Archangel Michael Church

St Petersburg Russia Spilled Blood Church

After our 2 hour whirlwind visit, we had time for one more stop before the end of our day in St Petersburg, and that would be the Church of the Savior on Blood, or Spilled Blood Church. The Church was build on the site where Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded in March 1881.

The church is prominently situated along the Griboedov Canal, with paved roads running along both sides. On March 13, 1881, as Tsar Alexander's carriage passed along the embankment, a grenade thrown by an anarchist conspirator exploded. The Tsar, shaken but unhurt, got out of the carriage and a second conspirator took the chance to throw another bomb, killing himself (aka like a suicide bomber) and mortally wounding the Tsar. The Tsar, bleeding heavily, was taken back to the Winter Palace where he died a few hours later.

St Petersburg Russia Links

St Petersburg Russia Driving into Town and Nicholas I monument -

St Petersburg Russia Pushkin Shop and Driving to Catherine Palace


St Petersburg Russia Live Band outside Catherine Palace Gates


Catherine Palace (Pushkin) Walkthrough St Petersburg Russia Gorgeous Day!


McDonalds Lunch in St Petersburg Russia Drive to Hermitage People Watching


Hermitage Museum 2 Hour Visit in 6 Minutes St Petersburg Russia


Spilled Blood Church Church of the Saviour on Blood St Petersburg Russia


Serenade of the Seas sailaway St Petersburg Russie


We sail on the Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas 7N Baltic Seas cruise out of Copenhagen Denmark, sailing to Stockholm (Sweden), Tallinn (Estonia), St Petersburg (Russia) and Helsinki (Finland). Our sailing was late May 2016. Launched in 2003, the Serenade of the Seas is a retrofitted Radiance class cruise ship. We stayed in a gorgeous Family Oceanview cabin 1054 and had a wonderful time. Follow my cruise critic review -

Ampleforth Orthodox Choir

Exerts from Russian Orthodox service at the Abbyy

Verkhoturye - the spiritual center of the Urals (Russia)

Verkhoturye - the spiritual center of the Urals. The city was founded in the XVI century. In Verkhoturye are two of the monastery, St. Nicholas Monastery and women's Intercession Monastery. On the territory of the Transfiguration Church, kept the main shrine Verkhoturye - the relics of St. Simeon Verkhotursky

The film was made as part the project Big Ural and Ekaterinburg
Director and cameraman: Vasily V. Goloshchapov
stabicam.pro

Попы. От тьмы к свету.

Фильм рассказывает о сегодняшнем православном священстве. Герои фильма - три попа. Первый - в прошлом богемный художник, второй - провинциальный мальчишка, прошедший Афганистан, а третий - продолжатель древнего поповского рода. В фильме участвовали: священник Сергий Правдолюбов, настоятель храма Живоначальной Троицы в Голенищеве, г. Москва, священник Сергий Симаков, настоятель храма Архангела Михаила в Бору близ Углича, священник Михаил Щербатов, настоятель храма Живоначальной Троицы в Елатьме Рязанской и Касимовской епархии.

Наблюдение за этими людьми, беседы с ними, размышления об их жизни привели авторов фильма к неожиданному и парадоксальному выводу: священство - единственное сохранившееся сословие в России.

Братья и сестры! Просим Ваших святых молитв!

Да снизойдет на Вас Божия благодать!

Приход храма Святого праведного Иоанна Кронштадтского Чудотворца. Волгоград. Россия.

