I’ll be Home for Christmas!

A Christmas Homecoming (Norman Rockwell, 1948). This is an interesting painting. The people who Mr Rockwell used as his models were his familiars; in fact, the fellow with a pipe facing the embracing couple is the artist himself! On the left, the elderly woman in the old-fashioned dress is Anna Moses (“Grandma Moses”) (1860-1961), the famous American naïve-folk artist. Mr Rockwell and Ms Moses lived close to one another, she in Hoosick Falls, NY and he is Stockbridge MA, both towns are in the Berkshires (they are both close to my home in Albany and Nicky and I have motored through both more than once).

I’ll be home for Christmas
You can count on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents by the tree

Christmas eve will find you
Where the love light gleams
I’ll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams

I’ll be Home for Christmas

Jordin Sparks

God bless us, every one!

Tiny Tim Crachit

Let’s begin by looking at a dispatch from Interfax. The full text follows below.

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British Bishops Fear that the New Equality Act will Ban the Public Celebration of Christmas

British Catholics are seriously concerned that the new Equality Act’s adoption will lead to a ban on public celebrations of Christmas, so it doesn’t offend members of other religions. According to the Conference of Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, the bill, supported by MP Harriet Harman, the deputy leader of the Labour Party and the Minister for Equality, would have “dire consequences” for freedom of religion. The Equality Bill obliges all public bodies to ensure equal treatment of all and fight discrimination, writes the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

“Today, under existing legislation… local authorities urge people not to display Christmas lights, so as not to offend Muslim neighbours, and refrain from using the word ‘Christmas’… If the new law is really designed to ensure equality, we must do everything possible to avoid dire consequences for the freedom of religion”, read the appeal of the British Catholic Bishops to Parliament. The Catholic bishops also expressed concern that the law would oblige church day-care centres for the elderly to remove crucifixes from the walls, so as not to offend atheist employees. Recently, such a case occurred in a British hospital.

19 November 2009

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=32949

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We saw that some uppity judges are trying to ban crucifixes in Italian schools. Here, we have a multi-culti PC punk attempting to abolish any public manifestation of Christianity “so as not to offend Muslim neighbours”. These people are determined and serious in their intent to root out the public expression of Christianity. Firstly, let’s get our rage out of our system so that we think clearly.

*&@% You!!

Now, we all feel better after expressing our frustrations; let’s get down to business. If public expressions of Christianity offend certain Muslims (who are not the majority of that group, I must add), I suggest that they move to those Islamic countries that ban such exercises. I say to such sorts, “If you live in a country where the majority is Christian, you must keep your mouth shut when the majority publicly celebrates the holidays of its faith. Our ancestors died in battle against Islam to secure our right to practise our faith and we aren’t going to bow the knee to a loud and unrepresentative minority. If you wish to stay here because you earn more money than you would in your homeland… you must also accept that this place is Christian and you must accept the consequences of that. If not… Leave! Don’t let the door hit you in the arse as you leave!”

In short, “good riddance to bad rubbish”. The courts and their sycophantic apologists are forever mooning about the rights of this-or-that minority. I agree with Archbishop Ieronymos Liapis, “Majorities also have rights”. You tell ‘em, Vladyki! It’s time for real Orthodox to link arms with all other real people of good will. However… we have quislings in our ranks. Such sorts as SVS and their fellow-travellers elsewhere mewl their modernist rot… it’s nothing but the materialist mantra in religious drag. They don’t wish to miss the next conference, seminar, or “workshop”, don’t you see.

By their fruits, ye shall know them… indeed! Reflect on that the next time you hear some pseudo-intellectual (religious or secular, it doesn’t matter) yapping about the “rights” of some minority against society. It’s because they hate Christendom (the public display and exercise of Christianity) and wish to kill it! Ponder that some of those doing such yapping are so-called “Christians” (they are found mostly amongst seminary faculty… a feckless and dreary lot in all confessions)… it’s a meaty question to consider, isn’t it?

I’ll be home for Christmas…

CHRIST IS BORN!

KHRISTOS ROZHDAYETSYA!

GLORIFY HIM!

