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch by the rector of the Church of Saint Philip in Sharjah archimandrite Alexander (Zarkeshev) with deacon Alexei Kostin.

An amateur choir sang at the service. The Creed and the Lord’s Prayer were sung by all those praying in the church. Many of those in attendance went to confession and then received Holy Communion.

At the conclusion of the service the troparion and kontakion for the feast were sung before the lit Nativity candle which symbolizes the star of Bethlehem. The priest then delivered a sermon to those present.

In turn the parishioners congratulated Father Alexander on the occasion of his recent sixtieth birthday and present him with a bouquet of flowers. A group photograph was then taken.

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A Nativity service also took place in Church Slavonic in the capital of the emirate of Abu Dabi (UAE). It was celebrated in the evening of 7^th January by Father Konstantin Orlov, a cleric of the Church of the Holy Apostle Philip in Sharjah.

Gathered at the service, which was held in the Saint Nicholas Church of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch in Abu Dabi, were Orthodox faithful living in the emirate, many of whom received Holy Communion. The hymns for the service were sung by the parish choir of the Church of Saint Philip in Sharjah.

Father Konstantin congratulated all those present on the feast of the nativity of Christ and read aloud the Christmas Message of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill.

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The festive Liturgy for the Nativity of Christ was celebrated on 8^th January in the city of Manama, the capital of the Kingdom of Bahrein. In the evening of the same day Orthodox worship was held in Church Slavonic on the premises of the local Catholic church and celebrated by the rector of the Church of the Holy Apostle Philip in Sharjah archimandrite Alexander (Zarkeshev) with deacon Alexei Kostin.

The hymns for the service were sung by a local choir made of parishioners of the community. The Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and It Is Meet and Right were sung by all those in attendance in the church.

Most of those gathered at the Liturgy approached the chalice to receive Holy Communion. Father Alexander delivered a sermon to the parishioners on the theme of the Nativity of Christ.

Praying at the service was the rector of the local community of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch Father Saba Haid Usain and his wife.

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As a continuation of the celebration of the Nativity of Christ in the evening of 8^th January a service was held in Church Slavonic in the capital of the Sultanate of Oman Muscat in the church of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch. The service was celebrated by Father Konstantin Orlov of the Church of the Holy Apostle Philip in the UAE.

Gathered in the church were the Orthodox faithful living in Oman, many of whom received Holy Communion.

At the conclusion of the service Father Konstantin read aloud the Nativity Message of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill and delivered a sermon to the parishioners.