Russian Orthodox Church

MOSCOW -- The burial of Czar Nicholas II was supposed to be an occasion of healing and atonement, but it's more likely to be one that picks at old wounds instead -- and maybe causes some new ones as well.With just three weeks to go, a government commission is plunging ahead with its funeral plans, even as the Russian Orthodox Church demurs, monarchists object, President Boris N. Yeltsin finds himself otherwise engaged, the Communists -- whose forebears shot the czar and his family in the first place -- stand on the sidelines, and ordinary Russians wonder if it all isn't just a distraction from the country's ominous economic woes.

'Degas Family Day'Put your feet in first position for a family day focusing on "Degas and the Little Dancer" Sunday at the Baltimore Museum of Art.See the Ellicott City Ballet, Sankofa Dance Theater, Combined Youth Ensemble, the Kimberly Mackin Dance Company, Choregraphie Antique and students from the Peabody Preparatory perform. Keep your eye on the modeling ballerina and sketch her as she poses for budding artists. Hear period music from Degas' day and enjoy light refreshments. Ballet attire is encouraged, and dance troupes are welcome.

MOSCOW -- When Pastor Vladimir Dyamko had his microphone snatched out of his hand and was forced off an auditorium stage by a Russian Orthodox priest last month, he knew his Seventh-day Adventist Church's lease was up.Officials in the small town of Gagarin in western Russia canceled the church's lease on the auditorium and told Dyamko he couldn't preach on public property until he got "permission" from the Russian Orthodox Church.Even six years after Russia's new constitution called for freedom of religion, many of Russia's far-flung provincial authorities haven't gotten the word yet.And they won't, if the Communist-dominated Russian Parliament has its way.A new federal law that is expected to pass the State Duma, lower house of Parliament, today would severely restrict the activities of "nontraditional" churches.

NOGINSK, Russia -- Police shoved the archbishop into the back of a car, his hands cuffed behind his back. A 2-year-old child wailed in the cold night air. Nuns in their 70s shouted in anger and fear.The authorities in this industrial-gray city 40 miles northwest of Moscow were acting in the name of Russia's new law on religion, which grants the Russian Orthodox Church special status and diminishes the religious rights of others. With the help of police officers carrying nightsticks and Kalashnikov rifles, they pushed out the Ukrainian Orthodox clergy and worshipers of the Epiphany Cathedral, according to those who were here.

The Russians are comingIf you've got a taste for pastries and some tea served from a samovar with raspberry jam, the Russian Festival is just your stop. It'll be a weekend filled with authentic foods, song and dance, imported gift items such as lacquered boxes and brooches, ornaments, books and religious items, at Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church. Come hungry and sample everything from Russian beer and homemade pork sausage to borsch and sourdough Russian rye bread. And catch the Russian dancing of the Mor'yana Dance Company as they perform Saturday.

YUDINO, Russia -- The unsmiling bride and groom seemed a little confused standing on the steps of the 230-year-old village church.Tanya Klimov and Valeri Nosov were eager to have a traditional Russian Orthodox wedding. But, typical children of the Soviet era of official atheism, they'd never seen a church wedding before except in movies."Do we go in?" 19-year-old Klimov asked the knot of family and friends standing in the chilly autumn morning.No one was certain, not even the usually omniscient Russian mothers.

The British composer John Tavener's conversion in 1977 to the Russian Orthodox Church had profound consequences for his music, which began to take on altogether more transcendental and austere qualities. Although Tavener is Western-trained, in some respects he now most resembles such Eastern European "minimalists" as Henryk Gorecki and Alfred Schnittke.His best-known work, "The Protecting Veil," was composed in 1987 at the suggestion of the brilliant, young British cellist Steven Isserlis that Tavener write a piece for cello and strings.

MOSCOW -- Severe and sumptuous, rigidly authoritarian and intensely mystical, the richly contradictory Russian Orthodox Church has obscured and illuminated the mysteries of the Russian soul for a thousand years.Today, as it has for centuries, the church provides a landscape against which the larger national conflicts are felt in microcosm. Once again, as it has through history, the struggle for Russia's future reverberates in the church, where nationalists and Westernizers have begun an open fight over souls and influence.

The following article was signed by six Orthodox Christia clergy: the Very Rev. Constantine M. Monios, dean of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation; the Very Rev. Myron Manzuk, St. Andrew's Russian Orthodox Church; the Very Rev. Mark Odell, Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church; the Very Rev. George Romley, St. Mary's Antiochan Orthodox Church; the Rev. Manuel Burdusi, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church; and the Rev. Louis Noplos, assistant pastor...

MOSCOW -- Thousands of opponents of President Boris N. Yeltsin battled with police yesterday and burned barricades on a busy thoroughfare in the largest clash of Russia's 12-day-old political crisis.A traffic policeman was crushed to death by a car trying to break through a cordon of police gathered in front of the demonstrators, and two dozen police officers were injured -- two seriously, officials said.They said several protesters also were hurt, several seriously. Yeltsin opponents put the number of injured demonstrators at more than 60.The escalating violence intensified the pressure on negotiators for Mr. Yeltsin and the anti-reform parliament to defuse their standoff, as the Russian Orthodox Church struggled to mediate a compromise.

