On 27 February 2018, the feast of St. Cyril, Equal to the Apostles, Teacher of the Slavs, Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District, celebrated the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts at the Church of the Protection of the Mother of God in Samarkand.
His Eminence was assisted by the clergy of the Samarkand Deanery.
After the service, Metropolitan Vikenty addressed his flock with an edifying word, saying:
"When we see our own sins, we will see that our neighbour is a good, wonderful person, and we will not be at enmity with him, but will love, help and support him. In these days let us intensify our prayers to God and acquire those qualities of soul that befit an Orthodox Christian, so as to rise a little higher, so that people may see that there are Orthodox people in the world, in Samarkand, who live in a special way toward those around them. We must do as the Christians did in the first centuries: when paganism surrounded them, they set an example of Christian life not by words but by deeds. And if we set an example of humility, meekness, patience, abundant love, diligence, honesty and decency, then people will rely on us, knowing that such a person will never abandon them and will truly be honest. Then they will say that only Orthodox people can be like this. We need to acquire such qualities of soul and not give in to the temptations that exist in the world now, but live by the values we have lost.
In the days of Great Lent, let us acquire Christian values through prayer and fasting. I wish God's help to all of us, that we may acquire these values and shine upon this world with the light of the Gospel teaching, with good works, good deeds and those virtues with which Christ the Savior Himself was adorned and which we, as disciples of Christ, must acquire and practise in this earthly life."
In the evening of the same day, at the Church of the Holy Prince Vladimir, Equal to the Apostles, in Kattakurgan, Metropolitan Vikenty celebrated the service appointed by the Typikon, at which the memory of the Apostle Onesimus, a disciple of the chief Apostle Paul, was commemorated.
At the end of the service, the archpastor also spoke about the meaning of Great Lent:
"Fasting has very great significance for us; fasting is an institution of God, not of man. The Lord established fasting already in Paradise for Adam and Eve, so that they might exercise themselves in obedience to the will of God, but they could not restrain themselves and sinned. Therefore we now bear all the more the burden of earthly life, in which we must compel ourselves to do what is necessary for our salvation. Fasting was established by God, and He Himself fasted forty days and forty nights and showed all of us by His example that fasting is of great importance. The Lord knows what is very important for us. Then there was only one small fast, and now there are four fasts lasting many days. All this shows that fasting is very necessary for a person in order to abstain from everything sinful.
Of course, not eating meat is not the most important thing; it is only a means of attaining what matters most. Without this principal means the aim of the fast cannot be attained, so abstaining from meat and dairy products is also important. Therefore one cannot say, 'I will not sin, but I will eat everything there is.' In that way we will not keep our fast. We must abstain from certain foods and at the same time abstain from sin, from sinful thoughts, feelings, desires and deeds, so that in the days of Great Lent we may truly learn to live somewhat differently from how we have lived until now. So that we may learn to live more spiritually, morally and purely, to learn to be different with those around us. We need to influence the people around us by our piety, purity of life and holiness. Let us live up to the high calling the Lord has given us: to be Orthodox Christians, disciples of Christ."
