The correspondent of "Komsomolskaya Pravda" defended six hours
Photo: Evgenia GUSEVA
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I have a lot of experience standing in lines. Every year, on the instructions of the editors, I stand either at Serov, or at Aivazovsky, or at the post office, at the bank, or for free burgers, or at the sale of fashionable sneakers and black Friday. But the queue to the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker amazed even me. I was expecting trash, horror, screams and outrages that any gathering of people invariably generates. Nothing like this. And it's not that some special people stood by the relics.
It's just that this queue is fantastically well organized. The case when, without irony, they say "for people." I never thought that I could stand for six hours and after that say that it was not only not tiring, but even comfortable, pleasant, educational. If there was an Oscar for queuing, I would award it without hesitation.
How everything is organized
It all starts in the subway. "Attention! The queue for the relics is forming at the Park Kultury station," the driver on the red line announces.
You can also get to the end of the line by land. From the temple to its tail along Ostozhenka every hundred meters there are groups - two policemen and a girl in a green apron. They suggest the way and tell whether it is worth standing or it is better to come tomorrow. It is better to ask people in green aprons. These are Orthodox volunteers and they are really ready to help in everything. And conduct, and talk, and give water and warn where you stumble on the wire.
The police also give advice. Muscovites are advised not to stand on weekends. There are many pilgrims from afar, and if "on weekdays you can buzz a bee for two hours," then on weekends there was a queue even at night. I was frightened by the sad experience of a certain pilgrim who arrived at one in the morning, stood in line at half past four, and only at two in the afternoon reached the relics.
I thought that since the tail of the flow of people is forming at the "Park Kultury", then the line itself is a fantastic three-kilometer length. But it's not. The human flow is divided dotted into compartments with people and voids, which are called gateways. Thanks to this decision, you don’t move a teaspoon per hour, you don’t swear with your neighbor, like Shurochka from Office Romance, they say, I was leaving.
You just stand in a fenced compartment and wait for the next one to be released. Groups are allowed into the temple. Each compartment is a group.
Who is standing and what are they asking for
There were about fifty people in my compartment, mostly ordinary simple women of about sixty with their own problems and troubles. Oddly enough, there are many ladies from Kursk. There were also men: two businessmen. For six hours they talked about deals to buy yachts in Europe. One blogger - a young man with a glamorous look - constantly took selfies and posted them on Instagram. There were two boys about fourteen years old. They honestly admitted that they want an Audi s8 and are confident that Nicholas the Wonderworker, aka Santa Claus, will help.
In general, who is not here, and all with their requests. I even met a group of protesters against resettlement from Khrushchev. They came to ask for non-relocation and an increase in the price of land under construction.
Fun in line. Ships are constantly mooring along the embankment. Saxophonists and guitarists are playing on the deck. Some people are dancing in line. In one place there is an exit to the boats. Pilgrims are tempted to ride for 500 rubles. In particular, I was persuaded to ride on " Prophetic Oleg". They said that there are a lot of merry Indians on it.
What to eat
There are toilets and tents with food and water along the queue route.
Food becomes cheaper as you get closer to the temple. A bottle of water that cost 60 rubles at the beginning drops to 35 in the middle of the queue. At the end, water is distributed free of charge. Products IMPROVE as you get closer to the temple. At first, only water is sold. Then - water and ice cream. Then pies with apples and cherries (50 rubles each) and hot tea are added. On Prechistenskaya, 5, sausage in dough and hot dogs are already appearing. On Prechistenskaya, 9 - ginger teas and mulled wine are brewed.
But the main thing is not to wait. At a certain moment (very close to the temple) everything tasty disappears again and you can eat a six-hour standing only with a cockerel on a stick.
Three tips for pilgrims
1. Bottled water is better to drink. Make sure that there are no perfumes, deodorant, nail scissors in your purse. When you find yourself at the entrance to the temple, you will be passed through a metal detector and everything liquid and piercing and cutting will be taken away. At the temple there is a table with rich booty of the police. When I was seized and plastic disposable knives, too.
2. If you are going to queue, take with you the icon of St. Nicholas. It can be applied to the relics. This is allowed. If you didn't bring anything material with you, you can buy it. At the temple wall in front of a metal detector, two women cheerfully sell images of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Enamel pendant - from 150 to 200 rubles, tapestry, icon, pendant on metal - up to 600 rubles. Sellers recommend that everything purchased be attached to the relics.
3. It is better for women to take a scarf. They are not given in the temple. Although for the lack of a skirt and a scarf - they will not be kicked out. Everyone is very loyal.
