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On 16 November 2017, thousands of the residents of Patras, Greece, met the shrine with a particle of the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov. The event was timed to coincide with the opening of the conference “The Voice of St. Andrew the First-Calles in the Modern World.”

In the morning of that same day a prayer service was celebrated at Zhukovsky international airport before the departure for Greece. Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Patras and priests of the metropolis met the delegation at national Araxos airport. Border guards and other personnel came up to the shrine to venerate the relics.

After a short prayer service the shrine was brought to the church of St. Andrew the First-Called, one of the largest churches in the Balkans. An orchestra and thousands of people greeted the shrine at the entrance.

Metropolitan Chrysostomos greeted the worshippers, saying, “Today we are meeting the healing relics of a great Russian saint – Seraphim of Sarov. This event is very meaningful and important for all believers.” Metropolitan Chrysostomos expressed his gratitude to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia for the blessing to bring the shrine to Patras and the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation for the arrangements and presented an icon of the saint to Vladimir Yakunin, chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees as an expression of his thanks. Mr. Yakunin gave an icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov to Metropolitan Chrysostomos.

The relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov, brought from the Holy Trinity and St. Seraphim convent in Diveyevo with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, will stay at the church of St. Andrew in Patras from November 16 through 26. The Greeks deeply venerate St. Seraphim of Sarov; it is expected that not only the residents of Patras, but also the faithful from other regions of Greece would come to venerate the relics.

The St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation has organized the bringing of the relics. The delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church, headed by Bishop Iliya of Balakhna, a vicar of the Nizhny Novgorod metropolitan area, includes hegumeness Sergiya, an abbess of the Diveyevo convent, sisters of the abode, and clerics of the Nizhny Novgorod metropolitan area.