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Posted on 12/10/2011 11:11:43 AM PST by marshmallow
The Russian nuclear submarine Aleksandr Nevsky will be fitted with its own Orthodox chapel after the vessel finishes its sea trials. It has become the second nuke-carrying sub equipped with a sanctuary in addition to ballistic missiles.
The military chapel will allow sailors to attend religious services right on board during the sub’s long missions.
It was donated to the vessel’s crew by the Omophor Fund (omophorion), which brings together both able-bodied and war-wounded veterans who spent their lives serving their motherland and who are continuing that service in the field of social and church charity.
It is the sixth military chapel to be donated by the fund. The other five were installed on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, the heavy cruiser Pyotr Veliky, Russian Navy sail training ship Kruzenshtern, guided missile cruiser Moskva, and nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine K-433 Svyatoy Georgiy Pobedonosets.
The fund organizers said that their initiative was inspired by an episode in 1903, when St. Elizabeth Romanova of Russia donated several Orthodox military chapels to the Russian fleet.
(Excerpt) Read more at rt.com ...
Good for the Russians. Returning to the humanity of faith in God...even while our government moves away from it...
I used to push Poseidon missiles around on the USS Lafayette to protect the free world from the Godless communists of the Soviet Union.
Now, “the United States is no longer a christian nation” and Russia is building chapels into their SSBNs.
Russia has found God, and we’re flocking to feel-good megachurches where you pay for salvation but never talk about sin. I think we have now officially lost the Cold War.
Wonder why Obama is relieving many sub commanders and surface ship commanders and replacing them with loyal sycophants..
He must have something planned.. maybe planned in Russia.. or China.. or both..
Cloward-Piven is not dead.. but in fact at full steam..
Soros is up to his eyeballs in the MF Global situation..
The Soviet Union Lost the Cold War, Russia may win the peace that followed. They have returned to their church and God. This will give them strength and comfort in the hard times to come. I fear the Mega Church—feel good ‘Worship Centers’ will not provide the inner needs when things go south. It is to their credit the Russians found God—would that we follow down this path. Legends say when the people of the west abandon Jesus and Christian Faith—Russia, as the Third Rome, will restore Christ to the west. It may happen.
the Russians are not there yet -- but they are increasingly religious. And i'm talking about the ordinary Russians I meet.
Was there a chaplain aboard Lafayette? I´m curious as to how faith issues were/are addressed. Lay services, etc. Thanks.
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We had an enlisted Religious Petty Officer named Mark Stevens. It is a volunteer collateral duty. He held lay services every Sunday and maybe a Bible study on Wednesday. Sadly, I didn’t have much use for religion or God in those days so that’s about all I know. I wouldn’t know that, except that he was the Throttleman in my watch section (I was Electrical Operator), so we spent six out of every 18 hours together for 75 days at a time. He tried to get me saved and I tried to convince him that an extra hour of sleep is more important than worshipping God.
Very interesting. I´d often wondered about that aboard subs. I´d sure hope to have enough good books too, to last a cruise.
Thanks so much. And thanks for your service!
Stupid title....I think this is actually a good thing. After being put under the yoke of atheist communism for so many years it’s nice to see Christ is making a comeback.
A salute to a good man of honor. Well said Sir.
"More tea, anyone?"
I'm not a fan of Eastern Orthodoxy, but it says a great deal when China is lecturing the American President about the dangers of socialism and Russia is outfitting naval vessels with Christian chapels.
Something is wrong with this picture.
God will always have a people to worship Him. If we reject Him as a nation, God will raise up someone else to rebuke us for our faithlessness.
I'm not sure what the statistics are...but I'm fairly certain Russian Church attendance and devotion, is very similar to that of the rest of Europe...something less than 4 percent. As in Soviet days...a substantial majority are either outright atheists, or agnostic and irreligious.
That's hardly being "returned to the church and their God." Yes certainly it is a positive development that one can be a Christian openly in Russia (especially if one is Russian Orthodox...not so much for other denominations) without fearing persecution.
Russia is a now a neo-fascist dictatorship, ruled by an ex-KGB official. If the kinds of things done by the government in Russia were being done in say Germany--the world would be having a serious fit...
Fortunately for the world...Russia faces a demographic collapse (people aren't having kids...)and unlike in the Cold War era, poses no serious world military threat in the next generation. They do, however, hold undue influence over Europe as they the a major supplier of natural gas to Germany and others. Because of this, Germany today is much more deferential to modern Russia than they were to the Soviet Union.
Still, this chapel may well be as much for PR, as it is for sincere religious reasons. Russia is no more Christian today than is say, France, Germany, England or Italy. These countries are more secular now--than they have ever been.
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