Monastery consecrated in Thailand

(mospat.ru) - On February 9, 2012, Archbishop Mark of Yegoryevsk, director of the Moscow Patriarchate’s office for institutions abroad, who is on a visit to Thailand, consecrated the church dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God at the Monastery of the Dormition in Ratchaburi.

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Fr. Seraphim Raicha of St. Nicholas’s in Bangkok was ordained in the newly-consecrated church as hieromonk to continue his service in Thailand. Present at the service were pilgrims from various parishes in the country, officials of the Russian Embassy in Thailand and the head of the local administration.

His Eminence Mark presented Rev. Danai (Daniel) Vann with a patriarchal award, a golden pectoral cross. The right to wear it was granted to the first Thai Orthodox priest for his zealous work for the good of the Church and the Thai translation of Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy’s Bible chairs.

Archbishop Mark also presented Archimandrite Oleg Cherepanin, representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Thailand, with the Order of St. Innocent of Moscow in acknowledgement of his work for many years for the good of the Church and on the occasion of his 50th birthday.

The previous day, Archbishop Mark held at the monastery an assembly of the clergy, members of the parish councils of Orthodox churches in Thailand and Cambodia, representatives of the Orthodox parish in Laos and the committee of the Orthodox Church Foundation in Thailand. Archimandrite Oleg Cherepanin made a report stating the progress made and existing problems, the main ones being an acute need for purchasing some land for building a church in Bangkok and a shortage of clergy at the acting parishes.

Members of parish councils reported on the life of their communities, describing the special features of each of them. Rev. Danai (Daniel), chairman of the committee of the Orthodox Church Foundation in Thailand, introduced the assembly to the work of the Foundation.

In conclusion, Archbishop Mark addressed the assembly thanking all the participants and stating that some problems will be settled in the course of his visit, while others will be submitted to the consideration of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

He also received each of the monastery brethren in individual audience for a private talk, after which he identified candidates for taking monastic vows and instructed the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Thailand to submit an appropriate report to Patriarch Kirill.

In the evening, Archbishop Mark officiated at All-Night Vigil at the monastery’s church of the Dormition. During the service he presented Vladimir Buntilov, assistant to the ROC representative in Thailand and lecturer at the Mahidol University in Bangkok, with a patriarchal award, the Medal of St. Innocent, Metropolitan of Moscow, in recognition of his church work, the website of the Orthodox Church in Thailand has reported.