Tomorrow evening marks the start of Ramadan - probably, it all depends on the sighting of the new moon and whereas some Muslims are happy to calculate the date on the basis of astronomical data, in Muslim circles this is a hotly debated issue.  Anyway, for those who rely on actual sightings it is possible that in some parts of the world the month will start tomorrow.

Also, in the Muslim calendar, the day isn’t reckoned to run from midnight to midnight but runs from sunset  to sunset … so if today is the first day of Ramadan – for practicing Muslims, it actually began at sunset today.

Anyway, I though I would take the opportunity to look at one of the major characters in the development 0f Islam who has connections with Kyrgyzstan: Ali bin Uthman al-Hujwiri.  

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The religion of Islam is based on the teachings of the prophet Mohammed who died in 632 AD. Disputes arose after his death as to the leadership of the faithful – which led to a division between the Sunni and Shiite that is still reflected in the world of Islam today.  In general, the Kyrgyz are adherents to the Sunni branch of Islam.

Another branch of Islam is Sufism –  defined by its adherents as “the inner, mystical dimension of Islam”.   Others say that it is “a perennial philosophy of existence that pre-dates religion”.

The word “Sufi” is derived from the Arab word for wool and was assigned to certain groups because of the woollen robes that they wore.  The Sufi tradition tends to emphasise the compassionate nature of God to be found in the Koran, as to the more austere view presented in some of the other traditions, and Sufi “dervishes” sought a mystical union with the Almighty and eventually Sufi orders began to emerge.

One of the places which played a prominent role in the development of Sufism was the Ferghana Valley with a number of Sufi saints such as Ali bin Uthman al-Hujwiri and Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki studying here.

The Grand Shaykh Ali bin Uthman al-Hujwiri was born around the turn of the first millenium, (1000AD or 390 according to the Muslim calender), in Ghazna (in modern day Afghanistan), which was then the capital of the mighty Ghaznavid Empire – into a family that was apparently held in high esteem for piety and learning.

An eleventh century Sufi, he is renowned as the author of the celebrated Persian treatise on Sufism: Kashful Mahjub, (“Unveiling the Veiled” or “Revealing the Mystery”), which was the first book on the subject to be written in Persian.  (At that time Arabic was the dominant language for religious Islamic works and several texts about Sufism apparently existed – and are referred to in the work - some of which no longer exist.) It is considered a one of the most comprehensive treatments of Sufism and includes accounts of the lives of some of the great historical figures of the movement (including quotations of their sayings), a discussion of various features of the doctrine and practices of the movement (including an examination of the differences between different schools within the movement) and accounts of episodes drawn from his own life and experience.  Despite its age, it is considered to still be one of the best descriptions of Sufism and it is said that those who seek a guide in Sufism should do three things:

• pray for guidance;
• visit the tombs of the great shaykhs, and
• read the Kashful-Mahjub.

(There is an abridged English translation by Reynold A. Nicholson, made in 1911. There is also another version, of the complete text with a commentary, by the Chishti Scholar Captain Wahid Bakhsh Siyal, published in Malaysia.)

Few details are known about his life apart from what is contained in this book – roughly a third of which is biographical. According to one source, the image of the great man presented in the book is of a “kind but irascible” person, with a “shrewd yet forgiving judge of character”.

It is not clear if he ever married … there is one passage in the book which some scholars have claimed suggest that he did – but others say that it can be interpreted in different ways. In general, it appears that he has a poor opinion of women.

The book opens with an explanation of why he has placed his name so prominently – claiming authorship – to avoid plagiarism. Apparently, with some earlier manuscripts he lent the manuscripts to some unscrupulous people who erased his name and replaced it with their own.

He traveled extensively and lived in Southern Kyrgyzstan for quite some time. He had some of the most important experiences of the formative period of his life in the region and describes the key spiritual figures of the Ferghana Valley in the second part of the work.

He spent the last years of his life in Lahore (in modern day Pakistan) – where the Kashful-Mahjub was probably written at the request of his close friends and disciples who had come with him from Ghazni and Sarkhs.

He died in about 1072 (465 according to the Muslim calendar) in Lahore and is considered as the “patron saint” of the city, which marks the anniversary of his death (19 Safar, according to the Muslim calendar) every year with an official holiday. He is buried in an busy urban area, outside the Bhati Gate, near to the old city.

In the thirteenth century, a dome was built over the enclosure. Also, the Sufi Saint and scholar Khwaja Muin al-Din Ajmeri visited the tomb and stayed there for 40 days seeking permission and faiz, (spiritual benefit), from him before moving to Ajmerm in the eastern part of India.

The shrine (known as Data Dabar) is apparently the largest Sufi center in South Asia, (it can accommodate about 50,000 worshippers at any one time), and one of the most popular sites of pilgrimages in the sub-continent and attracts hundreds of thousands of devotees on the anniversary of his death. When Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistani Prime Minister, returned to the country from exile in 1986, her cavalcade headed directly from the airport to the shrine.  It is currently administered be the ministry of Religious Affairs.

He is also known as: Ali Al-Hijiri Al-Jullabi, Al-Ghazanwi – because he lived in all three places – and as Daata Ganj Baksh (“The giver who bestows treasure”).

St. Sergius – a detail from the photograph in the Knews artcle

Yesterday, when I left the office to go down to the hotel, my accountant still hadn’t arrived.  That’s not unusual because on Mondays she has to visit the banks to collect some paperwork and I assumed that she had gone there on her way to work.

When I got back to the office in the afternoon and scanned the news reports, however, I thought I had discovered another reason for her absence … I came across a couple of reports, (here and here - they are both in Russian), about a Holy Icon arriving at the Cathedral of the Resurrection in Bishkek.  She is a devout believer and member of the Orthodox Church.

I asked her why she hadn’t told me about it, and she said that she didn’t know what I was talking about.  When she went to church in the morning (on the way into work – and to the bank) there was quite a crowd and a new icon … but she hadn’t seen any announcements beforehand and didn’t know anything about it.  I presume that her visit to the church  just happened to coincide with the arrival and presentation of the icon to the Cathedral …

We read the articles and she was quite taken aback when she discovered it was of St. Sergius of Radonezh, on loan from the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, and that it was at the start of a tour throughout Central Asia and Russia to commemorate the 700th anniversary of his birth … and was accompanied by some of his relics.  Bishkek was its second port of call, having arrived in the city from Tashkent on Sunday evening and would be here for six days before moving on to Dushanbe.

There was to be another service with a solemn procession with the icon to be presided over by the Head of the Central Asian Metropolitan Church and Bishkek’s own Bishop, Theodosius, and she asked if she could leave early to go and take part.  Of course, I agreed.

