Vigils and fasts and acts of mercy are the methods advocated by the saints to attain the spiritual life. .. But they must not stand alone, nor must the Christian put his trust in them. Humility must have faith for its principle, and fasting be combined with charity, that is, feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked.
St. Basil the Great
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Pilgrimage today
Originally, pilgrims were those who made a journey to the Holy Land to venerate Christian shrines there. Because they usually brought back palm branches, they were called palomniki in Russia. With time a pilgrimage came to be understood as a journey to other holy places as well. In Russia, the tradition of pilgrimage goes down to the 11th century. Traditional itineraries for Russian pilgrims were the Holy Land, Mount Athos and national shrines.
Pilgrimages, just as all the external forms of religious activity, were almost fully interrupted in the Soviet period. The tradition of pilgrimage has begun to revive since the early 90s. Many Orthodox believers have already made trips to the newly-opened monasteries and churches. Orthodox pilgrimage services have appeared. During the last decade, this process has developed to take more organized and diverse forms.
What is Orthodox pilgrimage today and what significance does it have for every believer and for the Church as a whole? Lying in the heart of pilgrimage is certainly spiritual effort and experience in prayer acquired when a pilgrim visits shrines. The significance of pilgrimage, however, is not reduced to it.
One of the most important aspects of pilgrimage is its contribution to spiritual education. Visiting holy places, people learn the history and spiritual traditions of monasteries and churches and peculiarities of their worship. They also learn about the saints and zealots of devotion whose life and work were connected with the shrines included in their pilgrimage itineraries. Pilgrims have an opportunity to talk to monks and some of them have found among them spiritual directors for themselves.
Pilgrimage also plays an important role in general education of pilgrims. Monasteries and churches in Russia have always been not only places for spiritual growth, but also cultural centers. For centuries they have accumulated books, icons, and works of applied and folk art. Monastery and church buildings were major architectural monuments of their time, especially in the 18th century. It is interesting that many monasteries, even in the Soviet period when they were no longer used for their original purpose, preserved their role of cultural centers as museums. A pilgrimage, therefore, provides an excellent opportunity for pilgrims to get acquainted with the Russian history, architecture, iconography and handicrafts.
Taking into account the spiritual and educational function of pilgrimage, many pilgrimage services have developed special programs to introduce pilgrims to the history, architecture and the cultural significance of the most interesting places encountered on their itinerary. Unlike secular excursions, these pilgrimages highlight the history and architecture of a particular place as related to the significance this place has had for the Russian spiritual culture.
Some pilgrimage services have organized trips for non-church or insufficiently inchurched people who wish to know better the culture and history of their country. These trips are arranged more as excursions, with pilgrims accommodated in hotels rather than monasteries. These trips have often played the missionary role helping to inchurch its participants.
Charity is another important component of pilgrimage programs. Almost all the pilgrimage services try to find out the needs of monasteries before bringing pilgrims to it. They give this information to the pilgrims. The service itself is often engaged in fund-raising. Coming to a monastery, pilgrims bring over essentials and foodstuffs and make monetary donations. For many reviving monasteries, this support is essential, especially when it is given on a regular basis. Besides, part of the pilgrimage returns has been used to restore churches under which some pilgrimage services work.
http://www.rondtb.msk.ru/info/en/pilgrimage_en.htm
Pilgrimages, just as all the external forms of religious activity, were almost fully interrupted in the Soviet period. The tradition of pilgrimage has begun to revive since the early 90s. Many Orthodox believers have already made trips to the newly-opened monasteries and churches. Orthodox pilgrimage services have appeared. During the last decade, this process has developed to take more organized and diverse forms.
What is Orthodox pilgrimage today and what significance does it have for every believer and for the Church as a whole? Lying in the heart of pilgrimage is certainly spiritual effort and experience in prayer acquired when a pilgrim visits shrines. The significance of pilgrimage, however, is not reduced to it.
One of the most important aspects of pilgrimage is its contribution to spiritual education. Visiting holy places, people learn the history and spiritual traditions of monasteries and churches and peculiarities of their worship. They also learn about the saints and zealots of devotion whose life and work were connected with the shrines included in their pilgrimage itineraries. Pilgrims have an opportunity to talk to monks and some of them have found among them spiritual directors for themselves.
Pilgrimage also plays an important role in general education of pilgrims. Monasteries and churches in Russia have always been not only places for spiritual growth, but also cultural centers. For centuries they have accumulated books, icons, and works of applied and folk art. Monastery and church buildings were major architectural monuments of their time, especially in the 18th century. It is interesting that many monasteries, even in the Soviet period when they were no longer used for their original purpose, preserved their role of cultural centers as museums. A pilgrimage, therefore, provides an excellent opportunity for pilgrims to get acquainted with the Russian history, architecture, iconography and handicrafts.
