Metropolitan Laurus (Skurla)
Rating: 10|Votes: 2
In the reestablishment of ecclesiastical unity, the Lord "gave strength unto His people; the Lord blessed His people with peace . " This peace strengthens us in witnessing Christ, strengthens us in the service of the Church of Christ, in the preservation and dissemination of our Holy Russian ideals both in the Fatherland and beyond its borders. The main thing is to live in peace, help one another and support each other in the work of the Church, showing others the example of love, humility, patience and the good Christian life.
At the blessing of His Holiness, Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow and all Russia, an official delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church, headed by His Eminence Isidore, Metropolitan of Ekaterinodar and Kuban, will be participating in a celebration of the restoration of unity in the Russian Orthodox Church. The delegation, which includes the Sretensky Monastery Choir, will be participating in Divine Services in churches and monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. These guests from Russia will be carrying a holy miracle-working icon treasured by all Orthodox Christians—the “Reigning” icon of the Mother of God.
Thomas Busse
Every so often, a Russian performing group rides through town and brings out what seems to be the entire Russian emigre community, filling one of the largest halls to capacity. Its program typically offers a serious or traditional first half followed by arrangements of favorite tunes from the war years or Soviet cinema. As the tunes grow more familiar, culminating in ever-popular bonbons such as Moscow Nights or Ochi Chornaya, the audience becomes ever more enthusiastic.
T.L. Ponick
Mostly in their 20s and 30s, the extraordinary young singers of the monastery’s new choir demonstrate a deep reverence for and mastery of ancient liturgical traditions that had been, at the very least, strongly discouraged when they were children.Their current three-continent tour is multifaceted. Bearing a revered, "miracle-working" icon of the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of God — rediscovered in the late 1980s — they are singing for traditional liturgies at Russian churches (such as Washington’s Cathedral of St. John the Baptist on 17th Street Northwest) to celebrate the reunification of the Russian Orthodox Church, which formally occurred May 17. They also are presenting concerts like this one that include a broader repertoire.
Cecelia Porter
Rating: 2|Votes: 1
Working from both sacred and secular texts, Moscow Sretensky Monastery Choir filled the Library of Congress’s Coolidge Auditorium on Wednesday night with a vocal luster that extended as far as the expression of reverence and human passion can reach. And the auditorium was filled to the rafters with listeners, the audience including many religious dignitaries in colorful ritual dress.
