His Beatitude Ignatius IV celebrated his name day in Damascus

His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius IV of Antioch and All East celebrated his name day on the eve of the feast of his heavenly protector Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer, First Hierarch of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, on 19 December 2005.

Celebrations started with Great Vespers in the Church of Saint Ignatius, the representation church of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to the Patriarch of Great Antioch and All East. Many Orthodox Syrians, Byelorussians, Greeks, and Ukrainians, prayed at the Divine service. Among the participants also were His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius, Bishop Moises of Daragia, Bishop Gattas of Kars and representatives of the diplomatic corps. Prayers were said both in the Arabic and Russian languages.

After the Great Vespers, Archimandrite Alexander, representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to the Patriarch of Great Antioch and All the East, read out the greeting address of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexy II, and presented His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius IV with an Icon of the Mother of God and a holy panagia.

Archimandrite Alexander also conveyed to His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius a greeting message from Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Moscow Representation then held a reception to honour His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius.

His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius responded highlighting the excellent co-operation between the two sister Churches.

The celebrations continued at the Cathedral of the Assumption on 20 December. His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius concelebrated Divine Liturgy with hierarchs and priests who came to Damascus from various dioceses to congratulate the Primate of Antioch and All the East on his name day.

sources: http://www.mospat.ru/index.php?page=28867 , http://antiochpat.org/english/news/news.php?newsid=90&PHPSESSID=89a2c8222eabbb78f864256f4329ada8