MOSCOW: May 16, 2007
Christ the Savior Cathedral to Greet His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus on May 17 With a Special Ringing of Bells

The bell-ringers of Christ the Savior Cathedral have created a special ring composition for the greeting of His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, where he will arrive early Thursday morning for the signing of the Act of Canonical Communion with the Moscow Patriarchate.

"The ring we plan to greet His Eminence Vladyka Laurus with was composed on the basis of one of our traditional rings, but includes a greater number of musical passages,” said senior bell-ringer of the Moscow Kremlin and Christ the Savior Cathedral, Igor Konovalov, in an interview with Interfax.

According to Konovalov, the main role will be played by the 18-ton Svyatitelsky bell, upon which are the bas-reliefs of four Moscow metropolitans: Peter, Alexiy, Iona and Filipp. s

"At first, in anticipation of the arrival of the main figures in the ceremony, the area will be filled with the measured blagovest [single peals] of the Svyatitelsky . When the automobile of His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus appears in view of the bell-towers of Christ the Savior Cathedral, the general trezvon [multiple peals] on the north-east, south-east and north-west towers will begin.”

Then, after the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia enters the church, the blagovest will continue, and two minutes later the ringing of the largest, Tsarsky , bell, will be woven in.

Then the traditional patriarchal peal of five bell-towers (including the bell-tower of the church at the entrance of the complex) will greet the arrival of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.

Konovalov told Interfax that the bell-ringers of the Moscow Patriarchate have long ago begun cultivating the youth of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia: in 1998, Konovalov founded a school for the art of bell-ringing at St Nicholas Church bell-tower in Stuttgart [ROCOR].

He said that today, the bell-ringers of Christ the Savior Cathedral have a whole series of special rings for various occasions.

"Before 1928, the bell-tower of Christ the Savior Cathedral rang in a disorderly fashion. But then, when the church was rebuilt, we created special rings for it, and now all four bell-towers, at a distance of 40 meters from each other, are in tune, and are rung in rhythm with the great bell,” said Konovalov.