On the eve of the Feast Day of Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, at the Holy Baptism of Basil (1015), the Day of the Baptism of Russia, Metropolitan Isidore of Smolensk and Dorogobuzhsky performed the Sacrament of Baptism in the Assumption Cathedral. The archpastor was co-served by the secretary of the Smolensk Diocesan Administration, rector of the cathedral, Priest Vladislav Bagan, and Priest Dionysius Novikov.
The archpastor addressed the baptized with words of instruction:
"My dear ones! By His Providence, the Lord led to the fact that through my appeal, through an appeal to our commanders, to the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation, you were baptized and became Christians.
I have called all of you so that the space of the Holy Church will open up for you, so that you can build a temple of your human heart that cannot be destroyed. This is the uniqueness of the power of human faith. If he really believes in God, if he takes care in his life to recreate God's temple in his heart, then no force can destroy this temple. And man really becomes invincible in every sense of the word, because this temple was built by the power of God, and not by human efforts..."
The sacrament of Baptism was received by 8 people: military personnel, a veteran of the SVO, children of the dead and missing participants in a special military operation. His Eminence the Archpastor became godfather to Melania, Evdokia, Barbara, Alexy, Julia, Dionysius, Cyril, John.
Metropolitan Isidore presented each of them with a certificate of Holy Baptism and a fold with icons of the Most Holy Theotokos "Odigitria" (Smolenskaya), the Martyr Mercury of Smolensk and St. Abraham of Smolensk.
The Sacrament of Baptism, which took place on the eve of the Day of the Baptism of Rus, became a significant event in the spiritual life of the region.