Relic of St Matrona of Moscow brought to Mogilev cathedral

Already on the first day, a large number of parishioners came to the cathedral to venerate the shrine. “And that is very good. Bowing before the relics of the saints, we offer our prayer first of all to the Lord God. The saints served God their whole lives, served zealously. After death, the grace of the Holy Spirit abides in their holy relics,” said Priest Andrei Shavarin, a cleric of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Mogilev.

According to him, in prayer before holy relics people are united in the church’s veneration of the shrine, and for the Church, sobornost - catholicity, or conciliar unity - is important. “United in prayer before the saints, we receive additional help from God and from the saints. This is truly important, truly pious. When we stand before shrines, we are granted their protection and their help before the Throne of the Most High,” Priest Andrei Shavarin added.

“Praying before holy relics, we ask above all for the salvation of the soul,” he said. “No earthly goods, for example, studying at university, or even health, or relationships with loved ones, can be placed on the same level as the salvation of the soul. For a person who seeks unity with God in the Kingdom of Heaven is granted all of this.”

Priest Andrei Shavarin recalled the words of the Lord quoted in Holy Scripture, that one should seek first the Kingdom of God, and all earthly things will be added unto you. “Coming to the relics of the saints, and in this case to the relics of St Matrona of Moscow, the blessed, we should above all ask her for the salvation of our immortal souls. For all of us, rich and poor alike, come here temporarily, but it is there that we go forever. In this world, one should prepare for life with God, with the saints in the Kingdom of God,” the clergyman said.

After the Transfiguration Cathedral in Mogilev, the reliquary with a particle of the relics of St Matrona of Moscow will continue its stay in the Mogilev diocese. From 14.00 on 15 October to noon on 16 October, the shrine will be at the Church of St Matrona of Moscow in the agro-town of Prisno; from 13.00 on 16 October to 14.00 on 19 October, at the St Nicholas Convent in Mogilev; and from 9.00 on 20 October to 13.00 on 21 October, at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God The Breadgiver in Gorki. Then, on 22 October, the shrine will be brought to Brest.

St Matrona of Moscow, the blessed, is one of the most venerated Russian saints. Every day, thousands of believers flock to the Pokrovsky Convent in Moscow, where her relics are kept, to venerate the shrine and ask the blessed one for help and intercession before the Lord, and through the prayers of the saint, many receive what they ask from the Lord.