On December 9, 2024, the exhibition "The Tragedy of the Russian Church" opened in the walls of the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles in the Kremlin of the city of Ryazan. The exhibition reminds visitors of the most difficult period in the history of Orthodoxy in Russia.

The destruction and desecration of shrines, the seizure of valuables, persecution, exile and execution of clergy and laity are terrible pictures of the reality in which our country found itself in the last century. And the temple itself, where the exposition is located, has become an eloquent part of it: the building of the ancient unique two-tent church ceased to serve its original purpose already in the 20s. The iconostasis was demolished, boxes were made of icons and sent to Moscow, then their fate is unknown. The same fate awaited many values throughout the country, which had both spiritual and cultural significance. So, when churches began to be looted under the pretext of helping the hungry, some icons disappeared, and some were simply ruthlessly destroyed.

Metropolitan Mark of Ryazan and Mikhailovsky recalled these pages of history, welcoming the participants of the opening of the exposition in the Dukhovsky Temple, the website of the Ryazan Diocese reports. The archpastor noted the peculiarity of the new exhibition: studying it, it is impossible not to feel the heaviness and bitterness in your heart from all that many people prefer not to remember. Most often, modern man avoids the idea of the need for a spiritual life, and most importantly, the inevitability of the consequences that entail apostasy, blasphemy and violation of faith. From this point of view, the trials that befell our country after a wave of brutal persecution of faith appear in people's minds in a special way.

Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation, chief curator of the Ryazan Diocesan Museum "Ancient Repository" nun Meletiya (Pankova), Chairman of the historical and archival department of the Ryazan Metropolis Hieromonk Joachim (Zayakin) and the leading guide of the Ryazan diocese Monk Nathanael (Meshcheryakov) spoke about the exhibits that made up the exhibition and its significance.

Among the exhibits are posters of the Soviet era with anti-religious content; original documents; shrines mutilated by the hands of people whose hearts were destroyed by anger and hatred; things belonging to new martyrs and confessors; Ryazan stands of the Russian Golgotha project. There are many photos that open a window into the twentieth century – here you can see the faces of people, emaciated, but full of inner strength and faith, and views of the city, disfigured by the madness of God-fighting that overwhelmed everyone.

Next year will mark the 100th anniversary of the repose of Patriarch-Confessor Tikhon (Bellavin) - the exhibition is dedicated to this date, and in his person it is dedicated to the new martyrs and confessors, to all those compatriots who remained faithful to Christ in the face of trials and even death. The "Tragedy of the Russian Church" is an important step towards preserving the memory of their feat, praying to them and not forgetting the hard lessons of the past.