Church on Georgian street. The most mysterious blogger in Russia
Nowadays, when the Orthodox and Catholic churches, represented by their primates, have extended their hands to each other in search of ways to serve the Lord together, the Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary located in Moscow, whose history is in many ways similar to the fate of numerous Orthodox churches in Russia, attracts special attention. .
The Catholic community of Moscow at the end of the 19th century
The end of the 19th century became a period of rapid development of capitalism for Russia. Countless joint stock companies, banks, as well as manufacturing and commercial enterprises grew like mushrooms. All this caused an intensive influx of a large number of foreigners into the country, including from Catholic countries. They opened their own business here and, gradually adapting to new conditions, nevertheless remained adherents of their faith.
There had previously been a community of them in Moscow, which held services in two cathedrals that belonged to them, but by the end of the century it had grown so large that its representatives were forced in 1894 to turn to the city authorities with a request to consider the construction of a new church. The Moscow governor met them halfway and signed a document on the basis of which the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built.
Development of the temple project
Giving his consent to the construction, the governor set a condition: the location chosen for it must be located at a distance from the city center and its main Orthodox shrines. He also introduced restrictions on the appearance of the future building, prohibiting the construction of towers and the installation of outdoor sculptures. Despite the fact that Moscow has always been characterized by religious tolerance, in this case it showed a certain amount of caution.
The development of documentation was entrusted to the architect F. O. Bogdanovich-Dvorzhetsky, and soon his project, made in the neo-Gothic style, was approved. Despite the fact that the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, according to the author’s plan, did not meet the requirements put forward earlier (the ban on the construction of towers was violated), the governor agreed to its construction.
Solving construction financing problems
In those years, a large number of Poles who served on the railway lived on Malaya Gruzinskaya Street. Their religious community was very large and included about thirty thousand people. It was there that the site for the future cathedral was purchased, and the Poles themselves, who later formed the parish of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, collected a significant amount for its construction. The missing funds were provided by Catholics of other nationalities who inhabited Russia.
Construction work lasted until 1911 and was completed with the installation of a decorative fence. The total amount required to pay off all expenses was three hundred thousand rubles, which was quite a lot at that time. However, for another six years, until the revolution, the decoration of the interior of the temple continued. Of course, this required additional funds.
Years of total atheism
In the first years after its consecration, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary had the status of a branch church and only in 1919 it was transformed into an independent parish, after which services there continued for almost twenty years. But the wave of general atheistic madness that swept the country in those years did not escape the Catholic Council. At the end of 1938, it was closed, the community was dissolved, and the property acquired with donations from thousands of people was looted.
During the war, when hundreds of thousands of enemy bombs and shells rained down on Moscow, the former Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was also damaged. During one of the air raids, it lost several towers and spiers, but, fortunately, the building itself survived. Already in the post-war years, it was transferred to the disposal of one of the Moscow research institutes.
Before moving into the building provided to them, the leadership of the scientific organization reconstructed its interior, finally destroying the remains of the church interior. In particular, the entire space of the former cathedral was divided into four floors. Changes also affected the external appearance, mercilessly distorting the harmony of its architectural forms.
Attempts to return the cathedral to the sphere of spiritual life
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built taking into account the laws of acoustics, thanks to which the magnificent sound of the organ and church choir was noted in its premises. It was an unforgivable mistake to ignore such unique features of the building.
In 1976, representatives of the capital's creative intelligentsia approached the Ministry of Culture with a proposal: after appropriate reconstruction, use the cathedral as a concert hall for the performance of organ music. Their initiative was approved, a corresponding project was even developed, but its implementation was never realized.
The difficult path of returning the cathedral to parishioners
The Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary found its new life already during the period of perestroika, when in 1989 the association, which united Moscow Poles in its ranks, turned to the Moscow government with a request to transfer the temple building to them.
The return of the cathedral to believers, which took place in 1996, was preceded by many years of bureaucratic ordeals associated with the eviction of the institution that had settled there. Despite the trends of new times, the thinking of many officials remained at the same level, which developed in the dark times of stagnation. This caused many annoying delays.
However, even before the arrival of the desired day, in December 1990, the current bishop, and in those years an ordinary priest, Janusz Wilski, celebrated a mass on the steps of the cathedral, which then belonged to a civil organization. Starting next year, cathedral services became regular, but they were held outside the building.
