The village of Otradnoe, Voronezh Region. Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary

This year many people first learned about such a place as the village of Otradnoe in the Voronezh region. The Church of the Protection of the Holy Virgin for Christmas hosted the President of the Russian Federation. This settlement is located half an hour's drive from Voronezh and is not very similar to the village: beautiful brick country houses, elite cottages evoke the thoughts of a small town. In the center of the village stands a beautiful temple with a rich history, next to it - the orphanage and the church of St. George.

The village of Otradnoe, Voronezh Region. Church of the Protection of the Holy Virgin

Historically, the village consists of three settlements - Vykrestovo, Gololobovo and Otradny, formed from four landowner settlements around the beginning of the XIX century. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, this settlement was nowhere mentioned in official documents. Today, the village of Otradnoe in the Voronezh Region, whose church was seen all over Russia on Christmas Day, is assigned to the Novousmansky District. But in the future it is planned to join the city of Voronezh.

At the entrance to the village of the joyful Voronezh Region, the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary built in 1901 is visible from afar. The history of the temple is not very rich. It was built in the Neo-Russian style and was consecrated in 1901. Since there were many residents in the village and there were not enough places in the temple, in 12 years it was decided to reconstruct and increase it in size. After the revolution, in 1930, the temple was closed and converted into a grain storage facility until 1991, until it was returned to the diocese. Immediately restoration began, which lasted almost 10 years. The administration of the Voronezh Region in 1995 decided to protect the Intercession Cathedral as an object of cultural and historical heritage of regional importance.

Under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary

In the park in front of the church, the villagers put a sculpture of Our Lady. The idea to create and establish the image of the Virgin came to Archpriest Father Gennady. The administration supported the idea, invited the sculptor, working in one of the temples of Lipetsk, chose the image of the future figure. The creation lasted more than a year with funding from the sponsors, the village administration and the donations donated by the villagers. Before the feast of the Nativity, the sculpture of the Most Holy Theotokos was established. In the dark, it, thanks to a special backlight, looks impressive.

Under the guidance of the abbot

Visiting the village Otradnoe of the Voronezh region, the temple of Father Gennady, whose reviews from parishioners are most enthusiastic, tells his story of conversion to the Orthodox faith. In the past he worked as a biologist, he studied neurophysiology for a long time, was in search of the meaning of life, tried to prove the immortality of the soul. He was predicted a fast career as a scientist, but a severe attack of meningitis, which practically leaves no chance for life, interrupted his scientific path. He looked so bad that he was taken to a morgue instead of a nearby corpse by mistake. After such a difficult condition, recovery was like a miracle. Realizing that God pardoned him and brought him back to earth for repentance and service, Gennady Zaridze replaced the scientific work on the neural activity of the brain with the Bible.

In the bardic circles of Voronezh they know Gennady as a Traveler. Gennady, having received a blessing from his spiritual mentor, has already recorded 6 CDs of simple and deep songs touching the innermost strings of the soul of a modern man wandering about in his sins. To many people, songs, as well as sermons, and conversations, help to find a way out of difficult life situations.

Christmas with the President

Every year, the president comes to Christmas in the churches distant from the capital. This year he visited the village of Otradnoe in the Voronezh region. The Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos met Putin with a joyous excitation of the holiday. Together with him there were 44 refugees from Lugansk who temporarily reside in the local parochial home, where more than 100 people lived in the Ukraine during the conflict. After the service, Father Gennady gave Putin his book "The Wanderer" and disks with records. The president promised to help build the Sunday gymnasium, the plan of which has long been available, and the required amount of funds has not yet been collected.