Братья и сестры! Просвещайтесь, распространяйте, подписывайтесь -

Archimandrite Christopher Calin sermon

Archimandrite Christopher Calin sermon
Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection,New York, NY, February 3, 2013
Readings for February 3, 2013
Holy and Righteous Simeon the Godreceiver and Anna the Prophetess (1st); Prophet Azariah (10thBC); St Simeon, bishop of Tver (1289); Martyr Vlasios of Cappadocia (3rd); Martyrs Papius, Diodorus, and Claudianus at Perge; Martyrs Adrian and Eubulus at Caesarea; Holy Hierarch Ansgar, archbishop of Bremen and Hamburg, enlightener of Denmark and the North (865); Blessed Prince Romanus of Uglich (1285); Right-believing Great Prince Sviatoslav, in baptism Gabriel; Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas, archbishop and enlightener of Japan (1912)
9:00 am Hours & Divine Liturgy
35th Sunday after Pentecost
Matt 25.14-30
For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more. So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.'
Col 3.12-16
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

St. Petersburg Russia Rivers and Canals, Art of the Hermitage, MS Russ, Churches of Russia

Saint Petersburg Russia River Cruises, Rivers and Canals, Hermitage, Russia Churches

The Life And Death Of Boris Godunov

Boris Fyodorovich Godunov (/ˈɡɒdənˌɔːf, ˈɡʊd-/; Russian: Бори́с Фёдорович Годуно́в, IPA: [bɐˈrʲis ɡədʊˈnof]; c. 1551 – 23 April [O.S. 13 April] 1605) ruled the Tsardom of Russia as de facto regent from c. 1585 to 1598 and then as the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. The end of his reign saw Russia descend into the Time of Troubles.


Boris Godunov was the most noted member of an ancient, now extinct, Russian family of Tatar origin, which came from the Horde to Kostroma in the early 14th century. He was descended from the Tatarian Prince Chet, who went from the Golden Horde to Russia and founded the Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma. Boris was the son of Feodor Ivanovich Godunov Krivoy (the one-eyed) (died, c. 1568–1570) and his wife Stepanida Ivanovna. His older brother Vasily died young and without issue.

Godunov's career began at the court of Ivan the Terrible. He is mentioned in 1570 for taking part in the Serpeisk campaign being an archer of the guard. The following year, he became an oprichnik – a member of Ivan's personal guard and secret police. In 1570/1571, Godunov strengthened his position at court by his marriage to Maria Grigorievna Skuratova-Belskaya, the daughter of oprichniks' head Malyuta Skuratov-Belskiy. In 1580, the Tsar chose Irina Godunova, or Irina (later Alexandra) Feodorovna Godunova (1557 – 26 October/23 November 1603), the sister of Godunov, to be the wife of his second son and eventual heir, the fourteen-year-old Feodor Ivanovich (1557–1598). On this occasion, Godunov was promoted to the rank of Boyar.[2] On 15 November 1581, he was present at the scene of the Tsar's murder of his own eldest son, the crown prince Ivan. Godunov tried to intervene, but received blows from the Tsar's sceptre. The elder Ivan immediately repented and Godunov rushed to get help for the Tsarevich, who died four days later.

Three years later, on his deathbed, Ivan IV appointed a council consisting of Godunov, Feodor Nikitich Romanov, Vasili Shuiski and others, to guide his son and successor of Russia Feodor I, who was feeble both in mind and body: he took refuge from the dangers of the palace in devotion to religion; and though his people called him a saint, they recognized that he lacked the iron to govern men.

Upon his death, Ivan also left the three-year-old Dmitry Ivanovich (1581–1591), from his seventh and last marriage. Since the Orthodox Church recognized legitimate only his first three marriages, and any offspring thereof, Dmitri (and his mother's family) technically had no claim to the throne. Still, taking no chances, shortly after Ivan's death the Council had both Dmitri and his mother Maria Nagaya moved to Uglich, some 120 miles north of Moscow. It was there in 1591 that Dmitri died at the age of ten. An official commission headed by Vasili Shuiski was sent to determine the cause of death. The official verdict was that the boy had cut his throat during an epileptic seizure. Ivan's widow claimed that her son had been murdered by Godunov's agents. Godunov's guilt was never established and shortly thereafter Dmitri's mother was forced to take the veil. Dmitry Ivanovich was laid to rest and promptly, though temporarily, forgotten.
Regency

At the coronation of Feodor Ivanovich as Tsar Feodor I on 31 May 1584, Boris received honors and riches as a member of the regency council, in which he held the second place during the life of the Tsar's uncle Nikita Romanovich. When Nikita died in 1586, Boris had no serious rival for the regency.

