Irinarkhovsky religious procession schedule. The Irinarkhov anniversary religious procession ended in the Yaroslavl region

Becoming a priest requires dedication, time and education. But if you feel called to it, then the path to ministry awaits you no matter what. Here's what awaits you if you intend to follow your calling

Steps

Recognition

Pray and reflect. If you are waiting for God to call you to pursue your destined career as a reverend, pray and reflect to receive clues and determine whether the call is coming from God, and to understand what you are getting yourself into.

Being a priest or following any ministry is not for you. Moreover, you were called to serve God and others in a special way. For you, this is not a profession out of despair or a way to glorify yourself.
Consider what other people have told you in the past. If you have been particularly active in the church, and others have noticed your dedication and invited you to officially become ordained, then your calling is true, and others see it. If there are no such approving responses, you should not neglect the spiritual impulse. Ultimately, the approval of others is not the only indicator of whether you have been called by God.

Study the specific tenets of your denomination. Most Christian followers follow the same path described in this article, but some may skip or rearrange some steps while others advance additional tenets not described here. Before you begin this journey, find out what you will need to do before becoming a reverend.
- Exists different sources, where you can learn about dogmas. The simplest, perhaps, is the Internet. Otherwise, you may want to ask your youth or young adult church leader. Or talk directly to your pastor about what you can expect.
Talk to your pastor. The first person you can consult with on an “official” level is the pastor of your church. He or she will want to know why you are interested in becoming a priest. If the shepherd believes your intentions are noble, he or she will raise the issue in a formal church council or committee.
- If there are no clear warning signs that your intentions to become a priest are impure, your pastor will support you and help you take the next step. The interview with your shepherd will be the most personal and ceremonial of all the interviews you will undergo during this process.
Get support from your church. In most cases, when you receive approval from your pastor, you will need to go to a council or committee in your local or house church where you will discuss your calling with the congregation. If the committee recognizes your intentions as sincere, they will most likely offer you their support.
- Please note that this is not always the case. It all depends on how your faith is structured. If the church has a formal patriarchal hierarchy rather than a small community-oriented structure, the approval of your pastor may be all you need to move to the next stage. IN in this case you may end up attending your church and support groups, but they will simply support and guide you without deciding whether you are worthy of going through this journey.
Go to the church committee. When your home church acknowledges your desires, you must convince the local church committee to support you as well. These committees will interview and test you on a more professional level to determine whether the path is right for you. If you are rejected, the process is over, at least for the time being.
- The names of this committee may vary depending on the name of your denomination. You may have heard terms such as “diocese,” “presbytery,” “synod,” or “annual conference.”
- The regional committee will interview you. He may require you to provide a psychological profile or a certificate indicating whether you have a criminal record.
- Throughout the conversation, be frank, even personal problems should be stated.
- Undoubtedly, the committee will refuse you if they suspect that you are planning to enrich yourself at the expense of the church, running away from old life or problems at work, or if you do not prove yourself to be an adequate person. In addition, you may be denied if you have a criminal record.
- If you earn the committee's recognition, you will be appointed as a seminarian. This means that you will need to enroll in a theological seminary.
- While you are studying there, you will be required to report your progress to the committee.
Find a mentor. If the church committee approves of your candidacy, it may assign you a support group or mentor to help you in your spiritual training. If you haven't been assigned a mentor, find one yourself.
- A mentor or support group guides you through the process to ensure you don't burn out. If you feel like you can't cope, they will try to help you out of any trouble.
Education
1. Get your bachelor's degree. Before entering the seminary, it is necessary to complete four years of study at the Faculty with a basic cycle of study. There is essentially no need to major in a specific field, but a bachelor's degree in some area of religious studies will be a distinct plus when applying to seminary.
2. Be active in your studies. During your undergraduate college experience, you should be sure to get involved in any of the institution's extracurricular activities. This way, you will not only get a taste of what it is like to be a priest, but you will also prepare a more convincing application to the seminary.
  - If in your educational institution There are no spiritual groups, you can start a small Bible group with a few like-minded people. Moreover, you can find ministers and clergy in your local church.
3. Prepare for seminary. Some seminaries have special requirements that you will face before enrolling. These conditions may require more than just obtaining a bachelor's degree and having the support of a church committee.
  - Choose the right seminary. Most denominations require that you choose a seminary that is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools. Some denominations also insist that you choose a seminary that matches your religion. However, this is not the case everywhere.
  - Most likely, you will need various letters of recommendation. An application for admission to study is also required.
4. Take seminary classes. It takes two to four years to complete a seminary education. When all is said and done, you will receive a Master of Divinity degree, but you can work up to a Doctor of Clergy or Doctor of Divinity degree.
  - Take classes in Old and New Testament studies, biblical interpretation, preaching, biblical languages, history of Christian worship, Christian worship practice, counseling, curriculum development, sociology, church history, ethics, theology, and nonprofit management.
5. Take internships and workshops. Seminars will require you to complete a certain number of internships and practicums before qualifying. Find out the requirements and follow them.
  - During your internship, you will work part-time with a pastor at a local church, charity home or hospital.
  - However, you are unlikely to be required to write and defend a dissertation.
  - For part-time students, studies can last up to eight years.
6. Complete any required additional training. Although not always required, some denominations may insist that you complete additional training during or after your seminary studies. This training focuses on such aspects as working with people and the legal aspects of the profession.
  - Additional training also includes pressing topics such as sexual abuse, clinical pastoral care, and religious persecution. Classes are usually conducted under the direction of the denomination's responsible insurance company. For this purpose, you can also undergo psychological and personality testing.
Final Steps
1. Write a petition for ordination. Once you have received the necessary education, you will need to write a petition for ordination describing your experience and calling. This document will be reviewed by your church committee.
  - The length of the letter may vary, but it needs to fully disclose the entire educational, social and spiritual path throughout the development that you have gone through to this day. You will also need to demonstrate personal conviction and commitment to the calling.

