I enjoyed and very much appreciated your thoughts. They ring very true with me.
]]>And now I have been an Orthodox Christian for a number of years, and so much has changed. I know so intimately the rejoicing of my body and spirit when I prostrate myself in love and humility before our Creator. Watching this segment of the video brought back that incident from long ago. It is set perfectly to the Allegretto movement from Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, and I’ve watched it over and over. What beauty, what natural gracefulness! What an expression of love and an exaltation of our humanity, that we should engage in something this exquisite and meaningful. Yet I wonder how much longer we in North America will be allowed to publicly venerate icons of Christ and His Mother?
Praise God for the revitalization of the faith in Eastern Europe, even as it recedes in the West. I’m afraid there may be a long and difficult road ahead for us all – perhaps recent developments in Russia may give us courage. Thank you Fr. Hans for posting this video.
]]>I’ll never forget the way he described the situation in the communist countries. “God blessed the churches in Russia, Romania and other communist countries by persecuting them…now the churches are all full. Maybe someday he will bless the churches in America, so they all fill up too,” he said.
It struck me then…and each time i think about it. What a perspective!
Best Regards,
Dean
AMEN! IC XC NI KA!
]]>We need to keep in mind that the reason for this remarkable expansion of the Russian Orthodox Church is because the totalitarian government in Russia — from the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 — was headed by atheistic communists, who persecuted worshipers. A plethora of Russian worshipers during that time period was killed or imprisoned just for worshiping.
Indeed, the Russian Orthodox Church is now making up for that 70-plus years of “lost time” for worshiping, and will continue to do so for at least another decade.
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