The Academy held Sunday services in honour of the Cathedral of Moscow Saints

Today, on the 12th Sunday after Pentecost, the Church commemorates the Cathedral of Moscow Saints, including St. Sergius of Radonezh and many other revered saints of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius’s Lavra and the Moscow Theological Academy.

On that day, the Church also raised special prayers to preserve God's creation in integrity and keep our relationship with nature in harmony. In the Epistle to the Romans, apostle Paul said, for we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now (Rom. 8, 22). Due to a human sin, there is a discord into relations between a man and God, but also between a man and nature. So, the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God (Rom. 8, 19). 

On September 3, Archimandrite Kirill (Zinkovsky), Rector of the Moscow Theological Academy officiated an All-night vigil at the intercession Academic Church co-served by the academic clergy.

On September 4, the Rector celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Intercession Church.

After the Sacrament verse, Hieromonk Damian (Voronov) delivered a sermon explaining the Gospel passage of the day:

Our hidden passions are sometimes imperceptible. We can inherit the Kingdom of Heaven by fulfilling the commandments. Despite the fact that we strive to follow them, like a young man did, we need the Divine help to overcome our passions. It a passage from the Gospel of Matthew there is an example of God Providence and His good Will.

At the end of the service, the Rector Archimandrite Kirill congratulated Archimandrite Platon (Igumnov) on conferring the title of Honored Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy. The decision was taken at the MThA Academic Council and approved by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill in June 2022.

In return, Archimandrite Platon expressed his gratitude to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, the Rector and the entire academic family. Also he wished students success on their difficult path of theological education.

After that, Archimandrite Kirill delivered a sermon:

Today we venerate Hieromartyr Gorazd, the Bishop of Bohemia and Moravia. He used to be a Catholic priest. Before the Second World War, he converted into Orthodoxy and turned many Czechs into the Orthodox Church. He suffered and was shot by the Nazis on September 4, 1942 because while he was serving in Prague, he gave a shelter to partisans. Bishop Gorazd did not actually take part in partisan war. He worried about the Church, the Orthodox parishes in the Czech Republic and priests, who supported an anti-Nazi activities. At that time he was abroad and had a chance to leave Prague, but Bishop Gorazd returned to the city and took full responsibility upon himself hoping that it would somehow mitigate the repressions. Unfortunately, his death did not soften the repressions and the churches were closed. Hieromartyr Gorazd and several priests were shot in the dungeons of the Gestapo. The life of the Orthodox Czech Church renewed only after the liberation of the Czech Republic.

This is a great example of one of the New Martyrs who sacrificed himself for the sake of the Church. We shouldn’t look at the situation pragmatically. As a pastor, Bishop Gorazd understood that he could not stand aside when the Church suffered. The saints took their sufferings for Christ with determination and even joy. The Gospel passage of the day tells about a rich young man who refused to follow Christ. It often seems to us that we have done a lot of good things and prayers. However, some petty life situations show that we refuse to fulfill God’s commandments. We feel like we've done enough. But people or circumstances of life set other requirements. So, we are like that young man who did not want to follow Christ, although he was very pious. As a result, he was not ready to take a narrow path that Christ had told about.

Brothers and sisters, the modern world is full of different ways and opportunities. It is very difficult to accustom himself to the idea that Christian takes a narrow path. Once the Protestants in a theological dispute at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, tried to appeal to the quotation about the narrow path. They asked, “Do you think that Christ really said this?” They don't even believe His words. So, they are trying to reconstruct Gospel texts and to find out what Christ “really said”. Many contemporary Western theologians support this point of view.

However, we have to keep our faith, the Holy Tradition of the Church, the heritage of the Fathers of Church without questioning. The narrowness of the path in our time is not so much about ascetic deeds, but the feat of preserving our faith. Keeping faith not only in theory, but in life is a great feat. St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, the Bishop of the Caucasus, mentioned that it preserves doctrinal dogmas and consists in having an inner disposition to belittle oneself. As a result, it gives more and more place to God in our lives, in our actions; so, we glorify the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not ourselves. Amen.

After the sermon, teachers and students thanked God with the Holy Communion.

Background information:

Clergy served at the All-Night Vigil and the Divine Liturgy: Archimandrite Kirill, Archimandrite Platon (Igumnov), Archimandrite Hilarion (Farkovets), Archimandrite Luke (Golovkov), Archimandrite Simeon (Tomachinsky), Abbot Adrian (Pashin), Abbot Gerasim (Dyachkov), Hieromonk Barnabas (Losev), Archpriest Sergei Zabelich, Hegumen Melety (Sokolov), Priest Valery Dukhanin, Hieromonk Cassian (Plosky), Priest Dimitry Stepanenkov, Hieromonk Dometian (Kurlanov), Hieromonk Boris (Zelyuchenko), Hieromonk Damian (Voronov), Hieromonk Procopius (Rudchenko) ), Hieromonk Georgy (Pimenov), Hieromonk Athanasius (Italo), Hieromonk Serapion (Zalesny), Deacon Dimitry Maslov, Deacon Nikolai Goyuk, Hierodeacon Ioanniky (Pajan), Hierodeacon Job (Urum), Hierodeacon Methodius (Agus).

Chanting performed by the second academic choir conducted by V.V. Chuvilov and a mixed choir led by K.A. Alekseeva.

On July 13, 2015, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church designated the first Sunday of September as an annual day when a special prayer raised for God’s creation in all parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church.

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