Luhansk church of UOC celebrates its 5th anniversary with cross procession

Believers of the Luhansk eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church held a festive divine service and a cross procession in honor of the patron saint's day and the fifth anniversary of the start of construction of the church in honor of "Tenderness" icon of the Mother of God, reports Cxid.info.

The clergy have celebrated the open air Divine Liturgy in front of the church, as the current small church premises could not accommodate all the parishioners gathered, and the construction of a large hall because of the outbreak of hostilities in 2014 was not completed.

"Let the Mother of God be our prayer and intercessor for us with God. So that She could help to rest peace and tranquility in our land. So that we can once again return to peaceful, constructive life, so that we can peacefully pray and work for the glory of God for the salvation of our soul," – Metropolitan Mitrofan of Luhansky and Alchevsk addressed the congregation.

The construction of the church was planned in 2000, during the installation of the memorial sign in honor of the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Christ in the centre of Luhansk. A year later, in 2001, the day of the "Tenderness" icon of the Mother of God, the Archbishop Ioanniky of Luhansk and Alchevsk consecrated the construction site and celebrated the first open air Divine Liturgy. 10 years later, 22 May 2011, on the day of St. Nicholas the construction of the church started. The completion and opening of the church complex was scheduled for 2015.

But the war, which began in 2014, destroyed all the plans. As a result of shelling in the summer of 2014, the church’s facade, dome, stained-glass windows were damaged, the outbuildings ware burnt, the area suffered a lot.

The church authorities expect to complete the paint work inside the main building of the church complex by August 10, 2017 to hold the first service there, while continuing to equip the church whenever possible.

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