MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/. A delegation of the Foundation of St. Andrew the First-Called has delivered the Holy Fire from Jerusalem to the to the overnight Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, a TASS correspondent reported.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia is to hold Easter matins and Divine Liturgy this night in the main cathedral on the occasion of the feast of the Resurrection of Christ, which is celebrated on April 24 this year.
Earlier, a special flight with the delegation of the Foundation of St. Andrew the First-Called landed in Moscow, bringing a particle of the Holy Fire from Israel. At Vnukovo-3 airport, priests of Moscow churches and representatives of various dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church met the plane to deliver the Christian shrine to the regions.
The Holy Fire descended on Holy Saturday on the eve of Easter in a chapel in the center of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. The delegation of the Foundation of St. Andrew the First-Called is traditionally in charge of delivering the Holy Fire from Jerusalem to Moscow.
The main Easter service began shortly before midnight on the occasion of the feast of the Resurrection of Christ at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.