SLAVITE YEGO!

That’s what I have to say on the matter. I don’t think that offended anyone. If it did… nuts to you. I am a Christian, no one is going to tell me otherwise… and I’m not going to be quiet either!

Stand tall… and remember… He’s making a list and checking it twice (and I DON’T mean Santa). Which side are you on?

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Thursday 19 November 2009

Albany NY

18 February 2009. A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words… The Revival Shall Not Be Televised… The Revival Shall Be LIVE!

There have been nasty comments on some unnamed Russophobic websites on the unreality of the present Orthodox revival in Russia… Come and see! Seeing is believing… isn’t it?

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Orthodox believers going into the icy water at the Novy Ierusalime Monastery on Epiphany

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President Dmitri Medvedev (1965- ) with his wife Svetlana Medvedeva (1965- ) at Christmas services at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow

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Who woulda thunk it? Who’s up front? Why… it’s Metropolitan Hilarion Kapral (1948- ) of New York and Eastern America, the First Hierarch of the ROCOR. This is what the late Mr Margerovsky and the other rejectionists were AGAINST! Tells you something about them, doesn’t it? When brothers dwell in unity…

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Kids coming up for communion… now, that’s for real!

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Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (1952- ) lighting a candle at liturgy… just like we do!

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The interior of Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow… the commies blew it up, but, it has arisen again… what does it tell you about those who scream that the revival is false?

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It’ll only take a second, dear…

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Hmm… Looks rather FULL here… remember… “The tree is known by the fruit thereof!” Looks like rather GOOD fruit to me! Give me a dozen, please!

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Khristos razhdayetsya! Slavite Yego! Christ is born! Glorify Him!

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“Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not…”

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Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all Russia (1946- ) with President Dmitri Medvedev (1965- ). Symfonia in action… the Church and State cooperating for the good of all… as it should be

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Prime Minister Putin with believers at services. Hmm… You say that he served in the KGB? Didn’t George Bush Sr serve as the head of the CIA? That means that Putin took orders, whilst Bush gave them! Methinks the Margerovskyites hoist themselves with their own petard on that one! In any case… wasn’t Margerovsky a spook? If you can’t trust a spook… Margerovksy was a spook… can you see the delicious and wicked irony of that? God DOES have a sense of humour…

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An art photograph by Aleksandr Shurlakov, Tenderness (2009). This needs no commentary, does it?

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This is our future… united and strong, all over the world!

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This is how one counters the lies spewed by the rightwing ROCOR rejectionists (and their neocon fellow-travellers) and the leftwing Amercanists/Renovationists/Angliochians (and their “progressive” friends who are forever mooning about “democracy”). Never descend to their level. Instead, tell the truth, and say it loud! Our God is the God who works wonders!

Cheers to all of you and may God bless!

Tuesday 18 February 2009

Vara Drezhlo

Albany NY USA

A Charity Auction in St Petersburg shall Sell Artwork by Vladimir Putin, Valentina Matvienko, and other Celebrities

A charity auction will sell paintings created by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, St Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko, and other famous people. It shall be held at the Christmas Fair will on 17 January in St Petersburg, according to the press-service of the city administration. The Christmas Fair in St Petersburg is one of the biggest events in the round of New Year’s holiday events in the city. A traditional part of this event is a charity auction called Azbuka (ABCs), in which famous Russians, aided by professional artists, paint pictures based on letters of the Russian alphabet (31 letters and one sign, for them not in the know: editor’s note).

This year, the charity auction was dedicated to 200^th anniversary of the birth of the famous author Nikolai Gogol. For every day of the event, on the main stage of the fair, famous people painted pictures of letters of the Russian alphabet letters based on motifs drawn from Gogol’s story Noch Pered Rozhdestvom (The Night Before Christmas). Not only was the theme of the paintings drawn from Gogol’s story, but, also, the material used for the canvases, which was overcoat cloth.

In late December, Prime Minister Putin visited the St Petersburg Christmas fair, where he drew a picture of the letter “U” in form of a pattern on a frosty window. For the third time, Governor Matvienko of the northern capital took part in the auction time, drawing a picture entitled Metel (Snow-storm). Also, paintings were created at the fair by opera singer Anna Netrebko, ballerina Ulyana Lopatkina, and musician Maksim Shostakovich.

