In his Confession of a Heathen (1918)
Alexander Blok writes, `But I am a Russian, and Russians always have the
Church on their minds. Few are indifferent towards her, some hate her intense,
others love her - but always with pain in their hearts.'
For many refugees the Russian-Orthodox
Church has played an important part in their lives. The church was often
their only tie with good old Russia. Even confirmed atheists visited Russian-Orthodox
churches once they were in exile, for nostalgic reasons and to meet compatriots.
In the West the Russian-Orthodox Church
used to be called Greek-Orthodox or Greek-Catholic Church. In this book
I use the present-day terminology.
Orthodox (with a capital o) and orthodox
(with a small letter o) are frequently mixed up. Many newspapers and magazines
don't hesitate to write, `The orthodox Christians of Russia' when they
refer to the Orthodox Christians of Russia. For example: an orthodox Jew
is a Jew who strictly lives by the Jewish doctrine, and an Orthodox Jew
is a Jew who was converted to the Orthodox Church. By the way: the Russian-Orthodox
Church knows only few dogma's.
The Russian-Orthodox Church is a part
of the autocephalous (independent) Churches of the Byzantine Churches,
which consist of the old patriarchates of Constantinopel, Alexandria, Antiokhia
and Jerusalem, the younger patriarchates of Russia, Servia, Romania, Bulgaria
and Georgia, and the non-patriarchal Churches of Cyprus, Greece, Poland,
Czechoslowakia and Albania.
The Russian-Orthodox Church, the largest
of the Byzantine Churches, is autonomous since 1448 and in 1988 the Church
celebrated the thousandst anniversary of Christianity in Russia. In 1961
the Church became a member of the World Council of Churches.
The Russian-Orthodox Church in the 18th and 19th century In those days the Russian Church brought forth several prominent clergymen, who's conceptions and way of life commanded respect from everyone. Staretsi were elderly monks who lived an austere life, to whom conventuals and ordinary believers could turn for counciling and comfort. The staretsi were there for everyone, no matter what social positions they had. Particularly the staretsi of the monastery of Optina Pustin, who were visited by Gogol, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, earned a good deal of respect. In the West the starets Amvrosi became immortal in the character of the monk Zosima, in Dostoevsky's The Karamazov Brothers. The muzhik Grigori Rasputin pretended to be a starets.
The church Russian-Orthodox churches are
usually square, with a large, often onion- shaped dome in the center and
four smaller domes around it. The bell tower isn't attached to the church.
Inside the church are no pews; the prayers are standing, and during the
prayer they now and then kneel.
Inside a Russian-Orthodox church one
often searches in vain for an organ, because musical instruments in the
church have been forbidden for a long time and are still unusual. In stead
of the organ the Orthodox have beautiful Byzantine songs, in which the
bass singer has an important part. Deacons were often hired because of
their qualities as a bass singer.
The Holy Orders are another highlight
of the sacraments of the Russian-Orthodox Church. There are three major
orders in the Church: Deacon, Priest and Bishop. Archbishops, Metropolitans
and Patriarchs have the same orders as bishops. The deacon is the assistant
of the priest at the Liturgy. Only a bishop has the power to ordain, and
the consecration of a new bishop must be performed by three or at least
two bishops, never by one alone.
Marriage or Holy Matrimony also is a
sacrament. The Marriage Service is divided into different parts, which
make a very special occasion of the wedding day. Officially divorce is
only possible in exceptional cases, but in no church the amount of divorces
is as high as in the Russian-Orthodox Church. A lay can only be married
three times, however there are countless exceptions to this rule.
The oil of prayer (in Russian: miro,
in Greek: evchelaion) is used with other sacraments. Only a bishop may
prepare the oil. In Russia the oil was made once a year, in Moscow, in
the Assumption Cathedral, or in Kiev in the Sofia Cathedral. The miro is
made of oil, water, wine and thirty different herbs; it is boiled and subsequently
being consecrated. The Unction (soborovanie) was originally meant to heal
the sick. Since the 8th century it is however also an Extreme Unction,
and it can be conferred on anyone who is sick, whether in danger of death
or not. The priest anoints the eyes, the ears, the nose, the mouth and
the hands of the dying; if it is a man he also anoints the feet; at the
same time he begs God to forgive the dying all the sins he has committed
with the anointed parts of his body. (I have never understood this selection;
as a twelve year old kid I thought about it and I felt that there were
much more parts of the body one can commit a `sin' with.)
