At the end of the war, Stalin allowed the persecution of the church to be eased. The change in the political course of the Communist Party leads to the revival of the spiritual life of the people. The surviving priests were released from prisons and camps. Temples that were not destroyed by the Bolsheviks during the years of persecution of Orthodox Christians begin to function. Among the churches that resumed worship was the temple of "Joy of All Who Sorrow."
Church history
At the beginning of the thirteenth century, the Golden Horde actively invaded the Slavic lands. Ryazan, Kolomna, Moscow become the first cities to fall under the onslaught of invaders. Mongol-Tatar invaders rob and burn settlements, Russian people are killed or taken prisoner. Western historian Alan Fisher has estimated that almost three million people were driven into slavery.
The state, the church and relatives redeemed the slaves. The embassy order, by decree of Ivan the Terrible, allocated funds from the royal treasury for the release of captives, whom the Tatars sold. Metropolitan Philip bought the blacksmiths from the Horde with his own money. For a relative, one had to pay from 40 to 600 rubles, depending on the status. For example, in the 16th century a cow or a horse cost 1 ruble.
The path along which the freed slaves returned to Moscow was called the "Horde road", and the place of their settlement was called Ordynka. In this area, a wooden church was erected in honor of Varlaam Khutynsky, which was rebuilt in the middle of the seventeenth century into a stone church with a main altar in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
In 1688, the first miracle happened from the Joy of All Who Sorrow icon. The sister of the Moscow Patriarch, the seriously ill Euphemia Papina, in prayer to the Mother of God, heard a voice commanding her to find the holy image in the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior and serve a prayer service with blessing of water. Having fulfilled the order of the Queen of Heaven, the sick woman was healed.
The reproduction of the miraculous icon became famous in St. Petersburg. In 1888 lightning struck the chapel where the list was kept. The holy image was not damaged, but 12 coins from a donation mug stuck to it. Until 1932, the face of the Virgin was located in the Church of Sorrow on the banks of the Neva. In the fifties of the last century, the icon "Joy of All Who Sorrow" with pennies was transferred to the church "Kulich and Pascha", where it is now.
The chapel in honor of the miraculous icon was attached to the temple in 1713, when an antimension was issued for the altar. In 1770, the church was renovated and improved with donations from G. Lyubovnikova.
In 1783, the Moscow merchant of the first guild, Afanasy Ivanovich Dolgov, allocated a large sum for the reconstruction of the building. The son-in-law of the benefactor Vasily Ivanovich Bazhenov took up the restructuring. According to the project of the architect, a bell tower and a refectory with two aisles are being erected. Monk Boniface of the Sarov Monastery painted icons for the church.
During the famous fire of 1812, the temple was so damaged that the building had to be built almost anew. The architect O. I. Bove tried to preserve parts of the surviving building of Bazhenov. The renovated rotunda church was consecrated by Moscow Metropolitan Philaret in 1836.
In the thirties, the Bolshevik leaders closed the church. Seventy-seven kilograms of gold and silver church utensils were confiscated by the Gokhran. The atheists removed and destroyed the bells. The cathedral was saved from complete destruction by the storage of reserve funds of the Tretyakov Gallery in its premises.
On Palm Sunday, 1948, the Church of the Transfiguration resumed worship, and to this day attracts those who wish to partake of spiritual values in a historical monument of architecture of a unique design.
architectural features
The uniqueness of the Sorrowful Cathedral lies in the fact that it has the shape of a rotunda. Only four churches of this type have been built in Moscow. Twelve internal columns support a drum with a dome crowned with a golden dome.
Marble walls are decorated with stucco high relief and paintings on gospel scenes. The faces of the archangels and the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the iconostasis belong to the famous portrait painter V. L. Borovikovsky.
According to the project of the architect Osip Bove, the floor of the central part of the temple is laid out of cast-iron slabs, the surface of which is decorated with an ornament.
Temple relics
In the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior shrines revered by Orthodox Christians are preserved:
Church rector
Grigory Valerievich Alfeev was born on July 24, 1966. Secondary education boy received at the Moscow Music School. Gnesins majoring in violin and composition. Here he got acquainted with Znamenny singing and hook recording of a melody.
