The Day of Slavic Written Language and Culture in Moscow

On May 24, 2012, on the Holy Saints Equal to the Apostles Cyril and Methodius Day, His Holiness Patriarch Cyril administered the Devine Liturgy in the patriarchal Assumption cathedral in the Kremlin. This is a celebration day of the Name Day of Our Holy Father.

Following the Devine Liturgy, the Holy Father has been ministered by the permanent members of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church : Philaret, Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk, Patriarchal Exarch of all Belarus; Juvenal, Metropolitan of Krutitsy and Kolomna, Varsonofy, Metropolitan Saransky and Mordovsky, Chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Hilarion, Metropolitan Volokolamsky, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, аs well as hierarchs - heads of the Local Orthodox Churches, Host of Hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, representatives of the Priesthood of Moscow and Moscow region.

In the Cathedral of the Assumption, there were a lot of honorary visitors – representatives of the Russian Federation Government Bodies, and Diplomatic Missions, attending audience of the feasts devoted to the Day of Slavic Written Language and Culture.

After the Devine Liturgy, Metropolitan Philaret announced the testimonial of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, and presented the Holy Father the scroll of the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God.

Then everybody joined the crucession sacred procession started from the Cathedral of the Assumption and headed to the Saint Basil’s Cathedral on Red Square, where His Holiness Cyril, and His Beatitude Archprimate Jerome administered prayer to the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God the Holy Saints Equal to the Apostles Cyril and Methodius.

The official opening ceremony of the Day of Slavic Written Language and Culture was started from the prayer. His Holiness Cyril Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia addressed his primatial discourse to the thousands of believers who have gathered at the Vasiliev Spusk from different parts of Moscow Eparchy. Complimentary address of the President of Russia V.V. Putin has been announced to the participants of the feast commemorated to the Day of Slavic Written Language and Culture. Then, His Beatitude Archprimate Jerome addressed the participants of the festivity. In his reply message, His Holiness Cyril Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia wished the brethren of Greece to overcome all challenges currently befallen on them.

The State Kuban Cossack chorus continued the opening ceremony.

On the same day, in the refectory churches of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour there was held a state reception commemorated to the Name Day of Our Holy Father Cyril attended by His Beatitude Archprimate Jerome, members of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, along with other hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church and Local Orthodox Churches, and numerous other honorary guests.

In the evening of May, 24, Our Holy Father Cyril and His Beatitude Archprimate Jerome attended the festal concert dedicated to the Day of Slavic Written Language and Culture, and 1150th anniversary of Russian statehood.

The gala-concert held in the concert hall of the State Kremlin Palace was arranged by the Russian Orthodox Church, and Ministry of Cultural Affairs of RF. Renowned groups and soloists of Russia, Ukraine, Byelorussia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina performed at this event.

LLC "Independent Stage Company "АKSIOMA" have provided integrated technical support of the festivals dedicated to the celebration of the "Day of Written Language and Culture in Moscow. 2012". A stage of 20 x 13 m size with a heavy-duty sloped shoulder elevator-type Prolyte ST pitched roof with a vertical head of 12 m from the ground has been erected. The stage was enclosed on three sides with a heavy-duty Lyaher wall covered with canvas covers from the outside, and with the so called "black cabinet" arranged inside. There was a purpose in erecting of this particular stage structure. While designing the stage structure, our design engineers calculated wind loads in terms of the wind rose characteristic to this particular locality, i.e. considering that, from morning till afternoon, the wind blows from the Kremlin Quay in the direction of Red Square along Vasilievsky Spusk Square, and starting from the afternoon till morning – vice versa, correspondingly.

Various sound portals, heavy-duty walls for video screens, console control rooms, fences, podiums for camera-control engineers, constructions for all-kinds of drapery, water-filled ballasts to ensure safety of stage structures, and many other structures which have been designed by our experienced design-engineers, were built up by the professional teams of fitters within the project timeframe.

Another bottle-neck of the project was in the shortage of the preparation time given for obtaining of all agreements and erection of the whole project.

Another distinguishing feature of the project laid in the necessity to insert a huge stage structure of 40 m in the width into the Vasilievsky Spusk Square right in between of the Saint Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin Wall. And in the mean time, taking into account the necessity to provide for the technical pass ways from each of the sides not less than 5 m. Such stage dimensions have been chosen by the managers of the festivals together with the technicians of LLC"ISC "АAKSIOMA" on the basis of the number of actors performing simultaneously, and the participants enrolled in the concert. As, for example, in the case of the Sate Kuban Cossacks chorus, the stage was supposed tbe shared by a group of a little more than 200 people.

Doubled standby power service of the project allowed securing the stability of the energy supply of the whole of the equipment, including other power consumers for 200%.