On June 11 at 8 pm, the reliquary holding the relics of the Diveyevo saints returned from England to the Seraphim Diveyevo monastery. The solemn meeting ceremony took place at the church of the Nativity of Christ. Archpriest Fr. Igor (Borisov), the head of the delegation from Diveyevo, delivered the reliquary to the church.

The holy relics stayed in Great Britain from May 29 to June 10 according to the blessing of His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Metropolitan Georgiy of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas and Bishop Matthew of Sourozh. Archpriest Fr. Igor and the Diveyevo sisters, nun Dometiana and nun Irina, accompanied them. During their travels, the holy relics were taken to the Dormition Cathedral in London, the place of the annual conference of the Diocese of Sourozh in Derbyshire, St. Nicholas Church in Oxford, the residence of the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in London, and the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Theotokos in London.

On June 10, 2019, a prayer service before the reliquary and an icon of the Diveyevo saints took place at the Dormition Cathedral in London. With the blessing of His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, Archpriest Fr. Maxim (Nikolsky), the cleric of the Cathedral, concelebrated the Divine Liturgy with Archpriest Fr. Igor (Borisov) and Fr. Dimitry (Nedostyenko), the Diocesan Secretary.

After the prayer service, the delegation accompanying the Diveyevo relics headed to Heathrow airport and returned safely to their homeland.

The sisters wrote about the farewell in England: “It is impossible to put into words the gratitude we felt to all those wonderful people who came to say tearful goodbyes to us. It was a workday and we did not expect that so many people would come to venerate the Diveyevo relics for the last time. As we sang the troparion and songs of praise, the clergy of the cathedral, its choir, those who work there and the parishioners followed the reliquary to the waiting car. Owing it to the Russian Ambassador’s assistance, we were able to have a VIP service at the airport while Father Dmitry (Nedostupenko) escorted us straight to the airplane. London skies were grey and rainy as we were taking off, but our hearts were rejoicing. Thank God for a safe journey! ”

With the blessing of Metropolitan Georgiy of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas, the icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov of the icon-painting workshop of the Seraphim Diveyevo Monastery remained as a gift at the London’s Dormition Cathedral.