I was intrigued by her “excitement”  and “agitation”, (those aren’t quite the right words but I hope they give some impression of the effect the news seemed to have on her), and I thought I had better found out a little about him … who he was?, why his visit merited the blessing of Kirill, (the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia)?, and why his visit was so momentous?

It seems that St. Sergius is no ordinary Holy Man … he’s one of the Russian Orthodox Church’s most highly venerated Saints – and, according to some sources, is regarded as one the Patron Saints of the country.  One source claims that “few people have had such a profound influence on Russian life as St. Sergius and his his monastery.”

Although this Grand Tour is intended to commemorate the 700th anniversary of his birth, there is some doubt as to the actual year when he was born … three possible dates are given, 14th May (N.S., that is, according to the Gregorian Calendar – 3rd May Old Style according to the Julian Calendar.), 1314, 1319 and 1322.   If the eight year gap seems surprising, we should remember that we are talking about the medieval times when records weren’t always kept as rigorously as they are today … and we could point to several modern day examples where there is some doubt as to the efficacy of the official records.

On the other hand, everyone seems to agree that he died on 25th September, 1392, in the Church that he had founded, the Holy Trinity in Lavra … which is also named after after him.  This day was to become one of his Saint’s Days – the other being 5th July.

Whatever the year in which he was born, the medieval records tell us that it was into a Boyar, (aristocratic), family living in Rostov Veliky, (Rostov the Great or Great Rostov).  He was the second of three sons; the others being Stefan, and Peter.  Sergius was the name he took when he became a monk – originally he had been baptized Bartholomew.

“Vision of the Youth Bartholomew” by Mikhail Nesterov … (1889/90) The boy Bartholomew meets the monk and explains his dilemma …

The young Bartholomew was an intelligent boy, but when he started school at the age of seven, he had trouble learning to read and write.  One day, according to the hagiography, he was out looking for horses that had gone astray and encountered a monk he had not seen before, praying under a tree.  He told the monk his story … who heard him out and then gave him a piece of Holy Bread to eat, with the blessing “:Take and eat it, this is given to you as a sign of God’s grace and for understanding the scriptures” … and from that day he had no further problems.  Indeed, that night he astounded his parents by reading fluently from the Psalter.

It seems that this experience served to increase his piety – he felt attracted to follow a secluded ascetic life but out of devotion to his parents he remained within the family home.  Both of his brothers had already left home to get married and he agreed to stay and care for his parents.  Even so, he embarked on religious path of humility and modesty, quiet and reticence, showing kindness to all and sundry, never showing irritation and obeying his parents in everything.  He would eat mainly bread and water, but often fasting for periods as well,

When the principality of Rostov fell into the hands of another nobleman, the Grand Duke Ivan Danilovich of Moscow, sometime around 1328 his parents became impoverished and the family moved to  Radonezh - a small village near Moscow.

When his parents died he joined his brother Stefan, who was now a widower and had become a monk, who was living in Khotkhovo, also near Moscow.  In 1340, he persuaded Stefan to find a more secluded place where they live an aesthetic life and they built a small cell and a church dedicated to the Holy Trinity in the forest at Markovets – about 70 kilometers to the North East of Moscow – which was later to become the great monastery church of Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, where his icon that is visiting Bishkek came from.

Apparently it was a very austere life … marked by extreme poverty, hard physical labour, (it was a general principle that the monks all had to live by the dint of their own labour – chopping wood, drawing wate, grinding flour, baking bread, making candles … and so forth), and profound humility and simplicity.

Later Stefan moved to the Epiphany monastery in Moscow – it’s not clear if he found the austere life too much or simply that he had been appointed as Father Superior – and Bartholomew in turn took his vows as a monk – and the name Sergius, after a martyr on whose commemoration day he was tonsured.  He spent a year alone, living as a hermit and the hagiography tells how he lived in harmony with the wildlife – including one story of how he shared his last bread with a bear that had come to visit him.

Over time, he was joined by other monks who sought to follow the aesthetic life that he was practicing, building their own cells and people came to seek spiritual guidance from him.  After a while, in 1354, he was persuaded to overcome his reluctance and become their leader and he was, once again reluctantly, ordained as a priest.  More monks arrived and a number of small villages grew in the neighbourhood.

As the fortunes of the monastery improved thanks to donations and support from the neighbouring communities, it was able to offer hospitality for the traveler and alms to the needy, in keeping with Sergius’ understanding of the gospel message.

Apparently, it wasn’t all harmonious and a dispute grew as to the direction the community should follow.  Sergius decided to move away in order to resolve the dispute, but in his absence the community started to decline and after four years the brothers sent to him begging him to return.

News of the establishment reached the Patriarch in Constantinople and the community received a monastic charter.

During the reign of Dmitry Donski, monks from the monastery went as missionaries throughout central and northern Russia, settling in places which were inhospitable and establishing new monasteries – one source say 25, another 40, (and another suggests as many as 400 – but that probably refers to the monasteries established over the subsequent centuries rather than in his lifetime), and these were to play an important role in the subsequent life of the country.  Even the smaller numbers represented a considerable increase in the reach, influence and authority of the order – with Moscow at the center of the network.

As a measure of his importance within the church, in 1378 Sergius was asked by a retiring Metropolitan of Moscow to become his successor … but he declined, saying that he preferred the simple life of a monk.

He also had an importance in the secular world.  He was called upon to act as arboter in a number of internecine disputes that had plagued the Russians, and when Dmitry Donski went to fight the Tatars in 1380, Sergius was prevailed upon to bless the venture … but he would do so once he was convinced that Dmitry had exhausted all available avenues to seek a peaceful solution to the dispute.  Dmitry’s victory meant that Moscow was now on the way to becoming the political center as well as a spiritual heart of the country.

Even during his lifetime, there are stories of miraculous wonders and visions that he is said to have received.  Among his immediate disciples, about a hundred o them were to be canonized as saints.

As I said, if there are some doubts as to his exact birthdate, everyone seems to agree that Sergius died on 25th September, 1392 – and this became the date his first Saint’s Day is commemorated.  Some thirty years later, in 1492, (on 5th July – his second Saint’s Day), the original wooden church that he had built burned down and when work was underway to construct a new one from white stone, (which was to be decorated with icons by the master painter of icons, Andrei Rublev), it was discovered that his body had remained incorruptible, (had not decayed), and were placed in a special reliquary and put into the care of the monastery church that he had founded, the Trinity Cathedral at Lavra.  It was another thirty years before he was canonized, in 1452.

