"The Lord summons all of us to the wedding feast of His Son, where the Divine Liturgy is celebrated, and the Holy Gifts – the Body and Blood of Christ – offered. In order to be with Christ, we must approach this correctly, with preparedness and in a worthy manner. We must prepare for the service. This does not apply to the clergy and monastics only, but to the laity, as well. The divine services must proceed properly, worthily, and triumphally, with prayer and repentance. Confessions should be made prior to the Liturgy, not during its celebration. Prayers, canons, and akathists should be read at home, and in this way we can come to the services radiant, clad in wedding garments. Thus will we truly be great guests of our King and Lord Jesus Christ, and will take active part in the feast, that is, in the Divine Liturgy… May the Lord God help us to hear this invitation.
"On behalf of our religious communities, we express our unshaken solidarity with Christian and other religious and ethnic communities. We pledge to work together to actively build peace with justice, and to do everything in our power to create the kind of conditions in which the Christian and other religious and ethnic communities can live in freedom and dignity in the Middle East as full citizens."
According to the data provided by the Moscow Police, over ten thousand people, including the clergy and parishioners of the Moscow churches, took part in the procession.
On Aug. 28, the first concrete was poured. This week, the formwork is in place for the base of the drum-shaped sanctuary. Construction is expected to take two years.
During the last week of August, Dr. Thomas Urban of Cornell University arrived in Sitka with the high tech device which in recent months he had used to assist various other archaeological teams around the world.