Reliquary with Relics of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica Brought to Tashkent

On 7 November 2019, the eve of the feast of the holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica, before the All-Night Vigil, the Head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District, Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, brought to the Holy Dormition Cathedral in Tashkent a reliquary containing a particle of the relics of this holy saint of God. The following day the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the cathedral.

His Eminence was assisted by Archbishop Efrem of Birobidzhan and Kuldur, Hieromonk Mikhail (Stolyarov), Priest Pavel Bylin, Protodeacon Alexander Nesin, Deacon Mikhail Mezhovikov and Deacon Rustik Kovalev.

At the end of the Liturgy the archpastor offered his hierarchal prayer to the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica and then addressed the faithful with a word of instruction, noting:

“This is a great saint of our Church, one who is greatly venerated in our Russian Church. From the very first days of the Baptism of Rus' and the acceptance of Orthodoxy, our people took to heart the feats and labours of the holy Great Martyr Demetrius. Churches were built in his honour, people prayed before his holy icons and were strengthened in faith and piety.

St. Demetrius of Thessalonica renounced his own will and his attachment to glory and power, and submitted to the will of the Heavenly King, to God.

You and I, dear brothers and sisters, must always make a choice: whom are we with, and which path are we following? Are we on the way to the Kingdom of Heaven, fulfilling the will of the Heavenly King, or are we on the way to perdition, fulfilling the will of the devil, who is our destroyer, the envious one who wishes to destroy us?

We must constantly discern within ourselves the path of life and choose the path of renouncing everything that hinders us from walking the way of the Kingdom of God, as we see in the person of the holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica.”

In his address Metropolitan Vikenty also greeted Archbishop Efrem and thanked him for their common prayer.

In reply Archbishop Efrem in turn thanked Metropolitan Vikenty for the warm welcome and for the joy of prayerful communion on this festive day for the Church.

“Today's service brought back to my memory everything the Lord God once granted me to see in Thessalonica during my pilgrimage in 2005. I would like once again to thank you for this wonderful service and for the opportunity to pray with you. I prayerfully wish that the Lord may strengthen you in your ministry as Head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District, so that your wisdom, your spiritual experience and your love may nourish the clergy who serve with you, the students of the Tashkent Theological Seminary who, under your omophorion, receive the basic knowledge needed for service in the Church, and, of course, the many parishioners who profess Orthodoxy within the Central Asian Metropolitan District.”