In the afternoon we toured Novodevichy Convent and Danilov Monastery. Our guide was a devout orthodox woman who also loved cats and Russian literature. She explained some of the symbols. When she walked into a church, she held her arm up to ask mercy like the thief on the cross next to Jesus (although that must be an allegory since the thief obviously didn't raise his arm.) To make the sign of the cross, the thumb and first two digits are held together symbolizing the trinity while the last two are folded down symbolizing the dual nature of Jesus. The cross begins at the forehead symbolizing the intellect and moves down to the heart symbolizing the emotions. Then you cross to the right where the angel is and to the left to drive away the demon. Finally you bow showing allegiance. The orthodox cross also has significance. Above the main crossarm is a smaller crossarm where the inscription "tzar of the Jews" stood. Below is a slanted crossarm smaller than the main arm, but larger than the arm for the inscription. It is the footrest, but points to the choices that the two thieves made. The 8 points (top, bottom, and both ends of the 3 arms) stand for eternity.
At Nichodevichy,we saw the two churches, one for the winter
and the other for the summer.
We also saw where Peter the Great's sister Sophia was imprisoned as well as where his first wife was forced to live. Sophia was regent for her brother Ivan and half brother Peter while they were too young to rule, but when Peter became old enough to rule, she was enjoying the power too much and made a move to take over the throne. Unfortunately for her, the top brass all moved over to Peter's side and left her stranded. Peter found a small place for her at this monastery. She had her own chapel and was only allowed to go to the main chapel on the complex at Easter and Christmas. Above is the area of the convent where Sophia was imprisoned; to the left is a painting of her.
Eudoxia, the very Russian bride Peter was forced to marry at age 16, also became a 'member' here when Peter decided to remarry.
A museum of religious art which had been preserved from the Soviets was on display in one of the buildings. These are only a few pictures of the incredible collection.
Because this was the start of a lot of holidays, traffic was especially heavy. To avoid traffic, our driver pulled up on a median where some army students were racing. The students had to stop because our van was in the way, and the driver was unable to get past the barriers anyway, so he drove off down the median until he passed the heaviest of the traffic before he got back onto the road.
The next monastery we toured was Danelov, the place where the Patriarch spends most of his time. There is even a 5 star hotel next to the monastery for guests. Because it was close to Easter, tables were set up so that people could bring their food to have the priests bless it. They were also buying kulich--easter bread-- which had already been blessed by the priest. The icon of Christ descending to Hades most represents Russian Easter. There is also a special greeting for Easter which they tried to teach me, but the lesson didn't go so well. Also the special greeting for Easter is a kiss on the cheek 3 times rather than the normal 2 times.
The Orthodox easter will be celebrated this weekend, so as we toured the churches, cathedrals, and monasteries, we saw preparations for Easter. Last weekend people were buying pussy willow branches to commemorate Palm Sunday. We didn't see what they did with the branches. This weekend, all the churches were selling kulich and honey. On Saturday they will take their bread and eggs to the priest to have it blessed. Inside the church, people queue up to pass the tomb of Jesus.
On the way home we stopped at a grocery store where we had a drink. The Russians are known for their fresh juices, so Monica and I decided to try a lime juice. After a hot afternoon, it sounded refreshing. Turns out that our lime juices were just that--no sugar added and no dilution. Wow! were they sour!!! We're still laughing about our drinks.
These were in the metro station. If I remember correctly, the tree represented names of countries supporting communism. The second picture is of Lenin.
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