On the Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill сelebrates Liturgy in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin

DECR Communication Service, 04.11.2025. 

On November 4, 2025, the feast day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (in memory of the deliverance of Moscow and Russia from the Poles in 1612), His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Rus' celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Patriarchal Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. This day is a national holiday in Russia – National Unity Day.

As reported by the Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', the wonderworking Moscow replica of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, which was discovered in 2023, was brought to the Dormition Cathedral for the service.

Before the start of the service, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill venerated the holy relics of St. Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow, in the cathedral's altar.

Subsequently, N.Y. Chaplin, a deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the warden of the Patriarchal Dormition Cathedral in the Kremlin; A.L. Batalov, Deputy General Director for Research of the Moscow Kremlin Museums; and Abbess Margarita (Feoktistova), the abbess of the Moscow Novodevichy Stavropegial Convent, presented to His Holiness a new handmade set of vestments for the relics of St. Peter. This set was created over two years in the workshops of the Novodevichy Convent. The facial image on the cover repeats the image embroidered on a shroud from 1574, one of the oldest surviving shrouds on the relics of St. Peter, created in the Novodevichy Convent in the workshops of Nun Alexandra, known in the world as Princess Yuliania Dmitrievna Paletskaya, the wife of Prince Yury Vasilyevich, brother of Ivan the Terrible.

During the Liturgy, His Holiness was concelebrated by: Metropolitan Grigory of Voskresensk, Chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate, First Vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' for the City of Moscow; Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate; Metropolitan Tikhon of Simferopol and Crimea, Chairman of the Patriarchal Council for Culture; Bishop Alexy of Ramensk, Personal Secretary to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill; Protopresbyter Vladimir Divakov, Secretary to the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' for the City of Moscow; Archpriest Alexander Dasaev, Dean of the Voskresensk Deanery of the Moscow (City) Diocese; Archpriest Vyacheslav Shestakov, Rector of the churches of the Patriarchal Metochion in Zaryadye, Moscow, Sacristan of the Patriarchal Dormition Cathedral and the churches of the Moscow Kremlin; Deans of the Moscow church districts, and capital city clergy.

The Patriarchal service was attended by: D.F. Mezentsev, State Secretary of the Union State of Russia and Belarus; L.E. Slutsky, Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), 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; S.A. Gavrilov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Property, Land and Property Relations; N.Y. Chaplin, Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Starosta of the Patriarchal Dormition Cathedral in the Kremlin; I.N. Kagramanyan, Director of the Healthcare Department of the Government of the Russian Federation; V.V. Mikhailov, First Deputy Director of JSC "Russian Railways"; A.V. Torkunov, Rector of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia; Y.L. Skvortsov, Dean of the Faculty of International Journalism at MGIMO; M.M. Ivanov, Deputy Head of the World Russian People's Council, Chairman of the Supervisory Council of the All-Russian Public Movement "Orthodox Russia"; A.L. Batalov, Deputy General Director for Research of the Moscow Kremlin Museums; S.N. Udovenko, Head of the Kremlin Commandant's Service of the Federal Protective Service of Russia – Commandant of the Moscow Kremlin; Servicemen of the Presidential Regiment; Veterans of the special military operation.

Praying during the service were: V.R. Legoida, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Church-Society and Media Relations; Abbess Margarita (Feoktistova), Abbess of the Moscow Novodevichy Stavropegial Convent, and the sisters of the monastery.

The liturgical hymns were performed by the choir of the "Patriarchal Volunteers" youth movement, conducted by Anna Golik, and the youth choir of the Western Vicariate of Moscow, conducted by Varvara Volkova.

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

During the augmented litany, special petitions were raised, and His Holiness Patriarch Kirill read the prayer for the Holy Rus'.

During the Liturgy, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill performed the priestly ordination of Deacon Pavel Drachkov, a cleric of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Borisovo, Moscow.

The sermon before Holy Communion was delivered by Priest Dmitry Safonov, a cleric of the Church of St. John of Kronstadt in Zhulebino, Moscow.

At the conclusion of the Liturgy, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill performed the glorification and prayer before the wonderworking Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.

Then, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church addressed the faithful with a Primatial word.

In recognition of his contribution to the preservation of traditional values in society and in connection with his 75th birthday, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill awarded A.V. Torkunov, Rector of MGIMO, the Order of the Holy Right-Believing Prince Daniel of Moscow (1st Class).

In conclusion, His Holiness addressed the faithful:

"We must give thanks to the Lord for the past, for the present, and ask Him for the future – that the Lord may grant His mercy to our country, our people, strengthen the Orthodox faith in the hearts of people, protect them from every enemy and adversary, as well as from various kinds of temptations that distance a person from God, and thus deprive them of the ability to rely on God's power.

Once again, I congratulate you on this wonderful holiday, on this event. Remembering the heroic pages in the life of the people and the Church, we certainly cannot fail to thank the Lord again and again for everything: for what we have endured as a people, for surviving physically in the most difficult conditions during wars, for preserving the Orthodox faith during times of terrible, unprecedented persecutions, and for the fact that we are once again with you in this cathedral of all Rus', in the center of our Motherland, in the Dormition Cathedral, gathering to glorify the name of our Lord and Savior and to thank the Most Pure Queen of Heaven for Her mercy, for Her protection over our country and over all of us.

Happy feast, my dear ones! May the Lord and the Mother of God preserve you!"

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill blessed the veterans of the special military operation present at the service and presented each of them with an icon of the Kazan Mother of God. He also congratulated Anna Golik, the choir director of the "Patriarchal Volunteers" youth movement, on her recent name day.