"What you bind on earth will be tied up in heaven, and what you allow on earth will be allowed in heaven"
(Matthew 16:19).
Frankly, I am not a religious person. And it would be strange to get carried away by religion for someone who has been teaching cultural studies for many years (and before that he taught the history of the CPSU for ten years!) And who deals with a variety of beliefs, starting with worshiping a hole in the ground and ending, say, with the same teaching of the Pellagians, semi-Pellagians and Seventh-day Adventists. But it is certain that faith inspires people to great creative endeavors. It is known that some believers even have stigmata, that is, the wounds of Christ, appear on the body, although even here it is by no means so simple. It is known, for example, that as far back as the 13th century, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II Gogeshtaufen rejected the divine origin of the stigmata in St. Francis of Osizsky (a thing at that time simply unheard of!) On the grounds that they appeared with him … not where needed! That is, on the palms, and Christ, according to Frederick, could not be nailed to the palms, since people were nailed to the cross between the bones of the wrists, since the bones of the palm are easily dismembered under the weight of the body of the executed!
But be that as it may, and faith painted pictures and built cathedrals, faith created sculptures and musical works. In a word, today we have something to see and think about, even without regard to church dogmas, only because someone once believed in something before us! But … again, the faith itself, and the methods of its embodiment in the world around us, by no means arrive in a static state. Apparently, our world is so arranged that everything in it is constantly changing. In the church, however, we are told that everything changes except the Truth, which is believed to be given to us by God himself: “What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and what you allow on earth will be allowed in heaven” (Matt. 16, 19). But … the forms of expression of this Truth? And don't even the most "canonical canons" change in time and … in space, and are all our churches similar to one another ?! And precisely because this is exactly so, today we will talk about a completely unique temple that is located in the Penza region, in the Kuznetsk region …
The appearance of the temple today. Everything is simple, as it should be for a village church. But inside …
Built on a votive basis
In an unusually quiet and very picturesque place, truly in our very real Russian outback lies the village of Nizhnee Ablyazovo - it is 30 kilometers from the regional center - the city of Kuznetsk, located in the Penza region. If you want to get there from Penza, then you will need to drive first to Kuznetsk, and then turn right from the turn to the city from the main highway and then turn nowhere further until you see its whitewashed walls and low, almost flat the dome and the peaked tent over the belfry are made of gray galvanized iron.
According to information from the website of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, "… the temple and its decoration is a monument of architecture and decorative and applied art of the first half of the 18th century and can rightfully compete with the world famous European baroque ensembles." However, that's all, although this church from the Russian hinterland certainly deserves much more.
This is a cultural object!
Let's start the history of the Church of the Nativity of Christ with the fact that it was built in 1724 by order of great-grandfather A. N. Radishchev Grigory Afanasyevich Ablyazov. At one time G. A. Ablyazov served in the Russian imperial army as regimental quartermaster of the grenadier cavalry regiment and bore the rank of captain, in which he retired. For the long-term blameless service of his father Afanasy Ablyazov, he received land from the treasury at the village of Verkhneye Ablyazovo in the Kuznetsk district of the Saratov province. But then it happened that in the first half of the 18th century the peasants became agitated in this village. Grigory Afanasyevich (after baptism - Schema monk Herman) hid from them nearby in a ravine and, sitting there, perhaps in the dense thickets of nettles, made a vow to God that if he avoided peasant reprisals, he would build a temple on his land. And … he managed to avoid this reprisal, and then he fulfilled his vow, and he built not even one, but … as many as five churches. And one of them still stands in the village of Nizhnee Ablyazovo.
At the church, 35 acres of land were recorded for arable. One priest, as well as a deacon and a sexton, were supposed to serve in it according to the state, and from 1873 a priest and a psalmist served there. The content of the parable relied on a salary from the county treasury.
Saved by faith
In the harsh time of the widespread struggle with Orthodoxy, the temple withstood and survived with the least losses, and all thanks to the sincere faith of its parishioners. When the local Bolsheviks "in alliance with the poorest peasantry" came to blow up this church, in order to root out the "opium factory for the people", the Orthodox residents of Ablyazov barricaded themselves within its walls and said: "Blow up with us!" And they were so determined that to blow up the temple with living people, even if "mired in the abyss of ignorance," the hand of the red commissars did not rise. But in order to somehow annoy God, they nevertheless ruined the bell tower, from which they threw down the main bell. And what? "God's punishment" (as they say!) Immediately overtook the head of all these militant blasphemers. Local residents say that “their elder”, who led the detachment, was paralyzed within a few days, and two weeks later he died altogether. That's even how! And only its tongue weighing 90 kilograms has survived from the bell, which even today lies on the bell tower as a mute reproach to the atheists.
When the Soviet authorities made their typical decision to “adapt the church building for collective farm needs,” the peasant Anisya Volyakova literally “recaptured” her altar part from the pogrom, having previously closed part of the church utensils in it, and did not allow grain to be poured there. The act at that time was not only very courageous, but simply unheard of. Moreover, this same Anisya also taught the youth working in that grain warehouse: "Do not desecrate the temple of God with unworthy actions, thoughts and words, take care of the shrine, its times will also come." And everything is as she said in the end and happened. So, again, everything happened according to the well-known saying: "God sees the truth, but he will not tell soon!"
The baroque altar in the Orthodox Church is beautiful and … unique!
