Holy Cross Church in Belgorod: its history, address, schedule of services

For twenty long years, Vasily was tormented by a terrible illness - paralysis. When, after a long treatment, the doctors were powerless, and Vasily completely gave up, good people told about the existence of the Koshar temple, where the Life-Giving Cross is kept. Vasily arrived at the temple - and a miracle happened! Our article will be about the healing power of the Koshar cross.

There is a village in Belgorod called Koshary. In that village there is a temple called Holy Cross. Hundreds of pilgrims flock here to receive healing and grace. After all, this is where the Belgorod shrine is located - the miraculous Koshar cross.

The church was built with funds from Belgorod philanthropists

On the site of the current stone temple there once stood a wooden church. The history of the creation of the temple begins at the end of the 19th century. In his essay “Belgorod and the County” A.N. Drenyakin in the Gazette on the number of churches in the Belgorod district for 1882 mentions the church in Koshary as follows:

“This temple was built in 1863 with the funds of Major General Ivan Bogdanovich and his wife Anna Varlamovna.”

This is confirmed by another source from 1910, the publication of A.I. Firsov “Belgorod and its shrines”, which says:

“In 1863, the current church was built in Koshari at the expense of Mrs. Bogdanovich.”

Thus, it can be argued that the erection of the stone temple and its illumination took place in 1863, where the miraculous Koshar cross was immediately transferred.

1863

this year a stone Church of the Exaltation of the Cross was erected in Koshary

The church was built in an eclectic style, that is, it incorporates several stylistic forms and elements. First of all, the classicist direction and architecture of the Russian kingdom of the 17th century.

Shrines

The main shrine of the Holy Cross Church in Belgorod is the miraculous Koshar Cross. A parishioner cannot help but pay attention to this shrine when entering the temple.

This cross was owned by a very rich landowner who lived in the village of Koshary in the 18th century. This cross was sent to him by his own brother, who was a novice of the Athos Monastery.

The history of the Holy Cross is interesting and fascinating. The fact is that the rich landowner was known as a stern man, not a believer. He did not like the fact that there was a shrine in his house; he refused to believe in the miraculous power of the Cross.

One day, returning from hunting, the landowner was in a bad mood. He ordered the Cross to be thrown into a swamp near the house, saying that it was of no use.

Later, after the death of the landowner, a blind man heard a voice asking him to pull the cross out of the quagmire. They took out the shrine, and the blind man received his sight by touching the miraculous Cross.

The cross was placed on the stage, believers began to come to him, and he healed many. Later the cross was moved to a small chapel, then to the Nikolaevsky Monastery in Belgorod. The shrine was moved to the Holy Cross Cathedral in 1863, where it remains today.

Currently, a large number of pilgrims from all over the country come to the Holy Cross. The shrine helps and heals many.

During the years of prosperity, the rector of the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross was Archpriest Amphitheaters

One of the best periods of church life are the years when Father Porfiry Amfitheatrov became the rector of the church. His activities are associated with the spiritual education of the local population and the material support of the parish he created.

Rector Porfiry took every possible part in the spiritual development of parishioners

The parish school took an honorable place in the Kursk diocese. People from neighboring counties came to the rector’s sermons. At the beginning of the 20th century, through the mediation of the priest, an almshouse was built nearby for the pilgrims who came here.

Neither war nor revolution crushed the church in Belgorod

During the years of the revolution, the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in Belgorod was destroyed by the Bolsheviks (many silver objects with a total weight of 17 kg were confiscated), and in 1915 the rector of the temple, O. Porfiry, was shot. Then, at the end of the 20s, on the orders of the Soviet authorities, the Bolsheviks tried to remove the revealed cross.

But a miracle happened - when one of the members of the RCP(b) grabbed the cross and, throwing it into a horse-drawn cart, galloped off, he was immediately struck to death by lightning.

The party members, frightened, decided not to encroach on the shrine anymore, but later the temple was closed for a while.

Through the prayers of Belgorod citizens to the patron of the Holy Cross parish M.I. Kireeva in Moscow managed to obtain official permission to open the temple from the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.

During the difficult war years, services continued in the church. It was not subject to devastation and survived, despite the loss of several other Belgorod churches. However, the war managed to leave its mark - the area around was practically abandoned, and the walls of the temple itself had not been renewed for a long time.

With the appointment of a new rector (Archpriest Ioann Borchuk), a new page in the history of the temple began.

Archpriest John Borchuk breathed new life into an abandoned church

Major repairs were carried out inside and outside the church, the surrounding area was improved, and the miraculous spring next to the temple was reopened.

Bringing the light of faith to people

Orthodox journalist from Belgorod Virineya Javadova talks about her life journey.

I noticed this woman in a light, tightly pulled scarf almost immediately at the Orthodox Media Festival “Faith and Word.” There weren't that many women wearing headscarves there. After all, journalists are free people. And on the very first morning in the Klyazma sanatorium near Moscow, where the festival was taking place, I went out to breathe the river air and walk with my rosary along the well-groomed paths of the park. And soon I saw her - a slightly older than middle-aged woman with a kind face, looking more like a nun than a journalist. She stood under a tree and... prayed according to the prayer book! We nodded silently and understandingly to each other. She, apparently, also saw my rosary (as they say, “every toy has its own rattles”). On the way back, I saw her again, still praying under the crown of a birch tree that had turned yellow but had not yet completely shed its leaves. The next morning the same thing happened again. I’m with a rosary (“every toy has…”), she’s under a tree and with a prayer book. And again, rather dryly, so as not to distract from the prayer, we nodded to each other. On the third, and last for me, festival morning I saw her again with a prayer book and under a tree. Under the same beloved and probably already prayed birch tree. On the way back I decided to find out at least something about this unusual journalist.

