Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan is once again visiting the parishes of the Samarkand Deanery. On 29 June 2016, the day on which the memory of St. Theophan the Recluse of Vysha, the Wonderworker, is honoured, the archpastor celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Protection of the Mother of God, during which he ordained one of the devout parishioners of this church to the holy order of deacon. The servant of God Fortunat Turniyazov was found worthy to receive the diaconal ministry.
Before the Little Entrance, the rite of cheirothesia (tonsuring as a reader) was performed over the candidate. And before the litany “Having commemorated all the saints…”, Metropolitan Vikenty performed the Sacrament of ordination.
Concelebrating with His Eminence were the dean of the Samarkand Deanery and rector of the church, Archpriest Roman Zagrebelny, Priest Igor Babakov, Priest Vladimir Skornyakov, Priest Timofey Sirodzhev, Hierodeacon Mikhail (Stolyarov), Deacon Alexander Kolotovkin, Deacon Oleg Lin and Deacon Oleg Daushev.
After the Liturgy the archpastor offered his prayer to St. Theophan, the magnification was then sung, and Metropolitan Vikenty addressed the faithful with an edifying word. In his sermon His Eminence spoke of the labours St. Theophan undertook in bearing the word of God. Some thirty volumes came from his pen, reflecting important aspects of the spiritual life of an Orthodox Christian.
“St. Theophan did not live in our time, but when we read his works, his counsels are relevant for today,” the archpastor stressed. “We need the counsels that he gave to his flock back then. He answered all those who wrote letters to him and gave them advice about the various circumstances a person meets in this life. There is nothing new. Everything is just as it was in past centuries: people lived and needed counsel, needed to receive instruction and guidance for the spiritual life. Of course, a person who seeks the right path of life always finds it. It is very important that there are people who seek this truth and the ways of attaining the Kingdom of God.”
Metropolitan Vikenty also gave his archpastoral blessing for the Apostles’ (Peter and Paul) Fast then under way.
