Zhirovichi, Belarus, May 12, 2020
Photo: church.by
This year marks the 550th anniversary of the discovery of the miraculous Zhirovichi Icon of the Mother of God and the 500th anniversary of the second finding of the icon and the founding of the Holy Dormition Monastery on the site of the discovery, in the town of Zhirovichi in the Grodno Province.
To mark these great events, the Belarusian Church originally planned to hold a 650-mile, month-long procession to the holy monastery, with festive services to be held at the monastery on May 19 and 20. However, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Church has had to postpone these festivities, reports the official site of the Belarusian Church.
The monastery already stopped receiving visitors in April.
“At present, due to the unforeseen, complex epidemiological situation, a decision has been made to postpone the commemorative events to a later date. New dates for Church and community events will be determined after the end of the epidemic,” the statement reads.
In October, His Eminence Metropolitan Pavel of Minsk announced that His Holiness Patriarch Kirill tentatively agreed to attend the celebrations, reports RIA-Novosti.
In August, Met. Pavel consecrated a holy spring at the Zhirovichi Monastery as part of the preparations for the celebration of the appearance of the icon and the founding of the monastery.