A conspiracy of other boyars and of Dionysius II, Metropolitan of Moscow, sought to break Boris's power by divorcing the Tsar from Godunov's childless sister. The attempt proved unsuccessful, and the conspirators were banished or sent to monasteries. After that, Godunov remained supreme in Russia and he corresponded with foreign princes as their equal.

Quartet in the Church of Elijah the Prophet

A quartet sings a capella music in the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Yaroslavl, Russia

Russian Men's Choir in Church inside Kremlin

Moscow, May 14, 2014

Kizhi Island Russia

Kizhi Island Russia

The Life And Death Of Ivan I of Moscow

Ivan I Daniilovich Kalita (Ива́н I Дании́лович Калита́ in Russian; 1288 – 31 March 1341 was Prince of Moscow from 1325 and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1328

Ivan was the son of Prince of Moscow Daniil Aleksandrovich.

After the death of his elder brother Yuri III, Ivan inherited the Principality of Moscow. Ivan participated in the struggle to get the title of Grand Prince of Vladimir which could be obtained with the approval of a khan of the Golden Horde. The main rivals of the princes of Moscow in this struggle were the princes of Tver – Mikhail, Dmitry the Terrible Eyes, and Alexander II, all of whom obtained the title of Grand prince of Vladimir and were deprived of it. All of them were murdered in the Golden Horde. In 1328 Ivan Kalita received the approval of khan Muhammad Ozbeg to become the Grand Prince of Vladimir with the right to collect taxes from all Russian lands.

According to the Russian historian Kluchevsky, the rise of Moscow under Ivan I Kalita was determined by three factors. The first one was that the Moscow principality was situated in the middle of other Russian principalities; thus, it was protected from any invasions from the East and from the West. Compared to its neighbors, Ryazan principality and Tver principality, Moscow was less often devastated. The relative safety of the Moscow region resulted in the second factor of the rise of Moscow – an influx of working and tax-paying people who were tired of constant raids and who actively relocated to Moscow from other Russian regions. The third factor was a trade route from Novgorod to the Volga river.

Ivan Kalita intentionally pursued the policy of relocation of people to his principality by an invitation of people from other places and by purchase of Russian people captured by Mongols during their raids. He managed to eliminate all the thieves in his lands, thus insuring the safety of traveling merchants. Internal peace and order together with the absence of Mongolian raids to the Moscow principality was mentioned in Russian chronicles as “great peace, silence, and relief of Russian land.

Ivan made Moscow very wealthy by maintaining his loyalty to the Horde (hence, the nickname Kalita, or moneybag). He used this wealth to give loans to neighbouring Russian principalities. These cities gradually fell deeper and deeper into debt, a condition that would allow Ivan's successors to annex them. The people called Ivan the ‘gatherer of the Russian lands’. He bought lands around Moscow, and very often the poor owners sold their lands willingly. Some of them kept the right to rule in their lands on behalf of Ivan Kalita. In one way or another a number of cities and villages joined the Moscow principality – Uglich in 1323, the principality of Belozero in 1328–1338, the principality of Galich in 1340. Ivan's greatest success, however, was convincing the Khan in Sarai that his son, Simeon The Proud, should succeed him as the Grand Prince of Vladimir; from then on, the important position almost always belonged to the ruling house of Moscow. The Head of the Russian Church – Metropolitan Peter, whose authority was extremely high, moved from Vladimir to Moscow to Prince Ivan Kalita.

Following a Lithuanian raid on the town of Torzhok in 1335 (as part of the Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars), Ivan retaliated by burning the towns of Osechen and Riasna.

Ivan died in Moscow, 31 March 1341. He was buried 1 April in the Church of the Archangel Michael.

