Если вчера был ты страшно пьяным, то сегодня будешь страшно трезвым.
Народная мудрость
If yesterday you had a big drunk, today, you have a big head
Folk wisdom
It’s 1 January. Good morning. How are you?
1 January 2017
Vitaly Podvitsky Masterskaya Karikatury
Editor:
The literal translation of the Russian proverb is:
If yesterday you were terribly drunk, today, you’re terribly sober.
BMD
Happy New Year! May you receive every one of your desires, no matter how small!
30 December 2016
Vitaly Podvitsky Masterskaya Karikatury
Well, it’s a new year… I’ll see my 63rd birthday, God willing. I wish all of you the best… my supporters, my followers, and even my foes. I wish that God’s sun and grace shine on all of you. I’ve been around long enough to know “what goes around, comes around”, and if you wish ill on anyone, the Good Lord hears it… not only hears it, but sees to it that you get it in some way or another. “What about the Donald Trumps of this world? They get away with it!” No… they don’t… there’s no one in the world who respects Trump (and those of his ilk). Fear? Yes. Hatred? Yes. Obsequity? Yes. However, such sorts never get a scrap of real respect or friendship… and they know it. They hurt people who discomfit them… yes… but no respect comes of it, I assure you.
If you want to spread evil, evil comes back on you, one way or another. If you try to spread good, the good will return to you, one way or another. All religions teach this. All people of good will and decency know this. So, as the postcard above wishes us, have HAPPINESS. Another year is upon us…
BMD
Since childhood, I’ve loved the New Year holiday. For me, this day conjures up such things as family cosiness, with joy and gifts for every Soviet child. Then, when I grew older, as a student, I celebrated the holiday with gusto… that’s normal for young people. Yes, it’s true that I wasn’t yet “churched”. When that happened, of course, everything changed, but all the same, the New Year is still a positive part of my life. However, there’s a time for everything… being drunk and running in the streets at midnight shouting, “Ura! The New Year!”, apparently, is something we lose along with our adolescence. There are those who believe that Orthodox believers shouldn’t celebrate the New Year. Of course, some things are unacceptable, such as rampant drunkenness, but some things are innocent. Now, for me, the holiday helps me to understand the past year in my life, to help me transition to a new part of my life. For many years, I’ve served Divine Liturgy on New Year’s Eve. Usually, there aren’t many people there, maybe 50 or so, but we serve the liturgy with great joy, for we’re beginning the New Year with prayer and communion. After the service, we all get together for a meal together. Mostly, it’s my family and our regular parishioners. However, often, random people come in off the street… they’re walking around, exploding firecrackers… then, suddenly, why, there’s an open church, with church bells ringing… they open the door, the icons catch their eyes, and before you know it, they stay until the end of the Liturgy. They’ll remember this unexpected New Year’s Eve experience for a very long time.
Archpriest Aleksei Uminsky
Voices from Russia 
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