There is a story that when the Bolsheviks came to power, the faithful decided to protect his relics removing them from the cathedral and hiding them.  The atheistic NKVD wanted to find them and destroy them … and in 1937 they condemned and executed the priest and mathematician, Pavel Florensky, for refusing to disclose their location.  It’s not clear whether Florensky knew where they were, but they were eventually returned to the Cathedral in 1946, when Stalin had adopted a more liberal approach towards the Church.

Murillo’s depiction of the Adoration of the Magi

Tomorrow is Christmas Day here in Kyrgyzstan … Orthodox Christmas, that is.

Back home, in the West, Christmas is more or less over. I say “more or less” because, technically, traditionally, the Christmas season ends today – The Twelfth Day of Christmas … Epiphany – the “manifestation” of Jesus as the Son of God and over the years it has been associated with the visit of the Magi – the Wise Men or Kings that are mentioned in Matthew’s Gospel, (hence today is also known as Three Kings Day) …

Unlike the traditional portrayal of the Nativity story it’s very unlikely that they arrived on Christmas Night – the night that Jesus was born – along with the Shepherds and heavenly choir.  If the star appeared appeared on that night to signal the birth then they would have have taken time to travel to Bethlehem … the story of the Massacre of the Innocents suggests that journey may have taken as long as two years.

… or, especially with the Orthodox, with the Baptism by John the Baptist in the River Jordan … although that is celebrated here in the 19th.

The Orthodox Church still works on the Julian Calendar, (the Soviet Union only adopted the Gregorian Calendar in 1918), which means that many of their festivals occur about two weeks later than in the West.

In Ireland today is also known as Little Christmas, (although this name is used in different parts of the world for 1st January, or 13th January). It’s sometimes said that the reason for calling 6th January Little Christmas, is associated with the fact that the Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas at this time … but that’s probably not the case because Orthodox Christmas actually occurs on December 25th – according, that is, to the Julian Calendar … and they have always celebrated Christmas on 25th December … it’s just that, nowadays, it falls in January because of the Calendar Shift which occurs because of the inaccuracies built into Julius Caesar’s calendar.

Anyway, be that as it may … it’s the day when the celebrations and festivities come to an end … the decorations are taken down and life returns to normal … well, almost … today also sometimes called Women’s Christmas, especially in the counties of Kerry and Cork, because it is a day when women of the household can take advantage of the fact that the long season of preparation and cooking is over and they can have a celebratory meal of their own … in some cases the men of the household take over the domestic chores for the day.

I don’t think there is any equivalent of the day or similar celebrations here … in fact, one of our (female) staff was counting up how many “holidays” there were in January and bemoaning, (although that’s too strong a word – but phrases like “commenting on” seem a little to soft), how much extra work she faced in preparing for them all … and I didn’t exactly make her day when I, mischievously, pointed out I thought that she had missed out some.

There are some other associations with the phrase Little Christmas … as in the song, Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Although it is a well known and popular ditty – even seventy years after it was first penned – it wasn’t written especially as a seasonal piece … and it’s certain that the songwriter and composer Hugh Martin didn’t have the Irish Little Christmas in mind when he put pen to paper – or fingers to keyboard.

It was written for the 1944 musical film Meet me in St. Louis starring the child star Judy Garland and there have been numerous cover versions – including a heavy metal version –  albeit, some of them with different lyrics, (there are, apparently three different versions).

The words were changed even before the film was shot.  The film was about a family in St. Louis who were faced with a dilemma … the head of the household resolved to move to New York for his career … but that meant leaving their home in their beloved St. Louis … just before the 1904 World Fair was about to open.

The song occurs in a scene where Judy Garland is trying to comfort the five year old daughter of the household who is distraught about the impending move … and bursts song:

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Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on,
our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yule-tide gay,
From now on,
our troubles will be miles away.

Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.

Through the years
We all will be together,
If the Fates allow

Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself
A merry little Christmas now.

Its haunting melody and some of the words make it one of the saddest Christmas songs ever composed – combining both melancholy and hope … looking both backwards and forwards.  It is said that members of the audience would burst into tears as the scene unfolded.

For the record: It could have been much worse … apparently the original opening lines were:

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
It may be your last
Next year we may all be living in the past

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Pop that champagne cork
Next year we may all be living in New York

…

It was felt that this was too depressing … and hence the rewrite.

As I have said several times, even though I think it can be useful to commemorate certain events and anniversaries and to interrupt our normal daily routines for a moment in order to focus our attention for a brief period on some particular aspect of life – personally, I am not very fond of holidays.  Apart from the fact that they can be very arbitrary, (look at how many New Year and Christmases there are), they can put us all under great stress …

Then again, as Martin’s lyrics point out – we need to remind ourselves that it’s not the end of the story … life goes on and this is (or has been) just a brief interlude in our lives.  Even if life is difficult, there is no reason to assume it will continue to be so … and we make the most of the present and look forward … with hope and optimism.

The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom – an illustrated monthly magazine, launched in 1879 and now published in 213 languages – including Kyrgyz – by the Jehovah’s Witnesses

As the New Year Celebrations approach, there is, however, one group that will certainly be taking up the call to ignore the general merrymaking – both Christmas and New Year – which because they believe are based on (or massively contaminated by) pagan customs and religions. : Jehovah’s Witnesses.

For the record: The Jehovah’s Witnesses are members of a Christian-based religious movement, founded in the USA towards the end of the 19th century by Charles Russell who grew up in a Presbyterian family in Pittsburgh.

In fact, the name dates back only to about 1931 – before that members of the group were known simply as Bible Students.

The organization’s headquarters is in New York, but there are about eight million believers in almost 250 countries – including Kyrgyzstan, where the church has about 10000 members.

Although “Christian-based”, the group believes that the traditional Christian Churches have deviated from the true teachings of the Bible, and do not work in full harmony with God.  For their part, the traditional Christian Churches do not regard the movement as a mainstream Christian denomination because it rejects the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, which it regards as both irrational and unbiblical.

Jehovah’s Witnesses base their beliefs solely on the text of the Bible which they believe is the Word of God and consider its 66 books to be divinely inspired and historically accurate.  They reject what they see as “the sinful values of the secular world” and maintain a degree of separation from non-believers – they are “in the world” but not “of the world“.

The church is strongly “millennial” and believes that humanity is now in the ‘last days’ and that the final battle between good and evil will happen soon.  Russell actually predicted the “anointed” would be “called to Heaven” in 1914 – but this date was later amended … although without abandoning this as one of the central tenets of their faith.

