This road leads to the temple - Юрий Васильевич Степанченко

Small village Serzhantovo, administratively part of the Dalnegorsk urban district of Primorsky Krai, in recent years it has become the spiritual center of Northern Primorye... This happens thanks to the temple of Anastasia the Patterned Woman, opened here several years ago.... The temple was built almost entirely at the expense of the then deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Primorye Yuri Stepanchenko... Yuri Vasilievich, running for the first time from the north of Primorye to the legislature, promised his voters, that the temple will be built and almost immediately after his election he began to fulfill his promise... Construction work was supposed to start in autumn 2005 of the year, but it turned out, that only a "winter" forest is suitable for the church, which the, unlike cut down in summer, does not turn black over time... Therefore, construction was postponed for almost a year.... During this time, the project of the temple was developed, and his first option did not satisfy Vladyka Benjamin... And now the twenty-fourth of June 2006 Archimandrite Sergius (Chashchin) performed the solemn ceremony of laying the foundation stone of a new church in honor of St. Anastasia the Patterner... Saint Anastasia in the Orthodox Church became famous for her special, merciful attitude towards prisoners in prisons and in general to all convicts... Therefore, they pray to her for help in the release of those, who languishes in bonds... The St. George Church in the Pogranichny village near the Russian-Chinese border... This beautiful, not very big, two-headed wooden church... By the way, the future sergeant temple initially passed the test assembly in the city of Omsk, and then was sent disassembled to Primorye... The temple building itself was built to 2008 year, and on August 6 2008 Bishop Sergius (Chashin) performed the rite of consecration of two crosses and domes, after which they were hoisted to the temple... “Today will go down in the history of the city of Dalnegorsk, our descendants will talk about him... From now on, the domes and crosses of this beautiful newly-built temple will remind every person passing by and passing by about God, about eternity, about the immortality of the soul ... " - said Bishop Sergius after the completion of the rite of consecration... By October 2009 year, water was supplied to the temple, services have already been performed here, construction work was carried out... AND, finally, On July 9, during an archpastoral trip to the parishes of the Eastern Deanery, Archbishop Veniamin of Vladivostok and Primorsky visited Serzhantovo and there, in the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Anastasia of the Patterner the Bishop celebrated the All-Night Vigil... Most of the residents of the village of Serzhantovo gathered for the service, parishioners from the city of Dalnegorsk also came... At the end of the service near the church, Archbishop Benjamin consecrated eight new bells for the church bell tower, and then he addressed all those present with the bishop's word... A few minutes later, the installation of new bells began... For some time after the consecration of the temple, there was no permanent priest in it., but for several years now, priest Maxim Makarov has been serving in it., and in the church services are held regularly - on Sundays and holidays, divine liturgies, on Fridays - prayers with akathist before the icon of the Mother of God "Inexhaustible Chalice"... This small temple, but, according to the priest, up to fifty people come to Sunday services, and on church holidays, the temple accommodates more than a hundred believers... Considering, that a little more than a thousand people permanently live in Serzhantovo, it means, that the word of God covers almost a tenth of all inhabitants... However, not only those come to church, who lives in Serzhantovo... You can often find residents of the nearby Rudnaya Pristan here., Monomakhovo, and they come from Dalnegorsk itself, although it is more than twenty-five kilometers from Sergeantovo... And sometimes just passing villages, stop and enter the temple - it looks very attractive and splendid... Yuri Stepanchenko continues to take care of the Dalnegorsk flock even after, how he resigned from his parliamentary powers... And it is largely thanks to him that the newly built church is so popular among the Orthodox in the north of Primorye.... Indeed, in the temple of Anastasia the Patterner now there are several unique icons, purchased by Stepanchenko and donated by him to this church... Thanks to him, seaside newlyweds have the opportunity to get married in front of the icon, once owned by the Russian Empress Catherine II... The icon, decorated in a silver gilded setting, is