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January 3, 2024 18:24
On December 31, 2023 Metropolitan Mefodiy of Perm and Kungur celebrated a thanksgiving service in the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior in Perm. The service in the central part of the church was held for the first time after a 90-year break due to the Soviet government's decision to close the city's historic cathedral.
The cathedral prayer marked an important event for all believers of the Perm region: a full-scale restoration process begins in the historic Transfiguration Cathedral, which will end with the return of the temple to its historic appearance.
The Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior was officially returned to the Russian Orthodox Church in 2011. According to the agreement between the leadership of the Perm Diocese represented by Metropolitan Methodius of Perm and Kungur and the management of the Perm State Art Gallery, the cathedral building was temporarily used by the Perm State Art Gallery until December 2023.
At the end of December 2023, when the gallery's move to a new, technologically equipped building was completed, the keys to the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior were handed over to the leadership of the Perm Diocese. In the near future, a full-scale process of restoration of the interior of the cathedral will begin, so that the cathedral church will once again become a place of common prayer and spiritual center of the capital of the Kama region.
At the end of the thanksgiving prayer service, the head of the Perm Metropolitanate addressed the faithful with an archpastoral address:
"I cordially congratulate you, fathers, brothers and sisters, on this holiday, on the coming New Year! And, of course, I congratulate all of us on the fact that on the last day of the passing year, the majestic historic cathedral of Perm, which for many years housed the Perm State Art Gallery, once again became a place of prayer.
Everything has its time. By the grace of God, by the prayers of the saints of the Council of the Perm Metropolis, the new martyrs and confessors of the land of Perm and all those who made efforts to ensure that the cathedral building was once again dedicated to the purpose for which it was built, at the end of the passing year 2023 we entered here and after 90 years of ecclesiastical desolation we sang a song of praise to our Lord and Savior, to the Mother of God and to the holy saints of God who have been moving on the Perm land.
Today's event is a great mercy of God to us sinners. With the Lord's help, we will begin restoration work so that the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior will regain its historical appearance. Today a great joy has been realized! Let us hope that with our joint efforts and prayers, the work we are beginning to do to restore the original appearance of the cathedral will be realized. The time will come when you and I will stand in front of the majestic iconostasis and the open Royal Gates, and the combined choir will sing hymns to the glory of God in the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior.
Once again I heartily congratulate you all on this wonderful event! I thank all of you who have been involved in bringing the cathedral back to its original purpose as soon as possible. I wish you all in the coming new year the grace of God, so that the Lord may confirm us in love for God and each other, so that we can analyze our lives, look into our souls and correct the imperfections that exist in it, to become closer to God and change our lives for the better. May the coming new year be peaceful and prosperous for our Fatherland, for our Church and for each of us. Let us pray that the coming year will be a year of God's goodness. May the blessing of God be with us all in the coming new year!"
Perm Metropolis/Patriarchy.ru
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