During Christmastide Bishop Tikhon of Podolsk visits dioceses of Austria and Hungary
Bishop Tikhon of Podolsk, administrator of the dioceses of Austria and Hungary, paid an archpastoral visit to these dioceses during Christmastide.
On January 8, the Feast of the Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos, Bishop Tikhon celebrated the Divine Liturgy at St Nicholas Cathedral in Vienna. After the service, he warmly greeted the parishioners with the Feast of the Nativity of Christ.
The next day over a hundred people prayed at the Divine Liturgy celebrated by Bishop Tikhon at the Church of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God in the city of Graz, Austria. In his homily, the archpastor dwelt on the significance of the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and thanked the rector of the church, Rev. Vasiliy Tolstunov, for his considerable efforts to unite the community.
After the service, Bishop Tikhon talked with the parishioners about some topical issues of faith and Christian life. To conclude his visit to Graz, the administrator of the dioceses of Austria and Hungary came to see a plot of land intended for the construction of an Orthodox church.
On January 10, Bishop Tikhon officiated at the Divine Liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral in Budapest in concelebration with the diocesan clergy. The prayers were said in three languages, the Hungarian, the Church Slavonic and the Greek.
The same day later, Bishop Tikhon said a prayer service at the Church of the Holy Queen Alexandra the Martyr in the town of Urom, Hungary, on the occasion of the church’s patronal feast. After the service, the archpastor went down to the crypt where the relics of the Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna (1783-1801) are kept, and said a litiya for the repose of her soul.
To conclude his visit, Bishop Tikhon opened a Christmas festival organized by the parish of the Life-Giving Trinity in Budapest. Greeting over a hundred children who came to see the performance, the archpastor told them about the importance of faith, obedience and prayer.
DECR Communication Service citing
Press Service of the Northeastern Vicariate of Moscow