His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia visits the Tambov diocese

HIS HOLINESS PATRIARCH ALEXY II OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA VISITS THE TAMBOV DIOCESE

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia visited the Tambov diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church on 8-10 August 2002.

This was the third visit of the Primate of the Russian Church to the Tambov land. The present visit was timed to several remarkable dates, namely, the 320th anniversary of the Tambov diocese, the 125th anniversary of Archbishop Luka (Voino-Yasenetsky) and the 65th anniversary of the Tambov region.

On August 8 the Primate of the Orthodox Church was met at the airport by Archbishop Yevgeny of Nizhny Novgorod and Arazamas, administrator of the Tambov diocese, and Mr.O.Betin, head of the administration of the Tambov region, representatives of the power structures and public organizations of the region and the city, the diocesan clergymen and numerous believers.

While greeting His Holiness Patriarch Alexy in the Tambov land, Mr.O.Betin expressed his hope that His Holiness will be able to see the beneficial changes, which have happened in the life of the region and the diocese since his last visit here.

His Holiness the Patriarch noted that he was looking forward with joy to a new meeting with the believers and expressed his hope that it will help better understand the life of people in the Russian province, their concerns and hopes and their vision of the future.

The programme began with a visit to the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Saviour. On the eve of the celebration of the Assembly of the Tambov Saints His Holiness Patriarch Alexy celebrated a prayer service at the reliquary with the relics of St.Pitirim, Bishop of Tambov.

Archbishop Yevgeny, administrator of the Tambov diocese, greeted His Holiness and told him about the history of the church, which was founded by St.Pitirim and destroyed at the time of atheistic persecution. During his ministry in the Tambov land Archbishop Luka (Voino-Yasenetsky) made several attempts to return the defiled cathedral to the Church, but that happened only in 1993. The righteous relics of St.Pitirim of Tambov have found their rest in the newly returned cathedral.

His Holiness thanked Archbishop Yevgeny, the clergymen and laymen of the diocese for their tireless work done for the revival of spiritual life in the Tambov land and noted that this year marked 15 years of His Eminence Yevgeny’s ministry at the Tambov see. His Holiness reminded the audience that several years ago there was only one working church in Tambov, while now the life of prayer has been revived in many churches.

‘The 20th century has been an epoch of trials for our Fatherland. Especially difficult that century was for the Orthodox Church as many church buildings and monasteries were destroyed and defiled, and many clergymen and pious laymen died as martyrs for their faith in God’, – said His Holiness the Patriarch.

His Holiness the Patriarch made a pilgrimage to the Convent of the Ascension, founded by St.Pitirim of Tambov in 1690. Pitirim’s sister, hegumennes Yekaterina was the first mother superior of the convent. Before the Revolution the convent ran an orphanage for girls and an almshouse. Nowadays the monastic life is being revived along with the tradition of social ministry: there were opened a Sunday school with a very good library, the spiritual rehabilitation centre in which people who suffer of alcoholism and drug addiction are given help and the victims of the totalitarian sects have a course of rehabilitation.

His Holiness consecrated the new living quarters of the convent and presented the liturgical Book of the Gospel to the convent’s church. The nuns presented His Holiness with the icon of Archbishop Luka (Voino-Yasenetsky), which they made themselves to commemorate the visit of His Holiness to the Convent of the Ascension.

That same day His Holiness visited the church dedicated to the Righteous Lazarus, Bishop of Kitiy. The Church of St.Lazarus shared the bitter destiny of many Orthodox churches and was returned to the Church only three years ago. The church was given a status of a Cossack church. The chieftain of the Tambov Cossack circle V.Veklenko greeted the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church and presented him with a traditional Cossack sabre. His Holiness accepted the present from the Tambov Cossacks and emphasized that he accepted this gift as an image of the spiritual sword.

Later in the day His Holiness consecrated the building of the Tambov diocesan administration, on the pediment of which there are mosaic pictures of the new Russian martyrs and confessors of the 20th century Metropolitan Kirill (Smirnov) and Archbishop Luka (Voino-Yasenetsky). After the office of consecration Archbishop Yevgeny handed the Primate of the Church a symbolic key of the building and asked him to see in it a key, which opens the hearts of the inhabitants of Tambov.

After that His Holiness and his suite proceeded by motor-launch along the Tsna river to St.Pitirim’s well, which is located on the territory of the former Tregulyaev monastery founded in the 17th century. During the Civil War the buildings of the monastery, which earlier had been used for charity purposes, were turned into a prison. Not a single building of the Tregulyaev monastery survived.

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy consecrated a wooden chapel on the well and visited the recently built church on the top of the hill dedicated to the invention of the relics of St.Pitirim of Tambov. A ceremony of laying of a Patriarchal Charter in the wall of the church was held. Archbishop Yevgeny and Mr.O.Betin, head of the regional administration, also signed the Charter.

On August 9 the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the newly built church dedicated to the New Russian Martyrs and Confessors at the Polynkovo cemetery. Concelebrating were Archbishop Yevgeny of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas, administrator of the Tambov diocese, Bishops Iosif of Shatsk, Feognost of Sergiev Posad and Feodosy of Vetluga. After the Divine service Mayor A.Ilyin of Tambov greeted His Holiness and presented him with a picture of the church in which the Liturgy was celebrated.

