Seven thousand pilgrims will attend celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Sarov Hermitage

On May 23, the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region V.Shantsev chaired a meeting of the Organizing Committee of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Sarov Hermitage, Regions.ru website reports.

He told the journalists that preparation for the festivities in Sarov and Diveyevo was on schedule. ‘We were informed today that all plans including investments were fulfilled. Repairs of the Church of St. John the Baptist in the Near Hermitage will be completed ahead of schedule’, he said.

V.Shantsev said that a tent camp would be arranged for seven thousand pilgrims. A press tour to Diveyevo and Sarov would be arranged prior to the festivities. Representatives of 165 central and regional mass media have been accredited to the 300th anniversary of the Sarov Hermitage. ‘We have organized everything for festivities in Sarov and Diveyevo. All people who apply for participation in time will have a pass to Sarov. The festivities will be broadcast and all Nizhny Novgorod citizens will be able to see them,’ Shantsev underscored.

Archbishop Georgy of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas noted the high level of the preparation. He thinks that the opening of the monastery in Sarov will be a major event of the festivities. He also said that a 300-year-old well used by St. Seraphim of Sarov has been recently found under the Church of St. John the Baptist.