The Russian Orthodox Church commemorates today all the saints of Diveyevo and followers who, following in the footsteps of the original monastery founder the Venerable Mother Alexandra and the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, came to this holy place in search of Christ.

All of them, having arrived at the Diveyevo monastery, followed the original nuns in their footsteps and pleased God the Lord and were glorified by Him. The synaxis of the Diveyevo saints includes the holy hierarchs, venerable saints, martyrs, and blessed saints.

We know that their exploits bore many fruits of grace and laid the foundation of the Fourth Lot of the Mother of God.

Today, hierarchical services were celebrated in the Trinity Cathedral. Metropolitan Georgiy of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas and his vicar bishops presided at the Divine Liturgy with a prayer service to begin good deeds marking the beginning of preparations for the Seraphim celebrations.

In his sermon after the reading of the Gospel, Archpriest Alexander Sukhotkin, assistant to the Sarov district dean for culture said that at the services that whenever we commemorate the Synaxis of Saints, the Church in Heaven and the celestial Church come together praising God. While we, as we address the saints in our prayers not only seek their help, but ask them to teach us to act according to the truth of God.

Hegumenia Sergia, the abbess of the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery thanked Metropolitan Georgiy for his constant care about the beautification of the monastery and for the fact that the ruling archpastor and his associate vladykas came to Diveyevo on this memorable day to prayerfully ask for help from God in preparing for the feast of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov.

The head of the Nizhny Novgorod Metropolitanate congratulated everyone on the day of the Synaxis of the Diveyevo saints and addressed the faithful with archpastoral address: “The wondrous land of Diveyevo was chosen to become the Fourth Lot of the Mother of God. Many ascetics of piety, the righteous and the blessed saints, the new martyrs, have shone forth in this monastery. Just like in the 19^th and the early 20th century, a great number of people flock here to feel the special grace of this place. Before, people also sought to come to Diveyevo and Sarov to find advice and help from Venerable Seraphim, the blessed women of Diveyevo, the sisters and priests who served the Lord there. We are now given the opportunity to pray at the relics of the glorified saints of Diveyevo, to walk along the Holy Kanavka, and take a dip at the holy springs. May the stay within the walls of the monastery bring great spiritual fruit to all of you and may you leave this place with newly found feeling of peace of mind, warmth and joy of heart.

Today I particularly want to extend welcome to the participants of the conference “The Legacy of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov as the foundation of sacrificial service,” a cohort of people who want be involved and devote their time to the works of mercy. They labor for the sake of their neighbors to the glory of God and show a great example for other people, especially for our younger generation.”