Perm, Perm Krai, Russia, January 4, 2024
Photo: pravperm.ru
For the first time in nearly a century, a Divine service was celebrated in the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in the Russian city of Perm on New Year’s Eve.
The historic cathedral was closed 90 years ago by decree of the Soviet government. But now that the building has been fully returned to the Church, His Eminence Metropolitan Methodiy was able to serve a moleben of thanksgiving there on Sunday, reports the Perm Metropolis.
Officially, the cathedral was returned to the Church in 2011, though it was agreed that the building would continue to be used by the Perm State Art Gallery until December 2023. However, now that the gallery has left the church, the full-scale restoration process can begin, which will return the church to its historic appearance.
Met. Methodiy offered a short word during the moleben, saying in particular:
To everything, there is a time! By God's grace, through the prayers of the holy Council of the Perm Metropolis, the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Perm land, and all those who contributed their efforts to ensure that the cathedral building was again dedicated to the purpose for which it was built, at the end of the departing year 2023 we entered here and, after 90 years of church desolation, we sang praises to the Lord and our Savior, the Mother of God, and the holy saints of God who labored in the land of Perm.
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