The Orthodox Church has certain similarities
with the Catholic Church. The differences are as follows: the use of leavened
bread at communion, denial of the pope's primacy, denial of purgatory,
the opinion that every language is suitable for the Liturgy, and the fact
that priests can (should) be married. In the 19th century the infalibility
of the pope also became an issue of discontent. The Russian-Orthodox Church
fights this doctrine. The Pope, who by the Orthodox Church only is acknowledged
as the Bishop of Rome, is subsidiary to the Oecumenical Council, just like
all other bishops.'
The Russian art of the Kievian period
also has connections with the Church. The religious painters who followed
the Byzantine style, usually used two forms: fresco's and icons. Initially
all religious painters were Greek masters, only much later Russians started
to paint fresco's and icons.
Icons were a characteristic expression
of the rite of the Orthodox Church, with images of Jesus Christ, the Mother
of God and the Saints. However, an icon is not a portrait, but an object
of devotion. The Orthodox believer places his icon in a noticeable spot
in his house, usually in a corner. In front of it a candle is burned and
one prays while facing the icon. As a matter of fact the icon is a symbol
which reminds the believer of the spiritual world, and meant to raise accordingly
emotions in the soul. Icons are like prayers in full colour. They decrease
the distance between heaven and earth.
The psychological influence of an icon
is hard to understand for a westerners, but without the icons and the Liturgy
the Russian-Orthodox religion in Russia wouldn't have survived the seventy
years of oppression and obligatory atheism. The style, the year and the
artist are of no importance. An icon can be a cardboard picture, or a beautiful
painting on cypress wood in a beautiful worked golden frame, but one thing's
for sure: the Russian Christian can't do without them.
The other two movements were formed by the bishops who initially were members of the Synod of Sremsky-Karlovci, but went their own way in 1926. The `Parisian movement' was headed by Metropolitan Evlogi (Vasili Grigorievsky, 1898-1946). In 1930 he was excommunicated by Metropolitan Serge of Moscow, because he had the guts to pray for the persecuted Christians in Russia. Serge stated that no Christians were persecuted in Russia. Because he and his Church were isolated since then, Evlogi decided to join the Oecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinopel. (Which still exists. Since 1612 the Oecumenical Patriarchate is settled in the Istanbul quarter of Fener. There are only about 80,000 Orthodox in Turkey itself, but in the rest of the world there are millions of them.) In 1934 the schism between his Church and the Synod was mended, but some time later Evlogi receded from this decision, and in 1945 he once more declared his Church subsidiary to the Patriarch of Moscow. Shortly afterwards Evlogi died it became clear that his flock wasn't happy with Moscow's rule. His successor, Metropolitan Vladimir (Viacheslav Tikhonitsky), let the Church turn back into the arms of the Oecumenical Patriarchate. That lasted until 1965, when the Patriarchate was forced by Moscow to reject the Russian exarchate. The Russian Churches Outside of Russia had to join the Patriarchate of Moscow. This was unacceptable for the Parisian movement, and it declared itself autonomous. In 1971 the Church was once more welcomed by the Oecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinopel, which hasn't changed since then.
