On March 30, the Thursday of the Great Canon (“Standing of St Mary of Egypt”), the service of the Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete was celebrated in Tagaytay headed by the Dean of Manila Deanery Hieromonk Alexei, with priests David Grubbs and Augustin Ponferrada co-serving. After the service, the seminar on the liturgical features of Lent and Pentecostal period was held. Archimandrite Philemon and some invited priests of Antiochian Orthodox Church participated online. The seminar was followed by the meeting of the Deanery where actual questions were discussed.
Monthly Archives: March 2023
Cooperation with Cossacks
On March 26, a teleconference was held with the participation of Cossacks of the Moscow region and the Philippines. The teleconference was attended by: Ataman of the Cossack city district of the Solnechnogorsk city of the Moscow region Alexander Chizhuen, Chairman of the Board for the Cooperation with the Cossacks at the Department for Interaction with the Armed Forces, Law Enforcement Agencies and the Cossacks of the Sergiev Posad Diocese, Rector of the Pokrovsky Church of Myshetskoye village, confessor of the city Cossack society of Solnechnogorsk, Archpriest Alexander Azarov, Ataman of the Republic of the Philippines Daniel Foronda and the Dean of the Manila District of the Philippine—Vietnamese Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, Hieromonk Alexey (Lapshin). The main topics of the meeting were: holding joint cultural events within the framework of the interaction of the Cossacks of the Philippines with the Cossacks of Solnechnogorsk with the participation of the parishes of the Pokrovsky Church in Myshetskoye village and of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God of Manila. Based on the results of the teleconference, a range of issues has been discussed and steps to solve them have been outlined, as well as plans for cooperation between representatives of the church and the Cossacks of the Moscow region and the Philippines have been drawn up.
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.
Metropolitan Pavel celebrated All-night vigil and Divine Liturgy in Jerusalem
On March 25, 2023, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi, who leads a group of pilgrims to the Holy Land, headed the All-night Vigil, and on March 26 – the Divine Liturgy in the church of the Martyr Queen Alexandra, located on the territory of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem. His Eminence was co-served by the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, Archimandrite Alexander (Elisov) and the clergy of the mission.
Metropolitan Pavel visited Gornensky Convent
On March 23, 2023, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi with a pilgrimage group visited the Gornensky Convent in the Holy Land. In the Convent, Bishop Pavel met with Abbess Ekaterina (Chernysheva) and performed a requiem mass at the grave of the former abbess Abbess Georgia (Shchukina). Abbess Georgiya (Shchukina) – honorary abbess of the Gornensky Convent in Jerusalem – passed away to the Lord on February 6, 2022, at the age of 91, after a long illness.
Metropolitan Pavel visited Samaria
On March 23, 2023, a pilgrimage group led by Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi made a trip to Samaria. The pilgrims visited Shechem (Nablus), the Greek monastery of St. Photinia (Jacob’s Well), the Samaritan Museum, where the Pentateuch of Moses is located, the ruins of Herod’s palace, where St. John the Baptist was executed, as well as the Beheading Church and Mount Garizim.
Metropolitan Pavel visited Gethsemane
On March 22, 2023, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi with a delegation of pilgrims to the Holy Land visited the holy places of Gethsemane. The pilgrims visited the monastery of St. Chariton the Confessor (Faran Lavra), visited the Russian Monastery on the Mount of Olives, the Little Galilee, the Chapel of the Ascension of the Lord on the Mount of Olives, beheld the panorama of Jerusalem. In Gethsemane, the delegation headed by Vladyka Pavel visited the Tomb of the Mother of God, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Russian Gethsemane Monastery of St. Mary Magdalene, and the Mountain Monastery.
Presanctified Liturgy translated into Cebuano
In the third week of Lent at the Mission and Education Center of the Russian Orthodox Church in Davao City the translation of the service book for Presanctified Liturgy in Cebuano was finished. Priest Moses Cahilig and priest Joachim Gonzales first used the translated service book during the celebrations of Presanctified Liturgy at the parish of Saint Matrona of Moscow, Davao City on March 21 and 22, 2023.
Metropolitan Pavel worshipped the Sanctuaries of Jerusalem
These days, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi heads a delegation making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Russian Russian Orthodox Mission in Jerusalem, founded in 1847 to create a permanent representation of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Holy Land, was visited by Metropolitan Pavel and pilgrims on March 21, 2023. The pilgrims also visited the holy places of Jerusalem: they walked the Way of the Cross, made by Christ and including the Pretoria (the prison of Jesus Christ), the Alexander Courtyard, the threshold of the Gates of Judgment and the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, visited the place of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos and the Sheep Font (Bethesda), Zion (the chamber of the Last Supper), the house of Caiaphas as well as the monastery of John the Baptist.
Patriarch of Jerusalem met with metropolitan Pavel
On March 21, 2023, at the Patriarchal Residence in Jerusalem, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem received Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi. Metropolitan Pavel heads a delegation making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land these days. During the conversation, Metropolitan Pavel told the Primate of the Jerusalem Church about the life of the Khanty–Mansi Metropolia as well as the Philippine –Vietnamese diocese entrusted to his care, highlighting issues related to church building, social projects implemented by the dioceses. The Primate of the Jerusalem Church drew the guests’ attention to the situation of Christians in the Middle East, Israel and Palestine. At the end of the meeting, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus and Metropolitan Pavel exchanged memorable gifts.
