Clergy of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission take part in patronal celebrations at Gornensky Convent in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

DECR Communication Service, 25.07.2025

On July 21, the feast day of the appearance of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos in the city of Kazan, the Deputy Head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, Igumen Nikon (Golovko), celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of All Saints of Russia at the Gornensky Convent in Ein Karem.

The Kazan Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos is specially venerated at the Gornensky Convent - and for good reason: 109 years ago, through the prayers of the sisters before the Kazan icon, the convent and its surrounding area were delivered from a cholera outbreak.

Concelebrating with Igumen Nikon were clergy of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission of the Moscow Patriarchate, clergy of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission within the Russian Church Abroad, clergy of the Gornensky Convent, and ordained pilgrims.

Among those praying at the service were the Abbess of the Gornensky Convent, Igumenia Yekaterina (Chernysheva), the sisters of the monastery, and numerous pilgrims.

On the eve of the feast, July 20, an All-Night Vigil was celebrated in the church dedicated to the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. As is traditional, the litia was served outdoors on all four sides of the Kazan Church. At the conclusion of the vigil, the sisters of the convent gathered in the Kazan Church for a night of prayer: in remembrance of the events more than a century ago, the reading of twelve akathists with prostrations is held annually before the wonderworking Kazan icon during the night of the feast.

At the Liturgy, Igumen Nikon read a prayer for the granting of peace, and at the conclusion of the service, he addressed the worshippers with a homily, as reported by the Mission’s official website.

Following the dismissal of the Divine Liturgy, the clergy, sisters, and pilgrims held a festive procession with the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, singing hymns to the Theotokos as they made their way to the Kazan Church to venerate the wonderworking image.

Afterward, a festive monastic meal was held, during which Igumen Nikon offered words of edification and spiritual encouragement to the sisters, thanked Abbess Yekaterina and the monastic community for their labors and prayers, and congratulated all present on the patronal feast.

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A small Kazan icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, inscribed as having been created “according to the measure and likeness of the original,” is especially venerated as a wonderworking icon at the Gornensky Convent in Ein Karem. In 1916, through fervent prayer before this icon, the sisters of the Russian convent were spared from a deadly cholera epidemic that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives throughout Palestine and the Middle East.

The annual celebration in honor of the Kazan icon gathers many pilgrims and worshippers at the convent, who come to venerate the wonderworking image and seek the intercession and protection of the Most Holy Theotokos.

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Clergy of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission take part in patronal celebrations at Gornensky Convent in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

Patriarch

Department Chairman

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Patriarch

Department Chairman

Sermons