Penza, 30 August 2015. PenzaNews. The relics of St. Vladimir the Great, the key personality in the Christianization of the Kievan Rus, arrived to Penza on Saturday, August 29, as part of the commemoration of the 1000th anniversary of his death.

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The arrival of the holy relics was met by the procession of believers and the clergy at the traffic police post on the M5 “Ural” highway in Arbekovo neighborhood, led by the Archbishop Serafim of Penza and Nizhny Novgorod.

It was followed by a crucession to the Church of Supreme Apostles St. Peter and Paul, where the people took part in an acaphistus to St. Vladimir the Great and held an all-night vigil.

In his address to the gathering, the Archbishop Serafim stressed the importance of the grand-prince’s life-changing choice of the Orthodox Church by baptizing himself and all his followers.

The arrival of the relics to Penza is a grand event that will help the people in their way of Orthodox Christianity, he added.

Moreover, the Archbishop Serafim has awarded the businessman Oleg Totsky a memorial medal “In Commemoration of 1000 Years Since the Passing of St. Vladimir the Great” as a benefactor of the Church of Supreme Apostles St. Peter and Paul, the press service of the Penza diocese informed PenzaNews agency.

The procession of the relics on their way through Russia will continue on September 1, when they will be transported to Saratov.