Metropolitan John performed the liturgy at the Elias Church in Stary Oskol and congratulated the paratroopers on the holidaytranslated

With the blessing of Metropolitan John of Belgorod and Stary Oskol, on August 2, on the day of remembrance of the Prophet Elijah of God, Metropolitan John of Belgorod and Stary Oskol celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Elias Church in the cathedral city of Stary Oskol. The day before, the bishop held an all-night vigil in the Transfiguration Cathedral, where one of the chapels was consecrated in honor of the Old Testament prophet. On the day of the holiday itself, at the walls of the Elias Church, Metropolitan John was met by the head of the administration of the Stary Oskol urban district, Mikhail Lobaznov, the chairman of the Council of Deputies, Tatyana Karpacheva, as well as representatives of veteran and military-public organizations. During the Divine Liturgy, His Eminence was co-served by the dean of the 1st Stary Oskol district, Archpriest Alexey Babanin, the rector of the Ilyinsky Church, priest Viktor Tishin, the cleric of the temple, priest Nikolai Guz, the rector of the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Neznamovo, Archpriest Vitaly Antonov, the dean of the 2nd Stary Oskol district, Archpriest Alexander Korotky, as well as the cleric Belgorod church priest Alexander Fokin. After reading the Holy Gospel, Metropolitan John addressed the worshipers with a sermon, in which he spoke about the feat of the prophet Elijah,...