The liturgy was celebrated in the prison temple of Icon of the Mother of God “The Seeker of the Perishing” located on the territory of the penal colony. Hegumen Ioann, the Rector of the Nikolo-Ugreshskaya seminary, was leading this worship service together with Hegumen Sergy, the spiritual father of the Monastery of St. John the Theologian, of the Ryazan Diocese. Hegumen Sergy regularly takes care of the community of prison inmates and spiritually nourish them. The Master’s program student Roman Titov and parishioners of the church took part in liturgical reading and chanting. After the service, the student of the Master’s program held theological class on the New Testament of the Holy Scripture. The subject matter of the class was inspired by the Gospel verses about our Lord Jesus Christ preaching in the Nazareth synagogue, read during the Liturgy. The student’s speech raised many questions asked by the parishioners during a discussion that followed the theology class. The priests joined in the conversation enriching it.

To conclude the visit, guests from Ugresha Seminary were received by the representatives of the Federal Penitentiary Service stationed in Ryazan region. They expressed the willingness to take part in the upcoming Conference “Orthodox Theological Education and Serving in Prisons” to be held on the 17th of October, this year, at the Nikolo-Ugreshskaya Seminary.

This meeting was a follow-up of the Catechism Curriculum launched on the request of the inmates of the 6th penal colony (earlier classes were held in March, May, November, December in 2016, February, March in 2017). As scheduled within this Curriculum Program in 2017, regular classes led by the teachers and students of the seminary will be conducted for the 6th colony’s inmates covering “Gospel History” and “Catechism” subjects.