Cathedral of Christ the Savior of the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker in Moscow visit schedule, how to get there. The relics of the famous Christian Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker are from May 21 to July 28 in Russia.
From May 22 to July 12, they are available for worship in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, then the relics will be transported to St. Petersburg.
Cathedral of Christ the Savior of the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker in Moscow visit schedule, how to get there
The passage to the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is open from May 22 to July 12 every day from 8.00 to 21.00 (you should queue until 18.00 in order to have time to go to the shrine before the temple closes). You can get in line as early as 05.30-06.00, the entrance to the line at this time is in the area of the Crimean bridge (passage from the Park Kultury metro station).
On weekdays, the queue of pilgrims is much smaller than on holidays and weekends, in this regard, from Monday the number of people is reduced. On weekdays, the waiting time in line is approximately four hours.
A large number of volunteers help believers during their visit to the Temple. In addition, rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, medical workers, as well as police officers are on duty along the entire length of the line. The organizing committee of the event recommends taking medicines with you, if necessary, food, drinking water. For mothers, disabled people and their accompanying person, there is a special preferential queue.
The organizers of access to the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker in Moscow advise residents of Moscow and the Moscow region not to make a pilgrimage to the shrine on Saturdays due to the large number of believers who arrived from the regions.
The waiting time in the queue, according to information received from the organizers, on Saturday is up to 12 hours, on weekdays the waiting in line can last 3-4 hours.
At the moment, the shrine has already been visited by about 800 thousand pilgrims - people still arrive from different parts of Russia.
Tens of thousands of believers gather near the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, where on Monday they will open access to a particle of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Many pilgrims came from other cities and even countries. After all, the relic was brought to Russia for the first time in almost a thousand years.
In anticipation of a miracle - perhaps this can be said about the upcoming worship of the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker - there are now hundreds, if not thousands of people at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, reports.
Everyone is waiting for the cherished time - 14:00 Moscow time. That is when access to the shrine will be opened. The queue has already stretched all over Volkhonka and further along the streets of the capital for several kilometers.
Let's explain the influx of parishioners. After all, this is not just the first day when you can touch the relic. On May 22, the entire Orthodox world celebrates the day of St. Nicholas. The people also call the holiday "Summer Nikola" - it was on this day 930 years ago that the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker were transferred to the Italian city of Bari. And it is just symbolic that almost the same day, so many centuries later, a particle of these relics was brought to Russia for the first time in history. Here, by the way, not only Muscovites and residents of the Moscow region - people come from all over Russia. Some queued up at night. They stand at the Temple for more than ten hours, but, as they themselves say, for them this is no test, but in itself - grace.
For almost a millennium, the shrine has not left the Italian city of Bari - since exactly 930 years ago on this very day the relics of St. Nicholas were brought there from the Lycian world, from the former Greek territory. Moreover, then, in ancient times, they were not just brought - they were actually stolen from there. And to prevent this from happening again, in Italy the relics were immured under a marble slab. And actually, now, to get to them, I had to go for an almost surgical operation. Through a hole with a diameter of only 6 centimeters, scientists were able to get a particle of the shrine. This is the ninth left rib, which is closest to the heart, and it is the heart, as it is believed in Orthodoxy, that is full of faith. It turns out that the most sacred things were brought to Russia. This, without exaggeration, a landmark event became possible thanks to the joint efforts of the Pope of Rome and the Russian Patriarch Kirill. Almost a year and a half ago, they met in Cuba, but only now the time has come for miracles - as the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said, who the day before met the shrine in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
"We believe that the Lord gives us signs of his presence, his mercy, his grace - in a visible way - when it is most needed by people who turn to him with prayer. Today we really need the presence of St. Nicholas and the miracle worker. Not only in our people have preserved faith, but so that the great enduring, divine truths do not leave the life of modern man," said Patriarch Kirill.
Very soon, pilgrims will have access to the shrine. In the meantime, ambulance crews are on duty here, if someone in the queue suddenly becomes ill. The order is provided by police officers, they are also helped by volunteers. There are no concessions for tourists and, moreover, there are no VIP passes - everything is in the order of the general, as they say, live queue. And by the way, it is already being compared with the one at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior six years ago, when the belt of the Most Holy Theotokos was brought to Moscow from Athos. Then about three million people were able to bow to the relic. Whether the record will be broken is unknown. The relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker will remain in the capital until mid-July, and then they will be transported to St. Petersburg for another two weeks, so that everyone can bow to the saint there.
