Posted on 07/18/2014 6:42:38 AM PDT by marshmallow
Sergiyev Posad, July 18, Interfax - The precepts of St. Sergius of Radonezh is a key to understanding Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a gala concert on the occasion of the 700th birthday anniversary of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
"The precepts of St. Sergius of Radonezh are key to understanding Russia, to learning its foundamental principles - its historical traditions, unity and togetherness. It is in this unity, in truth and justice, in our centuries-long traditions in which lie the strength of Russia, its great past, present and future," Putin said.
St. Sergius played a truly seminal role in Russian history, he said. "The teacher and builder of Russia, this is how simply and concisely the people summed up the high mission of St. Sergius. His wise and firm word of a teacher was a spiritual pillar and support during the difficult period of foreign invasion and internal feuds. It was then that his prophetic words were said: love and unity will save us. And this exhortation filled with unshakeable faith served for the unification of the Russian lands and forever remained in our national psyche, our historical memory," the president said.
The scale and influence of the personality of St. Sergius have been felt through the centuries, Putin said. "He was the inspirator of the patriotic, national and moral uplifting. He helped consolidate the Orthodox Church and build monasteries which were not only spiritual centers but true fortresses and guardians of Russia," he said.
The Trinity Lavra founded by St. Sergius has a special role, Putin said. "It is rightly considered an Orthodox citadel, a pure source of faith and a national cultural treasury," the president said.
He noted the importance of restoring other places bearing the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh, which are seeing their "second birth" thanks to donations from ordinary people and "their memory about the great saint and his spiritual exploit."
Putin also met with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia and representatives of local Orthodox Churches, who came for the celebration of the 700th anniversary of Saint Sergius of Radonezh.
"We live in difficult time, unfortunately, very many issues exist at the international arena and in spiritual and moral spheres, which are to be overcome, but we can do this only following the ideas, which St. Sergius of Radonezh, who called for unity and love, formed in his time. Only love and unity can save us," he said at a meeting.
So now an old KGB colonel, already an expert at using Orthodoxy as a political tool, is reviving this piece of Czarist propaganda to support his own revanchism.
Cyncial and typical.
Well at least Putin isn’t a Communist. /s
Or a Muslim pretending to be a Russian...
The Muse of History has a very weird sense of humor.
If people move to Russia expecting to avoid decadence, sickness, oppression, corruption & Big Brother, they will be in for a giant & disappointing surprise.
That’s true. But if the West continues to sink into decadence, it may well become grimmer than its grim alternatives.
In the East there is someone that causes the western liberal's maniacal laughter to stop. Vladimir Putin. He has real world power, which causes the liberal media to fearfully ignore or warp his image. Like a good Christian King he leads a nation to Christ. Deep down in their evil souls they shriek like devils because they know Christ is true God and true power that they cannot defeat. They thought the Bolshevik revolution destroyed Holy Mother Russia. Christ cannot be defeated and his servant Putin has welcomed Christ and His church.
-- from the thread US threatened by Russia's Christianity
How's this for a fish story: In the latest episode of Vladimir Putin's ongoing rugged outdoorsman fantasy adventure series, the Russian president, clad in a camouflage jacket and hat, appears to catch a massive pike...Russia's defense minister, who was on the trip, says the fish weighed between 26.4 and 33 pounds, but a Putin spokesman pegs the weight at 46.3 pounds. Russian bloggers are for some reason a tad skeptical. Several have posted images of bigger fish they've caught themselves that have weighed far less. "They must have forgotten to unfreeze the pike," one social network post quipped. Another wrote, "The Kremlin must have weighed the pike the way they count the votes." Come on guys. It's not like Putin would fake a spectacular exploit.Russian Church the Absent Player at Pope-Patriarch Summit
-- from the online article Putin Catches '46-Pound Fish'
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