Monday
Dec182023

« Bishop Matthew of Sourozh headed the patronal celebrations at St. Barbara Cathedral in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada »

Date18-12-2023
On December 17, 2023, on the 28th Sunday after Pentecost, the day of remembrance of the Great Martyr Barbara, His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, temporary Administrator of the Patriarchal parishes in the USA and Canada, led the patronal celebrations at St. Barbara Cathedral in Edmonton, Alberta.
At the entrance to the Cathedral, the Archpastor was greeted with bread and salt and flowers by the church warden Roman Lopushinsky and his wife Diana Lopushinskaya.
During the Divine Liturgy, his Grace was assisted by the Dean of the Patriarchal parishes in the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, Rector of the Cathedral Archpriest Igor Kisil, Dean of the Parish District "Orthodox IX" Archpriest Evgeniy Protsenko, clergy of the Dnipropetrovsk diocese of the UOC Archpriest Yaroslav Nikonenko, Dean of the parish "Orthodox V" Priest Alexy Surayev, Deacon Andrey Boldyrev and Deacon Stefan Nagy.
The divine service was celebrated in Church Slavonic and English.
Liturgical chants were performed by the Cathedral Choir under the direction of Irina Trutneva.
After reading the Gospel, the Archpastor delivered a sermon.
During the Liturgy, His Grace Bishop Matthew ordained the altar servant of the Church of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' in Toronto, Sergiy Chesnokov to the rank of deacon.
Following the prayer behind the ambo, Vladyka Matthew and the concelebrating clergy performed prayerful glorification in front of the icon and part of the holy relics of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara.
In conclusion, His Grace addressed those present with a word of spiritual edification and congratulations on the patronal feast day.
In response, Rector of the Cathedral, Archpriest Igor Kisil, warmly thanked Vladyka Matthew for the archpastoral visit and the joy of prayerful communication on the day of the patronal celebration.
All parishioners were given the hierarchical blessing and presented with memorial icons.
After the divine service, a festive meal was organized through the efforts of the cathedral sisterhood.