The IV All-Belarusian procession "Church and Army", which takes place from May 9 to June 29, today visited the memorial "Guards of Borders" in Brest and on the island of Pogranichny. A prayer commemoration of the defenders who gave their lives for their native land took place.
As Andrei Kovalevich, Deputy commander of the Brest border group, noted, it is significant that the All-Belarusian procession took place in such places:
– The military personnel, whose units were stationed on the island of Pogranichny in 1941, were the first to receive the blow of the Nazi invaders. The memorial to the Guards of the Borders perpetuated the memory of all the heroes who guarded the border. Those who, without sparing their lives, did everything so that we could live under a peaceful sky. Today I also want to express my gratitude to the veteran border guards who are still in the ranks. Thanks to our clergy, who shoulder to shoulder protect the border together with the border guards, help to educate the younger generation.
Archpriest Vitaly Khonovets, rector of the garrison Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the Brest Fortress, noted the importance of spiritual education of young people:
– The procession is a confirmation that the church and the army are united, since the defense of our Fatherland is a common cause. We do not divide our people, but make every effort to ensure that people live in peace and harmony. We remember that we got the world at a high price, at the cost of innocent victims from among the civilian population and soldiers-defenders. Faith was inspiring in difficult times. Despite the atheistic upbringing, during the Great Patriotic War there was an unprecedented revival of spiritual life. Starting in 1943, temples and monasteries began to open, they were crowded with people praying. Faith gave hope for Victory, faith is a spiritual foundation that helped to win.
The IV All-Belarusian procession started on May 9 in Gomel and will end on June 29 in Minsk. The clergy visit the sites of battles and military graves, hold commemorative lithias, and pinch by pinch collect earth from the burial sites of the liberator soldiers into a capsule. After the end of the procession, earth capsules will be installed in the chapel in the name of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky in Gomel.
In Brest, the earth was taken into a capsule on the island of Pogranichny. This island is the only territory of Belarus on the left side of the Western Bug. In the past, it was the Western Island. Since September 1939, the State border of the USSR, now Belarus, has been passing through the bypass channel skirting the island.  On the eve of the war, the fortification housed courses for drivers, a transport company, a sapper platoon, cavalry and physical education training camps, a veterinary infirmary, courses for blacksmiths, outfits of the 9th outpost of the 17th Red Banner border guard. The families of the staff lived there. On this piece of land in the morning of 1941 there was a real nightmare ...
the IV All-Belarusian procession "Church and Army" is held under the motto "Memory. Faith. The Fatherland". The goal is to prayerfully honor and pay military honors to all the defenders of our Motherland who fell on the battlefields during the Great Patriotic War.