Art and Faith

The candles have been snuffed out, the people have gone home, and the pooped priest is finally getting a well-deserved nap. Christ is still in the temple; He is still there for us. Easter is more than just Kulich and Paskha, it is more than kielbasa and varenyki, it is more than just a happy occasion for a family get-together. It is Our Lord breaking the bonds of death, for once and for all. We shall never understand the full import of this this side of the veil.

CHRIST IS RISEN!

INDEED HE IS RISEN!

Thank you to Sasha Ressetar for the wonderful photo.  

Joyous Resurrection! (Ilya Kaverznev, no date (2000s?)

The feast of Easter goes on for the whole week. Don’t you wish you had this at home?

Sasha, you merit a gold star for this one. Of course, Sasha is the beaming Russian fellow togged out in the Cossack ensemble in the photo. In America, many Ethiopians come to our parishes.  God willing, the split between the Ethiopian Church and the rest of Orthodoxy may be mended. They are the bearers of an ancient and venerable tradition.

CHRIST IS RISEN!

INDEED HE IS RISEN!

UPDATE: Sasha just sent me an e-mail saying that these lovely ladies are Eritreans. Yes, they are next door to Ethiopia, but, apparently, they are not quite the same thing. Thanks for the correction, Sasha!

A moving evocation of Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville NY. We went to the monastery for Easter services last night, and it was so beautiful that one could not know if one was on earth or in the forecourts of Paradise. There were some interesting changes. Some English was used in the service, and before the liturgy proper began, one of the seminarians was reading the Acts of the Apostles in Spanish. Jordanville is the beating heart of our Russian Orthodox Church here in America, and I would say to everyone to go there at least once… one knows that one is on holy ground sanctified by the podvigi of many elders and spiritual fathers. 

Thank you, Fr George, for your kind and loving advice to me. I bow before you in appreciation and gratitude. Pray for this sinner.

KHRISTOS VOSKRESE!

VOISTINNU VOSKRESE!

The music is a setting of the Great Doxology by Pavel Chesnokov. The ensemble was not identified, I am sorry.

My heartfelt Easter greetings to all my friends and readers, Orthodox and non-Orthodox, Christian and non-Christian, believer or non-believer. I greet and salute you all.

CHRISTOS VOSKRESE!

CHRIST IS RISEN!

VOISTINNU VOSKRESE!

INDEED, HE IS RISEN!

May God bless. Bog blagoslovit.

Vara Drezhlo

26 April 2008

Eve of the Holy Easter

The title says it all, does it not?

This is the plashchenitsa, a full-size icon of Our Lord Christ laid out in the tomb. This photo is from my good friend, Sasha Ressetar. Standing for the Truth is never easy… 

Take a look at this absolutely gorgeous and yummy Paskha sweet cheese dessert made by Sasha’s mum, Matushka Theodora. I think that I gained a dress size just thinking of this! Lucky Sasha! Lucky Fr Daniel! Drat! There is no way to e-mail the taste of this… the limits of technology, I guess. Don’t you wish that you had a real Russian baba like Matushka Theodora to make this for you? Don’t you wish everybody did?

Easter IS on its way… 

This video shows the healthiness of many parishes in the OCA. The rot emanating from SVS/Syosset does not permeate the whole, please God. This why I pray daily for the institutional unity of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA and Canada under the aegis of Moscow. May that day come soon!

An Old Russian icon of the Passion of Our Lord Christ

Tonight, as you contemplate the cross and the passion, pray for suffering Orthodox Christians. Pray for the Serbian population of Kosovo, that goes to bed fearful every night. Pray for the native faithful of Alaska, that God sends them justice and a fair hearing. Pray for the faithful of China, that they may be able worship openly and without fear. Pray for all Russian Orthodox Christians throughout the world, that we may be as one again.

Amen.