On September 7, 2025, a major procession honoring the Council of Moscow Saints took place in Moscow, led by Russian Patriarch Kirill. The event also served as a focal point for the secular celebration of Moscow Day, aligning both holidays this year.
The procession began at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and ended at the Novodevichy Stavropegial Monastery, following a new historical route not previously used in modern or past times for liturgical processions. Patriarch Kirill described this as a revival of a “remarkable spiritual tradition” disrupted by adversaries. The route stretched seven kilometers, and church media highlighted the patriarch’s physical endurance amidst health rumors, although he primarily traveled by car. Around 40,000 believers from various city parishes participated. A procession of this magnitude hasn’t occurred in Moscow since 2015, which saw over 10,000 participants led by the patriarch from the Kremlin to the Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery, in honor of St. Peter, the Moscow Wonderworker.
Official figures indicate 34,000 to 40,000 participants, yet Orthodox-patriotic sources claimed numbers between 100,000 and 150,000, contesting previous statistics of 250,000 Muslims gathering in Moscow for Kurban Bayram in June, with 80,000 in central mosque prayers. The patriarch emphasized the procession’s role in asserting Moscow as the Orthodox capital, preserving its Christian heritage, and reinforcing historical truth and justice.
A key aspect of the procession was a prayer call, endorsed by the patriarch and pronounced by the archdeacon: “We pray for the president of our country, Russia, Vladimir Vladimirovich, that from heaven he may be given… to govern our country well, to instill peace and order in it.”
On August 22, Moscow parish orders mandated: “The chairmen of Moscow churches must ensure participation of at least 30 laypeople from each parish, and from parishes with multiple clergy, metoses, and stavropegic monasteries — no fewer than 50 laypeople.”
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