Voices from Russia

Patriarch St Tikhon (Natalia Kurguzova-Miroshnik, 1997)

I do not sign, as now we are in the crosshairs of BN. The Holy Synod has freed him to do what he wishes. As we have heard, the Metropolitan received the report from Fr Garklavs but did not make copies or present it during the meeting.

BN took over the meeting and spoke to them holding the dirt he had on the other Bishops in his hands. HE BLACKMAILED HIS WAY BACK! This is a Bishop? This is who we are speaking out against. REMEMBER HE BLACKMAILED HIS BROTHERS!

This is a brother? This is the image of a blackmailing ICON OF CHRIST? I for one am sickened to the pit of my stomach. And now he is freed from his chain, with saliva dripping from his canines as a wolf in the trees, looking at the sheep whom he loves to eat. This is what we are looking at in the future of our beloved Diocese of Alaska. The Mother Diocese of the OCA, who may soon lose it, to another jurisdiction.

Bishop Nikolai and Archimandrite Isidore, continually look into these websites, and write posing as other people, so do Deacon Panteleimon, who was forced into monasticism by Bishop Nikolai. He wanted to marry, but was forced instead by Bishop Nikolai. This was sad to see, because Paul (Panteleimon) was a wonderful person before he was cloned.

I have a lot to be bitter about, the OCA giving us Nikolai who tortures us, abuses us, and belittles us. Then we turn to the Synod for help, but they betray us, and leave us with the WOLF OF SOULS, who keeps dirt on his BROTHERS, who Kills off those who do not blindly follow, who will DRIVE the Orthodox in Alaska to other faiths, such as Moravian, and Pentecostalism. This is the future we see now; this is what we must fight to keep from happening.

Christ will show us in the Icon of the priests in Alaska, who speak up for the Truth, and who are the Good Shepherds (Not Nikolai), who know the names of each and every sheep in their flock. NOT NIKOLAI!!! WE WANT HIM OUT!!! I CALL ON OTHER DIOCESES OF THE OCA TO COME AND HELP US!!! PLEASE!!! PLEASE!!! HAVE MERCY!!!!

Anon Alaskan Clergy on 2008-03-28

Orthodox Christians for Accountability

http://www.ocanews.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/226-Nikolai-Restored.html#comments (in English)

Editor’s Note:

It would be good for us to remember that the only martyrs in the roll of saints in North America are from the Diocese of Alaska. Yes, I know that a Russian-born priest who served for a while in Chicago went back to Russia, and he suffered martyrdom there. That does not count as he is one of the New Martyrs of Russia of the Bolshevik Yoke. That is no small thing, but, it does not make him a “Martyr of America” as Holy Martyr Peter the Aleut is (we would do well to recall who martyred St Peter and why… it certainly throws cold water on the ecumaniacs, does it not?).

The Church in Alaska has had its time-honoured traditions and practises trampled underfoot by Nikolai. These customs were good enough for all the other bishops who served as archpastors there, and the ways of the native Alaskan Orthodox were always esteemed and held in high regard. For this abuse alone, Nikolai deserves to be removed.

The blood of the Alaska Martyrs is the foundation of the Church there. It is the only American diocese to have such a precious heritage and legacy. As an outsider, I have no voice (and rightfully so) in the decision of the native elders and clergy. Nevertheless, I think that it is safe to say that the elders and clergy are remembering their history, their roots, and their teachers in the Faith.

The OCA Synod of Bishops is refusing to listen to people who are speaking with the prophetic voice of the martyrs. Unfortunately, there are many in the OCA who despise sanctity and tradition (I heard St Basil the Blessed being described as insane by one of the SVS stalwarts, for instance), and this shall come home to roost in this situation as it is obvious that the Alaska faithful do care for sanctity and tradition… oh, and for honesty, as well.

God give you strength, I say to the writer of this letter (and the one previous I posted today). We are with you. Do what you must, and do not look back.

Pray to Patriarch St Tikhon of Moscow, for he loved the Alaska Church much, and ask him to lead you rightly back home.

Batiushka Michael and Matushka Ksenia Oleksa. Batiushka Michael is one of the confessor-priests in Alaska today. He is not the author of the letter, but, he is one of the leaders for truth in the Church in Alaska.

Do you want to know how we Alaskan clergy feel? We feel betrayed. Period. We hoped that the HS would act and give us some relief, but that relief did not come. Instead the wolf was given the key to the sheep fold. And we are all genuinely afraid of what is coming over the next few weeks.

