An Orthodox church has reopened on the Aurora cruiser, reports the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
The Church of St. Nicholas, located in the center of the ship, was restored from archival photographs and drawings. It was originally closed in 1917.
The cruiser will host regular Divine services on weekends and Church feast days.
The first Divine Liturgy in 100 years was celebrated in the church on April 15 by Archpriest Alexander Tkachenko, the Chairman of the Commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation for Charity, with the participation of the students of the Nakhimov Naval School and the crew of the ship.
“These people have a firm Christian Orthodox worldview, and they came to the service because praying to God is an important part of their inner spiritual life,” Fr. Tkachenko said at the time.
The Aurora cruiser of the first rank, included in the Baltic fleet, was built in St. Petersburg in 1903. The crew of the ship took part in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), the First World War (1914-1918), the events of the civil war and military intervention in Russia (1918-1922), and in the Second World War (1941-1945).
Photo credit: orthocristian.com
