The medieval Church of Saints Peter and Paul on Sinichaya Mountain in Veliky Novgorod before restoration and during its final stages.
With each restored church, the shame disappears - the shame for the unique heritage of Russian antiquity, which was dying in obscurity.
With each restored church, the shame disappears - the shame for the unique heritage of Russian antiquity, which was dying in obscurity.
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Today the Orthodox Church remembers the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, one of the most significant Christian feasts.
Sad in its nature - because any death is grief, unnatural to the true nature of man, this day is at the same time joyful and solemn - because the Mother of God was reunited with her Son, and although She left the Church on earth, She became its eternal intercessor in heaven.
Today, as always, I have prepared a selection of the most interesting temples dedicated to the holiday.
On the photo: The Dormition of the Theotokos. Fresco of the Church of Theotokos Peribleptos in Ohrid, North Macedonia.
Sad in its nature - because any death is grief, unnatural to the true nature of man, this day is at the same time joyful and solemn - because the Mother of God was reunited with her Son, and although She left the Church on earth, She became its eternal intercessor in heaven.
Today, as always, I have prepared a selection of the most interesting temples dedicated to the holiday.
On the photo: The Dormition of the Theotokos. Fresco of the Church of Theotokos Peribleptos in Ohrid, North Macedonia.
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The Dormition is a particularly revered holiday in Russia, and the archetypal Russian cathedral will, of course, be dedicated to it. But the first of the Dormition cathedrals in Russia was a monastery church - the Cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Erected at the dawn of Christianisation, it became the heart of one of the most important centres of spirituality in Russia and remains one of the most impressive Russian churches to this day.
The church and monastery survived civil strife, raids by steppe nomads, and oppression by Polish invaders, but the worst awaited the cathedral during World War II - its destruction by the Germans.
The ruins of the church have been restored in our time - not perfectly, but noticeably more successfully than many of the new buildings in the newly formed Ukraine. However, it is not without reason that I have decided to talk about it now. The monastery's prosperity did not last long. The new Kiev authorities, who have long made no secret of their hatred for Orthodoxy and, therefore, for the land they have acquired, are attacking the monastery. First, there were restrictions, then the monks were expelled... Now there is news that the relics of the saints have been removed from their shrines, thrown to the ground, and the looting of relics that followed is a logical next step for the successors of the nomads, Poles, Reds and Germans.
But God cannot be trampled upon, nor can His Most Holy Mother, whose third abode on earth is the Lavra. On the day of Her arrival, not in heaven, but Her return to Her Son, let us pray to the Mother of God for the salvation of the shrines erected in Her honour and for the Orthodox Christians of Ukraine who commemorate Her name.
The church and monastery survived civil strife, raids by steppe nomads, and oppression by Polish invaders, but the worst awaited the cathedral during World War II - its destruction by the Germans.
The ruins of the church have been restored in our time - not perfectly, but noticeably more successfully than many of the new buildings in the newly formed Ukraine. However, it is not without reason that I have decided to talk about it now. The monastery's prosperity did not last long. The new Kiev authorities, who have long made no secret of their hatred for Orthodoxy and, therefore, for the land they have acquired, are attacking the monastery. First, there were restrictions, then the monks were expelled... Now there is news that the relics of the saints have been removed from their shrines, thrown to the ground, and the looting of relics that followed is a logical next step for the successors of the nomads, Poles, Reds and Germans.
But God cannot be trampled upon, nor can His Most Holy Mother, whose third abode on earth is the Lavra. On the day of Her arrival, not in heaven, but Her return to Her Son, let us pray to the Mother of God for the salvation of the shrines erected in Her honour and for the Orthodox Christians of Ukraine who commemorate Her name.
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Let's continue to a place where Christians have been oppressed much longer - the once Roman city of Damascus.
Yet, this story will be more joyful - as much as it can be there. I suggest to take a look at the Cathedral of the Dormition in Damascus, dating back to the IV century, on the street where the Apostle Paul himself once lived. It was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt, and at some point, the Patriarchate of Antioch moved here - by that time the church itself had already become the city's cathedral instead of an old one, which had been taken by the Muslims.
The present form with Ottoman Baroque features was acquired after another destruction in the XIX century, when it was restored with the support of the Russian Empire. Even though the Christians of Syria in general and Damascus in particular are now once again in danger, the history of the cathedral reminds us that there is always hope.
May we now pray to the Blessed Theotokos for our brothers in Syria!
Yet, this story will be more joyful - as much as it can be there. I suggest to take a look at the Cathedral of the Dormition in Damascus, dating back to the IV century, on the street where the Apostle Paul himself once lived. It was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt, and at some point, the Patriarchate of Antioch moved here - by that time the church itself had already become the city's cathedral instead of an old one, which had been taken by the Muslims.
The present form with Ottoman Baroque features was acquired after another destruction in the XIX century, when it was restored with the support of the Russian Empire. Even though the Christians of Syria in general and Damascus in particular are now once again in danger, the history of the cathedral reminds us that there is always hope.
May we now pray to the Blessed Theotokos for our brothers in Syria!
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