Seedlings of oaks, chestnuts, Manchurian walnut, and willows will be distributed to various church deaneries, notes the “Living Water” information agency.
Trees will be planted at the St. Sophia Cathedral in Tsarskoe Selo. On Palm Sunday, April 13, the Alley of St. Sergius of Radonezh will be opened. After the Divine Liturgy, Archpriest Gennady Zverev, the rector of the church, will serve a moleben [supplicatory service] before the tree planting.
“It is no accident that there is a saying that everyone should plant a tree in his lifetime. We can often see the image of a tree used as a symbol of life in Scripture and on icons. Trees provide comfort and give us clean air. By planting a tree, one comes into contact with nature,” said Archpriest Gennady Zverev.
The seedlings were donated by the Pushkin Fruit and Plant Nursery, which has spent thirteen years helping the St. Petersburg Diocese restore gardens and create landscapes on the territories of churches and monasteries. According to Alexander Dovlyatova, its general director, it is difficult to plant 700 trees in one day, so the process will take place gradually over several months.
The tree planting will take place in the parishes of the Kolpinsky region and Pavlovsk.
