On 5 May 2023 the Holy Orthodox Church honored the memory of the holy apostles Bartholomew, Luke and Clement. On this day the head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District, Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, made an archpastoral Paschal visit to the Samarkand Deanery. At the Church of St. Alexius, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia, the Wonderworker, in Samarkand, Metropolitan Vikenty celebrated the Divine Liturgy.
Concelebrating with His Eminence were:
the dean of the Samarkand District, Archpriest Roman Zagrebelny;
the rector of the church, Priest Igor Babakov;
Priest Timofey Fishelev;
Priest Vladimir Matveev;
Priest Oleg Lin;
Deacon Rustik Kovalev;
Deacon Mikhail Mezhovikov;
Deacon Pyotr Gnatik;
Deacon Fortunat Turniyazov;
Deacon Dimitry Zemtsov;
Deacon Maxim Muradov.
After the Liturgy the magnification of the feast of Pascha was sung, and then Metropolitan Vikenty addressed the worshippers with an archpastoral word, congratulating everyone on the feast of the radiant Resurrection of Christ and on the week of the Myrrh-bearing Women, and saying:
"The Lord completed His redemptive ministry to the human race by conquering the devil, sin, hell and death and granting us eternal life. Of course, we must value the most important thing the Savior gave us: eternal life, blessed life. The joy of eternal life is, of course, somewhat hard for us to grasp, but the people of the Old Testament understood it better, because all of them, the righteous and the unrighteous, saints and sinners alike, went down to hell after this earthly life. And they believed that, as the Lord had promised Adam and Eve, He would come to redeem everyone from hell and grant them once again the joy of communion with Him that people had lost after their fall.
Why did the Lord Jesus Christ die on the Cross? In order to descend into hell and fulfill His promise given to Adam and Eve in Paradise: there, by His Divinity, by His Divine power, to conquer the devil and lead out from there all the righteous who had lived by faith in the coming of the Redeemer into the world, and to raise them to heaven, into the Kingdom of God, thereby opening the doors of Paradise. That is what the Lord did."
Then a Paschal play dedicated to the feast of the Resurrection of Christ was presented for the archpastor and the guests, performed by the children of parishioners of Saint Alexius Cathedral.
After a fraternal meal Metropolitan Vikenty celebrated Vespers and Matins according to the Paschal order at the Church of the Protection of the Mother of God in Samarkand, and then, on the eve of the feast of the church's heavenly patron, celebrated the All-Night Vigil at the Church of the Great Martyr George the Victorious.
