Holy Week Memories of Russia

We returned to training class in Zaporozthahl Training Center the day after we arrived from that enjoyable and educational trip to Kiev. Though we've been away only for a short period, so many changes it seemed happened especially in our surroundings. The plants and the trees had grown again and the leaves appeared so full of life compared to those early days of our arrival when they looked dead and lifeless, covered with snow. It was a beautiful springtime and a Holy Thursday. But there is no holy week in Russia.

Before Lenin and the Bolsheviks came to power in 1917, Russia was a Christian orthodox country. Testaments to this were the beautiful and grandiose cathedrals with magnificent domes (often gold plated) and exotic architecture. The czars and their empresses were closely related by blood with the monarchs of central Europe and in those olden times, intermarriages between relatives in monarchies were common. Even at present time, it is not uncommon to see women with crucifix necklaces worn publicly, despite the ban on religion.

In our hotel, which is always frequented by tourists from East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, etc. (the so called Communist bloc), I would often see elderly women wearing such necklaces. At one time at the elevator, just to show to these women that I am also a Catholic, I greeted them with the only words I know they would understand: "Viva El Papa John Paul." They were surprised yet fully delighted to return the same compliment.

Still feeling the Kiev hangover and to break the boredom of the training class, Mike and I found a reason not to attend the next day's class. Every Friday, our three Egyptian and one Pakistani classmates would excuse themselves from class before noon and return to our hotel for their Friday noon prayers facing the direction of Mecca. We always tease them about this but we understood and respected it. So we asked permission from our training director, Comrade Soroko, invoking our Catholic faith and religious practice.

So, on that Good Friday, April 20, when everybody in the city didn't seem to know about it, we rested and prayed in our hotel.

Note: Photos of the cathedrals are HERE.