On the evening of 27 April, the archpastor of the Diocese of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, Metropolitan Vikenty, celebrated Paschal Vespers and Matins at the prayer house dedicated to the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Prince Vladimir in Kattakurgan, Samarkand Region.
Concelebrating with His Eminence were: the dean of the Samarkand Deanery, Archpriest Roman Zagrebelny; Priest Igor Babakov; Priest Vladimir Matveev; Priest Timofey Sirodzhev; Priest Oleg Dushenko; Hierodeacon Mikhail (Stolyarov); Deacon Oleg Lin; and Deacon Mikhail Mezhovikov.
Addressing the parishioners, Metropolitan Vikenty first of all congratulated everyone on the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, noting: "The greatest miracle the Lord will perform is that He will raise you and me on the last day, when He comes a second time to judge the living and the dead. All people who have died before then will rise with a different flesh, capable of living in the Kingdom of Heaven. By His glorious resurrection Christ the Savior also granted us eternal life, of which we had been deprived before these deeds of Jesus Christ. He restored to us the joy of eternal blessed life, and now we can hope that the labors we bear here on earth for Christ's sake, for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, have the value of our salvation. And therefore we Orthodox people must labor here on earth especially not for the sake of honors, money or fame, but for the sake of God, for the sake of eternal glory.
The Lord wants our life to be an example to all the people around us, and wants this example of a pious Christian life to bring a great many people to God, to Christ."
Metropolitan Vikenty congratulated the parishioners of the church on the feast of Pascha and presented them with keepsakes: small icons.
