Photo credit: Evgeny Samarin / Press Service of the Mayor and Government of Moscow / mos.ru (CC BY 4.0)
More than 1,5 million people in Russia have joined the participants in the Easter events, TASS reports. Almost 12,000 divine services and processions were held in churches and monasteries on the night of May 1–2, when the Russian Orthodox Church celebrated the Bright Resurrection of Christ.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs noted that no violations were allowed during the festive celebrations. To ensure security, more than 47,000 police officers were involved, as well as 7,000 employees and military personnel of the Russian Guard. The buildings of the temples before the beginning of the services were examined by the specialists of the department. The Russian Guard also ensured the meeting of the Holy Fire, which arrived from Jerusalem.
If a year ago, festive services in many Russian regions were held without parishioners due to the coronavirus pandemic but this year strict restrictions were not imposed. At the same time, the Russian Orthodox Church called on clergy and believers to observe the rules of sanitary safety, in particular, to put on masks in churches.
The day before, on May 1, the Thanksgiving Fire was brought from Jerusalem to Moscow. It was delivered by the Fund of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, however, on the recommendation of Rospotrebnadzor, the traditional meeting of the fire at the airport was canceled.
Russkiy Mir