There have been Jehovah’s Witnesses in Kyrgyzstan since at least the 1950′s, when the Soviets relocated many believers here, after having spent many years in exile in Siberia for their beliefs.  During the Soviet period, members of the organization suffered hardship, discrimination, arrest and imprisonment at the hands of the authorities.  As one Witness once told me, the authorities “saw that the organization’s headquarters was in Brooklyn and automatically assumed that we were all Foreign Agents” – the Soviet euphemism for “spies”.

It seems that, with Independence a greater tolerance was experienced, but it wasn’t until August 1998 that they managed to obtain registration as a religious organization under Kyrgyz legislation – at least on a national level … there are still problems facing local congregations that try to apply.   Having said that, there are something like 40 local congregations registered, in five of the nine administrative units of the country, plus the National Center based on a former sewing factory on the outskirts of Bishkek.

The Center serves as offices for the organization as well as having a “Kingdom Hall” and offering accommodation for the staff who are drawn from all the regions and work basically as volunteers rather salaried staff.  It is possible for visitors to take a tour of the center.

Registration in the southern oblasts however has proved to be difficult – if not impossible.  To date, all applications have been turned down at one stage of the procedure or another.

For the record: As I understand it, to register as a religious organization they need to produce a list 200 founding members – adult citizens who are also resident in Kyrgyzstan.  Before the current law was enacted in 2008 this requirement was much lower, I believe just 10.  Once the list has been verified by the local authority, then the organization submits an application to the Standing Commission on Religious Affairs together with a series of supporting documents.

Without registration, it is claimed, believers are not allowed to practice their belief; the use and distribution of religious literature is banned … unless in a “place of worship”, for which registration is necessary – a veritable “Chicken and Egg” situation.

They claim that the current law places an unfair and unreasonable burden on believers … is arbitrarily administered and enforced.  It seems, for example,  that when the local groups have appealed to the courts after they have received letters informing that their applications registration cannot be processed for one reason or another do not constitute “decisions” and therefore cannot be challenged.

As a result they have submitted their case to the United Nations Human Rights Committee and are asking for the government to make arrangements for them to duly register.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are probably best known worldwide for their devotion, dedication and perseverance to “bearing witness for Jehovah” – hence the name which they adopted in 1931.  It’s considered a religious duty and the commonly perceived image is of a couple arriving at the door offering to talk about God, Religion or the purpose of Life, and proferring copies of their magazines Watchtower, (which is meant to serve as an outreach tool) and/or Awake, (which is meant as a devotional or educational magazine targeted at the faithful – or at least interested person),  and a religious.  It’s a characteristic trait which is sometimes treated as the butt of a joke but, more often than not, is seen as an annoyance.

The law actually prohibits “proselytism” and the “public” use of printed materials like the magazines.  As I understand it, believers can have copies for their own use and IF requested can bring a copy for the interested enquirer … on a subsequent visit, but their “public” use is restricted to a registered place of worship.

The possession of printed materials can lead to police raids, arrest and prosecution.  In perhaps the strangest case, two Jehovah’s Witnesses in Southern Kyrgyzstan were arrested and accused of being members of the banned Islamic Hizb ut Tahir group when CDs containing literature from the group were “discovered” in a raid.

This question of “proselytism” arises in another aspect as well.  Shariah law prohibits an apostasy – changing one’s religion – and although Kyrgyzstan is a secular country, so Islamic law has no legal force, it helps to shape social attitudes amongst the population.  Several families where someone has converted to Christianity, (perhaps as Jehovah’s Witnesses or perhaps as Baptists), are often ostracized and may come under considerable social pressure to “return” to their traditional religious roots.

This seems to become most evident when it comes to burial and there are accounts of families being refused a plot in a local cemetery and having to travel from community to community in order to seek a final resting place for their recently departed relative – adding to the stress of an already upsetting period.

As I understand it, the local communities of Jehovah’s Witnesses have a number of cemeteries around the country where plots can be assigned to members of the church, but often far from the believer’s home.

Indeed, it’s not just Christmas and New Year that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not commemorate, they also refrain form celebrating anniversaries such as Birthdays – which certainly marks them out from the crowd here, where Birthdays are an important aspect of everyday life.  Apparently, however, (and I have never understood the logic of this), they will mark a Wedding Anniversary.  They do not celebrate Easter, but they do commemorate the Crucifixion which they time according to the traditional Jewish Calendar to coincide with Passover.

Another issue which the Jehovah’s Witnesses have referred to the UN Human Rights Committee concerns the treatment of Conscientious Objectors.  Over the years and around the globe, this issue has caused conflict between Jehovah’s Witnesses and many different governments – even getting many of them sent to Nazi Concentration Camps where they forced to wear a purple triangle.

Military Service is a requirement and civil obligation for all males aged 17 to 25 here in Kyrgyzstan – although provisions exist for certain categories of men military age to undertake “alternative service”, paying a fee instead.  However, the law was changed in 2009 to the effect that the money paid into special account of the Ministry of Defense as this fee, is to be “ used for the support of and provisions for troops, for conducting training assemblies, upgrading educational facilities, and increasing social security for military personnel.”

This created a problem because many Jehovah’s Witnesses of military age consider that this requirement to make payments to the Ministry of Defense for support of the military violates their principles of conscience – although, if I understand correctly, they would be happy to complete some form of “civil obligation”, not in the military sphere or under military control.  Indeed there are some cases where Witnesses have been convicted for refusing to pay their “monetary contribution” and thus of evading alternative service.

It seems, however, that approaches have been moderately successful in that the Parliament has been asked to consider amending the Law on Military Service to make provision for a civilian alternative to undertaking military service.

To be honest, I am not aware of any impact here in Kyrgyzstan of another characteristic trait of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the refusal to accept blood transfusions.

A Peasant Leaving His Landlord on Yuri’s Day – by Sergei Ivanov

Today is the second of the St, George’s Day of 2013.  It’s actually St. Yuri’s Day, but Yuri is one of the Russian equivalents of George.

In the Orthodox calendar, Russians commemorate two St. George’s Day: the first in the Spring falls on April 23rd – as in the West – but there is a second in the Autumn which falls on 26th November.  There is a catch in that the Russian Orthodox Church still operates on the Julian Calendar … whereas the rest of the world – well, most of the rest of the world – operates on the Gregorian Calendar. November 26th on the Julian calendar corresponds to 9th December on the Gregorian one.

This second St. George’s Day commemorates the consecration of the Church of St. George in Kiev by Yaroslav I, Yaroslav the Wise, in 1051.

Yuri’s Day happens to be held at a time when the agricultural year is over and it had a significant importance in the life of the Russian peasant.

