Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow

The Cathedral of Christ the Savior (pictured here) in Moscow, Russia, reflects the struggle and faith of the Church of Russia. During the Soviet era, when the atheist state sought to repress and wipe out Christianity in the Soviet Union, the cathedral was destroyed. The original cathedral took 40 years to build and was consecrated on May 26, 1883. In the Fall of 1917, the Bolsheviks seized control of Moscow and by 1922 the Soviet Union was officially established as a communist state. During this period the Church faced fierce oppression as church properties were confiscated and bishops, priests, and monastics were abducted to be imprisoned and/or killed.

 

Under the leadership of Stalin as head of the communist state, a decision was made to destroy the cathedral; this plan also included the construction of the "Palace of the Soviets" on the site of the demolished cathedral. The proposed Palace was meant to be a monument to "victorious communism and Lenin". The Soviets wanted a new Moscow with no traces of the "cursed past and its monuments"; A massive wave of propaganda preceded the actual destruction. The newspapers wrote, "the Cathedral is grotesque and totally inartistic", that "the Cathedral is a poisonous mushroom on Moscow's face" and that it was "a source of slothfulness" and so forth.

 

The first explosions hit the cathedral on December 5, 1931, by the decision of Stalin's political bureau. The most important church in Russia had been vandalized and destroyed. Christians continued to be persecuted; by 1939, active parishes numbered in the low hundreds. During the leadership of Khruschev (1950s), Moscow built an enormous swimming pool (named Moskva Pool) instead of the Palace on the site where the cathedral once stood. On February 1990, when the Soviet Union was near collapse, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church asked the government for permission to resurrect the cathedral on its original site. In 1992, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a decree is signed by Yeltsin (president of Russia) to reconstruct Christ the Savior Cathedral. Reconstruction of the cathedral began in 1994. On April 14, 1996, Patriarch Aleksy II conducted the first service in the partially completed cathedral. On August 19, 2000, Patriarch Aleksy II leads all of the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Great Consecration of the Cathedral.

 

Many lessons can be learned from this dark era; we are reminded that in the end, God wins. When evil seems to "triumph" in the world, let us remember that Christ has already triumphed over sin and death. God, after all, cannot be killed or defeated, even if regimes and secular powers claim so. And even in moments of hardship and persecution, God does not abandon His people; but most importantly, we are reminded to remain in prayer always, keeping our hope and trust in the Lord until our last breath. God offers us something better than a "workers paradise"; He offers us eternity in a spiritual paradise. Like the early martyrs, the new martyrs of Russia were willing to die for the Truth, knowing that nothing—not even death—could separate them from eternity with God. Let us ask ourselves: How committed are we to God's Church? Are we willing to give our life for the Truth which we proclaim? Who do we recognize as the Supreme authority in a secular and atheist society?

 

“The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:5)

La Catedral de Cristo el Salvador en Moscú

La Catedral de Cristo el Salvador (vista aquí) en Moscú, Rusia, refleja la prueba y la fe de la Iglesia de Rusia. Durante la época soviética, cuando el estado ateo quizo reprimir y eliminar el cristianismo en la Unión Soviética, la catedral fue destruida. La catedral original tomó 40 años para construir y fue consagrada el 26 de mayo, 1883. En el otoño de 1917, los bolcheviques tomaron control de Moscú y hacia 1922 la Unión Soviética fue oficialmente establecida como un estado comunista. Durante este periodo, la Iglesia enfrento una opresión feroz; las propiedades de la Iglesia fueron confiscadas y obispos, sacerdotes, y monjes fueron secuestrados para ser encarcelados y/o ejecutados.
Bajo el liderazgo de Stalin como cabeza del estado comunista, se hizo una decisión para destruir la catedral; este plan incluía la construcción del "Palacio de los Sóviets" en el sitio de la catedral demolida. El supuesto Palacio iba a ser un monumento al "comunismo victorioso y a Lenin". Los sóviets querían una Moscú nueva sin ningún rastro del "maldito pasado y sus monumentos"; Una campaña masiva de propaganda precedió la destrucción actual. Los periódicos escribieron, "la catedral es grotesca y totalmente no artística", que "la catedral es un hongo venenoso en la cara de Moscú" y que era "una fuente de vaguería" entre otras cosas.

Las primeras explosiones golpearon la catedral el 5 de diciembre, 1931, por decisión de la agencia política (Politburó) de Stalin. La iglesia más importante de Rusia había sido vandalizada y destruida. Los cristianos siguieron siendo perseguidos; hacia 1939, el número de parroquias activas era menos de 500. Bajo el liderazgo de Kruschev (1950s), Moscú construyó una piscina enorme (llamada la Piscina Moskva) en lugar del Palacio en el sitio donde una vez estaba la catedral. En febrero de 1990, cuando la Unión Soviética estaba cerca del colapso, el Sínodo de la Iglesia ortodoxa rusa pidió al gobierno permiso para resurgir la catedral en su sitio original. En 1992, después del colapso de la Unión Soviética, un decreto es firmado por Yeltsin (presidente de Rusia) para reconstruir la Catedral de Cristo el Salvador. La reconstrucción de la catedral comenzó en 1994. El 14 de abril, 1996, el Patriarca Alejo II condujo el primer servicio en la catedral parcialmente acabada. El 19 de agosto, 2000, el Patriarca Alejo II guía a todos los obispos de la Iglesia ortodoxa rusa en la Gran Consagración de la Catedral.

