An Orthodox youth festival marking the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory will take place at Stalin Line on 18–19 July.
This year is particularly significant for us. We are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the great Victory of a united people, and we regard the very opportunity to live in peace and freedom as an extraordinary blessing from God. Therefore, with the blessing of His Eminence Pavel, Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavl, this year’s Minsk Diocese Youth Festival will focus primarily on the theme of Victory and will be held at the Stalin Line Historical and Cultural Complex. The festival will begin on 18 July, the feast day of St Sergius of Radonezh, the spiritual inspiration behind the liberation from the Mongol yoke. His life is highly significant: through his prayers and blessing, internecine conflict in Rus’ came to an end and genuine national unity emerged, becoming the essential condition for victory at the Battle of Kulikovo. We witnessed that same remarkable unity in the heroic deeds of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers, who stood shoulder to shoulder in defence of our common Motherland and did not falter in the face of the threat of a new and terrible fascist yoke.
Faced with the new threats posed by our own age, that same unity is now required of us. To prove worthy of the spiritual legacy passed down to us through the centuries from St Sergius, carefully preserved and enriched by our ancestors, and brought fully to the fore in times of the harshest trials, is both the task and the daily work of today’s young people. The festival aims to remind them of this and to unite Orthodox youth.
There will be many firsts this year. Regular festival-goers will remember performances by stars of the Belarusian pop scene and concerts by Komba BAKH. This year, a competition programme will be added, with Orthodox brotherhoods and youth groups preparing five-minute performances in a genre of their choice. For the first time, the Belarusian Republican Youth Union (BRSM) and secular educational institutions have also been invited to take part. At the initiative of one of these institutions, the Belarusian State University of Physical Culture, funds are being raised for a “Victory Bell”, which will be installed and consecrated during the festival. This year, all participants will stay at a campsite, while the Divine Liturgy and the traditional youth agape meal will be held within the grounds of Stalin Line on the night of 19 July. There will be guided tours and opportunities to ask questions of youth leaders at every level. His Grace Antony, Bishop of Slutsk and Soligorsk, who is always open to dialogue and holds young people in high regard, is expected to attend. As is customary, the brotherhoods will also present themselves and their work through stands and presentations.
For enquiries, please call: (8029) 6700708
Provisional Programme for the Minsk Diocese Youth Festival, 18–19 July 20015, Marking the 70th Anniversary of Victory
Zaslavl — Stalin Line Historical and Cultural Complex
Saturday, 18 July
09:00 Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Transfiguration in Zaslavl. Feast day of St Sergius of Radonezh. Breakfast for participants.
11:30 — Procession of the Cross begins: Zaslavl–Petrishki–Stalin Line (10 km)
14:00 Arrival at the campsite and lunch for participants in the Procession of the Cross.
15:00 — Consecration of the Victory Bell (a gift from the students and teaching staff of the Belarusian State University of Physical Culture) and the Chapel of St Alexander Nevsky (subject to completion)
16:00 — Festival competition programme begins, featuring performances by the brotherhoods and youth groups
18:00 — Dinner for registered participants
19:00 — Preparations for the Divine Liturgy.
Sunday, 19 July
00:00 — Divine Liturgy begins. Festive meal for participants.
10:00 — Breakfast for registered participants.
11:00 — Competition programme continues
13:00 — Lunch
14:00 — Guided tours and presentations by the brotherhoods
17:00 — Gala concert featuring festival participants and presentation of awards to the winners
20:00 — Departure
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