Borisov hosted the Mother of God on Thursday, July 19. The city and district authorities, the priests of the Orthodox Church and a great crowd of people, children and youth greeted the Czestochowa icon at the main town square before the Municipal Palace of Culture. The car with the icon was preceded by a pickup truck equipped with portable bells and a group of people playing on them. This immediately created an amazingly holy atmosphere.
The parish priest of the Orthodox Church of the Birth of Christ, protoirej Verbiło Alexander greeted the Mother of God and explained the concept of the international pilgrimage for protecting unborn children, traditional family values, and motherhood. He recalled that the icon of Czestochowa is venerated by both Orthodox and Catholics.
The Icon was set up near the entrance to the Palace of Culture, so that everyone--Orthodox and Catholic Christians--could pray before her, venerate her, and "apply" to her.
Then, a conference was held in the largest hall of the Palace of Culture, prepared by the organizers of the pilgrimage as an accompanying event.
At the end a choir of teachers from the children's music school of the Church of the Birth of Christ, under the direction of Sergei Prokopczuk, and soloists from the Palace of Culture and the Borysov School of Medicine, gave a performance. During this time, other activities were organized for the younger children.
People did not leave for a long time. Everyone wanted more time to pay their respects to Our Lady. It ended with the ceremonial drive of dozens of cars with the Czestochowa icon to the old city center.
As Tatiana Tarasewicz a member of the organizing group noted “we met supporters everywhere, people who think as we do and want to protect life and family”. For example, , a local center for assistance functions in Polotsk and has already saved more than 80 children from abortion. During the meeting representatives of the local government boasted of how they help families and try to increase fertility. It's very interesting that the entire population of the small village of Saria has an exceptionally positive attitude towards the traditional family values. A year ago they erected a monument to holy married couple, Peter and Fevronia, who in the Orthodox tradition are the patrons of family, love and fidelity. In general, one can say that there is still a living tradition and understanding of the Christian family in Belarus. Wherever the pilgrimage stopped, many people came to pray and ask for maternal protection of Our Lady.