Consecration of the restored cathedral
After completing all the formalities, it took another three years to give the temple its original appearance, eliminating all the changes made over the years. This affected both the façade and the layout of the interior, which had to be refinished. It should be noted that it was not possible to achieve complete resemblance to what the temple was in the year of its first consecration due to a number of technical reasons. However, comparing the result of the restorers’ work with the sketch of the cathedral, stored in the archive along with other documents related to the project at the end of the 19th century, it should be noted that they managed to restore the style and return to the building the indescribable spirit laid down by the author.
On the occasion of the solemn consecration of the newly opened cathedral, a Vatican delegation headed by its Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, arrived in Moscow.
A unique and unusual event for parishioners of Orthodox churches was held in this cathedral in 2002. That day, with the help of a teleconference, a joint prayer of its rector with the Pope and the heads of some Western European Catholic parishes took place.
Liturgical Cathedral Choir
It has long been a tradition to organize concerts of sacred music in Moscow, timed to coincide with certain church holidays, at which the choir of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception enjoys particular success. His active concert and liturgical activities began in 1999 with the blessing of Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz.
Today, choral group classes are held weekly on Wednesdays in a specially equipped classroom on the ground floor of the building.
In Orthodox Moscow it is a little unusual to see a classic Catholic cathedral. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Moscow on Malaya Gruzinskaya Street is precisely such an example of a classical Catholic cathedral. They decided to build the temple in 1894, when the number of Catholics in Moscow exceeded 30 thousand people. Poles who lived in Moscow collected money for it. And the cathedral was built according to the design of the Moscow architect Foma Iosifovich Bogdanovich-Dvorzhetsky. The facade is based on the Gothic cathedral in Westminster Abbey, and its dome is reminiscent of the dome of the Cathedral in Milan. Construction of the cathedral took place from 1901 to 1911. And in December 1911 it was inaugurated.
01.
But in 1937 the temple was closed, and its property was stolen and destroyed. Over the years, the interior of the cathedral was rebuilt by various organizations. And in 1989, Moscow Catholics asked to return the cathedral to the Roman Catholic Church. In 1991, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov signed a decree on the transfer of the temple, but it dragged on for several years. And so on December 12, 1999, the cathedral was consecrated by the legate of Pope John Paul II, the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano and became the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
02.
On the bell tower of the temple there are four bells, the largest of which, “Our Lady of Fatima,” weighs 900 kilograms and rings at 12 noon and 12 at night, as well as 15 minutes before the service. The rest are called: “John Paul II”, “Saint Thaddeus” (in honor of the patron saint of Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz), “Jubilee 2000” and “Saint Victor” (in honor of the patron saint of Bishop Skvorets).
03.
Jesus and the sheep. The Lord feeds his sheep. Sheep are all believers who graze nearby, and the Lord gives them food.
04.
05. Mother Teresa - created many schools, shelters, hospitals for poor and seriously ill people. In 1979, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and in 2003, Mother Teresa was beatified by the Catholic Church. 
06. There are 14 bas-reliefs on the sides of the cathedral. They show the 14 Stations of the Cross of Christ 
07.
08.
09.
10.
11.
12. Before entering the cathedral, believers wash their hands and make the sign of the cross and bow before the holy gifts. At the top is the medal "Anniversary 2000" 
13.
14.
15.
16.
17. Electric organ 
18. "Live" organ from "Kuhn". This is one of the largest organs in Russia. It was donated to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Moscow from the Evangelical Reformed Cathedral "Basel Münster" in the Swiss city of Basel. The organ itself was made in 1955. And in 2002 they began to dismantle it and transport it to Moscow. All work on installing the organ in Moscow was carried out free of charge. On January 16, 2005, a solemn mass was held with the consecration of the cathedral organ under the presidency of Metropolitan Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz 
19. The temple has three aisles. The naves are separated from each other by ten columns. Each column symbolizes one of the commandments of the Lord. 
20. Icon with a cross who handed over a piece of bread to freedom, a man imprisoned in the 1930s 
21.
22.
23.
24. Appearance of the Virgin Mary to children in Fatima. She is known to have made three prophecies. I further quote from the document "Third Memoir", written by Lucia, one of those children, at the request of José da Silva, bishop of the city of Leiria:
1. “The Mother of God showed us a huge sea of fire, which seemed to be underground. Demons and souls in human form were immersed in this fire, like transparent burning coals, all blackened or like dark bronze. Floating in the fire, they then rose into the air flames shooting out from within themselves along with great clouds of smoke, then falling back in all directions like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or balance, amid screams and groans of pain and despair that shocked us and made us tremble with fear. could be distinguished by their terrible and disgusting likeness with terrible and unknown animals, completely black and transparent. This vision lasted only a moment. How can we ever sufficiently thank our good Heavenly Mother, who prepared us in advance, with a promise, in her first appearance , take us to heaven. Otherwise, I think we would die of fear and horror."