Muchas lecciones se pueden aprender de esta época oscura. Recordamos que al fin, Dios gana. Cuando el mal parece "triunfar" en este mundo, recordemos que Cristo ya triunfó sobre el pecado y la muerte. Dios, después de todo, no puede ser matado o vencido, aunque regímenes y poderes seculares lo declaren así. E incluso en momentos de adversidad y persecución, Dios no abandona a Su pueblo; pero lo más importante, recordamos que hay que permanecer en oración siempre, manteniendo nuestra esperanza y confianza en el Señor hasta el fin. Al igual que los primeros mártires, los neo-mártires de Rusia estaban dispuestos a morir por la Verdad, sabiendo que nada—ni siquiera la muerte—los podía separar de una eternidad con Dios. Preguntémonos: ¿Qué tan comprometidos estamos con la Iglesia de Dios? ¿Estamos dispuestos a dar nuestra vida por la Verdad que proclamamos? ¿A quién reconocemos como autoridad Suprema en una sociedad secular y atea?

“La Luz brilla en las tinieblas, y las tinieblas no la dominaron” (Juan 1, 5)
 

Herr, Erbarme Dich

"Kyrie Eleison" en alemán.

"Kyrie Eleison" in German.

St. Demiana

St. Demiana was a Christian martyr of the early 4th century. When she was fifteen years old, her father wanted her to be wed. But she refused, and told him that she had vowed herself a bride to the Lord Christ. She asked her father to build her a place where she could worship God in seclusion with her virgin friends. He fulfilled her wish and built her the house that she wanted. She lived in it with 40 other virgins. They spent their time reading the Scriptures and in worship.

Shortly after, Emperor Diocletian sent for Mark, Demiana's father, and ordered him to worship the idols. At first he refused, but after the Emperor appeased him he obeyed his order and worshipped the idols, forsaking the Creator. Mark returned to his official seat, and Demiana, knowing what had happened, rushed to meet him. She said to him, "What is it that I heard about you? I would have preferred to hear about your death rather than to hear that you have renounced your faith and forsaken the God Who created you from non-existence into being, to worship gods made by hands. Take note that if you do not return to your first faith and renounce the worship of stones, you are not my father and I am not your daughter," and she left him.

Her father was deeply moved by the words of Demiana, and he wept bitterly. In haste, he went to Emperor Diocletian and confessed the Lord Christ. When the Emperor could not convince him with threats and promises, he ordered him beheaded.

Emperor Diocletian knew that the one who turned Mark from worshipping the idols was Demiana, his daughter. He sent her a prince to try first gently to convince her to worship idols, and if she disobeyed him to behead her. The prince went to Demiana with 200 soldiers and the instruments of torture. When he arrived at her palace, he said to her, "I am a messenger sent from Emperor Diocletian. I came to call upon you according to the Emperor's orders, to worship his gods, so that he can grant you all that you want." But Demiana said to him, "May God denounce the messenger and the one by whom he was sent. Don't you have any shame at all to call stones and wood gods which are inhabited by devils? There is no god in heaven or on earth except one God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Eternal Creator... As for me, I am the maidservant of my Master and my Savior Jesus Christ, and His Good Father and the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity, Him I confess and upon Him I depend, and in His Name I die, and by Him I live forever."

The prince became angry and ordered her to be placed in the squeezing press until her blood poured out of her body on the ground. The virgins were standing weeping over her. When they put her in prison, the angel of the Lord appeared to her, touched her body with his illumined wings, and she was healed of all her wounds. The prince used all his evil imagination to torture Demiana, once by tearing her flesh and another time by placing her in boiling oil. Through it all the Lord raised her up safely. When the prince saw that all his attempts were in vain, he ordered the soldiers to behead Demiana by the sword, along with the 40 virgins.

The relics of St. Demiana and the 40 virgin-martyrs repose at the Monastery of St. Demiana (pictured here) in El-Barary in the Nile Delta of Egypt. According to tradition, it was St. Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine, who built Demiana and her 40 virgins a tomb, and around that tomb a church and monastery eventually flourished. St. Demiana is often referred to as the founder of female monastic life.

St. Demiana and the 40 virgins' martyrdom is commemorated on 13 Toba (corresponding to about 21 January).

Light and Life (Φως Ζωη)

Φως (Light) Ζωη (Life)

Luz y Vida (Φως Ζωη)

Φως (Luz) Ζωη (Vida)