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Why ST Nicholas Works Wonders For Russians
Why ST Nicholas Works Wonders For Russians
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The Soviet Union turned its back on religion but modern Russia,
under Vladimir Putin - the former KGB officer - has made religion,
nationalism, patriotism and conservatism cornerstones of the
Russian state, reports BBC Moscow correspondent Steve
Rosenberg.
"Any religious idea, any flirtation with a god," he wrote, "is the most
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inexpressible foulness, the most shameful infection."
Once again Russians have been queuing for hours. But this time,
not to get into the mausoleum. They've been lining up outside Christ
the Saviour, the cathedral that the Communists once destroyed, but
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which was rebuilt from scratch after the collapse of the USSR. The
queues have stretched for more than a mile.
It's here that I meet pensioner Natalya. It's taken her six hours to
reach the front of the queue. Natalya clearly has the patience of a
saint. Which is just as well, for it is a saint she has come here to see
- and to venerate.
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For according to the Church here, it is Nicholas who has saved
Russia many times from catastrophe.
For more than 900 years, his bones have lain in a crypt in the Italian
city of Bari. But now, after an historic agreement between the
Catholic Pope and the Orthodox Patriarch, one of St Nicholas' ribs is
on loan to Russia.
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In the cathedral, I spot the golden ark, which was transported here
from Italy amid great pomp and ceremony. The rib is inside, and I
can see it through the glass cover. A long line of Orthodox believers
is filing past. As the visitors approach, they make the sign of the
cross and bend over the ark. Some place their foreheads on the
casket's transparent top, then kiss the glass and move on.
Image caption Svetlana with baby Vanya, who has been brought from
hospital
Svetlana is with her little son Vanya, who is rather poorly right now.
His arm is hurting. "I've brought Vanya here from the hospital,"
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Svetlana tells me. "I want to give this a chance. Because I really
believe in miracles."
And so, it seems, does Russia's president. For Vladimir Putin, too,
has visited Christ the Saviour this week to venerate the relics of St
Nicholas.
The Kremlin leader placed his forehead on to the glass, then, rising,
crossed himself three times.
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It is remarkable to think that back in Soviet times President Putin
worked for an organisation - the KGB - which tried to suppress
religion and which persecuted the religious. And yet, today, the
Kremlin leader very openly embraces Russian Orthodoxy. He is said
to have his own spiritual adviser, Father Tikhon.
So, today, the authorities here are constructing a new ideology for
Russia - it's a mixture of nationalism and patriotism, conservatism
and loyalty to the state - and all of it underpinned by religious belief.
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