All the proceeds from the sale of these celebrity artworks will be transferred to the accounts of charitable institutions in the city, which are badly in need of financial support. This year, it is planned that the funds collected will go for the opening of a specialised diagnostic oncology centre and the St Mary Magdalene Paediatric Hospital.

This marks the third anniversary of this celebrity art auction. In 2007, the total proceeds from the sale of celebrity paintings were 5 million roubles (154,000 USD. 116,000 euros. 104,000 UK pounds). In 2008, this total was increased four-fold to 20.5 million roubles (630,000 USD. 475,000 euros. 428,000 UK pounds).

Traditionally, canvases painted by Governor Valentina Matvienko are hits at the sale. At the first auction, her picture Yezhik Pod Yolkoi (Hedgehog Under the Christmas Tree) went for 2.2 million roubles (68,000 USD. 51,000 euros. 46,000 UK pounds), a year later, Mishka (Teddy Bear) painted by Matvienko went under the hammer for a record 11 million roubles (338,000 USD. 255,000 euros. 229,000 UK pounds).

17 January 2009

RIA-Novosti

http://www.rian.ru/society/20090117/159451935.html (in Russian)

New Year’s Hit: Circus Show “Camelot”

The Zapashnykh brothers with one of their trained tigers

250,000 people, a number equal to a fairly-large European city, attended the New Year Circus Show Camelot in Moscow. It shall run from 27 December to 11 January. This show was the inspiration of the brothers Edgard and Askold Zapashnykh, two young performers who are the scions of a famous circus dynasty. As they are expert wild-animal trainers, their names are inscribed in the Guinness Book of World Records. Their signature feat is leaping onto the back of a lion. Energetic, talented, and driven, the Zapashnykh brothers are always looking for something new and unique. By all standards, their fantasy play Camelot is a one-of-a-kind spectacle!

“We went beyond the scope of the usual 13-metre (42-foot) ring, the traditional scope of the circus was too confining for us”, Askold stated, explaining why they had to stage this presentation in an enormous sport arena. “We can say, with great pride, that there is no analogue to Camelot in all of Russia. The circus, like all other kinds of show business, has to evolve, first of all, due to developments in other art-forms. We used the latest techniques to make a theatrical-circus spectacle with video-screens, pyrotechnics, laser effects, historical costumes, and even a water-tank with many-coloured fountains”.

100 performers and 70 trained animals perform stories from medieval epics. The Zapashnykh brothers, as in real life, play the roles of brothers, one of them symbolises the Bright Forces, whilst the other portrays the Dark Forces. The struggle of Good and Evil is treated seriously, and the tricks performed by the brothers seem beyond the reach of human possibility. For example, the brothers perform in a cage with 14 lions and tigers… why, no one in their right mind would dare to remain in close proximity to so many predators! Where else is it possible to meet polyglot parrots? The bright and handsome “parrots” (performers in costume) speak so many languages, from French to Chinese. In the battle scenes, the world-famous horse ménage directed by Mukhtarbek Kantemirov perform wonders. Well, in the water-tank, there are girls doing synchronised swimming garbed as “goldfish”. By the way, amongst them are some of our Olympic champions in synchronised swimming! Is it any wonder that the circus show Camelot became a real New Year’s hit in Moscow?

9 January 2009

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=rus&q=96893&cid=24&p=09.01.2009 (in Russian)

Metropolitan Kirill Urged that All Orthodox should Act as a United Family

Still from a scene from the Russian TV programme Gromovy (The Gromovs), a popular (and good!) show about a Russian family in the 70s

Moscow, 8 January 2009 (Interfax):

