On March 23, on the eve of the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary according to the New Julian calendar, with the blessing of Metropolitan Silouan of the Lebanese Mountains, a procession took place in the Orthodox parish of the city of Zal El Dib (Lebanon) from the old Annunciation Church, transferred to the use of the community of the Russian Orthodox Church, to the new Church of the Annunciation under construction.
According to the website of the Metochion, Archimandrite Philip (Vasiltsev), Archpriest Samir El-Khoury and the clergy of the Metropolitan of the Lebanese Mountains, also took part in the prayer procession, which was led by Metropolitan Silouan of the Mountains of Lebanon (Antioch Patriarchate).
At the end of the procession, a prayer service to the Most Holy Theotokos was held in the newly built Church of the Annunciation. After the service was dismissed, Metropolitan Siluan warmly welcomed Archimandrite Philip, Archpriest Samir, the co-serving clergy, the community of the Russian Orthodox Church and the parishioners of the local parish. The archpastor also spoke about the small consecration of the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary on March 10.
In his welcoming speech, Archimandrite Philip cordially thanked Metropolitan Silouan for the spiritual support of the community of the Metochion and presented Archpriest Samir El-Khoury with a cross with decorations in memory of the small consecration of the Annunciation Church.