Traditionally, this was the day by which all debts had to be settled and the two week period around the day, (the week before and the week after), was the only time when peasants were free to move from one landowner to another, but this practice was brought to an end by Boris Gudunov – thus establishing the system of serfdom that helped to shape the Russian Empire.

Although I see the logic in this day being chosen … the harvest having been safely gathered in … it seems a little late in the year for commemorating the Harvest.

Coming from Britain, I am used to Harvest Festival falling in the early Autumn.  In Britain, as in most of Europe, the Harvest Festival is normally held around the time of the Harvest Moon, the Full Moon that falls closest to the Autumn Equinox.  In most years, this occurs in September, but it can also fall in early October.  The Jewish equivalent, Sukkot – The Feast of the Tabernacles – also falls in September/October.  The American festival of Thanksgiving, however, which commemorates the first harvest gathered in by the pioneers after landing in the “New World” falls in November.

In Russia, there are several occasions which amount to Harvest Festivals … Drozhinki, which falls as early as 15th August in some places, (28th August on the Gregorian Calendar), but elsewhere it falls in September.

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There has been a fair amount of news in recent weeks about the annual harvest having been gathered in … and it seems to have been a successful year with the harvest bringing bumper crops , (especially in wheat and sugar beet), not necessarily as a result of more land being brought under cultivation but because yields have been higher.

When it comes to the tradition of repaying debts by St. Yuri’s day … there is no chance that this will happen … Kyrgyzstan’s external debt is estimated at 3.6 billion dollars. OK, that’s peanuts compared to that of the United States, (which stands at 14,710 billion dollars – and incidentally, for the record, although that’s a record sum it is nothing extraordinary … the last time the US didn’t owe anyone any money was in 1835), and I think that, for once, we can pleased that Kyrgyzstan finds itself pretty far down in the rankings on an international league table, ranking 127th out of some 204 countries and territories in terms of external debt.

In fact the country’s external debt has shown a remarkable growth since the turn of the century … although in the last full year for which figures are available, they actually fell … not by much … but a reduction all the same.

For the record: This table shows the total public and private debt owed to nonresidents repayable in foreign currency, goods, or services – in billions of US Dollars – the final figures for 2013 are, of course, not yet in:

2000      1.1
2001      1.4
2002      1.6
2003      1.5
2004      1.5
2005      1.97
2006      2.43
2007      2.48
2008      2.97
2009      3.47
2010      3.47
2011      3.74
2012      3.6
2013      ???

The level of debt and reliance on the international community for grants and/or loans in order to fulfill certain projects – or even to maintain the everyday operations of government has been the subject of much comment … especially as the percentage of debt to GDP has also inexorably risen to raise the question of its sustainability – last year, according to the Minister of Finance, the country’s “foreign debt” amounted to 47% … although estimates put it this year at somewhere between 43 and 45%.

..

As to the traditional right of the peasant to change allegiances to a new landlord, even if Boris Gudunov did away with it, I am not sure what the more nationalist elements might make of the parallel with the current trend back towards the Russian sphere of influence.

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The mosque at Mazhiliy Ata

Sometimes you see references to Kyrgyzstan as a Muslim country but, technically, according to the constitution, it is a secular state and it is probably better to describe the country as “predominantly Muslim”.

The majority of the population – possibly as much as 80% – probably consider themselves as Muslim but for many people it seems to be more of a cultural background than one of devout daily practice.  Indeed, some of the strictures of the practice of the religion do not lend themselves well to nomadic life in the mountains … where there is no muezzin to call from a minaret for the faithful to pray five times a day.

As a result the Kyrgyz have sometimes been described as “half Muslim” because they have preserved many aspects of the Tengrist traditions which predate the adoption of Islam.  Another description that is sometimes used is the Islam “tends to sit lightly on their shoulders – as did communism under seventy years of the Soviet Union”.

There are signs, however, that Islam is a growing force in Kyrgyz society. One of the most obvious is the number of mosques that have been built in the republic since Independence.

Some of them are big and rather grand, whilst others – especially in the villages – are small, sometimes comprising little more than a room with a tower attached as a minaret and a dome encased with metal tiles which seem to reflect the sunlight.

Almost every village seems to have a mosque and some, (for example, several on the road from Bishkek to Issyk Kul) appear to be placed in the middle of a field with no obvious settlement nearby.   In the case of the tiny mosque at the foot of the Dolon Pass, (on the Kochkor side of the pass), it marks the site of Dolon Ata – a holy site which may predate Islam but could also be associated with Dolon Bai, the grandfather of Mohammed Kyrgyz.

The roadside cafes in Boom Gorge often have have a namazkana, (“prayer room”), and one was opened in the Parliament building in 2011 after a somewhat heated debate.

Many of the mosques were built with financial support from Turkey or Saudi Arabia and many were built using the system of ashar; a traditional system of community mutual assistance where individual villagers donate either money or labour, or both, for charitable or public projects.

There are several examples of mosques worthy of note, such as: .

The Central Mosque in Bishkek – on the intersection of Moskovskaya and Gogola – is a modern construction and at busy times such as the main Friday Prayers and High holidays, cannot accommodate the crowd of believers that have gathered and who overflow into the grounds and into the street.

There are plans to construct a new mosque on Jibek Jolu, on the Northern edge of the city center – on the site of a former cinema – and before that a cemetery.  The project has proved somewhat controversial.  On the one hand, there are complaints that the site is not big enough and doesn’t offer sufficient space for the necessary facilities – such as car parking space.  On the other hand, there have been calls for the site of the original City Mosque to be returned to the Muftiat so that they can build a new one.  The mosque was closed, and the site commandeered by the Soviets shortly after the Revolution of 1917.  The building was demolished and the city bazaar constructed in its place.  (Later, the bazaar was moved to its present site on the Western edge of the City Center – Osh Bazaar – and the site became Park Podeba – which houses the city’s main war memorial).

In 1899, the local community addressed a petition to the local entrepreneur and philanthropist Ilshat Daulbaev asking for help in building a mosque.  At that time there were over three and a half thousand Muslims living in the city … and Daulbaev responded by financing the construction of a wooden building on what is now the site of the fountain in the grounds of the Hyatt. It was considered one of the sights of the city – unifying Central Asian design with European monumental architecture and had beautiful carvings, elaborate painted ornamental patterns, wooden pillars and high vaulted ceilings. In the Soviet period it was converted into a puppet theater – but was unfortunately burned down in 1965.

The Burana Tower, about 15 kilometers out of Tokmok, is thought to have been a minaret – and if so it is the oldest in Central Asia. The name Burana itself is probably a corruption of the Turkic word Murana (= minaret).