On the second day of the Christmas season, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens, served liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin, after which he called on believers to keep the commandment concerning love of neighbour. “The Lord gave us the school of love. Sometimes, parents forget about their children, and growing children ignore their parents. Brothers forget their sisters”, Metropolitan Kirill said, who went on to say that this happens, in his opinion, because “we did not cultivate in ourselves the capacity to love. We are all relatives, brothers and sisters. This is as it should be. But, does this happen amongst us?” In his opinion, we can relate in many different ways with our relatives, but, in this sense, all believers should act as a single-minded and united family. Vladyki Kirill believes that it is the special responsibility of the clergy to preserve and multiply the love amongst us, and encouraged the clergy to do such, “so that people would not only be parishioners who come and go, but, the members of a single family”. According to our Interfax-Religion correspondent, after the service, Metropolitan Kirill venerated the icons and relics of the saints in the church, and blessed the many believers who filled the interior of the cathedral.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=28182 (in Russian)

Metropolitan Kirill Issued a Call to the Clergy to be Active in Missionary Work so They could Carry Out the Dream of Patriarch Aleksei II to Revive all Human Souls

Christmas/New Year decorations at the GUM mall in Moscow

Moscow, 7 January 2009 (Interfax):

Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, the patriarchal Locum Tenens, issued a call to the clergy to resist the temptations of division and jointly develop the mission of the Orthodox Church in Russia. “It was a very important step towards the rebuilding of Holy Russia and the strengthening of the Orthodox faith (in reference to the reign of the reposed Patriarch Aleksei II: Interfax). Both parishes and monasteries were established and built so that we could accomplish the enormous task of bringing people to salvation, to enable them to encounter the Living God”, Vladyki Kirill said on Wednesday in his sermon after the Christmas Vespers at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow.

However, in his words, “There are still other steps that we must take, so that the churches and monasteries are always filled with people, that there are always children and young people present, so that the Church would have the potential to develop its great and saving mission in the years and decades ahead, and, if God wills it so, even for the centuries ahead of us. If we wish to continue to carry out the desires of His Holiness Patriarch Aleksei, to teach people and heal their souls, we must be able to talk to these people in an understandable way, we must show them that there is no other way to salvation, to fullness of life, except for the path that God Himself opened to us”.

Christmas Tree in Vorobieyevy Gory in Russia

Then, he went on to say, “All human conceptions of happiness are surprisingly cramped and distorted, their weakness and imperfection is obvious to all, in short, they lack the capability to truly lead people to fullness of life. Today, it shall only be when our brothers and sisters, those who have not yet found the road to Orthodoxy, accept these wonderful words of God concerning the Way, the Truth, and the Life, that change shall come into their lives and into our lives as well, in our personal lives, in the life of society, and in the life of the state. If the whole world comes to comprehend this teaching, then, we shall transfigure all of mankind”.

He pointed up that, today, much is being done in the parishes, parochial schools, prisons, hospitals, and in the forces. “We have done much to ensure that the coming generation would accept Christ into their hearts”, but, Vladyki Kirill considers, “We must do more. To ensure that our ministry would be successful, we must support and help one another, we must exercise our ministry in singleness of heart and humility. We must erect impenetrable barriers against the actions of those who would introduce temptation into the life of the Church, who try to divide our ranks, and who seduce ‘the little ones’. They forget the terrible warning of God addressed to those who would tempt and seduce their neighbour”.

Christmas tree in front of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Kaliningrad

He wished that all would “preserve unity, brotherly love, and openness to one another, to enable us to stretch out our hands to one another in our common pilgrimage to the Kingdom of God. We believe that, in response to the work of the Church of God, the Lord shall show us His favour, and the vision of His Holiness Patriarch Aleksei concerning the restoration of human souls will be fulfilled. We should understand that he will be with us as we walk this difficult, but, blessed, path”.

According to our Interfax-Religion correspondent, the church was filled to overflowing, and, in the centre of the interior, the icon of the Nativity of Christ was placed, decorated with white flowers. According to the traditional usage, the clergy served the services of Christmas in gold-coloured vestments (the golden colour symbolises the Sun of Righteousness, Christ: Interfax).

