Grodno, Intercession Cathedral: photo, address, schedule of services. Temple in honor of the Cathedral of all Belarusian saints - churches and temples in Grodno and the Grodno region Cathedral that survived the communist hard times

In August 1905, the Russian-Turkish war ended ingloriously for Russia. It showed the inconsistency of the organization of the Russian army, but at the same time showed examples of the courage and perseverance of its soldiers. To perpetuate the memory of the soldiers and officers of the artillery regiment who fell in those days on the eastern borders of Russia, the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin was erected in Grodno.

Cathedral in Grodno

The Intercession Cathedral, for all its significance as a monument to an important historical event, was not just a manifestation of the emotional outburst of Russians, overwhelmed by patriotic feelings. The decision of the authorities to lay it was based on a government decree adopted at the end of the 19th century and in 1901, which became law after it was approved by Emperor Nicholas II. It prescribed the construction of garrison and regimental churches on the territories of all military units whose staff included clergy.

Since in those years the territory of present-day Belarus was part of Russia, the city of Grodno also fell under the jurisdiction of Nicholas II. The Intercession Cathedral, thus, appeared as a purely statutory garrison attribute, although in subsequent years it was perceived primarily as a monument to military personnel who died in the Russo-Japanese War.

Construction of a temple-museum

The development of the project for the future cathedral was entrusted to the Grodno architect M. M. Prozorov. In his work, the architect took as a basis the features of another garrison temple, located in Peterhof - one of the palace suburbs of St. Petersburg. It was a church that had gained well-deserved fame for its artistic merits. I. E. Savelyev supervised the work to implement the project.

Construction and finishing work was completed in 1907, and on November 11, its solemn consecration took place in honor of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, which was invisibly spread over the city of Grodno. The Intercession Cathedral has become not only a symbolic monument, but also a real functioning museum. In one of its premises an exhibition was opened related to the exploits of soldiers and officers during the recently ended war. At the same time, an annual religious procession was established in their honor, which took place on Palm Sunday, that is, a week before Easter, the center of the celebration of which from then on became the Intercession Cathedral (Grodno). For many years, the schedule of services on its doors coexisted with the schedule of the museum that operated within its walls.

Temple - school of patriotism

In those years, the cathedral clergy, together with the command of the Grodno garrison, did a lot of work to instill patriotism and raise morale among the military personnel who were cared for in the temple. Members of the city Church-Archaeological Committee were involved in it, providing the temple with regimental iconostases and a large collection of icons. Soon followed by the grand opening of a memorial plaque installed on the wall of the cathedral with the names of soldiers and officers who gave their lives in the Russian-Japanese War and who previously served in Grodno. The Intercession Cathedral became their memorial.

Unique architectural composition

Despite the fact that the architect M. M. Prozorov created the temple project based on a ready-made model built in Peterhof, as a result of its creative rethinking the author managed to create a composition with unique features. The head of the construction work, military engineer I.E. Savelyev, also played a major role in this.

The Intercession Cathedral (Grodno) is made in a retrospective Russian style, which in many ways distinguishes it from pseudo-Russian temple buildings. The building is based on an elongated basilica, completed on the east side by a pentagonal apse - a protruding part of the wall, behind which there is an altar. In the northwestern part of the facade there is a ten-meter-high hipped belfry, topped with a dome mounted on a drum. On its sides rise two small tents, also decorated with domes. Their appearance is complemented by semicircular windows with kokoshniks.

The altar part of the temple is built on a low quadrangle, topped with five domes placed on octagonal bases. Their undoubted decoration are false windows framed with decorative kokoshniks. Also notable are the windows located on two levels of the side facades and equipped with picturesque “terem” platbands. The walls between them are decorated with rich decorative decoration.

Uniqueness of the interior

The Intercession Cathedral in Grodno, photos of which are presented in the article, is also remarkable for its interior. Twelve powerful columns with arcades thrown through them divide the interior into three naves (three separate parts). Old Russian textual script serves as an ornament for the design of three ceiling lamps, and the walls are covered with paintings representing scenes from the Old and New Testaments.

The main attraction of the cathedral, undoubtedly, are its main and side iconostases. They are made of dark-tinted wood, richly decorated with carvings and gilding. The altar rooms are decorated in the same way. Above the entrance to the cathedral there are choirs, decorated in Russian style and organically fitting into the interior.

