Ascension Cathedral of Tver: history and our days

The history of the Ascension Cathedral goes back centuries. Once upon a time there were two wooden churches, which were not only damaged in fires. In the end, only one church was restored and preserved, which at the moment represents the Ascension Cathedral of Tver. The final revival and consecration of the new church falls on 1805, although the finishing works at that time still continued.

Church of the Ascension: the history of the Cathedral

The first mention of the Ascension Cathedral is found in the chronicles of the late 14th century. In the first half of the 16th century the stone church was completely demolished, and in its place a new stone building was built. At the end of the 18th - the beginning of the 19th century, the cathedral, which was once again damaged by the fire, was reconstructed. The finishing works were completely finished in 1817. In the following years, small rooms were attached to the main building of the church, a bell tower was erected.

In the 30s of the 20th century, the Ascension Cathedral, like many church buildings, was partially looted and closed. Only in 1990 he was returned to the Orthodox Church. Since that moment, the tradition of the procession for the great church holidays has been revived in the cathedral.

In 1904, the relics of Holy Martyr Thaddeus were transferred to Tver.

Another attraction of the temple is the famous icon on which the Virgin is depicted with a baby. Unfortunately, now only a copy of this icon is here - the original was lost.

Ascension Cathedral of Tver today

From the depths of the centuries to our days has come a wonderful tradition - to make pilgrimage trips to holy places. Nowadays, many laity go to famous temples to bow before the icon, drink holy water, take part in a festive divine service. Ascension Cathedral (Tver) is a popular place among pilgrims. Annually worship services and religious processions are held here in honor of various church holidays. Let's talk about some of them.

The truncation of the head of the forerunner and the Baptist of the Lord John

This day is connected with the events that took place on the 32nd year of the Nativity of Christ. The ruler of Galilee imprisoned St. John the Baptist. John accused Herod of illegitimate cohabitation with his brother's wife Herodias. The Holy Baptist brutally paid for this. Herod made a great feast for his nobles. On it for the guests was a beautiful beauty Salomia, the daughter of Herodias. The ruler of Galilee was so fascinated by the dance that he promised to fulfill any desire of Salome. The mother of the beauty advised her to demand from Herod the head of John the Baptist. Her wish was fulfilled. Now every year on September 10 and 11, the Ascension Church holds festive divine services. On the same day, the Russian Orthodox Church prays for all people suffering from alcohol dependence.

Feast in honor of Saint Thaddeus

On September 3, the Ascension Cathedral of Tver organizes festive divine services in honor of St. Thaddeus, whose relics are kept in this temple. There are many legends about this priest. Thaddeus was one of the famous 70 apostles from the city of Edessa. In Jerusalem he was baptized by John the Baptist and, inspired by the preaching of Christ, became his disciple. After that, he went to Armenia, where he preached the teaching of Christ and converted all who wanted to believe. Among the converts to the Orthodox faith was the daughter of the king and many of his subjects. Learning of this, the king became furious and ordered all the "traitors" to be imprisoned, and the apostle Thaddeus himself to be killed. For all residents of Tver this day, September 3, is a day of remembrance for the Holy Apostle Thaddeus, who proudly received martyrdom at the hands of the Gentiles, but did not betray his faith. It is a model of meekness, humility, love for one's neighbor.

Anointing, or Sacrament

The rite of the Baptism of Deification is not familiar to many. There is a misconception among the people that such a rite is conducted only for hopelessly ill people. This is not entirely correct. In the process of the Rite of Unction, or Soborovanie, there is a purification from sins that a person has committed unconsciously. To a person those sins that he did not mention in confession are released. In this ceremony, several priests participate, hence the name of the sacrament. There have been cases when people were really suddenly healed after Soborov, but we should not take this church ritual as a panacea for all serious and incurable diseases.

Ascension Cathedral (Tver) Soborozhdenie holds on all church canons. This rite is known from around the 4th century, but it was included in the number of seven church sacraments much later.

There are two variants of the ritual of the Sobor. The first option is directly above the bed of a patient, often a dying person. The second option (as a rule, it is timed to some great church holiday) - in the temple over many people who want to not be healed first of all of the disease, but to be cleansed of their sins. It is believed that you need to be soborated once a year. The rite should involve seven priests, but in practice they are usually less. The Ascension Cathedral of Tver conducts a mass rite of Soborovaniya every year during the Great Lent.