That who saved people from wholesale deaths

The Temple of St Parascheva Pyatnitsa in the town Lepel originally was Uniate. There were a lot of such churches in Belarus. But some of them were destroyed, others became Orthodox temples. That is what happened with the temple in Lepel: in 1808 the Temple of St Parascheva Pyatnitsa was transformed into Orthodox one. At the time it was the Temple of Transfiguration.

The Lepel legend

The new temple in honor of St Parascheva Pyatnitsa was constructed in 1868. There is a legend connected with its appearance that you are sure to learn upon a visit to the temple. In times gone by there were wholesale deaths in Lepel, and one man dreamed that it is necessary to build a temple in honor of St Parascheva Pyatnitsa in order to stop deaths.

As soon as the temple was constructed, wholesale deaths stopped. The temple continued to bring joy to townsmen, there was carried out restoration works. During the Great Patriotic War the temple was open; parishioners went to the temple and obtained support there. Unfortunately, during the postwar period the temple accommodated a prison and a canteen.

The new life of the temple

But time passed by, and a blue wooden temple began again to accept parishioners. The structure itself is rather unusual: the temple’s windows are elongated and oriented horizontally. Inside the temple there are icons: “The Mother of God of Smolensk” and “Apostles Peter and Paul”. Of course, in the temple there are icons with the image of St Parascheva Pyatnitsa.

Saint Parascheva

By the way, Parascheva in Greek means Friday.it is known that Parascheva was born in a rich family, but she chose the way of celibacy and was a true believer to the end of her life. She always wanted to dedicate her life to lighten the gentiles and brought the shine of this faith in her soul till her death. Parascheva was martyred, but she will live forever in the hearts of faithful people. She is still honored by Orthodox believers. Temples in honor of St Parascheva Pyatnitsa are built throughout the world, and believers from all over the world worship the saint. In icons Parascheva is presented as a high woman with a wreath on her head.

People as it was many ages ago believe that Parascheva patronizes family happiness and wellbeing. She is also a healer of many spiritual and physical diseases. St Parascheva Pyatnitsa is popularly considered to be the patron of livestock and fields. It is not a coincidence that she is of so much significance in Orthodox religion as Parascheva brought faith throughout her life. Even hard sufferings could not break her spirit, and she preached the faith up to her last breath.

A good example to follow

The Temple of St Parascheva Pyatnitsa not only saved the town Lepel from wholesale deaths, but St Pyatnitsa became a true protector of this small and quiet Belarusian town at Lepelsky Lake. You can visit the temple on any day. Besides, you are sure to be lucky enough to visit Lepel in summer. You will able to walk along the banks of the lake and pop in such an interesting temple that has survived up to now.