About 20 thousand pilgrims are expected at the Budslav festival in the Myadel district this year, BelTA learned from the main department of ideological work, culture and youth affairs of the Minsk Regional Executive Committee.
Celebrations in honor of the patronal feast of the Budslav Icon of the Mother of God will be held from June 30 to July 1 in the Roman Catholic parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Budslav of Myadel district and will be dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the appearance of the Mother of God of Fatima.
In the festive events, the participation of bishops from Belarus, representatives of the authorities and diplomatic missions, high-ranking foreign guests is planned. The first divine service for the pilgrims will be held on June 30 and will begin at 18.00. At 23.30, a solemn procession is planned with the figure of the Mother of God of Fatima, and at midnight another worship service is planned. On the night of July 1, a youth program was prepared in the tent camp for pilgrims. In the morning, there will be divine services, presentations of the help group to the dependent "Svetach", books of the Catholic publishing house "Pro Hrysto", etc. The participation of the administration of the Minsk Regional Executive Committee is planned to conclude the Budslav fest festive procession with a copy of the icon of the Mother of God of Budslau.
Christians of Belarus celebrate the celebration of the miraculous Budslav icon of the Mother of God in Budslau every July. The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in 1873 and throughout its history was one of the most popular San Bernardine sanctuaries. Significant for the sanctuary in Budslau was 1992 - the year of the first official pilgrimage to the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Budslav, in which 45 groups of pilgrims from 70 localities participated. In the same year, a request was made to the Vatican to confer the title of Basilica Menshey to the church in Budslav. In 1994 this title was appropriated to the church by Pope John Paul II. The miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Budslau was crowned with papal crowns on July 2, 1998. The coronation was performed by Cardinal Kazimir Sventak.
The number of pilgrims arriving at the Budslav fest is increasing every year. Today Budslav is an important pastoral center and a place of special worship. Budslavsky church is an architectural monument with the status of historical and cultural value of Belarus.