—Which diocese will you be from? — I asked the festival stranger.

“From Belgorodskaya,” she answered. - Where are you from?

Named your city. And then he asked if she knew Mother Marina Zakharchuk, an Orthodox journalist from the Belgorod region, our regular author. It turned out they were friends!

- And you... aren’t you Zhogolev? — the still stranger asked me. He nodded.

- I’m just Koposova. Veronica. In baptism Virineya, that’s what you can call me. I studied with you at St. Petersburg University at the Faculty of Journalism, one year younger. My fellow students told me about you. That you have long been a believer and publish a church newspaper.

At this point I was truly amazed. I almost remembered Koposov: although she studied a year younger, she was listed among the activists, so I remembered her last name.

But how can this be? At the beginning of the festival, the chairman of the INFO, Vladimir Legoida, awarded memorable gifts to those journalists whose birthdays fell on these bright September days. She also received a gift. But then the name sounded different, non-Russian.

“By marriage, I’m Javadova,” she explained simply.

Still, it’s nice to meet a fellow student (or fellow student) in a grove near Moscow. And that's why we smiled. It’s good that I finally took a step forward. Otherwise, I would not have known that here with me at the festival there is a fragment of the same “alma mater” as mine. Now Veronica no longer seemed to me like “a woman a little older than middle age.” Firstly, we are the same age, and I saw in her a former student, and secondly, every woman is as old as she smiles!

We agreed to meet in an hour in the lobby. It’s just that her morning prayer rule lasts about three hours, and it still takes a lot of time to complete it. And only then we, former classmates, will talk about our university past. I went to breakfast (she doesn't go to breakfast, as it turns out), and then I saw her sitting on a chair in the foyer. Out of journalistic habit, he took out a voice recorder and began asking questions.

Prayer before the exam

“I graduated from the Faculty of Journalism in 1988, a year later than you,” Veronica (Virineya) Alekseevna Javadova began the story.

“I was a very serious girl then.” There was a case: Alexander was a student younger than me, I don’t remember his last name. One day he comes up to me and says: “Veronica, let’s go for a walk.” I answer: “Why?” - “Let's talk.” - “And what are we going to talk about? About the faculty, about social work? - “About personal things.” - “No, this is not for me.” I had such a storm of indignation: how can he, there is so much to do, so much work, and he is talking about personal things.

By nature, I am not a tough person at all; leading is not my thing. But then she lived in the same room in the dorm with Lena Soldatova - remember her? She was ten years older than us, such a fighter. It was she who began to promote me along the trade union line. Without my signature as a trade unionist, not a single diploma was issued. And so, in the direction of our trade union bureau, I had to go south, to Divnomorskoye - there was a rally of student trade union activists. Then I calculated that Belgorod was exactly halfway between this resort town and St. Petersburg. I applied there for a journalistic internship in order to save money on travel. I didn’t yet know that this would determine a lot in my future life... And in Belgorod they could pay for my internship, there was an internship rate there. And since I didn’t have enough money, I always worked somewhere, this was important to me. That's how I ended up in Belgorod. For many decades.

—Where are you from? (I don’t even know whether to call you or you... Still, we studied together.)

- On you, of course. And I will try. I’m from Vyatka, the village of Sredneye Ivkino, Verkhoshizhemsky district.

— Why don’t you have the characteristic Vyatka dialect at all? Dissolved in the south of Russia?

- And he wasn’t there before. My grandmother is from St. Petersburg, she is of a princely family. Grandmother always prepared us for the fact that we would return to St. Petersburg.

— After school, did you go straight to university?

— No, I worked for a year at a regional newspaper. I should have prepared better, university is very serious. And it was a little scary to go from the village to the big city. Dad told me: if you want to study well, light candles in the temple before exams and ask God! And before each session, I went to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and lit a candle. And after the session, I also went there to thank God. And I’ve always had a lot of girlfriends, and wherever I go, they go too. But on the last Sunday before the session I had to somehow fight them off. I still couldn’t say that I was going to pray at church. And four times a year - before the session and after the session - I had to go to the Lavra. To avoid being recognized, I pulled my scarf low over my eyebrows and slouched. I remembered Mother Marina Zakharchuk - I didn’t know her personally at that time, but the story of her expulsion from the university for her faith was well-known. Marina married a seminarian in her fourth year. They tried to “work through” her, but she did not give in. And then she was expelled from the journalism department. They always set her up as an “example” for us: don’t act like her! Therefore, even for my friends, I came up with different versions of why they should not go with me. Looking ahead, I will say: many years have passed, and I confessed in letters to my girlfriends and friends where I was going then. My closest friend was Natasha Chernikova, she always followed me like a thread following a needle. But she didn’t know that I was a believer.

— Have you been baptized since childhood?

- Don't know. I was almost an orphan, and there was no one to tell if I had been baptized. I suspect that she was baptized, but with an incomplete (“secular”) rite. As an adult, I was already baptized in full rite.

"White city on a distant hill..."

So, I came to Belgorod for practice. There I met a young journalist Valery Javadov. He is a very interesting person, a winner of journalistic competitions, his father is Azerbaijani, his mother is Slavic. When I arrived there, I opened a Belgorod newspaper, and there was “the winner of the competition for young journalists, V. Javadov...” Thanks to this, “V. Javadov" and I was assigned to Belgorod after graduating from university.

— Was he baptized?

- Then not yet. Although his great-grandfather on his mother’s side, an Orthodox priest, accepted death for Christ.

Valery Javadov worked for the Belgorodskaya Pravda newspaper and graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University. He is seven years older than me. I married him in my fifth year. Then she was assigned to the Belgorod regional youth newspaper “Leninskaya Smena”.

Belgorod received me harshly. The city was completely different in Soviet times. But when Saint Joasaph of Belgorod returned to us, the city began to change greatly for the better.

