78. Russian Orthodox worship at the Cathedral of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity
Last weekend I visited several churches in an effort to better understand the current state of the Russian Orthodox church - its art, architecture, beliefs, and practices - in active churches rather than tourist museums like St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. The Cathedral of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity ("Sobor Svyatoy Zhivonachalnoy Troitsy") was my final stop of the afternoon.
This majestic church has a huge blue dome that is visible from almost as far north as Anichkov Bridge at Nevsky Prospekt, even though the church itself is well south of the main tourist areas in the city center. It is the largest wooden dome of any church in Europe. As I learned a few months ago while out for a city hike, it takes about 45 minutes to walk to the cathedral from Tolstoy House, although a quicker way to get there would be to take the Metro two stops south from my apartment. It dates to the 1830s and I believe that this church is where Fyodor Dostoevsky was married.
Right when I arrived at the church to look around, and purely by happenstance, a church service was starting. Approximately 75 people were in attendance at 5:00 pm on a Saturday evening. I decided to stick around to observe what would happen. I have been to church services for a variety of Christian sects in the United States and Europe (lots of Roman Catholic masses; an assortment of Anglican, Episcopal, Methodist, and non-denominational Christian services; and even a Greek Orthodox wedding) but the rituals of this ceremony were unfamiliar. Here's what took place:
01) There were no pews or chairs in the church - everyone stood for the entire ceremony
02) Nine priests performed the rituals. Sometimes all together, but generally they were doing different things in different parts of the church - moving icons around, spreading incense, singing at the lectern, (literally) running back and forth for unclear (to me) reasons, et cetera.
03) No one spoke - the entire ceremony was sung or chanted in a continuous stream without pause. It was almost a call-and-response between the officiants and the choir in the loft.
04) The congregation did not vocalize anything for almost the entire ceremony, except for two short sung segments, once about halfway through, and once at the very end.
05) All the worshipers repeatedly bowed and made the sign of the cross throughout the ceremony - perhaps 300-400 times per person.
06) The sequence of the sign of the cross was: forehead, chest, right shoulder, left shoulder. In Most American Christian sects, the sequence for the sign of the cross is: forehead, chest, left shoulder, right shoulder. Apparently the sequence here is the original way that all Christians performed this action.
07) Some of the worshipers wandered around the church during the ceremony, primarily to kiss icons (also one of the main activities when church is not in session).
08) The iconostasis doors were repeatedly opened and closed. Some parts of the ceremony took place at the altar with open doors, some parts in the same spot behind closed doors, some parts at a lectern closer to the congregation, and some parts in the center of the nave.
09) Incense was spread around the church several times via censer in the direction of various icons. During two of these occasions, everyone present had to bunch up in the middle of the floor underneath the dome, to allow the priest to have uninterrupted passage around the perimeter of the church.
10) There was no communion service. Approximately halfway through the ceremony, everyone lined up to receive a liquid on their forehead administered via a tool similar to a paintbrush (perhaps holy water?). Then they wiped it all over their faces as they walked back to their spot.
11) The service lasted just under two hours. However, some of the congregation left halfway through, and more left in the last 30 minutes as well. Perhaps 40-50 people were present for the entire service.
This majestic church has a huge blue dome that is visible from almost as far north as Anichkov Bridge at Nevsky Prospekt, even though the church itself is well south of the main tourist areas in the city center. It is the largest wooden dome of any church in Europe. As I learned a few months ago while out for a city hike, it takes about 45 minutes to walk to the cathedral from Tolstoy House, although a quicker way to get there would be to take the Metro two stops south from my apartment. It dates to the 1830s and I believe that this church is where Fyodor Dostoevsky was married.
Right when I arrived at the church to look around, and purely by happenstance, a church service was starting. Approximately 75 people were in attendance at 5:00 pm on a Saturday evening. I decided to stick around to observe what would happen. I have been to church services for a variety of Christian sects in the United States and Europe (lots of Roman Catholic masses; an assortment of Anglican, Episcopal, Methodist, and non-denominational Christian services; and even a Greek Orthodox wedding) but the rituals of this ceremony were unfamiliar. Here's what took place:
01) There were no pews or chairs in the church - everyone stood for the entire ceremony
02) Nine priests performed the rituals. Sometimes all together, but generally they were doing different things in different parts of the church - moving icons around, spreading incense, singing at the lectern, (literally) running back and forth for unclear (to me) reasons, et cetera.
03) No one spoke - the entire ceremony was sung or chanted in a continuous stream without pause. It was almost a call-and-response between the officiants and the choir in the loft.
04) The congregation did not vocalize anything for almost the entire ceremony, except for two short sung segments, once about halfway through, and once at the very end.
05) All the worshipers repeatedly bowed and made the sign of the cross throughout the ceremony - perhaps 300-400 times per person.
06) The sequence of the sign of the cross was: forehead, chest, right shoulder, left shoulder. In Most American Christian sects, the sequence for the sign of the cross is: forehead, chest, left shoulder, right shoulder. Apparently the sequence here is the original way that all Christians performed this action.
07) Some of the worshipers wandered around the church during the ceremony, primarily to kiss icons (also one of the main activities when church is not in session).
08) The iconostasis doors were repeatedly opened and closed. Some parts of the ceremony took place at the altar with open doors, some parts in the same spot behind closed doors, some parts at a lectern closer to the congregation, and some parts in the center of the nave.
09) Incense was spread around the church several times via censer in the direction of various icons. During two of these occasions, everyone present had to bunch up in the middle of the floor underneath the dome, to allow the priest to have uninterrupted passage around the perimeter of the church.
10) There was no communion service. Approximately halfway through the ceremony, everyone lined up to receive a liquid on their forehead administered via a tool similar to a paintbrush (perhaps holy water?). Then they wiped it all over their faces as they walked back to their spot.
11) The service lasted just under two hours. However, some of the congregation left halfway through, and more left in the last 30 minutes as well. Perhaps 40-50 people were present for the entire service.
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