Limassol, Cyprus, May 21, 2024
Photo: mospat.ru
A Russian-style church on the island of Cyprus, built to serve the needs of Russian-speaking immigrants, was consecrated over the weekend, followed by the Divine Liturgy concelebrated by bishops from Cyprus, Jerusalem, and Russia.
His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Russian Church’s Department for External Church Relations, arrived in Cyprus on Saturday, May 18, accompanied by two priests from the department. The delegation venerated the relics of St. Lazarus in Larnaca and visited the Monastery of the Holy Cross in Stavrovouni, which has a piece of the True Cross, reports the DECR.
That night, they attended Vigil at the Russian St. Nicholas Church in Limassol.
The next morning, Met. Anthony led the rite of the Great Consecration of the church, then celebrated the Divine Liturgy with His Eminence Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol and His Eminence Metropolitan Timothy of Vostra, the Exarch of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem in Cyprus, and Russian and Cypriot clergy.
The service was celebrated in Greek, Slavonic, and Arabic.
Photo: mospat.ru In his word following the Liturgy, Met. Athanasios expressed confidence that the newly built church will unite believers of different nationalities in prayer and the Sacraments and, thereby, contribute to strengthening the unity of Orthodoxy.
In his own speech, Met. Anthony thanked the Cypriot hierarch for this fatherly care for the Russian-speaking flock of Limassol. In memory of the consecration, he presented the church with an altar cross and an episcopal Panagia to Met. Athanasios.
The parish of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was founded in 1995 with the blessing of Metropolitan Chrystanthos of Limassol. The idea of building a Russian-style church for the parish had the blessing of both His Eminence Archbishop Chrysostomos I of Cyprus and His Holiness Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow. The project was then fully supported by Met. Athanasios, who became the ruling hierarch of Limassol in 1999.
The foundation stone for the church was consecrated by Patriarch Kirill on June 9, 2012.
In May 2017, the Church of St. Andrew and All Russian Saints, built in the Russian architectural style, was consecrated in the Metropolis of Tamasos. The service began with the arrival of the relics of many great Russian saints, including those of St. Matrona, in whose honor a chapel has also been built in Limassol.
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