And then I incredibly missed St. Petersburg.

- We all went through this... Do you remember, in our student years, Boris Grebenshchikov had a song like this: “White city on a distant hill...” So you ended up in it.

— I worked in Belgorod for only a short time and went on maternity leave. I kept dreaming: some time will pass and we will return to St. Petersburg. But life went completely differently. I returned to St. Petersburg and my beloved Lavra only three years later. It was such a joy! Everything there is close to me, everything is so dear. The depression that I had in Belgorod immediately disappeared. I stayed in St. Petersburg for only a week, came back - and everyone told me: you have become somehow different, somehow bright, joyful. Well, yes, of course, I went to the Lavra there, I prayed.

In Belgorod, I didn’t think at all that you could pray, you could go to church here. The city is small, and we are ideological workers. If they saw me in church, it could end badly for me.

— When I arrived on assignment in Kursk, your neighbor, in 1987, the following story was heard. Deputy editor of the Kurskaya Pravda newspaper Vladimir Tishko was almost fired from the newspaper for allowing his deceased father to have a funeral service in the church. And he took off his hat when he entered the temple territory. The staff correspondents of the central newspapers barely defended him! And yet Tishko was demoted to a simple correspondent. But just a year later, the Millennium of the Baptism of Rus' broke out!

— My newspaper boss Ivan Belkin said: “You write somehow... not in the Komsomol way. Maybe you write poetry? - “No, I don’t write poetry.” - “Well, somehow you write differently, your style is completely not ours.” I just had a style that suited a church newspaper. But neither he nor I knew about it yet. And there were no church newspapers then.

Then my second son was born. Friends and acquaintances have already appeared in Belgorod, life has already become more joyful. I realized that I was unlikely to return to St. Petersburg, so I began to settle here. At the same time, I felt that I lacked prayer. I so wanted to go to church without being embarrassed, without embarrassment and without fear of consequences. I was no longer afraid for myself, but for my husband. He was already the head of the department of the regional party newspaper, and everything was heading towards the fact that he would become the editor of Belgorodskaya Pravda.

— Did he end up becoming an editor?

— He became the editor of other newspapers.

Not yet baptized ourselves, we baptized our eldest son. We couldn't find a godfather for him. As a result, he only had a godmother, a journalist from Belgorodskaya Pravda, Natalya Kozlova. I started talking to her about my son’s baptism very carefully, because at that time such conversations, to put it mildly, were not welcomed. But she simply told me: “I’m ready.” Since then I’ve always called her that: not godmother, but my son’s godmother. Natalya is a very talented person. Then she herself had only recently been baptized. I also attended my son's baptism. He was small, capricious, and did not want to get away from me.

And I myself was baptized together with my youngest son. We were all baptized then - my son, my husband and I. This was in 1995.

Now I’m already on maternity leave with my second child. We have already stopped counting every penny. The husband began to move up the career ladder and was already deputy editor of Belgorodskaya Pravda. And with my second child, I could afford to stay at home longer. We already had a telephone, we became respected people in Belgorod.

First call

When I went on maternity leave, I ran a school topic in the newspaper. And then a woman who runs kindergartens calls me from the city department of public education. At that time, people began to appear in journalism who were chasing scandals. And these are the journalists who stirred up a scandal around kindergartens. Some nanny was rude to someone, and they made a scandal out of it. And the head of kindergartens from the city government tells me: “Please go to work and protect us. Write a consistent, well-reasoned article.” I answer: “We don’t have any relatives in Belgorod, where am I going to put my baby?” “And we’ll find him a good kindergarten. Where do you live?" I gave the address, and she told me that there was a good kindergarten very close to my house. I remembered that my son and I had already walked near this garden and tried to talk to the teachers there, but they answered me rudely.

Remembering this old story, I don’t even remember what outraged me then. It seems that the teacher didn’t even tell me anything special. I just distracted her from something important, and she looked so unkindly, and I immediately decided for myself: I don’t want this person to participate in raising my son. But the Lord arranged everything so that this woman became my son’s teacher.

The head of the city council asked me to stop by this kindergarten again during my walk. We agreed on a time for a walk, and when my son and I approached the kindergarten, the head of the kindergarten was already waiting for us at the gate. She turned to me: “Veronica Alekseevna, how good it is that you came! Let's go have some coffee!" We sat down to drink coffee, started talking, I like everything so much, and suddenly the manager asks me:

- So who answered you rudely here?

I see that she is a tough woman, a former party worker, and I understand that things will not go well for that teacher, she could even be fired. I started making excuses:

“I guess it seemed to me that you didn’t have it.” It was hot that day, I probably overheated...

- No, you’re not overheated. There is no need to defend this teacher. She will have to answer for her behavior.

I realized that I had made a mistake: I carelessly complained about that teacher, and now she will get into trouble...

The manager’s words greatly alarmed me. I’m going home, my neighbor stops me and asks why I’m so depressed. I tell her the whole situation. She listens to me carefully and suddenly says:

“You need to go to church and repent.” After all, a person could get hurt because of you! Go to confession!

I think to myself that confession is only possible in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. But now I can’t go there: I have no money, and the child is small... It didn’t even occur to me that there are churches in Belgorod too. The neighbor, seeing my confusion, continues:

- Until you confess and remove this burden from yourself, your child will suffer. And no matter what kindergarten he goes to, he will feel bad there.

And I already had a negative experience associated with kindergarten. When I brought my eldest son to kindergarten, we were greeted by an Armenian teacher. Having learned that we have an Azerbaijani surname, she put her hands on her hips: “So it was you who drove us out of Karabakh?”

