From April 21 to 24, 2025, a group of students from Nikolo-Ugresh Theological Seminary, accompanied by RKI teacher Yana Ganelina, made a trip to St. Petersburg.
The trip was organized with the assistance of the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage and the Nikolo-Ugresh Seminary.
According to Yana Ganelina, the trip was filled with vivid events, interesting excursions and left unforgettable impressions. "The program of the trip was very intense. We prayed in the chapel of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg at the Smolensky Cemetery, visited St. Isaac's Cathedral, where a prayer service was held, and the colonnade. We became participants in educational excursions: at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, where the children had the opportunity to communicate with their African brothers, students of the Academy," the teacher shared.
She also spoke about her visit to the St. Petersburg Mining University named after Empress Catherine II.: "At the university, we prayed in the church of St. Macarius of Egypt and visited the Mining Museum. At the end, everyone received a commemorative booklet with photos from this tour. In addition, we visited the Uspensky courtyard of Optina Pustyn and the Pushkin Museum Apartment, where students recited the poet's poems by heart, which greatly surprised and pleased the museum staff. Then there was an excursion to the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ (Savior on Spilled Blood) and Kronstadt with a visit to the Museum of Naval Glory and the Naval Cathedral. We also visited St. John's Monastery on Karpovka and the Tomb of St. John of Kronstadt. The program of our trip included a visit to the Liturgy in the Kazan Cathedral, where we partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, marched with a procession, venerated the icon of the Kazan Mother of God. Of course, we visited the Hermitage and took a boat trip along the rivers and canals of the northern capital."
Yana Ganelina also spoke about the emotions that permeated the trip.: "Everywhere we went, we glorified Christ in all our African languages, sang the Easter troparion – on the bus, in churches, on the boat. They also remembered military songs on the eve of the Great Victory Day, and performed national songs. During the guided tours in museums and temples, the students listened with interest and asked questions. The trip left a lot of vivid impressions, everyone enthusiastically shared their Easter joy. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the staff of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra Pilgrimage Center for the warm welcome."
Acting Rector of the Nikolo-Ugresh Seminary, Hieromonk Luke (Pronskikh), lecturer at the Russian Orthodox University Yana Ganelina, and students express their sincere gratitude to Egor Skopenko, Executive Director of the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage, and Dmitry Rudkovsky, his deputy, for their support in organizing the pilgrimage, as well as to the staff of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra Pilgrimage Center for their warm welcome.