At the age of eleven, the youth underwent the rite of baptism. From the age of 15, Gregory served as a reader in the Church of the Resurrection of the Word, and then as a subdeacon under Metropolitan Pitirim of Volokolamsk and Yuryevsk.
After school, the young man enters the Moscow Conservatory at the composer's department. Service in the Soviet Army interrupts education for two years. In January 1987, the young man left his studies and went to obedience to the Vilna Holy Spirit Monastery. Six months later, she was tonsured a monk.
From 1988 to 1990, the future metropolitan served as a priest in the churches of the Vilna and Lithuanian diocese. In 1990 he became rector of the Kaunas Annunciation Cathedral. As an elected delegate, he took part in the Local Council of the Russian Church, which elected Alexy II to the patriarchal throne.
In January 1991, Soviet troops, introduced to Lithuania by Gorbachev, seized the Vilnius television center, which resulted in human casualties. The next military target was Kaunas. Hilarion appears on television and urges the soldiers not to shoot at unarmed people. Criminal bloodshed was averted.
In 1989, Hilarion graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary in absentia, and two years later from the Theological Academy. And two years later, the young priest graduated from graduate school at the academy. From that moment on, a lot of time is devoted to the teaching of church disciplines:
- Homiletics - rules for composing a sermon.
- Holy Scripture.
- Patrology is the study of the Church Fathers.
- Mystical and dogmatic theology.
Since 1995 working in the Department for External Church Relations, in 2009 Bishop Hilarion was appointed chairman of this structural unit of the Moscow Patriarchate. The following year, Patriarch Kirill raises Hilarion to the rank of metropolitan.
On April 14, 2009, Hilarion was appointed rector of the church "Joy of All Who Sorrow" on Bolshaya Ordynka.
Moscow Synodal Choir
Until the 15th century, the choir served first under the Metropolitan of Kiev and then under the Metropolitan of Vladimir. In 1589, a patriarchate was established in Rus' with a chair in Moscow, and the Dormition Cathedral in the Kremlin was appointed as the place of obedience for the singing deacons, united in the Patriarchal Choir. After the abolition of the patriarchate and the formation of the Synod in 1721, the choir became known as the Synodal.
During the reign of Peter the Great, the Court Singing Chapel gained popularity in secular circles, and the synodal choir fell into decay. By decree of Empress Catherine, the number of singers decreased to 26 people.
Despite the difficulties, the choir remained true to the old traditions. Singing deacons study ecclesiastical and vocal sciences under the guidance of the regent and clergymen. In 1886, a spiritual and singing school was created, with S. V. Smolensky appointed as its director. The future composers V. Kalinnikov, A. Grechaninov, S. Rachmaninov were educated under the guidance of a talented leader, an expert in ancient church singing.
At the end of the nineteenth century, the Synodal Choir, consisting of 25 men and 45 boys, performed sacred music by Russian composers and secular works by foreign authors. In 1910, the team successfully toured Europe.
After 1917, when The Soviet authorities closed the churches, The Synodal Singing School was abolished. The choir broke up. The singers had to work in the few Moscow churches that continued to serve.
On September 4, 1943, Stalin invited the three metropolitans who had remained at large to the Kremlin for a conversation. After this meeting, the restoration of the Orthodox Church begins under the supervision of state security agencies. In 1948, the first service was held in the open Sorrow Church.
From the parish of a village near Moscow Tarasovka, the regent Nikolai Vasilievich Matveev is transferred to the cathedral on Ordynka. Together with the musician, the singers arrived, who formed the basis of the recreated Synodal Choir. The team revived the traditional performance of the Liturgy of P. I. Tchaikovsky on the day of the composer's death.
Another significant event was the churching of the "All-Night Vigil" by S. V. Rachmaninoff. The work, written in the style of ancient Znamenny singing, was created specifically for the Synodal Choir and is dedicated to S. V. Smolensky. The first performance of the work took place on March 10, 1915.
Matveev devoted a lot of energy to the revival of Russian sacred music, which was not an easy task in an environment of tight control by the KGB. The work of the church ascetic was continued by Alexei Puzakov, who worked under Matveev since the 80s of the last century.
A. Puzakov also directs two more choirs singing in Moscow churches. The united group, which includes 80 singers, participates in solemn divine services and concert performances. Candidates for vacancies are carefully selected.
