Solemn events dedicated to the end of the school year and the namesake of the rector, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk.
At the end of the Liturgy, Archbishop Filaret addressed the Rector with a congratulatory message, in which he wished Metropolitan Hilarion patience in his difficult archpastoral service, and also highly noted his services in the field of educational processes in the Church.
On behalf of the teaching staff of the OCAD, Vladyka was congratulated by Vice-rector for research Dmitry Viktorovich Shmonin, who thanked the Archpastor for taking care of the educational institution.
On behalf of the alumni to the INSTITUTE, Metropolitan Hilarion addressed the Pro-rector on educational work Saransk theological Seminary Archpriest Pavel Gorbunov, who conveyed the greetings of the Lord Zenobia, Metropolitan of Saransk and Mordovia, and thanked the rector of the CMI for the opportunity to touch the value of the educational process, which "merges the best synthesis of religion and science".
On this day, Metropolitan Hilarion also received greetings from his Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill, which States:
"I highly appreciate Your work in the Department of external Church relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, your educational and scientific activities. It is gratifying that by your service You strive to glorify the Great and Wonderful Creator, remembering that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called by his will (ROM. 8: 28).
Through the prayers of Your heavenly patron, the venerable Hilarion the New, may the Lord send You good health, cheerfulness of spirit, and his undiminished help in further various labors for the benefit of the Mother Church."
In his archpastoral homily after the divine Liturgy, Metropolitan Hilarion said:
"I am very pleased on the day of his name day, the commemoration day of St. Hilarion the New, hegumen of the Dalmatian monastery to celebrate the divine Liturgy in this Holy Church, which was recently restored and painted, and to pray together with those who today will receive the diploma of our school – Church postgraduate and doctoral school named St. Cyril and Methodius".
The rector told about the history of the OCAD institution, which was created by the decision of his Holiness Patriarch Kirill, and the goals of the educational institution: to carry out the educational process at different levels (master's, postgraduate and doctoral studies), advanced training courses for various categories of responsible Church workers, as well as the preparation of textbooks for undergraduate theological schools.
The Bishop noted that teachers and prelates of the Church at all times found "the language, the terminology, the approaches that were necessary to teach the gospel message to his contemporaries", as well as "opposed the heresies and false doctrines that arose", and stressed that the same task is faced by modern Church servants:
At the end of his sermon, the Archpastor wished all present to pray to the Lord, "that he may help each of us to bear the fruit that he expects from us."
After the divine Liturgy, Bishop Hilarion presented the diploma of candidate of theology to priest Andrey Rykov, who defended his thesis on March 13, 2019 at a meeting of the Candidate's dissertation Council of the OCAD.
Then a solemn ceremony was held in the Assembly hall of the OCAD, during which graduates were awarded master's degrees. Honorary guests of the event were the rector of the national research nuclear University "MEPhI" M. N. Strikhanov, the rector of the Moscow state linguistic University I. A. Kraeva and the Trustees of the Church-wide postgraduate and doctoral programs.
Opening the graduation act, Metropolitan Hilarion noted that over the past years the OCAD has expanded the list of accredited master's programs by opening joint programs with the Higher school of Economics: "Philosophy and history of religion" and "Canon law", each of which "focuses on solving research and applied problems relevant to the Church and theology".
The Bishop noted that the educational institution is working to ensure that educational programs "are attractive not only in the educational market of Russia, but also for other local Orthodox Churches." He also spoke about plans to continue expanding the range of master's programs.
The rector expressed the hope that "all those who will receive diplomas today will not stop there, but will continue their education and self-improvement", choosing for their scientific trajectory the General Church postgraduate and doctoral studies. He stressed that the institution itself and all the possibilities of the educational institution are aimed at constantly improving their educational level and successfully fulfilling the mission assigned by the Lord to everyone.
The Archpastor also spoke about the Scientific and educational theological Association established on the basis of the OCAD to "coordinate the work of spiritual and secular educational institutions where theology is taught, exchange experience, exchange teachers, textbooks, and build the field of theological science simultaneously in the space of spiritual educational institutions and in the secular educational space". He thanked the representatives of the OCAD partner universities for their cooperation, constant joint contacts and implementation of joint programs.
At the end of his address, Metropolitan Hilarion wished that every graduate of the educational institution would contribute to the work that the Lord himself started and his followers continued.
The graduation act ended with a thank-you speech from the OCAD graduate priest George Balanovsky.