07/24/2017 at 14:59
photo: http://pereslavl-eparhia.ru

For twenty years now, thousands of people have been coming to the village of Borisoglebsky to take part in it.

The 20th anniversary Irinarkhovsky religious procession, which took place in the Pereslavl diocese of the Yaroslavl metropolis, has ended. This is one of the most revered and beloved religious processions in our area. Among those who, over the course of several days, travel from the Boris and Gleb Monastery to the final destination - the source of St. Irinarch, are people from various cities of Russia. Thousands and thousands of pilgrims every year leave their work, take vacations and come to the Borisoglebsk region to become a crusader.

The 20th anniversary Irinarkhovsky religious procession, which took place in the Pereslavl diocese of the Yaroslavl Metropolis, has ended. This is one of the most revered and beloved religious processions in our area. Among those who, over the course of several days, travel from the Boris and Gleb Monastery to the final destination - the source of St. Irinarch, are people from various cities of Russia. Thousands and thousands of pilgrims every year leave their work, take vacations and come to the Borisoglebsk region to become a crusader.

The procession ended with the Divine Liturgy in the Nativity Church in the village of Kondakovo. The service was led by Bishop Theodore of Pereslavl and Uglich. About a thousand people received communion on this day. Human. At the end of the service, Bishop Theodore placed the chains of the Monk Irinarch the Recluse on himself and all those present followed a religious procession around the temple, and then to the holy spring near the village of Kondakovo.

From 18 to 22 July will be held Irinarkhovsky religious procession from the Borisoglebsky monastery in the village. Borisoglebsky in the village. Kondakovo to the well of St. Irinarch the Recluse.

It starts in Borisoglebsky monastery, which is on the Ustye River solemn liturgy, and ends in the village of Kondakovo, where the ascetic of the Boris and Gleb land, Rev. Irinarch the Recluse, was born and raised.

Along the way of the religious procession, pilgrims will pass the following settlements: Selishche, Teperskoye, Komarovo, Pavlovo, Ilyinskoye, Kr. October, Yazykovo, Aleshkino, Kuchery, Ivanovskoye, Emelyanovo, Georgievskoye, Nikulskoye, Gorki, Zubarevo, Davydovo, Novoselki and Kondakovo. There will be overnight stops in Pavlovo, Ivanovsky, Zubarevo and Kondakovo.