With the arrival of Metropolitan Hilarion, the choir takes on a second wind. On January 3, 2010, on the day of commemoration of Moscow Saint Peter, His Holiness the Patriarch blessed the revival of the historical name of the Moscow Synodal Choir.
Schedule of services and the address of the temple
Pious parishioners and pilgrims tend to visit the temple of "Joy of the Sorrowful" on Ordynka. Worship Schedule with the name of the serving priest located on the temple website.
Description:Story
The first mention of the temple of St. Varlaam Khutynsky "in the Horde" belong to the 70s. 16th century In the XIV century. there was a road leading to the Golden Horde. In addition, Russian captives, redeemed from the Mongol conquerors, were called "Horde". There is an assumption that the area where the temple stands was given to them for the construction of houses. In 1683-1685. on the site of the wooden one, a stone church of the Transfiguration of the Savior was built. In 1688, the glorification of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” kept in it, which was especially revered by the persons of the royal house, took place. Often in front of her, as in front of Iverskaya, non-Orthodox people pray.
Already in 1713, in the Horde's Transfiguration Church, an antimension was issued to the throne in honor of this icon, and in 1770 the chapel was renovated with a donation from G. Lyubovnikova - very many gladly and often donated funds for the improvement of this church.
In 1783, a merchant from Zamoskvorechye by the name of Dolgov, who had a house on Bolshaya Ordynka directly opposite the church, donated a lot of money for its reconstruction and commissioned this work to his famous relative, architect Vasily Bazhenov.
Icons for the iconostasis were painted in 1788 by Hieromonk Boniface from the Sarov Hermitage. The mournful chapel was consecrated on the day of the feast of the temple image, October 24, 1790, by Metropolitan Platon (Levshin).
During the Moscow fire of 1812, the temple was badly damaged and in 1831-1836. was almost rebuilt by the architect O.I. Beauvais, which, however, retained the surviving fragments of the Bazhenov building. O.I. Beauvais drew up a drawing of the cast-iron floor slabs that adorned the temple; and images of the archangels and St. Nicholas in the iconostasis are painted by the famous V.L. Borovikovsky.
In September 1836, the new Empire rotunda church was re-consecrated by St. Filaret. This is evidenced by the memorable date under the cross of the temple. The miraculous icon "Joy of All Who Sorrow" is located in the left aisle. One beautiful detail, unusual for Moscow churches, is that the candlesticks are located at the top, like small chandeliers, and in order to put a candle, you have to climb on portable wooden ladders.
In the early 1930s, the temple was closed, the bells were torn down and destroyed, but the ancient interior was well preserved, since the Tretyakov Gallery housed the storehouse in the temple and the museum staff tried to do everything to preserve the decoration of a priceless monument of architecture and art. The church on Bolshaya Ordynka became one of the first Moscow churches opened in the capital after the restoration of the Patriarchate - in 1948. In those years, the day of the glorification of the icon on October 24 / November 6 was celebrated especially solemnly, and every Sunday evening a prayer service was performed in the church with the reading of an akathist.
Here the church choir of the regent N.V. Matveev was created - at that time the best not only in Moscow, but also in Russia. In the 1960s, his recordings were even released on records by the Moscow Patriarchate. The beautiful choir gave the church the opportunity to celebrate the anniversaries of the death of great people famous in the history of Russian sacred music. So, on Saturday, the closest to the day of death of S.V. Rachmaninov (March 28, 1943), his “Vespers” was performed in the temple, and on the anniversary of the death of P.I. Tchaikovsky (October 25, 1893) his “Liturgy” was performed.
In 1961, residents of an elite building in the nearby Lavrushinsky Lane demanded that the bells be removed - the ringing of the writers who lived there prevented them from sleeping and working. The bells were again removed and this time moved inside the temple.
Thrones
The main one is the Transfiguration Savior, the aisles are the icons of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” and the Monk Varlaam Khutynsky.
shrines
The miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow", the icon of the Monk Varlaam Khutynsky venerated icons martyr. Longinus centurion, st. Alexis, man of God; Apostle Andrew the First-Called.
worship
Daily - Liturgy at 8.00, evening service at 18.00, on Sundays and holidays - Liturgy at 7 and 10 o'clock, on the eve - all-night vigil at 18.00, on Thursdays - at 11.30 a water-blessed prayer service at the miraculous icon of martyr. Longinus centurion about healing from eye diseases; on Saturdays - at 15.30 a prayer service at the miraculous icon "Joy of All Who Sorrow" for the healing of people prone to the disease of alcoholism and drug addiction.