Shrines of the Intercession Cathedral

However, despite all the artistic merits, the main content of any temple is its shrines - miraculous icons and the relics of the saints of God stored in it. They are also in the Intercession Cathedral. These are, first of all, the especially revered images of the Kazan Mother of God, the Mother of God Hodegetria and the Descent of the Holy Spirit, as well as the relics of the Great Martyr Gabriel of Zabludsky. The flow of pilgrims and parishioners never dries up.

The collection of shrines of the temple was significantly replenished during the period of perestroika, after restoration work was carried out in the cathedral. It included icons painted in honor of numerous Russian new martyrs and confessors who glorified the Lord during the years of repression. Many of them were residents of Belarus.

The cathedral that survived the communist times

It should be noted that throughout all the decades of communist rule, when thousands of churches were abolished and sometimes destroyed, the Intercession Cathedral in Grodno remained one of the few that did not cease its activities. The schedule of services never disappeared from his doors. The credit for this belongs mainly to the members of his parish, who found the courage to stand up for their temple.

In the 20th century, the Intercession Cathedral experienced many events that somewhat reduced its role as a memorial temple. These include revolutions, wars, and the inclusion of part of Belarus into Poland. After the believers lost the cathedral in 1921, its role began to be played by the Intercession Cathedral in Grodno.

Its hours of work in those days were filled not only with services established by the Church Charter, but also with the demands and continuous prayers of thousands of people who came here from all over the country. This is how it remains today. Today, located in the old part of the city, the Intercession Cathedral (Grodno) - address: st. Eliza Ozheshko, 23 - is one of the most visited city churches. The entire surrounding area received the status of a historical and architectural monument protected by the state.

Sculpture of the Blessed Virgin Mary

In 2008, the Grodno artist V. Panteleev took the initiative to install a monumental Orthodox sculpture in the city, which received approval from both the civil authorities and the diocesan leadership. A year and a half later, his composition “The Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary” was installed near the Intercession Cathedral. It became a worthy decoration of the territory adjacent to the temple.

The height of the bronze figure is three meters, and together with the granite pedestal it is four meters and twenty centimeters. Its solemn consecration was timed to coincide with the celebration of the hundredth decade of education and took place on the day of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, October 14.

As mentioned above, the Grodno Intercession Church received the status of a cathedral during the period of dramatic events that unfolded in the first years of Soviet power and were a consequence of the anti-church policies of the new regime. Nowadays, its dominant position among other churches currently existing in the city was officially consolidated by the decision of the leadership of the Grodno diocese, formed immediately after the Republic of Belarus gained independence. As a result, the schedule of services in the Intercession Cathedral in Grodno is somewhat different from the work schedules of other churches.

On weekdays, morning services begin at 8:30 and evening services at 17:00. On Sundays and holidays, three services are held in the morning - an early liturgy at 6:30, then a morning Sunday school service at 8:30 and a late liturgy at 9:30. In the evening, the service begins at 17:00. In addition to the indicated hours, the doors of the cathedral are open throughout the day for those who would like to venerate its shrines or simply explore this unique monument of temple architecture.

In 1994, in the city of Grodno, with the blessing of His Eminence Philaret, Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk, a community was registered in honor of the “Cathedral of All Belarusian Saints”. The Vishnevets microdistrict was chosen as the site for the construction of the temple, because it was here that during the Great Patriotic War, first in 1941 and then in 1943, terrible battles took place that claimed thousands of human lives. In December 1998, by decree of His Eminence Artemy, Bishop of Grodno and Volkovysk, spiritual shepherding of the church community with the subsequent construction of the temple was entrusted to the priest of the Holy Intercession Cathedral, Priest Anatoly Nenartovich. One of the initiators of construction and the first donors were Grodno entrepreneurs Valentin Dubotovka and Viktor Kolatsky. In 1999, on the day of the Council of All Belarusian Saints, after the Divine Liturgy in the St. Boris-Gleb Church of Kolozha, the clergy and laity in their hands carried through the entire city a wooden cross in the shape of the Cross of St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk, which was installed at the site of the future construction of the temple .

Every Sunday, Father Anatoly and Father Victor Sventitsky with a few parishioners prayed at the Cross of the Lord, performing a prayer service with an akathist. Every month there were more and more people praying at the cross.

