On January 22, the Divine Liturgy at the Army Cathedral of Christ’s Resurrection was led by the Head of the Don Metropolia, Metropolitan Mercury of Rostov and Novocherkassk.

His Eminence was co-served by the senior priest of the cathedral, archpriest Valery Voloshchuk, the dean of the Aksai district, priest Alexy Shilov, the head of the Diocesan Department for Work with the Cossacks, archpriest Georgy Smorkalov, the acting vicar of the Holy Donskoy Starocherkassk Monastery, Hieromonk Sergiy (Kolomits), the clergy of the temple.

The service was attended by the ataman of the All-Great Don Army, Sergei Bodryakov, deputy commander of the Southern military district, lieutenant general Vladimir Zharov, atamans and cossacks of districts and yurts of the Rostov region, parishioners and pilgrims.

The hymns of the Liturgy were performed by the male choir under the direction of Ashot Palanjyan and the Sunday school choir under the direction of Ksenia Voloshchuk.

At the end of the service, in his archpastoral address, Metropolitan, in particular, said: “The Lord, going out to public preaching, addresses people who are in the depths of sin, corrupted by all the temptations of this world, and He begins with the words that the prophet John the Baptist had already said before him: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). But He did not spoke as the Forerunner did, menacingly denouncing his contemporaries. But He said it meekly, with love, graciously, addressing not to the outside, but to the inside — to the human heart. Repentance is not just a confession of a sin; repentance is a change in life, actions, way of thinking and attitude to life. If vanity and concern only for our well-being, wealth, and a well-fed life are an end in themselves, then the Lord says: “Change the way you perceive this life, because this will not lead you to salvation, but, on the contrary, will ruin you!”. That is why we understand the Kingdom of Heaven not as earthly prosperity, but as the inner arrangement of the human heart, peaceful, loving, which is in unity with God.”