Moscow, April 10, 2017
Photo: patriarchia.ru The large-scale “Paschal Ribbon” missionary campaign will begin this year on Holy Saturday and continue throughout Bright Week. As many as 50,000 satin ribbons bearing the words of St. Seraphim of Sarov, “My joy, Christ is Risen!” will be handed out, beginning when Muscovites go to have their Paschal baskets blessed throughout the day on Holy Saturday, reports patriarchia.ru.
This is the fifth consecutive year of the event organized by the Commission for missions and catechesis of the Moscow Diocesan Council.
The ribbons will be distributed throughout the Moscow deaneries and churches, and also in educational institutions, hospitals, and orphanages under the care of the Moscow Patriarchate. This year, ribbons will also be distributed in the cities of Kemerovo, Kaluga, and Stavropol.
“’The Paschal ribbon’ is a simple and non-intrusive way to tell the inhabitants of a metropolis about this most important Christian feast. People are not always willing to talk with a missionary or to take informational materials, but any passerby can take a beautiful silk ribbon and read the words of the Paschal greeting on it. Perhaps it will be someone’s first step into getting to know Orthodoxy—their first step towards meeting Christ,” the organizers stated.
As in previous years, the ribbons were printed with the support of the Shamta printing company, which provided part of the materials on a charitable basis.
