All-night vigil in Lake Sebu

On February 14, 2024, on the eve of the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Metropolitan Pavel of Khanty-Mansiysk and Surgut, governor of the Philippine-Vietnamese diocese, held an all-night vigil in the church in honor of the Resurrection of Christ in Lake Cebu. His Eminence was co-served by: Hieromonk Cornelius (Molev), Secretary of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, Archpriest Anthony Isakov, Dean of the Surgut City Deanery of the Khanty-Mansiysk Diocese, Archpriest Sergiy Shevchenko, Dean of the Nizhnevartovsk City Deanery of the Khanty—Mansiysk Diocese, Priest Konstantin Memyachkin, Chairman of the Architectural and Construction Department of the Khanty-Mansiysk Diocese, clergy of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese. The deaconess rank was headed by Hierodeacon Nicodemus (Pirkhovsky). During the divine service, Metropolitan Paul performed the consecration of the reader and subdeacon Gabriel Hermudo. At the end of the all-night vigil, His Eminence addressed the audience: “I congratulate all of you, my dear brothers and sisters, on the feast of the Presentation of our Lord Jesus Christ! Simeon the righteous is called a God-receiver, because he took the Child of God into his own hands, in affirmation of his faith, and uttered the words of prayer: “Now let thy servant go, O Lord, according to thy word in peace, for my eyes have seen my salvation!” May God grant us to be worthy, to accept Christ into our hearts, into our souls, and therefore into our lives. That is why we gather for common prayer, glorifying our Heavenly Creator, receiving communion and uniting with God in the sacraments that we perform, especially during the Divine Liturgy. I congratulate everyone on this great holiday, and God grant that we meet the Lord, and when we pass from this world to another, to the eternal one, so that the Lord accepts us, and he will accept us if we accept him into our lives. Help us, Lord! Of course, I am very glad today to share with you the joy of common prayer in this temple, for the first time. I hope that God will give us more time to serve and pray together here, not once, but many times, in order for us all to establish ourselves in firm faith.Last year, I remember, we met in General Santos parish, with representatives of this community, and I promised to come here and definitely visit this community. And today, by the grace of God, the Lord has vouchsafed us to be here with you. And I rejoice with you!I know that today this community is being nurtured by Father Roman, and he still has four communities being nurtured, and of course it is difficult for him to be here with you every Sunday or every holiday. But I hope that we have students studying in St. Petersburg, in our seminary, and two graduate next year. Therefore, I will send one graduate here to you.I ask for your holy prayers so that the Lord will give us strength, opportunities, so that there will be a priest in every parish, and of course, we all wish this, so that every holiday, every Sunday there will be a rector in every community, in every church, then our communities will fully live.May the Lord help us all to walk the saving path with Him! God save us all, God save us!”