Temple of the Icon of the Mother of God of Kazan in Vyritsa: history of foundation, shrines and abbots

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

One of the religious centers most visited by pilgrims on the territory of the Leningrad Region is the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Vyritsa and a chapel built not far from it on the grave of Seraphim Vyritsky, a saint of God who lived in these parts. The proposed article is a brief outline of the events associated with their creation.

Pious donor

The history of the construction of the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Vyritsa is closely connected with the name of one of the major political figures of the pre-revolutionary period - Prince Peter Fedorovich Wittgenstein. It is known that in 1910 he founded a dacha settlement near St. Petersburg, formerly called the Prince's Valley, and since its inhabitants could not do without spiritual guidance, the question immediately arose of allocating territory for the construction of a church.

It is worth paying tribute to the piety of the prince - he ceded the site chosen for construction to the members of the one created for this occasionreligious brotherhood for only 50% of its true value and, in addition, made another large monetary donation. The rest of the necessary funds were collected through a subscription announced among future parishioners.

Project of Petersburg architects

After the financial issue was resolved, the leadership of the newly-made brotherhood announced a competition to create a project for a wooden church of the Kazan Mother of God in Vyritsa, the construction of which was decided to be dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty celebrated at that time. Of the five submitted works, the members of the commission preferred the project, the authors of which were young St. Petersburg architects M. V. Krasovsky and his colleague V. P. Alyshkov.

At the disposal of historians was a document according to which Prince P. F. Wittgenstein continued to provide all possible support for the construction of the temple. They donated a large amount of materials, as well as contributed additional amounts of money, which greatly accelerated the work.

Under the patronage of heavenly and earthly rulers

In addition to solving organizational and economic issues, the creators of the Church of the Kazan Icon in Vyritsa took care to give their undertaking significance in the eyes of representatives of high society. To this end, in March 1913, they sent a letter to a member of the imperial family - Prince Ivan Konstantinovich Romanov, in which they asked him to become the honorary head of the brotherhood, to which consent was soon received.

Thus, under the patronage of the heavenly and earthly rulers, in July 1913, Bishop Alexy (Molchanov) of Tobolsk and Siberia held the solemn laying of the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Vyritsa. The work that began after this was carried out at a rapid pace, and by the beginning of winter their main volume was completed.

In the spring of the same year, they began to work on the exterior and interior decoration of the finished building, in addition, they installed crosses and bells, which, in the presence of future parishioners, were solemnly consecrated by Archbishop Nikon (Rozhdestvensky). As the St. Petersburg newspapers later wrote, the general joy was overshadowed only by the absence of the honorary chairman of the brotherhood - Prince I. K. Romanov, who left due to the outbreak of war in the army.

The first post-revolutionary years

Since the temple of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God built in Vyritsa was not heated, divine services were held there only in the warm season. After the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks, part of the church utensils from parishes closed in the district were brought into it. In particular, a unique oak iconostasis, which formerly adorned the Brusnitsyns' orphanage church, became the property of the temple. Unlike most other religious centers that operated in Vyritsa, the Church of the Kazan Icon did not close until 1938, when a wave of repression against the clergy and the most active parishioners reached its walls.

The closure of the temple and its further fate

The last period of clear activity was marked by two important events. Oneone of them was participation in the so-called Josephite movement, whose members refused to recognize as legitimate the decision of the authorities to remove Metropolitan Joseph (Petrov), who was then ruling the diocese, from the leadership of the diocese. At the time, this was a very risky move. In addition, after the abolition of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, her former confessor, Hieroschemamonk Seraphim (Ants), became a member of the clergy of the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Vyritsa. Over the next five years, he carried out tireless work on the spiritual nourishment of the inhabitants of the village and all who attended the services he held.

After the closure of the Church of the Mother of God in Vyritsa and the abolition of its community, OSOAVIAKHIM received the empty building at its disposal. From now on, where prayers were previously offered, the voices of lecturers began to sound, enlightening the population in matters related to the defense of the country, as well as the development of aviation and the chemical industry. Fortunately, this did not prevent the former parishioners from taking out and preserving until better times a significant part of the icons and various church utensils.

The years of the war and the post-war period

Two months after the start of the Great Patriotic War, in August 1941, German troops entered Vyritsa, and the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was reopened. This decision of the occupation authorities was due primarily to the fact that a large unit was temporarily deployed on the territory of the village, consisting of Orthodox Romanians who fought on the side of Hitler. Nevertheless, this allowed many of our compatriotsattend worship services and pray to God for the gift of victory over the enemy and the safe return home of their loved ones.

After the end of the war, the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God located in Vyritsa was no longer closed, although in 1959 the authorities made such an attempt. For this purpose, they formally refused to register the priests who served in it. However, thanks to the active position taken by the residents of the village, who sent a complaint to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the temple was defended, and the necessary documents were drawn up. Since February 1966, an officially approved staff of clerics has appeared in it.

Orthodox pilgrimage sites

In 2002, on the banks of the Oredezh River near the Kazan Church (Vyritsa), a chapel was built in memory of St. Seraphim of Vyritsky, who once lived in these places. It was installed at the burial place of the relics of the saint of God and schema-nun Seraphim (Muravieva), with whom he was married before taking monastic vows. Since Seraphim Vyritsky is one of the most revered Orthodox saints, the flow of pilgrims who come here all year round does not dry up to the chapel.

Many pilgrims are attracted to the Church of the Kazan Icon (Vyritsa) by the sermons regularly addressed to the parishioners by its rector, Archpriest Father Georgy (Preobrazhensky), who in 2005 replaced the deceased Archpriest Alexy (Korovin) in this post. In them, based on the texts of the Holy Scriptures, he explains to people many spiritual and moralquestions. Thanks to the ability of Father George in simple and clear words to convey to the listeners the depth of biblical truths, his audience is always numerous. Largely thanks to this man, the Kazan Church in Vyritsa and the chapel of St. Seraphim of Vyritsky were among the objects of the Leningrad region most visited by pilgrims.

An example of the temple architecture of the North of Russia

And at the end of the article, let's dwell on the features of the architecture and decoration of the temple. It was built in the style of wooden hipped churches, which were once widespread in the North of Russia, especially in the Vologda and Olonets lands. The design is based on the classic scheme for such structures - "an octagon on a quadrangle", in which the upper volume is eight-sided, and the main building has a rectangle in plan.

The church is surrounded by a continuous terrace - "amusement", and below it has a basement - a room located in the basement. In front of the entrance to the vestibule - the first of the internal premises of the temple - a high porch was built, which is also a very characteristic detail for structures of this architectural type. The internal volume of the church is relatively small and is designed for the presence of about seven hundred people in it.

Temple Shrines

The temple has three aisles, the main of which is consecrated in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. Its striking attraction is the carved oak iconostasis, made at one time according to the drawings of the main designer of the temple - M. V. Krasovsky. Among the shrines of the temple, to which flocknumerous crowds of pilgrims, one can name the epitrachelion that once belonged to the Monk Seraphim of Vyritsky, as well as particles of his relics. In addition, visitors to the temple have the opportunity to venerate the relics of the holy saints of God: St. Simeon of Pskov, Hieromartyr Antipas, Nikanor Gorodnoyezersky and other saints.