The intercession church in the village of Khabovichi

THE HISTORY OF THE VILLAGE AND THE CHURCH IN IT

The village of Khabovichi in Kobrin district is an old or even ancient settlement. The building of the Church of the Intercession in it is dated, according to different sources, 1856, 1899 and 1911.We can rightly say that the building of 1911 was located on the place of a previously existed but burned temple.

The Church in honor of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary is a very nice church. The canonical blue color and all its derivatives, all its shades are the colors of the Mother of God in the iconography. The architecture of the mentioned Church, both outside and inside the chambers, is decorated with these colors. That is right: it was consecrated in honor of the feast of the Intercession (a headwear) of the Mother of God which she spread over people, symbolizing their protection, God's protection.

The popularity of the consecration of churches in the name of Intercession of the Mother of God occupies the second place after the churches of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the Orthodox world. But the Church in Khabovichi can hardly be called “one of many”. It is extraordinary, very beautiful. Artists paint such temples turning to the topic of Slavic architecture. According to the information from open sources, the Church almost immediately was included in the register of historical attractions after the construction. Today it is a monument of national importance.

THE APPEARANCE OF THE CHURCH

The Intercession Church is wooden, painted in blue colour; it is decorated with carved cornices, figured laying of planking, angular lessens that create the outline of the building, making it graphic against the background of the sky, greenery and village. The traditional type of the Orthodox Church of Russian style of architecture can be seen in the hipped roof crowned with onion domes, in cutting of the apse, in a few light drums under the hipped roofs. They give more light inside the building from the top and circle-wise symbolizing the celestial, God’s light.  

The interior is a match for the appearance of the Church. It is similar in somewhat with the princely pomp of palaces, with blue walls, on which there are numerous icons, an abundance of ornaments, gilding and bright paintings. The images “Martyrs of Vilnius”, “St. George the Victorious”, “St. Onuphrius” are of great value. They were painted in the 17-19th centuries.

An interesting detail related to the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary. The detective stories of Dan Brown about working with ancient artifacts pale in comparison with this story:

The unique icon “The Ascension of Jesus Christ – the Intercession of the Mother of God” was found here in 1980 and sent to the National Academy of Sciences for the restoration. Why is the name double? Because one icon was sent for the restoration, and restorers of 3 countries (Belarus, Russia and Serbia) returned two icons. Under the layer of the upper icon of the 18th century there was an iconic image of the 17th century. For the first time in Belarus, the separation of layers of works of easel painting was produced. It was the first time when the separation of layers of a work of easel painting had been done in Belarus. The upper layer was transferred to another base, and the bottom one was released and restored. Specialists had been working for a year. Their efforts were crowned with success.

The rector of the Church has recently told to representatives of the mass media that he handed over another icon for the restoration. Maybe should we wait for another sensation?

  • The Church was closed during the rule of atheism, – say official sources.
  • The Church was never closed and worked even in the war years, – say the locals and the rector of the Church.

We can say definitely on behalf of all: it is good that it is with us now, a small village Intercession Church, which symbolizes not only faith, but also symbolizes beauty.