Celebrations marking 150th anniversary of the first Orthodox Liturgy in Mongolia take place in Ulan Bator
On 3 April 2014, the cancellation of the collectable series of envelopes, marking the 150th anniversary of the celebration of the first Orthodox Liturgy in Mongolia, took place at the central post office in Ulan Bator.
On the 3rd of April (according to the Gregorian calendar) 1864, priest Ioann Nikolsky celebrated the first Divine Liturgy in a small Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity, abutting on the building of the Russian Consulate in Urga (the old name of Ulan Bator). That day is considered to be the birthday of the Holy Trinity parish of the Russian Orthodox Church in Mongolia.
The parish was closed in the Soviet period. Church life was restored there in 1990s. In the summer of 2001, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad (now Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia) laid the foundation stone of a new Holy Trinity Church. The church was build and consecrated in 2009. The Erdenet Russian-Mongolian joint venture acted as the major sponsor of the construction.
The festive events at the central post office were organized at the initiative of the Holy Trinity parish in Ulan Bator and the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Mongolia. Taking part in the celebrations were staff members of the Embassy, heads of the “Rossotrudnichestvo” Representation in Ulan Bator, Orthodox parishioners, staff members of the central post office, and representatives of the Mongolian mass media. Rev. Alexy (Trubach), rector of the parish, greeted all those present with the memorable date and imprinted a postmark on the envelopes.