His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of All Welsh Saints in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Wales »
05-07-2026 
On July 4, 2026, His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of All Welsh Saints in Blaenau Ffestiniog, North Wales.
At the entrance to the church, the Archpastor was greeted with flowers and bread and salt by Archimandrite Deiniol (Davies), Dean of the Diocesan District of Wales, and members of the parish community.
At the Divine Liturgy, His Grace was assisted by Archimandrite Deiniol (Davies), Dean of the Diocesan District of Wales and Rector of the church; Archpriest Dimitry Nedostupenko, Secretary of the Diocese of Sourozh and Dean of the Diocesan District of Northern England; Priest Anatoly Vikhrov, Head of the Pilgrimage Department of the Diocese of Sourozh; Priest Lazarus Jones, Cleric of the Church of All Welsh Saints; and Protodeacon Vadim Santsevitch, Cleric of the Dormition Cathedral in London.
The liturgical hymns were performed by a combined choir of parish singers from the deaneries of Wales and Northern England, under the direction of Lyudmila Sivori (Intercession Church in Manchester).
The divine service was conducted in Church Slavonic, Welsh, and English.
At the Little Entrance, in recognition of his diligent pastoral work, Bishop Matthew awarded Priest Lazarus Jones his first liturgical-hierarchical award - the right to wear a nabedrennik.
Following the dismissal of the Liturgy, Father Deiniol addressed His Grace with a welcoming address and expression of gratitude for the archpastoral visit. Fr Deiniol presented His Grace with a book on Welsh saints and an icon of the holy martyr Winifred of Wales as a memento of his visit to Wales.
Bishop Matthew, in turn, thanked the deanery's clergy for their missionary work and responsible pastoral service, after which he addressed those present with words of spiritual edification in English.
The Archpastor presented the parishes of the deanery with a liturgical Gospel, published in English by the Moscow Patriarchate Publishing House with the participation of the Diocese of Sourozh. All parishioners were given icons of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Finally, the clergy and parishioners were able to share tea together.