On November 4, the National Unity Day, Vladimir Putin laid flowers at the monument to Kuzma Minin and Dmitriy Pozharskiy on Red Square in Moscow. The ceremony was attended by leaders of religious denominations and representatives of public organizations; the Russian President had a brief conversation with them. Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia Korniliy, after the liturgy at the Intercession Cathedral on Rogozhsky, took part in that official meeting on Red Square.
The national holiday The Day of National Unity is celebrated in Russia annually on November 4 and has the status of a day of military glory. It was installed in 2005 in memory of the liberation of Moscow by the people’s militia, led by K. Minin and D. Pozharskiy, from foreign invaders in 1612. The victory was due to the prayers to the Most Holy Mother of God, whose Kazan icon was in the army of the Russian militias.
As Metropolitan Korniliy of Moscow and All Russia notes, “the establishment of the national holiday Day of National Unity in 2005 was timely: the Russian people needed to consolidate their spiritual strength. The state holiday was established on the day of the church holiday of the Kazan Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God, which is associated with the liberation of Moscow in 1612. It reminds us of the spiritual foundations of our people, thanks to which the country gained its greatness and glory.”
