The Church of the Nativity of the All-holy Theotokos is a

Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) The Ukrainian Orthodox Church ( uk, Українська православна церква, Ukrainska pravoslavna tserkva; russian: Украинская православная церковь, Ukrainskaya pravoslavnaya tserkov', UOC), common ...

church in the Kryvyi Rih diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). It is one of the oldest churches in

Kryvyi Rih Kryvyi Rih ( uk, Криви́й Ріг , lit. "Curved Bend" or "Crooked Horn"), also known as Krivoy Rog (Russian: Кривой Рог) is the largest city in central Ukraine, the 7th most populous city in Ukraine and the 2nd largest by area. Kr ...

History

Foundation and early history

The church of the Nativity of the All-holy Theotokos in

was opened in 1886 by a local rural society as a prayer house. It was named for the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Saints

Joachim Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal ...

and Anne. Celebration of this feast day on the 8th of September (the 21st of September new style) coincided in the folk calendar with the finishing of the main fieldworks and

Harvest Thanksgiving A harvest festival is an annual celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different places. H ...

. The street where the church was situated also was named after the Nativity of the Theotokos. The church belonged to the Shyroke

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

in the

Kherson Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers appr ...

uyezd of the

Kherson Governorate The Kherson Governorate (1802–1922; russian: Херсонская губерния, translit.: ''Khersonskaya guberniya''; uk, Херсонська губернія, translit=Khersonska huberniia), was an administrative territorial unit (als ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. A

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of the church included 250 houses in

and also 2 villages in the neighbouring Yekaterinoslav Governorate – Shmakovo (Pokrovskoe) and Dubovaia Balka. It had nearly 2,700 people. The

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

of the church consisted of a priest and a cantor-reader. There were also a churchwarden and a parish guardianship (since 1893) that together helped to the clergy with economic business. One of the

parson A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term d ...

s – priest Vladimir Babura – was a famous homilist and publicist in the country. His articles and collections of

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...

s were published in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and St. Petersburg. Since 1897 there was a grammar school at the church that later received the status of a

parochial school A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The ...

. There pupils studied Russian,

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

arithmetic Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th ...

, religion, Slavonic reading and singing. In the beginning of the 20th century, there were 50 children studying at the school – 30 boys and 20 girls.

Soviet period

With the beginning of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, parson

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

Mikhail Pukhalsky was killed together with his wife Maria after three hours of torture in his

parsonage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically own ...

at the churchyard in March 1918. In 1922,

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

confiscated church items. During this period, the number of active parishioners was 540 persons in 1924. In 1929, the town executive committee received peasant's requests for turning the church into a rural club, and in 1930, the possibility of founding an antireligious university on its base was also considered. These plans failed, and the church was closed only in 1935. Later, it was refitted into a receiver-distributor for juvenile offenders and repressed parents’ children. But even after the closing of the church, the Nativity of the Theotokos parish did not finish its existence. Services were held in a private house on 18 Kirov Street until 1938 when all clergy was repressed by agencies of the NKVD (the Peoples’ Commissariat for Internal Affairs in the Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics). Only at the time of the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

could the congregation renew its church life. In December 1941, the faithful people were given a building of a primary school on 45 Shyrokovska Street, and after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

they bought a house on 60

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

Street where they equipped a complete prayer house. In this period, the parish had 4,000 members and was headed by

archpriest The ecclesiastical title of archpriest or archpresbyter belongs to certain priests with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and the Eastern Catholic Churches and may be somewhat analogous ...

Stefan Yanovsky, who was also the Dean of the Kryvyi Rih district of the Dnipropetrovs’k

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

. At this time the prayer house performed the function of the cathedral. It was in existence until Khrushchev's anti-religious campaign and was closed in 1961.

