Divine Liturgy by the bishop's service in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Archangel Michael parishtranslated

On August 11, 2026, on the day of remembrance of the martyr Callinicus of Cilicia, the Archangel Michael Church in the city of Irkutsk (Novolenino) celebrated several significant events: the 150th anniversary of the parish, the 77th anniversary of the rector, Archpriest Callinicus Podlosinsky, and his name day. The Divine Liturgy on this day, co-served by 24 clergy, was led by Metropolitan Maximilian of Irkutsk and Angarsk, who himself is a native of the Archangel Michael parish and the spiritual son of Father Kallinik. During the service, the ruling bishop ordained Deacon Anastasy Davydov to the priesthood. The Archangel Michael Church is the heir to the monastery of the Ascension Monastery, therefore, in the words of his sermon, Archpriest Alexander Martynov recalled “how many prayers were said here, how much repentant lament there was, how much Easter joy there was,” how many spiritual deeds and feats of martyrs for the faith. “The earth here is saturated with the relics of saints and God’s grace.”

Father Alexander also noted that the priests who gathered today for conciliar prayer on a special day for the parish are “these are the children of the church of the 90s, who are now gray-haired, but over the past 30 years everyone has brought their mite to God, created their own parish, and there...