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IV. VIDEOS in
Russian
- Moscow
-
TIME: 1 hour PRICE: $24.95
In Russian [Made in Russia in 1997]
- THIS VIDEO IS NOW AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH.
- CLICK ON THE HYPERLINKED TITLE BELOW TO GO TO THE PAGE:
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DESCRIPTION
- Truly "the Great Church of Russia," no other monument in Russia can begin to
compare with Christ the Savior Cathedral: it is truly the people’s church, and it
reflects the national soul. This excellently crafted and technically superb documentary
was produced for the 850th anniversary of Moscow. Seen through Moscovite eyes, the video
depicts the history of this amazing Cathedral, built on the Moskva River near the Kremlin,
and its central role in the life of Moscow and the nation. Numerous drawings, paintings,
prints, archival photos and film footage, plus considerable contemporary film footage are
combined in this fascinating documentary. Portrayed are the original construction and
consecration, its destruction by Stalin in 1931, and its reconstruction in the 1990's. The
major people involved with the life of the Great Church are profiled, including its
saints: St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow; Patriarch St. Tikhon; and St. Alexander
Khotovitsky. The final third of the video depicts the various stages
of the reconstruction of the new Cathedral in the 1990's, and
includes views of the consecration of different parts of the enormous complex, and
some excerpts of Divine
Services. You will see the public celebration of the blessing of the
exterior of the cathedral by Patriarch Aleksei, with President Yeltsin and Moscow’s
mayor present, and the blessing of the new bells. Also shown are excerpts of the
Patriarchal Divine Liturgy and blessing of fruit on the Feast of the Transfiguration in
the Cathedral’s magnificent Church of the Transfiguration. This is the smaller
"downstairs" church, with a gorgeous iconostasis painted/written by
Archimandrite Zenon, plus other beautiful icons.
- The original enormous church was built by contributions from people all over Russia to
commemorate the fallen, and to give thanks to God for Russia’s being saved from
devastation by Napoleon’s invasion in 1812. It was built to be a place of gratitude
and prayer to the holy patrons and heavenly protectors of the Russian land, and to the
Savior, Jesus Christ. Its artistic decoration illustrates the unity of the life of Christ
with the history of Russia—inseparable from its Orthodox Faith. For 30 years the
Metropolitan of Moscow, Philaret, inspired and guided much of the creation of this
spectacular Temple of God. It was here that in 1917 Patriarch St. Tikhon was elected the
first Patriarch of Russia in over 200 years, and it was here that opposition to the
Communist destruction of Russia was centered. This church symbolized that Russia’s
greatest strength was its faith; by destroying it, Stalin was trying to crucify Russia,
her history and culture, her past and her people. Therefore, its recent reconstruction
affirms Russia’s dedication to rebuilding its own soul, and the hope for her
continuing spiritual revival. This Great Church had been, and once more has become a
center of spiritual and cultural life in Moscow and Russia.
This video is totally different from the older video (#VR-24) about
Christ the Savior Cathedral, which was made before the overthrow of the Communist state,
and before anyone could even have imagined that the Great Church of Russia would be
rebuilt less than a decade later.
For complete depiction of the interior of the enormous
upper church, not completed when this video was made in 1997, see our video set
of the complete
Consecration of Christ the Savior Cathedral, #VS-7, on sale now for
$34.95 (reg. price, $44.95).
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ST. INNOCENT/
