Monument to Alexis II in Yoshkar-Ola

On August 4, 2010, there was quite an interesting and significant solemn event - the opening of a monument to the Russian Patriarch. He distinguished himself with such a magnificent gift for the Orthodox believers in the city of Yoshkar-Ola. The initiator of this project was the highest official of the Republic of Mari El - Markelov LI. It was performed by his famous sculptor Andrei Kovalchuk, who became the author of other beautiful and majestic monuments not only in this republic, but also in a number of other cities of Russia and The then CIS. On the left bank of the Malaya Kokshaga River on the Patriarch's Square, as a result, the monument to Alexius II - the fifteenth Patriarch of All Russia, who became the founder of the Yoshkar-Ola and Mari diocese - was erected and now adorns the city.

New Diocese

In 1993, on June 11, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Kazan Diocese decided to allocate the Yoshkar-Ola and the Mari Diocese. Patriarch Alexy II blessed to form this independent destiny, which was headed by Archbishop John of Ioshkar-Ola (Timofeev).

July 24, 1993 in Yoshkar-Ola, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church arrived on July 25, 1993 in the village of Semenovka in the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God to perform a traditional rite of hierarchical ordination of the archimandrite, or the dedication of John to the Yoshkar-Olinsky and Mari bishops.

Monument to Alexy II (Yoshkar-Ola)

As a sign of this event and in the memory of His Holiness, a huge bronze composition was created, mounted on a granite pedestal, which represented a single-figure composition. The Russian Patriarch stands full-length in a robe with a panagia on his chest, and on his head is a doll with seraphs. In one hand he holds a staff, and with the other hand he throws up the dove as a symbol of peace, love and good. His gaze is fixed on the Voskresenskaya embankment, on which there are Orthodox cathedrals and churches (their construction dates back to the time of his accession to the patriarchal throne).

It should also be recalled that the leader of Orthodoxy is also monumentally captured in Moscow, Valaam Island, Minsk, Vitebsk, and Tallinn.

Opening. Monument to Alexy II

The opening speech was made by the President of Mari El Markelov, who very wisely noted that a Russian without the Orthodox faith is an empty place, that is why the destroyed churches are rebuilt and rebuilt in the cities and villages of Mari El.

The city of Yoshkar-Ola is the capital of Mari El, before the revolution (1919) it was called Tsarevokokshaisk. Therefore, here it was decided to erect a monument to Patriarch Alexy II, for it was with his rule as a whole that throughout Russia and, in particular, the Republic of Mari El, there was an increase in dioceses, churches, monasteries, religious educational institutions, etc. And, importantly, the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the spiritual life of Russia and its policy has sharply increased.

After the introductory speech, the head of the republic and Archbishop John threw off the veil, and everyone saw the unusually beautiful and majestic monument to Alexius II - the most holy Patriarch releasing a pigeon into the sky.

After Bishop John consecrated the monument and served a memorial service for the Patriarch. Vladyka John noted in his speech that the head of the ROC Alexy II with great love in the heart perceived the Mari region and the people who inhabited it. Everyone who comes to this place will find comfort for himself. And those who saw him and communicated with him, again feel the love and warmth that poured his heart. And may the Lord bless and strengthen people in their work, to which the Patriarch of All Russia Alexy II called.

Interesting facts from biography

In the world Alexey Ridiger was born on February 23, 1929. He belongs to the Russian noble family, who left the branch of the Baltic Germans, who adopted Orthodoxy in the XVIII century. His ancestor Friedrich von Ridiger under Catherine II was the first to be baptized with the name of Fedor.

Father of Patriarch Alexy II was archpriest Michael, who after the revolution was taken to Estonia. As a child, Alexey often visited Valaam with his father and dreamed of becoming a priest. Then, after the war, he graduated from a theological seminary and followed her by an academy in Leningrad.

Soon he became a minister of the Tallinn diocese. When his mother died (in 1959), he became a monk with the name Alexei. The rite of initiation took place in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. In 1961 he became Bishop of Tallinn and Estonia, and then Metropolitan of the Leningrad and Novgorod Chairs. During this time, he achieved the return of many Orthodox shrines (relics of St. Alexander Nevsky), relics and temples to believers. With him, the monastic life began to revive in the Ioannovski women's monastery in Leningrad, the Valaam Monastery, the Nikolo-Vyazhiscian desert near Novgorod, and so on.

In 1989 he was elected a people's deputy of the USSR, and then, when Patriarch Pimen presented himself before the Lord, the local council elected Metropolitan Alexy to replace him.

Vladyka died on November 5, 2008. The next day in one of the capital's newspapers about him it was written that the deceased His Holiness the Patriarch was the first representative of the Orthodox Church, which was able to closely approximate the interests of state religious authority, which it is impossible to separate further from now on.