{"id":438,"date":"2018-08-14T22:17:30","date_gmt":"2018-08-14T19:17:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vsobor.ru\/?p=438"},"modified":"2019-08-15T23:36:42","modified_gmt":"2019-08-15T20:36:42","slug":"metropolitan-mercury-we-stand-guard-over-our-homeland-the-homeland-of-the-earth-and-the-fatherland-of-heaven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vsobor.ru\/?p=438&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Metropolitan mercury: «We stand guard over our Homeland \u2013 the homeland of the earth and the Fatherland of heaven»"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On August 14, 2018,\non the feast of the Procession of the Precious Wood of the\nLife-giving Cross of the Lord and on the day of the beginning of the\nDormition Fast, the Head of the Don Metropolis, Metropolitan of\nRostov and Novocherkassk, Mercury celebrated Divine Liturgy at the\nArmy Cathedral of Christ’s Resurrection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metropolitan was\nco-served by the head of the diocesan department for relations\nbetween the Church and society, the senior priest of the Resurrection\nCathedral Valery Voloshchuk, secretary of the Diocesan Administration\nof the Rostov-on-Don eparchy, hieromonk Artemy (Kuzmin), Dean of the\nAksai District, archpriest Andrei Mekushkin, acting the vicar of the\nHoly Don Starocherkassk Efremov Monastery, hieromonk Sergius\n(Kolomits) and the clergy of the diocese, ordained for the last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chants of the\nLiturgy were performed by the Metropolitan Choir, conducted by the\nProtodeacon of the Rostov Cathedral Vladimir Zubritsky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Divine\nLiturgy, the Head of the Don Metropolis committed consecration:\ndeacon Dionysius Sakovich was ordained to the priesthood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sermon before the\nCommunion was delivered by Hieromonk Sergius (Kolomits).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the feast of the\nProcession of the Precious Wood of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord,\n7 years have passed since the first service of His Eminence on the\nland of Don. At the end of the service, the head of the Diocese of\nthe Church and Society Department of the Rostov-on-Don, the senior\npriest of the Resurrection Cathedral Valery Voloshchuk congratulated\nthe Metropolitan on behalf of the clergy on this memorable date and\nnoted all significant events that occurred in the Don Metropolis\nduring the government of His Eminence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, the Head of the Don Metropolis congratulated all worshipers on the beginning of the Assumption Fasting and, in particular, said<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a special day for me, because on this day on the Don land I, as the governor bishop, first performed the Divine Liturgy and the first consecration. When I arrived here, on Don, I thought that there were a lot of important things to be done, which I knew by hearsay, read, or guessed, but when I came to the diocese, I realized that the most basic thing that should be is the establishment of the clergy for the ministry of the holy church of Christ. I thank the Lord for the fact that I was not mistaken in this basic idea. During these short years for the history of the diocese, more than one hundred clergymen were placed in the service of the Lord’s altar. Taking into account the fact that every priest is a leader and every priest is a person especially responsible for the souls of other people, this work is treated by me as the hardest and at the same time as the most gracious because exactly it benefits the Church of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consecration is not\nonly accomplished by the bishop\u2019s will, but occurs in response to\nthe call of man by God. If the Lord calls a person, then there is\nnothing left for us to do but to pray for him diligently, so that\nthis calling of God will not be in vain on this person. And therefore\ntoday my words of special greetings are to everyone who was ordained\nduring the past year. Thank you for your hard work, your courage and\nbravery, for your zeal and desire to serve the Church of God …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are at the\nforefront of spiritual warfare. We stand on guard of our Motherland —\nthe earthly homeland and the Heavenly Fatherland, therefore each of\nus is a warrior. This is especially true of the young clergy and\nthose who may have the first thought to come and serve the Church of\nChrist. \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clergy and laity warmly congratulate Metropolitan Mercury on the anniversary of the service in the Don Metropolis and prayerfully wish good health, peace of mind and unending help of God in the upcoming service.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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