On a day of Presentation of Christ in the Temple an Academy rector ordained a deacon (+VIDEO)
On February 15th the Orthodox church celebrates the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary and the Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Candlemas). There are some famous preaches about this ancient Christian holiday left by such renowned saint bishops as Kirill of Jerusalem, Gregory the Theologian, Gregory of Nyssa and John Chrysostom.
A church Slavonic word “sreteniye” means a “meeting”. On this day people presented by St. Simeon the God-receiver met the Lord. It was the day when Old Testament met with New Testament as we can read about this miraculous event in the Luke’s Gospel.
When forty days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph brought the Holy Child to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord.
At the Temple they met St. Simeon who, according to the tradition, was translating the Book of Isaiah, when he came upon a phrase “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son”. St. Simeon was confused and could not understand how such a thing might happen so he took it for a mistake and tried to rewrite a word “Virgin” on “Woman”. At that moment an angel appeared and affirmed the veracity of the prophecy. Also it was predicted that St. Simeon would witness this miracle himself. «Се Дева во чреве приимет и родит Сына». Для него оставалось неясным, как девственница может родить. Святой принял это за ошибку и исправил «Дева» на «Женщина». Перед праведником явился ангел и сказал, что тот сам убедится в верности предсказания пророка. Евангелист Лука пишет об этом так:
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord́s Christ». (Lc., 2: 25-26)
When St. Simeon wet the Child he immediately recognized Our Lord the Saviour. He took Him up in his arms, blessed God and said:
Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace according to Your word. For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples. A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel». (Lc., 2:29-32)
On February 14th the bishop of Zvenigorod Pitirim together with the bishop of Iskitim and Cherepanov Luka performed an evening service in an academic church of the Intercession of the Theotokos.
During the service a four-year Bachelor student Andrey Naumenko said a sermon in which he pointed out the importance of our meeting with the Lord:
We do not know when or how we personally might meet with the Lord. Travelers who were on the way to Emmaus went with Christ but did not recognize Him. They became aware of that only after they parted with Him and they said to one another, «Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?» (Lc., 24:32). We are in the same situation while reading the Gospels or praying and still do not feel the presence of God in our hearts. However, once our eyes might get open as the eyes of Christ disciples on their way to Emmaus did».
On February 15th the Divine Liturgy was held in the academic church by the bishop of Zvenigorod Pitirim together with the bishop of Rubtsov and Aley Roman, the bishop of Iskitim and Cherepanov Luka and clerical academic teachers, students and correspondence department graduates.
After the Eucharistic canon bishop Pitirim ordained a first-year Master student Alexander Sergeev into a deacon.
A first-year Master student Dmitriy Solyanik said a sermon in which told about bringing children up by presenting them to God as this holiday teaches us:
This episode of the Gospel becomes for us a wonderful example of what our attitude to our personal happiness, our family and children might be. The first child is the most welcome and the best God’s gift. That is why we should give birth and bring a child up not only for ourselves but for the True Father who is Our Lord! Only if we try to dedicate the child to God, he will likely to become a decent man».
In the end of the service bishop Pitirim greeted the assembly.
Background information:
The evening service in an academic church was held by the bishop of Zvenigorod Pitirim, Rector of the Moscow Theological Academy, together with the bishop of Iskitim and Cherepanov Luka archimandrites Venedict (Knyazev), Platon (Igumnov), Ilarion (Forkavets), Luka (Golovkov), hegumens Dionisiy (Schlenov), Adrian (Pashin), Philip (Zhilyakov), Gerasim (Dyachkov), Daniil (Vasilenko), Meletiy (Sokolov), Nikiphor (Kirzin), Panteleymon (Berdnikov), Lazar (Gnativ), hieromonks Varnava (Losev), hegumen Meletiy (Sokolov), Feodor (Yulaev), Vyacheslav (Sorokin), Apollinariy (Panin), Nektariy (Raykovich), Filofey (Artyushin), Tavrion (Smykov), Faddey (Pryadun), Kassian (Ploskiy), Varlaam (Cherep), Vasiliy (Musa), Valerian (Pogrebnyak), Dometian (Kurlanov), Damian (Voronov), archpriest Sergey Zabelich, Alexander Kurnasov, priests Pavel Lizgunov, Dmitriy Baritskiy, Valeriy Duhanin, Alexander Kuznetsov, Dmitriy Ermakov, deacons Dimitriy Maslov, Stephan Martenyuk, Eugeniy Smolyaninov, hierodeacon Innokentiy (Glazistov).
Two academic choirs sang at the evening service. The first choir was director by hieromonk Nestor (Volkov) and the second one under the conduct of Vitaliy Chuvilov.
The Divine Liturgy in an academic church was held by the bishop of Zvenigorod Pitirim, Rector of the Moscow Theological Academy, together with the bishop of Rubtsov and Aley Roman, the bishop of Iskitim and Cherepanov Luka archimandrites Venedict (Knyazev), Platon (Igumnov), Ilarion (Forkavets), Luka (Golovkov), hegumens Dionisiy (Schlenov), Adrian (Pashin), Philip (Zhilyakov), Gerasim (Dyachkov), Daniil (Vasilenko), Meletiy (Sokolov), Nikiphor (Kirzin), Panteleymon (Berdnikov), Lazar (Gnativ), hieromonks Varnava (Losev), hegumen Meletiy (Sokolov), Feodor (Yulaev), Vyacheslav (Sorokin), Apollinariy (Panin), Nektariy (Raykovich), Filofey (Artyushin), Tavrion (Smykov), Faddey (Pryadun), Kassian (Ploskiy), Varlaam (Cherep), Vasiliy (Musa), Valerian (Pogrebnyak), Dometian (Kurlanov), Damian (Voronov), archpriest Sergey Zabelich, Alexander Kurnasov, priests Pavel Lizgunov, Dmitriy Baritskiy, Valeriy Duhanin, Alexander Kuznetsov, Dmitriy Ermakov, deacons Dimitriy Maslov, Stephan Martenyuk, Eugeniy Smolyaninov, hierodeacon Innokentiy (Glazistov), deacon Alexander Sergeev.
Two academic choirs sang at the Divine Liturgy. The first choir was director by hieromonk Nestor (Volkov) and the second one under the conduct of Vitaliy Chuvilov.
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