« On the eve of the patronal feast, His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh celebrated an all-night vigil at St. Barbara Cathedral in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada »

On December 16, 2023, on the eve of the day of remembrance of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara, His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, temporary Administrator of the Patriarchal parishes in the USA and Canada, celebrated an all-night vigil at the St. Barbara Cathedral in Edmonton.

At the invitation of Bishop Matthew, the Primate of the Archdiocese of Canada of the Orthodox Church in America, Archbishop Irénée (Rochon) of Ottawa and Canada, and the clergy of the diocese arrived for concelebration.

Before the beginning of the all-night vigil, part of the relics (left foot) of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara was brought from the altar for veneration.

Concelebrating with the Archpastors were Dean of the Patriarchal parishes in Canada, Rector of St. Barbara Cathedral, Archpriest Igor Kisil, Chancellor of the Canadian Archdiocese, Rector of the Church of the Holy Martyr Peter Aleutian in Calgary, Archpriest Phillip Eriksson (OCA), Rector of St. Herman of Alaska cathedral in Edmonton Archpriest Vincent Lehr (OCA), Dean of the parish district "Orthodox IX" Archpriest Evgeniy Protsenko, cleric of the Dnipropetrovsk diocese of the UOC Archpriest Yaroslav Nikonenko, Archpriest Vitaly Manoli (OCA), Dean of the parish district "Orthodox V" Priest Alexy Surayev, Protodeacon Jesse  Isaac (OCA) and Deacon Andrey Boldyrev.

During the divine service, His Grace Bishop Matthew honoured Sergiy Chesnokov, the altar server of the Church of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' in Toronto, who arrived for ordination to the diaconate, with the right to wear the stikharion.

At the matins of the all-night vigil, the Holy Gospel was read in two languages: Archbishop Irénée read it in English, and Bishop Matthew read it in Church Slavonic.  After reading the Gospel, the Archpastors anointed the clergy and parishioners with consecrated oil.

At the end of the divine service, Vladika Matthew warmly greeted Archbishop Irénée and the clergy of the Orthodox Church in America, who had come to share the joy of the patronal celebration in the Edmonton Cathedral, and, in memory of the joint service, he presented Vladika Irénée with the holy panagia.

Bishop Matthew congratulated Rector, clergy and parishioners of St. Barbara Cathedral on the upcoming patronal feast day and thanked those gathered for the opportunity to worship and pray together.

At the end, the church warden of the Cathedral, Roman Lopushinsky, invited everyone to a festive meal in the lower hall of the church, arranged by the cathedral sisterhood.

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