When I lived in California, I used to walk by this church all the time. It always fascinated me with its blue and gold domes, magnificent painting of the Virgin Mary, and clean, white walls. I rarely saw anybody there, and it seemed like one of those mysteries of life, kept locked up and tucked away, that strikes us with awe but never gets solved. For some reason, I was thinking about this church in relation to Easter and the disaster in Ukraine and decided to look it up.
Established in 1952, the church is part of the Western American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. This Diocese is also called the "Russian Church in Exile" because it has always seen itself as "part of the suffering Orthodox Church in Russia during the decades of Soviet turmoil, persecution, and subjugation of the Church and its faithful." In 2007, the Diocese reunited with the Mother Church in Russia.
Like everybody else, our Russian immigrants in America are shocked and dismayed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here's the message of hope and prayer posted on the church's website:
"We are overcome with grief over the tragic events in Ukraine, for many of us the land of our forefathers, and for some the land where our relatives live today. We pray to the All-Merciful Lord and His Most-Holy Mother for speedy secession of all hostilities and long-lasting peace.
"Prayer to Our Lord:
O Lord, Lover of mankind, King of the ages and Giver of good things; having destroyed the divisions of enmity and granted peace unto the human race, grant even now peace unto Thy servants, planting within them the fear of Thee and establishing them in love for one another. Quench all strife, and remove all dissensions and temptations; for Thou art our peace and to Thee do we offer up glory, to the father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
"Prayer to the Mother of God:
O much sorrowing Mother of God, more highly exalted than all other of the daughters of the earth, according to thy purity and the multitude of thy suffering endured by thee on earth: Hearken to our sighs and soften the hearts of evil men, and protect us under the shelter of thy mercy. For we know no other refuge and ardent intercessor apart from thee, but as thou hast great boldness before the One Who was born of thee, help and save us by thy prayers, that without offense we may attain the Heavenly Kingdom where, with all the saints, we will sing the thrice-holy hymn to One God Almighty in the Trinity, always now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen."
Whatever your faith - Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Protestant, Catholic, Russian/Greek/ Eastern Orthodox, Wiccan, pagan - please pray and extend your best wishes and hopes for the people of Ukraine!
Dawn Pisturino
April 3, 2022
Copyright 2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
