Opening of a chapel at the Perevalsk Educational Colony

On 11 May 2010, the opening and consecration of a chapel located at the institution took place at the Perevalsk Educational Colony. The opening ceremony was attended by: Metropolitan of Luhansk and Alchevsk Ioannikiy, the Head of the Department of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments in the Luhansk region, Major General of the Internal Service, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Deputy Head of the Department of Penitentiary Pedagogy of the Luhansk National University named after T. Shevchenko – Horenko Serhiy Volodymyrovych, General of the Cossacks, Representative of the Hetman of the Zaporizhzhia Cossacks in the Luhansk region – Batsmanov Oleksandr Ivanovych, Chairman of the Board of the Luhansk Regional Charitable Foundation “Teenager”, Director of the Leninskyi District Centre for Social Services for Family, Children and Youth in Luhansk, Honoured Worker of the Social Sphere of Ukraine – Honcharov Volodymyr Leonidovych, as well as many clergy and other guests.
The Perevalsk Educational Colony is a special educational institution for the execution of sentences in the form of imprisonment for a definite term for male minors.
The chapel in honour of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy and Consolation” was built by the efforts of the colony’s inmates with the support of the leadership of the department of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments in the Luhansk region and the Luhansk Eparchy. The construction of the chapel lasted for five years.
Religious and educational work with the inmates of the colony is carried out by the rector of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Seleznivka village, Archpriest Father Oleksiy. At the moment, a club called “Ethics of Christian Upbringing” is operating in the school located at the colony. The guys serving their sentences attend this club with great interest.
The rite of consecration of the chapel, which lasted about forty minutes, was conducted by Metropolitan of Luhansk and Alchevsk Ioannikiy. Despite the rain that had been falling since the morning, the mood of all those present and the inmates of the colony was solemn. After the consecration ceremony, Metropolitan of Luhansk and Alchevsk Ioannikiy blessed everyone for “good thoughts and deeds” and handed out consecrated icons of the Mother of God to all the guests present and, of course, to all the boys serving their sentences. It was a great honour for the colony’s inmates to receive icons from Metropolitan Ioannikiy himself. Subsequently, the General of the Cossacks, Batsmanov A. I., presented the Metropolitan with an honorary Cossack badge, and at the end of the event, the Head of the Department of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments in the Luhansk region, Horenko S. V., spoke; he thanked the Metropolitan for the honour of taking part in the consecration of the chapel, thanked everyone present for being able to attend this event, and, of course, wished the boys a speedy correction and return home.
After the completion of the consecration of the chapel, all the clergy and guests went to the church in the village of Seleznivka, where a Liturgy and a prayer service took place.
At the end of the meeting, the Chairman of the Board of the Luhansk Regional Charitable Foundation “Teenager”, Volodymyr Honcharov, handed over to Metropolitan of Luhansk and Alchevsk Ioannikiy brochures for the gymnasium and Sunday schools titled “Raise a Man in Yourself”.
Olha Makieieva – Leading Specialist of the Leninskyi
District in the city of Luhansk Centre for social services
for family, children and youth