A similar, smaller construction is preserved at Uzgen, near the Uzbek border, complete with the domed crown and doorways from which the muezzin would call the faithful to prayer.

Inside the Dungan Mosque in Karakol

There is the Dungan (Chinese) mosque in Karakol. The foundations of the Mosque are made of stone and the walls are made of fired brick. The roof has a characteristically Chinese architecture. The building has the elements of carved walnut wood and columns around it, decorated in various colours.

The Mosque in Naryn

The new mosque in Naryn was built, (it was completed in 1993), with donations from Saudi Arabia. It’s a large, highly decorated complex and has a design that combines both arabic and traditional Kyrgyz elements.

In Osh – The Ak-Buura river runs through the city North to South, and to the west is Suleyman Too (“Solomon’s mountain”), which dominates the city. Some Muslims consider it sacred and make a pilgrimage to the site where the Prophet Muhammad is supposed to have once prayed. For some reason (apparently, in profile some people think it resembles a pregnant woman) it is also revered by many women who have been unable to bear children. At the top of a short (30 minute climb) is a flagpole and a mosque which marks the spot where the 14 year old Babur,(who had been recently crowned the King of the Ferghana Valley – and later went on to become the founder of the Mogul dynasty in India), built a shelter for his chilla - a 40 day retreat for meditation on a diet of bread and water, in 1497.  Although the mosque has been destroyed and rebuilt twice, (once after an earthquake in 1853 and then in the 1990′s after it had been destroyed in suspicious circumstances by an explosion in 1961), it is another centre for pilgrimage.

At the foot of Suleiman Too, not far from the North-Eastern corner of the mountain, is the Rabat Abdullakhan Mosque, built by Abdullakhan II, the last of the Uzbek Shaibanid dynasty which ruled much of Central Asia in the latter half of the 16th century, as one of a series of mosques throughout his fiefdom.

Osh is also home to what was, until recently, the largest mosque in Kyrgyzstan – The Shaid Tepa Mosque. The original wooden building was constructed between 1908 and 1910, but was closed by the Soviets, when it served as stables and blacksmiths.  It was reopened in 1943 in a surprising act of religious tolerance by the then Soviet government. Recently it has been renovated with financial support from Saudi Arabia and has space for some 5000 worshippers.

As it happens, last year Osh also saw the opening of a large mosque, occupying 2.5 acres and with a capacity of 20,000 worshipers, as part of ceremonies commemorating the second anniversary of the ethnic violence which erupted in June 2010.

Also, last year it was reported that Kyrgyzstan’s Spiritual Board of Muslims, (SMMC), has plans to construct Central Asia’s largest mosque in the town of Kara-Suu, in the Osh oblast, on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border.  If construction actually goes ahead. the mosque is planned to be six storeys tall, housing a madrassah and a department of theology.  The plan is for construction will be financed by expatriate Kyrgyz citizens living in Moscow and several of the Arab states.

Although, as I understand it, technically mosques are closed to women and non-Muslim men – many, such as the Dungan Mosque in Karakol, will invite visitors to enter.

Svetly Mys - One of the original monastery buildings

Svetly Mys, (Bright Cape), is a small hamlet in the Kermenty Bay on the Northern shore of Lake Issyk Kul, (near to the village of Belavodsk and about180 km from Balykchy at the Western end of the lake and 50 km from Karakol at the Eastern end).

Since Independence it has been officially renamed as Ak Bulun, but the old name is still well known and recognized.

The village, itself, lies off the main road, at the head of a sandy peninsular. The trees that line the access road, poplars and elms, were planted over a hundred years ago.

This is reputedly the burial place of the Apostle, Saint Matthew.

Having been a tax collector, he was called to be a disciple of Jesus. According to tradition, he later wrote the Gospel of Saint Matthew for his fellow countrymen in Palestine, though around the time of the persecution of Herod Agrippa in A.D. 42, he fled to distant lands. Of his subsequent life and career we have only inaccurate or legendary information.

For the record: Ancient writers are far from unanimous on his travels, but almost all mention the land of Ethiopia (South of the Caspian Sea, not the one in Africa!); some mention Persia, the kingdom of the Parthians; Macedonia; and Syria. There is little information on his death and at least one author maintains that he did not die as a martyr – although others disagree. Is it possible that he made it as far into Central Asia as Issyk Kul – and died here?

One tradition has his death near the Caspian whilst according to another, after suffering a martyrs death in Syria, his remains were revered as relics until they were removed to Central Asia in troubled times, because it was known to be more tolerant towards different religions and several Christian communities already existed here.

The association of St Matthew’s burial place and Issyk Kul can be traced back to a map, known as the Catalonian Map, and dating from 1375 … discovered in Palma on the Island of Majorca and which was published in Paris in 1742. It was the first European map to show Issyk Kul and contains a legend connecting the Evangelist with an order of “Armenian brothers” who care for his last resting place.

Mind you, there are also traditions that suggest that the body was moved once more, after serious flooding – thought to have been God’s punishment, the result of failing to show the correct hospitality to and insulting a righteous stranger. In one version of this tradition, the body was relocated further up the coast, but in another it was apparently moved to a site in the Pamirs, in modern day Tajikistan.

Following Independence there have been several archaeological excavations of the area in an attempt to find, or at least shed light on the possibility that this is, the final resting place of the Evangelist. In 2002, an excavation discovered, at a depth of 27 meters, an ancient sarcophagus. Another excavation, in 2005, discovered a cave which opens out into another catacomb containing about 30 individual cells.

Whether St Matthew did visit Issyk … or not, whether this is his final resting place … or not, this site has attracted pilgrims for centuries, and it is thought that various religious communities (Nestorian, Armenian, Orthodox) have been based here, perhaps as many as eight different monasteries over the last 1600 years.

Svetly Mys - one of the original monastery buildings

The latest was an Orthodox monastery, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, founded in 1882, or 1888 – there seems to be some uncertainty about the actual date – apparently on the instructions of the Tsar, Alexander III, himself. The surrounding land was irrigated and cultivated as farmland to support the monastery – with an apiary, barn, sheepfold, a forge, vineyard, large gardens growing a variety of soft fruits and including flowerbeds. The monks taught the children of the local community and established an extensive library which contained both devotional and secular works.

The roads were laid out in the form of an Orthodox cross – a pattern which is still discernable from the hills above the village.

