The transfer of the icon of St. Raphael of Optina with a particle of relics to the church of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church, which is located in the village of Povedniki of the Sergiev Posad diocese, will take place on the morning of December 3 in Optina Desert.
Saint Raphael, in the world - Rodion Sheichenko, was born in 1891 in the Kursk province in a peasant family. After serving in the army, he became a monk in the Optina Desert. He was convicted during the persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church, after his release in 1944 he became rector of the Annunciation Church in Kozelsk. He died in the spring of 1957 after a serious illness and was buried at the Kozelsky cemetery.
In June 2005, his name was included in the Cathedral of the New Martyrs of the Russian Orthodox Church, and the relics of the saint were transferred to a monastery.
The icon of Raphael of Optina is not the only one painted in Optina. The monastery plans to paint 17 more icons of local new martyrs. In total, 1,700 icons of new saints are planned to be transferred to the Posad church.
The event will be held within the framework of the program for the interaction of the Foundation for the Popularization of Manned Cosmonautics "Cosmos is us" with the temples and monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church – "Cosmos between us".