Metropolitan Vikenty Begins His Visit to the Parishes of the Samarkand Deanery

On the feast of Hieromartyr Blaise, Bishop of Sebaste, and Venerable Demetrius of Priluki, 24 February 2020, Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District, celebrated the first Divine Liturgy of his archpastoral visit to the Samarkand deanery at the Church of the Protection of the Mother of God. Before the service began, Metropolitan Vikenty brought a reliquary with a particle of the relics of St. Spyridon of Trimythous.

The clergy of the Samarkand deanery concelebrated with His Eminence.

At the end of the Liturgy Metropolitan Vikenty addressed the faithful with an archpastoral word of instruction:

"These saints, like all of God's saints, imitate Christ, strive to imitate Christ, who left us much instruction by His personal example. Not long ago we celebrated the Nativity of Christ, Theophany and the Meeting of the Lord. And in these feasts we saw that Christ the Saviour came to earth to deliver the human race from sin, the curse and death precisely by the way of humility, patience and fulfilment of the will of God."

In his sermon His Eminence also noted that Great Lent is approaching and that the Holy Church prepares us for it in advance, over three weeks: the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, and now the Sunday of the Last Judgment.

"We must remember that the end of life on earth is the beginning of a new life in heaven. The end of earthly life is connected with the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But the most important thing is His Dread Judgment, when He will tell us what we have been able to earn in this earthly life: either a joyful life in the heavenly mansions or eternal torment in hell. We must constantly think and reflect on this and tremble before God; not, of course, falling into despair, but repenting and amending our lives, and the Lord in His mercy will forgive us and grant us eternal blessed life. We must remember that the Lord is merciful, but He is also a Just Judge."

The archpastor also called on the parishioners to come diligently to the house of God during the first week of Great Lent, to listen to and pray with the words of the Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, "which disposes us to repentance and seeks to awaken our soul, so that it may wake up and recognise its sinful state."