Five of the original wooden buildings of the monastery still remain – the refectory, a storehouse which now serves as a mill; the remains of their church (most of which was burnt down in the 1930s); a craft workshop and their library – which is still in use as a library today. Originally, there was also a guesthouse,

During the Central Asian uprising of 1916, on 30th July, (according to the Julian Calendar … so it was 11th August elsewhere in the worls), the monastery was attacked and most of the 26 monks in the community were killed. Two, however, escaped: Irakiliy – who fled to Almaty – and Serafim – who traveled to Ananyevo, just down the coast. Both were later to be canonized as saints.

The monastery church was once home to the miraculous Tikhvin icon of the Virgin Mary which is said to have cried blood, repelled bullets and glowed with an ethereal light when under attack. Following the events of 1916 it was taken and placed in the Church at Karakol where it can still be seen.

During the Soviet period, the village was the site of a state farm, the Frunze Collective Farm, and an agricultural college which trained farmers from all over the region. The college is now a Teacher Training Institution associated with the University in Karakol. During construction work on the site in the 1950’s a number of skeletons were discovered buried in the ground, one in fine robes and bearing a fine silver cross. The Church itself became a club and before the war was turned into a house – and later on housed the local clinic.

There was also an orphanage established here, and nowadays there is a small, privately run, children’s home.

Nearby there are several complexes of ancient catacombs, (underground cells used by the Armenian and other monks who came here over several centuries). Most are overgrown and filled with silt, but there are a couple which are accessible to give a glimpse of the space inside.

The Kaaba in Mecca - one of the world's great pilgrimage sites

One of the oldest forms of tourism is the Pilgrimage: a journey or search of moral or spiritual significance, typically a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to one’s beliefs and faith.

Its a growing aspect of tourism with the numbers of people involved continuing to rise.  For example, just 39 of the most popular sites alone receive an estimated 200 million visitors every year.  The result is that there is a growing awareness within the major religious organisations that “fulfilling the spiritual obligations of pilgrimage may paradoxically conflict with the spiritual obligation to care for the natural world”.

Even during the early years of the Christian Church, believers made visits to sites in the Holy Land associated with Jesus, but not everyone was able to undertake such a long, arduous and expensive journey, and in the course of time other shrines assumed importance.  One of the classics of English literature, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, tells of a group of pilgrims en route to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral (… although some of the tales can hardly be described as religious or spiritual).

In Islam there are a number of places associated with pilgrimage – the classic, of course, is Mecca and the annual Hajj, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, which should be attempted at least once in the lifetime of all able-bodied Muslims who can afford to do so.  It represents a huge movement of people, and is such “big business” that the Saudi authorities strictly control the activity.  Each year, for example, numbers are controlled and although many Kyrgyz want to undertake the journey, the allocation of places has proved controversial has proved controversial in recent years.

Kyrgyzstan might not be the Holy Land, or contain any of those 39 most popular sites, but we do have a number of sites of importance which attract their fair share of pilgrims – at least on a local level.

In Islam, the most frequently visited sites or Sulaiman Too in Osh and the Mausoleum of Shah Fazil in Safed Bulan in the Ferghana Valley.   

The Safed Bulan Complex is still an operating Sufi mosque and pilgrimage site, consisting of the mausoleum itself, (along with several others), several vaults, a necropolis - about 700m from the main mausoleum and including a collection of 2700 heads – and a mosque – as well as the holy mountain Archa Mazar.  It is connected with the Shah Fazil, a relative of the Prophet Mohammed, who is credited with bringing Islam to Central Asia. 

The importance of Sulaiman Too has been recognized in that it has been recognized as a World Heritage Site … in justification for its inclusion in the renowned list, UNESCO points out that for more than one and a half millennia, Sulaiman Too was a beacon for travelers and revered as a sacred mountain. Its five peaks and slopes contain numerous ancient places of worship, (including a prayer house built by the young Babur before he went forced South to become the first of the Mogul emperors of India), and caves with petroglyphs as well as two largely reconstructed 16th century mosques. In all, there are 17 places of worship which are still in use, (and many that are not), which are distributed around the mountain peaks and are connected by footpaths. The cult sites are believed to provide cures for barrenness, headaches, and back pain and give the blessing of longevity. Veneration for the mountain blends pre-Islamic and Islamic beliefs. The site is believed to represent the most complete example of a sacred mountain anywhere in Central Asia, worshiped over several millennia.

This coalescence of faiths in a single site is found elsewhere as well.

On the southern shores of Lake Issyk Kul, for example, in Manzhyly Ata.  Although it now has a mosque and people come to read the Koran at the mausoleum of Father Manzhyly – a moldo, or wise man, who could tell the future and was also healer, a sort of doctor. Over the course of years people would come to him with illnesses and he learned how to diagnose their problems and prescribe a course of treatment. There were no medicines so he would tell what herbs to use, sometimes they would be poisonous but taken in the right dose would fight the illness.  There are also a number of springs each of which is associated with healing properties.

Tengrism, the traditional religion of the nomadic Kyrgyz before the adoption of Islam,  incorporated elements of Shamanism, Animism and Totenism as well as ancestor worship.  A sense of place had a particular importance and as a result there are many sacred sites throughout Kyrgyzstan … and there have been several books published on the topic.  One, published in 2002, concentrated on sacred places in Osh, another, published in 2004, identified many such sites in the Chui valley (13) and in Naryn (33).  In 2007 there was a publication on Mazar Worship in Talas.   Another, published in 2009, concentrated on sites in the Issyk region identifying 120 individual sites.    (There’s a lot of information about such research on the site of the Aigne Cultural Research Center, which has been publishing books on sacred sites since 2007.

In terms of Christianity, the main site of interest is Svetly Mys, the Armenian Monastery which is thought to be the last resting place of the evangelist, St. Matthew.

Although we in the Celestial Mountains Tour Company do not organize pilgrimages as such, we do often receive requests about some of the sacred sites and are happy to include them in an itinerary for interested parties.

Andrei Rublev

In Russia, today is Andrei Rublev Day … dedicated to the memory of the famous fifteenth century icon painter.

We don’t know much about his life.  We don’t know, for example, where or when he was born, (it is assumed that it was in the 1940s),  we do know that he died in Moscow on 17th October, 1428, during an outbreak of the plague.

(Although Wikipedia has a different set of dates – being born sometime in 1360′s and dying on 29th January 1427 …. or 1430!)

It is presumed that he came from an educated family of artisans – as indicated his “nickname”, (Rublev – from the word, “Rubel” – a tool for rolling skins), because at that time surnames were only used by members of the upper classes.

Apparently, there is an old icon which was signed “Andrew Ivanov son Rublev“, but it is now believed the signature was added later and is a fake … however, it raises interesting questions, and perhaps provides an indirect indication that the artist’s father’s name was, in fact, really Ivan.

