Celebration of the Founding of the Church of the Dormition (part I), Rubjel’ 2011.  Сьвяток царквы Ўсьпеньня Прасьвятой Багародзіцы (частка І), Рубель 2011 год.

Rubjel’ is a thriving village in the Stolin District of the central Prypjats’ region of  Belarusian Polesia.  The village’s Orthodox parish is one of the most active parishes of the region, with an outstanding choir.

After the end of the Soviet occupation and thus the end of aggressive Soviet atheism, the parish decided to build a new church next to the historic (1796) wooden church of the Archangel Michael, deemed too small to fit the revived parish.  The church of the Dormition was founded in 1992.  The Orthodox Feast of the Dormition falls on August 28 in the modern Gregorian calendar.  However, given that the nearby village of Al’pjen’ also has a church of the Dormition, Rubjel’ celebrates the founding of its church on August 29.  In 2011 Stefan, Archbishop of Pinsk-Luninets, presided over the celebration.  In this photo parishioners await the Archbishop’s arrival.