On the preservation of the inter-confessional world, the revival of spiritual shrines and the improvement of the Belarusian land. The Head of State visited Zhirovichi Holy Dormition Stavropigial Church today.
This is a holy place for the entire Orthodox world and special for our country. One of the most revered Christian shrines is here. The only non-man-made image of the Mother of God in the world and the smallest stone icon on the planet can be seen in the church. People of different confessions and social statuses have been praying to her for five and a half centuries. A short prayer service was held.
The monastery, which for five centuries experienced several stages of ruin, began to be restored 25 years ago already in independent Belarus. Under the patronage of the President, a special program for the revival of the Zhirovichi Church was created. The buildings of the seminary, hostel, refectory were restored, repaired and recreated, holy springs are there again, restoration work of the bell tower and the oldest fraternal building was completed. No matter how difficult it was, they did not refuse to take care of this spiritual place. Today, the Head of State instructed to improve not only the monastery, but also Zhirovichi itself.
Belarus has gone through a difficult period in the last year. In addition to the pandemic, attempts to break the country did not stop, but the blitzkrieg failed. The Orthodox Church connected all of us. Moreover, economic strangulation and information attacks continue to this day.
The revival of shrines, the renovation of churches, the preservation of heritage have always found support at the state level. This is our spirituality, our history. And Zhirovichi church is a vivid example of this.
Metropolitan Philaret put a lot of efforts to renovate the church. The Honorary Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus has chosen the Zhirovichi church as a funeral place. The President honored the memory of Metropolitan Filaret and left on his grave a basket with white roses. He headed the Belarusian Orthodox Church for over two decades.












