On the feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, October 14, 2026, the Divine Liturgy at the Intercession Church of the Moscow Theological Academy was led by Metropolitan Nikander of Vladimir and Suzdal, Chairman of the Financial and Economic Department of the Moscow Patriarchate.
At the end of the Liturgy, the feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos was celebrated, after which Metropolitan Nikander addressed the faithful with an archpastoral address.
Then, in the Great Hall of the Moscow Theological Academy, a solemn act was held on the occasion of the patronal feast of the academic temple.
Every year, on the day of the celebration of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, after the celebration of the solemn Liturgy, the academic community and numerous guests of the Academy gather in the Great Hall. Congratulations and words of appreciation to the native theological school are heard here in a kind atmosphere, and the founders and mentors who worked hard for the benefit of the Moscow Theological Academy are remembered.
Among the distinguished guests were Metropolitan Nikander, Metropolitan Eugene, Metropolitan Aristarchus, Bishop John, Bishop Theodoret, Bishop Pitirim, Hieromonk Apollinarius (Panin), Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov, President of St. Tikhon's Orthodox University for the Humanities, Hieromonk Luke (Pronsky), Archpriest Valentin Vasechko.
The solemn act was opened by Metropolitan Nikander. At the beginning of his speech, His Eminence read out his Patriarchal congratulations, and then addressed the audience.
"It is extremely reverent to perform divine services in my native Pokrovsky church, where I took holy orders and where I spent the first and second nights after taking monastic vows, where I was spiritually born. On behalf of the graduates of the Moscow Theological Academy, I would like to thank you first of all, of course, Vladyka Evgeny. It is impossible to convey all the feelings that you feel when you serve with you, because you realize that you have accepted everything that you have in this life from your hands. And it was you who taught us, as His Holiness the Patriarch wrote, not to be idle, to reverence the holy, to be sober people and to try to be faithful children of the Orthodoxy that our ancestors transmitted and preserved for us. Therefore, I thank you all and wish the current generation of students to remember these words and be worthy and grateful students of the Moscow Theological Academy," said Metropolitan Nikander in particular.
Russians Russian Orthodox Church is celebrating a significant date in 2026 — the 150th anniversary of the Synodal translation of the Bible into Russian. The Moscow Theological Academy played a significant role in the implementation of this large-scale church-state undertaking. Today, the academic community is turning to the deeds of glorious predecessors, whose selfless work within the walls of the academy in the third quarter of the 19th century yielded abundant fruits. The Synodal translation has rightfully gone down in history as an event of exceptional importance. His training required the utmost concentration of creative forces, deep erudition and outstanding intellectual ingenuity from the outstanding scientists of the theological school. Archpriest Georgy Klimov, Associate Professor of the Department of Biblical Studies at the Moscow Theological Academy, delivered an acceptance speech on "The contribution of the Moscow Theological Academy to the Synodal Translation of the Bible into Russian."
On the feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia honored the teachers and staff of the Moscow Orthodox Church with church awards for their hard work for the benefit of the Holy Church. 
In the final part of the solemn act, the concert choir of the Moscow Art Academy conducted by E.V. Borovinsky performed festive chants. The stichera of the Feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, "Heaven and Earth are Sanctified," the troparion of the Icon of the Mother of God, "Joy to All who Mourn," a Bulgarian chant by Mikhail Popov-Platonov, and "It is Worthy to Eat," a Bulgarian chant by Archimandrite Matthew, were performed.