Festive Easter services were held at night in all the cathedrals of the Russian Orthodox Church both in Russia and abroad.
Festive Easter services were held at night in all the cathedrals of the Russian Orthodox Church both in Russia and abroad.
Patriarch Kirill led the festive Easter service in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow.
A delegation of the Saint Andrew the First-Called Foundation delivered the Holy Fire for the festive service in Moscow. The Holy Fire is lit every year at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem on Great Saturday, the day preceding Easter, and symbolizes the holy light of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Although people can get into the Christ the Savior Cathedral by the start of the festive service on this night only on invitations, the cathedral was overcrowded with believers. There were about 5,000 believers inside the cathedral and a lot of people stood in the street.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia (in the foreground, in the center) during the cross procession at the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow.
The Easter service in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia during the Easter service in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow.
The clergyman gives out candles lit from the Holy Fire delivered from Jerusalem during the festive Easter service in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow.
At the festive Easter service in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow.
The church choir during the festive Easter service in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow.
Incumbent President Dmitry Medvedev with his wife Svetlana, Prime Minister and President-elect Vladimir Putin, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin at the festive Easter service in the Christ the Savior Cathedral.
President Dmitry Medvedev congratulated Russians and all Orthodox Christians with Resurrection Sunday. The president praised the Orthodox Church’s big role in uniting people around common spiritual values. According to the president, the Russian Orthodox Church does a lot today to strengthen civil accord and moral principles, support the institution of family, protect motherhood and childhood and raise the younger generation in the spirit of patriotism and mutual respect.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia congratulated President Dmitry Medvedev and his spouse Svetlana, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin with Easter and presented decorative Paschal eggs to them. Medvedev also presented a decorative Paschal egg to the Patriarch.
