Consecration of a worship icon in the village of Dubrovkatranslated

On July 7, in the parish of the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos in the village of Dubrovka, Archpriest Vyacheslav Lobets performed a festive prayer service in honor of the Nativity of John the Baptist.

We know the life story of John the Baptist literally from the moment of conception to his martyrdom. The Savior himself speaks of him as the most outstanding person who has ever lived on earth: “... among those born of women there has not arisen a greater one than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11). John prepared the way for the New Testament gospel. His mission as the Forerunner of the Lord, that is, the one who walks before the Lord, was designed to awaken the people from spiritual sleep and create conditions for the preaching of Jesus Christ, who came to save humanity from sin and death. In order to accept this salvation, people needed to change, that is, to repent - after all, repentance in a literal reading is nothing more than change. That is why the call: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2) - was the main content of the sermon of John the Baptist. In other words, he was saying that the Kingdom of Heaven is near, but to enter there you need to change. This call of the New Testament prophet remains relevant today. It is addressed to each of us. If we...