“O land of Russia rejoice this day, and be thou glad, O holy Monastery of Diveyevo. Ye multitudes of the faithful who have hastened hither today, let us glorify our venerable father, pastor and teacher, the divinely wise guide of those astray, the ready healer of all the afflicted, the great adornment of the Russian land, whom praising thus we say: O venerable Seraphim, save us by thy prayers!” With these words from the stichera of the Vigil service, we glorify Venerable Seraphim the Wonderworker of Sarov.

“There will be Paschal singing in the middle of summer,” elder Seraphim was known to have said once. His words came true for him when on July 19/August 1, 1903 all of Russia was filled with the songs of praise that glorified God and His saint. Truly, everyone rejoiced then as if it were the Holy Pascha once more. Every year ever since the Diveyevo monastery is filled with paschal joy on this memorable day.

On August 1, 2020, the feast of glorification of Venerable Seraphim, Metropolitan Varsonophius of St. Petersburg and Ladoga presided at the open-air Divine Liturgy in the monastery’s Cathedral Square served before the holy relics of the wonderworker of Sarov. According to the established tradition, the relics were moved from the Trinity Cathedral outside before the beginning of services and placed on a temporary platform.

Concelebrating with Metropolitan Varsonophius were Met. Georgiy of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas, Met. John of Yoshkar-Ola and Mary, Met. Joseph Ivanovo-Voznesensk and Vichuga, Met. Zinovy of Saransk and Mordovia, Ahbp. Dimitry of Vitebsk and Orsha, Bhp. Climent of Krasnoslobodsk and Temnikov, Bhp. Elijah of Balakhna, Vicar of Nizhny Novgorod Diocese, Bhp. Benjamin of Ardatov and Atyashev, Bhp. Barnabas of Vyksun and Pavlovsk, Bhp. Vasily of Kotlass and Velsk, Bhp. Methodius of Almetyevsk and Bugulma, Bhp. Silouan of Lyskov and Lukoyanov, Bhp. Spiridon of Birsk and Beloretsk.

The Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery’s choir headed by nun Elena (Tsarakhova), the choir director, sang during the liturgy.

The Nizhny Novgorod’s NNTV regional broadcasting company, “Spas” and “Soyuz” Orthodox TV channels broadcast the festive service live.

The live streaming online was available at the official website of the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese and “Vremya N,” the regional government information agency’s website. The screens installed on the Cathedral Square allowed for convenient viewing of services.

Mitred Protopresbyter Sergiy (Shalatonov), the Rector of the Nizhny Novgorod’s Trinity Church in Vysokovo, delivered a sermon before communion.

Met. Varsonophius proclaimed words of glorification of Venerable Seraphim and read a prayer before the saint’s holy relics.

At the end of the service, Hegumenia Sergiya thanked the archpastors for presiding at the festive liturgy. In memory of their prayerful participation, the abbess of the monastery presented Met. Varsonophius with the icon of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov praying at the stone.

His Eminence Met. Varsonophius delivered a greeting address by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to all participants of the festive service. His Holiness wished peace to their souls, spiritual joy in our times of trouble, and reminded us that we should always thank the Lord for the trials He allows us to go through.

In his homily, His Eminence focused mainly on the question of peace of the spirit. He quoted Venerable Seraphim who called on us before all other things to seek the Kingdom of Heaven and peace of the soul.

Met. Georgiy of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas asked to convey words of gratitude to the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church and extend the invitation to preside at the festive services in the summer of next year as the monastery is due to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of restoring monastic life there.