What to do in the temple
In the temple, too, you have to move in a queue mode, in a stream. But you can have time to order a prayer to St. Nicholas. For health, for peace - 50 rubles. (no more than 15 names). Candles for sale. But there will be no opportunity to put them on your own. As you progress, all the candles are given to a girl from the Orthodox volunteers. She puts them in right away. They will obviously not light them in front of you.
For the squeamish: the place of the kiss of the relics is well processed. A woman stands in front of the relics and wipes them every time someone kisses them.
But at the relics themselves you can stay for a second. Everything is very, very fast. Nothing can be seen. "We are being baptized now. We are not baptized at the relics," say the Orthodox volunteers in the church. Approaching the relics, you can only kiss the glass and quickly leave. I just looked and didn't see anything. Large box covered with glass. There is something gold and brown in the box.
After worshiping the relics, already at the exit from the Temple, they give you a "blessing" - a small paper icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (on the reverse side - the words of the patriarch). This icon is a material evidence of your pilgrimage. And she can be proud of.
22/05/2017
In Moscow, people stand in a one and a half kilometer queue to get to the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. According to the National Guard, which protects people, we are talking about several thousand believers who are ready to stand for hours on end to touch the relic. In Runet, they are discussing an unprecedented excitement, comparable to the exhibition of Serov and the belt of the Virgin, which was brought to the capitals several years ago.
IN In the center of Moscow, on Prechistenskaya Embankment, there are thousands of Muscovites and those who came to the capital specifically to touch the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. It is possible that the number of believers will increase.
Vladimir Chernikov, head of the Moscow Department of Regional Security and Anti-Corruption, talks about visiting the relics:
“Repair work is not supposed to be carried out on the embankment during the stay of the relics. On the side of Savvinsky lane, work has been completed and suspended where necessary, so the queue will be formed from the side of the Crimean bridge, 11 accumulation sections have been organized, a parking lot has been organized for the arrival of buses - the southern core of Luzhniki, pilgrims can arrive there by bus, respectively, people can easily pass from the side of the embankment to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The arrival of people to the temple to the relics is provided for people with disabilities, meaning those who are in wheelchairs, and for people with babies in their arms, for everyone else - in the order of the general queue. We try to work individually with the help of volunteers and social patrols. Water is provided, there are already barrels of drinking water, limited food is provided and toilets are mandatory. We will provide for the possibility of places for recreation, most likely, buses should appear. We envisage the possibility of extending the queue along Frunzenskaya Embankment to Luzhniki. We understand that the time of standing in line will be much longer, but the passage in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, directly at the shrine with relics, is provided from two sides. I think that we will regulate all these issues within literally today so that people can bow to the relics and at the same time the queue goes a little faster than usual. There will be a temporary overlap of the embankment so that you can cross the road to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. We will try to limit the overlap as much as possible, because for cars and for people the passage is organized according to passports, and the passage, by the way, of vehicles for pedestrians. In principle, on the opposite side - Prechistenskaya Embankment - the traffic is organized, you can safely go there.
Note that on July 13, the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker will be transported to St. Petersburg.
“The queue to the relics of Nicholas the Ugodnik stretched for one and a half kilometers. And this, of course, is not the limit: the entire domestic propaganda machine works for the saint. I'm not talking about the worship of relics now - it's not my topic, something else is much more interesting: why are all the Kiselevs and other journalists on call so sucking on this left rib.
I will say seditious: anyone who wanted to bow to the relics of a saint could do it a long time ago. For this, it is not necessary to go to Italy. Have you been to the beach in Antalya, Turkey? There, a few stops on the bus, the city museum. And in this museum there is a shrine with relics, no worse than Italian ones. But somehow I didn’t see a queue of Russian tourists for a kilometer and a half: in Turkey they prefer the soulless ol inclusive.
So I’ll ask again - where did these one and a half kilometers and thousands of people suddenly come from? They are from TV, where Kiselev explained that "Nikolai Ugodnik chose Russia." And in the elections he will definitely vote for our Vladimir Yasno Solnyshko.
They are trying to impose on us the same Uvarov triad of Orthodoxy-autocracy-nationality. With the first two points it is clear, and the nationality - there it is, running with brilliant green through the streets and with whiskey around the stage.
By the way, it’s funny: Kiselev cannot help but lie even about the relics: “In order to protect the remains of Nicholas the Wonderworker from desecration and looting by the Turks, the relic was transported to the cathedral of the Italian city of Bari.”
No, dear General Director of Rossiya Segodnya. In the Middle Ages, they were simply stolen, it was then fashionable to steal shrines. But who do I explain this to?
“What the Russian Guard does, read.
