The installation ceremony of the icon of the “mourning” Lugansk Mother of God, painted by a militiaman who died in the battles for the LPR, took place in the St. Vladimir Cathedral of Lugansk.
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This is reported by local media.
Lugansk artist Alexei Pilyugin painted the icon and donated it to the cathedral back in 2009.
“This icon was painted by a young artist when he graduated from the State Institute of Art in Kyiv. When he received training as an icon painter, he painted this image of the Mother of God and signed it as “Lugansk,” said the rector of the cathedral, Archpriest Alexander.
“We see that the image of the Mother of God herself and, especially, the Child of God is very mournful, and the colors are not so light. It turns out that he saw the image of this Mother of God precisely in grief and, as we see, this was confirmed in 2014, when the war happened,” the priest noted.
“They often asked him why she was such a mourner, and he answered that “I dreamed of Lugansk grief,” explained the icon painter’s mother Lyubov Pilyugina.
“He lived in Kyiv, worked as an artist, his wife is an artist. And when trouble came to our Lugansk, he dropped everything and came to defend his Motherland,” she said.
“He couldn’t help but come,” the woman is sure. - Firstly, he served in Berkut for a year and a half, before that he served in the airborne reconnaissance force. He said that “this is my people and I will protect them.”
Major of the People's Militia of the LPR Pilyugin, call sign “Artist”, died heroically in February 2015, protecting the residents of the village of Chernukhino from the Ukrainian military.
“Therefore, this icon is being installed today in our St. Vladimir’s Cathedral with the blessing of our bishop, Metropolitan of Lugansk and Alchevsk Mitrofan,” noted Archpriest Alexander.
“Let our parishioners and all the Orthodox people come and pray in front of this image, so that the Lord will give peace to our land as quickly as possible,” the priest called.