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=28176 (in Russian)

Two Quechua Women from Bolivia Accepted Orthodox Baptism in Moscow

A woman of the Quechua people of South America

Moscow, 8 January 2009 (Interfax):

Immediately following Christmas services, in one of the Orthodox churches in the southern districts of Moscow, two women of the Quechua people of South America accepted Orthodox baptism. “We talked with them about the faith, and they read the Creed of the Orthodox Church in Spanish, which I downloaded for them from the Internet”, said Fr Daniil Sysoyev, the rector of the parish of St Thomas the Apostle in Kantemirov, in an interview with our Interfax-Religion correspondent, describing how he served the Sacrament of Baptism for these women. According to Fr Daniil, the two women from Bolivia, a mother and daughter, who accepted baptism, were in Moscow pursuing studies. They learned about the Orthodox faith from one of their friends, who is of the Inca people from Peru and a long-term resident of Moscow. In baptism, the women took the names of Maria and Yelizaveta, in honour of St Mary Magdalene and Grand Princess St Yelizaveta the New Martyr. “Quite possibly, this is the first time in history that Quechua people embraced Orthodoxy”, Fr Daniil noted.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=28180 (in Russian)

Russians did not Limit the New Year’s Holidays to Parties and Christmas Trees

Over the New Year holidays, Russians not only saw traditional presentations and New Year’s trees, but, they also participated in tournaments of fairytale heroes in Yekaterinburg, exhibited collections of family keepsakes in Kaliningrad, played a little “Old Russian Village Football” in Novgorod, and kids saw The Nutcracker in Cheliabinsk, and 1,200 kids came to the Archbishop’s Yolka in Kostroma.

Yekaterinburg: An Orchestra of “Wizards” and “Beasts” Gave a Concert

To mark the New Year, the Sverdlovsk State Philharmonic Orchestra prepared for children a magical adventure-play Poezd na Chunga-Changu (The Train to Chung-Chang), which was staged from 4 to 6 January, a spokesman of the Philharmonic told RIA-Novosti. Children and their parents waited for “wizards” to play live music, and enjoyed a presentation of dances, games, and quizzes, and for the most fearless and curious, a tournament fairytale characters, the spokesman said. At the time of the show, the hall of the Philharmonic Society became a fairyland forest with a New Year’s Tree, and serious musicians dressed as merry “beasts”, and the sombre black grand pianos were draped to match the multicoloured costumes of the players. The Philharmonic prepared a surprise competition with the Wizard of the Snows, games with funny animals, traditional round-dances with beautiful forest-maidens, and a sea of “beautiful and very familiar music”.

Kaliningrad: A Nostalgic Exhibition

With the help of local residents, the Fridlanskie Gates Museum of Kaliningrad assembled a collection of family Christmas and New Year keepsakes, which will be on display until the middle of January, a spokesman of the city press-service told RIA-Novosti. The organisers of the exhibition Traditions of Celebrating New Year and Christmas assembled Christmas toys and decorations made before 1970, as well as postcards and family photos of those years from Kaliningraders. Amongst the items lent by local residents were handmade toys. According to the museum spokesman, the main task of the organisers of the exhibition was to create an atmosphere of holiday magic, wonder, and expectations of fairy tales and miracles.

When this exhibition was first held last year, it attracted an unusual interest amongst the inhabitants of the city, so, it was decided to make it a traditional event. The basis of this year’s exhibition was last year’s collection, when Kaliningraders exhibited approximately 300 toys, to name just one category. Some of the items were immediately donated to the museum, whilst other owners asked for a guarantee of safety and a return of the items after the end of the exhibition. Amongst the objects on display, some were real rarities, Königsberg dishes with Christmas themes, greeting cards from the early 20^th century, New Year’s toys made of pressed cotton from the 1930s to 50s, toys fashioned from ordinary light bulbs, “rain” devised from the copper wire, and much more.

Novgorod: “Old Russian Village Football”

The Folklore Festival Holy Days in Vitoslavlitsakh was held on 8 January at the Novgorod Museum of Wooden Folk Architecture, a representative of the Novgorod oblast administration told RIA-Novosti. The festival invited top-ten-best folk groups from the Novgorod region, as well as guests from other cities in Russia. According to tradition, Holy Days in Vitoslavlitsakh opens with the ringing of bells at noon, after which, those who are attended the festival take part in old amusements, games, and rituals revived by Russian folklore enthusiasts. In the streets of “Vitoslavlits”, people carol under the Christmas star, singing old traditional kolyadki. In addition, there shall be a match of Shchelyge (which scholars describe as “Old Russian Village Football”), skipping rope village-style, stilt races, and snow and ice games. All those who participate in the fun and games, both Novgorodians and tourists, shall receive poteshki, tokens that can be exchanged for prizes in a special “prize shop”.

