On February 12, 2023, on Sunday of the Prodigal Son, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the church in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Arakan, Cotabato Province, Mindanao Island. His Eminence was co-served by: Secretary of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese Hieromonk Cornelius (Molev), Secretary of the Khanty-Mansi Diocese Abbot Anthony (Kirpichev), Dean of the Surgut City Deanery of the Khanty-Mansi Diocese Archpriest Anthony Isakov, Dean of the Nizhnevartovsk city deanery of the Khanty-Mansi Diocese Archpriest Sergiy Shevchenko, Priest Oleg Gordeev, clergy of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese. The deaconess rank was headed by Hierodeacon Nikodim (Pirkhovskiy).
By decree of Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi, for diligent service to the Holy Church, the rector of the church in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos of the municipality of Arakan, Priest Moses Kahilig was awarded the right to wear a loincloth.
During the Liturgy, Metropolitan Pavel ordained Deacon Matthew Sale, a cleric of the church in honor of St. John of Shanghai in Kiamba into rank of Priest and the reader Raphael Fragillo into rank of Deacon.
At the end of the service, Metropolitan Pavel addressed the audience: “Dear fathers, brothers and sisters! I am very glad to have a meeting with you today at the Divine Liturgy! This is a special service when we all glorify our Heavenly Creator together. It is said in the Holy Scriptures that there is no greater glory than to glorify God together. This service is special because we haven’t seen you for a long time. Despite this, we prayed for each other, being far from each other, because prayer has no borders and continents. The Lord is over us all, no matter where we are — in Russia or in the Philippines, we pray to Him, and He sends us His divine grace. I know that you have been praying for me, I have always prayed and pray for all my pastors who are here together with the flock, I try to remember everyone so that the Lord will not leave us and be merciful to us. Today, during liturgy we performed two ordinations. I thank the Lord that He has given us the opportunity and strength to multiply our pastors. The more churches there are, the more often the divine liturgy will be celebrated, under the grace of which every person who takes part in this important service is. Why does the Lord say in the commandment: “Do your own work six days, and dedicate the seventh to the Lord your God”? Because the Lord created the world during six days, and He Himself rested on the seventh day. Subsequently, the day of the Lord for believers became the day that He sanctified with His Resurrection. Therefore, Sunday is a holy, special day for every Christian who glorifies his Lord. The Lord gave us the way to eternal life and gave us all the saving means so that each of us would have eternal life not only on Earth, but also after earthly existence. Let us glorify our Heavenly Creator, thank Him for His great mercy and for the good deed He did to save the human race. We will try to spend every Sunday with God in the house of God for the Divine Liturgy. This is the most important thing that we unite with God in the sacrament of confession and communion. We strengthen our physical and spiritual strength by accepting the Holy Gifts and connecting with the Lord. Help us, Lord, in this way of salvation! The whole life of a Christian is like this: the struggle with the enemy of the human race, and of course, it is very important not to stray from the right path, from the true path of God! God bless everyone”
