Press releases

100km relay to open celebrations in honor of 100th anniversary of church in Vidzy

VITEBSK, 5 August (BelTA) – The celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of the Roman Catholic Church in Vidzy, Braslav District (Vitebsk Oblast, will include a relay, a secular festival and a solemn service, Rector of the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary Priest Alfred told BelTA.

The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Vidzy (the second largest Roman Catholic Church in Belarus, second only to the church in Budslav) will arrange three-day celebrations to mark its centennial anniversary.

The organizers invite parishioners to take part in the relay on 30 August. The route will span along the border of the parish and is about 100km long. The longest leg wil be 7km. "We will run through the villages making stops near crosses and chapels and burial sites. Every participant of the relay will be able to say a prayer. All in all, we are planning 100 prayers. We will also have the bus follow us," said Priest Alfred and added that the application for the relay is still open.

A big secular festival in honor of the church will be organized in Vidzy on 7 September. It will feature a concert, a lottery, fireworks and a launch of hundreds of sky lanterns. The largest religious event in the life of the church is scheduled for 5 October. On this day the church will host Bishop Oleg Boutkevich. It is planned that the head of the Vitebsk Catholic Diocese will consecrate the side altars, the Memorial Cross and a plaque in honor of the 100th anniversary of the temple and the centennial anniversary of Cardinal Kazimierz Swiatek who consecrated the Vidzy church in 1994 when it was opened.

The church in Vidzy is one of the most expressive specimens of neo-Gothic architecture in Belarus. The temple is 59 meters high, but due to the rich red color of the walls, it looks much higher and bigger. The church is on the state list of historical and cultural heritage of Belarus.

The first Roman Catholic Church in Vidzy was built in 1481 by the monks of the Bernardian order who came from Vilna. There are also reports that the church was founded in the middle of the 18th century. The new red brick church in neo-Gothic style was built in 1914. However, immediately after the completion of the construction the church was badly damaged during the First World War. Shells were built into the walls of the church in memory of those events. The church suffered damage during the Second World War as well. In 1989, the temple was handed back over to believers. Long process of restoration began immediately and continues to this day. Today renovations are in process, the landscaping of the adjacent territory is underway.

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