The Holy Church commemorates today the feast of the “Unburnt Bush” Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God.

One of the Old Testament archetypes pointing to the Mother of God was the burning bush that Moses saw as burning in flames but never consumed. This bush represented the virgin birth of Christ by the Mother of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Even though becoming the Mother, She was virgin before, during, and after birth-giving.

The right side chapel of the church to the “Tenderness” Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God in the Meliaevo skete of the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery is dedicated to the image of the Queen of Heaven commemorated on this day. It celebrates the patronal feast today. On the eve and the day of the feast, Rev. Fr. Sergiy Yeriskin of the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery celebrated the All-Night Vigil, the water blessing prayer service with the paraklesis and the Divine Liturgy there. After the liturgy, hegumenia Sergia with the sisters of the monastery and parishioners walked in the procession around the church.

A concert presented by the students of the skete’s Sunday school became a gift to all who came to worship there on the day of the patronal feast.