NATIVITY OF THE MOST HOLY THEOTOKOS CELEBRATED AT HOLY TRINITY CATHEDRAL

On 20 and 21 September 2026, the services of the feast of the Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary were celebrated at Holy Trinity Cathedral. It is the first Great Feast of the new church year.

The All-Night Vigil was served on Sunday 20 September, and the Divine Liturgy on Monday 21 September. The choir sang under the direction of Marina Politova.

At the end of the Liturgy, the clergy and the present faithful sang a glorification before the festal icon.

The Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos falls on 21 September (8 September, old style). It opens the cycle of Great Feasts of the church year. The Church commemorates on this day the birth of the Virgin Mary to the righteous Joachim and Anna. The circumstances of the event are not recorded in the canonical books of the New Testament. They are known from early Christian tradition, reflected above all in the so-called Protoevangelium of James, as well as in liturgical texts and in the writings of the Fathers of the Church.

The troparion of the feast, sung in the 4th tone, reads: “O Virgin Theotokos, has proclaimed joy to the whole universe, for from you has shone forth the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God; annulling the curse, He has given a blessing, and abolishing death, He has granted us eternal life.”

The celebration continues until 25 September, the leave-taking of the feast.