Митрополит Павел принимает участие в Архиерейском Совещании

19 июля 2023 года в Свято-Троицкой Сергиевой лавре Святейший Патриарх Московский и всея Руси Кирилл возглавил Архиерейское Совещание Русской Православной Церкви. Архиерейское Совещание созвано в соответствии с принятым Священным Синодом Русской Православной Церкви 29 декабря решением (журнал № 121): «Для братского обсуждения текущих вопросов церковной жизни созвать на 19 июля 2023 года Архиерейское Совещание в составе всех епархиальных и викарных архиереев епархий на территории России — в обязательном порядке, а также архиереев епархий в других странах — в зависимости от возможности прибыть в Москву». Перед началом Архиерейского Совещания Святейший Патриарх Кирилл посетил Троицкий собор, где поклонился честным мощам преподобного Сергия Радонежского. Святейший Владыка также поклонился святыням Никоновского придела и Серапионовой палаты. Затем в Большом актовом зале Московской духовной академии началась работа Архиерейского Совещания. В президиуме заседания присутствуют: митрополит Ювеналий (Поярков); митрополит Астанайский и Казахстанский Александр, глава Митрополичьего округа в Республике Казахстан; митрополит Ташкентский и Узбекистанский Викентий, глава Среднеазиатского митрополичьего округа; митрополит Санкт-Петербургский и Ладожский Варсонофий; митрополит Крутицкий и Коломенский Павел, Патриарший наместник Московской митрополии; митрополит Минский и Заславский Вениамин, Патриарший экзарх всея Беларуси; митрополит Воскресенский Дионисий, управляющий делами Московской Патриархии; митрополит Волоколамский Антоний, председатель Отдела внешних церковных связей.

На Совещании также присутствуют: представитель Патриарха Антиохийского и всего Востока при Патриархе Московском и всея Руси митрополит Филиппопольский Нифон; представитель Патриарха Сербского при Патриархе Московском и всея Руси епископ Моравичский Антоний; представитель Православной Церкви Чешских земель и Словакии при Московском Патриаршем престоле архимандрит Серафим (Шемятовский); представитель Православной Церкви в Америке при Московском Патриаршем престоле протоиерей Даниил Андреюк.Участие в мероприятии принимают епархиальные и викарные архиереи Русской Церкви. В числе участников митрополит Ханты-Мансийский и Сургутский Павел.Предстоятель Русской Православной Церкви произнес вступительное слово, в котором приветствовал собравшихся и представил следующую повестку дня Архиерейского Совещания: 1. Доклад Патриарха Московского и всея Руси. Дискуссия по докладу, обсуждение текущих вопросов церковной жизни. 2. Доклад председателя Синодальной библейско-богословской комиссии митрополита Венгерского и Будапештского Илариона о подготовке Комиссией документа «Об искажении православного учения о Церкви в деяниях Константинопольского Патриархата и выступлениях его представителей». Обсуждение документа. 3. Доклад руководителя Правового управления Московской Патриархии игумении Ксении (Чернеги) об изменениях в светском законодательстве. 4. Обсуждение и принятие итогового документа Архиерейского Совещания (докладчик: управляющий делами Московской Патриархии митрополит Воскресенский Дионисий). Далее Святейший Патриарх Кирилл представил основной доклад.

Metropolitan Pavel co-served to His Holiness on the feast of St Sergius

On July 18, 2023, the day of the feast of the finding of the venerable relics of St. Sergius, Abbot of Radonezh (1422), His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia celebrated the Divine Liturgy on the Cathedral Square of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. The solemn divine service was performed in front of the venerated icon of St. Sergius of Radonezh. For the celebration of the All—night vigil and the Divine Liturgy, a platform was erected on Cathedral Square, and a throne under the shade in front of the Assumption Cathedral of the Lavra. His Holiness was co-served by the Council of hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church. Among the archpastors was Metropolitan Pavel of Khanty-Mansiysk and Surgut. His Holiness was co-served at the Liturgy by: Metropolitan Juvenal (Poyarkov); Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, Head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District; Metropolitan Varsonofy of St. Petersburg and Ladoga; Metropolitan Dionysius of the Resurrection, managing the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate, First Vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia in Moscow; Bishop Thomas of Sergiev Posad and Dmitrov, Vicar Lavra; Bishop Kirill of Zvenigorod, Rector of the Moscow Theological Academy; Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Feast of St Sergius

Bishops of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Southeast Asia take part in the celebrations at the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra

On July 17, 2023, on the eve of the feast of the finding of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh (1422), His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia held an All-Night Vigil on the Cathedral Square of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra.

