On the feast of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine, 7 December 2020, Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Trinity St. Nicholas Convent in Tashkent. On the eve the archpastor celebrated a polyeleos service at the Dormition Cathedral in the capital.
Concelebrating with His Eminence were Mitred Archpriest Igor Balukhatin, Archpriest Ioann Kuleshov, Hegumen Nektary Blinov, Priest Alexander Balukhatin, Priest Alexy Balukhatin, Protodeacon Alexander Nesin, Deacon Valery Ryzhov, Deacon Pyotr Gnatik and Deacon Grigory Khimonidi.
On this festal day the superior of the convent, Abbess Ekaterina (Malgina), celebrated her name day. She prayed at the service together with the sisters of the holy monastery, students of the precentors' and catechetical departments of the Tashkent Orthodox Theological Seminary and many parishioners.
The sermon before Holy Communion was delivered by Hegumen Nektary.
After the prayer before the ambo and the dismissal, Metropolitan Vikenty offered his hierarchal prayer to the Holy Great Martyr Catherine and then addressed the faithful with his archpastoral word, speaking about the life and labours of this holy martyr and about the lessons we can draw from her life.
"The Holy Great Martyr Catherine bore a special struggle for Christ's sake, for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, for the sake of her eternal salvation," His Eminence stressed. "She endured terrible torments, through which she was counted worthy of eternal blessed life. She accomplished a great feat of faith in Christ, through which many people turned to Christ; she showed us all what it means to have God in one's heart.
We see that, having Christ in her heart, she could not at the same time keep Him hidden in her heart. She preached Him; she declared that she confessed Christ...
The torments she endured were inhuman and truly terrible. But she endured them because Christ was in her. God grant that Christ may dwell in our souls. But He comes to dwell only when we desire it. If we do not accept Him of our own will, He does not come to dwell. She gave herself completely to Christ, without reserve. That is the essence of what she did in her life, and she acquired the glory and honour with which we glorify her now. We glorify the struggles, labours, sufferings and torments of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine. Christ the Saviour gave her all the fullness of faith and piety. We need to learn from her to give ourselves completely to Christ.
The Lord made use of the wisdom she possessed, but wisdom too comes from God. And she very quickly grasped all the values of the Christian life.
In our time too there are wise people who grasp everything quickly: all knowledge about God and piety, and they can answer easily and well. But the point is that she grasped everything with her mind and put it into practice, whereas we grasp it but do not do it. We know everything, we understand everything, but we do not do it; we do not want to.
We now benefit from the labours of St. Catherine, from her toil, her piety, her sufferings and torments. What a grace-filled day today is: heaven glorifies the labours and struggles of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine. The whole Church in Heaven glorifies her labours; now the whole world, all of Heaven, the whole Church rejoices and triumphs."
At the end of his sermon Metropolitan Vikenty congratulated Mother Abbess Ekaterina on her name day and presented her with a commemorative gift, an adorned cross.
