Senior priests of Russian Orthodox Church and several thousand Orthodox believers gathered by Christ the Savior Cathedral the day before awaiting the delivery of the Holy relics of St. Nicholas from Bari, Italy, TASS reports.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All-Russia met the relics, which have never left Italy before, with all necessary honors, and gave the divine service at Christ the Savior Cathedral. More than ten thousand believers were present at the service.
Many worshipers arrived at Moscow from other cities on Saturday night and gathered by Christ the Savior Cathedral on Sunday morning to wait for the arch with St. Nicholas relics. People did not hide their feelings and were eager to witness this truly historic event.
Patriarch Kirill has addressed the crowd with a message that Nicholas the Wonderworker has been and still is the most honored saint in Russia because of the great number of miracles and help people got from Him as an answer to their prayers. It is not by accident that Russian people consider him as a Russian saint despite the fact that he has no ties with Russia.
Patriarch Kirill expressed gratitude to the archbishop of Bari and the Catholic Church for the provided opportunity to worship the holy relics of St. Nicholas in Russia.
The relics can be accessed from May 22 until July 12 from 8:00 until 21:00 Moscow time. The line of people wishing to worship the relics will start from the Krymsky bridge of Moscow.
Russkiy Mir
