On the day of commemoration of St. Sergius of Radonezh, the Primate of the Russian Church celebrated the Liturgy at the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius

DECR Communication service, 18.07.2025.

On July 18, 2025, the feast day of the uncovering of the holy relics of St. Sergius, Abbot of Radonezh (1422), His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Rus’ celebrated the Divine Liturgy on the Cathedral Square of the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius.

The solemn service was held before the revered icon of St. Sergius of Radonezh. A platform was set up on the Cathedral Square for the celebration of the festive All-Night Vigil and Divine Liturgy, and a throne under a canopy was placed in front of the Dormition Cathedral of the Lavra, reports the Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’.

Concelebrating with His Holiness at the Liturgy were: Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, head of the Metropolitan District of Central Asia; Metropolitan Varsonofy of St. Petersburg and Ladoga; Metropolitan Pavel of Krutitsy and Kolomna, Patriarchal Vicar of the Moscow Metropolitanate; Metropolitan Veniamin of Minsk and Zaslavl, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus; Metropolitan Grigory of Voskresensk, Chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate, First Vicar of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Rus’ for the city of Moscow; Metropolitan Antony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate; Metropolitan Nikandr of Vladimir and Suzdal, Chairman of the Financial and Economic Administration of the Moscow Patriarchate; Metropolitan Arseny of Lipetsk and Zadonsk; Metropolitan Nikon of Ufa and Bashkortostan; Metropolitan Rostislav of Tomsk and Asino; Metropolitan Dimitry of Tobolsk and Tyumen; Metropolitan Seraphim (Zaliznitsky); Metropolitan Iosif of Ivanovo-Voznesensk and Vichuga; Metropolitan Seraphim of Baltiysk and Svetlogorsk; Metropolitan Daniil of Kurgan and Belozersk; Metropolitan Feognost of Kashira, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism, Abbot of the Donskoy Stavropegial Monastery in Moscow; Metropolitan Feodosy of Tambov and Rasskazovo; Metropolitan Georgy of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas; Metropolitan Longin of Simbirsk and Novospassk; Metropolitan Mark of Ryazan and Mikhailov; Metropolitan Ambrose of Tver and Kashin; Metropolitan Panteleimon of Lugansk and Alchevsk; Metropolitan Kirill of Stavropol and Nevinnomyssk, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies, Chairman of the Synodal Committee for Cooperation with the Cossacks; Metropolitan Nikodim of Severodonetsk and Starobelsk; Metropolitan Tikhon of Orel and Bolkhov; Metropolitan Zinovy of Saransk and Mordovia; Metropolitan Artemy of Khabarovsk and Priamurye; Metropolitan Pavel of Khanty-Mansiysk and Surgut; Metropolitan Vladimir of Donetsk and Mariupol; Metropolitan Nikon of Astrakhan and Kamyshyak; Metropolitan Isidore of Smolensk and Dorogobuzh; Metropolitan Matfei of Pskov and Porkhov; Metropolitan Arseny of Zvenigorod; Metropolitan Vasily of Yekaterinodar and Kuban; Bishop Kirill of Sergiyev Posad and Dmitrov, Abbot of the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, Rector of the Moscow Theological Academy; Bishop Alexy of Ramenskoye, Personal Secretary of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill; and a host of bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Participating in the service were hierarchs and clergy of the Local Orthodox Churches: Metropolitan Niphon of Philippopolis, Representative of the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East to the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’; Bishop Stefan of Remesiana, Representative of the Serbian Patriarch to the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’; Archimandrite Seraphim (Shemyatovsky), Representative of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia to the Moscow Patriarchal Throne; and Archpriest Daniel Andrejuk, Representative of the Orthodox Church in America.

Also concelebrating with His Holiness were: Archimandrite Makary (Veretennikov), Doctor of Church History, resident of the Lavra; Protopresbyter Vladimir Divakov, Secretary of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’ for the city of Moscow; Archimandrite Philip (Vasilyev), Representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’ to the Patriarch of Antioch; Archimandrite Jeremiah (Solovyov), resident of the Lavra; Hegumen Dionysius (Shlenov), Abbot of the Andreyevsky Stavropegial Monastery in Moscow, Head of the Postgraduate Studies of the Moscow Theological Academy; residents of the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius and its metochions in holy orders; and clergy of the city of Moscow.

Attending the service were: Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Head of the LDPR faction in the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs L.E. Slutsky; Chairman of the State Duma Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Property, Land and Property Relations, President of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy S.A. Gavrilov; Chairman of the State Duma Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Construction and Housing and Communal Services S.A. Pakhomov; Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for the Preservation and Development of the Solovetsky Archipelago A.V. Guts; First Deputy General Director of JSC "Russian Railways" V.V. Mikhailov; Acting General Director of the Artistic and Production Enterprise of the Russian Orthodox Church "Sofrino" V.A. Levin; Head of the Jewelry and Art Workshop "Apostol" I.S. Kharkov; members of the delegation of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, who arrived in Russia to familiarize themselves with the Russian monastic tradition and to hold the 4th meeting of the Working Group on the Coordination of Bilateral Relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Malankara Church.