The solemn divine service was performed in front of the venerated icon of St. Sergius.

His Holiness was co-served by bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church who arrived at the Lavra, among whom were: Patriarchal Exarch of Southeast Asia, Metropolitan Sergius of Singapore and Southeast Asia; Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi. Archbishop Theophan of Korea and Bishop Pitirim of Jakarta, Vicar of the Diocese of Singapore, also prayed at the service.

Meeting with students

On June 14, 2023, in St. Petersburg, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi met with students of the Philippine-Vietnamese diocese who are studying at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. Metropolitan Pavel talked to the students about pastoral ministry and shared his experience.

Anniversary of ordination

Congratulations on the Day of Episcopal consecration to Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi

Your Eminence, dear Vladyka! Congratulations on the 12th anniversary of your Episcopal consecration! Having accepted the care of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, you strive in this God-saved lot to enlighten people with “the knowledge of the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 4:6). “Lord, You know, for I love You” (John 21:16) — this is the ancient testimony of the disciples of Christ, who strive to serve the incarnate Word sacrificially and selflessly. The greatest sign of this love is episcopal service, service to God and to everyone, even the smallest child of the verbal flock entrusted by Christ. Today is the day on which you brought the words of your love to Christ, in the image of the apostle Peter, and heard the good answer of the Lord: “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-16). Taking care of the entrusted flock is a great blessing and the greatest responsibility, a joyful service, and sometimes an unbearable test. On this special day, we cordially congratulate you on the day of your personal Pentecost and prayerfully wish that the Giver of all good things, the Lord, “who blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in heaven” (Eph. 1:4), would send you His all-powerful help and bless your further archpastoral ministry for the benefit of the Holy Church and the people of God with health and well-being.

EASTER MESSAGE OF METROPOLITAN PAVEL OF MANILA AND HANOI

TO THE GOD–LOVING FLOCK OF THE PHILIPPINE-VIETNAMESE DIOCESE.

“Take heart: I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Beloved fathers in the Lord, dear brothers and sisters! Having passed the saving path of Great Lent, we celebrate the feast of the Bright Resurrection of Christ in spiritual joy and heartfelt rejoicing. During the days of Holy Fasting, each of us sought to resist sin, purify the soul with prayer and good deeds in order to prepare for the meeting with the Risen Lord. And the words of the Angels addressed to the myrrh-bearing women who came to the empty Tomb of the Lord sound to us as an invaluable reward: “What are you looking for the Living among the dead? He is not here: He is risen” (Luke 24:5-6)! On this saving and radiant night, I greet each of you, my dear ones, with the words of an ancient and eternally new greeting that inspire true joy and unbreakable hope: Christ is Risen! This life-affirming greeting always pleases our heart, filling it with Easter jubilation and festive celebration. Easter is a truly Bright day of our life, which without it would seem like a dead, dreary desert. God has granted us the grace to celebrate it again, and we are all in a hurry to exchange our greetings with each other. May the heart of every Christian be opened to receive the great mystery of salvation, and may it be illuminated with divine light, so that through faith we may become sons of light, to the feeling of the Kingdom of God, which “is within us.” May our Lord, who has risen from the dead on the days of Holy Easter, renew our faith, our love for Him, our willingness to bear everything for His sake. My dear ones, I cordially congratulate all of you on the luminous feast of Holy Easter. “Come, all ye believers, let us worship the holy resurrection of Christ, for joy to the whole world is coming with the Cross….” I prayerfully wish that with the light of His Resurrection Christ would illuminate our souls and our sorrows, so that He would turn into unfading spiritual joy, which, according to His divine word, no one and nothing can steal from us. Christ is Risen! CHRIST IS TRULY RISEN!

BY THE GRACE OF GOD,

METROPOLITAN PAVEL OF MANILA AND HANOI

Easter of Christ, 2023

Paschal Epistle of the Metropolitan of Singapore and South-East Asia, SERGIY

Тo the Most Reverend bishops, clergy, monastics, and all the orthodox flock of the Patriarchal Exarchate of South-East Asia.

