The Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God in Harbin; ; is an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

church in

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. This church is located in the "church street", north east of "Hongbo Square" (where St. Nicolas' Central Church used to be), on East Dazhi Avenue, where there are also Harbin Nangang Christian Church (

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

) and

Sacred Heart Cathedral of Harbin The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (in ) is a Roman Catholic church in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China. Its official name is Sacred Heart of Jesus Diocesan Cathedral of Harbin. General Under construction Sacred Heart Cathedral of H ...

(

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

). The Church of the Intercession, formerly also called the Ukrainian Church in Harbin, is currently the only Orthodox Church in Harbin, and indeed in all of mainland China, open to Chinese nationals for regular worship. Its summarized history is as follows:"Communist China makes concession to the Eastern Orthodox Church in the North East".

Radio Free Asia Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a news service that publishes online news, information, commentary and broadcasts radio programs for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editorially independent reporting, has the stated mission of pro ...

, May 1, 2016 (In Chinese) * In 1902, a prayer house was built in the Russian cemetery. * In 1922, as the

China Eastern Railway The Chinese Eastern Railway or CER (, , or , ''Kitaysko-Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga'' or ''KVZhD''), is the historical name for a railway system in Northeast China (also known as Manchuria). The Russian Empire constructed the line from 1897 ...

was being built, the Russians built a wooden church building at the site of current church. * In 1930, the China Eastern Railway donated the present stone church building. The architect was Tidanov. * Until 1947, the congregation was composed predominantly of

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

who had fled east from the Russian Revolution in 1917. * In 1958, during the

Great Leap Forward The Great Leap Forward was an industrialization campaign within China from 1958 to 1962, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Party Chairman Mao Zedong launched the campaign to transform the country from an agrarian society into an indu ...

and

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, as the Chinese-Soviet relationship soured, the Russians and Ukrainians left China, forcing discontinuance of the church activities. * On 1984, coinciding with the church's patron saint's feast day, the restoration of the temple was finally completed, and it reopened for worship services, conducted by Father , who served at the church from its re-opening until his passing in 2000, leaving the temple without a permanent rector for fifteen years, until the installation of recently-ordained Father , whose first liturgy was the Orthodox Easter Service on April 18, 2016.

Services

The church is open from 9 to 11am on Sundays and

Typica The Typica (Slavonic language, Slavonic: ''Изобрази́тельны, Izobrazítelny'') is a part of the Canonical hours#Daily cycle of services, Divine Office of Eastern Orthodox Worship, Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic Church, Greek Ca ...

is usually prayed in Chinese at 10am.

Notes

References

External links

Geographic coordinates A geographic coordinate system (GCS) is a spherical or geodetic coordinate system for measuring and communicating positions directly on Earth as latitude and longitude. It is the simplest, oldest, and most widely used type of the various ...

:
Harbin Church of Chinese Orthodox Church
(Harbin Urban & Rural Planning Bureau, Harbin City Government)

Services

Notes

References

External links

See also