The All-Night Vigil was served in the cathedral on the eve.

The icon of the Mother of God known as "of the Sign" depicts the Most Holy Theotokos seated and raising her hands in prayer; on her breast, against a round shield (or sphere), is the blessing Divine Child, the Savior Emmanuel. This depiction of the Mother of God is among the very earliest of her iconographic images. In the burial chamber of St. Agnes in Rome there is an image of the Mother of God with her hands spread out in prayer and the Child seated on her knees. This image dates from the fourth century. There is also the ancient sixth-century Byzantine image of the Mother of God "Nikopoia", in which the Most Holy Theotokos is depicted seated on a throne, holding before her with both hands an oval shield bearing the image of the Savior Emmanuel. Icons of the Mother of God known as "of the Sign" appeared in Rus' in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and they came to be called so after the miraculous sign given by the Novgorod icon in 1170.

In that year the united forces of the Russian appanage princes, led by the son of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky of Suzdal, came up to the walls of Veliky Novgorod. The people of Novgorod could only trust in God's help. Day and night they prayed, beseeching the Lord not to forsake them. On the third night Archbishop Elias of Novgorod heard a wondrous voice commanding him to take the image of the Most Holy Theotokos from the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior on Ilyina Street and carry it onto the city wall. As the icon was being carried, the enemy loosed a cloud of arrows at the procession of the cross, and one of them pierced the face of the Theotokos on the icon. Tears flowed from her eyes, and the icon turned its face toward the city. After this divine sign an inexpressible terror suddenly fell upon the enemy; they began to strike one another, while the people of Novgorod, emboldened by the Lord, fearlessly rushed into battle and were victorious.

At the end of the service prayers were offered to the Most Holy Theotokos, the magnification was sung, and the Akathist in honor of her venerable icon "of the Sign" was read.

Fr. Igor warmly congratulated the worshippers on the feast and thanked them for praying together.