  Luhansk
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 hunterV's Luhansk Travelogues | | | | Title [Click to view] | Travel Year | Pictures | | City Architecture | May, 2008 |  8 | | Luhansk City Day | May, 2008 | 10 | | Orthodox Shrines | May, 2008 | 8 | | Where to Dine | July, 2008 | 8 | | Exploring Luhansk | May, 2008 | 8 | | Luhansk Postcards of 1912 | May, 2008 | 7 | | Old Soviet Pictures of Luhansk | May, 2008 | 8 | | Graffiti in Luhansk Streets | May, 2008 | 8 | | Sea of Luhansk | June, 2008 | 8 | | May Day Park | June, 2008 | 8 |
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| Page Views: 886 Last Visit to Luhansk: May, 2008 I Live Here | Orthodox Shrines by hunterV - last update: May 19, 2008 |
| The main entrance to the cathedral |
St.Peter and St.Paul's Cathedral St.Peter and St.Paul's Cathedral is located up the hill in Stone Ford District and is worth visiting.
It's the only remaining Orthodox cathedral that survived the outrageous Bolshevik anti-church campagne of the thirties and was not blown up, but was turned into a night club by the authorities.
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| The belfry of the cathedral |
Orthodox Domes The belfry was restored ten years ago according to the old pictures.
It is renovated every year and needs investments, too. The money doesn't come from the state, but from the parish.
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| Nice interior (restored thank God) |
Church Interior Isn't it marvellous! There are no seats inside, only at the wall you can see several benches for the people in their extreme old age. Everybody is supposed to stand in the church and to pray to the icons, to light a candle or two and to know lots of Orthodox prayers in the Old Slavonic language.
From the book of Archmandrite Vladimir about Philip of Luhansk:
At present the image of the Virgin of Luhansk by blessing of Archbishop Joannicky is placed in St.Peter and St.Paul’s Cathedral in Luhansk and adorns that cathedral by its presence. Every Wednesday a special prayer of the Most Holy Virgin is pronounced before the beginning of the public worship.
Having such a patron of the city and the region the Orthodox people pray about protection from all disasters, for consolidation of peace and harmony in our Motherland and ask for necessary well being. Almost everybody present at the public worship approaches the icon saying, “The Most Holy Virgin, save us!” |
| Icon of the Virgin of Luhansk |
Our Biggest Treasure The well-known picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is one of the favorite Orthodox icons.
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary has been kept on a high standard in the Orthodox world.
Among dozens of icons of Our Lady we have our own icon of the Virgin - Luhansk Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God.
The Mother of God is our city's Intercessor before God, as She said herself to Philip of Luhansk when She appeared to him on June 13, 1905. This is what She told Philip:
"Philip, by my son's will you found yourself here in Luhansk and God's Providence has led you here to serve Him and His people here. From this day forth the blessing of the One whom I bore and my help will be with you. You also will help His people here from this day on. You will drive away demons with your prayers. You will heal people and make them listen to reason. No one will trouble you while you have my intercession. And remember this day of my appearance in the city of Luhansk teaching everyone to honor it. I will also say this about your city, that by the time of the end of the world it will be called "The Holy City of Luhansk ." And many people will come here on the eve of those terrible days without even knowing why. And my help and blessing will be with them then on The Day of Judgement. I will be the intercessor of this place and its solicitor before God."
Quoted from the book written by Archimandrite Vladimir (Orachev), translated by me (2002)
That day is observed here as a special Orthodox holiday. The icon was painted by a well-known Russian monk in a monastery.
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|  | Philip of Luhansk Philip of Luhansk (1858-1956), the loyal servant of the Most Holy Mother of God, lived and worked in Luhansk and helped people in their hardships. He is our saint, this is a chapel on his grave near the bus terminal.
Father Philip reached a great age and when it was time to die, people grieved a lot about the forthcoming parting. But he comforted everybody saying, “Come to me as to a living person. When you come to my grave, call me and I will hear you and help you in your trouble”.
(From the book about Philip of Luhansk by Archmandrite Vladimir).
The book is available on the Internet :
Philip of Luhansk
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| | Dome of Philip's Chapel From the book about Philip the Elder by Archmandrite Vladimir:
In the course of twenty years there was no working temple in the city and no priest, of course. At that period the elder was a bright lamp for a lot of unhappy, lost, spiritually sick people and for those who had lost their faith, and he performed his spiritual service for them bringing many of them to faith and salvation and averting them from ruin.
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The Wonder-Working Stone This piece of old oak was turned into stone by Philip of Luhansk in the thirties when young Communists mocked him and demanded a miracle of him.
My friend and I came to Philip's grave once and were welcomed by two women serving there. They gave us these two buns just like Philip used to welcome people with bread.
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| Orthodox praying plate on the stone |
Philip's Stone This place is something most of the visitors of Luhansk miss during their stay here. You only have to believe in God and come here to pray and to talk to Philip and he is sure to hear you and to help you in every need, just like he told his friends before he died.
From the book about Philip of Luhansk:
"A stump of a tree lay near Philip. On one side it kept imprints of an axe and on the other side it was rotten due to its age. The trunk's core had suffered from wood insects and a through opening had been formed.
Philip the elder kneeled by the trunk of the felled tree, raised his hands to the sky and appealed to God. After the prayer the elder hit the trunk three times with his staff and pronounced, " May this oak converse into stone in the memory of me and in the evidence of God's wonders and for those who will not believe everything that was told about me this stone will be a visible evidence of my life. This stone will lie till Doomsday strengthening the weak people in their faith". He kept silent for a while and then added, "Till it blossoms". And the miracle took place. Those who abused and the people present were struck by what they had seen with their own eyes."
Read the whole book if you like:
Philip of Luhansk
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| hunterV's Luhansk Travelogues | | | | Title [Click to view] | Travel Year | Pictures | | City Architecture | May, 2008 | 8 | | Luhansk City Day | May, 2008 | 10 | | Orthodox Shrines | May, 2008 | 8 | | Where to Dine | July, 2008 | 8 | | Exploring Luhansk | May, 2008 | 8 | | Luhansk Postcards of 1912 | May, 2008 | 7 | | Old Soviet Pictures of Luhansk | May, 2008 | 8 | | Graffiti in Luhansk Streets | May, 2008 | 8 | | Sea of Luhansk | June, 2008 | 8 | | May Day Park | June, 2008 | 8 |
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 Comments for hunterV about Luhansk | | | | |
bonio Wed Aug 20, 2008 20:47 UTC
Excellent page Victor, will any Euro 2010 football be in Luhansk? Thanks for visiting my pages too, greetings from Rowell UK. | unaS Mon Aug 11, 2008 17:55 UTC
Marvelous pages and excellent tips! Who needs a map in English with all of your help available. You make me want to visit a place that I had never heard of before! | Redang Tue Jul 29, 2008 18:17 UTC
This page is stumming! I have updated my Madrid page (but nothing to do with your hometown) | CdnJane Tue Jul 1, 2008 11:36 UTC
Victor thank you for the beautiful word pictures that you create - and then you add wonderful photographs that support what you have put into words. Enjoy your pages, seeing places I've never heard of, much less been. |
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