Russian Orthodox Christians marking feast of Intercession
MOSCOW, October 14 (Itar-Tass) – Festive liturgies are held Wednesday in all the churches of the Russian Orthodox Church, as the Orthodox community is marking the feast of Intercession of Our Lady, also known as the Day of the Virgin Mary’s Most Holy Protective Shroud.
The feast is unique for the fact that it is not observed practically anywhere in the world of Eastern Orthodoxy except Russia, although it has a strictly Byzantine origin and commemorates an event when an elderly man from the congregation suddenly envisioned the Virgin Mary who stood above the praying people in the air and spread her shroud over them in protection against a Slavic army besieging Constantinople.
The feast was brought to Russia by Prince Andrei the God-Loving in the 12th century. To foster its veneration among the people, Andrei who made his seat in the northwest Russian city of Vladimir, built the world-famous Church of Intercession on the Nerl River near it.
St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow’s Red Square, the calling card of the Russian capital, also has the official name of the Church of Intercession of Our Lady that Is on the Moat.
The holiday of the Virgin Mary’s Protective Shroud has traditionally been associated with mercy for people in restrictive situations or social positions.
This has prompted the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill to declare October 14 the Day of Mercy for All Those Kept in Shackles.
At the Patriarch’s blessing, Orthodox priests will visit prisons and pre-trial detention centers in Moscow and will hold special services at prison churches.
This humanitarian action pursues the goal of “drawing the public’s attention to the problems of convicts, to the needs of those who’re kept in penitentiaries or pre-trial detention centers,” Moscow Patriarchate’s press service said.
His Holiness Kirill himself is expected to spend the whole day Wednesday in the city of Novocherkassk in southern Russia, which is viewed on the historical plane as the capital of the Russian Cossacks of the Don River.
In the morning, he will lead a liturgy in the Ascension Cathedral in Novocherkassk. After that, His Holiness Kirill will attend a parade of Cossack pre-cadet schools, the number of which stands at 25 at the moment.
The Patriarch is expected to take part in a visiting session of the Presidential Council for the Policy towards the Cossacks in the afternoon.
In the meantime, regional authorities in some parts of the Russian Federation have declared the feast of Intercession a day off work.