Taking into account the spiritual and educational function of pilgrimage, many pilgrimage services have developed special programs to introduce pilgrims to the history, architecture and the cultural significance of the most interesting places encountered on their itinerary. Unlike secular excursions, these pilgrimages highlight the history and architecture of a particular place as related to the significance this place has had for the Russian spiritual culture.
Some pilgrimage services have organized trips for non-church or insufficiently inchurched people who wish to know better the culture and history of their country. These trips are arranged more as excursions, with pilgrims accommodated in hotels rather than monasteries. These trips have often played the missionary role helping to inchurch its participants.
Charity is another important component of pilgrimage programs. Almost all the pilgrimage services try to find out the needs of monasteries before bringing pilgrims to it. They give this information to the pilgrims. The service itself is often engaged in fund-raising. Coming to a monastery, pilgrims bring over essentials and foodstuffs and make monetary donations. For many reviving monasteries, this support is essential, especially when it is given on a regular basis. Besides, part of the pilgrimage returns has been used to restore churches under which some pilgrimage services work.
http://www.rondtb.msk.ru/info/en/pilgrimage_en.htm
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Church on the Blood, Ekaterinburg
http://www.byzantines.net/byzcathculture/churchonblood.html
We marvel at the dedication and determination of the Russian state and Church to move forward with the construction of the memorial church on the site of the Ipatiev House even before Tsar Nicholas and his family had been canonized viz. glorified by the Church. Their canonization was not a foregone conclusion at the time that the construction of the temple on the hill began. In fact much controversy surrounded the issue for several years. Even after the scant remains of most family members had been identified through DNA tests, old Bolsheviks continued to object to "bloody Nicholas". Others claimed that the Tsar was no saintly person and was murdered solely because he was a Romanov, hated symbol of the monarchy, rather than for his Orthodox faith. In spite of the Holy Synod's ambivalence and reluctance to offend some members of the Duma, popular support for canonization continued to grow, encouraged by the media and by many of the clergy all over Russia.
At this point we want to point out to our readers that saints are not made by prelates assembled in solemn conclave, but by the grace of God and by the popular acclamation of the faithful. In the Early Church and in the Orthodox Churches today, one is recognized as "holy" - svyati, hagios, sanctus - by the will and declaration of the faithful. The role of the Church is to confirm this popular acclamation through a process called canonization or glorification. By the end of the 20th century the Holy Synod acquiesced to the will of the people and announced its intention to proceed with the canonization of the Tsar and his family as "holy passion bearers" along with thousands of others who suffered and perished as victims of Bolshevik persecution. The canonization took place in August 2000 in the newly restored Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, presided over by Patriarch Alexis II, the hierarchs of Russia and from many other countries. See the page, Christ the Savior, at: http://www.byzantines.net/epiphany/christsavior.htm
The query is often raised by many why the Russian state and Church [9] bothered to "rehabilitate" the Romanovs and to restore old palaces and churches and build new ones when both were impoverished and hard pressed to come up with enough money to meet necessary demands. Repeatedly one hears the justification expressed in terms of atonement and repentance. We wonder, however, whether atonement and repentance for the sins of the Bolshevik Interregnum tell the whole story or whether there may be other motives not readily apparent such as the inherent need of Russians to recover and restore themselves as Russians and as Orthodox after seven decades of denial and oppression by a tyrannical regime inspired by an alien doctrine. The reassertion of narodnost viz Russian ethnicity and the resumption of their identity as Russian Orthodox Christians seem strong motives to explain the willingness to expend scarce resources in restoring the symbols of the past and building new ones. [10] What can be more Russian than the Romanov dynasty and the Russian Church? While the Romanovs represent the past, the Church is past, present and future as Russians seek their own resurrection from the spiritual death which was Marxism/Leninism. Thus Russians are finding their way back to themselves, singing, shouting, and crying out as they proclaim in the words of the third Resurrection antiphon:
"Let God arise and let those who hate Himflee from before His face!...As smoke vanishes, so let them vanish aswax melts before a fire!...So let the wicked perish at the presence ofGod, and let the righteous ones rejoice!"
http://www.byzantines.net/byzcathculture/churchonblood.html
We marvel at the dedication and determination of the Russian state and Church to move forward with the construction of the memorial church on the site of the Ipatiev House even before Tsar Nicholas and his family had been canonized viz. glorified by the Church. Their canonization was not a foregone conclusion at the time that the construction of the temple on the hill began. In fact much controversy surrounded the issue for several years. Even after the scant remains of most family members had been identified through DNA tests, old Bolsheviks continued to object to "bloody Nicholas". Others claimed that the Tsar was no saintly person and was murdered solely because he was a Romanov, hated symbol of the monarchy, rather than for his Orthodox faith. In spite of the Holy Synod's ambivalence and reluctance to offend some members of the Duma, popular support for canonization continued to grow, encouraged by the media and by many of the clergy all over Russia.
