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Orthodoxy in India: Missionary Activity
Priest Clement Nehamaiyah (Nehemiah)
Indian culture appreciates deeds more than words, so preaching unsupported by deeds in India will not bear fruit and will not attract people’s hearts that way silent deeds can. -
The Church of Christ Cannot be Closed or Cancelled
Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye
What options do the clergy and laity of our Church have after its ban? -
Ioan David, the Shepherd of God
Cristian Curte
All his life, brother Ioan was neither a priest nor a monk, but a simple shepherd. -
"When I came to Russia in 1958, I could see that the Russia I had been reading about was still alive."
An interview with Dr. James H. Billington
Dr. James H. Billington, the distinguished scholar and Librarian of Congress, recently visited the Moscow Sretensky Monastery. We asked Dr. Billington about how he came to love Russia, about Christianity in America, and about his impressions of the Sretensky Monastery Choir and the book, Everyday Saints and Other Stories. -
Invisible Ascetics of the Bukovina Mountains
Part 1. Climbing Giumalau Mountains
The tradition of eremitic life in Romania has never been interrupted: it is still alive, and monks continue to struggle in gorges and precipices. -
Celebrating Thirty Years of Sretensky Monastery
A Photo Gallery
We present this chronological photo collection from the monastery's first days of rebuilding and renewal under the leadership of Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov), to the present day. -
Super Jump—a Jump into the Abyss
Priest Tarasiy Borozenets
“Super Jump” is not just a commercial pyramid selling a dubious method of personal success, but a networked neo-pagan sect with its own doctrine and cult practice. -
A “Mission Possible” to the Ancestors of the Magi: Orthodox Kurds and Other Iranian Peoples
Hieromonk Madai (Maamdi)
Today there are thousands of Christian Kurds and hundreds of Iranians who have converted to Orthodoxy on their own. It was from these new converts that the initiative to establish a mission began. -
Australia. Convent. Repentance
Abbess Maria (Miros)
Mother Maria was born in Australia and obtained a degree in medicine. But feeling a special call from God, she became a nun. We talked about the convent, choosing the monastic path, and repentance.
Christmas Manger Scenes
Photogallery
Mexico especially loves Nativity Scenes.
Part of a nativity scene from the Church of the Company of Jesus in the city of Oaxaca. Joseph and Mary are dressed in Oaxacan costume. Photo: Wikipedia.com
Nativity scene
Now you can see them in Russia, also, but of course, this tradition came to Orthodox countries from the West.
That is why manger scenes are most widespread in the Ukraine and in those regions of Russia that border with such countries as Estonia, for example.
Manger scene in the Pskov-Caves Monastery, near the Estonian border.
Manger scene in the Kiev-Caves Lavra.
This manger scene is set up near the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross on the territory of the near caves. Photo: Lavra.ua, 2010.
Manger scene on the Kreschatik, Kiev
The first manger scene was set up on the Kreschatik in 2012—in pre-Maidan Kiev. Photo: Internet.
But of course, now manger scenes are being set up in many churches.
By the Church of the “Assuage My Sorrow” Icon of the Mother of God in Maryno, Moscow. Photo: clir.ru.
Manger in Maryno.
By the Church of the “Assuage My Sorrow” Icon of the Mother of God in Maryno, Moscow. Photo: clir.ru.
A purely Russian tradition and joy—a manger scene made of snow.
A snow manger scene at the Holy Trinity Church in Tomsk. Photo: Pravoslavie.tomsk.ru.
Some manger scenes are made of ice.
The Ekaterinburg Cathedral in Tsarskoe Selo (near St. Petersburg). Photo: aquaviva.ru.
A new tradition for Russians: manger scenes with live animals.
The first such manger scene appeared in Pyatigorsk (in the Caucasus Mountains) in 2013, near the Cathedral church. What is interesting is that the lambs lay the whole time at the feet of the figure of the Infant Christ. Photo: blago-kavkaz.ru.
Children love manger scenes with animals.
The St. Sophia Cathedral, Tsarskoe Selo. Photo: mitropolia.spb.ru.
The manger dwellers: sheep, goats, and cows.
The St. Sophia Cathedral, Tsarskoe Selo. Photo: aquavivi.ru
Manger scenes form an unforgettable atmosphere during the Christmas days.
By the Sts. Constantine and Helen Cathedral in Kostanai, Kazakhstan. Photo: Pravosakh.ru
A manger scene by the Church of St. Nicholas in the Kamyskovaya Harbor, Sebastopol, Crimea.
Photo: Crimea.orthodoxy.su.
Prepared by Anastasia Rakhlina
Photographs of these mangers scenes were used from diocesan websites, the Living Water website, and other open Internet sources.