Moscow, August 24, 2017
Photo: austroca.org With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, and in accordance with the decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, on August 28, on the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, a moleben will be celebrated in all parishes of the Russian Church in honor of the glorified members of the 1917-1918 Local Council, the opening of which took place in 1917 on the feast of the Dormition, and a memorial for all other participants in the council, reports patriarchia.ru.
Following the festal Divine Liturgy, the patriarchal epistle on the occasion of the centenary of the Local Council of 1917-1918 will also be read out. Patriarch Kirill will celebrate the Divine Liturgy for the feast in the Patriarchal Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
In his epistle, the patriarch called on all the faithful to deeply consider the seriousness of the 1917-1918 Local Council. “I am deeply convinced that its legacy requires serious and thoughtful study, and many of the ideas expressed then would be useful and in demand today,” the patriarch underlined. He laments that, despite the events of the preceding century, the council has not been comprehended or properly appreciated by Church people.
The primate goes on to note that some of the council’s decision were subsequently enacted in Church life, and some not, with the most obvious obstacle being the revolutionary events sweeping the nation at the time. Noting that today the Church carries out its ministry in peaceful conditions, Patriarch Kirill called for “prayer to reflect on the outcome of the council's actions, to answer the question of why, in spite of many obstacles, some council resolutions have been implemented and have found their place in the life of the Church, while others on the contrary were not viable and were not assimilated into the ecclesiastical consciousness.”
His Holiness also recalls in his epistle that many participants in the council gave their lives as martyrs for Christ, showing us an “example of steadfastness and courage in trials.”
At its May 4 session at Moscow’s Danilov Monastery, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church resolved to establish a new feast glorifying the holy fathers of the 1917-1918 Local Russian Church Council, to be celebrated on November 5/18, the day of the election of St. Tikhon to the Muscovite patriarchal throne.
In addition to the election of St. Tikhon, the holy fathers of the 1917-1918 local council in general will also be celebrated on November 5/18, by decision of the Holy Synod. The fathers to be celebrated are:
St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia († 1925)
Hieromartyr Metropolitan Vladimir (Bogoyavlesnky, † 1918)
Hieromartyr Archbishop Andronik (Nikolsky, † 1918)
Hieromartyr Archbishop Vasily (Bogoyavlensky, † 1918)
Hieromartyr Bishop Germogen (Dolganev, † 1918)
Hieromartyr Bishop Ephraim (Kuznetsov, † 1918)
Hieromartyr Bishop Lavrenty (Knyazev, † 1918)
Hieromartyr Archimandrite Varlaam (Konoplev, † 1918)
Hieromartyr Archimandrite Matthew (Pomerantsev, †1918)
Martyr Alexey Zverev († 1918)
Martyr Nikolai Varzhansky († 1918)
Hieromartyr Archbishop Mitrophan (Krasnopolsky, † 1919)
Hieromartyr Bishop Platon (Kulbush, † 1919)
Hieromartyr Archbishop Tikhon (Nikanorov, † 1920)
Hieromartyr Archbishop Sylvester (Olshevsky, † 1920)
Hieromartyr Bishop Simon (Shleyov, † 1921)
Hieromartyr Metropolitan Benjamin (Kazansky, † 1922)
Hieromartyr Archimandrite Sergei (Shein, †1922)
St. Alexey (Soloviev, †1928)
Hieroconfessor Metropolitan Agafangel (Preobrazhensky, †1928)
Hieromartyr Archimandrite Benjamin (Kononov, †1928)
Hieromartyr Archbishop Hilarion (Troitsky, †1929)
Hieromartyr Bishop Vasily (Zelentsov, † 1930)
Hieromartyr Archbishop John (Pommer, † 1934)
Hieromartyr Fr. Vasily Malakhov († 1937)
Hieromartyr Archpriest Alexander Hotovitsky (†1937)
Hieromartyr Archpriest Konstantin Bogoslovsky (†1937)
Hieromartyr Metropolitan Evgeny (Zernov, †1937)
Hieromartyr Metropolitan Peter (Polyansky, †1937)
Hieromartyr Metropolitan Kirill (Smirnov, †1937)
Hieromartyr Archbishop Prokopy (Titov, † 1937)
Hieromartyr Archpriest Iliya Gromoglasov (†1937)
Hieromartyr Archbishop Seraphim (Ostroumov, †1937)
Hieromartyr Archbishop Nikolai (Dobronravov, † 1937)
Hieromartyr Archimandrite Kronid (Lyubimov, † 1937)
Hieromartyr Metropolitan Seraphim (Chicagov, †1937)
Hieromartyr Archpriest Sergei Goloschapov († 1937)
Hieromartyr Archimandrite Isaac (Bobrakov, † 1938)
Hieromartyr Archbishop Alexander (Trapitsin, †1938)
Hieromartyr Metropolitan Anatoly (Grisyuk, † 1938)
Martyr John Popov († 1938)
Hieromartyr Archpriest John Artobolesky (†1938)
Hieromartyr Archpriest Michael Okolovich († 1938)
Hieromartyr Archbishop Nikodim (Krotkov, † 1938)
Hieroconfessor Bishop Athanasy (Sakharov, †1962)
Hieroconfessor Archpriest Peter Cheltsov († 1972)
