Description of the attraction
By 1845, about 120 Latvians had converted to Orthodoxy, in connection with which Bishop Filaret in January 1845 I was asked to allocate the parish for the performance of services in the Latvian language. The answer to the petition was received in April of the same year. It was decided to provide the parish with the Riga Cemetery Church of the Intercession. The first divine service, conducted by priest Yakov Mikhailov, took place on April 29, 1845. This priest served in the temple until 1859.
In 1842 the Holy Synod gave permission to Father Yakov Mikhailov to supervise the translation of Orthodox books into Latvian. In one year of his work, Father Yakov added more than 1,500 people to Orthodoxy. In 1859, after the funeral of priest Yakov Mikhailov, priest Vasily Reinhausen, priest of the Jaunpils parish, was invited to serve in this church. He served here for 20 years.
In 1858, the Church of the Intercession was separated from the Alexander Nevsky Church and the Latvian and Russian parishes were united into a single parish. After this unification, the number of parishioners increased to 1200 people. Services began to be held in a mixed Slavic-Latvian language.
In 1867, with funds provided by the government for the needs of the parish, the second cemetery church, Voznesenskaya, designed for 500 people, was built. At the end of 1875, a fire broke out in the Intercession Church, which destroyed the temple. In 1879, the newly built Church of the Intercession was consecrated, after which the Russian part of the parish was transferred to it. The Latvian parish remains in the Ascension Church, where services begin to be held in Latvian.
In 1896, a decision was made to expand the Ascension Church, since the parish is growing so much that the existing church cannot accommodate all parishioners. The reconstruction of the temple was carried out according to the project of the diocesan architect V. I. Lunsky. In 1909, electricity was supplied to the church.
During the years of Soviet power, the Ascension Church was active, services were regularly held here, although they tried to close the temple. Since 1993, thanks to the efforts of the headman of the parish, as well as the parishioners who make donations, repair and restoration work has been carried out in the church. During the renovation, the roof and the central cross were replaced. A new bell was installed, an interesting fact is that the amount needed to buy it was collected in two Sundays, and just as much as the bell cost. In addition, the external windows were replaced and the heating system was replaced with a gas one.
Several years ago, the Sunday School began its work in the temple again, and classes are held for different age groups. In addition, themed children's camps are held, during which children and parents study, sculpt, draw, learn to take care of each other, go on a hike, and play sports. In 2001, during a divine service on the feast day, it was noticed that the icon of the Iveron Mother of God, located in the iconostasis, was streaming myrrh. 2007 marked the 140th anniversary of the construction of the Church of the Ascension of the Lord, and in 2008 - the 140th anniversary of its illumination.
