SVYATOGORSK: September 20, 2023
At the Dormition Lavra in Svyatogorsk, a portion of the holy relics of St Arseny the Great was received

On Friday, September 15, 2023, on the patronal feast day of SS Anthony and Theodosius of Kiev-Pechersk, a portion of the holy relics of St Arseny the Great, which arrived in Ukraine from America and was donated to the Svyatogorsk monastery by the couple Ilya and Elena Poluektov, parishioners of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia living near San Francisco, CA, was greeted at the Svyatogorsk Lavra. This is reported by the Telegram channel of the monastery.

The owner of the Christian shrine Ilya Poluektov from a family of immigrants, the son of a priest, Archpriest Alexei Poluektov, who for 37 years was the rector of the Kazan Church near the Cathedral in San Francisco. In 2020, Ilya, who is a connoisseur of Christian relics, acquired a particle of the relics of St Arseny the Great in Italy with a certificate confirming its authenticity.

However, the situation in Ukraine was not conducive to such a trip. “The problem with the transfer of the shrine was resolved when one of the admirers of the Holy Mountains, now living in the United States, Elena Grushchina, took on the mission of transporting the holy relics during her trip to her homeland in the city of Kramatorsk," the report says.

A particle of the relics of St Arseny arrived in an oval sealed reliquary with a certificate confirming the authenticity of the shrine.