On the feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and National Unity Day, established in memory of the liberation of Moscow and Russia from foreign invaders in 1612, on November 4, 2025, church celebrations were held in the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan.
On the eve of November 3, an all-night vigil was held in the Kazan Cathedral, built on the site of the appearance of the miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1579.
On the morning of November 4, a citywide procession with the venerated Kazan image of the Queen of Heaven took place in Kazan.
According to tradition, the prayer procession began at the walls of the ancient Annunciation Cathedral of the Kazan Kremlin and ended at the Kazan Bogoroditsky Monastery, at the site of the acquisition of the main shrine of the Kazan region in 1579. Before the start of the procession, a moleben to the Queen of Heaven was performed in the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos. The divine service was performed by a group of bishops who arrived in Kazan to participate in church celebrations on the occasion of the feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. Together with the archpastors, clergymen of the Kazan diocese, residents of the capital of Tatarstan, and pilgrims from different regions of Russia marched through the historical center of Kazan with the venerated image of the Virgin Mary.
The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was brought to the reconstructed Kazan Cathedral. After bringing the shrine to the place where it was found, the Divine Liturgy service began in the Kazan Cathedral.
The clergy and monastics of the Tatarstan Metropolia, pupils of the Kazan Theological Seminary, representatives of the Cossacks, Orthodox youth, sisters of mercy, parishioners of city churches and numerous pilgrims prayed during the Liturgy.
Metropolitan Kirill addressed the participants of the celebrations with an archpastoral address: "Today is a great holiday. For 400 years, this day has been loved and revered by our people. He penetrated into the souls of our compatriots when National Unity Day was not yet celebrated at the state level. The National Unity Day was established thanks to His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, and the Interreligious Council under the President of our country. But even before the establishment of the state holiday in 2005, believers deeply revered the feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. This day connects us with the end of the Time of Troubles, the period when our country and our people could have disappeared from the face of the earth. At that difficult time, people who revered the Most Holy Theotokos prayed with tenderness and thanksgiving before the Kazan Icon for deliverance from the troubles. The Queen of Heaven heard the prayers and defended our Fatherland."
"Today, I would like to convey to all of you, dear friends, brothers and sisters, congratulations from our rais Rustam Nurgalievich Minnikhanov, with whom we talked early this morning. He congratulated me on the holiday and asked me to convey congratulations to all of you, which I do with great joy and love. I extend congratulations to the head of our republic, a great friend of our Holiness Patriarch Kirill. Rustam Nurgalievich Minnikhanov, together with Vladyka Feofan, was the initiator and inspirer of the reconstruction of this wonderful cathedral. And today, with the support of Raisa, many shrines of our republic are being restored, including the entire complex of the Kazan Bogoroditsky Monastery," the head of the Tatarstan Archdiocese added.