With the blessing of Metropolitan Rostislav of Tomsk and Asinovsky, a group of foreign students of the Tomsk Theological Seminary, led by Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs Priest Vitaly Kollantai and tutor M.O. Zherenkov, with the support of the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage, made a pilgrimage to a number of dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church from May 27 to June 11, 2024.
The trip began with a visit to the Penza Metropolis and listening to the participating groups of the III All-Russian Choral Festival for the regency departments of the theological educational institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church named after A.A. Arkhangelsky. Also in Penza, pilgrims managed to worship the relics of St. Innocent of Penza in the Spassky Cathedral, as well as the relics of the priest John Olenevsky in the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh in the village of Solovtsovka. The central event of the visit to the Penza Metropolis was the participation in the Divine Liturgy at the Spassky Cathedral in Penza. The seminarians also visited the state Lermontov museum-estate "Tarkhany".
Then the pilgrims from the Tomsk Seminary visited St. Petersburg. In a few days, students visited the following temples: the Cathedral in honor of the Icon of the Theotokos "Kazan", the Resurrection of Christ "Saved on Blood", the Cathedral of St. Isaac of Dalmatia, the Life-Giving Trinity "Kulich and Easter", as well as the Resurrection Novodevichy and St. John's monasteries. During the pilgrimage, the students worshiped the relics of St. Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg, St. John of Kronstadt and prayed at the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Joy to All who Mourn" with pennies." In addition to the holy places, the seminarians visited the State Hermitage Museum, the Pushkin Museum-apartment and the Imperial Palace in Peterhof. At the end of the pilgrimage visit to St. Petersburg, the pilgrims took part in the Divine Liturgy and met with the abbess, Abbess of the St. Petersburg Resurrection Novodevichy Monastery Sofia (Silina).
The pilgrimage coincided with the holidays, namely the 225th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Pushkin. The Days of Pushkin's Poetry and Russian Culture (LVIII All-Russian Pushkin Poetry Festival) were widely celebrated in St. Petersburg, Novgorod and Pskov regions. And it is no coincidence that the pilgrims, before arriving at the Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, visited the state memorial historical, literary and natural landscape museum-reserve of A.S. Pushkin "Mikhailovskoye" (Pushkin Reserve) on the first day on Pskov land. Thus, foreign students learned more about the great Russian poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, which, of course, will help them better understand Russian culture in the future.
In the Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, pilgrims from the Tomsk Theological Seminary, along with other workers, carried out their obediences under the strict guidance of the Pechersk monks. During their stay at the holy monastery, the students participated in the Divine Liturgy several times and received communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. The children especially remembered the memorial service in the cave, which was served by Archimandrite Filaret (Koltsov), and the episcopal liturgy, led by Archbishop Methodius of Pechersk, a graduate of the Tomsk Theological Seminary, as well as participation in the beautification of the monastery garden.
During the trip, the Penza and Pskov-Pechersk Theological seminaries, as well as the St. Petersburg Theological Academy were visited, meetings were held with seminarians and staff of higher educational institutions of the clergy.
When visiting churches, the children performed the Troparion of the Resurrection of Christ in three languages (Church Slavonic, Swahili and Chichewa), which attracted the attention of many believers who asked students about the Orthodox faith in their homeland.
The administration and students of the Tomsk Theological Seminary thank the management and staff of the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage for their assistance in organizing and conducting a pilgrimage trip.