Patriarch Kirill to Complete Consecration of Two Orthodox Shrines of Donbass
In the East region the Patriarch is going to consecrate the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral of Donetsk, to conduct the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Dormition Svyatogorsk Lavra and to call to the Cathedral of Horlivka and Sts Nicholas and Basil Monastery.
Kirill has already visited Donbass in the rank of Metropolitan. Now the Orthodox Donbass is to welcome Patriarch Kirill.
As “Salon” has cleared out, in the capital the Patriarch is going to visit the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. The Patriarch does not specify any requirements for the lodging. He refused the five-star apartments and is going to live in Lavra, as a monk” – the press-service of the visit commented. In Donetsk Metropolitan Hilarion is going to receive the Patriarch, he is going to stay at his residence.
“It comes out that the Patriarch of All Russia arrives on the day of commemoration of the Mother of God of Svyatogorsk, – one of the main shrines of the people of Donetsk. They will meet His Holiness the Patriarch on July 29 at the Cathedral of Transfiguration of Our Savior in Donetsk, and then he is going to set off for the festivities at the Svyatogorsk Lavra and celebrate there the Divine Liturgy”, the press-secretary of the Donetsk Diocese of the UOC George Guliaev told to “Salon”.
Fr. George says that Patriarch Kirill will complete the consecration of the two orthodox shrines of Donbass – the Cathedral of Transfiguration of Our Savior and St. Nicholas Monastery: “The Cathedral of Transfiguration of Our Savior is being consecrated gradually, since the building is big. Tomorrow Metropolitan Hilarion will perform consecration of the central altar of the Cathedral, and the patriarch will draw a line on consecration by his arrival, and we will consider the cathedral consecrated. The same concerns the Monastery of St. Nicholas, there are several churches, and it is an entire estate.”
Together with Patriarch Kirill Donetsk expects the delegation of the ROC and the UOC headed by Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine, consisting of 70 persons.
It is natural that such a high guest will be safeguarded at the level of the head of the state. “We have already received instructions from the administration to get ready for reception of Patriarch Kirill. There is a program and every day new amendments are introduces there”, noted Alexander Moskalenko, chief of the Public Security Administration of the Department of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Donetsk region, – therefore now there is no exact figure how many security officers will preserve order in the places of the Patriarch’s visit. By preliminary data, only in Svyatogorye more than 400 people of the military personnel of the regional office of the Ministry of Internal Department will be involved.”
The regional administration has been seriously getting ready for the Patriarch’s visit in advance. “Our history is industrial. But Donbass is rich spiritually, and the Patriarch’s visit is one more sign that our land will develop, in spite of all the twists and turns in our state. Already a month ago we have allocated money for the repair of the road in Kostyantynivka, and for the capital repair of the road from Cherekhovka in Slavyansk to the beginning of the route Rostov-Kharkiv. We will try to do all possible not to be ashamed before the patriarch”, reported the chairman of the regional council of Donetsk Anatoly Bliznyuk.
