On the day of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God, the Sergiyevsky skete of the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery celebrates a patronal feast. The southern side chapel of St. Sergius Church is dedicated to the event honored today. This side chapel was consecrated in the beginning of October last year, that’s why is it only a second patronal feast celebrated there.

Rev. Fr. Daniel Gurin of the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery served the Lesser Vespers with the akathist, Vigil, a prayer canon to the Most Holy Mother of God with blessing of water prayer service, and the Divine Liturgy that concluded with a ceremonial procession around the church.

Today we express our profound love to the Most Holy Mother of God and at the same time our faith that just as She helped the citizens of Constantinople in response to their prayer then, She will come to help us today, too. “Let us, the faithful, assembled today, extol the immaculate and all-pure Virgin, Queen of all; for she mercifully stretches forth her hands to her Son, as the glorious Andrew beheld her in the air protecting the people with her glorious veil. Let us all cry to her with tenderness of heart: rejoice, O protection, help, and salvation of our souls,” we sang glory to the Mother of God at today’s festive service.