Author: Филиппинско-Вьетнамская епархия

On May 12, on the islands of Panglao and Bohol, the event “Immortal Regiment” was held, in which Russian compatriots living on these islands and on the neighboring island of Cebu, representatives of the Russian Embassy in the Philippines and representatives of the administration of Bohol Island took part.

After the rally around the islands, in the central square of Tagbilaran, the secretary of the Philippine-Vietnamese diocese, Hieromonk Cornelius (Molev), and the dean of the Manila district, Hieromonk Alexy (Lapshin), performed a thanksgiving moleben, after which the representatives of the embassy and of the local administration congratulated the audience on the memorable date.

On April 29, the meeting of the Sisterhood began with moleben and continued with a discussion of current social projects. For the first time since the pandemic, members of the Sisterhood from the cities: General Santos, Alabel, Kiamba, Santa Maria, Banate, Kinabalan, and Arakan came together to discuss the current activities of the Sisterhood and its further development. The meeting was also attended by a delegation from the Department of Charity and Social Ministries of the Diocese of the Philippines and Vietnam.

On April 30, the 3rd Sunday after Pascha, the participants of the congregation prayed at the Divine Liturgy. The service was performed by Hieromonk Corneliy (Molev), Secretary of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, co-served by Priest Roman Buniel, Priest Alexei Bergado and Priest Matthew Sale.

On February 19, 2023, on Meatfare Sunday, of the Last Judgment, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the church in honor of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God in Manila, Philippines.

His Eminence was co-served by the Secretary of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, Hieromonk Cornelius (Molev), the rector of the temple, Hieromonk Alexei (Lapshin), Priest Agustin Ponferrada, clerics of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, Priest Methodius Rafanan and Priest Luke Abouna and Hierodeacon Nicodemus (Pirkhovsky).

At the small entrance, by decree of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, for diligent service to the Holy Church, the rector of the temple in honor of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God in Manila, Hieromonk Alexei (Lapshin) was awarded the right to wear a palitsa.

At the end of the service, Metropolitan Pavel addressed the audience:

“Dear fathers, brothers and sisters! allow me from the bottom of my heart to congratulate everyone on the feast of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ! Today is the Sunday of the Last Judgment. The Gospel today says that the Lord will distinguish between the righteous and sinners, and put them on different sides. This Sunday is one week before Lent, and it reminds us of what we must do on this Great Lent, to save our souls in order to be on the right side. The most important thing is for us to see our sins, because when a person sees his sins, he has something to repent of. To do this, we are given Great Lent — in imitation of the fast of our Savior, who suffered a forty-day fast before His saving mission. We also go through this period with repentance, with awareness of our deeds and our sins.

The most important thing is spiritual fasting, during which we must realize our deeds, our life, understand whether we are going the right way, whether we are doing everything to save our soul. But it is also a physical fast, that is, we do not eat fast food, and this reminds us that there is a Great fast, so that we do not forget about the main thing — about our soul. I wish all of us to pass this fast with a result, so that we can change a little for the better, get rid of those vices with which we live, and from which we cannot get rid of in any way.

Help us, Lord! I thank you for our common prayers, I rejoice at our meeting, we haven’t seen each other for a long time — for three whole years, and today the Lord has vouchsafed us to be here together, in order to thank God for the opportunity to serve together, to pray, to glorify his Creator and ask the Lord for blessings for the coming fast and for the rest of our lives. Once again I wanted to thank everyone for the common prayers. God bless everyone!”

On February 18, 2023, on the Ecumenical Saturday of the departed, Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the church in honor of the Nativity of Christ in Tagaytay, Philippines.

His Eminence was co-served by: Secretary of the Philippine-Vietnamese Diocese, Hieromonk Cornelius (Molev), rector of the temple of the Nativity of Christ in Tagaytay, Priest David Grubbs, dean of the Manila Deanery, Hieromonk Alexei (Lapshin), Rector of the Holy Cross Church in Siniloan Archimandrite Philemon (Castro), Secretary of the Khanty-Mansi Diocese Abbot Anthony (Kirpichev), dean of the Surgut deanery of the Khanty-Mansi Diocese Archpriest Anthony Isakov, dean of the Nizhnevartovsk deanery of the Khanty-Mansi Diocese Archpriest Sergiy Shevchenko, Priest Oleg Gordeev. The deacon’s rank was headed by Hierodeacon Nicodemus (Pirkhovsky).

The service was attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of the Philippines M.I. Pavlov and his wife.

By decree of Metropolitan Pavel of Manila and Hanoi, for his diligent service to the Holy Church, the rector of the church in honor of the Nativity of Christ in Tagaytay, Priest David Grubbs was awarded the right to wear a loincloth, a camisole and a pectoral cross.

During the Liturgy, Metropolitan Pavel ordained deacon Augustine Ponferrada, a cleric of the Church of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God in Manila, to the priesthood.

At the end of the service, Vladyka addressed the audience:

“Dear fathers, brothers and sisters! Your Excellency, our dear Ambassador, Marat Ignatievich! Let me thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for the common prayers. There is no greater glory than to glorify your Heavenly Creator together, the Holy Scripture says. The Lord has gathered us all here so that we can thank our Creator for the immeasurable boon to each of us, for everything that each of us has and even for the simplest — the ability to move, isn’t this the grace of God? We haven’t seen you for 3 years — there was a pandemic period when restrictions prevented us from meeting and glorifying the Lord together.

But prayer knows no distance, and we prayed for each other. I prayed for all of you, for all the clergy with the whole flock, you prayed for your archpastor, and the Lord heard our prayers and brought us all together today. I would like to congratulate Father Agustin on taking holy orders, it is also a part of our life, our diocese, that there is one more clergyman here in the Manila Deanery. As a sign of our meeting, I would like to present to your church a three-candlestick for Easter and surplices for the brethren, who will grow up and prepare for further spiritual education. I would like to especially thank Father David for his service, for the work he has been doing in Tagaytay for many, many years. May God grant you health, so that you may live and serve here for a long time. Thank you for your efforts. I am also glad to see Father Philemon, who is in our church today. I hope that our diocese will grow stronger, strengthen and multiply. There are a lot of questions and problems, but I think that with God’s help we will slowly solve them. There is no temple in Manila today, it was destroyed earlier, and now the task is to acquire land and build a temple and our representative offices, not only here, but also in Davao and General Santos, and in other places. So there is a lot of work, and I invite everyone to work hard on this issue. Once again, I thank everyone for the common prayers, for the meeting!”