Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia, November 22, 2023
Photo: mospat.ru
Yesterday, November 21, on the feast of the Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Bodiless Powers, a hierarchical Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God of the Kazan-Theotokos Monastery in honor of the 300th anniversary of the Kazan Theological Seminary.
The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by hierarchs from a number of Local Churches, reports the Department for External Church Relations.
The service was led by His Eminence Metropolitan Niphon of Philippopolis, the representative of the Patriarch of Antioch in Russia, with the concelebration of His Eminence Metropolitan Kirill of Kazan and Tatarstan, His Grace Bishop Antonije of Moravica, the representative of the Serbian Patriarch in Russia, and several other hierarchs of the Russian Church.
The hierarchs were also joined by local and visiting clergy and monastics, including representative of the Patriarch of Bulgaria in Russia Archimandrite Theoktist (Dimitrov), rector of the Minsk Theological Seminary Archimandrite Athanasy (Sokolov), representative of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia in Russia Archimandrite Seraphim (Shemyatovsky), representative of the Orthodox Church in America in Russia Archpriest Daniel Andrejuk.
Prayers for peace were offered during the service, as well as prayers for the repose of the teachers and students of the pre-revolutionary theological school of Kazan.
Met. Kirill of Kazan congratulated the clergy and laity with the feast and the seminary anniversary and offered an archpastoral word:
On the day of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the establishment of the Kazan Theological Seminary, I congratulate our entire Kazan region on this wonderful, glorious and blessed event, which for a long time largely determined the development of Kazan and the entire region. This event gave a huge impetus to spiritual education and the growth of thousands of believers who wished to receive theological knowledge in Kazan theological schools, but above all—a real knowledge of the faith of Christ.
It is very important for us that the Kazan Theological School continues to exist, to grow in the education of young people and the affirmation of theological truths in the republic. The seminary has great authority among the educational institutions of our city. And we sincerely thank everyone who came to this celebration today. This holiday is not only local—it concerns our entire Holy Orthodox Church, including outside of Russia. And today, representatives of Local Orthodox Churches, vicars of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the Chairman of the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, and rector of the renowned St. Petersburg Theological Academy Bishop Siluan served in this cathedral.
Then Church awards were presented to the administration, teachers, and trustees of the Kazan Seminary.
***
Photo: kazpds.ru
The Kazan Theological Seminary as a spiritual and educational institution originates from the Kazan Episcopal Slavonic-Latin School, established in 1723. The first class had 52 students. From the very beginning, the school was oriented towards training missionaries.
In 1733, the Slavonic-Latin School was transformed into a seminary, modeled after the Kiev Academy, and the school soon increased to 500 students. The school was of such a high level, that it was elevated to the status of Academy in 1797. Later, the Holy Synod decided to leave the status of Academy only with the schools in Kiev, Moscow, and St. Petersburg, thus the Kazan school returned to the status of Seminary and was accountable to the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. However, the Kazan Academy was opened again in 1842.
In March 1921, twenty Academy teachers were arrested for violating the decree on the separation of Church and state. The Academy was reorganized into and registered as a Theological Institute, but it existed for less than a year.
After the fall of communism, the Kazan Theological School reopened in 1997, and on July 17, 1998, it was transformed once again into a seminary.
Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!