At this point we want to point out to our readers that saints are not made by prelates assembled in solemn conclave, but by the grace of God and by the popular acclamation of the faithful. In the Early Church and in the Orthodox Churches today, one is recognized as "holy" - svyati, hagios, sanctus - by the will and declaration of the faithful. The role of the Church is to confirm this popular acclamation through a process called canonization or glorification. By the end of the 20th century the Holy Synod acquiesced to the will of the people and announced its intention to proceed with the canonization of the Tsar and his family as "holy passion bearers" along with thousands of others who suffered and perished as victims of Bolshevik persecution. The canonization took place in August 2000 in the newly restored Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, presided over by Patriarch Alexis II, the hierarchs of Russia and from many other countries. See the page, Christ the Savior, at: http://www.byzantines.net/epiphany/christsavior.htm
The query is often raised by many why the Russian state and Church [9] bothered to "rehabilitate" the Romanovs and to restore old palaces and churches and build new ones when both were impoverished and hard pressed to come up with enough money to meet necessary demands. Repeatedly one hears the justification expressed in terms of atonement and repentance. We wonder, however, whether atonement and repentance for the sins of the Bolshevik Interregnum tell the whole story or whether there may be other motives not readily apparent such as the inherent need of Russians to recover and restore themselves as Russians and as Orthodox after seven decades of denial and oppression by a tyrannical regime inspired by an alien doctrine. The reassertion of narodnost viz Russian ethnicity and the resumption of their identity as Russian Orthodox Christians seem strong motives to explain the willingness to expend scarce resources in restoring the symbols of the past and building new ones. [10] What can be more Russian than the Romanov dynasty and the Russian Church? While the Romanovs represent the past, the Church is past, present and future as Russians seek their own resurrection from the spiritual death which was Marxism/Leninism. Thus Russians are finding their way back to themselves, singing, shouting, and crying out as they proclaim in the words of the third Resurrection antiphon:
"Let God arise and let those who hate Himflee from before His face!...As smoke vanishes, so let them vanish aswax melts before a fire!...So let the wicked perish at the presence ofGod, and let the righteous ones rejoice!"
http://www.byzantines.net/byzcathculture/churchonblood.html
Virtue
"Even if we should have mounted to the very pinnacle of virtue, let us consider ourselves last of all; having learned that pride is able to cast down even from the heavens themselves him who takes not heed, and humbleness of mind to bear up on high from the very abyss of sins him who knows how to be sober. For this it was that placed the publican before the Pharisee."
St. John Chrysostom.
St. John Chrysostom.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Christ the Savior Cathedral, Moscow
Christ the Savior Cathedral, Moscow, Russia
The idea for this church dates from the early 19th century. When the last of Napoleon's soldiers left Moscow, Tsar Alexander I signed a manifesto dated December 25, 1812, declaring his intention to build a cathedral in honor of Christ the Savior. The cathedral would "signify Our gratitude to Divine Providence for saving Russia from the doom that overshadowed Her" and acts as a memorial to the sacrifices of the Russian people.
Plans were drawn and a site was chosen but before construction began, Alexander I was succeeded by his brother Nicholas. Profoundly Orthodox and patriotic, the new Tsar disliked the Neoclassical design that had been endorsed by his brother.
Alexander commissioned his favourite architect Konstantin Thon to create a new design, modeled after the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. The present site was chosen by the Tsar in 1837; a convent and church already standing on the site had to be relocated.
Construction began in 1839 and the cathedral didn't emerge from its scaffolding until 1860; elaborate frescos by some of the best Russian painters continued in the interior for another 20 years. The cathedral was consecrated on the day Alexander III was crowned, May 26, 1883. A year earlier, Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" debuted there.
After the Revolution, the prominent site of the cathedral called out for redevelopment by the Soviets, who planned to replace the church with a monument to socialism, known as the Palace of Soviets. It would rise in modernistic buttressed tiers to support a gigantic sculpture of Lenin, arm raised in blessing, perched atop a dome. On December 5, 1931, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was dynamited and reduced to rubble.
