On 27 October, the 19th Sunday after Pentecost and the day of remembrance of the holy fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, the Head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District, Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos in Tashkent. The evening before, ahead of the All-Night Vigil, the archpastor brought from Serbia holy relics of St. Nikolai of Serbia and Venerable Justin Popovich.
At the Liturgy His Eminence was assisted by Hieromonk Spiridon (Pozdeev), Protodeacon Alexander Nesin and Deacon Mikhail Mezhovikov.
At the end of the Liturgy Metropolitan Vikenty preached to the people praying in the church. In his archpastoral word His Eminence explained the meaning of the Gospel reading of the day, which runs as follows:
“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold. When He had said these things He cried, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear!’ Then His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘What does this parable mean?’ And He said, ‘To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that “Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.” Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.’” (Luke 8:5–15)
“Today's Gospel reading calls us not only to know and read Holy Scripture but also to fulfil it,” the archpastor noted. “As the holy fathers say, reading Holy Scripture without fulfilling it is even dangerous for our spiritual life, because we imagine ourselves to be Christians who know the Christian life, yet we do not live as Christians. St. Ignatius Brianchaninov says that we must read the Gospel with our lives, that is, read the Gospel every day so as to apply it in our lives… For us, dear brothers and sisters, the Word of God must be a stronghold and a fortress.”
In his sermon Metropolitan Vikenty also spoke about the holy relics that had arrived in Uzbekistan from Serbia.
“We have received a very great gift from the Serbian Church: the relics of St. Nikolai of Serbia and Venerable Justin Popovich. We have received great grace to strengthen our powers of soul and body. And we thank God that the Lord gives us the opportunity to have such saints in our cathedral, who will help us in our needs and sorrows.”
