Primate of Russian Church consecrates Church of the Theodore Icon of the Mother of God in Alapayevsk
On 15 July 2018, 7th Sunday after Pentecost, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and the permanent members of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church arrived in the town of Alapayevsk, Sverdlovsk Region, to commemorate the centenary of the martyrdom of Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Nun Barbara and of the members of the Imperial Family who had died with them.
The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church visited the Monastery of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church built near the Nizhne-Selimskaya mine. Thrown down that mine shaft alive on the night of 18 July 1918 were Grand Duchess Elizabeth, Nun Barbara (Yakovleva), Grand Duke Sergei, Princes Ioann, Konstantin and Igor, as well as Princes Vladimir Paley and Fyodor Remez.
In the monastery, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill performed the rite of consecration of the Church of the Theodore Icon of the Mother of God and officiated at the Divine Liturgy in the newly consecrated church.
Concelebrating with His Holiness were Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine; Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna; Metropolitan Vladimir of Kishinev and All Moldova; Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, head of the Metropolitan area in the Republic of Kazakhstan; Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, head of the Metropolitan area of Central Asia; Metropolitan Varsonofy of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Metropolitan Pavel of Minsk and Zaslavsk, Patriarchal Exarch for All Belarus; Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations; Metropolitan Kirill of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye; Archbishop Sergy of Solnechnogorsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Administrative Secretariat; Bishop Mefody of Kamensk-Uralsky and Alapayevsk; Bishop Yevgeny of Nizhny Tagil and Nevyansk; Bishop Alexy of Serov and Krasnoturyensk; Hieromonk Kirill (Korytko), secretary of the Diocesan Administration of the Yekaterinburg diocese; Hegumen Moisey (Pilats), rector of the Monastery of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church; the ordained brethren of the monastery; and the clergy of the Yekaterinburg Metropolia.
After the Litany of Fervent Supplication the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church said a prayer for peace in Ukraine.
The Liturgy was followed by a procession with a reliquary, containing a particle of the holy relics of the Venerable Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth, to the former Nizhne-Selimskaya mine, where the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church celebrated a requiem litiya and said a prayer to the Venerable Martyrs Elizabeth and Barbara.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, the permanent members of the Holy Synod, the hierarchs and guests of honour laid flowers to the cross installed at the place of the execution of the members of the Russian Imperial Family.
His Holiness presented the newly consecrated church with an icon of Christ the Saviour.
Addressing Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said:
“I would like to cordially greet His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry, Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. You know what afflictions the Orthodox Christians in Ukraine are suffering now. It is the time of hardships for the Church of the holy city of Kiev. Yet, we believe that the Lord will not forsake His people who call upon His name with such ardent faith, and that our Church’s unity which has as its source the Kievan Baptismal Font will remain unshakeable.
“I convey to you, Your Beatitude, and to all the bishops and believers my most heartfelt greetings with this day and with the forthcoming 1030th anniversary of the Baptism of the Kievan people, as well as my wishes to preserve the Orthodox faith and to remain faithful to the canonical tradition of the Holy Orthodox Church. Accept my heartfelt congratulations!”
His Holiness also greeted the archpastors and clergy of the Yekaterinburg Metropolia and Hegumen Moisey with the brethren of the Monastery of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church.
All worshippers received icons of the Venerable Martyr Elizabeth with the Primatial blessing.
Patriarchal Press Service/
DECR Communication Service
Photo by the Patriarch Press Service