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The Event of 11 September 1946: A Memory Preserved in Elista
The event witnessed during a service in Elista’s Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on 11 September 1946, and the story of how its memory was preserved.
On September 11, 1946, during a service at Elista’s Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the priest and parishioners witnessed an event that in church tradition was called the Appearance of Christ the Savior to worshippers.
This happened on the day of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. According to the stories preserved by the Diocese of Elista and Kalmykia, during the reading of the Gospel, those praying saw the Lord Jesus Christ in priestly vestments, with hands raised in blessing.
The memory of the event was passed on in the families of parishioners and the church community. 2026 marks the 80th anniversary of the Appearance. The anniversary was an occasion to revisit the history of the Holy Cross Church and the people, thanks to whom the evidence of the event has reached our days.