Metropolitan Kirill takes part in the “Reflections of the Smolensk Centuries” festival

METROPOLITAN KIRILL TAKES PART IN THE “REFLECTIONS OF THE SMOLENSK CENTURIES” FESTIVAL

A musical and poetical festival called “Reflections of the Smolensk Centuries” took place on January 20, in Smolensk. Participating in it were the blest artistic teams of the city and oblast.

The main idea of the festival is to show the way in history that the Smolensk land has covered from old times to this day and to look into its future. In accordance with this idea, the enactment began with the pre-Christian times. Then seven songs were presented, reflecting the landmarks in the Orthodox history of Smolensk. The action culminated in a scenic composition called “Smolensk meets a new century”, in which all the participants sung the chorus from Glinka’s “Life for the Tsar”.

Convinced that the future of the Smolensk land is connected with the revival of Orthodoxy, the organizers included in the festival program “A prologue to the new century and millennium” an address by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad. In his brief address he called his listeners to remember the lessons taught by history and not to repeat mistakes made in the past.

Participating in the enactment was also the choir of the Smolensk Seminary directed by Elena Khitankova and the choir of the Smolensk Pre-seminary directed by Sister Ioanna Kadurova.