May 15, 2024 was the 80th anniversary of the blessed death of Holy Patriarch Sergius (Stragorodsky) of Moscow and All Russia.
In the morning, the Divine Liturgy at The Epiphany Cathedral in Elokhov, Moscow, where His Holiness Patriarch Sergius is buried, was celebrated by: Metropolitan Gregory of Voskresensk, Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate, First Vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia for Moscow; Metropolitan George of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas; Archbishop Thomas of Odintsovo and Krasnogorsk, head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Moscow Patriarchate, rector of the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow; clergy of the Nizhny Novgorod Metropolitanate and Moscow.
Metropolitan George of Nizhny Novgorod.
A wreath from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia was placed at the tomb of His Holiness Patriarch Sergius.
After the Liturgy at the tomb of Patriarch Sergius in the Nikolsky aisle of the Epiphany Cathedral, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill celebrated the Easter funeral service for the twelfth Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Before the commencement of the funeral service. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill addressed the faithful with the First Patriarchal word:
«In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!
«In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!"
Your Eminences and Eminences! Dear Fathers, Brothers and Sisters!
My Eminences and Eminences!
Today is the 80th anniversary of the death of His Holiness Patriarch Sergius. And in the Elokhovsky Cathedral, once the cathedral of the Mother See, where the remains of His Holiness Patriarch are interred, we celebrate a requiem service and pray to the Lord that His Holiness Sergius, who worked so hard for the preservation of our Church, for the continuation of its existence in a country where militant godlessness has triumphed, be received into the holy heavenly abodes, and that the people retain an eternal prayerful memory of him.
Holy Sergius really served the Lord and our Church, probably in the most terrible period of its history. Even the Mongol yoke cannot be compared to it, because the Mongols sought to devastate our land only for material gain; they wanted our wealth, but they did not touch our souls. But the godless power, which seized our country and had a colossal influence on the people, needed our souls. They did not need the Orthodox Church to continue to exist on the land of Russia and to The Lord called His Holiness Patriarch Sergius to the highest ministry during this most difficult time.
In this most difficult time, the Lord called His Holiness Patriarch Sergius to the highest service. Many things were also complicated by the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War: the front divided our Church into those who remained on the territory of the then Soviet Union and those who were in the occupied territory. Many problems and conflicts arose on this ground, and all these were on the agenda of His Holiness Patriarch Sergius — both the difficulties associated with the war and the difficulties associated with the struggle for the survival of the Church in a godless country.
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Therefore, it is indeed difficult to compare the cross that this Patriarch bore with all that fell to the share of other High Priests of the Russian land. His Holiness Sergius, being a perfectly educated man, one of the most outstanding hierarchs of our Church even in the pre-revolutionary period, who possessed great influence and authority, did not lose this authority. Relying on the absolute recognition and support of the clergy and the people, His Holiness managed to steer the ship of our Church through those difficult times. Not without losses, because both churches and monasteries were closed, — however, not only under Patriarch Sergius, but also in the following years, up to very recently times.
We remember His Holiness Patriarch as a confessor. He was not a martyr, but his entire ministry as Patriarchal Locum Tenens and Patriarch was undoubtedly a confession. He was able to preserve the unity of our Church, to restore it where it had been broken. He was able to call to episcopal ministry the bishops who were imprisoned. He was able to negotiate with the head of state Stalin to release our bishops and priests from camps and prisons. In other words, much of what His Holiness did at that time remained unknown to very many. But it must be emphasized once again that the Lord called him to the highest ministry in our Church during the most difficult period of its history, and His Holiness Sergius worthily bore the cross of the High Priest of the Church of Russia during that terrible epoch.
It so happened that the Elokhovsky Cathedral in Soviet times became the cathedral of Moscow and the main church where His Holiness Sergius performed divine services, and therefore he was buried in this very church. And today, under these historic vaults of the Epiphany Cathedral, we are to pray for His Holiness Patriarch Sergius, to ask the Lord for forgiveness of his sins, «for there is no man who lives and does not sin» and to ask the Lord for forgiveness of his sins. to remember his bright name and the great role he played during his years of primacy.
The eternal memory of His Holiness Patriarch Sergius of Moscow and All Russia.
Eternal memory to His Holiness Patriarch Sergius of Moscow and All Russia! Let us perform the requiem service. Amen»"
His Holiness was served by: Metropolitan Grigory of Voskresensk; Metropolitan Georgy of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas; Archbishop Thomas of Odintsovo and Krasnogorsk; Bishop Alexis of Ramensk, personal secretary of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill; Archpriest Boris Obrembalsky, senior priest of the Epiphany Cathedral; Archpriest Mikhail Raichinets, clergy of the Metropolis of Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow.
The church was attended by: the president of the Russian Academy of Education, Doctor of Historical Sciences O.Y. Vasilyeva, deputy head of the World Russian People's Council, rector of Russian Orthodox University of St. John the Theologian A.V. Shchipkov, Director of the ANO «Russian Expert School» V.A. Shchipkov, participants of the conference «Patriarch Sergius and his spiritual heritage».
A.V. Shchipkov.
The liturgical chants were performed by the festive (right) choir of the Epiphany Cathedral under the direction of A.K. Shchipkov. Mayorova.
The service was broadcast live on «Soyuz» and «Spas», as well as on the official website of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarchy.ru.
After the memorial service, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill laid a bouquet of white roses on the tomb of Patriarch Sergius.
The Primate of the Russian Church, the archpastors and clergy who served His Holiness moved to the Annunciation side chapel of the Epiphany Cathedral. At the tomb of Holy Patriarch Alexy II, «Eternal Memory» was proclaimed. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill laid flowers on the grave.
Holy Vladyka then bowed to the relics of St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, and the venerated list of the Kazan icon of the Mother of God.
Holy Patriarch Kirill laid flowers on the tomb.
At the end of the service in the rectory of the Epiphany Cathedral with the blessing of His Holiness began the conference «Patriarch Sergius and his spiritual inheritance».
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On September 8, 1943, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church elected Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. On September 12, in the Epiphany Cathedral in Elokhov, Moscow, his enthronement.
May 15, 1944 Patriarch Sergius reposed to the Lord. He was buried in the basement of the Nikolsky (northern) side-altar of the Epiphany Cathedral.
Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