2. “You have seen hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wants to establish in the world the veneration of My Immaculate Heart. If what I tell you is fulfilled, many souls will be saved and a time of peace will come. The war will soon end .But if people do not stop insulting God, a worse war will begin under Pope Pius XI. When you see the night illuminated by an unusual light, know that this is a great sign of God that God is ready to punish the world for its atrocities through war, famine, and persecution of Church and the Holy Father. To prevent this, I have come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and for communion in reparation for sins on the first Saturday of the month. If my requests are heard, Russia will convert and a time of peace will come. If not, then she will spread her mistakes throughout the world, causing wars and persecution of the Church. The good will be tormented, the Holy Father will suffer much, some nations will be destroyed. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted and some time of peace will be given to the world."
3. “I write out of obedience to You, my God, who ordered me to do this through His Eminence the Bishop of Leiria and the Mother of God.
After the two parts that I have already explained, to the left of the Mother of God and a little higher, we saw an Angel with a fiery sword in his left hand. Blazing, the sword emitted tongues of flame that could have burned the entire Earth, but they died out, touching the magnificent radiance that the Mother of God radiated towards them from her right hand. Pointing to the ground with his right hand, the Angel shouted in a loud voice: “Repent, repent, repent!” We saw in an infinitely bright light that there is a God, something similar to how images of people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it: a bishop dressed in white - it seemed to us that this was the Holy Father. There were other bishops, priests, and religious men and women there. They climbed up a steep mountain, at the top of which was a large Cross made of rough balsa tree trunks. Before getting there, the Holy Father passed through a large city, half in ruins, half shaking. He walked stopping, suffering from pain and grief, and praying for the souls of those whose corpses he met on his way. Having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the Cross, he was killed by a group of soldiers who shot bullets and arrows at him. And in the same way there died one after another other bishops, priests and religious men and women, and various laymen of different ranks and classes. On both sides of the Cross stood two Angels, each with a crystal crypt in his hand, into which they collected the blood of the martyrs and sprinkled it with the souls making their way to God." 
25. Saints John and Dominic 
26.
27. Crucifix showing the deceased Christ 
28. The font in which infants are baptized 
29.
30. Bells that are rung before the start of the service 
31.
32. Under the dome 
33. Knee support during the wedding 
34.
35. The sun is a niche in which the Holy Gifts are located 
36. The icon was painted at the request of Faustina Kowalska, a nun from Poland who had stigmata. One day the Lord appeared to her and said: “Write me as you see me.” She went to the artist and this icon appeared 
37. Mother of God 
38.
39.
40. Pope John Paul II 
41. Confessional 
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47. Way of the Cross of Christ 
48.
49.
50. Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. 
Lourdes is a city in France. He gained his fame after in 1858, the 14-year-old girl Bernadette Soubirous received multiple miraculous apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
51.
52. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow 
53.
54. Monument to the victims of the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire 
55.
The Catholic Cathedral, unusually beautiful in its architecture, is located in Moscow on Malaya Gruzinskaya Street. This is the largest church in Russia. The neo-Gothic style cathedral is an architectural monument. There is an amazing atmosphere here.
The cathedral building was erected in 1911, but the final finishing work was completed only in 1917. In 1938, the temple was taken away from Catholics. From that moment on, the cathedral went through difficult times. Much was looted and simply destroyed, including the altar and organ. The gradual revival of the temple began in 1989. In December 1999, restoration work was completed. The temple was consecrated by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, ambassador of Pope John Paul II. Since that time, the temple has officially been the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The cathedral grounds are very well maintained. The building itself is decorated with beautiful lighting.
The walls of the cathedral are decorated with frescoes
Grotto of the Virgin Mary
The cathedral is beautiful not only outside, but also inside.
The cathedral is the center of spiritual and cultural life. Within its walls, not only divine services are held, but also concerts of sacred and classical music.
Excellent acoustics allow you to enjoy music to the fullest.
In 2005, the cathedral received a new organ as a gift from the Lutheran Cathedral of Switzerland.
