27 March 2023 года

Third Passia service

In the evening hours on March 26, 2023, Passia was served for the third time at the Trinity Cathedral of the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery.

The touching Gospel passage from the Gospel of Luke about the sufferings of Christ summons us to be robed in humility of mind, meekness, longsuffering, goodness, and most of all, all-forgiving love of our neighbors and the love for God. This is how we can fulfill the very first and the utmost commandment of the Lord (see Matthew 22:37) – to be vouchsafed worthy to become the heirs of eternal bliss.

At the end of the Passia service, the clergy, the sisters of the monastery and the pilgrims reverently kissed the Holy Crucifixion. It is not only a reminder of the salvific events that took place two thousand years ago: the deliverance of the human race from sin and the removal of a curse that weighed upon the whole creation. It also calls us to avoid committing new sins and inflict new wounds to the Lord, restore our souls anew, imbue our hearts with love and attempt to live our lives in imitation of Christ the Savior.