Courier & Press article, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2003
- Father Joseph L. Ziliak
Russia is a fascinating country. The lands
are vast and rich in resources. The people have valued education.
Religious practice is fundamental to their culture.
Until 1990, Russia was the major partner of the Soviet Union.
The breakup of the Soviet hegemony is very clear today. A group
of us traveled to Russia recently. We traveled by ship from Moscow
to St. Petersburg. It is a journey of some 1,300 miles through canals,
rivers, lakes and a reservoir.
The river route connecting Moscow with the Baltic Sea through
the Gulf of Finland completes a dream of Peter the Great. St. Petersburg
was founded May 27, 1703 on the feast of Pentecost. Josef Stalin
enlarged the waterway system in the 1930's to make the series of
some 20 locks available to commercial traffic and expansion. Hydroelectric
power went along with the water expansion, giving middle Russia
access to electricity and power.
Stalin used political dissidents in digging the canals by
hand. Thousands lost their lives in this enterprise. The Russia
by river route is a bittersweet achievement. Religious practice
and the Orthodox Church likewise suffered under Stalin's harsh and
cruel rule. On the same water route, two bell towers and one portion
of a church still stand above the water level. Towns were simply
flooded to fulfill the master plan from Moscow.
The churches were converted into auto garages, warehouse,
and in one case, a swimming pool under the atheistic Communistic
rule. That era is past and the churches have been given back to
their rightful owners. I don't know the percentage of Russians who
attend church regularly, but those who do seem very pious in prayer
life. The churches have no pews or kneelers. People stand - for
two hours or more for a Sunday worship service.
Somehow, most of the interior art is still there. Many frescoes
are beautifully restored. Icons abound in vivid golds, reds and
heavenly blues. The churches have an iconastasis (quite literally
a wall of icons) that separate the space of the faithful from the
holy of holies, the place of the altar of sacrifice. From floor
to ceiling beautiful icons give a lift to the spirit and inspire
heavenly thoughts by depicting the Savior Jesus, his mother Mary
and other saints.
The iconastasis is at the east portion of the church. On the
west wall, the wall that the faithful would see as they exit the
church, scenes of the Last Judgement are found. During prayer time,
the faithful are in the presence of God. Upon returning to the world,
the faithful will face situations that could lead them away from
God.
Tsar Alexander I built a church in Moscow dedicated to the
Savior to mark Russian victory over Napoleon. In the 1930's Stalin
had the church destroyed. He wanted to build a huge monument to
Soviet achievements. The monument was to be topped by a huge statue
of Lenin. The statue was to be large, so large that the brain of
Lenin would be a library. His outstretched hand was to be a heliport,
so that visitors could fly there and use the library.
World War II came and in 1953 Stalin died. Only the basement
was constructed. It was used as a swimming pool. In 1995 the land
was returned to the Orthodox Church. By 2000 a huge church was built
on the site. It is called the Church of the Savior. It is gleaming
white with golden covered onion dome towers. Our guide remarked
during our tour. "When this church was opened, Russia got its
soul back."
Father Joseph L. Ziliak is pastor
of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Newburgh.
