On September 22, the day of the memory of the righteous Fathers Joachim and Anna and the memories of the III Ecumenical Council (431), the priest responsible for the organization of the care of the faithful of the Moscow Patriarchate in the territory of the Republic of Turkey, Georgy Sergeyev, celebrated the Liturgy in the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos in Ephesus, where the Council was held. The priest was co-served by Priest Alexy Golovin, who looks after the community of the Moscow Patriarchate in Antalya.
The service was attended by the head of the Russian House in Ankara, Alexander Sotnichenko, as well as pilgrims who arrived from Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya, Marmaris and Kusadasi. Many of them have partaken of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
At the end of the Liturgy, Father George addressed the faithful with a word in which he explained the dogmas of the Third Ecumenical Council.
The clergyman thanked the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey for the permission to perform divine services in the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, located in the museum city of Ephesus, as well as the chairman of the Solzhenitsyn Russian Society of Culture A. Ponomarev for his help in organizing the pilgrimage of believers.
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The Third Ecumenical Council was held in 431 in the city of Ephesus (Asia Minor) during the reign of Emperor Theodosius the Younger (408-450). The Council was convened to consider the false teachings of Patriarch Nestorius of Constantinople (428-431) by the Church. The Council condemned the heresy of Nestorius and confirmed the Orthodox teaching that one should confess in the Lord Jesus Christ One Person (Hypostasis) and two natures – Divine and Human, and praise the Most Pure Mother of the Lord as the Ever-Virgin and true Mother of God. The Holy Fathers of the Council issued eight rules and "Twelve Anathematisms against Nestorius" by St. Cyril of Alexandria.