Feast of All Saints in the Land of Russia

On the second week after Pentecost, the Russian Church celebrates the memory of all its saints. Bishops Theodosius of Seattle and Nicholas of Manhattan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at St. Mary Magdalene Convent in the Garden of Gethsemane where the holy relics of the martyrs of recent times Sts. Elisabeth Feodorovna and nun Barbara rest. The bishops were co-served by the Head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, Archimandrite Roman (Krassovsky), Hieromonk Theodore (Kirike), and Priest Roman Gultiaev. The diaconal staff was supplemented by the clergy of the PaTRAM choir.

On this day, the working pilgrimage of the combined male choir PaTRAM (Patriarch Tikhon Russian American Music Institute) ended. Following the Liturgy, a prayer service of thanksgiving was served at the relics of the Martyr Elisabeth.

With the blessing of the late Metropolitan Hilarion, the choir arrived in the Holy Land to give concerts and record a disc of hymns by the composer S.V. Rachmaninov. The choir met daily in the refectory church of St. Philaret the Merciful on the Mount of Olives to practice and prepare for events. The disc was recorded in the Church of the Ascension of the Lord in the Monastery of the Mount of Olives. Between rehearsals, the singers and the administration of the choir visited the holy places where they prayed and followed in the footsteps of our Savior, which gave them spiritual strength to achieve what they intended to perform. Alexey Valeryevich Lukyanov is the founder and executive producer of this choral institute. REM cleric, priest Roman Gultiaev was the main organizer of the concerts and pilgrimages of the choir. The sisters of the Olivet Monastery fed the choristers daily.

The next day, the choristers went home to Russia, America, Serbia, Canada and Australia.