I explain to her: “What are you talking about, my father-in-law has lived in Moscow all his life, his children do not know the Azerbaijani language. How could we drive you away? - “No, the Javadovs’ surname is very famous, it was you who drove us out of Karabakh.” I am at a loss; the child cannot understand why the teacher is yelling at me when she sees me for the first time in her life. Because of this conflict, the child then stubbornly did not want to go to kindergarten. When I remembered all this, I thought: I don’t need a second such experience. And I no longer cared who saw me in church, who “knocked” where. I had to go to confession.

I come to the temple. There are only old women there. I came with my eldest son, and everyone paid attention to me. I remember this day well - it was August 2, Ilya’s day. I stand among other parishioners and wait for confession to begin. The priest comes out and says: “If anyone came to confession, I will not confess today. The Assumption Fast is coming soon, come then.” This is where I burst into tears! At that moment it seemed to me that August 14, the beginning of Lent, was still so far away. What if during this time the teacher I complained about gets fired? How can I remove this sin from my soul? And tears just run down my cheeks. The grandmothers look at me with bewilderment: what have I done that I immediately need confession? Father came out and saw: such repentance was written on my face... In general, this first confession in Belgorod was unforgettable.

The old priest listened to my confession and began to stroke my head and console me: “Why are you so upset? This can happen to anyone. Well, you didn’t want to!” Then there was Liturgy. My son and I received Holy Communion, and I calmed down a little. And I decided for myself: we will never go to this kindergarten. But the Lord arranged everything so that we went to that same kindergarten. And my son ended up in a group with the same teacher, Larisa, who could have been fired because of me. My boy was very loved in this kindergarten. And I still have a good, sisterly relationship with this teacher. Confession helped so much, this is how the Lord arranged everything!

Koshar Cross

— Larisa, the teacher, then also came to Church. It so happened that my son Valera did not share something with another boy. And that boy scratched Valera’s cheek. He had such terrible deep scratches on his cheek, as if a rake had been driven across his face. In the evening I came running for Valera, Larisa began to apologize to me that she had neglected to look after the boys and this happened. I reassured her and said: “You’ll see, tomorrow your cheek will be clean and there will be no marks left.” She was very surprised and began asking me questions. And then I already knew that we have such a shrine in Belgorod - the miraculous Koshar Cross. And the oil from this cross helps a lot, I have seen this from experience. There was already such a case when Valera fell on the street and broke his face. I was very sad then, and my eldest son said to me: “Mom, why are you crying, we have blessed oil, we will anoint his face, and everything will go away!” My eldest had already started going to Sunday school, he was seriously involved in church and gave a lot to both me and my husband - our entire family. We prayerfully anointed Valera’s face with oil from the Koshar Cross, and everything really went away; the next day her face was clean.

— Where is the Koshar Cross now?

— In the Holy Cross Church in Koshari, which is now the outskirts of Belgorod. Previously, this was a village - Koshary, Arkhangelskoe and also.

Well, I promised Larisa that the next morning Valera would have no scratches on her face. At home I started applying oil to the scratches. And they were long, reaching right up to the eye. This was also providential - I was afraid to apply it right next to my eye so that my eye wouldn’t sting. And there were two or three millimeters of scratches left near the eye that were not smeared. When we woke up in the morning, where I smeared, the scratches had healed completely, but these two or three millimeters, where I was afraid to smear, remained. In the kindergarten, I approached Larisa and said: “Well, as I said, everything has healed for us. But you didn’t believe me!” She looked and asked: “Where is this oil?” I explained that you don’t just need to anoint with oil, the most important thing is to pray. And then she asked me to teach her prayers. Then she gradually became a church member, and we went on pilgrimages together.

On the spiritual path

“It’s one thing to become a church person, and another thing to become a church journalist.” How did you start writing about church topics?

— A church journalist must give something to people. And in order to give something, you need to have it yourself. To have something, you must first acquire it... Before I became a church journalist, I had to learn a lot. At first, some time passed before we joined the church. My husband also became a church person. We looked for a long time for our parish church - where we would be warm, we were looking for a shepherd whom we could completely trust. And then one day my husband, my youngest son, and I—both of them Valeria—came to a service at the Intercession Church of the Marfo-Mariinsky Monastery. At that time, this temple had just been handed over to the Church; everything was not equipped there yet. And near the pulpit lay piled up boards. Right on these boards after the service the priest stood and gave a cross for kissing. We approached the cross, and suddenly he said to us: “How long have I been waiting for you!” It was amazing, he saw us for the first time and greeted us with such warmth. And I told my husband that I would like to go to this temple. Father's name is Father Sergiy Klyuiko. This is an amazing, interesting person. And he delivered very interesting sermons.

Once in a sermon he said: “So you came to the temple (and there were few churches in Belgorod at that time, only three or four). But now you will leave the temple and plunge into your everyday life. How nice it would be if everything that you receive in the temple, you brought not only to your homes, but also to your profession. If you don’t do this, then the place where you and I are standing now will be occupied by sectarians. Do you want that?" I didn't want this. The next day I came to the temple again, approached the priest and said: “I really want to bring the light of faith to my profession. But I know so little! Tell me how can I learn this?” And the priest answered: “Go to Sunday school.” He doesn’t know my circumstances, that I have no one to leave my children with.

My husband also needs to rest, he has only one day off, but I can’t force him to sit with the children on this day off while I go to study. She explained that the only option for me was self-education. Then Father Sergius led me to the church shop. It was, in fact, not yet a church shop, but simply a few books were sold there. He showed me the “Four Gospels” by Archbishop Averky (Taushev) and said: “Buy and read!” And I bought this book. I came home and started reading. I cried and felt compassion... Such depth suddenly opened up for me that I could not understand how I could live without it all these years!