The bishop has characterized us as disedents, as adolescents just acting out. Naughty school children that do not want to do as teacher says. Then when the whisper became a shout, he deflected the whole thing away from himself by calling it a plot hatched in Syosset to get control of the Alaskan lands.

Isidore himself, on TV, said that those priests who spoke out have problems in their villages, including alcohol abuse. And the intimation was that it was the clergy who are abusing the alcohol and that is the root of the problem.

The village clergy are whining, complaining, naughty, drunks.

I am sick to my stomach and I must say that I don’t know how much longer I can hold out.

But thank you Fr Alexander G., for your efforts on our behalf. It is not your fault that things turned out the way they did.

This is my next to last post. The next time I write it will be to announce to world my stepping down from this jurisdiction; from this diocese; from this parish; and very possibly from the Orthodox Church altogether.

The only love here is for the rubrics, the typicon, the canons, and for a church that never existed in the first place. Even those who tow the line, who bow and scrape are not loved. Even they are dismissed as those who had better keep it up and watch out.

Enough. Good bye. For now.

Anon Ak Priest (for now)

Anonymous Alaska Priest on 2008-03-29 11:26

Orthodox Christians for Accountability

The Morning After: Comments

http://www.ocanews.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/227-The-Morning-After.html#comments (in English)

Editor’s Note:

This can make the stones weep. I shall not offer commentary on such a raw, heartfelt, and soulful appeal. If this does not convince you that the OCA is (and has been) a dysfunctional organisation, nothing shall.

The faithful, elders, and clergy of Alaska need our support now. Nikolaios delenda est. Nothing else shall fill the bill.

Boris Gryzlov

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) will hold a meeting in St Petersburg on 3 April to adopt a resolution condemning the UDI by Kosovo, Boris Gryzlov, the Speaker of the State Duma, told journalists in Moscow. The draft resolution highlights the fact that the unilateral separation of Kosovo from Serbia without the consent of the Serbian government created a dangerous precedent for other regions. The fact that some states recognise the independence of Kosovo means simply that they do not abide by international law. The SCTO comprises Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

30 March 2008

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=24945&cid=45&p=30.03.2008 (in Russian and English)

A bishop preached a sermon to seminarians and the girls from a diocesan college. The keynote theme of his address was our exposure to worldly vices.

“What kind of society surrounds us? (The bishop held up his hands to heaven) On the right of us, are prostitutes! (His right hand pointed to the right, where the college girls were) On the left of us, are drug addicts! (He gestured towards the seminarians) Directly in front of us are the racketeers and mafia!” (Both his hands reached forth to the clergy who stood before the pulpit listening attentively to every archpastoral word)

Fr Vsevolod Chaplin

Deputy Chairman (Zamglavy) of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=mosaic&div=18 (in English)

Smile a while…

Story 1

An elderly friend told me a story. He was a member of the Communist Party City Committee. He was not an ordinary member, but, a member of the presidium. Once, there was a meeting of the committed activists of the Party. Anti-religious propaganda was one of the items on the agenda. The head of the department spoke, and she told everyone how solemn it is in church services, this is how the priests can work with the masses informally. “Comrades! We need to really talk to people, not just repeat things from the paper, and we need to talk to them directly and meaningfully. Then, we shall have a chance to stop the growth of the church”.

(Vigorous applause)

The Secretary for Ideology spoke after her, and he laid out his ideas on anti-church propaganda. He read it out from his notes flatly, stuttering badly. All of this was very upsetting. But, we had to keep up appearances and behave with decorum. The director of a plant, an honoured old worker, who was sitting nearby, twisted uneasily in his chair and finally lost his patience. He whispered to me, “He should be sent to the church to preach. Then, no propaganda will be needed! He will scare away everyone from the church!”

Story 2

A Russian football (soccer) referee died. He went to the gates of paradise to meet St Peter before entering there.

“What did you do while you were alive?” St Peter asked.

“I was a football referee!” the referee replied.

“Well, I know the lads of your sort, you’re a rum lot!”

“No, I was honest! During the final match of the Russia-France series in Moscow, I ordered an eleven-metre penalty kick to the Russian goal when the score was 2:2 and there was only two minutes left before the end of the game”.

“Huh… that sounds fishy to me! When did that happen?”

“Five minutes ago!”

Story 3

An atheist was walking down a road along a precipice. Suddenly, the stones under his feet crumble away and he fell down over the cliff. A small tree growing on the rocks arrested his flight. Hanging onto it with one hand, he thought, “Well, I have nothing to lose if I pray”.

