St. Petersburg, December 16, 2013
"We see how through your prayers—all of you organizers, donors and workers of this church—this chapel is being erected. With out common prayer construction work is beginning—the pouring of concrete into the chapel's foundation. We are laying the stones, which were brought by you from pilgrimages to Holy places: Holy Mount Athos, the bottom of the Jordan river, Mount Sinai. They are a symbol of our prayers to God," said Fr. Alexy to those gathered.
The prayers for the foundation of a chapel, which will be read with the blessing of the Church hierarchy, is still to take place, but due to oncoming winter the construction is going quickly, and the walls have begun to be filled.
The Nizhnyaya Dacha, where the tsarevich was born, is currently not accessible for the celebration of services: it is situated on the territory of the State Peterhof Museum Reserve. There are also the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul, where Tsarevich Alexei was baptized, the Church of Holy Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky, and the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord there. No services are held in all these churches, though two of them are absolutely ready for services. The policy of the State Museum Reserve is such: "There are and will be no church services". That is why it was necessary to look for an opportunity to perform services as near to the birthplace of the Holy Royal Martyr as possible—the intersection of Tchaikovsky Street and Nizhnyaya Road.
"We cannot say that the construction is being carried out because of the local developer. His role is, most likely, one of sympathy. Cross procession members came to him, but it turned out that there had already been construction works here. Out of Russian hospitality, the developer first welcomed the Cross procession members, and then the grace that came with them, and after that, the very idea of building a chapel. He is one of those who supported this public movement, which is striving to restore shrines of the motherland," related Archpriest Alexy Koltsov to all those present at the laying of the foundation.
The chapel’s opening is scheduled for the 100th anniversary of Holy Tsarevich Alexei’s birth.
