The Moscow-wide religious procession, led by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, has begun in Moscow. The procession started from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and is to end at the Novodevichy Convent, reports a RIA Novosti correspondent.
Before the start of the procession, the Patriarch celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, after which he proceeded along Soymonovsky Proezd to Prechistenskaya Embankment. At the head of the column are three especially revered shrines: the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, specially delivered from Smolensk, the ark with the relics of the holy Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy, and the icon of All Saints of Moscow.
On Prechistenskaya Embankment, thousands of believers who had been waiting there since 10:00 a.m. will join the procession. Then the route will pass along Prechistenskaya and Frunzenskaya Embankments and along Khamovnichesky Val Street to the Novodevichy Convent. The total length of the route is about six kilometers, and the travel time is 1.5-2 hours.
As RIA Novosti was earlier told by the chairman of the Synodal Missionary Department, deputy administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate, Archbishop Savva (Tutunov) of Zelenograd, it will be possible to venerate the shrines only at the Novodevichy Convent, where they will be placed on a podium, and akathists will be performed while believers pass by.
For the first time in modern history, the Moscow-wide religious procession took place in 2025. The procession is timed to coincide with the day of the celebration of the Council of Moscow Saints. For the first time, such a procession took place on this day in 1525, when a copy of the miraculous Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God was solemnly transferred from the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin to the Novodevichy Convent.
Source: RIA Novosti