It is often
claimed that the United States are a Christian country (the most Christian
country, according to some), but the development of Christian culture within
that union of States is in sharp contrast to what one finds in the history of
Orthodox countries.
This
distinction is shown with remarkable clarity in the life of the Holy Prince
Andrew Bogoliubsky (‘God-loving’) of Vladimir (+1174). In his life one sees a conscious, lifelong
effort to benefit his people both
physically and spiritually:
‘The
chronicles also stress Saint Andrew’s peace-making activity, a rare trait among
the princes and military commanders of those harsh times. The combination of
military valor with love for peace and mercy, of great humility with
indomitable zeal for the Church were present in Prince Andrew in the highest
degree. A responsible master of the land, and a constant coworker in the city
construction and church building activity of Yurii Dolgoruky, he built with his
father: Moscow (1147), Iuriev-Polsk (1152), Dmitrov (1154), and he also adorned
the cities of Rostov, Suzdal’, and Vladimir with churches. In 1162 Saint Andrew
could say with satisfaction, “I have built up white Rus with cities and
settlements, and have rendered it with much populace.”
‘ . . .
‘Thirty
churches were built by Prince Andrew during the years of his rule. The finest of
them is the Dormition cathedral. The richness and splendor of the church helped
to spread Orthodoxy among the surrounding peoples and foreign merchants. Saint
Andrew had directed that all travellers, whether Latins or pagans, were to be
led into the churches he built and to have “true Christianity” pointed out to
them. The chronicler writes: “Both Bulgars, and Jews, and every sort of common
person, beholding the glory of God and churchly adornment, came to be
baptized.”
‘ . . .
‘The
liturgical activity of Saint Andrew was multi-faceted and fruitful. In 1162 the
Lord granted the holy prince a great solace: in Rostov there was discovered the
relics of Rostov saints -- the holy hierarchs Isaiah and Leontius. The
glorification of these Rostov saints throughout all the Church took place
somewhat later, but Saint Andrew initiated their national veneration. In 1164
the military forces of Saint Andrew crushed their long-time enemy, the Volga
Bulgars. The victories of the Orthodox nation were marked by a blossoming of
liturgical creativity within the Russian Church.
‘In
this same year of 1164, at the initiative of Saint Andrew, the Church
established the Feast of the All-Merciful Savior and the Most Holy Theotokos on
August 1 (venerated by the Russian people as “Savior of the First Honey”), in
memory of the Baptism of Rus by holy Equal of the Apostles Vladimir and in
memory of the victory over the Bulgars in 1164. The Feast of the Protection of
the Mother of God on October 1 embodied in liturgical forms the faith of the
holy prince and all the Orthodox nation in the acceptance by the Mother of God
of Holy Rus beneath Her omophorion. The Protection of the Theotokos became one
of the most beloved of Russian Church Feasts. The Protection is a Russian
national holiday, unknown to the Latin West. It is a liturgical continuation
and creative development of theological ideas inherent to the Feast of the
Placing of the Robe of the Mother of God on July 2.
‘The
first church consecrated to the new Feast was the Protection church at Nerla
(1165), a remarkable monument of Russian Church architecture, built by the
master artisans of Saint Andrew at the head-waters of the River Nerla, so that
the prince could always see it from a window of his Bogoliubov garret. . . .’
These
accomplishments of St Andrew (they are not all named) occurred in Russia less
than 200 years after she was baptized with the Holy Great Prince Vladimir in
988. It is a remarkable development,
from the violence and dissipation of a heathen people to the peaceful
constructiveness of Orthodox culture.
What, then,
of the United States in the first 186 years after her independence from Great
Britain? Did the years 1776-1962 bring
along with them any great developments in Christian architecture, liturgical
developments, holy days, the discovery of saints, and the like?
The answer
is an emphatic No, which is quite ironic considering that the U.S. did not,
like Russia, begin their lives as non-Christian nations. They all claimed in some way to be Christians
of some kind or another. One would
expect that given their long experience with Christianity, their incarnation of
a vibrant Christian culture in their first two centuries of existence would
overshadow what Russia was able to accomplish in a similar time frame.
But the
opposite has happened. Christianity and
its public, communal manifestations have decayed considerably. The earlier pretty cathedrals have given way
to hideous modernism (see
the Wayfarers Chapel); and even the better designed Washington National
Cathedral is marred by a sculpture
of Darth Vader. So sparse is
beautiful church architecture in the States that a cathedral of the Orthodox
Church, a faith relatively new to the States, in Cleveland, Ohio, made it into
a list of the top
9 most beautiful churches in the States.
As for
liturgical developments, . . .
The rest is
at http://thesaker.is/christian-culture-young-russia-vs-young-u-s/.
--
Holy Ælfred
the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!
Anathema to
the Union!
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