After the end of the war, the villagers again started talking about what they needed … to pray and a temple was required for this. Endless trips of the same restless Anisya and Gerasim Terentyev to various authorities helped to do the almost impossible - the church was reopened to parishioners. The icons that were preserved in the homes of local believers returned to their rightful place. The Cross of the Savior, which was hidden all these years in the house of one of the residents in the neighboring village of Annenkovo, was especially solemnly brought to the temple. Moreover, the peasants, who stood along the road along which they carried the cross in a living corridor, greeted the relic and were sincerely happy.
I would like to emphasize that all this was during the Soviet era. By the way, at the same time, many city and regional party workers came here to perform the sacrament of the wedding, and baptized their children here, although, of course, they did not advertise this. Well, from the high stands they looked like quite true fighters for "communist ideals", that is, as in the well-known anecdote, they did one thing, thought another, and said the third.
The floor is made of cast iron slabs, as in the Cathedral of Ivan the Terrible in Kazan. Back then it was the norm to have such floors even in rural churches.
Serves a thief and flour
But at the time of perestroika, morality and piety among the people clearly disappeared: the cathedral was robbed four times. They brought out all the church utensils that were in it, gold and silver crosses for communion, valuable icons. The last such case occurred in October 2010, when visiting "guest performers" made their way into the Temple at night and removed from the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Quick to Hear" all the gold and silver chains, rings, seals left to her by parishioners as a sign of gratitude for the healings and merciful help in worldly affairs. And again, God's providence did not allow the desecration of the church to take place: these thieves were found and arrested, and during a search the investigating authorities found a notebook with detailed notes on where, when and whom these "gentlemen of fortune" had robbed. So the "Quick-hearted" helped to solve a number of crimes committed by this group in the temples of the Samara, Ulyanovsk and Penza regions for six months!
Orthodox baroque
It should be emphasized that the Church of the Nativity of Christ has survived to our time almost in its original form. A wrought-iron fence, wooden beams on the bell tower, patterned lattices on the windows, a floor made of cast-iron slabs, forged floor candlesticks and much more date back to the time when this temple was built. For many years this church was a holy place of prayer not only for residents of the surrounding villages and the city of Kuznetsk, but also for pilgrims from other places. The church is three-altar: the main altar is consecrated in honor of the Nativity of Christ, the right altar - in honor of the Protection of the Mother of God, the left - in the name of the Monk Alexander of Svir. An octagon-type temple on a quadrangle was built on a high hill, which in summer is buried in the green of trees, especially since next to it there is a beautiful apple orchard, which the inhabitants of the village still call "lordly" from old memory. Once there was a small pond with spring water, but now it is overgrown. And the garden needs cleaning from numerous young growth.
Here it is, what an altar entirely … majestic and huge!
Almost next to the temple, you can see two absolutely amazing pines with bizarrely curved and as if intertwined "muscular" branches. Moreover, they were planted at about the same time when this temple was laid. However, the most amazing thing about it is not even its history, not these two ancient pines, but its … truly unique five-tiered gilded carved iconostasis. Viktor Semyonovich Spiridonov, the watchman and caretaker of the temple, tells about him as follows: “Once an Italian and skilled woodcarver Laur Morrel was exiled to the Russian outback from St. Petersburg for refusing, at the whim of the tsarina, to paint an icon of the Mother of God with the face of Empress Catherine. A Catholic by religion, several years later, he converted to Orthodoxy and, as a token of gratitude to the Russian landowner, who did not leave him in difficult everyday circumstances, “created” this indescribable beauty. " There is a version that Laur Morrel himself was buried in the altar of the temple. And if we are talking about church diversity, then whatever it is, there is no more vivid example to be found! The iconostasis itself is a pyramidal composition and is crowned with a sculptural group "Ascension of Christ". The figure of Christ is surrounded by decorative rosettes with heads of cherubim; and the final figure is the God Sabbaoth with outstretched hands in the rays of divine glory. The rich decorative carving of the iconostasis is all covered with gilding, although from time to time it, of course, has significantly faded.
The iconostasis rests against the very dome!
Chandelier to match the iconostasis.
The most striking element of the iconostasis is the Royal Gates with a high-relief sculptural composition "The Descent of the Holy Spirit", which includes the figures of the apostles and the Mother of God sitting in a semicircle. The junction of the Royal Doors with the iconostasis is framed by angels supporting a carved cornice. It is possible that the master who designed this iconostasis was at one time associated with palace construction and therefore took and transferred secular forms inside the temple. In the carved frames of the iconostasis, icons are inserted, painted according to the Gospel themes. Above the altar behind the Royal Doors rises a carved gilded canopy decorated with figures of angels. Both side-by-side iconostases, in the same style as the central one, are perceived as its continuation and have exactly the same decorative finish.
The Lamentation of Christ is a sculptural composition that is completely unique for an Orthodox church.
It is interesting that to the right of the central iconostasis there is another sculptural composition - "Lamentation of Christ" - a theme for an Orthodox church, well, completely uncharacteristic and therefore unique. Two carved columns separate from the wall, forming a beautiful semi-rotunda that surrounds the coffin with the body of Christ. The figures of two angels with crosses in their hands give the whole scene a special solemnity, touching and emotionality. Parishioners revere her on a par with ancient temple icons. In the middle part of the temple, as well as in the right side-altar, there are compositions "Golgotha", made of wood and painted with paints. Floor candlesticks, hanging lamps, chandeliers, metal and velvet banners also date back to the time of its construction and are truly unique handmade works of art. Beautiful? Yes very! But how all this relates to the canons is not so easy to say. Therefore, even if Truth is eternal, then our idea of it, even if slowly, but still changes from day to day, because everything flows and everything, absolutely, everything changes!
The pine tree is the same age as the temple.
