Patriarch of Moscow on Putin: “May God grant him strength and wisdom to govern Russia”

On July 28, 2026, the commemoration day of Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Prince Vladimir and the ecclesiastical and state holiday of the Baptism of Rus’, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God in the Moscow Kremlin.

A reliquary containing a portion of the holy relics of Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Prince Vladimir was brought from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior to the Cathedral of the Dormition. The sacred relic was placed in the cathedral to the right of the Royal Doors.

The Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, which convened from June 24 to 29, 2008, decided, in honor of the Baptism of Rus’, that on the feast day of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, July 28, “Divine services shall be celebrated according to the order of a great feast, rendering due honor to the baptizer of Rus’.”

Before the beginning of the Divine Service, the Patriarch venerated the reliquary containing a portion of the holy relics of Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Prince Vladimir.

During the Divine Liturgy, prayers were offered by abbesses, monks, and nuns of stavropegic monasteries, servicemen of the…