Now it’s time for me to return from maternity leave to work. I left alone and came back completely different. And my colleagues, of course, began to discuss among themselves what happened to me. The general consensus was: "She's gone crazy!" It was very difficult for me to survive and survive all this. And not only for me, but also for my husband. But the husband proved himself to be a great hero. I think it is his great-grandfather, the new martyr, who is praying for him... Even when he was not yet baptized, he was internally an Orthodox man, his actions were the actions of a Christian. Even before I became a church member, I began to call him the head of the family. And he is truly the leader. If after our churching, figuratively speaking, they only swung a stick at me, well, sometimes they still hit me on the head with this stick, then a huge roller ran over him, which could have rolled under the asphalt. We worked with him in different editorial offices, but in the same building - the Press House. And other journalists constantly scolded me in front of him, laughed, asked if his wife was crazy, if she was forcing him to pray and bow... It was not easy for him, a man of eastern blood, to withstand this. But he survived. He was bullied more than me. This lasted three to four months after I went back to work. Then somehow everyone got used to it, calmed down, and only small nibbles remained.

But the Lord does not abandon His own. While I was on maternity leave, the newspaper from Leninskaya Smena was renamed simply to Smena, and a new editor-in-chief arrived. I have prepared a long interview with Father Sergiy Klyuiko. And the editor told me: “In Belgorod journalism, no one has ever written like that.” For me, the editor's kind word became a strong support. It strengthened my desire to continue writing on church topics. Our newspaper was the first in Belgorod to begin writing about Orthodoxy. We started publishing an Orthodox page once a month. It was called, like your newspaper, “Blagovest”. In addition, I was involved in medical topics. And I understood that I should write about medicine from the Orthodox point of view.

I was really looking forward to responses from readers. It was important for me to find out what kind of response there would be to my articles about Orthodoxy, how much people needed it. And suddenly a letter arrives. I must say that at that time people almost stopped writing letters to newspapers; it was 1996. Many began to lose interest in ordinary newspapers; they began to need the yellow press. And then I receive a letter, typed on a typewriter, from the plant staff. And there people ask me questions: how to bury a dead person in the Orthodox way, and some other questions about such things that are known to almost everyone today. And if anyone doesn’t know, you can buy brochures at any church and read them. I called the second issue of the Orthodox page “Everyone is Alive with God,” it talked about how to properly bury a deceased person, how to remember the dead.

Our editorial team did not appreciate my work. I was told that the Orthodox page is wasting newspaper space. And I am a very suspicious person, I began to think: maybe it’s true that no one needs what I do... I went with this question to the priest, Father Vyacheslav Chistyakov. He served in the church in honor of the Apostles Peter and Paul on the Prokhorovsky field. Father Vyacheslav poured cold water on my head: “Who do you think you are? Remember the Gospel, when Christ healed ten lepers, how many of them returned to Him? One of ten! And you want all ten of the ten who read your article to immediately become Orthodox. No, it doesn’t happen like that.” I returned to the editorial office, and then our proofreader came up to me and said: “Veronica, on your page you encourage people to write to you and ask questions. Can I also write you a letter with a question?” And I was just thinking: well, if readers can skip my page, skim, but the proofreader, she reads carefully, why doesn’t she go to church after my articles? And then the proofreader comes and wants to write on my page! Glory to You, Lord, for Your great mercies! This was also a support for me, a sign that I was doing everything right.

Then Orthodox columns began to appear in other Belgorod newspapers. The editor came up to me and said: “You know, it turns out that we are moving in the right direction.”

“She should work for us!”

In fact, I wrote my very first Orthodox article in 1993, when I had not even been fully baptized. It was called "The Millennium Road". Then our Vladyka John had just been consecrated Bishop, and he was a vicar in Kursk. Vladyka John arrives in Belgorod. And just at that time I came to the Diocesan Administration to arrange an interview with him. And then a tall monk comes in, everyone bows to him, kisses his hand. I alone froze like a stone statue. This monk was our future Ruling Bishop, Vladyka John. I was introduced to Vladyka as a journalist, and we began to talk. Vladyka John had a cold at the time and was coughing heavily. I understood how difficult it was for him to talk, and suggested that we postpone our conversation to another day. He replied: “No, no, don’t be embarrassed. Tomorrow is the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, I will serve, and the cough will go away. I invite you to come to the service." And so I come to the service and see that Vladyka really does not cough, well, not the slightest sign of a cold. It was a miracle for me. I know how difficult it is to treat such a persistent cough.

I have a habit of coordinating my article with the person I was writing about. And on the second day after the Ascension, she approached Vladika John to show him her article. He reads the text, points to me to the priest who was present here and says: “This is ours! She should work for us!” And I, sinfully, think: wow, what self-confidence, no one even asks me if I want to work for them. And when I came to work for the diocesan newspaper in 2002, I approached Vladyka John and said: “Vladyka, remember our first meeting?” He laughed: “Yes.”

Now I work at the Belgorod diocesan newspaper. Our editor is Metropolitan John of Belgorod. Mother Marina Zakharchuk also helps us. She is a wonderful, very talented person. First I became acquainted with her work, and then with her personally. She brought her articles to the Belgorod Diocesan Gazette, and when I saw her, we started talking, remembering the university and our teachers.

City of Saint Joasaph

— You said that the city has changed a lot after the relics of St. Joasaph returned to you from the Leningrad Museum of Atheism (now the State Museum of the History of Religion) ...

