Easter

Over the weekend, at the gracious invitation of Constantine the Younger, I found myself partaking in Easter celebrations at a Russian Orthodox chapel, Uspenja Bogorodice (Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God). (Yes, Orthodox Christians follow a different calendar.)



What a pleasant surprise! Eddie Woogy!





Who's that hiding behind Constantine?





A pair of rabbit ears becomes two, as Elizaveta joins Viktoriia. Hmm... with its super fast Ultrasonic™ image stabilzer, the Canon S5 IS is beginning to look tempting. Anyway, a much better picture of the irrepressible girls can be found here.





Everyone gets a candle.





For some reason, I like the previous picture better.





Patiently awaiting midnight.





Ever the rabble-rouser, I try to set fire to Eddie Woogy's goatee. (Hey, don't blame me. I learned from the best   :-P )





Ed retreats, plastering himself against the wall. I try to set fire to his neighbor's goatee instead. Estella remains blissfully unaware of the sizzling pyromaniacal drama unfolding.






The singing, led by a duo of nuns, was gorgeous.






Picked up by my camera's microphone, the jingling from the small bells attached to the censer ended up sounding like static.





The sanctuary.





Another view.





The service began at 11 PM, and ended at 2:30 AM. Standing room only.





         40 times.






The deacon intoning.






The celebratory spirit is palpable in the singing.





From left to right, the priest and the deacon. Interestingly, the latter's ethnicity is Korean.





Both change their vestments midway through the service.






One more video. This time, I was fortunate enough to record the choir mistress, Mother Olympiada, setting the tone for the choir.

More here.

Spasibo, Constantinus!