For those who want to determine their future, the festival shall present a variety of divination methods in the old-style izbas and barns. The festival attendees, as in the old days, could choose to use straw, haystacks, fences, or laptyakh (bast sandals), or look under the dish, or use the hen or beans to guess their fate. Besides, old spinning wheels and looms shall be set up in the izbas, and all who will shall be able to try to use these for spinning and weaving. Visitors shall be able to take part in traditional single combats, and “warriors” from the local Novgorod military history re-enactment clubs shall give demonstrations.

Novgorodians and tourists alike will be able to ride the carousel and on horses. On the streets of the Museum of Wooden Folk Architecture, a Petrushka Booth shall be set up, and mummers and singers shall stroll amongst the guests. Master-craftsmen of traditional decorative arts shall present their handcrafted products. Under the supervision of craftsmen, people can try to make their own handcrafted gifts and fashion so-called “covers” from spill in the “doll shop”. The exhibits shall be open for several hours. At the end of the day, the festival shall conclude with “the funeral of Dudarya”, a straw effigy, which, in old Russia, represented the past year.

The Folklore Festival Holy Days in Vitoslavlitsakh has been held in Veliki Novgorod since 1993.

Kostroma and Cheliabinsk: Celebrating Orthodox Christmas

The Orthodox Church did not remain on the sidelines of holiday celebrations, as it presented concerts and brought the kids to the Christmas tree to give them lots of gifts. On 7 January, the Yolka for the pupils of the Orthodox parish Sunday Schools was held at the Glinka Opera and Ballet Theatre in Cheliabinsk, according to the press-service of the city government. 500 kids were invited to the affair, including students at the Cheliabinsk Orthodox gymnazii (a gymnazia is a traditional high school: editor’s note), the children of Orthodox parishioners, and members of youth groups. They saw a performance of the Christmas fairytale The Nutcracker. After the concert, the kids received gifts, including sweets, soft toys, Christmas cakes, and a specially-prepared colourful collection of Christmas Fairytales. This special book has 92 pages and it was published in a press-run of 5,000. It contains tales for children of Orthodox families, well-known writers from Cheliabinsk edited it, and children’s drawings were used as illustrations.

The Archpastoral Yolka was held on 8 January in Kostroma. In addition, the kids and their parents are waiting for a charity concert to be held three days hence, a spokesman of the Diocese of Kostroma told RIA-Novosti. He told us that more than 1,200 kids came to the Yolka, students of Sunday schools, members of the Orthodox Youth Centre Kovcheg (Ark), and children from the diocesan, oblast, and municipal orphanages and boarding schools. Archbishop Aleksandr of Kostroma and Galich gave his Christmas blessing to all of the children who attended. The traditional charity Christmas concert will feature the Archiepiscopal Choir of the Epiphany-St Anastasia Cathedral, the Blagovest Academic Chamber Choir and Chorus, the Kostroma State Orchestra of Folk Instruments, and other ensembles. The concert shall include a presentation of the Christmas Oratorio written by Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev. All proceeds from the charity Christmas concert will go towards the restoration of holy places and construction of churches.

8 January 2009

RIA-Novosti

http://www.rian.ru/society/20090108/158766816.html (in Russian)

Christmas Eve Brings Joy and Hope for Better Days

On Tuesday, when Orthodox Christians all across the globe mark Christmas Eve, we talked to noted Russian guitarist Vitaly Kys and folklore singer Grunya. Last year, the couple brilliantly represented the Voice of Russia during the Eurofolk international music festival, which was held under the aegis of the European Broadcasting Union in Moscow.

