Primate of the Russian Church celebrates Liturgy at the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra on the Feast of the Holy Trinity

DECR Communication Service, 08.06.2025. 

On June 8, the Day of the Holy Trinity, which is the patronal feast of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' arrived at the abbot of St. Sergius of Radonezh.

Meeting His Holiness at the Trinity Cathedral were Bishop Kirill of Sergiev Posad and Dmitrov, abbot of the Lavra and rector of the Moscow theological academy; Mr. Sergei A. Pakhomov, chairman of the State Duma Committee for Construction, Housing and Utilities, and executive secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for preservation, reconstruction of historical appearance and development of Sergiev Posad, Moscow Region; Ms. Oksana V. Yerokhanova, head of the Sergiev Posad Municipal District; hierarchs and clergy, the Patriarchal Press Service reports.

The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church proceeded through the Trinity Cathedral to the cathedral square of the Lavra, where he celebrated the Divine Liturgy.

A platform was installed in the square for celebrating the festive Liturgy, and an altar under the canopy was placed at the western gates of the Dormition Cathedral.

His Holiness was assisted at the Liturgy by Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations; Metropolitan Feognost of Kashira, chairman of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism and abbot of the Donskoy Stavropegic Monastery; Bishop Stefan of Remesiana, representative of the Serbian Patriarch to the Moscow Patriarchal Throne; Bishop Kirill of Sergiev Posad and Dmitrov; Bishop Alexy of Ramenskoye, personal secretary to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill; Bishop Mefody of Yegoryevsk, acting chairman of the Synodal Biblical and Theological Commission, rector of the St. Tikhon's Orthodox University for the Humanities, and abbot of the Ugresha Stavropegic Monastery of St. Nicholas; archimandrites Makary (Veretennikov) and Alipy (Kastalsky-Borozdin), clerics of the Lavra; archpriest Dionisy Kazantsev, secretary to His Holiness the Patriarch for the Moscow Region; hieromonk Athanasy (Arsoski), cleric of the Skopje Diocese of the Macedonian Orthodox Church; hegumen Alexy (Gorlychev), abbot of the Peshnosha Monastery of St. Nicholas and dean of the monasteries of the Sergiev Posad Diocese; hegumen Dionisy (Shlenov), abbot of St. Andrew's Stavropegic Monastery; Hegumen Avgustin (Shornikov), abbot of the Monastery of Ss. Boris and Gleb of the Sergiev Posad Diocese; archpriest Andrei Khmyzov, dean of the Dolgoprudny district of the Sergiev Posad Diocese; archimandrite Diodor (Didkovsky), a cleric of the Lavra; priest Slavko Lalović, cleric of the Zahumlje, Herzegovina and the Littoral metropolitanate of the Serbian Orthodox Church; priest Vasily Losev, head of the legal service of the Moscow metropolitanate; ordained monks of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra and its metochions, and clergymen of Moscow.

The patriarchal service was attended by Mr. Leonid E. Slutsky, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, head of its faction in the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs; Mr. Mr. Sergei A. Pakhomov, chairman of the State Duma Committee for Construction, Housing and Utilities and executive secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for preservation, reconstruction of historical appearance and development of Sergiev Posad, Moscow region; Mr. Igor N. Kagramanyan, director of the Department of Health of the Russian Federation Government; Ms. Oksana V. Yerokhanova, head of the Sergiev Posad Municipal district; Mr. Vadim V. Mikhailov, first deputy general director of the Russian Railways Company (RZD); Mr. Alexei V. Guts, first deputy head of the RZD Corporate Communications Department; Mr. Sergei Yu. Rudov, deputy head of the World Russian People's Council; Mr. Mikhail M. Ivanov, deputy head of the World Russian People's Council and chairman of the Supervisory Board of the All-Russian Public Movement "Orthodox Russia"; and Mr. Ivan S. Kharkov, head of the "Apostol" jewelry art workshop.

The liturgical hymns were sung by the Lavra’s choir conducted by hieromonk Nestor (Volkov).

The Patriarchal service was broadcast live on the Soyuz and Spas TV channels, as well as on Patriarchia.ru, the official website of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Special petitions were offered during the Litany of Fervent Supplication, and His Holiness read a prayer for Holy Rus'.

The sermon before Holy Communion was delivered by archimandrite Zakharia (Shkurikhin), a cleric of the Lavra.

After the Liturgy, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill celebrated Pentecost Great Vespers with the kneeling prayers. Many Years was proclaimed according to the Ordo.

Bishop Kirill of Sergiev Posad and Dmitrov greeted the Primate of the Russian Church and presented him with a cross on behalf of the Lavra brethren, and faculty and students of the Moscow theological academy. The cross made by the ‘Apostol’ jewelry art workshop has images of the Saviour, the icon of the Holy Trinity by Rublev, the apparition of the Mother of God to St. Sergius of Radonezh, St. Savva of Storozhi, St. Nikon of Radonezh, and Sts. Cyril and Methodius Equal- to- the-Apostles.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill addressed the faithful with a Primatial word.

The service being over, the Primate of the Russian Church, accompanied by hierarchs and clergy, proceeded to the Trinity Cathedral, where he celebrated a glorification, venerated the honorable relics of St. Sergius and the icon of the Holy Trinity painted by St. Andrei Rublev. Also, His Holiness venerated the holy relics at St.Nikon side-altar and St.Serapion chamber of the Trinity Cathedral.

Photo by the Patriarchal Press Service