🗓 In October 1943, for the first time in the entire Soviet era, twelve Leningrad clergymen were awarded the medal "For the Defense of Leningrad."

One of the recipients of this medal was Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad, and along with him, five other clerics of the St. Nicholas Cathedral were awarded. During the Siege of Leningrad, eight Orthodox churches were functioning: the St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral, which became the Cathedral at that time, the St. Vladimir Cathedral, the Transfiguration Cathedral, the Trinity and Kolomyazhsky Churches, as well as churches at the cemeteries - Bolshokhtinsky, Volkovsky, and Serafimovsky.

Historians attest that throughout the entire siege, church services in the Leningrad churches were held with a large gathering of people. The attitude towards Orthodoxy changed everywhere during the war - the Russian Orthodox Church, which took a patriotic stance from the first days of the war, became one of the main mobilization centers in the fight against the fascist invaders. The Soviet authorities could not fail to recognize the significant assistance of the church in raising funds for the needs of the front, and this also contributed to strengthening the position of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In besieged Leningrad, the churches helped strengthen the spiritual forces of the residents and defenders of the city. Special prayers for granting victory to the Red Army and for the delivery of those languishing in enemy captivity became mandatory - they were included in the order of the Divine Liturgy.

There was also a special prayer service, called the "prayer service in the invasion of adversaries," which was performed during the Patriotic War of 1812. In those days, they often turned to the memory of the first Patriotic War, and many Red Army soldiers, while in Leningrad, invariably visited the Kazan Cathedral, where they took oaths of allegiance to the Fatherland at the grave of the celebrated commander Mikhail Kutuzov.