On the evening of August 18, 2026, on the eve of the feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia celebrated an all-night vigil at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
During the service, members of the delegation of the Kerkyra Metropolitan of the Greek Orthodox Church, who participated in bringing the venerable relics of St. Spyridon of Trimifunt to the Russian Orthodox Church, prayed. The delegation is headed by Metropolitan Nectarius of Kerkyra, Paxia and Diapontia Islands.
Russians Russian Orthodox Church's Commission for the Development of Pilgrimage and the Sacrifice of Shrines organized the offering of the relics thanks to the support of JSC "GTLK", LLC "Regional Energy Company", the World Russian People's Cathedral and the Innokenty Sibiryakov Foundation with the information partnership of the magazine "Thomas".
The service was broadcast live on the Soyuz and Spas TV channels, as well as on the official website of the Russian Orthodox Church. Патриархия.ги .
Before Polyeleos, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia led the meeting of the ark with the right hand of St. Spyridon of Trimifunt.
At the western gates of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, hierarchs and clergy met a shrine brought from Corfu Island by Metropolitan Nectarius of Kerkyra, Paxos and Diapontia Islands and a delegation from the Kerkyra Metropolitan Area.
Upon arrival of the car with the ark at the gates of the temple, Metropolitan Nektary handed the ark to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, who venerated the shrine.
While singing the troparion to St. Spyridon, Metropolitan Gregory and Metropolitan Tikhon moved the ark to the middle of the temple and placed it in a prepared place under the icon of the saint.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill addressed the participants of the solemn meeting of the relics of the saint:
"I cordially congratulate all of you, dear hierarchs, fathers, brothers and sisters, on this great holiday!
I am glad to have the opportunity to pray with all of you in our majestic church, to glorify the Lord and to turn to Him with prayer so that His blessing and peace may be upon our people, our country and our Church — a martyr, a confessor who went through the hardest ways in the twentieth century, and today rejoices at the great conversion of the people to Orthodoxy, which Maybe it was the fruit of the sufferings and sorrows that we endured in the past.
I would like to cordially congratulate you all and wish you God's help and strength!
Today, the brothers from Greece, the Orthodox bishops, the fathers and the laity were with us. Today we prayed each in our own language, but we turned the same prayer to the Lord. Of course, we prayed for our Orthodox Church, which is located and serving in many countries, and we prayed for our peoples so that the Lord would keep us in faith, in unity of mind, and in love. So that, despite all circumstances, which are not always favorable in the context of life in modern civilization, we preserve the most important thing, without which a person cannot inherit the Kingdom of God and cannot find simple human happiness.
May the Lord help us all to keep faith, love for the Lord, and be able to treat each other wisely and kindly, so that the Orthodox faith among our people may be strengthened and our national spiritual life strengthened.
God bless you all! Happy Holidays!"
His Holiness had a conversation with Metropolitan Nektarios and members of the Greek delegation at the altar of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.