Hegumenias and sisters of several women’s monasteries, as well as numerous pilgrims, prayed during the service.

The liturgical hymns were performed by the combined choir of the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius and the Moscow Theological Academy under the direction of Hieromonk Nestor (Volkov).

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

Special petitions were lifted during the augmented litany, and His Holiness Patriarch Kirill read a prayer for Holy Rus’.

The sermon before Holy Communion was delivered by Hegumen Hilarion (Goyuk), a resident of the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius.

At the conclusion of the Liturgy, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, members of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, and hierarchs who arrived at the Lavra for the feast performed a moleben to the Hegumen of the Russian Land.

Then His Holiness proceeded to the Trinity Cathedral of the monastery, where he venerated the holy relics of St. Sergius and bowed before the icon of the Holy Trinity painted by St. Andrei Rublev. His Holiness also venerated the relics in the Serapion Chamber.

At the entrance to the Patriarchal quarters of the Lavra, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill was greeted by representatives of the Fellowship of Orthodox Youth, who presented His Holiness with an icon of the Savior as a gift.

The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church addressed the faithful fr om the balcony of the Patriarchal quarters with a Primatial word:

"Dear hierarchs, fathers, brothers, sisters - all who prayed today in this holy place, who partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, who rejoiced with the joy that visits every Orthodox person praying before these holy relics!

We remember St. Sergius. We remember all the saints who shone forth in the Russian land, who with their prayers defended the Fatherland. Here is a striking example and proof for all those who do not quite believe in the power of prayer. In how prayer truly helped people save not only their souls but also their Fatherland. And this is not fiction: all these events, all these miracles are recorded in our national history, especially everything concerning the life of our venerable and God-bearing father Sergius, Abbot of Radonezh, the wonderworker, who indeed carried out his ministry in a most difficult era.

These were years that, on the one hand, were associated with the enslavement of our people, but on the other - already with the growth of national self-awareness, strength, and power of Rus’. And this positive development reached such an important point as the realization of the possibility to liberate the Fatherland.

St. Sergius was with those who defended the Motherland. St. Sergius was with those who, coming to this monastery - it could not even be called a monastery then - asked for his blessing to remain here and continue their monastic service. But how much in common there is between the feat of defending the Fatherland and the feat of monastic service! In both, there is renunciation of oneself. One cannot avoid renouncing oneself, one’s desires, human aspirations, if one embarks on the path of monastic service, especially on the path of episcopal service. Nothing should be for oneself, only for the good of the Church! And everything that is for oneself - is to the harm of the soul, to perdition.

Only this can justify both the high position of archpastors and their certain material condition - if all this serves the work of God. It is within these walls that our episcopate must realize its special responsibility for the fate of the country, for our people. But everyone must also ask themselves again and again: do I live this way, do I pray this way, do I labor this way, do I continue, at least to some extent, the feats of our holy fathers who shone forth in the Russian land, the holy saints of God?

Therefore, visiting the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is not just a celebration. It must always be associated with thoughts about the Motherland, about the Church, about ourselves, because wh ere else, if not here, should we think about all this? Where else, if not here, before the relics of St. Sergius, should we pray for our people, for our Fatherland, for our Church, for our monastics, for this holy monastery? And such an opportunity is given to each of us, especially when we visit this holy place on feast days.

I cordially greet all of you once again, my dear ones - both our hierarchs and clergy, monastics, hegumenias, and, of course, you, my dear brothers and sisters, laity of the Russian Orthodox Church. May the Lord help all of us to bear our life’s cross worthily, to always remember the good of the Church and the good of our Fatherland, to always pray not only for ourselves and our loved ones but also for the authorities, the army, our people, and our Church. And then, not by our strength but by the strength of those to whom we direct our prayers, the Lord will extend His blessing over the authorities, the army, the Fatherland, our people, and, of course, over this holy monastery and its residents.

By the prayers of our venerable and God-bearing father Sergius, Abbot of Radonezh, the wonderworker, may the Lord preserve us all and draw our hearts closer to the Lord and Savior, so that on the Day of Judgment we may worthily stand before Him with hope for salvation, which will largely depend on our faith, piety, and, of course, the prayers of the saints who shone forth in the Russian land for us, sinners and unworthy. I congratulate you all on the feast! May God save you!"

According to tradition, festive hierarchical services on the day of commemoration of St. Sergius of Radonezh were also held in the churches of the Moscow Theological Schools and the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. In the Pokrovsky Academic Church, the Divine Liturgy was led by Metropolitan Leonty of Voronezh and Liski.

After the Liturgy, a meeting of the Primate of the Russian Church with the delegation of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church took place in the Church of Righteous Philaret the Merciful in the Patriarchal quarters of the Lavra.

Photos by the Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’.