“In every situation, always try to be pleasant, that is, maintain a peaceful and humble spirit. Do not judge, or grieve anyone, striving so that your words, according to the commandments of the apostles, will be mixed with spiritual salt.”
- St. Ambrose of Optina -
I found this on Handmaid Leah's blog. I love this picture. Also this quote was beautiful.
3 Comments:
It was indeed, thank you!
truly :)
The title of this piece, "Old Church, New Church", perfectly encapsulates the present condition of the Church in Russia. It is old, of course, as it dates back to the Baptism of Russia under St Vladimir in the 10th century. It is new, in many ways "newer" than the Orthodoxy practised here, because the Church is comong out of the catacombs of the Soviet times.
Mr Belyukin (the artist) showed this graphically by his choice of an old church building that was uncharacteristically bare of decoration. Obviously, it had been desecrated under the communists. Nonetheless, the light of Faith never went out, despite all the massacres, despite all the propagnada. Do note that the central figure is a young woman in the traditional posture of prayer and devotion. Yet, I know from personal observation that the Church in Russia is more active in using modern means to reach people than we are. One has only to log into Deacon Andrei Kuraev's internet forum (the best in Russia, if not in all Orthodoxy) to see this.
This artwork is not an isolated phenomenon. There is much similar work being done by mainly younger artists. All the fine arts are seeing Orthodox themes re-enter centre stage, and the popular means are not neglected either (I saw an excellent graphic novel put out by the Sretensky Monastery in Moscow).
In short, there is a plethora of books, images, internet material, music (both popular and classical), films, and audio productions with Orthodox themes now available. It is why I advise "converts" (I hate this word, for there are only believers and unbelievers) to learn Russian. It is simply because the bulk of solid Orthodox material is in that language, not for any "nationalistic" reason.
I wish I could take you all by the hand to see all that I have seen and heard and experienced. It is life-changing, truly.
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