Divine services of Great Monday at the Intercession Academic Church
The path of the Holy Forties is over and today the Church enters the most difficult, touching and sorrowful Holy Week. These days, which preface the feast of Christ's Resurrection, make believers to recall sufferings of the Savior.
Chants and prayers of the Holy Week call Christians to stay awake, as the Lord once asked His disciples and pray with Him.
Behold, the Bridegroom is coming at midnight, and blessed the slave who is found vigilant, the unworthy one who is found despondent. Take care, my soul, not to be burdened by sleep, not to be put to death and shut up from the Kingdom, but rise up calling: Holy, Holy, Holy God, have mercy by the Mother of God».
On Sunday, April 25, Hieromonk Theodore (Yulaev) led an evening service at the Intercession Academic Church.
On April 26, the Bishop of Zvenigorod Theodorite celebrated Vespers with the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.
At the service, Daniil Naberezhnykh, a third-year undergraduate student, delivered a sermon.
Understanding sufferings, a person realizes the value of relationships. When we endure suffering, we internally distance ourselves from its cause. We do not often anticipate a painful situation, so it causes stress and we are forced to remain in a state of tension torn between the reality and an ideal picture created by our imagination. Putting distance between them gives us an opportunity to strive for the ideal, which is in the person of Jesus Christ and the whole host of saints, who our Holy Church sees as a beacon».
Background information:
Chanting performed by a male choir under the conduct of Maxim Ivanchuk, a 3rd year undergraduate student, and a female choir led by S.P. Borovinskaya.
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