Procession schedule:

8.00 Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of Saints Boris and Gleb
12.00 Light lunch
13.30 - 14.00 Prayer service at the shrine, Rev. Irinarch the recluse, in the realm of the prophet Elijah. Procession of the Cross
to the cell of the Rev. Irinarcha
14.00 Exit from the Boriso-Gleb Monastery
14.30 - 14.45 Blessing of water prayer at the holy spring in Trinity on Bor.
15.00 - 15.15 Prayer service and funeral lithium on the site of the former Trinity Convent
(Trinity on Bor)
18.00 - 21.00 Vespers, Matins, 1 hour in the church. Pavlovo
22.00 Dinner, evening rule and overnight in the village. Pavlovo

6.00 Get up

13.30 - 14.00 Prayer service, religious procession around the temple, funeral lithium at the cemetery in the village. Pavlovo
15.20 - 16.20 Prayer service in the church. Ilyinskoye, funeral lithium in the churchyard, short rest
17.40 - 18.00 Prayer service in the village. Red October
18.00 - 22.00 Vespers, matins, 1 hour in the village. Ivanovskoe
22.00 Dinner, evening rule and overnight in the village. Ivanovskoe

6.00 Get up
6.30 — 12.00 Morning prayers, hours, confession, Divine Liturgy
12.00 - 13.30 Breakfast, preparation for departure
13.30 - 14.00 Prayer service, funeral lithium at the cemetery in the village. Ivanovskoe
15.50 - 16.20 Prayer service in the church, funeral lithium in the churchyard. Georgievskoe
18.30 - 21.00 Vespers, Matins, 1 hour in the church. Zubarevo
21.00 Dinner, evening rule and overnight in the village. Zubarevo

6.00 Get up
6.30 - 12.00 Morning prayers, hours, confession, Divine Liturgy
12.00 - 13.30 Breakfast, preparation for departure
13.30 - 14.00 Prayer service, procession around the temple, funeral lithium at the cemetery in the village. Zubarevo
16.00 - 17.00 Prayer service in the church, funeral lithium in the churchyard. Davydovo
18.00 — 21.00 All-night vigil in the temple of Kondakovo
21.00 Dinner, evening rule and overnight in the village. Kondakovo

6.00 Get up
6.30 - 12.30 Morning prayers, hours, confession, Divine Liturgy,
12.30 Procession to Kolodchik
13.00 - 13.30 Water-blessing prayer at the well of St. Irinarch the recluse
13.30 - 14.30 Lunch.
14.00 - 16.30 Departure from. Kondakovo - village Borisoglebsky using all available transport.

Orthodox calendar

Sermon

Gospel reading:
OK. 18:10-14

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit!

Dear brothers and sisters, you and I, entering the period of preparation for Lent, are rising to the second stage of this amazing time. The first week was a week about Zacchaeus, and the second, this week, about the publican and the Pharisee. We read a short passage from the Gospel, which is supposed to be read on this day.

A familiar story to many is about how two people came to the temple to pray. The Pharisees, or “special ones,” as this word is translated, appeared during the period of the Babylonian captivity, when King Nebuchadnezzar took with him the Jewish king Joachim and part of the Israeli people to Chaldea and there, in the Persian kingdom, the Jews lived, preserving their traditions. Moral decline nevertheless became the basis for the conquest of the territories of their once powerful state, and impoverishment in faith led to the fact that a passion for Chaldean wisdom, occult knowledge, various trends that had no connection with the tradition of worshiping God, captivated the top of this people, the people responsible for knowledge of Divine truths. It was during that period that a movement called Pharisaism appeared. This movement gradually emasculated the understanding of the Divine Law, retained the formal, but lost the spiritual.

And so one of these people, a Pharisee, came to the temple to pray so that, upon entering God’s house, he would reveal, according to current reading, the state that each of us brings here. How did you enter God's temple that person? He entered thoroughly, seriously, with self-esteem and a feeling that God owed him. He was so convinced of this that he had no doubts. Therefore, his prayer was appropriate: he thanked God for being special. Moreover, the Lord, knowing the feelings of that person, Holy Scripture He even cited the text of the prayer that that person performed. Who wrote down those words? Lord. So that unfortunate man prayed: “Thank you, Lord, that I am not like others, not like the publican, I am different from him.”

Sometimes you draw parallels between what is found in Scripture and what you observe in life. I cannot judge, I have no right to do so, but, looking through some of my states, I understand that I have encountered a similar phrase. This was ten years ago, when as part of the protocol service His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, who had just ascended the Patriarchal Throne, I had the opportunity to visit Ukraine. I was unpleasantly surprised by the attitude towards fellow Christians that was observed among the clergy. And it was also unexpected for me to see inscriptions flashing in many places in the city of Kyiv, dear to me (I served there in the army, defending the territory of a large country): “Thank you, God, that I am not a Muscovite.” Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky has a wonderful saying. People talk about him, including those of holy life, among whom is the outstanding theologian of the Serbian Church, the Monk Justin (Popovich), who claimed that he does not know a greater expert on the soul among Russian writers. Fyodor Mikhailovich said: “Russian means Orthodox.” Regardless of the concept of blood, for the Lord has neither a Greek, nor a Jew, nor a Russian, nor a Ukrainian, nor a Belarusian. Various trends related to peculiarities, isolation and loss of unity are relevant at all times.

