On the commemoration day of blessed repose of the Apostle and Evangelist St. John the Theologian, the Metochion Church of the Diveyevo monastery in Arzamas celebrated a patronal feast. The southern side chapel of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God is dedicated to the beloved disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the eve of the remembrance day and on the memorable day itself, the Vigil, the paraklesis with the blessing of water prayer service and the Divine Liturgy were celebrated there. Following the services, the clergymen, the sisters of the monastery and the faithful walked in a procession with the cross around the church.

In purity of his chaste soul, St. John the Theologian so loved the Lord that no earthly bonds could ever take hold of him. He followed Christ as an adolescent. Having left his home, his parents, and the calm and peaceful life of a fisherman to be with Him, he traversed the stormy seas of life by the unknown routes that led him to the promised land of the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Holy Church called him an apostle of love and his name became synonymic to the unshakeable faith in truth of the adoption of the Christian race through the Most Holy Mother of God by Her Divine Son.