« On the eve of Holy Saturday, Bishop Matthew of Sourozh celebrated Matins with the rite of burial of our Lord Jesus Christ at the Dormition Cathedral in London »

On the evening of May 3, 2024, on the eve of Holy Saturday, His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh celebrated Matins with the rite of burial of our Lord Jesus Christ 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.

At Matins on Holy Saturday, the 17th kathisma with “Praises” was sung, and the canon with irmos was read.  After the Great Doxology with the singing of the funeral “Holy God,” a procession with the Shroud was held inside the church.

Then, in front of the Shroud, a prophecy about the resurrection from the book of the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37:1-14), a reading from the Apostle about the atoning Sacrifice offered by Christ (1 Cor. 6:7-8) were read.  Bishop Matthew read a Gospel concept about the sealing of the Holy Sepulcher and the assignment of guards to it (Matthew 27:62-66).

At the end of the divine service, the Archpastor addressed the clergy and parishioners with a sermon.

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