Notice that this Pharisee did not leave the temple unjustified, God loves him and he received his justification - a definite one. But he was less justified than the publican who realized his unworthiness. The words that you and I heard during the All-Night Vigil sound at the beginning of the Lenten Triodion on Polyeleos: “Open the doors of repentance, O Giver of Life” - the doors of repentance as a condition for entering Heavenly Kingdom. Each of us separates ourselves from something in our lives, but the worst and most dangerous thing is separation from God and His Divine Word. It can occur in the consciousness of one person, in a family, in a state, in society and in general in the world community, because, losing the understanding that we are all children of one God and part of one whole, generally one big family, a person becomes isolated. Proud of his God-given talents, he often prays just like this unfortunate Pharisee. Please note, this is a worthy person in his manifestations, a person who has achieved considerable things: he is abstinent, he gives a tenth of his income monthly to good deeds, acting in accordance with God's Law, realizing that it is meaningful and important.

These amazing concepts also require a little explanation. A person makes various contributions in this life. There are organizations that help us increase our savings. Unfortunately, often, when taking this path, a person loses his savings, but when he does a good deed, he certainly increases what he gives. I know families who have consciously come to the readiness to donate a tenth of their income to God’s temple. I know amazing cases of multiplication. We have families who have taken upon themselves the care of incense - a fragrant resin used during Divine services and symbolizing the pleasantness of our prayer to God. There are families who decided to provide the church with prosphora - special bread used for the Liturgy. We still have one more “vacant option” left – wine. Perhaps someone will want to take it upon themselves. This has been the case for a long time. So, one case with a family that was the first to respond to the call and showed the greatest activity. I was impressed by what had happened in their lives: in the evening the head of the family brought me a box of incense, and then wrote a message: “Father, we are impressed: I unexpectedly received a big bonus.” When the next day I came to our Sunday school and met with his wife, she said: “Father, we have a continuation: we have received more funds.” It all works.

Seeing the Pharisee’s heart, the Lord justifies him, and he leaves the temple with a blessing to continue his work. The Lord, like a bee, collects nectar anywhere and searches in the heart of a person for what he is ready to bring to the altar of God.

What about the publican? A tax collector who collaborated with the Roman occupiers, despised by the people. He does this work consciously and by accepting various sums of money, he steals, and everyone knows this. These people have worked this way at all times - while collecting taxes, they put their hands into what does not belong to them. Why does this person leave more justified? Because, realizing his sins, he understands that he is not worthy to stand in the temple. He is ashamed, and at the moment of repentance and readiness not to act like this again, Divine grace descends on him.

The story of this event every time irrigates our hearts on the eve of Lent with that invisible Divine power that empowers each of us to think and realize the importance of the path ahead. It is important to comprehend and try to perceive the best that is in the life and work of the Pharisee, and at the same time - the depth of repentance revealed in the act of the publican. There are words in the Holy Scriptures addressed to each of us: “He who is able to contain, let him contain.” Because the degree of containment God's word and its expansion in our heart and mind directly depends on our readiness for the Lord to enter our hearts, heal our ailments and grant us repentance, admonition, and tenderness. In order to open the doors of communication with Him here too, and to have aspirations and hope to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, to remain there with Him together. Amen!

Archpriest Andrey Alekseev

Irinarkhovsky procession: impressions of our parishioners

Dear brothers and sisters!

Not long ago we published material telling about the impressions of parishioners of our church who took part in the Velikoretsk religious procession for the first time. And often it is precisely such lively and sincere stories of pilgrims that encourage other people to follow their example, to leave their usual surroundings for a while, from the measured and comfortable flow of life, so that during such an unusual pilgrimage they can discover a new facet of existence, receive something very deep and important for your soul, to feel unity with the whole world around you and become closer to God.

And now we invite you to get acquainted with the experience of one family, which for many years has invariably gone to the Irinarkhovsky religious procession on July days...

