Help! I'd better finish the Christmas entry before Great Lent starts! ;)
More pictures of Christ the Saviour Cathedral. Click to enlarge:
In the background you can see the elaborate "cave" made of evergreens and flowers surrounding the (very large) icon of the Nativity. I tried without success to get a good picture of it--people, of course, kept venerating it and walking past it as I was trying to get a shot of it.
Emmanuel--the Divine Christ Child, God With Us.Here is an excerpt from the web site of Christ the Saviour, about the original church:
"The best architects, builders and artists of the time fulfilled K. Ton's designs. V. Surikov, baron T. Neff, N Koshelev, G. Semiradsky, I. Kramskoy, V.P. Vereshchagin, P. Pleshanov, and v. Markov (all members of the Russian Academy of Arts) took twelve and a half years to create the unique frescoes. Baron P. Klodt, N Ramazanov, and A. Loganovsky created the exterior sculptures. Count F. Tolstoy designed the Royal Doors using the newest galvanoplastic techniques.The sculptures and frescoes in the Cathedral were unified by several themes: the mercy of the Lord vouchsafed to the Russian people through the intercession of saints during the past nine centuries, and the ways and means chosen by God for the salvation of mankind from the creation, to the fall and the redemption through our Lord and Savior. Therefore, holy protectors and intercessors for the Russian land, as well as those leaders, who worked to affirm and spread Christianity and those princes that laid their life down for the freedom and integrity of the Russian land are pictured throughout the Cathedral."
Visit the excellent Christ the Saviour website for a more complete history of the church:
Visit the excellent Christ the Saviour website for a more complete history of the church:
I think this is the Nativity of the Mother of God...
The Nativity scene high above the altar. It was strikingly beautiful and had an amazing 3-D quality to it. You felt like you were right in there in the cave on the night of the Nativity... I couldn't stop looking at this...
The Ascension.
Pentecost.
Prophet King David and other Prophets.
I managed to get a shot of His Holiness, Patriarch Alexii II...
...together with his Heavenly Protector, St. Alexii, Metropolitan of Moscow.
Here is the life of St. Alexii (Alexis) of Moscow:
Patriarch Alexii is amazing for serving almost every single day at his age. He is well-respected by his Orthodox Christian flock here.
Be sure to click on this to see the details.
This may be the choir-loft--I'm not sure which "corner" it was in. They were so high you couldn't see the choir at all!
And with this I'm going to say good night....
1 comment:
I have enjoyed this "tour" so much. As Nikolai Alexeyevich told me over the summer, at this time of year I should wish people, "С постом!" So that is what I wish you, and hope to write a lengthier post this coming week. I think of you often!
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