It's a holiday, a common prayer, you know?

      In the morning, hundreds of believers gathered at the walls of the Holy Dormition Cathedral of the Trifonov Monastery. Someone is standing with coffee in a paper cup from a trendy coffee shop, someone is whispering prayers with his head down. A girl is sitting on the grass under the shadow of the wall, looking thoughtfully into the distance. She has an icon on her chest, calmness and inner confidence on her face.

      At the other end of the street, under the scorching sun, there is a family: a father, a mother and a little daughter. They smile and talk as if they don't notice the fuss around them. Nearby there are people in military uniforms, elderly women in headscarves, volunteers, teenagers with backpacks. To the side is a child in a wheelchair, and his parents look at him with such love and tenderness that for a moment everything freezes.

      They're so different in age, appearance, history, and thoughts, but they're here together today. Why? What brings them here — in the heat, in the dust, in the rain, on a journey of tens of kilometers?

      The answer sounds unexpectedly simple. It's spoken by a woman leaning over her daughter, a casual phrase heard amid the general hubbub:

      "They're all coming together. It's a holiday, a common prayer, you know?

      And that seems to be it.

      Svetlana:

      - I go every year. This is the fifth time. Initially, I just went with my sister because she suggested it. It was interesting. That's why I go every year... I don't know, it's not explicable. I just walk and that's it, because my soul demands it.

      Of course, yes, miracles happen. In my case, the example is very personal. You don't change physically in the procession. Roughly speaking, I went with a scratch on my arm, I came from a religious procession — the scratch has healed. The transformation is spiritual, deeply personal.

      There is no such thing that any wishes come true. It's something deep, something inside you is changing. Some views, beliefs. You're changing. It makes you feel better, you heal your soul. After the first year of my godfather, my life changed dramatically. It's just that drastic. And if you also go to confession, to communion, then it makes you shudder.

      Oksana:

      - I have an inner goal that I want to achieve in the procession. I'm going for the first time.

      I've experienced this miracle myself. When I was ill at the age of 37, I did not go to the gym, but went to Velikoretskoye. It helped me. I swam in the river, in the font... I did everything and got better.

      Alexey:

      - I am an employee of the Zavyatku Foundation, I am engaged in humanitarian aid, shipments, supplies, and logistics. Why did I go to the Procession? Because I am Orthodox and I consider it my duty to go. I have lists of guys to pray for, both for health and for the repose.

      There is hope for a miracle, of course. My grandmother raised me in Orthodoxy, and I myself had the First Chechen War under my belt. I believe in the power of prayer, so I go to the Procession to pray for the boys, for the boys, and in general for our common cause.

      It's inexplicable. When you go to the Procession, some kind of grace is present and gives strength.

      I'm going a second time. I don't know any miracles after the procession, but it's just the power of prayer... There were cases in the war that actually saved icons. And there have been such cases in my life.

      Ekaterina:

      - It's not the first time I've been here. This one is about the 12th. They are motivated by their personal thoughts and goals. Your inner desire, your message. Of course, these goals are fulfilled when we return to the city.

      The first time I went to a religious procession was to ask for my health. Accordingly, she asked and thanked. I went to the next procession and thanked Nicholas the Wonderworker for giving me good health. Yes, indeed, I am not sick, I am healthy. I'm fine, thank God.

      Svetlana:

      - I'm going for the fourth time. I would like to go five times at all. I decided for myself that I want to.

      I probably started with the fact that my sister lives in Velikoretsky. We used to visit there a lot, but we never went. Then I thought about it.: "Why don't we ever go? We need to go!" We always met pilgrims in the village on the 5th, but we didn't go ourselves. And that's how it all started.

      If we talk about prayers and miracles, when you were walking for the very first time, it's hard to walk, you start to pray and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker helps you walk. The whole move you ask him for something: both to help and to walk. In general, it seems to me that he is with each person separately.

      Father and son from St. Petersburg:

      - This is my first time. My father goes every year. This is the third or fourth time. I decided to accompany him this year.

      I... personally, I don't have any goals. I'm just for the company and, so to speak, to support my neighbor. After all, this is also a part of our country's culture.

      We came from St. Petersburg because my father loves such events very much. He's been coming here for years.

      I personally do not know of any situations where a miracle actually happened and prayers were answered.

      Three guys from the village of Chur in the Udmurt Republic:

      - I'm going for the second time. Guys, for the third time. We are going to save our country. We go and pray that there will be no war.

      - Just to pray to Nicholas the Wonderworker for the salvation of the soul. For the glory of God.

      - We went with an uncle that year. He was from Belarus, in my opinion. So he's 2.3 m tall, probably 2.4 m tall. He walked on crutches and limped. There was blood all over his hands where the crutches rest. That was quite a feat. And we're just here to pray.

      Ambulance worker:

      - Who is on duty today is decided through the administration. Probably, they take more experienced ones.

      We are escorting you to the border with Juria. Another team, the Yuryansk brigade, meets us there. Our teams are distributed among the districts. We cannot cross beyond Kirov, the Kirov line.

      The authorities are coming with us. The deputy chief physician is with us. They must accompany you.

      There are people with faith, of course. They are the ones who would really, really like to participate in the course, at work today. Three people I know just couldn't because they were working. Today, all the brigades are reinforced, the day is reinforced, everything is under control.

      Mostly the pilgrims come to take their blood pressure. Heart patients, hypertensive patients, someone with diabetes mellitus... People are trying to go all out. Someone wants to, but they can't for health reasons. But at least they go to work anyway, but they don't feel very well here either, so they turn to doctors for help.

      Nikita Belykh, ex-Governor of the Kirov region:

      - I don't give interviews. I've already said this many times. I have some kind of inner taboo. I don't talk to journalists. I will not write any posts. At one time, I was overwhelmed by absolutely all federal channels, millionaire bloggers, starting with Dudya (listed by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation in the register of foreign agents) ending with Sobchak. Any word I say can be perceived as an attempt to engage in politics. With an awareness of the consequences that follow from everything... Therefore, no.

      To the argument that our journalist was going to ask questions not about politics, but about the interior, he replied: "And I'm not saying anything about the interior either." Then his companion intervened in the conversation: "Nikita Yurievich will reach Gorokhovo, where suddenly the soul will somehow tune in differently... Come to Gorokhovo! "No, no, seriously, no offense to the Reporter or anyone else. It's just that, in principle, I don't give interviews," the ex—governor of the Kirov region summed up.