Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ called on the holy clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church to continue to perform the religious services in the churches and to continue the Mystery of the Holy Communion even if the faithful are not present in the churches because of the instructions given by the authorities regarding the coronavirus pandemic.
Patriarch Kirill, according to ANA-MPA, also called on the clergy and the faithful to pray more to the Lord asking Him to save the world from this deleterious pandemic, while pointing out that the flock and the clergy will be temporarily deprived of the religious services, something which is necessary to protect the life and the health of our fellow humans.”
At the same time, the Patriarch of Moscow presided over the procession of the holy icon of Virgin Mary Eleusa in Moscow after presiding over the Divine Liturgy at the cathedral in Elochov.
Τhe Russian Orthodox Church is calling on the faithful at this time to read the Akathist Hymn and the prayerful supplications for deliverance from the harmful coronavirus infection.
The icon of Eleusa is the same miraculous image in front of which Saint Seraphim of Sarov was praying. The holy icon was kept secretly by devout people after the closure of the Diveevsky Monastery in 1927, Vladimir Negoyda wrote on his page on the Russian social networking service, Telegram.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ asked the faithful to pray at home and not go to the church because of the coronavirus outbreak, while the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church issued instructions urging the faithful not to kiss the cross after the Divine Liturgy and strictly adhere to the hygiene rules when performing the mysteries.
Specifically, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ approved a text with instructions on health protection measures to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, which should be followed in the churches during the Divine Liturgy and the Holy Mysteries.