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On 20 July 2013, His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia, who is visiting the Russian Orthodox Church, venerated the shrines of the Russian northern capital.

The Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church visited the Cathedral of St Isaac, in which he venerated the wonderworking Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God, and the Cathedral of the Saviour on the Blood.

 After that, the delegation of the Serbian Orthodox Church, led by Patriarch Irinej, proceeded to the Laura of the Holy Trinity and St Alexander Nevsky. Meeting them at the entrance to the Holy Trinity Cathedral were Bishop Nazariy of Kronstadt, abbot of the monastery, and the brethren. The high guest and members of the Serbian delegation venerated the holy relics of St Alexander Nevsky and the ‘Milk-Giver’ Icon of the Mother of God, a copy of the wonderworking image from the Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos.

Bishop Nazariy of Kronstadt greeted the high guest and donated His Holiness Patriarch Irinej the panagia with the Icon of the Mother of God “Quick to Hearken”. The Panagia was made in the commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the Laura.

The Primate of the Serbian Church venerated the icon and addressed those present, asking them to pray for the Serbian people and for the preservation of the holy sites in Kosovo and Metochija. “A hard ordeal has befallen us: great powers of this world wished to bereave Serbian people of their shrines,” he said and expressed his hope that the Serbs would preserve their shrines through the prayers of all zealots who shone forth in the land of Kosovo.

In the evening, the Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church visited the Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God and the Chapel of the Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg.