The delegation started its first full day through the streets of the holy city of St. Petersburg. Though founded in 1703 by Emperor Peter the Great, it was not named after him. All along, it had been named after the glorious Apostle Peter, whose life has been a model for a city and area that boasts hundreds of churches, cathedrals and monasteries. St. Petersburg was the capital of Russia for more than 200 years up to the Bolshevik Revolution in 1918. The city has also been called Petrograd (the Russian name match for the German “Petersburg” meaning “Peter’s City”) and Leningrad, after Communist Party leader Vladimir Lenin. In 1989, the people voted to restore the city’s original name of St. Petersburg. It is still considered the culture capitol of Russia.

After a brief stop for sight-seeing above the picturesque Neva River, the delegation came to the Russian Orthodox Christian Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan (Kazansky Cathedral). This holy and glorious house of worship can stand—not seat—7,000 people in front of three altars. Kazansky is also the see of His Eminence, Metropolitan VLADIMIR of the St. Petersburg Archdiocese. The cathedral gets its name from a famous icon of the Virgin Mary that had disappeared but had been miraculously rediscovered in the village of Kazan. The new Kazan Icon is bedecked in thousands of diamonds and precious stones and protected in glass on the iconostasis at the front of the cathedral, yet readily available for the constant stream of people who venerated it and prayerfully asked the Theotokos to intercede with Christ for deliverance from their everyday tribulations. Each delegate took a turn praying before this miraculous icon.

Because Kazansky has three altars, the daily cycle of services and Divine Liturgies are constantly offered for all the local faithful. The delegation walked into the cathedral as the priest offered Holy Communion. He and his brother clergy—like many other locals did on Wednesday—came and asked for a blessing from His Grace, Bishop JOSEPH, who prayed at the remainder of the Liturgy with his delegation. A small choir, standing at least 25 feet above the faithful at the southern altar, sang “Eis polla eti, Dhespota” to Sayidna. The cathedral clergy then took him on a tour inside the massive altar area, which could easily stand several hundred clergy. Kazansky also has icons of Nicholas II (the last Russian czar) and his entire family, as they have been declared saints by the Russian church, martyred by the Bolsheviks. His special throne remains in tact near the sanctuary’s center, above which hangs his icon.

Next stop was St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra (“grand monastery”). Hundreds of monks dwell in this capital of Russian Orthodox monasticism named after the 13th century saint that was a great prince and military leader of Novgorod. He successfully defended the land from invading Germans, and struck great treaties with surrounding lands. Among the icons the faithful venerated were those of St. Alexander, a famed icon of the three angels that represent the Holy Trinity (which has been copied for veneration in churches worldwide), and another made of metal shaped like an iconostasis that had several small icons and little dots of wax that held tiny relics of saints. The delegation also prayed before the casket that bears the body of St. Alexander. Sayidna JOSEPH then anointed the delegates with holy oil kept there.

Perhaps the most moving part of the visit to the lavra came during a tour of the monastery cemetery. Hundreds of bishops, priests, deacons, monastics and faithful have their final resting places here, many after enduring excruciating martyrdoms at the hands of the Communists. One bishop had been crucified in front of his altar; another had been poisoned before leaving for a diplomatic mission at the Vatican, where he eventually collapsed. Along a green wall, the delegates saw bullet holes and broken concrete where forty monks had been lined up, shot and killed. Many graves had no names; these marked the people who had been killed for the faith yet their bodies have never been recovered.

The delegation then trekked to the Czars’ Winter Palace and Hermitage Museum to view Russia’s treasured civic, art and historical tradition. Our tour guide remarked that if one would spend three minutes viewing each display in the massive museum, it would take 11 years to see the entire collection. Catherine I commissioned the extravagant palace be built starting in 1754, but she never lived to see its completion. It opened in 1762 under Catherine II, who started the Hermitage next door to the palace, bringing in priceless artifacts and works of art from all over Russia and the world. The royal Romanov family continued to fill the halls until their reign came to an end in World War I.

The entire complex is now a museum, and it receives 35,000 visitors daily. The delegates made their way through four wings to view original paintings by Rembrandt, da Vinci and other masters that adorn the walls. The architectural splendor of the palace includes a massive reception room, a throne room named in honor of Peter the Great and countless pillars and doors covered in gold leaf. The wooden floors, which boast of more than two dozen types of parquet carved and laid into intricate designs and shapes, are heavily protected with at least 1 cm of lacquer. In addition to all the furniture and fine china, the Hermitage hangs a special a white chandelier personally crafted by Peter the Great for Elizabeth I. The Hermitage also displays the original pure silver sarcophagus that used to hold the body of St. Alexander Nevsky.

The delegation will spend Thursday again in St. Petersburg, visiting more holy and cultural sites to, in the words of Sayidna JOSEPH, arouse spirituality and education.

By Subdeacon Peter Samore