Yaroslavl, October 6, 2026
Photo: yareparhia.ru
The Yaroslavl Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church marked 1,035 years since its founding with a festive Divine Liturgy at the Dormition Cathedral in Yaroslavl on Friday, October 2.
The celebration was held on the feast of the Holy Princes Theodore, David, and Constantine, the wonderworkers of Yaroslavl. Their relics rest in the cathedral where the Liturgy was served, the Yaroslavl Metropolia writes.
His Eminence Metropolitan Vadim of Yaroslavl and Rostov led the service, together with Their Grace sBishop Veniamin of Rybinsk and Romanov-Borisoglebsk, Bishop Feoktist of Pereslavl and Uglich, and Bishop Boris of Kostomuksha and Kem, and clergy of the Kazan and Yaroslavl Metropolises.
Photo: yareparhia.ru
The day also marked the 20th anniversary of the revival of the Yaroslavl Theological Seminary.
Before the Liturgy began, six candidates took an oath and were consecrated as sisters and a brother of mercy.
Three choirs sang at the service: the hierarchal choir, a combined choir of graduates and students of the school, and a combined choir of teachers and students of the Yaroslavl Theological Seminary.
After the service, Vadim congratulated Veniamin on his birthday, wishing him excellent health, many years of life, God’s help in his episcopal ministry and abundant mercies from the Lord.
***
Dormition Cathedral in Yaroslavl. Photo: Wikipedia
The Yaroslavl Diocese was established in the Rostov lands in 991, three years after the Baptism of Rus’. It’s the oldest diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church on the territory of present-day Russia, founded a year before the episcopal see of Novgorod the Great. It was one of the first six sees founded by the holy Equal-of-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, and it was built up by its first bishops: Theodore, Hilarion and St. Leontius of Rostov.
Over its history, the diocese has given the Church many saints, among them Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky, St. Sergius of Radonezh, St. Demetrius of Rostov, and the Righteous Warrior Theodore Ushakov. Two monasteries from the pre-Mongol period, the Abraham Monastery in Rostov and the St. Nikita Monastery in Pereslavl, still exist today.
The Tolga Icon of the Mother of God appeared in 1314, and a monastery founded on the site near Yaroslavl became the first women’s monastery revived in Russia at the end of the 20th century. St. Sergius was born in Rostov the Great the same year. The Godenovo Cross was discovered in 1437, and in the late 16th century the Uglich lands received the blood of the last of the Rurikids, the holy Tsarevich Demetrius. During the Time of Troubles in the early 17th century, Yaroslavl became one of the centers of Russia’s liberation. A militia gathered there under Minin and Pozharsky, with the blessing of St. Irinarch the Recluse.
The see was transferred from Rostov the Great to Yaroslavl in 1788. Of the 93 bishops who’ve led the diocese, 24 are saints. Three hierarchs from the Yaroslavl lands became patriarchs: St. Job, Philaret (Romanov), and St. Tikhon.
The Yaroslavl Theological Seminary was founded in 1747, closed in 1918 and revived in 2006. Among its graduates is St. Innocent (Veniaminov) of Alaska’s Kodiak diocese, glorified by the Orthodox Church in America. During the Soviet persecutions, the diocese produced many New Martyrs and Confessors, including Hieromartyrs Seraphim of Uglich and Veniamin of Romanov-Borisoglebsk.
Today the diocese has about 300 parishes, 19 monasteries, 11 metochia, a skete, the seminary, five Orthodox gymnasiums, a school for bell ringers, and icon-painting and choir directing schools.
Follow OrthoChristian on Facebook, Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, and MeWe!