“Do you hear me, O Lord?” the atheist shouted out.

All of a sudden, a voice answered, “I DO”.

“Save me, O Lord, and I will believe in You”.

“No, I will not. You all say so when you are in trouble, then, you do not believe afterwards”.

“Please, very, very truly will I believe in You. I swear it. Now it’s done… I believe in You”.

“Very well, I will save you. Let the twig go”.

“Do you think I’m an idiot?”

Story 4

A woman went to a voodoo witch doctor.

“Help me to get my husband back! He’s left me with three kids and ran off with a young trollop”.

“Okay, let’s see what I can do for you”, the witch doctor said.

A week later, the woman came back and she was whiter than a sheet.

“Well, is your husband back?” the witch doctor asked.

“Yes, my husband is back, but, it’s my first husband… who died twenty years ago!”

Story 5

It was in Communist Russia on New Year’s Eve. The university students drank and celebrated. But, for the Orthodox it is the strictest week of the Nativity Fast and the feast day of St Boniface, the healer of drunkards…

One student, a future abbot, said his evening prayers and heard his mates knocking at the door. “‘C’mon buddy! Come with us!”

“Sorry guys, I can’t. I’m not alone”, he said meaningfully through the half-open door.

“Okay, we see. Sorry. Have a good time!” his mates replied leeringly, and left.

“Well, it was true that I wasn’t alone. God was with me”, the priest smiled, recalling the incident years later.

Interfax-Religion

Anecdotes

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=mosaic&root=3 (in English)

A mosque in Tartarstan at dusk

Moscow, 27 March 2008 (Interfax):

The Russian Central Muslim Spiritual Administration condemned a statement by Nafigullah Ashirov, co-chairman of the Russian Council of Muftis, that Zionism is similar to fascism, an assertion that caused a rift between the council and the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (FEOR). “By his words, Mufti Ashirov endangered interreligious peace in the country”, Rastam Valeyev, the Muslim Spiritual Administration’s representative in Moscow, told Interfax-Religion.

“This is not the first time that the self-styled ‘Supreme Mufti of the Asian Part of Russia’ provoked a scandal and inflicted serious damage on interreligious dialogue”, Mr Valeyev said. Much has been said recently about anti-Semitic and anti-Orthodox statements by Mufti Ashirov, but “it is Muslim leaders who have been the targets of the sharpest and most insulting statements made by Mufti Ashirov”, he said. “Since 1992, Mufti Ashirov has constantly, and in the dirtiest way possible, insulted the chairman of the Central Muslim Spiritual Administration, Supreme Mufti Sheikh ul-Islam Talgat Tajuddin, his associates, and North Caucasus Muslim leaders”, Mr Valeyev said. Mufti Ashirov “has brought discord into Muslim communities stretching from Yekaterinburg to Sakhalin”, and the Administration is sorry it “believed in his seemingly sincere repentance of his criminal past”, Mr Valeyev said.

Editor’s Note:

There one has it. Not all Muslims are fire-breathing fanatics. They are quite… NORMAL (GASP!). Get the smelling-salts, Herman… I think there are a few who fainted at that remark. Nevertheless, such is true. Russian Muslims have been patriotic and good citizens, and anyone who says otherwise is living in Cloud-Cuckoo Land. Of course, there are fanatics, but, unfortunately, we Orthodox have them as well! (Oh, bother… I think I dropped a few more with that remark).

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=4459 (in English)

The Orthodox chapel on the summit of Karaulnaya Gora, the symbol of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk

Krasnoyarsk, 28 March 2008 (Interfax):

A model of a chapel made of pelmeni (a Russian version of ravioli) won the People’s Choice award at the Festival of Siberian Pelmeni in Krasnoyarsk in Siberia. Over 300 pelmeni were used to build it. Events at the festival included an exhibition of sculptures made from pelmeni, a competition for the quickest assembly of a meat-grinder for pelmeni, and a high-speed sandwich-eating contest. A jury of independent judges gave the first prize for pelmeni sculptures to a composition portraying Mount Olympus (the supposed abode of the ancient pagan Greek pantheon), whilst the People’s Choice award was given to a work depicting the symbol of Krasnoyarsk, an Orthodox chapel on Karaulnaya Gora (Sentinel Mountain).

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=mosaic&div=254 (in Russian)

Here is a funny little item from Interfax. Isn’t this cute?

