Pyatino village of the Ulyanovsk region (near the Volga river in Russia), February 9, 2016
A church in the Russia’s Ulyanovsk region which was founded by the noblewoman Anna Annenkova as an expiation for the sins of her son, a Decembrist (a member of a group of Russian revolutionaries who in December 1825 led an unsuccessful revolt against Tsar Nicholas I) Ivan Annenkov, will be restored, reports the Diocese of Barysh.
The church of the Life-Giving Trinity was built to a design of the prominent Russian architect Mikhail Korinfsky (1788-1851) on the hill near the estate of the Annenkov family in Pyatino village in the Karsun district.
At that time it was probably the richest church in the Simbirsk (the name of the city of Ulyanovsk until 1924) province. However, when in 1918 Red Army units set to ravage village churches, they found nothing of value in Pyatino village. The search in the church and interrogation of its rector, John Yagodzinsky, led to nothing.
The priest and his son were executed by shooting, while the bands of “black diggers” dug up the area adjacent to the church and even broke the floor in the house of God.
"Some of the locals desecrated the church more than once. They burned down the roof, stole all the icons, and looted on their way," relates Nina Veshchunova, a Pyatino resident.
The idea of restoring the Holy Trinity church occurred to Pyatino residents and local clergy long ago, but the dream began to come true only through the effort of Vadim Vyalmisov, a native of Zhadovka village. Together with the church rector, dean of the second district of the Barysh Diocese, Archimandrite Adrian (Shitov), he formalized the necessary documents, set up an account for donations, and gathered a church community from among the concerned Pyatino residents.
"Now we need to conserve the church building as soon as possible so that hoodlums and marauders of all kinds could not have free access to it," Archimandrite Adrian says. "In all probability, local young people used to gather here: they drank, made a nuisance of themselves, littered, wrote obscene words on the church walls…"
It has been decided to resume celebration of Divine Liturgy at the ruined church beginning in the spring. Besides, Pyatino residents have their own heavenly protector, reads a message on the Barysh Diocese’s official website: a clairvoyant ascetic named Maxim Pyatinsky who lived there early in the twentieth century is buried near the church. His grave is often visited by locals.