Funds for the largest building in the world remained unavailable, however. A foundation hole gaped on the site until under Nikita Khrushchev it was transformed into a huge public swimming pool.
With the end of the Soviet rule, the Russian Orthodox Church received permission to rebuild the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (February 1990). A temporary cornerstone was laid by the end of the year.
A construction fund was opened in 1992 and foundations began to be poured in the fall of 1994. The lower church (Church of the Transfiguration) was consecrated in 1996, and the completed Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was consecrated August 19, 2000.
Quick FactsNames: Cathedral of Christ the Savior; Храм Христа Спасителя; khram Khrista Spasitela
Type of site: Cathedral
Faith: Russian Orthodox
Date: 2000
Size: Possibly the largest Orthodox church in the world
Location: On the banks of the river near the Kremlin, Moscow
Website: /www.xxc.ru/english
Hours: Daily 6:30am-10pm
Cost: Free
Photography: Not permitted inside.
The idea for this church dates from the early 19th century. When the last of Napoleon's soldiers left Moscow, Tsar Alexander I signed a manifesto dated December 25, 1812, declaring his intention to build a cathedral in honor of Christ the Savior. The cathedral would "signify Our gratitude to Divine Providence for saving Russia from the doom that overshadowed Her" and acts as a memorial to the sacrifices of the Russian people.
Plans were drawn and a site was chosen but before construction began, Alexander I was succeeded by his brother Nicholas. Profoundly Orthodox and patriotic, the new Tsar disliked the Neoclassical design that had been endorsed by his brother.
Alexander commissioned his favourite architect Konstantin Thon to create a new design, modeled after the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. The present site was chosen by the Tsar in 1837; a convent and church already standing on the site had to be relocated.
Construction began in 1839 and the cathedral didn't emerge from its scaffolding until 1860; elaborate frescos by some of the best Russian painters continued in the interior for another 20 years. The cathedral was consecrated on the day Alexander III was crowned, May 26, 1883. A year earlier, Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" debuted there.
After the Revolution, the prominent site of the cathedral called out for redevelopment by the Soviets, who planned to replace the church with a monument to socialism, known as the Palace of Soviets. It would rise in modernistic buttressed tiers to support a gigantic sculpture of Lenin, arm raised in blessing, perched atop a dome. On December 5, 1931, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was dynamited and reduced to rubble.
Funds for the largest building in the world remained unavailable, however. A foundation hole gaped on the site until under Nikita Khrushchev it was transformed into a huge public swimming pool.
With the end of the Soviet rule, the Russian Orthodox Church received permission to rebuild the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (February 1990). A temporary cornerstone was laid by the end of the year.
A construction fund was opened in 1992 and foundations began to be poured in the fall of 1994. The lower church (Church of the Transfiguration) was consecrated in 1996, and the completed Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was consecrated August 19, 2000.
Quick FactsNames: Cathedral of Christ the Savior; Храм Христа Спасителя; khram Khrista Spasitela
Type of site: Cathedral
Faith: Russian Orthodox
Date: 2000
Size: Possibly the largest Orthodox church in the world
Location: On the banks of the river near the Kremlin, Moscow
Website: /www.xxc.ru/english
Hours: Daily 6:30am-10pm
Cost: Free
Photography: Not permitted inside.
Value of a Man
"We are accustomed to the works of God, and therefore value them but little; we do not, for instance, value even man as we ought to - that greatest work and miracle of God's omnipotence and grace. Look upon every man, whether he is one of your household, or a stranger to you, as upon something perpetually new in God's world, as upon the greatest miracle of God's omnipotence and grace, and do not let the fact of your being accustomed to him serve as a reason for you to neglect him. Esteem and love him as your own self, constantly, and uchangeably."
St. John of Kronstadt.
St. John of Kronstadt.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Kazan Cathedral
(The Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan)
Whilst taking a stroll along Nevsky Prospekt you cannot fail to notice the impressive Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan. Kazan Cathedral, constructed between 1801 and 1811 by the architect Andrei Voronikhin, was built to an enormous scale and boasts an impressive stone colonnade, encircling a small garden and central fountain. The cathedral was inspired by the Basilica of St. Peter’s in Rome and was intended to be the country’s main Orthodox Church. After the war of 1812 (during which Napoleon was defeated) the church became a monument to Russian victory. Captured enemy banners were put in the cathedral and the famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, who won the most important campaign of 1812, was buried inside the church.
