December 5, 2018, marks the 10th anniversary of the repose of His Holiness Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and All Russia. On the morning of November 28, 2018, on the eve of this sad date, the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, H.I.H. the Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, took time out of her working visit to Moscow to visit the Epiphany Cathedral, where she offered prayers for the repose of the soul of the former Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Her Imperial Highness was greeted at the entrance to the cathedral by Archpriest Boris Obrembalsky, who is one of the priests assigned to the cathedral, and by the Director of Historical and Memorial Affairs of the Chancellery of the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, Hieromonk Nikon (Levachev-Belavenets). Accompanied by them, the Grand Duchess went to the side-altar of the Annunciation, where she laid flowers at the grave of Patriarch Aleksei II. Then, with the blessing of the cathedral’s rector, Archpriest Alexander Agaikin, Hieromonk Nikon served a memorial Litya service for the reposed Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
After the service, the Grand Duchess went to the main church, where she venerated the holy relics of St. Alexis, metropolitan of Moscow, the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, and a reliquary containing, among other relics, a fragment of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of Christ, and a fragment of the holy relics of St. Andrew the First-Called.
The Grand Duchess ended her visit by going to the side-altar of St. Nicholas, where she venerated the ancient icon of St. Nicholas and prayed at the grave of Patriarch Sergius.