Church of the Transfiguration of Our Lord (Spas-Conversation)

Tradition connects the foundation of the churchyard with the time of the return of Tsar Ivan the Terrible from Kazan. According to a local toponymic legend , allegedly, on a hot day under the canopy, the tsar led an intimate conversation with the children of the boyars and military leaders. He finished it as if with the words: “May the Lord grant us to return with peace for Christians.” Later, the Transfiguration Church was built on this place, and the settlement around it began to be called the Spas-Conversation ^[1] . Indeed, troops could return along the Sudogda River to Klyazma ^[2] .

The original church of the 16th century was built on the left bank of the Voyminga River, near the Murom Road, where, according to legend, the imperial squad rested. But the church built at the beginning of the 17th century was neglected and in patriarchal books until 1635 was listed among the empty church lands. It is possible that this could be due to robberies and the proximity of the Murom tract. In 1635, a new wooden church was built, but on the other side of the river and away from the big road. Like the previous church, it was consecrated in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Traces of the former cemetery were preserved from the old church location in the 20th century. In 1715, another church was built in the churchyard in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God . And in 1808, instead of two wooden churches, one stone church with a bell tower was built. There are three thrones in this church: the main - in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord , and the warm part - in honor of the Kazan Mother of God and the Monk Sergius of Radonezh ^[2] .

The parish in the 19th century consisted of the villages of Lobanovo , Penki , Gorki , Ovtsino , Soima , Khokhlachi , Koshchukhino . In all these villages, there were 906 males and 971 females, according to the clearing sheets ^[2] .

The community of believers in the village of Spas-Beseda was registered in August 1923, and priest V.F. Trelin and the psalmist V.M. Benevolensky served in the church. According to official figures, on September 20, 1938, the temple functioned. Priest V.F. Trelin suffered during the years of repression. From 1939 to 1947, services were not held in the church, but believers guarded the property ^[3] . According to the recollections of an eyewitness: “about a year in the forty-third, after long troubles, a“ wise ”decision came: service can be conducted, but the church cannot be opened. And for some time they served with someone in the house ” ^[4] .

No later than the beginning of 1944, believers begin to petition the Sudogda District Executive Committee for the opening of the temple. At first they are refused, citing the absence of a priest. Then the believers ask Patriarch Sergius to send them a priest. Before the Feast of the Annunciation, priest Alexy Mirolyubov is transferred to them from the village of Khalturka in the Sobinsky district. This priest was known to believers, he was not subjected to repression. But local authorities have not opened the temple for more than a month, which is why believers have lost the feasts of the Annunciation , Palm Sunday and Easter . In April, believers from the village of Ovtsino write a complaint about what is happening to the Patriarch. On May 16 and 26, the faithful villages of Lobanovo and Khokhlachi wrote complaints to the Ivanovo Oblast Executive Committee, at the same time at least one more complaint was submitted with the walkers to the Oblast Executive Committee. In them, believers pointed out that in the Sudogodsky district there is not a single church operating, which is why they have to go to services for 40 km to Vladimir, the children remain unbaptized, and the dead are buried without a funeral service. In all letters, believers invariably associated the need to open a temple with the need to seek solace in the temple from the hardships of war. The regional executive committee redirected the complaint of believers to the district executive committee. On August 8, 1944, the latter wrote that the opening of the temple was not practical, since the church was recently opened in the village. Likino, Sudogodsky district, to which 15 km from the specified village, in addition, the church in Spas-Besedy needs repair.

In 1945, local believers wrote statements about the opening of the church 2 times and 14 times personally visited the authorized Council for ROC Affairs under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR ^[5] . On December 16, 1946, the Vladimir Oblast Executive Committee gave a positive conclusion on the opening of the church; on December 24, it was approved by the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.

A number of icons from the churches that were closed or destroyed in the district found refuge in the temple.

The Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Spas-Beseda was periodically repaired: in 1953 - wall paintings, gilding of iconostases and icon cases; in 1976, painting in warm aisles. In 1998 and 2002, partial repairs were carried out. There are several icons of the new letter in the temple - this is the icon of the Kazan Mother of God and the Monk Sergius of Radonezh ^[6] .

In June 2011, the dome at the Transfiguration Cathedral was updated ^[7] .

In 2012, on the site sudogda.ru the temple was described as follows: “It is quiet here in winter, since there are only five families living here permanently. But on Sundays and holidays here are quite crowded. Parishioners come from the surrounding villages to their temple and pray for “prosperity and peaceful living.” There are few residents left in the villages, but young pensioners returning to their small homeland, repairing their parents' houses and reviving the villages ” ^[8] .

• Sudogod Deanery: History of Parishes and Temples / Vladimir Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. - Ed. 2nd, additional .. - Vladimir; Sudogda: Transit-X, 2015 .-- 132 p. - 3000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-8311-0888-0 .