Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko is visiting Holy Dormition Stavropegic Monastery in Zhirovichi on 25 June, BelTA has learned.
The Holy Assumption Cathedral of the monastery holds one of the most revered Christian shrines of Belarus – the Zhirovichi Icon of the Mother of God. Last year, ahead of the 550th anniversary of the appearance of the Icon of the Mother of God and the 500th anniversary of the founding of the Holy Dormition Stavropegic Monastery, the complex in Zhirovichi was brought back to its proper status.
At the entrance to the cathedral the head of state was greeted by Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavl Veniamian, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus. In the temple, Aleksandr Lukashenko lit a candle at the Icon of the Mother of God and attended a brief prayer service.
On the grounds of the monastery there is another sacred place for Belarusian Orthodox Christians – a grave of Metropolitan Filaret, who did a lot for revival of the monastery and the seminary.