- Has changed a lot! It's like two different cities. Saint Joasaph returned to Belgorod in 1991, but I did not meet him right away. It was in 1993, on September 17, on the day of the glorification of St. Joasaph. I was on my way to work, and a drunk young man was sitting next to me on the bus. And he really wanted to talk to me. This was not at all part of my plans, but then he suddenly says: “Do you know where I’m going? To Joasaph of Belgorod." This name made me turn to him, and he read the question in my eyes: why are you coming to him? This guy was so... he was so crazy... And so he said: “Do you know how he helped me in the army?” At this point I showed great journalistic interest. The rest of the way he told me about Saint Joasaph, how he prayed to him, and how the saint helped him - he protected him from fights, from hazing... He then simply said to himself, turning to Saint Joasaph: “Father, help me!” And the Saint always helped, he remained safe and sound, served safely in the army and returned home. He remembered that September 17 is the day of St. Joasaph, and he needs to thank him. Every year on this day he comes to the temple and says: “Saint Joasaph, thank you for everything!” - and leaves. This story has lived with me ever since. After this meeting, I began to try to learn more about Saint Joasaph and began to pray to him. Well, did I choose this bus, this fellow traveler? Did I choose my city? Did you choose your own destiny? This is how the Lord brought it.

Prepared by Anton Zhogolev

The main relic of the temple is the life-giving cross

People from all regions of Russia come to Belgorod for the sake of the only shrine, which is kept in the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The miraculous Kashira cross is the main relic of the church. It was installed here in the same year when the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross itself was built and illuminated.

Its height is 177 cm, and its width is one and a half meters. It is decorated with a silver frame, created at the expense of donors.

The Koshir cross is rightfully miraculous

The history of its appearance in Belgorod is even more multifaceted. According to the legend mentioned in the book by A.I. Firsov, in the middle of the 18th century, the cross was sent by a novice from Athos as a gift to his brother, the wealthy Koshir landowner Yuri Vyrodov.

All residents in the area revered the cross as miraculous. But the owner himself did not have any respect or reverence for him, and for his sinful actions he was even excommunicated from the church.

When, during an unsuccessful hunt, predators killed a dog dear to Vyrodov’s heart, he furiously ordered the shrine to be taken out of the house and thrown into the swamp with the words:

“They told me that he was holy and miraculous, but I don’t see any benefit in him.”

After the death of the wicked landowner, they forgot about the cross.

At the end of the 18th century, a blind man had a dream where he was told to find a life-giving cross, and by venerating it, he would receive insight. After he reported the vision to the residents, the cross was found and pulled out of the swamp. When the blind man touched him, he was immediately healed. And at the site where the cross was removed, a holy spring began to flow, where a well was later built.

The revealed cross took pride of place in the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

First, the cross was installed on the stage, after which it was transferred to the stone chapel of Puzanov. Then for about thirty years the cross was in the Belgorod Nikolaev Monastery, after which the shrine found its permanent home in the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross.

LiveInternetLiveInternet

Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in Belgorod

The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross was built in the settlement of Koshara (former village of Arkhangelskoye), on a small hill near the Vezelitsa River. In the book “Belgorod with the County,” published in 1882, Drenyakin reports that the Koshar Church of the Exaltation of the Cross was built in 1862 at the expense of Countess A.V. Lastovskaya and wine merchants, the Mukhanov brothers - Nikolai and Yegor. The reference book of the Kursk Theological Consistory for 1908 indicates the year of construction of the church in Koshari - 1863. There is another evidence of the temple in the “Historical Bulletin” for 1910 in the article “Belgorod and its shrines,” in which the author A. Firsov reports: “ In 1863, the current church was built in Koshari at the expense of Mrs. Anna Varlamovna Bogdanovich, in which the cross was erected.” The discrepancy in the date of construction of the church in one year could be a simple typo, but whose funds the construction was carried out is more difficult to answer, although it is likely that all of the above persons could have made donations for the construction of the temple at different times. The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross is an example of provincial architecture of the second half of the 19th century. Built using elements of classicism and Russian architecture of the 17th century.

The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross is part of the Belgorod-Starooskol diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The shrine of the temple is the Miraculous Cross.

The history of the discovery of the Miraculous Cross During the time of St. Joasaph (1748-1754), a wealthy landowner Yuri Vyrodov lived in Koshary. In his house there was a Cross sent by his brother, a novice of the Athos Monastery. But the corrupt landowner did not have the slightest reverence for the shrine. And one day, after an unsuccessful hunt, during which the animals tore his beloved dog to pieces, he fixed his gaze on the Cross and in anger ordered the servants to take him out of the house and throw him into the swamp. “They told me that he is holy and miraculous, but he does not bring me any benefit,” the landowner explained his treacherous decision to the taken aback courtyard people. The blasphemous order was carried out, and the Holy Cross ended up in a swampy place not far from Vyrodov’s house. Many years later. The owner of the estate died. As people said - the cruel death of a sinner. The cross was covered by a swamp. And at the end of the 18th century a miracle happened. One blind man heard a voice in a dream, promising him healing if he took out a desecrated shrine from the Koshar swamp. He took several assistants with him and went in search of the Cross. We managed to find him. And as soon as the blind man venerated the shrine, he immediately received his sight and began to glorify God! And at the place where the Cross was found, a spring appeared. Later (obviously, the area became drier) a well was dug. The news of the found Cross quickly spread throughout the surrounding area and attracted thousands of pilgrims, many of whom received healing from various ailments. At first, the Cross stood on the stage built for it, then it was moved to a stone chapel built by the then landowner Puzanov, and even later - to the Belgorod Nikolaevsky Monastery, where it remained for about thirty years. Currently located in the Holy Cross Church in Belgorod.

