Penza, 18 June 2012. PenzaNews. The icon of “Cathedral of Archangel Michael and all the Heavenly Ethereal Powers,” executed by the iconographers of Penza, was brought to the Temple of the Mother of God of All the Grieving Joy of the city of Saransk.

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As reported in the press service of the parish, Penza iconographers had been working on the icon for about six months, executing in the Old Russian and Byzantine style, focusing on the best examples of pious antiquity.

“The Holy Image of Cathedral of Archangel Michael is unique to our republic: you will not find a similar icon in any other temple of Mordovia. We express our great gratitude to the master iconographer, Dimitriy, who by the grace of God has mastered such a wonderful image, as well as all of our parishioners, who made donations for the purchase of the holy icon,” noted in the parish.

Archangel Michael is the patron saint of soldiers, protector of Orthodox Christians from the visible and invisible enemies and evil spirits. They pray to him for healing (this is connected with worshiping him as the conqueror of evil spirits, which used to be considered by the Christians as a source of disease), they also pray to him when entering a new home and sanctifying a new house from the theft and natural disasters. In Orthodox Christianity he is also worshipped as the patron of building and construction.