Арте́льный горшо́к гу́ще кипи́т 💖💗

Hello everybody 😃, 

How are you all? Today's post is dedicated to my recent trip to Russia!  So are you ready?

Part of the Red Square by night as the snow starts falling, creating a majestic picture!

                               Saint Vasilios Cathedral in Moscow!

Did you know that the Christianization of the Rus took place at the Kievan period?

Going back in time….  

 The Kievan period

Constantinople's greatest mission outreach was to attract the areas known as Kievan Rus that are now the states of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Christianity was introduced into Kievan Rus by Greek missionaries from Byzantium in the 9th century. 

 These were Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius in the 9th century, who were Greek missionaries from Byzantium.  The churches in Russia still carry a lot of the majestic air of Byzantium Era and it's influence to the Russian Empire; as you see in the photos below!

Part of my first days in Moscow also inluded a visit at a painting exhibition of hagiographies hosted by my cousin; the photos  below  are from there.

At the exhibition I was lucky to meet a monk from Mount Athos that you can see in the photo below, who was trully a God sent person! Image source

We had a long discussion about a lot of things and I will share with you one of those that I had heard of before but all of a sudden got tremendous value coming from the lips of this enlightened person!

"When Jesus said:   <<But I tell you, don't resist him who is evil;  but whoever strikes you on your right
cheek, turn to him the other also.>>  (From Matthew 5:38)  he meant: Turn your strong cheek in order to protect yourself and fight back if it's necessary"!!!! 

That made so much more sense to me and I will be forever grateful to this graceful monk 💗💗💗💗!!!!

Amazing handcrafted work using semi precious stones!!!

Swarovski crystals as well!!

While getting ready for the excibition with some Gold leaf art below 🎨...

Later on my schedule included sightseeing as usual 😊...

Truth is that Moscow's a very interesting city and has so many different things to see and do while being there, but my big love has always been  Петроград, or Saint Petersburg as it is known to the rest of the world.💖💖💖💖!!

Saint Petersburg  was the capital of Imperial Russia until the 1917 October Revolution. The Communist revolution that brought the end  in the era of the Tsars and the Russian nobility in a brutal way! 

Image source

The Tsar Nicholas II and his family, the Romanovs, in a family portrait in the photo above, as well as the majority of the members of  the aristocracy were slaughtered, executed or  disappeared by the Communists!!

The very few and lucky ones that survived, fled to other countries, mostly in Western Europe.

Ironic, saying they were lucky really, since the majority of those survivors had to see their families being raped, savaged and murdered before their eyes and carry these memories of horror for the rest of their lives! The view from the photo above is the Church of the Savior on Blood from the Griboedov Canal St Petersburg and the only photo I will share with you from St. Petersburg! 

This narration has become a bit heavy emotionally and we wouldn't want that just a few days before Christmas, would we?😃

So I will say bye for now, with a Russian saying that is also the title of this post: 

 “Арте́льный горшо́к гу́ще кипи́т.”  Which means in English:  With a helper a thousand things are possible! Or  even better: "Working as a team produces better results". Don't you agree? 😀

And in case I am not going to be here before Christmas..... 

                      HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY😘💖💗💕!!!!

Until next time 💖💖💖💖