KURSK, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - Several...

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia also held a liturgy in the consecrated church dedicated to the Nativity of the Theotokos, and told believers that shrines are revived even at times of crises and economic downturns.

"Nothing can stop people from turning to faith," the patriarch said.

He awarded Kursk Region governor Alexander Mikhailov with church awards for efforts to revive the monastery, closed in 1923 during the persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union.

The Kursk Root Hermitage, located about 300 miles south of Moscow, was founded in 1597 at the place where a miracle-working icon of the Mother of God was discovered three centuries before.

Patriarch Kirill brought the icon, called the Kursk Root Icon of Our Lady of the Sign, to Kursk on Wednesday, and carried it through the city streets on procession to celebrate the arrival of the treasured icon from the United States.

The shrine was brought to Russia on September 12 and was kept

Pages: [1] 2 3