Makarova Natalya:

“For many years in a row, my sister called me to the Irinarkhovsky procession, describing the difficulties, but at the same time the spiritual uplift experienced at the procession. At first, I treated her stories quite coldly: why deprive yourself of comfort, walk in the pouring rain or under the scorching sun, live in tents, eat poorly? After all, you can pray in a temple or go on a pilgrimage.

But still, in 2007, I decided... And now it’s 2017, the same endless fields, high sky, banner bearers, sundresses, embroidered shirts, bare feet, river of people and prayer...

Why, all these years in the middle of summer, putting off pressing matters, do we go, now with grown-up children, to the Irinarkhovsky religious procession? To feel like Orthodox, Russian, to feel a connection with your land, with your people, with your ancestors. Deprive yourself of comforts in order to shake yourself a little from physical and spiritual laziness, ask and thank the Lord.”

Makarova Maria:

“Every year you look forward to the moment when the time comes again to pack your things for the Irinarkhovsky religious procession. You try not to forget anything, you carefully look through everything: the tent, the foam, the bowl, the spoon, the cup, the prayer book - everything, it seems.

Early morning. We're leaving. Driving along the Yaroslavl highway, you already feel yourself among the fields, forests and villages of the Russian outback, and in your thoughts in the background you hear: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us through the Mother of God!”

Behind us is the Boris and Glebsky Monastery, where the relics of the Venerable Irinarch, the recluse of Rostov, are hidden. The abbot of this monastery, Abbot John, was the one who revived the tradition of the religious procession in these places. We pass through a few more villages, then we go on foot and... a familiar landscape that has not changed over the years: a half-abandoned village, a thin spire of the bell tower of a once majestic temple reaching towards the sky, and around it are numerous “crosswalkers”: men, women, children. .. Many pilgrims come from far away. You walk through the tent camp and hear: “Here in Krasnodar...”. And last year, one woman, looking at the icon hanging around my neck, asked: “You have an icon of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, don’t you? We immediately recognize our own.” It turned out that she was from the United States.

For many, the religious procession has become an integral part of the summer. Some come here with some difficult problem to pray for a solution, but most come here to become spiritually stronger, to gather internally and to be at least a little alone with God, themselves and nature, which here is somehow closer to man.

...The Liturgy ended, then a prayer service and a memorial service - and everyone, following the banner bearers and the clergy, accompanied by the singing of “Holy God,” went to the village of Davydovo, where the current church is located Vladimir icon Mother of God. Every year the residents of this village warmly welcome pilgrims with real Russian generosity. It’s always especially joyful after crossing a dirt road to notice the dome of a church glimpsed behind the trees, then to hear the festive bells ringing, and upon entering the village to see residents in embroidered sundresses singing “Christ is Risen” in some special folk chant.

After a short rest and prayer service, the “crusaders” continue on their way, and now the temple of the village of Kondakovo, the birthplace of St. Petersburg, is visible. Irinarcha. All-night vigil, overnight stay, Liturgy, many communicants, prayer service, the last small transition, the source of the venerable one, water-blessing prayer and... is that all? Is the procession over?

Evening. We're leaving. Driving along the Yaroslavl highway, you still feel yourself among fields, forests and villages, and in your thoughts you still hear in the background: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us through the Mother of God!”

P.S. Irinarkhovsky religious procession, starting from the Boris and Gleb Monastery and ending in the homeland of St. Irinarkha, in the village of Kondakovo, lasts five days, but we usually only go for the last two days.

A few days after the religious procession, another important and long-awaited event of July takes place - main holiday the monastery where we go in the summer: the memory of St. Stephen of Makhrishchi, the founder of the monastery. A solemn mood covers you when you step outside the gates of the monastery: bright sun, fragrant flower beds, greenery, white temple– on this day everything is festive! And at the bishop’s service, which is traditionally headed by Bishop Theognostus, abbot of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, you never cease to be amazed at the amazing connection in our lives St. Sergius, his spiritual friend - St. Stephen, and their spiritual son - Holy Prince Demetrius Donskoy.

Makarova Elizaveta:

“The heavenly patron of our church, the holy noble prince Demetrius Donskoy, was familiar with many holy people of that long-gone century. And we, the parishioners of the temple, are connected by invisible threads with these holy saints.