The cathedral was named after the "miracle-making" icon of Our Lady of Kazan, which the church housed till the early 1930s. The Bolsheviks closed the cathedral for services in 1929, and from 1932 it housed the collections of the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, which displayed numerous pieces of religious art and served anti-religious propaganda purposes. A couple of years ago regular services were resumed in the cathedral, though it still shares the premises with the museum, from whose name the word "atheism" has now been omitted.
Location: 2, Nevsky Prospekt, Kazanskaya Square.
Whilst taking a stroll along Nevsky Prospekt you cannot fail to notice the impressive Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan. Kazan Cathedral, constructed between 1801 and 1811 by the architect Andrei Voronikhin, was built to an enormous scale and boasts an impressive stone colonnade, encircling a small garden and central fountain. The cathedral was inspired by the Basilica of St. Peter’s in Rome and was intended to be the country’s main Orthodox Church. After the war of 1812 (during which Napoleon was defeated) the church became a monument to Russian victory. Captured enemy banners were put in the cathedral and the famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, who won the most important campaign of 1812, was buried inside the church.
The cathedral was named after the "miracle-making" icon of Our Lady of Kazan, which the church housed till the early 1930s. The Bolsheviks closed the cathedral for services in 1929, and from 1932 it housed the collections of the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, which displayed numerous pieces of religious art and served anti-religious propaganda purposes. A couple of years ago regular services were resumed in the cathedral, though it still shares the premises with the museum, from whose name the word "atheism" has now been omitted.
Location: 2, Nevsky Prospekt, Kazanskaya Square.
Gentleness
"And He bids them have not only gentleness as sheep, but also the harmlessness of the dove. For thus shall I best show forth My might, when sheep get the better of wolves, and being in the midst of wolves, and receiving a thousand bites, so far from being consumed, do even work a change on them: a thing far greater and more marvellous than killing them, to alter their spirit, and to reform their mind; and this, being only twelve, while the whole world is filled with the wolves."
St. John Chrysostom
St. John Chrysostom
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Saint Isaac's Cathedral, St. Petersburg
The dome of St. Isaac’s Cathedral dominates the skyline of St. Petersburg and its gilded cupola can be seen glistening from all over the city. You can climb up the 300 or so steps to the observation walkway at the base of the cathedral’s dome and enjoy the breathtaking views over the city.
The church itself is an architectural marvel. Built by the French-born architect Auguste Montferrand to be the main church of the Russian Empire, the cathedral was under construction for 40 years (1818-1858), and was decorated in the most elaborate way possible. When you enter the cathedral you pass through one of the porticos - note that the columns are made of single pieces of red granite and weight 80 tons (about 177,770 pounds) each. Inside the church many of the icons were created using moaic techniques and the iconostasis (the icon wall that separates the altar from the rest of the church) is decorated with 8 malachite and 2 lapis lazuli columns. The cathedral, which can accommodate 14,000 worshipers, now serves as a museum and services are held only on significant ecclesiastical holidays.
Location: 1, Isaakievskaia Ploschad.Open: 11 am to 7 pm.Closed: Wednesdays.
The church itself is an architectural marvel. Built by the French-born architect Auguste Montferrand to be the main church of the Russian Empire, the cathedral was under construction for 40 years (1818-1858), and was decorated in the most elaborate way possible. When you enter the cathedral you pass through one of the porticos - note that the columns are made of single pieces of red granite and weight 80 tons (about 177,770 pounds) each. Inside the church many of the icons were created using moaic techniques and the iconostasis (the icon wall that separates the altar from the rest of the church) is decorated with 8 malachite and 2 lapis lazuli columns. The cathedral, which can accommodate 14,000 worshipers, now serves as a museum and services are held only on significant ecclesiastical holidays.
Location: 1, Isaakievskaia Ploschad.Open: 11 am to 7 pm.Closed: Wednesdays.
Faith
"Faith is the door to mysteries. What the bodily eyes are to sensory objects, the same is faith to the eyes of the intellect that gaze at hidden treasures. Even as we have two bodily eyes, we possess two eyes of the soul, as the Fathers say; yet both have not the same operation with respect to divine vision.With one we see the hidden glory of God which is concealed in the natures of things; that is to say, we behold His might, His wisdom, and His eternal providence for us which we understand by the magnitude of His governance on our behalf. With this same eye we also behold the heavenly orders of our fellow servants. With the other we behold the glory of His holy nature. When God is pleased to admit us to spiritual mysteries, He opens wide the sea of faith in our minds."
St. Isaac the Syrian
St. Isaac the Syrian
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)