Bishop Constantine of Zaraisk celebrated the Liturgy in the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh in South Africa
On 14 January, the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord and the Feast of St. Basil the Great, Acting Patriarchal Exarch of Africa, Bishop Constantine of Zaraisk celebrated Matins and the Divine Liturgy at the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Johannesburg (South Africa).
Before the service began, Archpriest Daniel Lugovoi, the rector of the church, met the hierarch at the gates of the church and welcomed him on behalf of the parish, noting that this was the first visit to the cathedral church of the newly established South African diocese by its ruling bishop. Bishop Constantine congratulated Father Daniel and the parishioners on the recent celebration of the 20th anniversary of the formation of the parish and conveyed the blessing and gift of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia - an icon of St Sergius of Radonezh, which was placed on the analogue.
At the Liturgy, the archpastor was served by Archpriest Daniel Lugovoi, rector of the Sergievsky Church, Hieromonk Stephen (Igumnov), secretary of the Department for External Church Relations for Inter-Christian Relations, Priest John Rossouw, rector of the Moscow Patriarchate parish in Bloemfontein, and Hieromonk Silouan (Brown), clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad Mission in Uganda.
The service was conducted in Church Slavonic, English and Afrikaans.
At the end of the Liturgy, Archpriest Daniel Lugovoy thanked the Bishop for the service and presented an ostrich egg with events from the life of St Sergius of Radonezh depicted on it. Bishop Constantine addressed the clergy and parishioners with an archpastoral address.
Then in the parish house of the church there was a children's Christmas party prepared by Matushka Elena and the Sunday school. The children performed brightly, Matushka Elena presented a "sweet fairy tale" - events from the life of St Nicholas unfolded on the streets of the gingerbread town.
Then everyone shared a festive meal together.