Revived tradition

In pre-revolutionary times, on patronal feast days, the Miraculous Cross was taken out of the church and, after the procession of the Cross, was installed on special platforms for the worship of numerous pilgrims from different cities and towns. In 1999, this tradition was resumed. A special icon case was made for the Cross and at the end of the Divine Liturgy, which is traditionally celebrated by Archbishop John on the patronal feast day, the revered shrine was surrounded by a procession of the Cross around the temple. And now the religious procession with the shrine will be held annually. On September 16, 2000, celebrations were held in Belgorod dedicated to the day of glorification of St. Joasaph, Bishop of Belgorod, the 2000th anniversary of the Nativity of Christ and the 5th anniversary of the revival of the Belgorod and Stary Oskol diocese. Shrines from all regions of the region were brought to Belgorod. The miraculous Cross from the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross was transferred in a procession to the central square of the city, where the Divine Liturgy was celebrated that day. The miraculous Cross was installed near the shrine containing the relics of St. Joasaph - on the High Place of the altar. During the procession of the Cross, elderly people who found it difficult to get to the temple came out into the streets and reverently, with tears in their eyes, kissed the Great Shrine of Belogorye.

https://krest.orthodoxy.ru/all/hram/history.htm

Liturgy

Archbishop John of Belgorod and Stary Oskol celebrates the Liturgy at the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in the city of Belgorod.

Well

Well

On the territory of the Temple in 2010, a chapel was built in honor of the Kursk Root Mother of God with a pump room located in it. Water comes into it from a deep well. The chapel became a gift to the residents of the regional center for City Day. The consecration ceremony was conducted by Archbishop John of Belgorod and Stary Oskol.

The chapel was built on the site of the holy spring where the Miraculous Cross was found.

Inside the chapel, many cases of healing from various ailments in front of the Koshar shrine have been witnessed.

An ancient grave in a small cemetery located next to the temple. During the Soviet years, the temple was closed for a very short time. He was not subject to ruin. Several ancient icons have been preserved in it. For example, the icon of the Mother of God “Quick to Hear”, the image of the Archangel Michael. In 1997, a Sunday school for children and catechetical courses for adults were opened at the church.

Ceiling paintings:

The miraculous power of the cross attracts Orthodox believers from all over the country

The news of the revealed cross spread throughout the Russian land. People from all over Russia began to come to the village of Kosharskoye to venerate the shrine and receive grace. The fate of many pilgrims was saved by the holy power of the cross. There are many amazing stories associated with the healing power of the cross that are recorded in the church chronicles.

Orthodox people try to go and venerate the revealed cross in order to be healed

But the most incredible of them is about a miracle that happened to a layman who was on the verge of death.

For 20 years, Vasily suffered from a terrible illness - one leg, arm, tongue was paralyzed, and his brain activity was rapidly deteriorating. For three years, doctors tried to treat the disease with the most sophisticated means, even using electric current.

His condition improved - Vasily began to have difficulty speaking and moving. However, this was a temporary effect. The disease again began to progress so that the patient was unable to walk without assistance.

18

for so many years Vasily lived in terrible torment and quietly thought about death

For the next 18 years, Vasily lived as if in a nightmare, sometimes the pain became so unbearable that he thought about death as salvation.

Relatives advised me to visit a trusted doctor in Kharkov. After examination, the professor made a diagnosis: the stomach was paralyzed and needed to be removed urgently.

Having received instructions and recommendations for the hospital, Vasily first visited his sister in Kharkov.

His sister advised him to go to Saint Joasaph in Belgorod and pray for healing.

Lying almost exhausted at the head of the saint’s tomb and asking for death or healing, Vasily suddenly heard the voice of the priest. He told him to go to the village of Koshary to the Life-Giving Cross, perhaps there the Lord would have mercy on the sufferer.

When Vasily arrived in the village, he asked O. Porfiry to serve a prayer service, while he himself lay nearby. After the service, the priest offered life-giving water to drink.

At home, the patient slept all day and all night. The next morning a miracle happened - Vasily began to recover. And a month later he finally recovered.

Miracles performed by the Holy Cross

The cross performed many miracles and helped many people in need. There are miracles known to everyone:

1. In 1875, a five-year-old peasant daughter, who had suffered from scrofula and lost her sight, began to see again. She was washed with water that was poured over the Holy Cross. In a dream, the girl’s mother saw an old man who pointed out what needed to be done to heal the child.
2. That same year, an eleven-year-old boy was healed with oil brought from the lamp at the Holy Cross.
3. In 1886, a peasant was able to cure a sore leg that was advised to be amputated.
4. In 1887, priest Solodkov was able to recover from pneumonia by holding a prayer service in the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in Belgorod.
5. In 1889, the mother of two sons, one of whom died, brought water from the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross and gave it to her sick son, after which the child completely recovered.

The Koshar shrine now always participates in the main holiday

Since the foundation of the temple, the miraculous cross has been used in Orthodox celebrations. During the patronal feast, it was installed on the street so that pilgrims from all over the world could bow and venerate the shrine.

After the revolution and war, the Koshar relic did not leave the church for a long time, without participating in the Procession of the Cross on the patronal feast of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord.

1999

from this year the miraculous cross participates in the procession every year

In 1999, after the Divine Liturgy, the Miraculous Cross was carried around the temple for the first time. This tradition is now observed annually.

Belgorod news

Belgorod residents celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Holy Cross Church

The birthday of one of the oldest churches in the region coincided with the great holiday of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. Therefore, there were especially many believers who came to the service last Friday. Belgorod residents, like a century and a half ago, went to venerate the main shrine of the temple - the Koshar Life-Giving Cross, which was made on Mount Athos back in the time of St. Joasaph.

The festive service was led by Metropolitan John of Belgorod and Stary Oskol. In his speech, he told the parishioners about the true meaning of the Cross of the Lord for every believer.

“Not everyone can accept Christ’s sacrifice. Why are sectarians so afraid of the cross? Why does the miraculous life-giving cross terrify those who do not know the true God? - Metropolitan John addressed the parishioners. — Because the emanating forces of grace from the altar, where Christ’s sacrifice was made, are so strong that they overturn all the plans of atrocities, stop them, destroying the networks of the devil. Brothers and sisters, for a Christian, bearing the cross is not just some sign that distinguishes him from other people. When you and I wear a cross on our bodies, we must remember that this cross must also be in our souls. After all, without this bearing of the cross it is impossible to receive the grace of Christ’s sacrifice.

