President lit Christmas candle in the church of St. Elisabeth Convent
The President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, has lit a Christmas candle during a festive service in the church named after St. John the Miracle Worker of Shanghai and San Francisco
The church – made in the style of 17th century ancient Russian wooden architecture – is part of the monastery complex of Minsk’s St. Elisabeth Convent. It was built by a team of Belarusian craftsmen following the ‘Canadian’ cutting technology. Initially, it was cut down on the territory of the artel, and then transported to the monastery territory and assembled on a pre-prepared reinforced concrete foundation. The exterior decorative elements and the interior decoration were made by craftsmen from the monastery workshops.
In his address to the parishioners and to all Belarusians in their person, Aleksandr Lukashenko said, “From the bottom of my heart I want to congratulate all of you on this kind, bright holiday in the life of every person – not only an Orthodox one. This is indeed a bright holiday, and Orthodoxy is actually an occasion for all laypeople, for all citizens of Belarus, for the Orthodox, Catholic, Muslim and whole world to celebrate this bright holiday. For us, Orthodox people, this is a special day and a special holiday. Therefore, I want to congratulate you on this holiday from the bottom of my heart – wishing you the main thing: health. As I joke sometimes, we will buy everything else. It is impossible to buy health, so I wish you God's blessing and strong, good health.”
The Head of State also wished that adults would always be happy with children, “As I have already said: if a child is smiling, then it means that our society is healthy.”
