Blessing of the icon of St. Kentigern

A regular service took place in St. Kentigern parish on 7-8th November. The date of the service was changed from the first Saturday of the month (2nd November) due to serving archpriest Michael Dudko’s trip to the World fellow-countryman congress in Moscow, where Farther Michael represented Russian community in Great Britain as per the decision of the Coordinating Board of Russian-speaking countrymen. Sacrament of baptism took place on Friday evening. The community was supplemented with Andrey, a young boy brought by his parents from Edinburgh.
An icon of St. Kentigern the Heavenly Patron of Glasgow and the parish was solemnly blessed after the service on Saturday. The icon is a modern painting, brought from Moscow, which belongs to Svetlana Zvereva, the secretary of the parish, who shall be bringing the icon to regular services for prayerful worship. It is envisaged that similar, but larger icon will be ordered for the parish in future.

Bishop Elisey of Sourozh visit to Scotland

Bishop Elissey of Sourozh third visit to St. Kentigern parish. This time the programme of his visit was much broader than before: Vladyka visited not only Glasgow, but also Edinburgh, where he met with the Council General of Russian Consulate and discussed problems, experienced by Russian Orthodox community in Scotland.
Vladyka’s visit happened to fall on the leave-taking of the Great Feast of Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The arrived clergy were in rather unusual for our parish purple clerical robes, which is a requirement by the church statute. Unfortunately, the parish cannot yet afford to buy the full set of clerical robes, but this may be the matter for the future. During his trip Bishop Elissey was accompanied by archpriest Michael Dudko and protodeacon Dmitry Nedostupenko.

Celebrating the 5th Anniversary of the Community

The fifth anniversary of the founding of the Russian Orthodox Parish of St Kentigern was celebrated on 8th March in Glasgow. The day was marked by the visit to the community of Bishop Elisey, the ruling bishop of the Diocese of Sourozh who celebrated the Divine Liturgy. The congregation numbered more than sixty people, among them, immigrants from the former Soviet Union as well as native Scots and the representatives of the old Russian immigration. Bishop Elisey was assisted by Archpriest Mikhail Dudko, the temporary rector of the community and Deacon Dimitry Nedostupenko from the London Cathedral. The liturgy was followed by the Rite of Forgiveness. In his address, Bishop Elisey wished the parishioners joy on the occasion of the parish’s anniversary, and expressed his confidence that the community would continue to grow and increase in strength. A festal meal was served after the service. Afterwards, Bishop Elisey, accompanied by the clergy and the parish officers visited the burial site of St Kentigern and venerated his relics which are laid to rest in the Cathedral crypt. In the evening, Valdyka attended the concert by the pupils of the parish’s Russian Orthodox School and talked with the teachers and parents. (More pictures in the gallery section).