« On Holy Saturday, Bishop Matthew of Sourozh celebrated the Liturgy at the Dormition Cathedral in London »

On May 4, 2024, on Holy Saturday, His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh celebrated Vespers with the reading of parimias (readings from the Old Testament) and the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great at the Dormition Cathedral in London.

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, Priest Nikita Kozlov, Protodeacon Vadim Santsevitch and Deacon Alexander Kapustin.

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

According to the church charter for the Holy Saturday, 15 parimias were read. After the apostolic reading, before the reading of the Gospel, the clergy changed their Lenten black vestments for festive white ones.

Following the prayer behind the ambo, Bishop Matthew consecrated the bread and wine and read a prayer for peace in the Holy Land, traditionally pronounced annually on Holy Saturday, after which he addressed the clergy and parishioners with a sermon. Simultaneous translation into English was provided by Protodeacon Vadim Santsevitch.

At the end of the Liturgy, His Grace read prayers for the consecration of Easter food and sprinkled the offerings with holy water.

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