On the holiday, the weather was chilly, but there were so many parishioners that the temple could not accommodate everyone. Believers prayed in the square in front of the temple, despite the rain and cold wind. Many adults left the church to make way for the little parishioners—pupils of kindergarten No. 86 in Belgorod. The kindergarteners and the rector of the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, Father John, have a warm relationship. These boys and girls are the most welcome parishioners here.

“We were lucky that in 2005, the rector of the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, Father John, began taking his children to our kindergarten. He always came for the children himself, and our children began to ask why this uncle was in church clothes, then they had questions about God and faith,” says Evdokia Kuznetsova, head of kindergarten No. 86. — Father John began to answer the children’s questions. And then we started visiting the temple on holidays. The parishioners know us, they always make a small corridor so that children can go inside the church.

Alexander Zverev came to the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross with his daughter Ekaterina to pray. The parishioners live far from this church, on Sadovaya Street, but they admit that their souls called them here.

“The soul asked to come to this temple on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, we did not know that it was his anniversary,” says Alexander Zverev. — You can also pray at home, but there is no such unity as in church, here we are together, we feel grace.

The Belgorod Holy Cross Church is very revered among the people. They were able to save him both during the war years and during the Soviet years of the fight against the “religious dope.” It is not surprising that over the course of its century and a half history, many legends have developed around the temple itself and its main shrine. Here are some of them.

Finding the Cross

Koshary, XVIII century. At that time, landowner Yuri Vyrodov lived here. A rich man, but spiritually poor. Meanwhile, his brother was a novice of the Athos monastery. It was from him that the Cross was delivered to our land - to Vyrodov’s house. And that's what happened. One day a landowner was getting ready to go hunting. And although he did not have the slightest reverence for the shrine, he nevertheless turned to the Cross - he wanted to gain a lot. But he returned from the hunt in a disgusting mood - without trophies, and besides, the animals tore his beloved dog to pieces. He took out his anger on the Cross, ordering the servants to throw it away. Blasphemy! The shrine is in the swamp. Time passed. The landowner died. The cross was swallowed up by the quagmire.

A miracle brought him back from oblivion. At the end of the century, it was revealed to one blind man in a dream: he would receive his sight if he saved the Cross. This man followed the Word. And with the help of several people, he found the shrine - and was healed. And where they found the Cross, a spring began to flow. Thousands of pilgrims rushed here.

Shrine in the temple

The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross is an example of Russian architecture of the 17th century with elements of classicism. It was erected mainly at the expense of Countess Anna Varlaamovna Lastovskaya and merchants Nikolai and Yegor Mukhanov. Construction was completed in 1862 and consecrated the following year. And the Miracle-Working Cross, which after being found in the Belgorod Nikolaev Monastery for more than thirty years, finally found its place - it was brought into the new church.

Heavenly punishment

This is what a parishioner of the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, who chose to keep his name secret, told us:

— In the 1920s, the Bolsheviks took silver from the temple and decided to take away its main shrine, the Cross. One of the party members carried him out of the church and began to make fun of the people who were grieving and praying. Grinning, he threw the Cross onto the cart, sat down on top and lashed the horse with the reins. Only now he has gone far away. He was killed by lightning. Notice that the day was fine, and there was only one small cloud in the sky...

The cross was returned to the temple. And in the early 1930s, the Soviet authorities closed its doors and hung a barn lock on them. So the local residents reached Comrade Kalinin himself and ensured that the church became operational again. Divine services did not stop here during the Great Patriotic War.

This is the amazing fate of the Koshar shrine and its monastery.

Natalia KOZLOVA, Ekaterina SHARONOVA, Mikhail MALYKHIN (photo)

Healing water can be collected from the pump room in the built chapel

The miraculous well is under the patronage of the Mother of God.
In 2010, using funds raised by parishioners and donations from enterprises, in the very place where the life-giving cross was found and a healing spring appeared, the chapel of the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God was erected and illuminated. Residents come to the chapel to pray to the Blessed Virgin and draw holy water.

On the site of the holy spring there now stands a chapel

Shrines[edit]

• Miraculous Koshar Cross

The miraculous Koshar cross arrived in the middle of the 18th century from Athos. At the end of the 18th century, the miraculous discovery of the Cross took place. It was pulled out of the swamp at the request of a blind man, who the day before was promised by an unknown voice in a dream that he would gain insight if he saved the Cross. When the shrine was pulled out of the swamp , the blind man kissed her and received his sight. The cross was moved to the stone chapel. The temple was built in 1863. In 1975, a 5-year-old girl went blind due to scrofula. On the eve of Christmas, the mother saw in a dream an old man who told her: “serve a prayer service to the Koshar Life-Giving Cross and your daughter will be healthy.” A prayer service was served and the girl, having washed herself with water that had previously been poured over the Holy Cross, received her sight.

• Source in honor of the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”

Practical information

Today, the church regularly holds services, which anyone can attend. The schedule can be found on the official website.

Official website of the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Belgorod

There are several ways to get to the Holy Cross Church in the city of Belgorod.

Along the Left Bank there is bus No. 19, the stop where you need to get off is called “Temple”; You can also use minibuses number 44 and 24. Or get to the Tsemzavod stop by trolleybus number 6 or bus number 23 and walk a few meters.

Exact address: 308015, Belgorod, st. Vezelskaya, 154, Holy Cross Church.

Telephone.

Driving directions to the Holy Cross Church.

By leaving a comment, you accept the user agreement