Lyutkino, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, October 3, 2023
Photo: tatmitropolia.ru
Another old village church has seen the light of the Divine services for the first time in many decades.
On Sunday, October 1, His Eminence Metropolitan Kirill of Kazan and Tatarstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Kazan Wonderworker Sts. Guriy, Herman, and Barsanuphius in the village of Lyutkino, Republic of Tatarstan—the church’s first in 90 years, reports Orthodoxy in Tatarstan.
Met. Kirill was concelebrated by local and visiting clergy. Locals, pilgrims, and volunteers who are helping to restore the church were present at the service.
Special prayers were offered for the army, for peace, and for the suffering Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Photo: tatmitropolia.ru
In his homily Met. Kirill spoke about the lesson we can take from ruined churches:
I hope no one regretted coming here today, to this church, built by our pious ancestors, and miraculously preserved to this day, even in this state. After all, how many destroyed churches do we have? An incredible amount. These churches are bleeding wounds on the body of our people and land, which remind us that once our country was truly great and God-loving.
Previously, people first built the house of God, and then everything else. And if people found themselves living in a place where there was no church, they tried to build it. Therefore, in each of our villages there was a church, and in some villages there were several: at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the village. Today we see the ruins of churches—the remains of this former greatness.
“But,” he said, “the soul, protected by God, is still alive in our people.”
Photo: tatmitropolia.ru
And addressing the war in Ukraine, he called for all to maintain love in their hearts:
Today we live in a time when many of our children are dying on the battlefields. On both sides, people who turn to God with the same words of prayer are fighting against each other. What could be scarier for us than this? But our task is to withstand this test and keep love in our hearts—for God and our neighbors. So that our heart does not harden in these trials, but on the contrary becomes more tolerant and loving.
Following his homily, Met. Kirill gifted the parish an icon of Christ the Savior, and icons of the Hieromartyr Hermogenes were distributed to all present.
After the service, a meal was held on the territory of the church.
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Photo: tatmitropolia.ru
The foundation for the Church of the Kazan Wonderworkers was laid in 1887, and the finished church was consecrated two years later. It was decorated with frescoes and a carved wooden iconostasis.
The parish has been without a priest since April 1937, and the church was completely shut down by the godless authorities in April 1941. The building was then used as a granary.
In June of this year, the task of reviving the parish was entrusted to Archpriest Alexander Pavlov, the rector of the Church of St. Sophia in Kazan. His parishioners actively participate in the revival of the church.
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