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His Holiness, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Cyril headed the Divine Liturgy in the Assembly temple of Holy Assumption ( 08.02.2009 )

At February the 8th, at the week of the Publican and the Pharisee and on the day of the Russian New-martyrs and Confessors, His Holiness, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Cyril headed the Divine Liturgy at the assembly temple of Holy Assumption in the city of Smolensk. More than five thousand people took their presence on the Liturgy. The Divine Liturgy was broadcasted through loud-speakers, which were placed in the church surrounding and in the centre of the city.

In his sermon after the reading of the Sunday Evangelistic Lesson, Russian Patriarch told the fable about the Publican and the Pharisee. “It is expectable to read this Gospel on this day – accented Patriarch – because from today begin the preparing weeks for the Great Lent, and in the centre of the Great Lent is the repentance. In the story about the Publican and the Pharisee, God showed us the example of repentance, thus the repentance is connected with the internal judgement of ourselves.”

Patriarch Cyril noticed furthermore that the human being is accustomed to protect itself with words and deeds, often creating a vast strategy for defence: “Such instinct of self-defence is functioning in our spiritual life as well, but in some distorted form. We are defending our sinful deeds from our own consciousness.”

“The one who knows how to condemn himself, who knows how to punish himself for the evil that he did, he doesn’t come in front of the God’s Judgement, but he crossed through from death to life – said His Holiness, Patriarch Cyril. The deed that Publican did was judgement over himself.”

The Russian Patriarch spoke also about the memory of the Holy Russian New-Martyrs and Confessors – which is to be celebrated on this day.

“When they have met the choice – to enter sufferings and death or to deny Jesus – they have chosen the death. Towards the Mercy of God, despite the efforts of their persecutors, we do remember the names of the Holy Martyrs and the Martyr’s blood became again the seed of Jesus Christ. The fact that the Faith in God is reviving again nowadays, is due the merits of the Holy Russian New-Martyrs and Confessor – and we pray to them, to give their blessing to our Church and to all of us.”           

 

Source: Патриархиа.ру