Svetlana Medvedeva Visited St Michael Church in Cannes, the Burial Place of Grand Prince Nikolai Nikolayevich Romanov

St Michael Russian Orthodox Church (ROCOR) at 40 Boulevarde Alexandre III in Cannes on the French Riviera

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On Wednesday, First Lady Svetlana Medvedeva, who was in Cannes in conjunction with the Festival of Russian Art, visited the local Russian Orthodox parish of the Archangel Michael. One of the oldest Russian Orthodox churches in France, it was built in 1894 by donations from the Russian community. Amongst the first congregants was the granddaughter of Aleksandr Pushkin, Sofia Merenberg (Countess Thornby). Svetlana Vladimirovna went down into the crypt, which is the burial place of Grand Prince Nikolai Nikolayevich, the commander of the Russian army in the early stages of World War I and the most senior of the Romanovs in the emigration. After the October 1917 events, the church in Cannes sheltered Russian émigrés. The remains of Resistance heroine Yelena Valyano, who was shot by the Fascist occupiers a few days before the city was liberated in August 1944, also lie in the crypt. According to the rector, Fr Maksim Massalitin, the temple is under the ROCOR, which is part of the MP, and which reunited with the Church in 2007, being allowed to retain some of its autonomy. Many of the icons date from the foundation or they were painted by Russian émigrés. Some of the most revered icons were a gift from Moscow early in the twenty-first century. Svetlana Vladimirovna was especially interested in the parish’s history, its life, and asked how it keeps the Russian language alive. Fr Maksim told her that he intends to open a parish school. “Today’s meeting was encouraging to us, it’s another sign of Russia’s revival, and that the rodina hasn’t forgotten the centres of Orthodox culture and spirituality abroad”, he said.

26 August 2010

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=37092

Editor’s Note:

Do note Fr Maksim’s words, “The rodina hasn’t forgotten the centres of Orthodox culture and spirituality abroad”. Orthodoxy is more than a “religion”… it’s certainly that, but it’s also a “culture”, a “weltanschauung”, as it were. There’s more to Orthodoxy than there is in the thin nasty gruel of Sectarianism (despite its professions, it’s not Christianity in any way, shape, or form). There’s more to Orthodoxy than there is in Reformation Protestantism (although there is more there than in Sectarianism, it’s Christianity of a form, after all). Any real unreformed Catholic or Monophysite (or even Classical Protestant (high or low church)) knows what I’m talking about. That’s one of the reasons that konvertsy truly have to be silent for at least five years… they not only have to internalise the Orthodox faith and its manifestations, they also have to internalise the imperatives of Orthodox culture. If you doubt my words, look at Rod Dreher, Terrence Mattingly, and Frederica Matthewes-Green… their ignorant bloviating makes my point abundantly.

Don’t just quote the Fathers… quote Pushkin. Don’t just talk about the liturgy… talk about Repin and Surikov. Don’t just go to church… enjoy Rowdy Thursday and Apple Day (they don’t even know what an Angel Day is, and they presume to lecture their elders)! There’s more to Christ than just religion… the konvertsy forget that He is BOTH God AND Man. That’s why most of them are nothing but modern-day Gnostics in Orthodox drag (the ex-Anglicans, in particular, are guilty of this). Allow the Faith time to mature… otherwise, you are a soulless golem, and it’s about time that someone said so.

BMD