#CIS #Russia – Tens of thousands of Orthodox Christians marched through central Moscow on Sunday in the city’s second annual All-Moscow Cross Procession, led by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.
The procession commemorated the Synaxis of the Moscow Saints. After celebrating the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the patriarch led clergy, monastics and lay believers along a roughly 6.5-kilometer route that followed the Moskva River embankments and Khamovnichesky Val to the Novodevichy Convent.
Participants carried three principal shrines at the head of the column: a copy of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, an ark containing relics of Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy, and the icon of All Saints of Moscow. The relics of Donskoy had been rediscovered in July during restoration work at the Kremlin’s Archangel Cathedral.
Russia’s Interior Ministry estimated that about 100,000 people took part. The procession revived a tradition that originated in 1525, when Grand Duke Vasily III transferred the Smolensk Icon to the newly founded Novodevichy Convent. The annual city-wide march continued for nearly four centuries before it was halted after the 1917 communist revolution. Organizers restarted the large-scale event in 2025.
Faithful gathered from mid-morning near the cathedral. Security checkpoints were set up under the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge. The column paused for a moleben, or prayer service, before reaching the convent, where the shrines were placed for veneration. After the procession ended, the relics of Dmitry Donskoy were scheduled to remain on display at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
The event coincided with Moscow City Day celebrations. Officials and church representatives described the turnout as evidence of the revival of public Orthodox tradition in the capital.
Cover Image: The procession seen from afar and above in Moscow on September 6th, 2026.
