The Church of the Miracle-Workers of Yaroslavl

The church consecrated in honor of the orthodox SS. Fyodor, David, Konstantin, the Miracle-Workers of Yaroslavl is one of the most revered and frequented in Kazan. The church is located at the Arsk cemetery. This double-altared temple was built in 1796. Its right side-chapel was consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas the Miracle-Worker.

The left side-chapel is consecrated in honor of St. Nikifor, the Patriarch of Tsaregrad (Constantinople). In 1844, the left side-chapel was reconstructed and reconsecrated in honor of St. Nicholas, St. Leo the Pope and St. Marfa. A year later or so the bell-tower was erected by design of the architect Thomas Petondy.

Construction and reconstruction works were accomplished at the expense of the public. Since placed at the cemetery, the church was initially intended for the burial services over the deceased. It did not have a parish of its own and attached to the main cathedral of the Annunciation. The church was transformed into the parish as late as 1925, when the cathe­dral of the Annunciation was shut down. In 1934, despite the will of the priesthood and the faithful the church was transferred to the diocesan administration of Renovators. That time the Renovators illegally carried the reliquary of St. Goury to the church. But shortly after the faithful upheld the temple, and it was returned to the orthodox community. By the end of the 30-s all the monas­teries as well as the major part of the temples of Kazan were shut down. And so, all the sacred things were car­ried from them to the Church of the Miracle-Workers of Yaroslavl. A lot of the miracle-working icons were kept there:

• the icon of Our Lady of Smolensk and Seven Lakes (from the Hermitage of Seven Lakes)
• the icon of Our Lady of Raifa (from the Hermitage of Raifa)
• the icon of St. Sergius of Radonezh (from the monastery of St. John the Precursor of Sviyazhsk)
• the icon of St. Barbara (from the Church of St. Barbara of Kazan)
• the icon of Our Lady of Tikhvin (from the Tikhvinskaya Church of Kazan) and many other icons

Though formerly unfamed, the church of the Miracle-Workers of Yaroslavl is of great significance to the history of the diocese of Kazan in the 20th century. From 1938 to 1946 this cemetery church was the sole temple left open in Kazan. Therefore, it obtained the status of the cathedral. During the years of the Great Patriotic war the archbishop Andrey (Komarov) served there. He was famous for his blessing to the charity takings for the Soviet Army. The cemetery church is the only temple remained open in Soviet times. In the faithful mind it is considered to be the most sacred place of Kazan thor­oughly exploited with praying. Notwithstanding the modest dimen­sion, the Church of the Miracle-Workers of Yaroslavl is one of the most revered places in the orthodox Kazan until now.

The most revered sacred objects in the church are:

• St. Gury’s relics
• a miracle-working copy of the Kazan icon of the Mother of God