On Monday of the Holy Week, 10 April 2023, Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Pskov and Porkhov celebrated the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in the Church of St Nicholas (of Usokha) in Pskov.
His Eminence co-celebrated with Hieromonk Alexis (Godlevsky), Rector of the Holy Trinity Cathedral, a clergyman of the Cathedral Priest Artemy Lutchenko, First Vice-Rector of the Pskov-Pechersk Theological Seminary Hieromonk Andrei (Korotkov), and Rector of the Edinoverie community of the Pskov diocese Priest Dimitry Kirichenko.
The liturgy was chanted by the men's choir under the direction of Deacon Alexander Amerkhanov and the choir of the Edinoverie community under the direction of Varvara Churakova. The service was attended by parishioners, members of the monastic community and pilgrims.
The divine service was carried out according to the old, pre-Reformed rite.
At the end of the Liturgy Metropolitan Tikhon addressed to all present with an Archpastoral message.
In the Diocese of Pskov, divine services in the Old Russian rite were restored by Metropolitan Tikhon on 14 October 2020. Over a period of three years, thanks to the efforts of Father Dimitry Kirichenko, a graduate of the Sretensky Theological Seminary and a clergyman of the Pskov diocese, a Edinoverie community was established in the diocese, which is at present attached to the Church of St Nicholas (from Usokha) in Pskov. In the Holy Presentation chapel of the church, all services are held according to the Old Russian rite, and meetings and discussions with parishioners and those interested in the Old Russian liturgical rite are held. A series of lectures about the history of the Russian raskol and the emergence of the Old Belief in the Russian Church has been organised at the I. I. Vasiliev Library in Pskov.
Photo report by Deacon Lev Savinov
