The Russian Orthodox Church
Spiritual Russia
 The
Russian Orthodox Church is a largest from among fourteen landed churches
which are included into a structure of Unified Sacred Cathedral and Apostolic
Orthodox Church. Through continuous successive consecration, the Russian Orthodox Church
inherits the spiritual authority from the disciples (Apostles) of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Today (about 1000 years after christening of Russia) the Russian Orthodox
Church experiences the genuine revival. Having released from social illusions
and utopias, many Russian people deliberately return to a path indicated to us
by the Jesus Christ, to a bosom of the church glorified by its saints, the
church that saved traditions and spiritual gifts since the Twelve Apostles and
the first Bishop of Jerusalem - the Saint Apostle Jacob (from among 70 disciples). The restoration "from the ashes" (only during five years!) of the
greatest Russian cathedral of all times - the Temple of Christ the Savior in Moscow became a true evidence of revival of Russian Orthodox
Church.
 The construction of cathedral of the Resurrection in Monchegorsk has become
such evidence on our Kola Peninsula. This cathedral, consecrated by the AII
Russia 's Patriarch Alexij in 1998, became a true decoration of our land. Another central temple of our eparchy - Saint-Nicolas cathedral in Murmansk,
is reconstructed and decorated also.
You can visit these beautiful temples, but (whichever religion you are)
observe the following rules: the men in a temple should be without head-dresses
and the women on the contrary, are obliged to cover their heads. It is not
allowed to talk and walk around the temple during a public worship, as it
binders the believers to concentrate on a pray. For the same reason the candles,
which you want to deliver to icons placed in an altar part of a temple, is
better to carry not on your own, but to hand over through the people, or through
the women working in the temple.
 Public worship in Russian Orthodox Church is conducted in the Church Slavonic
language - unusually elevated, beautiful and figurative. It's base is made by
Old Slavonic language, which was used by the Saint brothers Cyril and Mefodij
for translation of the Holy Writ and church Books from Greek language in VII
century. Subsequently, the Old Russian language cautiously replaced separate, most
obscure and disharmonious words and expressions.
This process was finished by issuing the "Elizabeth's Bible" in
1751, which text is used for public worship in Russian Orthodox Church nowadays.
Through the church public worship, the orthodox Christians enter into mysterious
dialogue with the God and receive from him vigour for righteous life.
The major decorations of an Orthodox temple are the icons with images of the Savior, of the Blessed Virgin and of the Saints. The icons of the Blessed Virgin
are held in the special reverence and possess a beneficial force in the Orthodox
Church.
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In General: