Bishop Theodorite celebrated Sunday services
On December 5 and 6, Bishop of Zvenigorod Theodorite, Rector of the Moscow Theological Academy, celebrated Sunday services at the seminary church of St. John the Climacus.
Today the Russian Church honors the memory of the blessed prince Alexander of Neva.
The holy prince won many military victories, which determined the further development of the state. In addition to his excellent qualities as a courageous leader, he is glorified by the Holy Church as a defender of the Orthodox faith.
“As a pious root, the most honorable branch, blessed Alexandra, you were revealed as a kind of Divine treasure of the Russian land and a new glorious wonder-make. Today we gather in your memory by faith and love, we joyfully praise the Lord, Who has given you the grace of healings and whom you pray to save a city, make the power of Russia God-pleasing, and Russian people get a redemption".
On December 5, Bishop of Zvenigorod Theodorite celebrated an all-night vigil at the seminary church of St. John the Climacus.
On December 6, Bishop Theodorite celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the same church.
Archimandrite Platon (Igumnov) lead the all-night vigil at the Intercession Academic Church, and Archimandrite Benedict (Knyazev) served the Divine Liturgy.
After the Eucharistic Canon, Hieromonk Vyacheslav (Sorokin), Vice-rector for educational work, delivered a sermon in which he reasoned the Orthodox meaning of happiness and what a person's attitude to wealth should be:
The modern world thinks that a happy person should be beautiful, healthy, well-educated, rich and successful in all his activities. He must be free from any prejudices, restrictions and open to everything new. Today's passage from Gospel tells about an unreasonable rich man and draws an image of a successful person. Actually, he didn’t only increase his wealth, but used it very wisely. However, a human judgment is different from God's judgment. Firstly, Holy Scripture compares wealth with water and warns us not to apply our hearts to it. Secondly, everyone should remember about the danger of worshiping the golden calf. That rich man allowed the wealth to win his heart and enslave his will, so he wanted to use it to satisfy his passions. In other words, he used God’s gift to destroy himself. It is vital to remember that the Lord gave us an invaluable gift which is our life. Everyone can enjoy the beauty and benefits of this world. However, at the end of times the Lord will ask everyone how we used His priceless gift, whether we used it for ourselves or shared it with our neighbors. According to Blessed Augustine, a soul can find peace only in God. Therefore, in our temporary living, we have to grow rich in God and remember that happiness is measured not by the amount of property, but by the presence of warmth and love in our hearts».
Background information:
Chanting performed by a female choir under the conduct of Ksenia Tarelkina at the church of St. John the Climacus; a male choir led by Hieromonk Nestor (Volkov) and a male choir led by Sergei Popadinets at the Intercession Academic Church.
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