The Antiochian Metoxion (Representative Parish) for Pentecost Services, Visit to Christ the Savior Patriarchal Cathedral - 06/15/08
Moscow, Russia
Orthodox Christianity in three nations bore witness together in Moscow on the Sunday of Holy Pentecost, as the American delegation joined the Antiochian representative parish in Russia for a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy and Great Vespers for Pentecost. Their Graces, Bishop JOSEPH and Bishop NIPHON concelebrated both services held consecutively amidst hundreds of the local faithful who worship at the Antiochian Metoxion (pronounced “meh-TOH-kee-ohn”) regularly. Vladika NIPHON and the entire parish received Sayidna JOSEPH warmly at the entrance of the church. Vladika, though he was the celebrant, graciously invited Sayidna to say Kairon (prayers before celebrating a Divine Liturgy) and to vest in their midst at the center of the church.
The Church of the Archangel Gabriel had little standing room remaining for these highly anticipated services. Though they were heard predominately in Russian, Vladika NIPHON ensured that some parts were heard in English and Arabic to make our delegation feel welcome. Like all the other services the delegation attended, the church was filled with believers of all ages, from the tiniest babies to little children, teenagers and adults young and old. Attendance of resilient faithful after the fall of Communism has grown dramatically and new churches are built constantly.
Immediately following Divine Liturgy, Their Graces began Great Vespers with the Kneeling Prayers for the actual anniversary of Holy Pentecost. We knelt as the Disciples did in Acts (Chapter 2) to await the descent of the Holy Spirit 50 days after the Resurrection. Vladika NIPHON read the Kneeling Prayers aloud in Slavonic while the delegation followed along in the English translation provided them. The prayers invoke the Holy Spirit to descend upon the world and restore the grace given to it at its creation; to redeem it from sins; to deliver it from danger; and to bestow all the blessings it gave to the disciples on the original day of Pentecost. The disciples received the gift to speak different languages to preach the Gospel to all the nations, and the parish, as mentioned before, had three spoken on this particular day.
Vladika NIPHON welcomed Sayidna JOSEPH and the entire delegation afterward. Vladika expressed his gratitude to Sayidna and the group for joining the parish that Sunday, which revealed the strong ties between the churches in Russia, Antioch and America. Sayidna expressed his thanks to Vladika and his congregation, and told the people how proud he was of them for believing as strongly as they did both during and after the dark times of Communism. One could tell their appreciation of this acknowledgement simply by looking into their delighted faces.
The delegation got a history of the Metoxion from Vladika NIPHON. He said that it was established in the 19th century, but reduced to ruin during the Communist era. In his 30 years in Moscow, he has led rebuilding efforts and expansion so that his residence and offices can be on church grounds. Vladika NIPHON says the Antiochian Patriarchate owns the grounds, just as the Russian Patriarchate owns the grounds its metoxion sits on in Damascus, Syria. His community has only a few families from the Middle East, so his congregation mainly consists of his Russian neighbors. Nevertheless, the primary reasons for the Metoxion’s existence are for fraternal and loving relations and representation between the Antiochian and Russian patriarchates.
After a sumptuous home-cooked lunch and gifts from Vladika NIPHON, the delegation left immediately for a tour of Christ the Savior Cathedral in downtown Moscow. This is the official parish of His Holiness, Patriarch ALEXI II. Originally built in the 19th century, the massive complex is the tallest church in the Orthodox Christian world, sitting just minutes away from the Kremlin. It was dynamited and completely destroyed in less than ten minutes in 1931 by order of Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, and later was the grounds of a large public swimming pool. Reconstruction of the cathedral began almost immediately after Communism’s fall, funded entirely by private donations of money and materials totaling $1 billion (American).
Christ the Savior Cathedral stands 10,000 people and is the center of Russian Orthodox civic life. Just last year, His Holiness, Patriarch ALEXI and His Eminence, Metropolitan LAURUS of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) signed the “Articles of Reunification” on the Feast of the Holy Ascension at the cathedral, thus rejoining the churches split after decades of division caused by Communism. The two hierarchs and their delegations concelebrated Divine Liturgy together, with then-Russian Premier (and Orthodox Christian) Vladimir V. Putin in attendance. Unfortunately, photographs are not allowed inside Christ the Savior, but the cathedral has provided a website full of photographs and history: http://www.xxc.ru/english.
The delegation expects to visit the Kremlin and its churches, including picturesque St. Basil Cathedral, as it continues its historic pilgrimage on Monday.
By Subdeacon Peter Samore