The fourth movement consists of the Metropoly
of Northern America, which was founded by Metropolitan Platon of New York
(1866-1934), who just like Metropolitan Evlogi in 1926 had separated his
Church from the Russian-Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. During the `reunion'
conference of 1935 in Sremsky-Karlovci Platon's successor Theophilus rejoined
the Karlovci jurisdiction, but in 1946, at the Synod of Cleveland, a schism
occurred among the Russians in America. Five of the nine bishops present
at this Synod decided to remain subject to the Russian-Orthodox Church
Outside of Russia, while the other four, including Metropolitan Theophilus
himself, decided to submit to the Moscow Patriarchate. In 1970 Moscow granted
the Metropoly of Northern America not just autonomy, but also autocephaly,
after which the Church was allowed to call itself `Autocephalous Orthodox
Church in America' (the `OCA'), but this grant of autocephaly has not yet
been recognized by the Oecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinopel and the
Russian-Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. The OCA has not only Russian,
but also Albanian, Bulgarian and Romanian parishes.
The differences between the Russian-Orthodox
communities in America obviously have political backgrounds. The members
of the Russian-Orthodox Church Outside of Russia are called `Whites', while
the following of Moscow are labeled `Reds' by their opponents.
In the second half of the 19th century
the Russian emigration to North-America got into its stride. The diocese
was moved from Sitka to San Francisco in 1872, and in 1905 it moved to
New York. The future Patriarch Tikhon was Archbishop of North-America from
1898 to 1907. After the October Revolution the number of Russian immigrants
increased considerably.
The large monastery of the Transfiguration
(Boston, Massachusetts) initially was part of the Greek- Orthodox Church,
but nowadays it belongs to the Russian-Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
The Russian-Orthodox Church has four theological seminaries in America:
St. Vladimir (New York), St.
Tikhon (South Canaan, Pennsylvania) (both
OCA), the seminary and the monastery of the Holy Trinity in Jordanville,
New York (Russian-Orthodox Church Outside of Russia) and the seminary of
Christ the Saviour in Johnstown, Pennsylvania (Carpatian-Russian diocese).
The conventuals print lots of books, mainly in Church Slavonian, because
Orthodoxy in America still grows. Everywhere new parishes are founded and
new churches are built.
The Orthodox population of Northern America
consists of many groups, who often have different and conflicting political
points of view, because of their different backgrounds and lifestyles;
the granddaughter of a Russian Grand Duke who was born in Manhattan lives
and thinks different from the factory worker from the Urals who only just
emigrated. The metropoly of North-America recognizes that questions of
nationality are often part of the problems in the Russian-Orthodox Church,
and that's why they try to reform Russian Orthodoxy into American Orthodoxy.
In the United States the Church has about
11 cathedrals, more than 100 churches and 16 monasteries. In Canada: 2
cathedrals, 20 churches and 2 monasteries. Apart from that: churches, cathedrals,
monasteries missions in Argentinia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil,
Chili, Danmark, Germany, France, Greece, Great-Britain, Iran, Israel, Italy,
Morocco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Paraguay, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland,
Uganda, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Moreover the Russian-Orthodox Church
Outside of Russia runs numerous social institutions, homes for the elderly,
and schools in the United States.
The Russian-Orthodox Church Outside of
Russia is the only Church that canonized Nicholas II, his children, his
wife, and her sister Elizabeth Feodorovna; the other Churches thought this
was too risky.
Obviously the Whites are mainly attracted
by this Church.
Everywhere in New York you can find Russian-Orthodox
churches, but the old Russian nobility of Manhattan wanted a pied-à-terre
for themselves. That's why Serge Semenenko, who during the 1940s was the
president of the First National Bank of Boston, and who originated from
Odessa, bought the former residence of his colleague George P. Baker. A
Russian-Orthodox Cathedral (Mother of God of the Sign), a Russian-Orthodox
high-school (St.-Sergius Lyceum), the chapel of St. Sergius of Radonezh
and the headquarters of the Synod were housed in the building. (Archimandrite
Anthony von Grabbe, the founder of the St.-Sergius Lyceum, was born a count
in Russia, and recently changed over to the Greek-Orthodox Church. The
St.-Sergius Lyceum was closed in the 1980s.) This enormous building, on
Park Avenue and East 93rd Street, is basically open for all `Whites' and
their descendants, but every Russian in Manhattan knows that its mainly
a gathering place of the Russian aristocracy. Due to the fact that all
services in bishop Hilarion's Cathedral are Russian spoken and not all
descendants of the Russian aristocrats speak Russian, they bought another
church, the Holy Father's Church (524 West 153rd Street), where most services
are in English. The St.-Seraphim church (East 95th Street) is recently
been sold and that's why some former St.-Seraphim parishioners at present
visit this `aristocratical' church in West 153rd Street, but because it's
quite far, most of them go to St.-Nicholas Cathedral, 15 East 97th Street,
with all services in Russian. However, not all (former) Russians like to
go there, because the cathedral is also visited by recently emigrated Russians
and bolshevik diehards. In November 1992 the Cathedral celebrated its 90th
anniversary. Apart from the small dome on the church in 153rd Street, it's
the only Russian-Orthodox church in Manhattan with Russian onion shaped
domes and Russian (Byzantine) architecture.