His Holiness presented the church with the icon of the New Russian Martyrs and Confessors. His Holiness awarded Mayor A.Ilyin of Tambov with the Order of St.Andrew Rublev, 2nd class, in consideration of his zealous work done for the construction of the church.

On August 9 the Orthodox Church commemorates the memory of St.Panteleimon, the Great Martyr and Healer. Flowers were laid at the memorial plaque on the wall of the hospital in honour of Archbishop Luka (Viono-Yasenetskly), who was also a renowned physician. During the Great Patriotic war the evacuation hospital worked here, in which the archpastor and surgeon Luka saved the lives of the wounded Russian soldiers. People saved by Archbishop Luka still live in Tambov. His Holiness Patriarch Alexy thanked the main physician A.Burkin and the hospital staff for keeping the memory of Archbishop Luka.

That same day His Holiness visited the Tambov State University and the church dedicated to St.Alexandra, the Great Martyr, which is being revived at the University. The church had been a home chapel of the Institute of noble girls and was consecrated in the name of the Heavenly Patron of the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of the Emperor Nicholas I, who took the Institute under her patronage. In 1918 the Institute was closed and housed a hospital and children’s’ home. During the Great Patriotic War a hospital was here, and after the war the building was given to the Tambov Teachers Training College, which later has become the University named after Gavriil Derzhavin. The present revival of the home chapel dedicated to St.Alexandra the Great Martyr is a visible testimony of successful cooperation between the Tambov diocese and the local University. The iconostasis has been put up in the church, and a cross was established on the cupola on August 2. After the consecration St.Alexandra’s church will become the first home chapel at the institution of higher education in the Central region of Russia.

In the assembly hall of the Tambov State University the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church met with representatives of the scholarly and artistic circles of the city. In his speech His Holiness emphasized that only the faithfulness of people to the genuine religious and cultural national traditions could give people spiritual strength for successful overcoming difficult historical trials and pernicious temptations. ‘Today a question is being discussed in Europe, whether Christian values can be considered as the heritage, which should be laid as a foundation of a united European society, or the world has entered the ‘postChristian’ period of its development. One can say with confidence that this question, fortunately, is not urgent for our country, as a new Russian statehood is being built on the firm foundations of traditional values, including the spiritual and religious ones’, – said His Holiness.

In conclusion of the meeting His Holiness Patriarch Alexy presented Mr.O.Betin, head of the administration of the Tambov region, Mayor A.Iliyn of Tambov and Rector V.Yuriev of the Pedagogical University with the sets of volumes of the ‘Orthodox Encyclopaedia’, which have been put out.

After the meeting in the University His Holiness Patriarch Alexy visited the Interior Security Directorate of the Tambov region, where a home chapel, dedicated to St.George, the Great Martyr and Mirackleworker is located, and met with the personnel of the Directorate.

Later in the day the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church celebrated the All-Night Vigil service in the Tambov Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Christ the Saviour.

On August 10, the commemoration day of St.Pitirim, Bishop of Tambov, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy officiated at the Divine Liturgy and led the festive procession with the cross and the miraculous relics of the God’s saint.

After the procession Archbishop Yevgeny addressed His Holiness Patriarch Alexy with the words of greeting. He told him about the return of the venerable relics of St.Pitirim of Tambov from the museum to the Cathedral of the Transfiguration, which was being revived at that time (1988). The relics were kept in the museum stores as ‘the remnants of an unknown man’, and tireless common work of many people was needed to find them. The archpastor of Tambov said: ‘The land of Tambov is rejoicing today, and together with it rejoicing is our Cathedral, which had suffered destruction and defilement in the years of atheism. The inhabitants of Tambov rejoice over its revival’.

The head of the Tambov region administration O.Betin and Mayor A.Ilyin of Tambov also made speeches.

The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church was also greeted by children from the Orthodox summer camp called ‘Istoki'(Sources) and from Sunday schools of the city. They presented His Holiness with the coat-of-arms of Tambov embroidered with pearls and Easter eggs also decorated with pearls produced according to the recently revived technology of the old handicraft business of the Kirsanov monastery.

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy addressed the inhabitants of Tambov who gathered at the Cathedral Square. He said that this year marked many remarkable dates for the land of Tambov. ‘Glory be to God that the perception of history of our common Fatherland is returning to our lives and that we keep memory of our great predecessors who illumined people with the light of the Divine Truth and confirmed the faith of Christ in human hearts”.

His Holiness presented the Cathedral with the icon of the Transfiguration of the Lord and expressed his wish that this icon will remind all the worshippers of the necessity of tireless spiritual self-perfection, which transforms the soul. His Holiness presented Archbishop Yevgeny with a pectoral cross and the blessed panagia, engraved on which are the dates of the jubilees, which the land of Tambov celebrates in 2002.

The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church awarded O.Betin, head of the regional administration, with the Order of St.Sergius of Radonezh, 1st class, in consideration of the work done for the revival of the holy places of the Tambov diocese.

That same day a festive reception in honour of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia took place.

The visit of His Holiness ended with the blessing of the foundation of the first multistoried apartment house in Tambov on the embankment of the Tsna river.