Premier danseuse of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Natalia Bessmertnova

The outstanding Russian ballerina Natalia Bessmertnova has died. A classical lyrical-style dancer, Natalia Bessmertnova was the leading soloist of the world-famous Bolshoi Theatre for more than 30 years. Today, the Bolshoi Theatre mourns their tragic loss. Commemorating the famous premier danseuse, Aleksei Ratmansky, the artistic director of the ballet troupe of the Bolshoi Theatre, called her the “greatest poetic soul of the Bolshoi Theatre”. Her ballet style was a combination of romantic fragility and great inner force, and her polished technique enabled her to dance various roles. For many decades, Natalia Bessmertnova was one of the favourite ballerinas of ballet lovers all over the world. Her death is a great loss for world ballet.

Natalia Bessmertnova was also the wife and inspiration, and in the past few years the assistant, of the famous choreographer Yuri Grigorovich. For her, he created bright choreographic images in the most significant of his productions, including Spartakus by Aram Khachaturian, The Legend About Love by Arif Melikov, and Ivan Grozny, which was set to the music of Sergei Prokofiev. Ms Bessmertnova excelled in the performance of the leading parts in the famous ballets of Pyotr Chaikovsky.

However, Giselle is considered to be her best role (a ballet by Adolf Adam). It is precisely the role of Giselle that ballet lovers linked the image of the ballet-dancer with: Giselle is a romantic ballet filled with estranged dreaminess. Giselle, as performed by Natalia Bessmertnova, was a great triumph all over the world. Critics wrote that “people need to believe in the triumph of spirituality as is shown by the convincing persuasiveness and beauty of Bessmertnova’s dance.

Natalia Bessmertnova was known for her romantic style, but, as it is well-known, it is impossible to teach students to interalise the romantic style. The romantic style, the organic quality of Natalia Bessmertnova’s talent, was praised during her first tours abroad as a member of the Bolshoi Theatre ballet troupe. This occurred in Britain in 1956 when the young dancer performed only small parts.

However, acute connoisseurs of ballet art understood early enough that Natalia Bessmertnova would be one who would be able to realise and further develop the traditions of the Russian classical ballet, who would continue its glorious history, and whose name would be added to the list of the legendary Russian ballet-dancers such as Anna Pavlova and Galina Ulanova.

26 March 2008

Olga Bugrova

N. Viktorova

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=24785&cid=62&p=26.03.2008 (in Russian and English)

Holy Rus from the Adoption of Christianity to the Reign of Pyotr Veliki… such is the name of an exposition that will open at the Louvre in Paris. It shall concern itself with the history of the development and advance of Christian art in Russia. This exhibition in Paris, one that is expected to become one of the most significant events of the Year of Russia in France, will open in 2010. This monumental museum project shall give visitors a chance to learn more about the distant past.

After embracing Christianity at the end of the 10th century, Old Rus became a Christian state. The first blossoming of Christian art was during the time of 14th to the 15th-century. It is linked to the development of important centres of that time such as Novgorod, Pskov, Tver, and Moscow, where artists working in the monasteries later became well-known all over the world, including Monk Dionysius, Greek master Feofan, who lived and worked in Russia, and his great disciple St Andrei Rublyov.

The 16th century, when Russia became a powerful centralised Christian power, is regarded as the “golden age” of sacred art. Moscow, the capital of Russia, was often referred to as the “Third Rome”. Its historical mission in the world was the preservation of the Orthodox Church. The idea of the “Third Rome” found reflection in the architecture of churches. Besides, the exhibition provides information about the rule of Peter the Great, who carried out the radical reform of the Russian Orthodox Church, which led to other secular priorities in state policy. The opening of a “window into Europe” promoted the interaction between the Russian and the European cultural and spiritual traditions.

Russian and French representatives discussed the details of this project in the residence of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia in Moscow. Patriarch Aleksei made a proposal to actualise the idea of the exposition. “The ideal of Holy Rus has not lost its actuality today. As before, it is regarded today as a moral and cultural landmark for millions of Russian Orthodox believers in this country and abroad”, the patriarch emphasised.

For his part, Henri Loyrette, the director of the Louvre Museum, said, “I’ve been in love with Russia for many years now, and it is very important for me that I can offer information about a great world we know so little about. There are only a few Russian facilities in France, and the lack of Russian art in Louvre is a great shock to me”. M Loyrette said that the first step to fill the gap shall be the exposition, Holy Rus from the Adoption of Christianity to the Reign of Pyotr Veliki.

26 March 2008

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=24793&cid=62&p=26.03.2008 (in Russian and English)