His Holiness the Patriarch visits the diocese of Saransk

HIS HOLINESS THE PATRIARCH VISITS THE DIOCESE OF SARANSK

On August 3 and 4 His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia was in the diocese of Saransk for a primatial visitation. The Mordovian leader N. Merkushkin took an active part in the preparation and conduct of the visit.

At the airport in Saranks, the Primate was met by Bishop Varsonofy of Saransk and Mordovia, the Mordovian leader N. Merkushin and the clergy of the diocese, as well as republican and municipal executives. Among the welcoming party were also Archbishops Proclus of Simbirsk and Melekess, Eugene of Tambov and Michurinsk and Savva of Krasnogorsk. At the airport, His Holiness answered questions from journalists.

The visit began with the Cathedral of St. John the Theologian in Saransk. There His Holiness said a thanksgiving before the Icon of Our Lady of Vladimir.

Then he consecrated a new chapel dedicated to the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky, built to commemorate those who fell in the Great Patriotic War. After the consecration His Holiness addressed city dwellers who came to meet their leader.

The activities of that day culminated in a grand meeting that was held at the city’s Community Center. It was devoted to the Bimillennium of the Nativity of Christ and was planned to coincide with the patriarchal visit. After the concert given in conclusion of the grand meeting, His Holiness visited the museum of the Mordovian sculptor Er’zi.

Then His Holiness visited the pre-seminary school in Saransk, which was opened three years ago. He met there with students and the clergy of the diocese. The next point in the program was a visit to St. Nicholas’ in Saransk, where a great number of people had gathered to see and to hear the Patriarch of All Russia. In the evening His Holiness came to the Makarovsky monastery of St. John the Theologian, the country residence of the ruling bishop of the Saransk diocese.

On August 4, the central event of the patriarch visit took place. It was the divine liturgy at the main square of Saransk, near the place where the Cathedral of the Saviour used to stand. This cathedral was destroyed in the 30s, sharing the fate of the Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow, which it also resembled in exterior. Built in the later 19th century, this church, which could accommodate five thousand people, was an adornment of the city. Its main shrine was an enormous (2 by 2,5 m) icon of the Saviour Not-Made-With-Hands of the Byzantine school, which the theomachists destroyed by cutting into pieces in the square. Now a Lenin monument stands at the place of the cathedral.

A special rostrum was built for the service, with a tent-like shed. Assisting His Holiness at the divine liturgy were Archbishops Proclus and Eugene and Bishops Varsonofy, Alexis and Savva, chairman of the Department for the Armed Forces and Law-enforcement Agencies.

Numerous transparencies with words of welcome and spiritual didactic highlighted and refined the customary urban surrounding.

Gathered in the square were nearly fifteen thousand people, who worshipped together with their Patriarch under the burning sun. After the service, His Holiness talked to the Orthodox for an hour in the former cathedral square.

Then His Holiness visited several industrial works in Saranks, including a cabel plant and an electric-bulb factory, the greatest producer of electric bulbs in the country.

His Holiness also visited St. Parasceva’s convent of the Ascension at the Paigarm village. This convent is one of the thirteen monasteries revived in the Saransk diocese through the tireless efforts of Bishop Varsonofy. For the nine years since this diocese was established in 1991, the ruling bishop has accomplished very much there. In Mordovia, where there were over six hundred churches and sixteen monasteries before the 1917 Revolution, only 18 acting churches and no monasteries survived. Nowadays there are 220 parishes, with 140 having church buildings, while the rest only prayer houses. Thirteen monasteries have been restored, including the Chufarovsky monastery, which was used as a prison not long ago.

The patriarchal program concluded with a visit to the newly-built church at the town of Ruzayevka, dedicated to St. Nicholas. The church has been built by the Ruzimmash plant whose director. B. Burmistrov spared no efforts or money to build it.

Before flying out to Moscow, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy held a press-conference at the Saransk diocesan administration.