His Holiness Patriarch Alexy celebrated Divine Liturgy and Prayer Service at the Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God on the Red Square

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia celebrated the Divine Liturgy and prayer service to the Most Holy Mother of God at the Cathedral of the Kazan Icon in the Red Square in Moscow on 4 November 2006, the feast day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and National Unity Day.

Bishop Alexander of Dmitrov concelebrated with the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany (the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia) prayed at the service, Sedmiza.ru reports.

‘We recall the tragic events in our history of the early 17^th century, when a question of ‘to be or not to be’ was being decided for Russia. IT is remarkable that the liberation of Moscow began on the feast day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The home guards from Nizhniy Novgorod carried this miraculous icon. The cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God was built here as people’s thanksgiving to the Heavenly Queen,’ His Holiness Alexy said while congratulating the worshippers on the feast.

His Holiness reminded them that unity is necessary not only in the crucial moments, but also in the everyday life.

‘We ought to be united always rather than when pressed by difficult circumstances. We are strong when we are united, and God is with us,’ the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church underscored.