Clergymen provide pastoral care to the churches located in these penal institutions. On one of these visits, an important Church Sacrament, Baptism, was performed in the penal colonies of the Russian Federal Service of Execution of Punishments Administration in the Arkhangelsk region.
The church at the penal colony No. 14 (the town of Velsk), dedicated to the Icon of the Mother of God of Tender Feeling (Umilenie), is open seven days a week: those who need spiritual support can come and pray before the icons, and choose useful literature in the rich church library in which more than 2000 books and journals have already been collected.
Frequent guests of the church, the Dean of Velsk district Father Andrew (Vermilov) and Father Dimitry (Chashin), regularly perform in the small church the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion. This time, sixteen prisoners have recieved Baptism.
“In August, it will be two years since the church moved to a separate building constructed especially for it. Dozens of services have been celebrated here and over 60 prisoners have been baptized. Religion helps many in this colony to become kinder, more patient, and to live in harmony with one’s soul,” commented Alexander Korotaev, head of the Department for educational work with convicts of the Federal Official Institution of the penal colony No. 14.
In the Church of the penal colony No. 4 (the town of Kotlas), the Sacrament of Baptism was administered by Archpriest Sergiy (Rihter). Fr. Sergiy has thoroughly explained the rite to the convicts, so that they would be fully aware of what was happening. This time, the rector of the Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God united six prisoners to the Orthodox Church.
“Each visit of Father Sergiy is a true event for the inmates. His missionary activity in the institution includes not only Church services; the Rector is also a member of the board of trusties at the colony. He always attends the meetings of certification committees where questions on petitions changes in punishments are considered,” explained the deputy chief of the Federal Official Institution of the penal colony No. 4, Alexander Ekimov.
There is no doubt that by teaching the Gospel to inmates, they will gradually acquire the spiritual and moral values that will enable them in the future to find their way in life with dignity.