On 14 November 2019, during his stay in Baku, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia visited the Cathedral of the Holy Myrrhbearing Women.
The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church performed the rite of the minor consecration of the cathedral after extensive restoration work.
Praying in the cathedral were the Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, Metropolitan Pavel of Minsk and Zaslavl; the Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk; Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan; Metropolitan Kirill of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye; Archbishop Alexander of Baku and Azerbaijan; clergy of the diocese; the Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, Archimandrite Filaret (Bulekov); and the head of the Patriarchal Protocol Service, Archpriest Andrei Bondarenko.
The celebration was attended by Ya. A. Eyubov, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan; V. R. Legoyda, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media; senior diplomats of Azerbaijan, Austria, Belarus, Greece, the Russian Federation and Sweden; M. Yu. Zabelin, deputy of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) and Chairman of the Russian Community in Azerbaijan; V. P. Denisov, head of the Rossotrudnichestvo office in the Republic of Azerbaijan and director of the Russian Information and Cultural Centre; G. Ya. Manafova, director of the Centre of Russian Culture of Azerbaijan; and many Orthodox residents of Baku.
Archbishop Alexander of Baku and Azerbaijan addressed the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church with words of welcome and gratitude for his visit to the Cathedral of the Holy Myrrhbearing Women and for its consecration after a lengthy restoration.
The hierarch presented His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, who before his election to the Patriarchal throne had headed the Department for External Church Relations for two decades, with ripidia that had once belonged to the first Chairman of the Department, Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich).
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill addressed those gathered in the church with his Primatial word:
“Your Eminences and Your Graces, most esteemed Archbishop Alexander, dear fathers, brothers and sisters!
It is with special feeling that I have entered this renewed church, which I visited before, though at that time it looked very different from what can be seen today. When we renew churches we do not simply cover the walls with paint or simply restore icons; in a certain sense this also bears witness to the renewal of our faith. For when churches are built and restored, we put into this labour both our material means and our strength. All of this is a sacrifice to the Lord, and that is precisely how we should regard all the labours we lay upon the altar of the Church.
Church ministry can be far from easy to bear, and this applies both to place and to time. Nevertheless, the more difficult the circumstances and the more effort we spend, the more pleasing to the Lord this sacrifice may perhaps be.
All labour for the glory of God is the offering of a sacrifice to the Lord. In the past animals were slaughtered and blood sacrifices were offered. Today the Church of God offers the bloodless sacrifice, offering bread and wine to become the true Body and true Blood of Christ; and at the same time, carrying out a ministry directed towards the education of the people, the preaching of the Gospel and the affirmation of Christian values in people's lives, we also humbly offer our labours to the Lord as a sacrifice.
I see both how much has been done here, in this church, and how, by the mercy of God, church life is developing in Azerbaijan. Once again I would like to thank you warmly, Your Eminence, and all the clergy and the faithful. Thank you for standing firm in the faith, for your labours, for your sacrifices, and for the fact that through your prayers and your labours Orthodoxy is preserved in this ancient land.”
In memory of the celebration His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia gave the cathedral an old icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Thanking Archbishop Alexander for his labours in the land of Azerbaijan, His Holiness presented him with a holy panagia.
Awards of the Russian Orthodox Church were then presented to those who had laboured for the good of the Church.
The steward of the Baku Diocesan Administration, Archimandrite Efrem (Matyntsev), who this year marks the 25th anniversary of his priestly ministry, was awarded by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill the Order of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, third class.
The conductor of the hierarchal choir, chief choirmaster of the Azerbaijan State Theatre of Musical Comedy V. T. Mastanov, received the Order of the Holy Right-Believing Prince Daniel of Moscow, third class, and the conductor of the right choir of the Church of the Archangel Michael in Baku, Kh. V. Efendieva, received the Medal of Venerable Euphrosyne, Grand Princess of Moscow.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill also presented church awards in recognition of assistance to the Diocese of Baku:
— to M. Yu. Zabelin, deputy of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) and Chairman of the Russian Community in Azerbaijan, the Order of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, second class;
— to Ya. A. Eyubov, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Order of Venerable Sergius of Radonezh, second class;
— to G. Ya. Manafova, director of the Centre of Russian Culture of Azerbaijan, the Medal of Venerable Euphrosyne of Moscow;
— to V. P. Denisov, head of the Rossotrudnichestvo office in the Republic of Azerbaijan and director of the Russian Information and Cultural Centre, the Medal of Venerable Sergius of Radonezh;
— to M. N. Bocharnikov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Azerbaijan, a Patriarchal Certificate of Merit.
The Cathedral of the Holy Myrrhbearing Women was built in 1909 in the Russian style to a design by the architect M. F. Verzhbitsky. The building was erected with the support of the well-known Azerbaijani philanthropist Haji Taghiyev and with private donations. Originally the church was a regimental church under the 262nd Salyan Reserve Infantry Regiment.
In the Soviet period the cathedral did not escape the sad fate that befell thousands of Orthodox shrines: it was closed in 1920 and used first as a warehouse and then as a gymnasium. During the events of January 1990 two shells struck the bell tower, as a result of which it was partly destroyed, the floor subsided, the walls cracked and the roof collapsed. In 1991 the half-ruined church building was handed over to the Russian Orthodox Church.
It became possible to carry out restoration work in the church after the episcopal see was established in Baku. Through the care and efforts of Bishop Alexander of Baku and the Caspian Region (now Archbishop of Baku and Azerbaijan), repair and restoration work was carried out and the church was prepared for consecration. During his Primatial visit to Azerbaijan, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia consecrated the Church of the Holy Myrrhbearing Women on 27 May 2001 and gave it the status of the cathedral of the diocese.
Later, with the support of the Azerbaijani philanthropist and businessman Aydin Gurbanov, comprehensive repair and restoration work was carried out in the cathedral: a carved stone iconostasis was erected, holding icons painted by the well-known Moscow iconographer Alexander Sokolov. The church was painted by a group of Moscow artists led by V. F. Strashko, an artist of the Stroganov Academy. The necessary church vessels and furnishings were also acquired.
On completion of the repair and restoration work, the renewed church was opened on 24 March 2003. The celebration was attended by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev, the Chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Board Sheikh ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, and diplomats and staff of the diplomatic missions accredited in Azerbaijan.
The cathedral houses a reliquary with a particle of the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew, the patron saint of Baku, and the venerated Tikhvin and Caspian icons of the Mother of God.
In 2019 extensive restoration work in the church was completed, and the Cathedral of the Holy Myrrhbearing Women was fully restored.
