Baku, December 22, 2025
Photo: pravoslavie.az
The Cathedral of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women in Baku hosted the first Divine Liturgy in the Azerbaijani language in the history of the Orthodox Church on December 15.
Orthodox Azerbaijanis who attended expressed great joy at hearing the entire Liturgy in their native language, reports the Baku Diocese.
The translation work for liturgical texts into Azerbaijani began in 2022. An Orthodox prayer book in Azerbaijani was published in March 2024.
Photo: pravoslavie.az
The translating team also produced the services for the Sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation, as well as the funeral service and several akathists. During his patriarchal visit to Baku in May 2025, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia gave high praise to this work.
Alongside the translations, Emil Mirzoev, choirmaster of St. Vladimir’s Cathedral in Stavropol and a Baku native, completed the challenging task of setting the liturgical hymns to musical notation, making it possible to celebrate the first Orthodox Liturgy in Azerbaijani.
The service was celebrated by Archpriest Dionisy Svechnikov, rector of the Cathedral of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women, with concelebrants Archpriest Konstantin Pominov, Fr. Maxim Medvedev, Protodeacon Vadim Tokarev, and Deacon Veniamin Sultanov. His Grace Bishop Alexei of Baku and Azerbaijan attended the service.
Orthodoxy in Azerbaijan is represented by both the Moscow and Georgian Patriarchates. As of 2021, Christians in Azerbaijan numbered between 280,000 and 450,000, predominantly Orthodox.
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