Patriarch Kirill, Metropolitan Jonah concelebrate at 15th anniversary of St. Catherine OCA Representation Church
On Monday, December 7, 2009, the feast of the Great Martyr Catherine, His Holiness, the Most Holy Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill concelebrated the festal Divine Liturgy at Saint Catherine the Great Martyr Church with the Most Blessed Metropolitan of All America and Canada Jonah on the occasion of the parish patronal feast and the commemoration of the 15th Anniversary of the parish being selected as the Moscow Representation of the Orthodox Church in America.
Immediately upon his arrival to the church, Metropolitan Jonah was met by the concelebrating clergy, headed by Archimandrite Zacchaeus, parish Dean and OCA Representative in Moscow, and led into the church while the choir sang a hymn to Saint Catherine the Great Martyr in English. After bestowing his Primatial blessing upon those assembled in the church, Metropolitan Jonah presented the Order of St. Innocent (Silver Class) to His Excellency, Mr. John Beyrle, Ambassador of the United States of America to the Russian Federation, for his support of the initiatives of Saint Catherine Church and in honor of the 15th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Moscow Representation of the OCA. After the presentation of this high award, His Beatitude entered the altar to vest for the service while Archimandrite Zacchaeus and Ambassador Beyrle went outside to await the arrival of Patriarch Kirill.
Patriarch Kirill was met with flowers and bread and salt — the traditional Slavic symbol of hospitality — and then led into the church, where he was greeted by the concelebrating hierarchs: His Eminence, Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk and Chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate; His Eminence, Archbishop Nifon of Philipopolsk, Moscow Representative of the Patriarchate of Antioch; His Grace, Bishop Antony of Moravich, Moscow Representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church; and Bishop Ignaty of Provatsk, Moscow Representative of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church; as well as the concelebrating clergy, led by Archimandrite Zacchaeus, as well as the Very Rev. Alexei Yuschenko, Moscow Representative of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia; the Very Rev. Michael Dudich of the Polish Orthodox Church; and other Moscow clergy. Praying at the Divine Liturgy were the Ambassadors of the United States of America, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Greece, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Columbia, Cuba, Latvia, Moldova, the United Arab Emirates, Peru, Poland, Romania, and other nations.
Following the Primatial Divine Liturgy and molieben to Saint Catherine the Great Martyr, Archimandrite Zacchaeus welcomed Patriarch Kirill and Metropolitan Jonah to the parish and thanked them for leading the faithful in prayer on the occasion of the patronal feast day. In prayerful memory of the occasion, he presented the Primates of the Orthodox Churches of Russia and America with embroidered Episcopal vestments.
Patriarch Kirill, in responding to the words of greeting by Archimandrite Zacchaeus, stated his pleasure in seeing the work that has been accomplished at the Moscow Representation of the Orthodox Church in America and thanked the parish Dean for the gift presented. Likewise, he thanked Metropolitan Jonah for his visit to Moscow to participate in the 15th Anniversary of the establishment of the Moscow Representation of the Orthodox Church in America. He then blessed the parish community with a large Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, which will be enshrined in the temple for veneration by the faithful.
In turn, Metropolitan Jonah also thanked Father Zacchaeus for his work in preparing for the feast day and expressed his gratitude and support for the efforts of the Archimandrite in worthily representing the Orthodox Church in America to the Russian Orthodox Church. In honor of the 15th Anniversary, he presented a Synodal Gramota, signed by all members of the OCA Holy Synod of Bishops, to Archimandrite Zacchaeus.
Following the Primatial Divine Liturgy, a festal banquet was hosted by the parish at a nearby restaurant for the Primates, hierarchs, and guests. While the guests were assembling, Patriarch Kirill, Metropolitan Jonah, Archbishop Hilarion, and Archimandrite Zacchaeus met to discuss issues of importance for the Russian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church in America.
During the festal banquet, in addition to words of congratulations by Patriarch Kirill and Metropolitan Jonah, official congratulatory letters from the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov; the Russian Minister of Culture, Alexander A. Avdeev; and the Chairman of the Federal Council of the Russian Federation, Sergei M. Mironov, were read; addressed to Archimandrite Zacchaeus on the occasion of the parish anniversary were also read.
A photo gallery of the celebration may be found on the web site of Saint Catherine Church here.