On May 9, 2023, at St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral in New York, after the Divine Liturgy celebrated in the morning and before the weekly youth gathering held in the evening, the rector of the cathedral, Archpriest Igor Vyzhanov, celebrated a thanksgiving moleben for Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
With the blessing of the church hierarchy, this moleben is celebrated every year in all churches of the Russian Orthodox Church. At the end of the moleben the following petition is proclaimed:
“In blessed falling-asleep grant eternal rest, O Lord, to Thy departed servants, the ever-memorable commanders and warriors who laid down their lives on the field of battle for the faith and the Fatherland, those who died of wounds and hunger, those innocently tortured and killed in captivity and bitter labor, and all who labored for the sake of Victory, and make their memory to be eternal.”
In his address to the parishioners, Fr. Igor emphasized the importance on this memorable day of prayer and remembrance of the inscrutable ways of God’s Providence.
After the service, the final part, “The Last Assault,” of the epic feature film “Liberation,” made in 1971 by the war veteran director Yuri Ozerov, was screened. After the screening, those present shared their family memories of the Great Patriotic War.