Putin
already visited the very same church, also known as the Protection of Our Most
Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary Church, in 2011 for the Christmas
service.
TURGINOVO VILLAGE /Tver Region/, January 7. /TASS/.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attended an Orthodox Christmas service at the
Intercession of the Theotokos Church in the village of Turginovo, in Russia’s
central Tver Region.
The appearance of Putin was a total surprise for other
local Orthodox believers at the rural church, where they gathered for the
service to celebrate Christmas, as there were no previous announcements of the
Russian president’s plans to visit the Tver Region.
Putin already visited the very same church, also known
as the Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary Church,
in 2011 for the Christmas service. His parents were baptized in this church in
1911. President Putin traditionally visits various Russian churches during the
most important religious festivals. He usually prefers to stay in Moscow for
Easter and travels to other parts of the country for Christmas.
Last year, the Russian president attended the Orthodox
Christmas service at a newly restored church in Russia’s Otradnoye village near
the southern city of Voronezh. In 2014, Putin visited the newly built Holy Face
of Christ the Saviour Church in Russia’s southern resort city of Sochi, located
outside the Olympic Park.
In the previous years, he also attended Christmas Eve
services in the city of St. Petersburg where he was baptized, in the Tver
region where his parents were baptized in 1911, as well as in the Kostroma
region, in Karelia, in the northern town of Veliky Ustyug and in the Moscow
region.
In 2001, the president celebrated Christmas in the
Russian capital, where he attended a service at Moscow's main Orthodox
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. In 2000, when he was still the acting
president, Putin attended a Christmas Eve service at the Church of Life-Giving
Trinity on Sparrow Hills (Vorobyovy Gory) in Moscow.
Christians conclude a four-week fast during which they
confess their sins and receive communion. And on Christmas Eve they have
special fasting, "until the first star," in memory of how the Magi
came first to the birthplace of Christ following the movement of the star in
the sky.
At present, a candle in front of the altar, which is lit
at the end of the Christmas Eve service at about noon, symbolizes the star.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia recited Christmas Eve liturgy at the
Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow. The service at Russia’s main cathedral
was attended by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
The festive Christmas service recalls the great event
that marked the beginning of a new era for mankind. At the moment of birth of
Godman God's grace touched every person, every family line, and from that time
the person has the opportunity to accept the gift.
Russia’s main Orthodox cathedral, the Cathedral of Christ
the Saviour, built to commemorate the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812, is
dedicated to the biblical birth of Jesus, since on this very day, December 25
of the older Julian calendar, the last soldier of the Napoleon army left
Russia. For the first time ever, the Christmas Eve service was held with open
Holy Doors to symbolize the openness of God’s word for all.
The Russian Orthodox Church today has more than 30,000
churches and 800 monasteries in almost 70 countries. Religious services are
conducted during the night and in the morning in all Orthodox churches on all
continents.
January 7 is also Christmas day for Orthodox Christians
in Serbia, Jerusalem, Georgia, and the monastic community of Mount Athos in
Greece, one of Orthodox Christianity's holiest sites. A midnight mass also took
place in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem which marks the spot where
Christians believe Jesus was born in the West Bank town.
Source: ITAR-TASS 07-01-2016
Source: ITAR-TASS 07-01-2016