Besides the Synodal Cathedral in East
93rd Street and the Holy Father's Church in West 153rd Street, the Russian-Orthodox
Church Outside of Russia keeps running St.-Marc monastery (419 East 117th
Street) in Manhattan, which not so long ago was used as a reception centre
for refugees from the Soviet- Union.
In Spring Valley, New York, you can find
the Russian-Orthodox nunnery `Novo Diveevo', which also is a nursing home
for retired Russians. Behind the monastery is a large Russian-Orthodox
cemetery, where many `Whites' are burried. Recently Princess Vera Constantinovna
Romanoff (1906-1992), daughter of Grand Duke Constantin Romanoff and great-granddaughter
of Tsar Nicholas I, was inhumed here.
According to the nurses of `Novo Diveevo'
Princess Vera was weekly visited by her niece, Princess Ekaterina Ivanovna
Romanoff, at present Marquise Farace di Villa Foresta, and Princess Marina
Romanoff, at present Mrs. William L. Beadleston.
The Orthodox Church of America is entirely
autocephalous. The members of this Church are mainly descendants from Russian
emigrants, who don't speak Russian any more.
The Russian-Orthodox Churches in the
United States are continually at each other's throats, as a result of which
the churchgoers switch churches all the time. For example: a good friend
of mine married a Russian aristocrat some years ago, after she was baptized
in the Russian-Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. The celebration of the
marriage was in the Autocephalous Orthodox Church in America (OCA), and
at present she and her husband only visit St.-Nicholas Cathedral in East
97th Street. Moreover the OCA-churches in Manhattan have lost their Russian
character (Spanish priests who speak English, etcetera) while the parishioners
of the Russian-Orthodox Church Outside of Russia now and then are too eager
to show that they belong to a privileged class.
Other Russian-Orthodox churches on Manhattan:
Christ the Saviour, 340 East 71st Street, visited by many Russian converted
Jews, and St. Maria Magdalena, 100 Bennett Avenue, where the `real' Americans
show up.
Genuine Russian and cosy, without much
pomp and circumstance, are the small Russian-Ortho- dox churches in Glen
Cove, Long Island, where one imagines himself in old Russia. I'll never
forget the days that I - unbeliever - celebrated Easter there.
The Netherlands The Russian-Orthodox Church
in Holland exists since the beginning of the 18th century, when Tsar Peter
the Great and his train stayed in Amsterdam and Zaandam to learn naval
architecture and shipbuilding.
The Russian-Orthodox community which
he founded in Amsterdam was subsidized by the Russian government until
long after his death.
When Anna Pavlovna (1795-1865) became
Queen of Holland, she had a Russian-Orthodox chapel equiped in her palace,
but later a church was build, in the 1e Sweelinckstraat 54, where it still
is.
Only a few Russians escaped to Holland
after the October Revolution. The ones who did so had relatives in this
country - mainly embassy employees who stayed in Holland after 1917. In
those days father Michael Rosanov (uncle Misha) played an important role
in the Russian-Orthodox community in Holland.
Most Russians didn't come to Holland
until after World War II, and they mainly consisted of Russian women who
were thrown into nazi hard labour camps, where they met their future Dutch
spouses, who also were imprisoned in Germany and Poland.
