The Bobruisk Diocese of the Belarusian Orthodox Church (Mogilev Region)

The Belarusian Orthodox Church has a long and dramatic history. Her centuries-old path of service to the Lord is marked by an unceasing struggle with religious opponents and periods of persecution. Having begun its formation in an atmosphere of persistent opposition to Catholicism, which tried to establish itself on the Belarusian land, in the 20th century it found itself in the very heart of the Bolshevik anti-religious terror that destroyed most of its best representatives.

Attempts to plant Catholicism

In one of the earliest chronicles mentioning the city of Bobruisk, which was under Lithuanian domination in those years, there are evidences of attempts to actively influence the representatives of the Roman church on its inhabitants. This process is typical for most of the lands of the western part of Russia, but here it was designated most acutely.

The most dramatic events take place in the middle of the 17th century, when in the course of an irreconcilable religious war the city was virtually destroyed by Lithuanian troops, who tried to turn its inhabitants away from the faith of their fathers. The Orthodox Cossacks, together with the militia formed from the city's inhabitants, tried to resist, but they could not resist regular troops for a long time.

The historical documents of that era show that as a result of the massacre to which the city of Bobruisk was subjected by the Lithuanians who seized it, out of six thousand inhabitants only two hundred people remained alive, and most of the buildings were destroyed.

Under the Russian scepter

As the city was rebuilt from ruins, Orthodoxy revived in it, and for a century and a half neighboring with Catholicism planted in these parts. The real flourishing of the spiritual life of the city came at the end of the 18th century, when the city's historic annexation to the Russian Empire took place. During this period, the Bobruisk Diocese is formed, which included a significant number of parishes that existed by that time.

The leadership of the diocese paid great attention not only to increasing the number of its parishioners, but also to their religious education. For this purpose, the first regional school was opened in the city, students were taught such disciplines as rhetoric, general and sacred history, as well as the foundations of the Orthodox faith - the catechism.

The heyday of the diocese in the XIX century

The creation of new churches is also actively carried out. It is known that in 1812, at the time of the completion of the construction of the Bobruisk fortress, only within its limits were seven churches, among which the most significant were St. Peter's Cathedral, built in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, and the Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky.

A real masterpiece of church architecture was the temple that appeared in the city's cemetery in 1829 in honor of St. Sophia the Great Martyr. It was built on the initiative and on the donations of Colonel Rosenmark, who lived in the city of the recent war with Napoleon.

The religious life of Bobruisk in the early 20th century

Impressive statistics, which led in the early XX century Bobruisk Diocese. According to her reports, at that time in this relatively small city there were ten Orthodox churches and five parochial schools. There is also an abundance of house churches in the diocese.

Preserved evidence of the reverence with which the citizens celebrated Orthodox holidays, a special place among which was the day of memory of St. Nicholas the Miracle-Worker of Myra. These, held twice a year, celebrations were accompanied by nationwide religious processions and conciliar prayer services.

Period of atheistic insanity

The church splendor that developed over the past centuries was quickly destroyed by the Bolsheviks, who in 1917 committed a coup d'état. According to the testimony of many researchers, it was the diocese of Bobruisk that suffered a special loss in those years. The new authorities mercilessly destroyed what had long been erected for folk donations. By 1925 in the city, once famous for its church buildings, there were only three churches. It became extremely dangerous not only to serve, but also to openly confess the faith. However, nothing could extinguish the spiritual life of the city.

The special intensity of atheistic terror suffered by the entire Belarusian Orthodox Church fell on 1937, marked by a general surge of punitive measures carried out by the government. During this period, many representatives of the clergy and ordinary parishioners were arrested and later executed. Martyr finished his earthly journey and the bishop of Bobruisk Filaret (Ramensky).

The period of the war and subsequent years

The Bobruisk Diocese received certain indulgences during the war years, when it became clear to the government that a powerful consolidating and unifying force was needed to defeat the enemy. It could become only Orthodox faith, which for centuries was the spiritual core of the people. During this period, many of the surviving clerics returned from their places of detention. During the services they performed in dilapidated church buildings, they blessed the parishioners to fight against a common enemy.

The attitude of the authorities towards the church changed dramatically in the post-war years, when, in their opinion, practical necessity no longer existed in it. This was especially evident during the period of the so-called Khrushchev persecutions. It was publicly announced that Belarus should become the first of the union republics to end the "religious dope". This marked the beginning of a new period of persecution of the church. In 1963, the last Orthodox church was closed in Bobruisk, later rebuilt into a sports and recreational complex.

The beginning of the church revival

As in the whole country, the revival of spiritual life in Belarus is connected with democratic reforms that took place during perestroika. In this process, the Bobruisk Diocese was involved. St. Nicholas Cathedral, previously selected from believers and for many years used for purely mundane purposes, once again opened the doors to its parishioners. Since the late nineties an active process of transferring previously taken away church buildings and building new ones to believers has begun.

In 2009, the social department of the Bobruisk Diocese resumes its activities. He is responsible for establishing cooperation with public authorities, raising funds for the poor and a wide range of activities aimed at attracting public attention to the problems of socially unprotected strata of society.

By 2012 in Bobruisk there were seven operating temples, one of which opened a spiritual and educational center. According to the residents, the decision of the Holy Synod of October 25, 2004, in accordance with which the new Bobruisk and Bykhov diocese was formed, was of great importance in strengthening the religious life of the city. This made it possible to streamline the administrative management of the fifty-five parishes on its territory to a large extent.