Most Reverend Archpastors, Venerable Fathers, beloved brothers and sisters! CHRIST IS RISEN! I heartily congratulate all of you on the feast of Pascha – Divine, joyful, saving, which opened the way to immortality for everyone. The spring of faith has come, driving away the sadness of passions and the storm of thoughts (service on Thursday of the 2nd week after Pascha) and illuminating us with the wonderful light of the Resurrection. The Lord, who loves His creation more than a mother loves a child, ascended the Cross for us, and conquered death so that every believer could become an heir to eternal life. Compared to the blessedness promised by Christ, compared to the joy of being with Him, earthly sorrows and fears, problems and trials become insignificant, moreover, that God is with us in any circumstances. What could be more joyful for a believer than the knowledge that he is a beloved child of the Lord and the hands of the Father are always open to him! The crucified and resurrected Christ is not somewhere far away: He not only never leaves us, but creates us as partakers of His Body and Blood, temples of the Spirit, from which, every evildoer, every passion, may flee as from fire (prayer after Holy Communion of St. Simeon Metaphrastes). We have received from God the fullness of love, and it is our sacred duty to share this love with our neighbours and always be guided by it in our lives. Let, looking at us, believers glorify and thank God, and non-believers turn to Him, wishing to become the same bright and happy people as Christians. May the Risen Saviour grant all of you spiritual and bodily strength, peace and joy, spiritual vigour and all kinds of well-being, strengthen you in your works and good deeds, that His Holy name may be glorified through the ages. Amen.

Metropolitan SERGIY of Singapore and South-East Asia, Patriarchal Exarch of South-East Asia

Paschal Message from Patriarch KIRILL of Moscow and All Russia

To Archpastors, Pastors, Deacons, Monasticsand All Faithful Children of the Russian Orthodox Church

Beloved in the Lord archpastors, all-honourable presbyters and deacons, God-loving monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters! I address all of you, Orthodox Christians living in many countries of the world, who are now in churches or praying in your homes, to extend greetings to you on the great feast of Holy Pascha with my heart full of spiritual joy, and to proclaim victoriously in accord with the ancient tradition: CHRIST IS RISEN! It is in these very words that the Holy Church has been triumphantly proclaiming the glad tidings of the God-given salvation for two thousand years. In them is the fire of our faith, the strength of love, the foundation of hope, the cornerstone of the Church, the heart of the New Testament message to the world, the unfading light of enlightenment and the source of inspiration, the core of Christian life and our entire future. Whatever happens in our ever-changing, sometimes restless and conflict-torn world, whatever hardships and ordeals befall us, we know, believe and preach that the Paschal joy in the Risen Saviour remains unfailing and all-victorious. What is the meaning of this greatest Christian feast? In the name of what and why did the Son of God come down to earth, take the form of a servant (Phil 2:7), endure sufferings, being crucified on the cross, and rise from the dead? And what do we, people of the 21st century, have to do in order to become true partakers and heirs of Christ’s victory over death? The Church gives us answers to these questions, bearing witness that through the Son of God Who was incarnate of the Most Blessed Virgin hell is led captive, Adam is recalled from the dead, the curse is made void, Eve is set free, death is slain, and we are endowed with life (Sunday Theotokion, Stichera at the Praises, tone 2). Truly, the Lord quickens us by His love, delivers us from the fear of death and corruption, heals our spiritual and bodily infirmities, supports us in hardships and trials, comforts in afflictions and sorrows, and helps us follow the path of salvation leading to eternal life when God will wipe away every tear from [people’s] eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more (Rev 21:4). Having performed the feat of redemption, through His sacrifice on the cross and glorious Resurrection the Lord opened the gates of heaven to everyone. From then on and to this day, every human being is given an opportunity to wholeheartedly embrace Christ as the true God and Saviour Who grants blessed strength for leading a life of righteousness and actively participating in the transfiguration of the world. Reflecting on the feast of Easter, Saint Nicholas of Serbia, a prominent theologian of the past century, wrote, Christ is risen – it means that life is stronger than death. Christ is risen – it means that good is stronger than evil. Christ is risen – it means that all difficulties in life are resolved (Thoughts on Good and Evil). And this Paschal joy, which is the joy of communion with God and of building up a new life (Rom 6:4) on the basis of goodness and justice, touches the hearts of millions of Christians, inspiring them to do works of charity and mercy, helping to overcome adversities, comforting them in ordeals, giving hope to the desperate and strengthening the faint-hearted. On the radiant feast of Pascha our special prayers are offered to God for people in combat zones. We as Christians cannot remain indifferent to the troubles and hardships of our brothers and sisters whose hearts are seared by the fire of internecine strife. So we lift up our fervent supplications unto the Lord that by His mercy and loving-kindness He may heal bodily and, above all else, spiritual wounds, give comfort in every sorrow and grant a lasting and just peace to the brotherly peoples that came from one Dnieper baptismal font. The earthly life of the Saviour was full of labour and sacrificial love for people, and we are called to become like Him in serving our neighbours, since any, even the smallest virtue, every effort to overcome our own selfishness for the sake of another person, draws us closer to God – the Source of life and immortality – and therefore makes us happier. May the Risen Lord Who in accord with His truthful promise abides with His followers even unto the end of the world (Mt 28:20) vouchsafe us, sinful and infirm, but thirsting for righteousness and seeking salvation, to inherit the blessed life after we complete our earthly journey, so that in the Heavenly mansions prepared… from the foundation of the world (Mt 25:34) we together with saints reign in His eternal glory (St Ambrose of Milan, Hymn “We Praise Thee, O God”). This joyful anticipation of the Kingdom of love to come, of God being everything to every one (1 Cor 15:28) is what the Church preaches at all times and even more so in the radiant Easter season. Let us hearken to the salvific voice of the Church calling us through the Holy Apostle Paul to celebrate Pascha not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Cor 5:8). Let us heed and try to live according to the Divine commandments, by the truth of the Gospel, our good deeds and our whole life bearing witness before those near and those far away that Christ is risen indeed, unto Whom are due all glory, honour and worship unto the ages of ages. Amen.