In December 2000, a decommissioned railway carriage, donated to the community by the Office of the Belarusian Railway, was installed at the temple construction site. Since then, the expression “in the trailer” has steadily entered the life of the community.

On April 1, 2002, after prayer during the Divine Liturgy, work began on the construction of the temple. The Grodnograzhdanproekt Institute completed the documentation for the construction of a temple, a church house, a transformer substation and a boiler house. The author and chief architect of the temple was Nina Sergeevna Emelyanova, the chief engineer of the project was Vladimir Grigorievich Demyanchuk, who not only headed the creative team for designing the temple, but also took an active part in the construction. The organization, production and execution of all construction work was entrusted to one of the first parishioners of the community, Alexander Dmitrievich Kalinka.

The year 2005 was especially joyful for the parishioners of the “trailer”. On June 12, His Eminence Artemy, Bishop of Grodno and Volkovysk, co-served by the rector, the parish clergy, the clergy of the diocese and numerous guests, consecrated the lower church in honor of the infant martyr Gabriel of Bialystok.

The construction of the walls of the upper temple took four difficult years.

May 3, 2009 is the day of remembrance of the holy martyr baby Gabriel - a long-awaited day in the life of the parish community. On this day, after the Divine Liturgy, which was attended by His Eminence Artemy, Bishop of Grodno and Volkovysk, clergy, parishioners, and mayor of the city Boris Kozelkov, crosses and three golden domes made in the Byzantine style were consecrated and installed.

On December 31, 2010, a prayer service with the akathist “Glory to God for everything” was served within the walls of the new upper church, and on April 24, 2011, on Holy Saturday, parishioners who came to bless Easter were able to see a real miracle - a carved iconostasis with painted icons.

On November 7, 2011, the solemn consecration of the upper church took place in honor of the Council of All Belarusian Saints. Metropolitan Philaret of Minsk and Slutsk, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, arrived to share the joy of the holiday and consecrate the temple. During the first Liturgy in the upper church, His Eminence was served not only by the ruling bishop of the Grodno diocese, Bishop Artemy, but also by the guests of honor - Archbishop Jacob of Bialystok and Gdansk and Bishop Seraphim of Bobruisk and Bykhov. The clergy of the Minsk, Bobruisk, Vitebsk and, of course, the Grodno diocese also took part in the festive service. It should be noted that the number of parishioners who came to honor the holiday was so great that neither the upper nor the lower temple could accommodate them - many of them prayed on the steps and in the courtyard of the temple.

During the Liturgy, Bishop Philaret awarded the church clergy with church awards. The rector of the temple, mitered Archpriest Anatoly Nenartovich, was awarded the medal of the Holy Great Martyr Anastasia the Pattern Maker, and Priest Pavel Tereshkov was awarded the right to wear a legguard. Also, the rector of the St. Marfinsky Church in Grodno, a former cleric of the temple in honor of the Council of All Belarusian Saints, Archpriest Viktor Sventitsky, was awarded the right to carry a club. After the Divine Liturgy and procession around the temple, Vladyka Exarch presented orders and certificates to donors and active parishioners.

The history of the Grodno Temple in honor of the Cathedral of All Belarusian Saints in Grodno began with the registration of the community. They decided to build the building on the site of the tragic death of thousands of World War II soldiers in the Vishnevets microdistrict. Priest Anatoly Nenartovich, who leads the temple to this day, although already in the rank of archpriest, became the spiritual shepherd over the community and construction. In 1999, a copy of the cross of Euphrosyne of Polotsk was installed at the site of the church construction. The first Sunday prayer services of Fathers Anatoly and Victor took place near this cross. The number of believers who were not afraid of unpredictable weather conditions in the open air grew larger every month. The deplorable situation of the community did not go unnoticed by the public, and already in December 2000, a railway carriage, decommissioned by the Belarusian Railway, was installed near the cross.

The long-awaited construction of a full-fledged church building began in April 2002, and on June 12, 2005, the lower church was consecrated in honor of the holy infant martyr Gabriel of Bialystok. On the memorial day of the latter - May 3, 2009 - after the ceremonial lighting, crosses and domes were installed. In honor of the Council of All Belarusian Saints, the temple was consecrated in November 2011 with the direct participation of Metropolitan Philaret and other honored guests. The walls of the church could not accommodate the impressive crowd of believers who wanted to attend this solemn event: many had to be content with the territory adjacent to the temple.

