From 9 to 13 of August, the longest Old Believer procession of the Cross took place in the Kirov region. The prayer was led by eight priests and four deacons. For the first time since 2020, with its COVID restrictions, the number of participants in the religious procession was close to traditional. About 230 people took part in the first day of the journey. About the same number returned to Kirov on the eve of the Dormition Fast.
The pilgrims were accompanied by Bishop Yevfimiy of Kazan and Vyatka; the bishop blessed the people at the beginning of each day and offered words of support at all major halts. Bishop Yevfimiy led the divine service in Velikoretskoe on August 11.
The procession of the Cross has a standard program, and still every year is unique. One of the main organizers of the procession, the rector of the church of St. Nikola on Vyatka Fr. German Chunin chose an interesting image to describe this phenomenon: “It’s like a tree, every year it is covered with leaves in a slightly different way. So is the procession of the Cross – every year it has its own shades.”
This year a lot of priests took part in the Velikoretskoe procession of the Cross. It was attended by Fr. German Chunin (Kirov), Fr. Nikola Tataurov (Perm), Fr. Vadim Matyash (Borodulino village), Fr. Georgiy Dubrovin (Perm), Fr. Alexey Terentyev (Kilmez village), Fr. Vasiliy Trifan (Yoshkar-Ola), Fr. Yevgeniy Kruglov (Kovrov), Protodeacon Viktor Savelyev (Moscow), Deacon Alexey Kashminskiy (Izhevsk), Deacon Antoniy Slepushkin (Yekaterinburg), Deacon Nikola Tataurov (Shamary settlement), Deacon Alexey Ivanov (Ilet settlement). Pilgrims “with experience” remember the years when there was only one priest, and in case he had to leave due to some organizational issues, the procession of the Cross went on for half a day without the clergy. The participation of priests strengthens and encourages believers spiritually. Questions and doubts that arise during the journey and prayer can be discussed with a priest during a rest stop.
The most….
The total length of the procession of the Cross is a little more than one hundred kilometres. It is the longest of the Old Believer processions of the Cross in terms of the length of the route. And the most labour-intensive. To feed the pilgrims for five days, 1000 litres of compote and 20 fifty-litres pots of food were prepared. Every day, 15 cooks worked in the field kitchen. Another 15 people provided for the movement of the religious procession, transporting things and arranging accommodation for the night.
Last year, the Velikoretskoe procession of the Cross celebrated the 20th anniversary of the revival of the tradition. The custom of walking from Vyatka to the Velikaya River – to the place, where the icon of the saint appeared, has been known since the beginning of the 15th century. During the Soviet times, that prayer event was prohibited. In 2002, with the blessing of Bishop Andrian (Chetvergov) of Kazan and Vyatka, the future Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia, children of the Old Believer Church, after many years, walked the path of their great-grandfathers again. The Velikoretskoe procession became the inspiration behind the appearance of the procession from Vereya to Borovsk, the Davydovo Easter procession of the Cross, the procession to the Belivo sketes on Mid-Pentecost, and many other processions.
Setting out on the road, the pilgrims stock up on food for fasting, for according to the tradition established by Bishop Andrian, prayer on the road is accompanied by fasting. Organized meal happens once a day. However, as worshippers note, hunger is not strongly felt here. Prayer supports not only spiritual, but also physical strength.
To attend the Velikoretskoe procession of the Cross, many take a special vacation a week long. Of these, the procession itself takes five days. The journey from Kirov to Velikoretskoe take the first two days. On August 11, on the feast of the Nativity of Holy Hierarch Nikola, a liturgy is celebrated in Velikoretskoe, and then a small procession of the Cross to the source is held, where the service ends with blessing of water. The return journey to Vyatka takes another two days.
Two places are arranged at the spring in Velikoretskoe: the first one where believers draw water, and the other one where they plunge into a font. This year, the font was a cherished goal for many: from the beginning of August the weather was cloudless and the heat was over 30 degrees.
The festive day in Velikoretskoe ends with the Evening in Memory of Metropolitan Andrian. At the Evening, reports are given, quizzes on spiritual topics are held, as well as a “battle of the choirs”, in which singers exercise their skill and knowledge of liturgical singing and spiritual poetry.
Children at the service are a reason for joy
An evening in Velikoretskoe gives an opportunity to communicate with Bishop Yevfimiy and listen to his guidance. Bishop Yevfimiy also values this opportunity and prepares a special speech for this occasion. One of the topics, which especially concerns the archpastor, is the younger generation and its participation in church life. The Primate of the Kazan and Vyatka Diocese is very happy for the communities where there are young people:
— There were times in the Church when only elderly women participated in the life of communities and in the Divine services. It is so joyful that now there are communities where young people and children take an active part in the life of the community and in the service: in events, in the choir, in Sunday school. We shouldn’t be afraid if something doesn’t work out. Mistakes happen, they need to be corrected – this is how we gain experience.
Every year more and more families have the courage to participate in the procession of the Cross with their children. The archpastor spoke about the young parishioners: “Yes, sometimes children make noise in the church. But it is better when children are in the church than when they are not. And if you think that they distract us from prayer, don’t worry: if a person truly prays, then nothing can distract him.”
The fruits of children’s participation in church life could also be seen there. A children’s choir consisting from the participants of the procession performed at the Velikoretskoe orphanage. The children sang several chants and spiritual poems. Bishop Yevfimiy also talked with the children about joy: that God created man for joy, the call to rejoice is found in many times in the Bible, and true imperishable joy has its source in faith.
Adding hard labours to hard labours
Children are loved and valued at St. Nikola church in Kirov. In recent years, this parish has become noticeably younger. The Sunday school grew to three classes. About 30 children gather each summer for the children’s camp at the church, including, in recent years, children from other regions. Young readers and singers from Vyatka march in the procession of the Cross – the largest annual event that the community takes on its shoulders. Large, but not the only one. The “track record” of Kirov Old Believers includes exhibitions, evenings of chants at city venues, and local history events. On the outskirts of the city they are building a new spacious stone temple. It goes without saying: every achievement is the result of the work of many. But, as in many parishes, it is the responsibility of the rector to gather efforts together, formulate tasks and inspire the achievement of goals.
At the end of the service in Velikoretskoe, Bishop Yevfimiy awarded the rector of the church of Holy Hierarch Nikola on Vyatka priest German Chunin with a pectoral cross. The young pastor turns 37 this year. His main labours were in the Kirov community. Also Fr. German takes care of such settlements of the region as Uni and Nema, cities Nolinsk and Syktyvkar. The first priority here is to help communities get a church. So far, only the community in the settlement of Uni has managed to do this.
In January of next year, Fr. German will celebrate 10 years of his priestly service. He considers the greatest gift to be the opportunity to pray without being distracted by everyday things: “The construction of the church, organizational issues of the procession of the Cross, caring about the organization of other communities, of course, cannot be abandoned. But sometimes you worry about these things so much that it’s difficult to immerse yourself in prayer. I would like the Lord Himself to arrange our earthly affairs, and we could pray to God more.”
Often it is most convenient to pray in conditions, which are uncomfortable from ordinary life point of view. When endless household chores remain far away, when neither our eyes are distracted by monitor screens and nor our ears by phone calls, when we stay alone with ourselves, with God in the nature He created. Those who have had the opportunity to take part in the Velikoretskoe procession of the Cross at least once know about this first-hand and are grateful to God and the people who worked for this opportunity.