Summer is ending, and with it, its main event for all Orthodox people is the bringing of part of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, stored in the basilica of the city of Bari (Italy), to the Russian Orthodox Church. Of course, this event was historical and long-awaited for millions of believers throughout our vast Motherland. An event that will forever remain in the memory of both pilgrims and the main assistants of the saint from May 21 to July 28 - a thousandth army of volunteers! The entire chronology of miracles that happened by the will of God and the prayers of St. Nicholas is in our material today.
Helpers of Saint Nicholas - Orthodox Volunteers
diplomatic agreements. Beginning of miracles
The year 2017, when we recall the tragic events of the 20th, bloody century, is marked not only by sorrow for the past, but also by joy about the present, for in the year of the 100th anniversary of the great Russian revolution, our country was visited by the wondrous Pleasant of God - who for the first time in 930 years left the place of permanent of his stay - a Catholic basilica in the Italian city of Bari.
Without going into details, which today almost every Orthodox person already knows, it is worth noting, however, that this truly epochal historical event took place thanks to a diplomatic agreement reached between His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and His Holiness His Holiness Pope Francis during a meeting at the José Marti International Airport of Havana on February 12, 2016.
Meeting of the relics of St. Nicholas in the main temple of Russia
Time passed, and that long-awaited day came, May 21, when in the Cathedral Church of Christ the Savior in the capital city of Moscow, with a large gathering of people, a solemn meeting of the ark with a particle of the relics of the Archbishop of Mir Lycian took place, led by the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, concelebrated by vicar bishops and clergy with of the entire Fatherland. Under the popular singing of magnificence to the saint, his honest remains were brought under the arches of the main temple of the country, where the pre-holiday all-night vigil was performed.
On the feast of the prayerful memory of the transfer of the relics of the holy miracle worker to Bari, the hearts of people standing near the ark in Moscow, as well as throughout Russia, rejoiced with the overflowing joy of the coming, mysterious, purely personal communion with their beloved Saint Nicholas. In those moments, it seemed that the earth was united with Heaven, that angels were praying to God together with people. And so it was, for, despite the recollected terrible events, the Orthodox faith is alive and active, and no matter how they try to break it, it continues to grow among our people and sing the glory of the One Godhead, worshiped in the Holy Trinity.
Miracles of Saint Nicholas
The Divine Liturgy laid the foundation for the flow of people to the relics of St. Nicholas, marked by a large number of miracles and signs revealed to those who, from the depths of their hearts (Ps. 129: 1), turned their “hot” prayers for help or with thanksgiving to the Lord, His Most Pure Mother and the holy archpastor of the city of Myra. At the request of the Most Holy Vladyka, he was told about everything that happened to the pilgrims, who, according to their faith, received what they asked for, referred to as nothing more than a miracle. Our movement launched a special hashtag "#MiraclesThrough the Eyes of Volunteers", under which we summarize what is happening on #NikolskieDays. It is clear that it will not be possible to put all miracles in one material, because there were very, very many of them, but we will still cite some of them.
Cathedral prayer for the innocently convicted in St. Nicholas Days
Here is what the regent of the choir of Orthodox Volunteers Anna Golik says about one miracle in her article “Dedicated to people with whom the impossible is possible”: “I know a girl who prayed very much for her brother, he was set up and put in a colony for 6 years. He had already served 1.5 years, and on one of the Nikolsky days, his term was extended for another 6 years. I remember how she cried and prayed fervently. We, her friends, tried to help as best we could - some submitted notes for prayers, some passed the request on to familiar priests, and some personally asked the saint for help. It was a real conciliar prayer. I will not paint for a long time, I will simply say that he was released after three weeks. At all. For me, this was the most important miracle during the entire stay of the relics in Moscow.”