Amid cease-fire, clash in Gaza Strip kills two GAZA CITY: Palestinian militants killed one Israeli soldier and seriously wounded another in a cross-border bombing yesterday morning, prompting an Israeli counterattack that killed a Palestinian farmer and wounded a Hamas fighter. The clash, near the central Gaza border crossing of Kissufim, is the most serious threat so far to the separate cease-fires declared by Israel and Hamas that have largely held since Jan. 18, after a three-week Israeli offensive.

On Tuesday April 1, 2008 Ruth Elizabeth Service and interment private. Contributions may be made in her memory to St. Andrew Russian Orthodox Church in America, 2028 East Lombard Street, Maryland 21231

Moscow -- The Russian Orthodox Church formally ended yesterday an 80-year global schism triggered when overseas exiles refused to accept the domestic church's subservience to the Soviet state. In a ceremony at Christ the Savior Cathedral, leaders of the domestic and overseas Russian Orthodox hierarchies signed an act of "canonical communion." The document provides for the full restoration of religious unity under the Moscow patriarchate. The Russian Orthodox Church was torn by the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, a subsequent civil war pitting Vladimir I. Lenin's Red Army against a monarchist White Army, and the flight of refugees abroad.

For Russia, with love The lowdown -- Take a journey to Russia this weekend at the Russian Festival, held at the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church tomorrow through Sunday. The festival showcases traditional Russian cuisine, music, arts and crafts, dance ensembles and more. Saturday evening's performers are the Washington Balalaika Society Orchestra and the Lyman Ukrainian Dance Ensemble. Visitors can also tour the Byzantine-style church, create Russian Easter eggs and learn about orthodoxy.

On February 19, 2006, MICHAEL PATRICK, devoted friend of Catherine Scelsi, beloved father of Jeffrey A. Patrick, Sr. and his wife Vicky, Vicki P. Shores and her husband Steve and Wayne M. Patrick. Cherished brother of Vera De Marzio and her husband Nick and the late Mary Powers, Irene Clark, John Patrick, George Patrick and Bill Patrick. Loving grandfather of eight grandchildren and five great grandchildren. A Funeral Service will be celebrated at Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church on Friday 10:30 A.M. Interment Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday, February 28th at 11 A.M. Friends may call at the family owned Leonard J. Ruck, Inc. Funeral Home, 5305 Harford Road (at Echodale)

Area churches play a significant role in the region's musical life, serving as concert venues for a wide spectrum of performers and repertoire each season. Here are notable examples on this weekend's calendar: The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation celebrates its centennial with a concert by the church's choir singing works in Greek and English. The program includes the haunting Song for Athene by contemporary British composer John Tavener, which was memorably performed at Princess Diana's funeral.

On April 10, 2005, JOHN E. KOWALEVICZ, beloved husband of Patsy M. Kowalevicz (nee Neal); devoted father of Jeff, Thomas and Harry Kowalevicz; dear brother of Joseph and Theodore Kowalevicz; loving grandfather of Amber, Angela, Summer, Autumn and Allan Kowalevicz. A Funeral Service will be held at the Connelly Funeral Home of Essex, 300 Mace Avenue, on Friday at 11 A.M. Visiting hours on Thursday 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. Interment Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church Cemetery.

On March 21, 2005, PETER; beloved brother of Olga Schluderberg and Nada A. Sansone; dear uncle of Andrea Barridon, Larry Schluderberg, Gail King, Donna Cayer, Joseph Sansone, Paul Sansone and Diane Palacorolla. Friends may call at the WITZKE FUNERAL HOME of CATONSVILLE, INC., 1630 Edmondson Avenue, (1 mile west of beltway exit 14), on Tuesday and Wednesday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. Services at St. Andrew's Russian Orthodox Church, due notice of time. Interment in St. Andrew's Russian Orthodox Cemetery.

On August 4, 2004, FRANK BOROWICK. He is survived by one son, one daughter, one brother, four sisters and four grandchildren. Panahyda Service at the Kaczorowski Funeral Home P.A., 1201 Dundalk Avenue on Sunday at 7 P.M. Mass in Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church Cemetery Chapel on Monday at 11 A.M. Visiting hours Sunday 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 P.M. In lieu of flowers, please make donations in his name to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

On February 22, 2003 CATHERINE"Kasha", beloved mother of Paula Sawka-Ferris and Michael W. Myers. She is also survived by her loving pets. A Parastas Service will be held at the Family owned Leonard J. Ruck Inc. Funeral Home 5305 Harford Road (at Echodale) on Monday at 8 P.M. A funeral service will be held at Saint Andrews Russian Orthodox Church Tuesday at 9:30 A.M. Interment Saint Andrews Cemetery. Friends may call on Monday from 6 to 9 P.M.