Potsdam, Germany, September 25, 2019
Photo: rokmp.de
The site of a future Orthodox spiritual-educational center in Potsdam, Germany was consecrated on Sunday, September 15 following a festive Liturgy in honor of the 190th anniversary of the consecration of the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky in Potsdam.
The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by His Eminence Archbishop Tikhon of Podolsk, head of the Berlin-German Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. Emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I and other members of the Royal House, at whose expense the church was built, were prayed for during the Litany for the Departed, after which he led a procession to the site of the future center, reports the diocesan website.
Photo: rokmp.de
“Today we solemnly celebrate the 190th anniversary of the consecration of the Church of the Right-Believing Prince St. Alexander Nevsky in Potsdam. This event unites us with those who stood at the source of this celebration, who laid this church in 1826 and consecrated it in 1829: Emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I, the architects, builders, priests, and Russian and German Orthodox Christians. Today, as they do in Heaven, so we on Earth glorify God with one mouth, Who gave us all this church in the German land for prayer and consecration,” Vladyka Tikhon said before the procession.
Following the procession, Abp. Tikhon consecrated the site where the spiritual-educational center will be built.
The celebration was attended by local Orthodox as well as a delegation from the Belarusian Orthodox Church and local officials. The Belarusian delegation donated an icon of St. Alexander Nevsky to the parish.
Photo: rokmp.de
The day continued with a performance by the Sunday School students and a performance by the parish choir. The celebrations ended with a festive meal.
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The Church of St. Alexander Nevsky in Potsdam began to be built on September 11, 1826, and the first service was celebrated on June 10, 1829. The church was consecrated on September 11 of that year. The majority of the parishioners were Orthodox colonists. Due to the stormy history of the 20th century, the parish changed jurisdictions several times, but is now a parish of the Berlin-German Diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate. In the early 1990s, the church was restored and was reconsecrated on September 12, 1993.
