The Sunday Liturgy, commemorating Saint Vladimir (old calendar) was the height of the 1025th anniversary celebration in Kyiv. It was held outdoors at the Kyiv Caves Lavra in the square adjoining the Dormition Cathedral. With nothing to do but stand in the line of vested priests from the visiting delegations, on a beautiful summer day with a breeze coming through, I found it a very peaceful liturgy in spite of the huge crowd and hundreds of clergy. Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria presided and at the end—after Patriarch Kirill’s sermon—Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem gave a greeting in English from “Jerusalem, the Mother of all the Churches.”
