2007-09-02 - RussiaToday.ru
Celebrations are underway in the United States to mark the re-unification of the Russian Orthodox Church with its affiliates abroad. The event will last for over a month and include church services and concerts. With the blessing of Patriarch Aleksy II of Moscow and All Russia, an official delegation of the Moscow Patriarchate travelled to New York to participate in the services.
During the Soviet era the Russian Orthodox Church split and it has taken years of negotiations for the two sides to get back together.
The “Reigning Icon of the Mother of God” was brought to New York’s St. Nicholas Cathedral on Saturday by members of the Russian delegation and clergy, giving a historic opportunity for Russian Orthodox Christians living in America to pray before an icon dear to the heart of every believer.
Three months after the re-unification of the Russian Orthodox Church, a joint service was held to commemorate the long awaited move.
Ninety-year old Anastasia Popichak has been worshiping at St. Nicholas’Cathedral for 54 years, but she says Saturday marked a new beginning.
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