On Sunday 26 August and Monday 28 August we had services for the Great Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God.  All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves was served on Sunday evening and Divine Liturgy was served on Monday morning.  In accordance with a resolution of the Holy Synod, on this day our parish observed the centenary of the 1917-18 Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Council, a momentous event in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church that culminated in the restoration of the Patriarchate and the enthronement of Patriarch Tikhon (Belavin), opened in the Dormition Cathedral on the day of the feast in 1917.  A moleben to the canonised participants in the Council was served following the Prayer before the Amvon and an Epistle of Patriarch Kyrill on the occasion of the centenary of the Council was read aloud in Russian in place of a sermon.  A link to the English-language text is available here. Following the service a memorial litia was served for the other participants in the Council.