MOSCOW: June 8, 2010
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill Performs a Moleben Before the?Kursk-Root Iconof the Mother of God in Christ the Savior Cathedral

On the morning of June 8, 2010, the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God ?of the Sign??was brought to Moscow from the city of Kursk. The miracle-working icon was brought by His Eminence Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany and a delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

The holy icon was welcomed at Domodedovo Airport by His Eminence Archbishop Arseny of Istra, after which it was taken to Christ the Savior Cathedral.

The Kursk-Root Icon was greeted at the western doors of the Cathedral by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, and a multitude of the capital?s clergymen.

His Holiness brought the icon into the church, and blessed the gathering worshipers from the solium. The icon was then placed on an analogion in the middle of the Cathedral.

The Primate of the Russian Church then proceeded to perform a moleben before the icon, joined by His Eminence Archbishop Mark of Egorievo; His Grace Bishop Arkady (Afonin); His Grace Bishop Nikon (Mironov); His Grace Bishop Michael of Geneva and Western Europe; His Grace Bishop Seraphim (Zeliznitsky); His Grace Bishop Anatoly (Aksenov); His Grace Bishop Merkury of Zaraisk; His Grace Bishop Aleksandr of Dmitrovsk; His Grace Bishop Ignaty of Bronnitsa; His Grace Bishop Sergy of Solnechnogorsk; His Grace Bishop Ieronim (Chernyshov); Protopriest Vladimir Divakov, Secretary of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia for Moscow? and Dean of the Central Deanery of the capital; Protopriest Mikhail Ryazantsev, Senior Priest of the Cathedral, and other clergymen of Moscow.

Yuri Chaika, General Prosecutor of Russia, and his deputy, Alexander Zvyagintsev, were also in attendance.

At the end of the service, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill delivered a sermon.

The miracle-working Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God ?of the Sign,??the main holy icon of the Russian Diaspora, was brought to the territory of the Russian Orthodox Church on May 13. The icon was visiting Ukraine until May 25, when it was brought to the city of Kursk.

Today, the icon will be taken from the Cathedral to the airport, where it is bound for Munich.