Moscow, September 13, 2023
Photo: msdm.ru
St. Daniel Monastery in Moscow, commonly known as Danilov, was the last of the Moscow monasteries to be closed, in 1929, and in 1983, it became the first to be reopened, several years before the fall of the USSR.
The monastery was originally founded in the late 13th century by St. Daniel of Moscow, the son of St. Alexander Nevsky. His successors moved the monastery to the Kremlin, and all that remained at the original location was a graveyard until it was repopulated in the second half of the 16th century.
The monastery was returned to the Church in 1983, and since then it has also served as the administrative center of the Russian Orthodox Church and official residence of the Patriarch.
Photo: msdm.ru
And yesterday, on the feast of the Uncovering of the Relics of the Right-Believing Prince Daniel of Moscow (1652) and the Transfer of the Relics of the Right-Believing Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky (1724), the monastery celebrated the 40th anniversary of its revival.
The Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the Holy Trinity Cathedral by His Eminence Metropolitan Theognost of Kashira, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism, and other hierarchs, the Department reports.
At the end of the service, Met. Theognost read out the congratulatory address of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia in which he notes that “Since the distant 13th century, this glorious monastery has been a significant spiritual center of the capital and has passed a very difficult historical path, including sharing the sad fate of most of the Orthodox shrines of our Fatherland during the godless hard times.”
Then prayers were offered before relics of Sts. Daniel and Alexander.
After the service, the monastery’s festal choir offered a concert and a new film about St. Daniel was shown.
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