With the blessing of Metropolitan Rostislav of Tomsk and Asinovo, a group of international students from Tomsk Theological Seminary, led by Vice-rector for Academic Affairs Priest Vitaly Kollantai and head of the Educational and Methodological Department Yu.S. Gubanova, with the support of the Foundation for Christian Culture and Heritage, made a pilgrimage to the Kazan Metropolia of the Russian Orthodox Church from April 30 to May 07, 2025.
The trip began with a reception with the ruling bishop, Metropolitan Kirill of Kazan and Tatarstan, at the diocesan administration of the Kazan Archdiocese. His Eminence told the guests about the history of the Kazan Diocese, its shrines and the development of spiritual education in the Kazan region. International students of Tomsk Theological Seminary told Metropolitan Kirill about their path to faith, about studying at a theological school, and about pilgrimages to holy places in Russia, through which they get acquainted with the beauty of Russian Orthodoxy. At the end of the meeting, Vladyka presented the guests with memorable gifts.
Then the pilgrims took part in listening to the participating groups of the IV All-Russian Choral Festival for the regency departments of the theological educational institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church named after D.S. Bortnyansky. Also in Kazan, our pilgrims were able to venerate the relics of St. Gury (Rugotin), the first Archbishop of Kazan and Sviyazhsk, St. Herman, Archbishop of Kazan the Wonderworker, as well as the relics of St. Ephraim, Metropolitan of Kazan. The central event of the visit to the Kazan Metropolia was participation in the Divine Liturgy at the Kazan Cathedral.
During the several days of the pilgrimage, the students visited the following monasteries: the Holy Dormition Zilant Monastery; the Kazan Bogoroditsky Monastery, the Sviyazhsky Assumption Monastery, the Holy Vvedensky Kizich Monastery, the John the Baptist Monastery, and the Resurrection New Jerusalem Episcopal monastery. During the visits, the children managed to communicate with the hegumens and abbesses of the monasteries. The students prayed at the miraculous icons of the Theotokos of Kazan, Sedmiezernaya, called "Hodigitria" (Smolenskaya), Georgian (Raifa).
During the pilgrimage, the students also visited the Monastery of the Virgin Mary in Raifa, where they performed the obediences of the altar boys and lamp-bearers.
During the trip, the Kazan Theological Seminary was visited, where the children were given an excursion, as well as a meeting with the rector, Priest Nikita Kuznetsov.
When visiting churches and monasteries, the students performed the Troparion of the Resurrection of Christ in three languages (Urdu, Swahili and Chichewa), which attracted the attention of many believers who asked the students about the Orthodox faith in their homeland.
On May 4, 2025, a festive dinner was held in honor of the closing of the IV All-Russian Choral Festival for the regency departments of the theological educational institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church named after D.S. Bortnyansky, at which foreign students of Tomsk Theological Seminary performed several hymns in national languages. The first was called "Praise the Lord" and was performed in the national language of Pakistan, Urdu. It is traditionally performed according to the communion verse on Holy Week. Another chant was called "The Savior was Crucified" and was performed in Swahili, the national language of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Congo and others.
The administration and students of Tomsk Theological Seminary would like to thank the management and staff of the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage for their assistance in organizing and conducting the pilgrimage, as well as the Metropolitan of Tatarstan, represented by the ruling Bishop Metropolitan Kirill of Kazan and Tatarstan, for the warm welcome, care and concern.