Patriarch Kirill Celebrates his Name-Day
Moscow, May 24, Interfax – Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia not only joins the Slavic world in the celebration of the Cyrillic Alphabet and Slavic Culture Day on May 24, but also marks his name-day.
In April 1969, 40 years ago, the then chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) tonsured Vladimir Gundyayev, a student of Leningrad Theological School, under the name Kirill.
The future Patriarch was named in the honour of St. Cyril. Thus, Patriarch Kirill modeled himself on Saint Apostle to Slavs in his gaining insight into the art of preaching and learning to combine living word and openness with in-depth persuasion.
Today, head of the Russian Orthodox Church will celebrate the Liturgy at the Assumption Cathedral and after conducting the procession in the Red Square, Patriarch Kirill is going to pay tribute to the memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius with a solemn prayer at the monument to saint brothers at the Slavyanskaya Square in Moscow conducted with the participation of Moscow’s clergy.
Soon after his enthronement, Patriarch Kirill said that he had decided against convening archbishops from all over Russia on his name-day in Moscow. “I am not going to invite them; moreover, I am not going to encourage bishops from other cities to come to Moscow on this day. I will order them to celebrate the day of Cyrillic alphabet and Slavic culture in their dioceses,” Metropolitan Yuvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna quoted Patriarch as saying.
Nevertheless, anybody has a chance to congratulate Patriarch Kirill with the day of his divine patron. According to the press-service of Moscow’s Central Administrative district, the Russian Blacksmith’s Guild is going to make the largest in Russia pen, 2 meters high, and weighing over 100 kg to give it as a present to Patriarch Kirill.