called "The Resurrection of Christ"... Jesus, sky-ascending, and the people watching him - this is a fairly common plot in Orthodox iconography... However, from a historical point of view, this is a real relic.... At first, the icon was owned by the Russian Empress Catherine II, but at the beginning 1780-s she gave the image with a blessing for the wedding to a young couple - Maria Petrovna Petrova and Sysoy Fedorovich Smirnitsky... On the fact of Catherine the Great's donation of this icon to the newlyweds, a donative inscription has been preserved on the icon... Subsequently, the icon was exported from Russia, kept in private collections, basically, in England, and in 2010 Yuri Stepanchenko bought it at an auction specifically for the church in Serzhantovo... The donor himself told this about this event: “The construction of the temple was coming to an end; I already had to think about the interior decoration, and, of course, about icons... And suddenly information appeared that, that "Christ's Resurrection" is put up for auction... The opportunity to return historical relics to Russia does not appear every day, so we couldn't help but buy this icon... Hopefully, that with her appearance in Serzhantovo, newlyweds from all over Primorye will go to the local church to get married "... On ordinary days, the icon is not in sight - its value is too great... But parishioners can see the "Resurrection of Christ" on church holidays... Besides, on certain days the icon is used at weddings... As the assistant to the rector of the temple of Anastasia the Pattern-maker Viktor Bronnikov said: “This icon was held in the hands of the great Russian empress, this is its special historical value... Besides, "Christ's Resurrection" was presented by Catherine II with a blessing for marriage, and I really want to believe, that the newlyweds, who swore loyalty to each other before this image, will doubly value their promises... We are very happy, that the relic will be kept in our temple, after all, the return of church and historical values ​​to their homeland makes our people spiritually richer "... "Christ's resurrection" - not the only icon, donated to a small village church by Yuri Stepanchenko... Earlier, Yuri Vasilyevich donated two more icons - the Savior and the Mother of God - that he bought in Greece on the holy Mount Athos in one of the Orthodox monasteries... Perhaps, few church can be proud of such shrines, even located in a big city, and not only in a small village in the Russian outback... The constant presence of a priest in the village has a positive effect on people, - the rector of the temple believes... “Once a man came to me for confession, who carried that in my heart for two years, which I could not tell anyone... He cried, when we talked to him, and at the end he asked, will God forgive him... But then, that this person came to the temple is already forgiveness... So my constant desire is, so that churches are constantly being built in each locality, because God invisibly influences people ", - he concluded... reference Anastasia the Patterner (281 - 304), great martyr Memory 22 December (st... style)/4 january (n... style) Native Roman, suffered for Christ in persecution under Diocletian... Her father was a pagan, mother - secret Christian... After the death of his wife, the father gave Saint Anastasia to the pagan Pomplius, but under the pretext of a fictional illness, she kept her virginity... Disguised as a beggar, accompanied by only one maid, she visited the dungeons: fed, treated, and often ransomed prisoners, suffering for faith in Christ... After the death of her husband, Saint Anastasia began to generously distribute her property to the poor and suffering... Having mastered the art of medicine by that time, she zealously served the prisoners everywhere... By her feat, Saint Anastasia acquired the name of the Patterner, as with her many works she relieved from the heavy bonds of long-term sufferings of many confessors of the Name of Christ... Was captured and given to martyrdom... Saint Anastasia was stretched crosswise between four pillars above a bonfire... Her body, not damaged by fire, some pious woman Apollinaria buried in the garden... IN V century the relics of St. Anastasia were transferred to Constantinople, where a temple was built in her name... Later, the head and right hand of the great martyr was transferred to the monastery of St. Anastasia the Patterner, created not far from Mount Athos.... Troparion to Anastasia the Patterner Victorious Resurrection / truly named you, / martyr of Christ, / victories on the enemies put you in torment with patience, / For Christ's sake, Your groom, / You have loved him... /Pray to save our souls...

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-  #ЮрийВасильевичСтепанченко