The Church of the Intercession in Zhabinka

Zhabinka is a district center of Brest region located 30 km fr om the regional center. And though it is a town with the population of 13 thousand people, the settlement has several attractions worth visiting. One of them is the Church of the Intercession situated on Komsomolskaya Street, 82 in the Western part of the town, not far from the water reservoir Vizzhar.

The Church was built of wood in 1885 and is an example of Belarusian architecture with characteristic features of such an architectural style as eclectic, which was widespread in European countries, including the Russian Empire, a part of which was Zhabinka at the time of the construction of the temple.  

The Church was named in honor of the Intercession of the Mother of God, one of the Great Orthodox feasts which is celebrated on October 1 in the old style or on October 14 in the new style.

According to legend, the Virgin Mary came to Christian St. Andrew, Fool-for-Christ-sake who had been born in Scythia in the 9thcentury. This event occurred in the Blachernae Church of the Virgin Mary in a suburb of Constantinople, which kept the revered Orthodox relic – the veil of the Mother of God, representing the clothes of the Virgin Mary. The hagiology of the Saint says that the Virgin Mary appeared in the church full of people when a night service was held there. The Mother of God was accompanied by St. John the Forerunner and St. John the Theologian. Having stopped near the ambo, she took off the beaming kerchief, holding it in front of praying people. This apparition was interpreted as a salvation of townspeople from the enemy, whose troops soon withdrew from the town. This event took place in the early 10th century, later became wide known and is now widely venerated by the faithful.

In architectural terms, the Church in Zhabinka is a rectangle having a narthex, bulk and five- wall apse with side sacristies.  A hipped roof is crowned with an octahedral drum wh ere a hemispherical dome is situated. Another dome is above a belfry. The Church has two entrances: the central and lateral, each of which is decorated with a triangle pediment. Window openings are framed with rustic archivolts.  It has a crenate frieze.

The Church belongs to Brest Eparchy of the Belarusian Orthodox Church and is an operating church. Since 2007, the rector of the Church has been the priest Sergiy Petrusevich.

Initially, the construction was built as an orthodox church. It took a year and a half to build it. The main contribution to the construction of the Church was made by the priest Andrey Mizhevsky, the ashes of whom lie on the territory of the Church.  

During the World War I, the Church stopped working for a while and the property of the Church was evacuated. The belfry of the temple was used as an observation post. It is not exactly known whether the Church was working during the World War II. But the temple was operating in the postwar period.

Today the Church runs a Sunday school, clergy’s and children’s choirs. Also active work is carried out by the youth brotherhood and sisterhood.