Muscovite, go where the sky meets the earth

In the middle of summer, experienced Moscow crusaders flock to the Yaroslavl region, where, according to tradition, on July 19, the annual Irinarkhovsky procession starts in the Rostov Borisoglebsky Monastery. Over the course of five days, pilgrims will walk more than 60 kilometers along the roads and forest paths of the Borisoglebsk land with prayer and icons.

On the first day of the journey, a prayer service is held at the source of the Trinity on Bor. Then each day invariably begins with the Liturgy and ends evening worship: in the temple Tikhvin icon Mother of God in the village of Pavlovo, in the Church of the Prophet Elijah in the village of Ivanovskoye, in the Church of St. Nicholas in the village of Zubarev and in the Church of the Nativity in the village of Kondakovo - in the homeland of the Venerable Irinarch the Recluse.

In a series of Russian religious processions, Irinarkhovsky is called the most beautiful (for example, one of the other most famous - Vyatsky - is called the most difficult). Most likely, “beautiful” here means “elegant.” And it’s true: this is a parade of Russian costume. Most women and girls wear sundresses, and many men and boys wear traditional Russian shirts. Nature also adds elegance to the move. First, he walks through an amazing forest - a natural monument, crosses a river, and then - the Russian expanse. The religious procession ends on one of the most high places in the Yaroslavl region - an amazing hill in Kondakov, where it seems that heaven and earth are next to each other.

According to written sources, the Irinarkhovsky religious procession existed already in the 18th century, but soon after the Bolshevik revolution it was suppressed by atheists for many decades. The organizers of the religious procession, step by step, recreated the details of those pre-revolutionary traditions. After all, like every component of our Church: whether it is a monastery, a deanery, or a parish, the Irinarkhovsky procession has its own history, its own character, its own face, its own attire, its own motive for prayer.

The path of the religious procession is being transformed. Roads have been mowed and paved; workers have built or repaired bridges and passages across rivulets and streams - this is an integral part of the preparation for the start of the journey (joint actions with local administrations have been established here); To the best of our ability, cemeteries have been put in order (as part of the monastery-public program “Pogost”); the abomination of desolation in abandoned temples has been eliminated. At each village where the religious procession takes place, there are worship crosses- this is the result of a joint program of the monastery and Ivanovo high school- “Life-giving cross.”

Until quite recently, crusaders covered almost the entire route through overgrown fields, through thickets of birch trees, willow trees, and off-road. But right before our eyes the earth is being transformed: the birch trees are uprooted, the land is plowed, the fields are turning green. And in the distance flash the roofs of new houses, farms, garages for equipment... True, before, when they walked directly, the path was shorter, but now they need to go around the sown fields, but this only makes the crusaders happy.

But the most important thing is transformed people. Not only the march participants, but also many local residents who are looking forward to seeing the pilgrims whole year. Residents of the village of Shipino consider the day the crusaders came to them a real holiday: “We dress up. We are preparing a meal. We are waiting. Even men don’t drink on this day...”

The meals that greet the crusaders are a special topic. The teacher of the Ivanovo school, V. Maznina, who founded the tradition of welcoming workers with a hearty meal in Shipin, is no longer alive, and the tables are still laden with food. The director of the Borisoglebsk school, N.N. Degteva, who established the reception in Nikulskoe, also rested in the Lord. Nina Nikolaevna is not with us, but her work is continued by the two old women who remain in the village: they feed over a thousand pilgrims with their gifts! Residents of Selishche, Rezanok, Davydov greet the religious procession with plentiful tables...

Every day, on narrow passages, often on bridges, where the passage stretches out into a long line, the “counting commission” counts the number of participants. This is also necessary in order to find out how many people to cook dinner and breakfast for (the monastery takes care of all this). Every year there are more pilgrims: 60, 120, 300, 600, 1200, 2600 people... But here’s what’s interesting: both at the beginning and now, two-thirds of the participants are youth and children. Twenty years is a short period of time, but it is at the religious procession that you see so clearly the dynamics of life. Little girls and boys of the first movers are now respectable heads of families.

The religious procession equalizes everyone's rights. For two decades now, a high-ranking official and a man from the earth have been walking side by side. Foreign speech at the procession is also not uncommon: Greek, Polish, Serbian, English, German...

Vladimir Martyshin
Published: July, 2017

Quote
The procession of the cross is evidence of the living faith of our people and the ability to perform feats in the name of God, and feats are always something that goes against our desires, our peace and pleasure.

His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill
From a word to the participants of the Velikoretsk religious procession on June 6, 2017