Choir of Orthodox Volunteers and its choir director - Anna Golik Help with housing
Saint Nicholas does not specialize in helping only sailors and travelers, he helps everyone, as our volunteer Yulia Egorova testifies: “Saint Nicholas helped me a lot, and when I prayed at his relics! I had problems with housing, and I didn’t know what to do, of course, I was very upset. A friend told me: “Pray to Nikolai Ugodnik, and He will help you!” I prayed, asked for help, and somehow I wrote on my wall in a social network that I was looking for housing. People reposted, put likes, but there were no responses, and literally on the 3rd day after the shift, Lyudmila writes to me, who agreed to take me in! Isn't it a miracle? Of course, a miracle!
It’s as if all of our beautiful Russia is multinational, believing, sometimes gloomy…
This is what Tatyana Shcherbakova tells about the presence of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker within the Russian Orthodox Church: “I happened to visit the relics of St. Nicholas the Pleasant nine times. And every time I stood at the exit, listening to the akathist, I was amazed at the faces of the pilgrims walking away from the relics: many people literally shone!
Different nationalities, all, all ages: girls and boys, adult men and women, families with teenage children and babies in their arms. Faces are smiling, some are serious, tired, some are crying… It is as if all of our beautiful Russia – multinational, believing, sometimes gloomy – has been concentrated in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior these days. And the Temple itself has turned into the very “One, Catholic and Apostolic Church”, about which we sing at the Liturgy.
Mired in the hustle and bustle of life, we often do not know who we are. Sometimes we are indifferent and callous, not fair to our neighbors. But on such days, which fall out, perhaps once in a lifetime, the Savior, through His saints, shows us our true essence and reveals the souls of our neighbors, whose luminous faces we see in these wonderful Nikolsky days.
A distant, unfulfilled dream of singing in a large choir was embodied here and now ...
No one is left indifferent by the opinion of our choir singer Olga Kobzeva, who wrote about the Nikolsky days in her article “Dedicated to the Saint and all my inspirers”: “Nikolai is truly a Wonderworker. And even if I don’t have a story about healing or about a sharp turn of fate, nothing visible, material happened in my life, but something great happened for me personally, inside me. The most striking was the first visit to a prayer service with an akathist as a chorister. I must say that there was no purpose to ask for something. Until the end, it was not clear how and what would happen. And in general, until the last, I didn’t really believe that I would get there.
But what happened in the soul while singing in two choirs of 60 people under high vaults right in front of the shrine with relics cannot be described in words. But I left the Temple already different. A distant, unfulfilled dream of singing in a large choir was embodied here and now.<…>On one of the days, when there were no records for prayers, I decided to come and put on a green shirt-front. This first watch was also completely miraculous. Frankly, in the depths of my soul, I really wanted to work in the temple, and not on the street, and I also really wanted to distribute icons, I just wanted to for some reason. Of course, I didn't dream about it. But everything came true! It is also impossible to describe my joy on this day.”
All-Russian Choir of Orthodox Youth at the relics of Archbishop Mir of Lycia
Echoing Olga Kobzeva’s enthusiasm for participating in prayer services at the relics of St. Nicholas, I would like to say a special word about the choir of the Orthodox Volunteers movement, which at the time the greatest shrine was brought to Moscow became not just big and even big, it became the All-Russian Orthodox Youth Choir, glorified by everyone beloved Archbishop of the World of Lycia.
The Choir of Orthodox Volunteers is a small world in which everything happened on St. Nicholas Days: problems with the formation of an army of singers, and its colossal influx, and the presence in the temple of several compositions and the presence of only two people during the singing of prayers, but whatever happens, we the beloved Choir was afloat, was always ready to sing prayers and glorify the holy miracle worker, was always ready to get out of the most unusual situation. For what we witnessed, for the emotions that visited, visit and will visit all of us for a long time, Orthodox volunteers prayerfully thank all the singers of Russia and the purely permanent, talented, patient, beloved regent Anya Golik, who lived in those days on in one breath, managing everything at once, which gave all the best to the full program and at the same time put its wide soul into each prayer service.
Seeing the relics of St. Nicholas in St. Petersburg
After the stay of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Moscow, the ark with its whole-bearing relics was also transferred to the northern capital of Russia - St. Petersburg, where it was located from July 13 to July 28 of this year. Seeing the relics of St. Nicholas took place at night, July 13. Members of the Orthodox Volunteers movement gathered on July 13 at 00:30 in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, at about 4-5 in the morning a moleben was served by Bishop Arseniy Istrinsky, after which the ark was solemnly escorted from the temple to the bus that had departed for the airport.