Moscow icon-painting workshop in the name of St. Alipiy Pechersky works at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" (Savior of the Transfiguration) on Bolshaya Ordynka. Since 2009, the rector of the church has been Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.
With the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch and the Holy Synod, the rector of the church, Metropolitan Hilarion, is conducting extensive and comprehensive work for the benefit of the Russian Orthodox Church. These are foreign policy, educational, scientific, theological and literary, musical and composing activities.
His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, one of the brightest theologians of our Church, also writes about icon painting and icon veneration, and has been friends with Fr. Zinon, the largest icon painter of our time.
For the workshop is
great honor
cooperation with His Eminence Vladyka. Writing with his blessing is a very responsible thing. But it is also joyful, because Vladyka, as a theologian, takes an active part in the development of new, most complex and important iconographic images.
The Temple of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" is an invaluable monument of Russian Orthodox culture. In our time, the activities of the clergy, the parish council and the parish of the temple make a huge contribution to the development of Orthodox spiritual art.
About the temple
The first mention of the temple of St. Varlaam Khutynsky "in the Horde" belong to the 70s. 16th century In the XIV century. there was a road leading to the Golden Horde. In addition, Russian captives, redeemed from the Mongol conquerors, were called "Horde". There is an assumption that the area where the temple stands was given to them for the construction of houses. In 1683-1685. on the site of the wooden one, a stone church of the Transfiguration of the Savior was built. In 1688, the glorification of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” kept in it, which was especially revered by the persons of the royal house, took place.
Already in 1713, in the Horde's Transfiguration Church, an antimension was issued to the throne in honor of this icon, and in 1770 the chapel was renovated with a donation from G. Lyubovnikova - very many gladly and often donated funds for the improvement of this church.
In 1783, a merchant from Zamoskvorechye by the name of Dolgov, who had a house on Bolshaya Ordynka directly opposite the church, donated a lot of money for its reconstruction and commissioned this work to his famous relative, architect Vasily Bazhenov.
Icons for the iconostasis were painted in 1788 by Hieromonk Boniface from the Sarov Hermitage. The mournful chapel was consecrated on the day of the feast of the temple image, October 24, 1790, by Metropolitan Platon (Levshin).
During the Moscow fire of 1812, the temple was badly damaged and in 1831-1836. was almost rebuilt by the architect O.I. Beauvais, which, however, retained the surviving fragments of the Bazhenov building. O.I. Beauvais drew up a drawing of the cast-iron floor slabs that adorned the temple; and images of the archangels and St. Nicholas in the iconostasis are painted by the famous V.L. Borovikovsky.
In September 1836, the new Empire rotunda church was re-consecrated by St. Filaret. This is evidenced by the memorable date under the cross of the temple. The miraculous icon "Joy of All Who Sorrow" is located in the left aisle. One beautiful detail, unusual for Moscow churches, is that the candlesticks are located at the top, like small chandeliers, and in order to put a candle, you have to climb on portable wooden ladders.
In the early 1930s, the temple was closed, the bells were torn down and destroyed, but the ancient interior was well preserved, since the Tretyakov Gallery housed the storehouse in the temple and the museum staff tried to do everything to preserve the decoration of a priceless monument of architecture and art. The church on Bolshaya Ordynka became one of the first Moscow churches opened in the capital after the restoration of the Patriarchate - in 1948. In those years, the day of the glorification of the icon on October 24 / November 6 was celebrated especially solemnly, and every Sunday evening a prayer service was performed in the church with the reading of an akathist.
The church choir of the choir director N.V. Matveev was also created here - at that time the best not only in Moscow, but also in Russia. In the 1960s, his recordings were even released on records by the Moscow Patriarchate. The beautiful choir gave the church the opportunity to celebrate the anniversaries of the death of great people famous in the history of Russian sacred music. So, on Saturday, the closest to the day of death of S.V. Rachmaninov (March 28, 1943), his "Vespers" was performed in the temple, and on the anniversary of the death of P.I. Tchaikovsky (October 25, 1893) - his "Liturgy".
