Thursday 5 December was the fifth anniversary of the repose of the Most Holy Patriarch, Alexey II of Moscow and All Russia.  On Saturday 7 December, following Divine Liturgy on the day of commemoration of the Great-Martyr Katherine, a memorial litia was served.  The parish rector spoke beforehand of the wise leadership of Patriarch Alexey during an extraordinary period in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church, a period at the end of which decades-old division in the life of the Church was finally overcome.  May his memory be eternal!