Moscow, August 8, 2022
Photo: bogoyavlenskoe.ru
The feast of the Equal-to-the-Apostles St. Mary Magdalene, August 4, was a historic moment for the eponymously-titled church at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University (BMSTU), which saw its first Divine service in 100 years.
Thousands of churches throughout the Soviet Union were closed last century by the godless authorities, and the process of reviving the liturgical life in these churches continues to this day.
In particular, a thanksgiving moleben was celebrated in the historic house Church of St. Mary by clergy who have graduated from BMSTU, reports the deanery of the Bogoyavlsensky District of Moscow.
The graduates, teachers, staff, and students of the university have been looking forward to the revival of the church for a long time, noted Fr. Dmitry Danilov.
“May the protection of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene be over everyone who runs the university and who teaches and studies within these walls!” the priest wished.
OrthoChristian has reported on the restoration of the liturgical life at a number of churches after the long years of Soviet persecution, including a church in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin in 2018, a church at the St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg in April 2021, a church in Moldova that May, another church in Tatarstan that August, an Old Rite church outside of Moscow that September, another Nizhny Novgorod church in February of this year, and another church in Tatarstan last month.
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The Church of St. Mary Magdalene was consecrated in 1832, in memory of Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, who founded the craft workshops that eventually developed into BMSTU.
In 1918, the church was closed, though a funeral was served there in March 1921. After that, the iconostasis and liturgical utensils were dismantled and the room was used by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In 2016, the Orthodox students, teachers, and graduates of BMSTU began to formally celebrate the feast of St. Mary with a moleben at a nearby church and a procession along the walls of the university.
And this year, the celebration came to the historical house church itself, which is largely used for university ceremonial functions today.
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