What we do know is drawn from the official chronicles and the first mention of him occurs in a document dating from 1405, where he appears in a list of artists, headed by Theophanes the Greek, responsible for painting the Annunciation Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.  Unfortunately, the frescoes have not survived.   Rublev appears at the of the list, (and with the title “monk”), implying that he was probably one the younger and junior members of the team.

Three years later he had become an artist in his own right being given equal credits in another list with Daniel Cherni, (Daniel Black), another painter.

He took monastic vows at the Trinity-Sergius Monastery and virtually all the rest of his life was spent in service either here or at Monastery of the Saviour in Moscow.

He participated in the painting in the Cathedrals of the Annunciation in Moscow and the Assumption in Vladimir ; as well as leading the decoration of the Trinity Cathedral at the Sergius Monastery.   He is also credited with a number of other works such as the frescoes of the Assumption Cathedral in Zvenigotod, the icons known as Our Lady of Vladimir and Christ in Majesty; and some of the miniatures in Khitrova of the Gospel.

Even during his own lifetime, many of Rublev’s icons were venerated as miraculous.  Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, his name was held in great reverence – indeed his work became a role model .   He was eventually canonized as an Orthodox saint in 1988 as part of the celebrations of the 1000th anniversary of the baptism of Russia into the Christian faith, following the example of Vladimir, the Prince of Kiev, who had abandoned paganism in favour of the new religion the year earlier..

The Holy Trinity by Andrei Rublev

Perhaps his most famous icon is that of the Trinity, painted sometime between 1425 and 1427, (although, according to other studies, it was sometime about 1412 ), which is now house din the Tretyakov Gallery.

Now, it should be fairly obvious that Andrei Rublev never made it to Kyrgyzstan … so, I wouldn’t blame you for asking why I am writing a postcard about him.

Well, we do have one here in Kyrgyzstan, (or at least had one – no-one seems to know where it is), of his icons, (or at least a copy – not from the hands of the master himself).

It was a copy of the  Trinity icon held at the Armenian Monastery at Svetly Mys on the Northern shore of Lake Issyk Kul, where St. Matthew is thought to have been buried.

During the sacking of the Monastery in 1916, the icon was rescued and, according to some sources. eventually found its way to Karakol, together with the icon of the Theotokos of Tikhvin, (originally thought to have been the work of another evangelist, St.Luke, although Art historians suggest it was painted by a Russian artist sometime around 1300) … but, as I said, apparently no-one seems to know what happened to it.  I am told that the only representation of the “Trinity” there at the moment in on the panel over the doorway.

So, there’s a challenge for the historians … what happened to it?, where is it now?, will it emerge one day as have many of the exhibits currently housed in the museum in Bishkek’s Cathedral of the Resurrection?

Carravaggio: The Incredulity of Saint Thomas

In the Orthodox Church, every day of the week is dedicated to the memory of certain events, holidays, and dedicated to one or more of the saints.   According to Orthodox Tradition, this is St. Thomas’ Week.

The name refers to the incident in the John’s Gospel when, following his crucifixion and Resurrection, Jesus appears to his followers in a room behind locked doors – showed them the wounds in his hands and his side and discussed .  One of their number, Thomas, was not present and when he heard the news he expressed his doubts, saying that he would believe only when he saw them for himself, put his fingers in the wounds nails in Jesus’ hands and his hand into the spear wound in his side.  Eight days later Jesus makes a second appearance and Thomas is convinced, (although the implication is that he didn’t, the evangelist doesn’t tell us whether Thomas did actually touch the wounds as Caravaggio depicts in his The Incredulity of St. Thomas).

By tradition the  Tuesday in St. Thomas’ Week is known as Roditelskoye Dehn – Parents’ Day, also known as Radonitsa, a Day of Rejoicing … and Commemoration of the Dead.

It is said that, etymologically, the word Radonitsa comes from the word Radost, (joy or happiness),  rather than from the word Roditeliy, (relatives), and emphasizes that Christians are should not concentrate on thoughts and feelings arising from the death of their loved ones but, on the contrary, rejoice in their birth to another life, (eternal life), remembering the victory over death won by the resurrection.

Indeed, according to Orthodox tradition, there are other days known as Roditelskie dehn – each falling on a Saturday; this year on:

• March 9th – in Maslonitsa week – the week before Lent
• March 30th  - the Saturday of the second week of Lent (the Great Fast)
• April 6th – the Saturday in the third week of Lent
• April 13th – the Saturday in the fourth week of Lent
• June 22nd – the Saturday before Pentecost – Trinity Sunday
• November 2nd – Demetrius Saturday

• Also, according to some lists, on October 12th – Pokrovsk Saturday – (Pokrovsk – the feast of the Festival of the Virgin Mary – which commemorates the appearance of the Virgin Mary in a church in Constantinople in 910AD – it is always celebrated on October 14th – October 1`st according to the Julian Calendar – … )

After a week of events and services to celebrate Easter, (known as Bright Week), when funerals, visits to the cemetery and special prayers for the deceased are not permitted – this is the first opportunity following the holiday.  (Actually, the first opportunity falls on the Monday – and in parts of South Western Russia and the Ukraine, Radonitsa is indeed commemorated on the Monday – but as many Orthodox monasteries also Fast on Mondays as well as on Wednesdays and Fridays the feast is often celebrated on Tuesday)

Russians head off to the cemetery to remember their deceased relatives.  Often, families have been to tidy the graves in the week before the holiday so all is already clean and tidy … and on this day they take food with them which they spread on decorated scarves and share with their dead relatives … and by tradition they also place a coloured egg on the graves as a symbol of the resurrection.  Often others will be invited to share a snack and alms are given to the poor. There are no special prayers included in the liturgy for the day but priests will visit the cemetery and bless Orthodox graves and visitors.

The tradition is very old and St. John Chrysostom, (in the fourth century), tells us that it was celebrated in the Christian communities since before his time.

In pre-Revolutionary Russia, bars remained closed and alcoholic beverages were not sold so that the joy people felt would be because of the Resurrection, and not an artificial joy brought on by alcohol.

Traditions die hard – even after seventy years of communism … during the Soviet period, the official attitude towards religion meant that the day became a secular Memorial Day, (and probably being responsible for the association with roditeliy – parents), although over the last twenty years the traditions of Radonitsa have themselves been resurrected.

There’s another reason why Radonitsa is also a “happy day” – at least for some – in that it marks the beginning of the “wedding season”.  If, during the Easter celebration, no funerals are allowed as one is supposed to be concentrating on the Resurrection, so weddings are not permitted during Lent.  This is the first day after the great Fast and Easter celebrations when people can get married.