+KIRILL, PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA

Easter, 2023

Memorial evening in Theological Academy

On April 2, the memorial evening was held in the assembly hall of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. Its theme was spiritual missions in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and African countries. After the opening remarks, the audience watched a video about the life of Orthodox communities on the territory of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Southeast Asia. A report on the current state of the mission in Indonesia was made by students of the preparatory department for foreign students: Sejati Moses, Shakti Gerasim and Simanjuntak Sergiy. In their message, they spoke about the current state of the mission of the Southeastern Exarchate in Indonesia: The preaching of Christianity in Asia is traditionally associated with the name of the Apostle Thomas, one of the closest disciples of the Savior of the World. Today, the clergy of the exarchate, serving in 13 countries and five time zones, are united in 4 dioceses – Singapore, Korea, Thailand and the Philippines-Vietnam. The exarchate employs 75 clerics serving in 79 parishes and spiritually nurturing tens of thousands of parishioners. Most of the communities consist of local residents, Russian compatriots make up about 20%. Striving for the formation of national Orthodoxy, Metropolitan Sergius pays special attention to the training of priests from among the local population, therefore seminarians from South-East Asia study in theological schools in Russia. Special attention was paid to translation activities in Indonesia: students read several passages from the Holy Scriptures in Indonesian. “By reading examples of poems in Tagalog, you can appreciate the beauty of writing and the skill of the authors, regardless of whether you are familiar with Tagalog or not. However, we have a great opportunity to get in touch with the amazing Tagalog poetry in the original,” said the host of the evening, a first–year student of the church-practical department of the magistracy, reader Ivan Ivanov. One of the most striking examples of a poetic text in Tagalog called “The Test of our Life” was read by a student of the preparatory department for foreign students Joasaf Nunez. In the second part of the evening, the main agenda was the topic of the mission of the Russian Orthodox Church in the countries of the African continent. Before the reports, a fragment of an interview with Patriarchal exarch Metropolitan Leonid (Gorbachev) about the current state of missionary service in African countries was shown. “Talking about the mission and the history of African countries is not new for our Theological Academy. In the 60s of the XX century, Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) of Leningrad and Novgorod opened the Faculty of African Youth. And from that moment on, students from African countries arrive to study in the Northern Capital,” said the evening’s host, reader Ivan Ivanov.The students’ reports alternated with various musical numbers. It is impossible to talk about the culture of other countries without ever coming into contact with it. In order to include all listeners in the rich culture of Africa, students of the preparatory program for learning the Russian language from the countries of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa performed the song “joy for the world”.

Reference: Lenten Memorial Evenings is an annual educational project of the Department of Church History under the leadership of Candidate of Theology, Associate Professor Dmitry Andreevich Karpuk. These evenings highlight the history of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and the activities of its graduates. SPbDA Press Service

Metropolitan Pavel visited the shrines of Galilee

On March 27, 2023, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi and a pilgrimage delegation headed by His Eminence to the Holy Land visited the shrines of Galilee. The pilgrims visited Cana of Galilee, dived into the waters of the Jordan (Yardenite), visited the holy springs at the courtyard of St. Mary Magdalene.