Olga Balabanova shared her impressions of that night with us: “By the grace of God, I was honored to be in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on the night of seeing off St. Nicholas from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Saint Nicholas became especially dear to each of us during the stay of his honest relics in Moscow. On the farewell night, I had the feeling that you were seeing off a very dear person on a long journey, so it was very difficult to hold back tears. Despite the physical separation, we understand that St. Nicholas is always with us: in our hearts, in our prayers... Even now he stands before the Lord God and intercedes for us in his prayers.”
Over 2.3 million people in 67 days!
For 15 Nikolsky days in St. Petersburg, the flow of pilgrims from all over our vast Motherland did not stop. And the total number of all believers who venerated the relics of the Saint in Moscow and St. Petersburg amounted to more than 2.3 million people in 67 days!
Seeing the relics of St. Nicholas in Bari
The church-state holiday of the Baptism of Russia this year was marked by both joy and sadness at the same time, for in the Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, after the Divine Liturgy, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia with a host of bishops and representatives of the delegation of the Roman Catholic Church, accompanying the ninth rib of St. Nicholas, carried the ark with his honest remains to the city of Bari, where the shrine with the holy relics of the miracle worker has been under a bushel in the altar of the Catholic basilica for 930 years.
Blessed Nikolsky days
Remembering the blessed #NikolskieDays, let us thank all the organizers of the event of a truly historical, universal scale, offering prayers for them: His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, His Holiness Pope Francis, members of the Organizing Committee for bringing the greatest shrine for the opportunity to be assistants to such a great saint and our leader, Mikhail Gennadyevich Kuksov, for rallying us all in this event!
And, of course, we once again, again and again, thank everyone who took part in this great event - helped, photographed, supported, accompanied all the way through the queues leading to the relics of the saint. All volunteers who tirelessly, sparing no effort and time, in heat and cold, in pouring rain and bright sun, stood in work and prayer together with pilgrims from all over our vast Motherland.
May the Lord keep you all for many and good years!
The material was prepared by the Information Service of the movement "Orthodox Volunteers".
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Nicholas the Wonderworker is the most revered saint in Russia. The Italian city of Bari, where they have been kept for about a thousand years, was left for the first time in all this time. An exception was made only for our country. The doors of the country's main temple will open for worship at two o'clock in the afternoon, but people began to queue early in the morning. Already now it has stretched for almost one and a half kilometers - from the Crimean bridge to Soymonovsky passage.
From today, anyone can venerate the relics of St. Nicholas, which were brought to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior the day before. In half an hour, a festive divine service will begin, which will be led by Patriarch Kirill. And although it is still almost five hours before access to the shrine is opened, believers have already begun to gather on Prechistenskaya Embankment. Someone whispers prayers, other people sing psalms, many came with icons of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The atmosphere is saturated with anticipation of a great holiday.
The event is truly unique, the relics of the saint did not leave the Italian Bari for more than 900 years, and the bringing of the relics to Russia became possible thanks to the agreements between Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and Pope Francis in February 2016 in Cuba. Nicholas the Wonderworker is revered by both Orthodox and Catholics. But in Russia, the attitude towards this saint is special - in every church there is an icon of the saint, they turn to him both in sorrow and in joy, asking for help and patronage. The organizers are counting on a large number of people. The queue will start at the Crimean bridge, this is the Park Kultury metro station, two kilometers from the temple. If there are a lot of people, then the queue will continue towards Luzhniki. The pilgrims will be assisted by 10,000 volunteers. Food points will be organized, they promise that everything will be at affordable prices. No one bothers to take water and a small supply of food with you. No special passes and VIP queues, there will be a separate queue for wheelchair users and those who use crutches.
Starting tomorrow, access to the shrine will be open from 8 am to 9 pm. The relics will remain in Moscow until July 12, then they will be transferred to St. Petersburg for two weeks. One can recall the events of six years ago, when in Moscow they worshiped the belt of the Most Holy Theotokos, brought from Athos. Then about three million people venerated the shrine. It is unlikely that this time the number of pilgrims will be less.
In connection with the arrival of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Moscow, traffic will be limited. From today until July 13, Soymonovsky passage will be blocked, as well as one lane of the Prechistenskaya embankment from the side of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior from the Krymsky bridge to Lenivka street.