7 December 2015. Reverence and Familiarity… Why We Disconcert the Heterodox and Their Obsessive “Orderliness”

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The temple is also the House of the People of God. In a typical Russian church, the kids play in the back… people meet n’ greet on the porch… people light candles and venerate icons as the service goes on. The Liturgy is for Man’s service… Man isn’t a servant of the Liturgy. Never forget, the Orthodox Church is the People’s Church! Reverence and familiarity mix in a way disconcerting to the Western mind. The Church is both human and divine, in ways that the heterodox don’t even begin to fathom.

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7 December 2015. Bernie on CHANGE

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7 December 2015. My Most Favourite Piece of Russian Art… “A Girl with Peaches” by Valentin Serov

A Girl with Peaches

Valentin Serov

1887

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Everyone has their favourite piece of art… this one is my fave Russian artwork of all time. Serov is, perhaps, the ne plus ultra of Russian Impressionism. The lightness and balance of this painting makes it an aesthetic masterpiece. If you were to pin me down and demand to know which Russian painting was “the greatest of all time”, this is the one that I’d vote for. Yes, this is my most favourite piece of Russian art. Mind you, my favourite artist is Zinaida Serebyakova, but, as far as it concerns my fave painting, I’d say that this one deserves to stand with the best of all time.

If you can see what a person loves, you can see what sort of person that they are. This is a glimpse into my soul…

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