« On the day of remembrance of St. Stephen of Sourozh, His Grace Bishop Matthew celebrated the Liturgy at the Dormition Cathedral in London »

On December 28, 2023, on the day of remembrance of St. Stephen the Confessor, Archbishop of Sourozh (VIII), the heavenly patron of the Diocese of Sourozh, His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Dormition Cathedral in London.

On this day, the Administrator of the Sourozh Diocese, His Grace Bishop Matthew, celebrates his 6th anniversary as the ruling Bishop of Diocese of Sourozh.

Concelebrating with His Grace were Archpriest Maxim Nikolsky, Dean of the Diocesan District of South-East England Archpriest Vitaly Polishchuk, Secretary of the Sourozh Diocese Archpriest Dimitry Nedostupenko, clergy of the UOC temporarily staying on the territory of the Sourozh Diocese, Protodeacon Vadim Santsevitch and Deacon Ioan Sîlnic.

Liturgical chants were performed by the choir of the Dormition Cathedral under the direction of Dmitry Tugarinov.

At the augmented litany, special petitions for the wellbeing of Vladyka Matthew were proclaimed. Archpriest Dimitry read a prayer of gratitude to the Lord Jesus Christ, our God, for His blessings to Bishop Matthew, who is now being honoured.

At the funeral litany, prayers were offered for the repose of the soul of the ever-memorable Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom), founder of the Sourozh diocese.

Following the prayer behind the ambo, Vladyka Matthew performed prayerful veneration in front of the icon of St. Stephen with a particle of his holy relics and addressed those present with a word of sermon and spiritual edification.

At the end of the divine service, Archpriest Dimitry Nedostupenko, on behalf of the clergy, monastics and laity, warmly congratulated the Right Reverend Vladyka on the 6th anniversary of his archpastoral ministry in the Sourozh diocese and presented Vladyka with a bouquet of flowers.

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