On 28 August 2021, when the Holy Church honors the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, the cathedral of Tashkent celebrated its patronal feast. On this day the head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District, Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, celebrated the Divine Liturgy, and on the eve, the All-Night Vigil with the bringing out of the shroud.
Concelebrating with His Eminence were Priest Vitaly Golban, Priest Grigory Khimonidi, Deacon Mikhail Mezhovikov, Deacon Alexander Bogotobin, Deacon Luka Irgashev and Hierodeacon Makary.
After the Sacrament of Holy Communion and the dismissal the magnification of the feast was sung, and then Metropolitan Vikenty addressed the worshippers with an instructive archpastoral word, congratulating the clergy and parishioners on the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos:
"By Dormition we mean death. But in reality it is not a dying but a passing into another life. In this feast we see how solemnly the Mother of God departed from this life into life eternal. We see that the Most Holy Theotokos labored here on earth for many years. She reached a venerable age, and the fruit of the labors of her life was a solemn passage into another life.
For you and me, dear brothers and sisters, this feast is very instructive: that we, too, should live on this earth so as to pass solemnly into the other, eternal life, so that the Lord Himself may come and take our soul, or at least the Angels of God may come and take our soul. But by no means should the devil or the demons come to us and wickedly tear our soul away from our body. If the devil takes our soul, where will he settle it? In eternal torments of hell, of course.
Therefore this feast tells us that we must prepare for death, as the Most Holy Theotokos prepared for this meeting with eternity. The passing of the Mother of God from earthly life into eternal life was not a tragedy but a joy. The apostles, when they saw her off, wept, because she was leaving this world and they would meet her no more. But on the other hand they rejoiced, because they heard and saw the angelic choir and Christ Himself, who had come to take her soul and raise her to Heaven. And at the same time the apostles were not separated from the Mother of God. Even after her departure from this world she appeared to them three days later. And when the apostles saw her, they exclaimed: 'Most Holy Theotokos, help us.' That is, they uttered what we hear every day when we sing the troparion of the feast of the Dormition: 'Thou didst not forsake the world...' She has not forsaken us; she is with us. This gladdens us and disposes us to love eternal life, to strive for eternity, and to live for eternity in this temporal life. This life is a preparation for eternity."
