« Bishop Matthew of Sourozh led the patronal celebrations at St. Barbara's Cathedral in Edmonton, Canada »

On December 15, 2024, with the blessing of His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, Temporary Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA and Canada, patronal celebrations were held at St. Barbara's Cathedral in Edmonton, Alberta (postponed from December 4/17).

At the entrance to the church, the Right Reverend Vladyka was greeted with bread and salt and flowers by the church warden Roman Lopushinsky and young parishioners of the Cathedral.

During the Divine Liturgy, His Grace was assisted by Dean of the Patriarchal Parishes in the Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, Rector of the Cathedral Archpriest Igor Kisil, Rector of the Parish District "Orthodox IX" Archpriest Evgeny Protsenko, cleric of the Poltava Diocese of the UOC MP Archpriest Viktor Cherepinets, Rector of the Parish District "Orthodox V" Priest Alexy Surayev, Deacon Andrey Boldyrev and Deacon Stefan Nagy. 

In recognition of their diligent church labours, altar servers of the cathedral Sergiy Anokhin and Tikhon Trutnev were awarded by Bishop Matthew the right to wear orarions, Nikita Kushner, Mark LeBlanc and Leon Unland were awarded the right to wear cassocks. 

Following the prayer after the communion, the Right Reverend Archpastor and the concelebrating clergy performed a glorification before the icon and holy relics of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara, whose left foot is the main shrine of the church.

Bishop Matthew congratulated the clergy and parishioners of the Cathedral on the patronal feast and addressed those present with words of spiritual edification. In his response, Rector of the church, Archpriest Igor Kisil, expressed words of gratitude for the opportunity to prayerfully share the joy of the patronal feast with his Archpastor and thanked Vladyka for his visit.

After the divine service, Bishop Matthew had discussions with the clergy and parishioners of the Cathedral.

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