Moscow, March 28, 2017
On Saturday, March 26, a traditional Pannikhida memorial service was celebrated in the Church of the Holy Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian “on Shubin” in downtown Moscow for all those who have lived and died on the streets. The service was arranged by volunteers who work with the homeless, reports rublev.com.
The service of remembrance for all those who did not survive the winter gathered volunteers of the “Friend of the Street” movement, as well as the homeless friends of the departed, and other concerned residents of the city. “People with no roof over their heads die from cold already from the first autumn frosts. Winter 2016 was severe, which means there were quite a number of victims of freezing nights this year,” the organizers commented.
The first such memorial was held eleven years ago in memory of Lily Zueva, a young woman who died of cold and sickness on the streets in 2006. Since then all the homeless departed known by “Friends on the Street” have been commemorated annually in the Church of Sts. Cosmas and Damian.
Photo: Miloserdie.ru
“People of various ages and incomes pray side by side, those with homes, and those without, and then they sit down to eat together, to share a prepared memorial meal with love,” the “Mercy” charity organization stated, adding that the purpose of the event is “so that people would not be forgotten but would find, perhaps, the final dignity—to depart to the other world with a name.”
A similar memorial service for those who died on the streets was served on March 4 in the Kiev Church of All Saints by Bishop Barsanuphius of Borodyanka, followed by a memorial meal.
A "Friends on the Street" meal for the homeless in the Church of Sts. Cosmas and Damian. Photo: Rublev.com
This year, the Pannikhida was served for:
Liliya
Raisa
Valentina
Inna
Natalia
Natalia
Elena
Nikolai
Roman
Igor
Anna
Tatiana
Alexander
Lia
Tatiana
Natalia
Vera
Timothy
Oleg
Rimma
Anatoly
Vladimir
Yuri
Vasily
Sergei
Michael
Nikolai
Nina
Alexander
Valery
Andrei
Yuri
Julia
Igor
Valentina
Stephen
Sergei
Elena
Vladimir
Alexei
Michael
Tatiana
Nadezhda
Victor
Olga
Elena
Paul
Julia
Tatiana
Anatoly
Natalia
Igor
Andrei
Vasily
Dennis
Ruslan
Svetlana
Olga
Claudia
Constantine
Maria
Oleg
Eugene
Sergei
Vladimir
