Consecration of the Church of Christ the Saviour

CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST THE SAVIOUR

On August 19, the Day of the Holy Transfiguration, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia officiated at the Great Consecration of the Church of Christ the Saviour and celebrated the Divine Liturgy.

Thousands of Orthodox people took part in the processions with the cross which marched in the morning from all over Moscow to the restored shrine. Among the concelebrants of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia were the following primates of Local Orthodox Churches: His Holiness and Beatitude Patriarch and Catholicos Iliya II of All Georgia, His Holiness Patriarch Paul of Serbia, His Beatitude Patriarch Teoktist of Romania, His Holiness Patriarch Maxim of Bulgaria, His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostom of the New Justiniana and All Cyprus, His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania, and His Beatitude Metropolitan Nicholas of the Czech Lands and Slovakia. Among the concelebrants were also the following representatives of Local Churches: Archbishop Dimitrios of America (Patriarchate of Constantinople), Metropolitan Irinaios of Pelusium (Patriarchate of Alexandria), Bishop Niphon of Philippopol (Patriarchate of Antioch), Archbishop Benediktos of Gaza (Patriarchate of Jerusalem), Metropolitan Ambrosios of Kalavrita and Aigialeia (Church of Greece), Archbishop Jeremiah of Wroclaw and Szczecin (Polish Church), and Archbishop Hermann of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (American Church), as well as 147 bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate who participated in the Bishops’ Council.

Worshipping on the right side of the sanctuary were the Russian Government Chairman M. M. Kasyanov, the Moscow Mayor Yu. M. Luzhkov and the Chairman of the Moscow City Duma V. M. Platonov. Among the high-ranking guests of the feast were His Holiness Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos Karekin II of All Armenians, representatives of the Roman Catholic and other non-Orthodox Churches, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, her mother Leonida Georgiyevna and her son Georgiy.

In his address to the flock His Holiness thanked all those who participated in the construction and consecration of the Church of Christ the Saviour. The primate of the Russian Church noted that the completion of the reconstruction of the cathedral church dedicated to the Nativity of Christ became for Russia the culmination of the jubilee celebrations devoted to the Bimillennium of the Coming of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to the world, saying that «providentially, the Church of Christ the Saviour is consecrated on the Day of the Holy Transfiguration. For transformed is the life of our Fatherland, transformed are the souls of people who have found their way to God and to the church of God. This day will go down the history of our Church as a triumph of Orthodoxy, when we together, by one mouth and one heart, prayed to the Lord so that His grace may dwell in this holy church and every one who comes here may find in it spiritual consolation and transfiguration of one’s life».

After the service, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia together with the primates of the Local Orthodox Churches and bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church came out to the rostrum placed at the northern facade of the church. Led by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, the celebrations corresponded to those held in 1883 to consecrate the original Church of Christ the Saviour. Since the Church of Christ the Saviour was built to thank God’s Providence for the saving of Russia in the 1812 Patriotic War, the ceremony of the consecration of the restored church of the military glory was concluded with a march of the Russian Army units.

In connection with the disaster at the Kursk nuclear submarine, with the blessing of His Holiness, the Church prayed for those «who were in undersea captivity, their relatives and associates». «We prayed for the seamen who as a result of an accident have found themselves at the bottom of the Barents Sea and who have not yet been saved despite all attempts». We prayed for their relatives and associates, asking the Lord to give them consolation and strength», His Holiness the Patriarch said.