MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to take part in a church service marking the 1,030th anniversary of the Christianization of Kievan Rus, which congregation of the Church marks on Saturday, the Kremlin press service said.
A special public prayer service will be recited by the St. Vladimir Monument, the ruler of the early medieval Kievan Rus who brought Eastern Orthodox Christianity there by all accounts in 988. Prior to that, the heads of local [national] Orthodox Churches who have arrived in Moscow to take part in the celebration, and thousands of believers will attend the Divine Liturgy on the Kremlin’s Cathedral Square and will take part in a cross-bearing procession afterwards.
The Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill I will conduct the liturgy. Russian Church officials have told reporters that Eastern Orthodox parishes around the world are going to mark the date with a special ceremonial bell ringing.
At noon on Saturday, bells will start chiming in all churches in Moscow and the Moscow region. The first chime will resound from the Ivan the Great bell-tower in the Kremlin, Reverend Alexander Volkov, Patriarch Kirill’s press secretary told reporters.
"The bells ringing simultaneously will fill us all with more joy on this festive day," he said. "In line with the tradition that has formed over the years, churches in other Russian cities and other countries will join the wave of bell ringing. From Moscow, the chime will drift to Ukraine and Moldova and farther on to the countries of Europe where there are Orthodox Christian communities."
"The Russian Orthodox Church will mark the date on a grand scale," Dr. Vladimir Legoida, chief of the Church Synod Department for Relations between the Church and Society said in a statement. "The central events will take place in Kiev, Minsk, Moscow, and Chisinau, as well as in other places within the zone of pastoral care of our Church."
After the Divine Liturgy in the Kremlin is chanted outdoors, Patriarch Kirill will lead a cross-bearing procession to Borovitsky Hill to west of the Kremlin and will conduct another open-air service there.
"This will be done for the first time in the recent history of our Church," Volkov said. "The services will be held outdoors, not in the Assumption Cathedral [in the Kremlin]. This is because Moscow churchgoers will come there in large numbers."
He assured all the believers wishing to attend the liturgy in the Kremlin that they would have an opportunity to get there in spite of the tight security measures. Pilgrims from other cities will also be able to do it.
Cathedral Square will also serve as the venue for a festival of choir music on Saturday. Its program features the Moscow Synodic School choir and other highly praised groups performing church music.