On 19 October 2019 the Church of the Holy Apostle Thomas in Akhangaran celebrated its patronal feast. On this festive day the Divine Liturgy was celebrated by the Head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District, Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan.
His Eminence was assisted by the Dean of the Tashkent Deanery, Mitred Archpriest Igor Balukhatin; the rector of the church, Hieromonk Varlaam (Podmarkov); Hegumen Nektary (Blinov); Priest Alexy Balukhatin; and guests from Russia in holy orders.
Also praying at the Liturgy was the abbess of the Holy Trinity St. Nicholas Convent in Tashkent, Hegumenia Ekaterina (Malgina).
After the service the traditional procession of the cross took place, and Metropolitan Vikenty then addressed the Orthodox faithful of Akhangaran with his customary archpastoral word, congratulating everyone on the patronal feast and the day of remembrance of the holy Apostle Thomas.
“What we know of the life of the holy Apostle Thomas from the Gospel is that, by a special providence of God, he was not present when the risen Christ the Saviour first appeared to all the disciples. They saw Christ, became convinced of the truth of His Resurrection, rejoiced, and told him (the Apostle Thomas) about it. But he said he would not believe them until he himself saw and touched with his own hands the print of the nails. Unbelief is our weakness and infirmity. The Lord appeared to the Apostle Thomas, and he was indeed able to touch the wounds of the nails of Christ the Saviour, and he said: ‘My Lord and my God.’ In this way he confessed his faith that Christ had risen from the dead and had appeared to many and to him personally. ‘Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”’ (John 20:29).
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we are those believers who believe according to the word of the Apostle Thomas, who became convinced of the truth of Christ's Resurrection and told all of us that Christ is truly risen, and we believe in the truth of his words. If the Lord is risen, then the Lord will also raise us from the dead and grant us eternal life. And therefore we hold this faith of Christ; we live on this earth in order to be made worthy of the eternal blessings of the Kingdom of God, which the Lord has granted us by His glorious Resurrection.
Living now in the twenty-first century after the Resurrection of Christ, God grant, dear brothers and sisters, that the faith of Christ in us may not grow scarce, may not diminish or lessen, but increase more and more. Throughout all these centuries we have had a great many proofs and assurances that faith in Jesus Christ is the true faith and brings us joy both in this temporary earthly life and in the eternal life of blessedness.”