The musicians kindly agreed to perform several Christmas folk songs from their new disc, released late last year. Now, Viktor Kys elaborated on what is Christmas personally for him. “Any church holiday, not least Christmas, brings me a deep and ever-lasting joy, something that fills my soul with emotions. These emotions are very important for everyone”, he said, emphasising that folklore is a major spiritual value that enriches a person’s soul.

The outgoing Year of Family in Russia saw the couple successfully fulfil both creative and personal plans with Vitaly and Grunya notably being busy with the upbringing of their three children. Today, this deeply-Orthodox family is marking what Grunya called a significant day for all Orthodox Christians.

She said, “Each year, we look forward to Christmas Eve, which coincides with the end of a protracted church fast, a rite that teaches people to love, forgive, and remain humble. Upon returning from church, typically, we start preparing special Christmas food, kutiya, or cooked grain and honey mix. Thanks to the holiday, we are in high spirits and full of optimism, which is especially important now that the unfolding economic gloom tarnished the New Year with turmoil.

Nowadays, many people prefer to greet Christmas near the TV screen. In contrast, in my childhood, I and my friends performed Christmas carols for their neighbours in their apartment house. Clad in traditional folk costumes, we knocked on each door and wished people ‘Merry Christmas’ from the bottom of our hearts. At first, the neighbours were naturally surprised to see us, only to heap praise on our performance in the end, traditionally presenting us with candies and other Christmas gifts. I am happy and proud by the realisation of the fact that I am able to sing songs that praise my motherland”.

6 January 2009

Tatiana Karpekina

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=38221&cid=62&p=06.01.2009 (in English)

Editor’s Note:

Grunya is Russian and she speaks of singing traditional kolyadki. Unfortunately, some Ukrainian nationalists have spread the lie that these songs only exist in the Ukraine. That is sad, isn’t it, that a group so hates all other people that they cannot see when their neighbours do the exact same thing that they do? Reflect on the fact that the haters have the ear of Washington…

Prime Minister Putin Arrived In Petrozavodsk to Take Part in Christmas Worship

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (1952- ). Christ is Born, Vova! Glorify Him!

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrived in Petrozavodsk, where he will attend Christmas Divine Liturgy. He will attend services for the feast at the Church of the Entrance of the Lord into the Temple, one of the oldest Orthodox churches of the city. The church is located in the village of Solomennoe, on the shores of the strait that connects Lakes Onega and Logm. This was considered a sacred place since ancient times, the church stands on a monolithic stone, not having a single crack, towering over the lake and the surrounding buildings.

In the old days, there was a monastery situated here. The monastery was established long before the founding of Petrozavodsk, at the time of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich (between 1585 and 1595), by Elder Kassian, a disciple of St Aleksandr of Svir. It caught the attention of Tsar Pyotr Veliki. According to legend, the tsar gave chairs for the altar as gifts to the church named for his heavenly patron. Supposedly, he made these chairs with his own hands. Following the closure of the monastery in 1764, next to the Church of Ss Peter and Paul, the Chapel of the Entrance of the Lord began building a new edifice, which was completed in 1780 through the efforts of Ilya Kononov, a merchant from St Petersburg. It had two side altars, one on the south side in honour of the Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of God, and another on the north side dedicated to the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Ss Constantine and Helen.

During the Soviet period, the parish church of Solomennoe did not avoid the sad fate of most Russian churches. In 1931, the Church of the Entrance was closed, its crosses were stripped off, and the dome was destroyed. The church was first used as a warehouse, and, then, it underwent renovation for use as a school and dormitory. By the 1980s and 90s, a gym and shop were located in the building. In 1996, the Church of the Entrance was returned to the Orthodox Church, but, the architectural image of the original church building had disappeared. At that time, the church was an ugly two-story building, mutilated by modifications, deprived of its domes, bell towers, and high arched windows. On 24 November 1996, Bishop Manuil of Petrozavodsk and Karelia served a molieben and a Blessing of Water at the beginning of reconstruction. The restored Church of the Entrance is noted for a unique interior decoration, a three-tiered handcarved iconostas executed by Palekh master-craftsmen.

7 January 2009

RIA-Novosti

http://www.rian.ru/society/20090107/158695139.html (in Russian)