The celebration the icon of the Smolensk Mother of God Hodegetria

The Smolensk icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria, along with the Vladimir and Kazan ones, is one of the three Orthodox shrines most revered in Russia. On the day of its veneration, Governor Alexey Ostrovskiy was present at the Divine Liturgy in the Holy Assumption Cathedral.

Hundreds of believers, the participants of the international procession "Our common path - Hodegetria" from Vitebsk, pilgrims from Belarus, Moldova, from near and distant foreign countries gathered in the main cathedral of Smolensk region.

The service was performed by Isidore, Metropolitan of Smolensk and Dorogobuzh, the head of the Smolensk Metropolitan, together with the Highly Reverend and Most Reverend Archipastors: Sergiy, Metropolitan of Ternopol and Kremenetsk; Serafim, Bishop of Luberetsy, Vicar of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Chairman of the Youth Affairs Synodic Department; Kirill, Metropolitan of Ekaterinburg and Verkhoturye; Alexander, Metropolitan of Bryansk and Sevsk; Aristarkh, Metropolitan of Kemerovo and Prokopyevsk; Zinovy, Metropolitan of Saransk and Mordovia; Dimitry, Archbishop of Vitebsk and Orsha, as well as other bishops.

The venerable image of the Holy Mother of God was carried by the procession around the Holy Assumption Cathedral, after which the archipastors congratulated those present on the holiday important for the Smolensk and all Orthodox believers.

On the same day, there was the II Annual Bell Ringing Festival "Odigitrievsky" held, aimed at the revival and popularization of the bell-ringing traditions as an integral part of the divine service and Russian musical church art. This year, the Festival acquired the status of an international one – there were participants from the Republic of Belarus and Italy along with the bell ringers from Smolensk, Moscow, and Kemerovo.

The contestants demonstrated different schools and techniques of bell ringing on two belfries, one of which, by the way, has been specially made for the Festival and is unique.