This is one of the largest organs in Russia - 5563 pipes. It can be compared to a huge living organism that comes to life at the touch of human hands. The sounds of the organ fill the entire cathedral. Listening to the organ, you experience unique amazing sensations: an elastic sound wave pierces right through, three-dimensional sounds penetrate into all your insides. You feel the music on your skin. Organ concerts bring together people of different cultures and religions.
The concerts last more than an hour, but as you soak in the wonderful music, you don’t feel the time. It seems like only a few minutes have passed. At the end of the concert there is silence for some time.
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the third Catholic church operating in Moscow before the 1917 revolution. The other two: on Malaya Lubyanka - the Church of St. Louis of France, and in Milyutinsky Lane - the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. By the end of the 19th century, the number of Catholics in Moscow reached 30,000 people and the small Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul that belonged to them could no longer accommodate all the parishioners.
In 1894, it was decided to build another church for Moscow Catholics. After receiving permission from the authorities to build a “branch” church, the parish committee in Milyutinsky Lane began collecting funds. The money was collected by Poles living throughout the Russian Empire and abroad, including workers of weaving factories, railway workers, builders of the Trans-Siberian Railway, exiled to Siberia, the Far East and Asia, as well as many Catholics of other nationalities, including Russians.
In the archives of Moscow (TsGIA Moscow) and St. Petersburg (TsGIA USSR) documents have been preserved telling about the activities of the construction committee, including the Act of purchase of ten hectares of land for 10,000 rubles in gold for a new church in the area of Malaya Gruzinskaya Street and donation collection records, where All donors are recorded, regardless of the amount of the contribution. ...a neo-Gothic cathedral in Moscow, the largest Catholic cathedral in Russia, the cathedral of the Archdiocese of the Mother of God, headed by Metropolitan Archbishop Paolo Pezzi. One of the two operating Catholic churches in Moscow, along with the Church of St. Louis of France (besides the two churches in Moscow, there is also a Catholic chapel of St. Olga).
The temple project was developed by a parishioner of the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, the famous Moscow architect Foma Iosifovich Bogdanovich-Dvorzhetsky, a teacher at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, and the architect L. F. Dauksha. The building was designed in the Gothic style. The prototype of the façade was the Gothic Cathedral in Westminster (England). The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in 1901-1911. In December 1911, the grand opening of the new church took place. Construction cost 300,000 rubles in gold. Additional sums were collected in 1911-1917 for decoration and purchase of church equipment. In 1938, the temple was closed, church property was looted, and a dormitory was organized inside. During the war, the building was damaged by bombing and several turrets and spiers were destroyed. In 1956, the Mosspetspromproekt Research Institute was located in the temple. The building was redeveloped, completely changing the interior of the church, in particular, the main volume of the internal space was divided into 4 floors.
In 1976, Moscow authorities planned to transfer the Temple building to the Main Directorate of Culture. We developed a project for its reconstruction into an organ music hall. But the idea was not realized due to the resistance of organizations located in the Church. In 1989, Moscow Catholics and the cultural association “Polish House”, uniting Moscow Poles, declared the need to return the Temple to its natural and legal owner - the Catholics and their Roman Catholic Church. In January 1990, a group of Moscow Catholics established the parish of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but on December 8, priest Tadeusz Pikus celebrated the first Holy Mass permitted by the authorities on the steps of the Church. Several hundred people attended the mass.
On April 21, 1991, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, Apostolic Administrator for Latin Rite Catholics of the European Part, issued a decree on the restoration of the Catholic parish of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Church of the same name on Malaya Gruzinskaya Street in Moscow. On May 31, 1991, the Parish's charter was officially registered by the Department of Justice of the Moscow Council. Since June 7, 1991, Holy Masses began to be held every Sunday in the Temple courtyard.
Since November 29, 1991, Salesian sisters have been serving in the Temple, conducting catechesis and teaching the basics of Christianity. At the same time, charitable activities began, in particular helping the sick and needy. In 1993-1995 The Catholic Higher Theological Seminary - Mary Queen of the Apostles - was located on the premises of the Church. On February 1, 1992, the mayor of Moscow, Yu. M. Luzhkov, signed a decision on the gradual, over two years, liberation of the Temple for church purposes. However, the transfer of at least several premises to the Parish never took place. On July 2, parishioners entered the Temple and independently vacated a small part of the premises. After negotiations with representatives of the City Hall, the reclaimed part of the temple remained with the parish.