Interior decoration of the Temple in honor of the Cathedral of All Belarusian Saints in Grodno

The first thing that catches your eye when entering the lower church, dedicated to St. Gabriel of Bialystok, is the carved iconostasis, which, like most of the icons in the church, was made by icon painters of the Minsk St. Elisabeth Monastery. The iconostasis itself is decorated with the face of the holy infant martyr. In the lower church, in a common ark, particles of the holy relics of John, Angelina and Stephen of Serbia are also stored, which are supplemented by the icon of these martyrs.

The central element of the upper temple is also a majestic carved iconostasis. To the left of it is a picturesque icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Forerunner, painted by the Minsk master Pavel Minchenya. To the right of the iconostasis there is an icon and particles of the relics of Euphrosyne of Polotsk. In addition, particles of the relics of other saints rest in the temple: St. George the Victorious, Righteous John of Cormyansk, Great Martyr Lazar of Serbia, etc.

Spiritual activity at the Temple in honor of the Cathedral of All Belarusian Saints in Grodno

For young admirers of the Christian faith, a Sunday school is organized in the Temple, where everyone from 6 to 13 years old is accepted. At school, children are given not only theoretical knowledge about the history of the church, faith and the lives of saints, but also try to instill in them spirituality, high moral values ​​and reveal life-giving creativity. In addition to regular classes, the school organizes clubs, excursions, obediences, etc.

Since 2005, a brotherhood has been operating at the church under the leadership of Rector Anatoly, uniting Orthodox youth who have reached adulthood. Young people not only organize events for joint recreation, but also actively help those suffering: they collaborate with an orphanage, help hospices and families raising children with special needs, arrange the territory of the temple, and participate in youth events.

The Temple Sisterhood was organized even earlier than the Brotherhood - in 2000. Through the efforts of women, a temporary temple was landscaped, donations were collected, and Scripture study classes were held every evening. The potatoes grown by the sisters on the collective farm field fed the parish, the church builders, and members of large and dysfunctional families for several years. The organizers of numerous pilgrimages across the territory of Belarus, near and far abroad are also active participants of the temple Sisterhood.

Every Sunday at the church, meetings of the educational club “Communication” are held, at which pressing topics are raised that are rarely discussed in modern media.

The lower church - the ground floor, is consecrated in honor of the holy infant martyr Gabriel of Bialystok.

Information about all Orthodox churches and temples in Minsk and other cities of Belarus can be found on the website of the Ritual Services Directory

The Orthodox Church in the Republic of Belarus today is a special division of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In our country there are a lot of churches that were built at different times, and the percentage of Orthodox believers is the overwhelming majority among all believers.

Our Belarusian directory of funeral services website will tell you about what churches there are in the city of Grodno, what rituals are performed at funerals, as well as what customs should be observed after the burial of a person.

In Orthodoxy, rituals accompany a person throughout his life. When a person is born, he undergoes the rite of baptism, when he finds his love, the couple is married, thus concluding a union in heaven. And even when a person passes away, this is also accompanied by its own rituals.

The most important rite can be called the funeral service, which, in its significance, is equivalent to baptism.

You can order a funeral service, as well as learn about other funeral rites in Christianity, from the clergy of any Orthodox church in the city of Grodno.

Perhaps not everyone is fully aware of why the remembrance of the soul of the deceased is carried out not only after the funeral, but also on the third, ninth and fortieth days..

At first, the soul of the deceased, for the first two days after death, can wander through those places that were dear to it during life, while still in a bodily shell.

After that, for almost another week, she goes to heaven to get acquainted with all the benefits that are in paradise. The last day of your stay in paradise falls on the ninth.

But the soul takes the longest time to become acquainted with Hell. For about a month, the soul of the deceased wanders through the places of torment of sinners. When this ends, it is the fortieth day from the moment of death, and then it is determined where the soul goes.

Grodno houses a huge number of Orthodox religious buildings on its land. Each of these churches is a separate universe with its own history of construction, life and activity.

The Belarusian directory of funeral services website gives you the opportunity to get acquainted with all the churches in the city of Grodno. We publish only reliable historical information, current contacts and much more that will be useful to visitors to our site