Present

The church was reopened on the 7th of February 1991 when the process of giving back the complex of buildings to its former owners began. At that time, the forming of a new architectural ensemble of the church began: a central

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

was installed in 1995; a

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

was erected in 1997-2000; a spiritual enlightenment centre was built in 2001-2004; a churchyard was arranged and a church gate was built in 2006-2008; the church was reconstructed and its interior was totally renewed in 2010-2011; and the second building of the spiritual enlightenment centre was started in 2014. With the restoration of the church, an active parish life began. Between 1991 and 2005, several parish activities were founded, such as a Sunday school, a church library, a parish newspaper, a charter of the Sisters of Mercy, a summer camp, an Orthodox youth brotherhood, and an annual festival of Ukrainian and church culture. The largest feature of the parish today is the church's

Sunday school A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

. About 150 children study the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

and religion in six classes. In the spiritual enlightenment centre, there are youth and two children's choirs along with art studio which have become laureates of All-Ukrainian and international festivals and competitions (in Ukraine, Russia, Poland and Serbia). Active publishing activity is also carried out. Publications range from studies about churches in Kryvyi Rih, educational programmes and methodological recommendations for Sunday schools, and a musical collection with hymns and songs for a choir outside of the

Liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

. The architectural ensemble of the church became one of the "visiting cards" of the city for inhabitants and guests.

painters such as Ivan Avramenko, Dmytrii Grybok, Alexander Udovenko and Oksana Kolos found creative inspiration for their painting there.

Archpriest The ecclesiastical title of archpriest or archpresbyter belongs to certain priests with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and the Eastern Catholic Churches and may be somewhat analogous ...

Anatolii Ryzhenko has been the

of the church since 1991. Since the moment the church was restored, twenty natives from the congregation have become clergymen (of which two are

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s).

Sources

Божко А. А. Храм Рождества Пресвятой Богородицы (1886—2012): Исторический очерк / Алексей Алексеевич Божко. — Кривой Рог, 2012. — 84 с., ил.

Божко О.О. «Благочестиваго корене пречестная отрасль…»: з життя настоятеля Різдво-Богородичного храму Кривого Рогу священика Володимира Бабури // Актуальні проблеми соціально-гуманітарних наук. Матер. ІІІ всеукр. наук. конфер. з міжнар. участю (м. Дніпропетровськ, 20 грудня 2013 р.): у 5-х частинах. — Д.: ТОВ «Інновація», 2013. — ч. 4. — С.50–54.

Божко О. Літературна діяльність настоятеля Різдво-Богородичного храму м. Кривий Ріг священика Володимира Бабури в журналі «Друг трезвости»
Сайт храму Різдва Пресвятої Богородиці.
Божко О. Публікації криворізького священика Володимира Бабури на сторінках московського журналу «Душеполезное чтение»
Сайт храму Різдва Пресвятої Богородиці.
Митрофан (Божко), ієрод. Співпраця криворізького священика Володимира Бабури зі столичним журналом «Православно-Русское Слово»
Сайт храму Різдва Пресвятої Богородиці.
Божко О.О. Життя і мученицька кончина криворізького священика Михаїла Пухальського (†1918) // Сучасні соціально-гуманітарні дискурси: Матер. IV Всеукр. наук. конфер. з міжнар. участю. (м. Дніпропетровськ, 22 березня 2014 р.): у 3-х частинах. – Д.: ТОВ «Інновація», 2014. – ч. 3. – С. 12–15.

Божко О.О. Кривий Ріг у архіпастирському служінні священномученика Онуфрія (Гагалюка) // Гуманітарний журнал. — 2010. — №3–4. — С.107–112.

Митрофан (Божко), ієром. Закриття і знищення храмів та молитовних споруд у Кривому Розі під час хрущовської антирелігійної кампанії 1958–1964 рр. // Церква мучеників: гоніння на віру та Церкву у ХХ столітті: матеріали Міжнар. наук. конф. (К., 6–7 лютого 2020 р.) / упоряд. С.В. Шумило; відп. ред. прот. В. Савельєв. — К.: Видавничий відділ Української Православної Церкви, 2020. — С.550–563.

References

{{reflist Churches in Ukraine Eastern Orthodox church buildings in Ukraine 1886 establishments in Europe Religion in Kryvyi Rih