On March 7 and 8, 1995, believers rose up for the second time to fight for the return of all other premises of the Temple. The parishioners realized that without decisive action on their part the situation was unlikely to change. On March 7, after a general prayer for the return of the Temple, they went up to the fourth floor and began to take out the junk stored there. At this time, other parishioners dismantled the wall on the first floor that separated the Parish from Mosspetspromproekt. On March 8, parishioners continued to vacate the Temple premises. However, the police and riot police intervened: people were expelled from the Temple, many were injured, a nun was severely beaten, and a priest and seminarian were arrested. On March 9, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz addressed an open letter to Russian President B.N. Yeltsin regarding the situation around the Temple. As a result, the mayor of Moscow, Yu. M. Luzhkov, signed on March 7, 1995, a long-prepared decree on the transfer of Mosspetspromproekt to new premises and the transfer of the Temple to believers by the end of the year.
However, there was no guarantee that this decision would be implemented. The rector of the parish, Fr. Joseph Zanevsky called on believers to pray for the return of the Temple and fast. On Thursdays and Fridays, adoration of the Holy Gifts began to take place in the Temple and a prayer procession around the Temple on Sundays. Finally, on January 13, 1996, the Mospetspromproekt association left the temple. And on February 2, the parish of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary received documents for the eternal use of the Temple. The main burden of the return and restoration of the Temple with the Archbishop and the Rector was also borne by Fr. Kazimir Shidelko, director of the Children's Shelter named after. John Bosco, and many parishioners. The completion of the restoration from August 1998 was led by Fr. Andrzej Steckiewicz.
The general project for the restoration of the Temple and the author's support of the restoration work belong to the PKZ company. The design of the altars, the chapel and the interior as a whole was developed by Professor Jan Taichman (Toruń). Constant financial assistance was provided by the EnergoPol company, director Kazimir Vershillo. All three donors are from the Republic of Poland. The Rodgers organ was donated by the Catholic organization Aid to the Church in Russia, USA. Thanks to donations from charitable organizations and Catholics from many countries around the world, as well as the prayers and selfless help of parishioners, the Temple again acquired all its pristine beauty. On December 12, 1999, the Temple was consecrated by the Legate of Pope John Paul II, Secretary of State of the Vatican, Cardinal Angelo Sodano and became the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
On April 13, 2001, the Cathedral solemnly celebrated the tenth anniversary of the restoration of the structures of the Roman Catholic Church in Russia.
The Roman Catholic Cathedral is one of the largest Catholic churches in today's Moscow. This cathedral is also called the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The cathedral has a very interesting and colorful history. The question of its construction was raised back in 1894, when Catholics in the capital decided on the need for a third church in Moscow for representatives of this religion. The main construction of this temple was carried out in the period from 1901 to 1911. And in December 1911, the cathedral was consecrated. Over the next few years, finishing work was carried out here. And in 1919, this premises became a real full-fledged parish, in which services began to be held for all Catholics of the capital - representatives of various national diasporas. The cathedral, built in the neo-Gothic style, began to regularly attract large numbers of parishioners during religious events.
The cathedral functioned successfully until 1938. It was subsequently closed and looted. A dormitory was soon opened inside this room. During the war, the cathedral building was significantly damaged as a result of bombing. It lost several turrets and spiers. By 1956, significant planning had been carried out here, meeting the requirements of the Mosspetspromproet Research Institute. Since this year, after renovation work, this scientific organization has been located in the temple premises, which functioned in this building for several decades. In the 70s of the last century, it was planned to equip an organ music hall here. But this project was not implemented for a number of reasons. And in 1989, on the initiative of the cultural organization “Polish House,” which unites all Poles in our country, the question was raised about returning this building to the Catholic Church. And already in 1990, the Catholic parish of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary began to work here. But services here became permanent only about a year later. It is important to note that at that time the building still belonged to the research institute. And only in 1996, after a series of scandals and trials, it was possible to evict the scientific organization and transfer the premises to the Catholic Church. Subsequently, serious restoration work was carried out here over several years. And finally, on December 12, 1999, the Cathedral was re-consecrated and opened for worship.
Currently, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the largest Catholic churches in Moscow. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary today actively attracts the attention of many domestic Catholics who come here for services and other religious events. This temple is also famous for its organ. Today there is an instrument from the world-famous Kuhn company, built in 1955. Previously, it was installed in one of the largest cathedrals in Switzerland and in 2002 it was donated to Moscow Catholics. From that very moment, work began on the dismantling and subsequent installation of the organ, which lasted until 2005. Today this legendary instrument is used during various religious events. In addition, the cathedral regularly hosts organ music concerts, for which many secular listeners also seek to buy tickets.
