The modern appearance of the Holy Procopius Church, with two chapels dedicated to the Meeting of the Lord and Righteous Procopius of Ustyug, significantly differs from the canonical design. It is now a two-story building with a pink facade. Inside, the situation is even more disheartening: the sturdy vaults, built to last for centuries, are marred by indecent inscriptions and drawings. Broken bricks and shards of glass litter the floor.
The revival of the church, which is over two hundred years old, began with the removal of huge piles of garbage. The initiator of the restoration of the shrine was Father Igor Smolin, the assistant to the archpriest of the Southern church district. The head of the Kunar rural territory, Valentina Martyschkina, a person with a big heart according to local residents, did not hinder this noble cause. She not only supported the idea of restoring the church but also actively participated in the process.
The current elderly women, who were children in 1938 when the church was closed, know of its true beauty mainly from their parents' stories. In their youth, they attended a club here. To this day, the House of God has survived in a state of neglect, altered beyond recognition.
The revival began in the summer of 2010 with a procession from the neighboring village of Tyghish and a prayer service at the church walls. Hearing this prayer, the residents of Kunar took action. They not only cleared the building of debris but also raised funds for the installation of plastic windows and doors. This required 200,000 rubles.
For the first time in many years, the sound of bells rang out over the village. These bells were cast for the John the Theologian Church in Bogdanovich. The parish priest, Father Igor Smolin, decided to transport them through the villages of the Bogdanovich church district before installing them on the bell tower, so that this ringing would inspire people to restore the shrines and draw them back to the Church.
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