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Apr212025

« On the Feast of the Bright Resurrection of Christ, Bishop Matthew of Sourozh celebrated a solemn divine service in the Dormition Cathedral in London »

Date21-04-2025
On the night of April 19-20, 2025, His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh celebrated Easter services - midnight office, procession with the cross, Easter matins and the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in the Dormition Cathedral in London.
His Grace was assisted by Archpriest Maxim Nikolsky, Secretary of the Sourozh Diocese Archpriest Dimitry Nedostupenko, clergy of the UOC MP temporarily residing in the Sourozh Diocese, Priest Alexander Kapustin and Protodeacon Vadim Santsevitch.
The liturgical hymns were performed by the choir of the Dormition Cathedral under the direction of Dmitry Tugarinov.
At midnight, to the singing of the verse "Thy Resurrection, O Christ our Savior, the Angels sing in Heaven, and grant us on earth to glorify Thee with a pure heart," a religious procession started to the square in front of the cathedral.
During the Easter Matins, the Right Reverend Archpastor read the Catechetical Epistle of St. John Chrysostom for Holy Easter.
At the end of the Matins, the Archpastor, clergy, and altar brethren exchanged Easter greetings on the ambo of the church.
According to tradition, during the Easter Hours, Bishop Matthew and the clergy changed their white vestments to red ones.
The Easter Gospel (John 1:1-17), which tells of the incarnation of the Word of God, was read in Church Slavonic, French, German, Spanish and English. 
At the communion verse, Archpriest Dimitry Nedostupenko and Protodeacon Vadim Santsevitch read the Easter message of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill in Russian and English. 
After the prayer after the communion, the artos was blessed. 
At the end of the Easter service, the cathedral clergy sprinkled the Easter food brought on Easter night by believers from London and its environs. 
With the blessing of Bishop Matthew, the young parishioners received sweet Easter gifts, and all participants in the Easter celebration were offered a festive break of the fast.