Legacy

Under Ivan Kalita, Moscow was actively growing, and his residence on the Borovitsky hill became the main part of the city. Erection of either wooden or white-stone constructions was started in the Kremlin. A number of churches were built: in 1326–1327 the Assumption Cathedral, in 1329 the Church of Ivan of the Ladder (John Climacus), in 1330 the Cathedral of the Saviour on the Bor (Forest), and in 1333 the Cathedral of Archangel Michael, where Ivan Kalita and his descendants were buried. Between 1339 and 1340, Ivan Kalita erected a new, bigger oaken fortress on the Borovitsky hill.

In Ivan’s will “the golden captain” was mentioned for the first time; this cap is identified with the well-known Monomakh’s crown, the main crown's of Russian sovereigns.

5 Russia Kizhi Aug 31

Tour pilot house of Viking River Cruise Rurik, cruising, Kizhi, shopping at the tourist vendors at the dock, going through another lock.

The Life And Death Of False Dmitry II

False Dmitry II (Russian: Лжедмитрий II, tr. Lzhedmitrii II; died 11 December 1610),[1] historically known as Pseudo-Demetrius II and also called the rebel of Tushino, was the second of three pretenders to the Russian throne who claimed to be Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich, the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible. The real Dmitry had died under uncertain circumstances, most likely an assassination in 1591 at the age of nine at his widowed mother's appanage residence in Uglich.

The second False Dmitry first appeared on the scene around 20 July 1607, at Starodub. He is believed to have been either a priest's son or a converted Jew, and was relatively highly educated for the time. He spoke both the Russian and Polish languages and was something of an expert in liturgical matters. He pretended at first to be the Muscovite boyar Nagoy, but confessed under torture that he was Tsarevich Dmitry, whereupon he was taken at his word and joined by thousands of Cossacks, Poles, and Muscovites.

In the course of the year Jerzy Mniszech, father of Marina Mniszech, widow of False Dmitry I, 'reunited' him with Marina, who miraculously recognized her late husband in this second Dimitry. This brought him the support of the magnates of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth who had supported False Dmitry I. Adam Wiśniowiecki, Roman Różyński, and Jan Sapieha decided to support the second pretender as well, supplying him with some early funds and 7500 soldiers, among them Aleksander Józef Lisowski, leader of the infamous mercenary band later known as Lisowczycy.

He quickly captured Karachev, Bryansk, and other towns, was reinforced by the Poles, and in the spring of 1608 advanced upon Moscow, routing the army of Tsar Vasily Shuisky at Bolkhov. Promises of the wholesale confiscation of the estates of the boyars drew many common people to his side. The village of Tushino, twelve versts from the capital, was converted into an armed camp where Dmitry gathered his army. His force initially included 7000 Polish soldiers, 10,000 Cossacks and 10,000 other rag-tag soldiers, including former members of the failed rokosz of Zebrzydowski. His forces soon exceeded 100,000 men. He raised to the rank of patriarch another illustrious captive, Philaret Romanov, and won the allegiance of the cities of Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Vologda, Kashin and several others.


The arrival of King Sigismund III Vasa at Smolensk caused a majority of his Polish supporters to desert him and join with the armies of the Polish king. At the same time, a strong Russo-Swedish army under Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky and Jacob De la Gardie approached Tushino, forcing him to flee his camp disguised as a peasant and go to Kostroma, where Marina joined him and he lived once more in regal state. He made another unsuccessful attack on Moscow, and, supported by the Don Cossacks, recovered a hold over all south-eastern Russia. However, he was killed, while half drunk, on 11 December 1610 by a Tatar princeling, Peter Urusov, whom he had flogged. Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski described this event in his memoirs:

Having drunk deep at dinner...he ordered a sleigh to be harnessed, taking flasks of mead to the sleigh. Coming out into the open country, he drank with some boyars. Prince Peter Urusov, together with those several score horsemen with whom he was in league, was riding after him, apparently escorting him. And when the imposter had drunk very well with the boyars, Urusov drew from his holster a pistol which he had ready, and galloping up to the sleigh first shot him with the pistol, then cutting off his head and hand with his saber, took to the road.

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