They say that 1000 parasites will guard the pieces of the brought corpse. I have not been to Bari, but I doubt that a thousand Italian carabinieri would suddenly guard the grave of this Nicholas.
The 21st century, and we are witnessing some medieval manipulations and dances around fragments of the body of a long-dead person, which are presented as an event of a national scale. And all this - at the expense of the state. Shame!
(I will not tire of reminding you that in modern Catholicism this Nicholas is translated into locally venerated saints - because of the non-historical nature of the character. Like St. George the Victorious and beloved by many Catherine A)".
Every day, at least 20,000 pilgrims in Moscow stand in a long line to get to a piece of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The relics will be in the Russian capital until July 13, then they will be transported to St. Petersburg for another two weeks, and then delivered back to Italy. On a special website http:// nikola2017. moseparh.ru you can find up-to-date information for each day where the queue for the relics of St. Nicholas begins and how long it is.
If we consider a weekday, as a rule, the flow of pilgrims who want to get to the shrine does not decrease. In particular, at ten in the morning on July 10, the waiting line averaged nine hours, for a weekday this is an average figure. On the days of Saturday and Sunday the number of pilgrims increases, therefore, which turn to - for 15-20 hours. The organizers of worship on their official website to which the link is given in the first paragraph of this material emphasize that such an estimate of the queue is approximate and it may change.
Important! On a weekday morning from Frunzenskaya Embankment, house 54, this is the place where the line to the relics of St. Nicholas begins. Nearby is the metro station "Frunzenskaya" and "Sportivnaya". From the metro station "Frunzenskaya" you will need to turn left, along underground passage go to the side of Komsomolsky prospect. The estimated time in line at midday on July 10 was nine hours.
How many people have already visited the relics
The relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker were brought a month ago to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and the queue has definitely not become smaller since then. It is already possible to sum up some results: more than 500,000 people managed to bow to the relics in a month, the geography of pilgrims is very different, you often have to stand in line for 10 hours or more.
When it was decided to bring a piece of the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker revered in Rus' to Moscow, the organizers could not imagine how great the interest of the people would be. Every day from the moment when the relics were in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the number of pilgrims only increases. The queue to the relics is perceived by people as a test that must be passed before coming into contact with the shrine. A friendly atmosphere reigns in the queue, people get to know each other, pray together.
Such a large queue needs to be controlled and volunteers are attracted for this. Every day they are on duty in several shifts of up to two hundred people. In the first week of the relics being in Moscow, 4,000 volunteers were involved, and now, a month later, we can safely talk about the figure of 10,000 volunteers.
Information from the official website, how many people visit the relics every day and total number pilgrims.
Veneration of relics in the Orthodox tradition
The relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker were brought to Moscow in 2017 at the end of May, the line for worship formed immediately and, you can see the statistics from the official website, it definitely does not get smaller every day. Many believers are interested in the question of how the Christian tradition of worshiping relics coexists and the fact that a person must be buried after death. The ministers of the church emphasize that people from time immemorial have already worshiped the first Christian martyrs: they came to their graves and soon this tradition became inseparable from the Orthodox Church.
The worship of relics is part of the faith and it is difficult to explain to a person, like many other things that have been present in Christianity since time immemorial. Some things do not need to be explained at all: they must be felt. If you manage to stand in line and touch the shrine, then the person himself, on a bodily and spiritual level, will be able to find answers to questions.
To see where the line to the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker came from and how long to stand, you can go to official website http://nikola2017. moseparh.ru where the information is up-to-date and constantly updated online.
For the first time in history, a particle of the relics of the most revered Russian saint, Nicholas the Wonderworker, was brought to Russia. The shrine will stay in Russia until July 28.
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Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis agreed on this during a historic meeting in Havana. From May 22 to July 12, they will be available for worship at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, and after that they will be transported to St. Petersburg, presumably to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
The event is unique, for almost a thousand years the relics lay in the temple under a multi-ton marble slab in the Italian city of Bari. The shrine was brought to Moscow in a special ark on May 21, the day before for the memory of Nicholas the Wonderworker. The very next day, believers could venerate the shrine, which 18,600 people did. In the first days, the flow of pilgrims was so great that the press secretary of the Patriarch, priest Alexander Volkov, had to gather journalists and explain the rules of the pilgrimage: do not strive for worship in the early days and do not create a stir, do not look for an easy way to the shrine. “If we can’t defend a three-four-five-hour queue in Moscow, then why do we need all this? The point is for a person to make some, at least a short pilgrimage to the shrine, spend at least some time, his physical strength and apply some effort in order to bow to the holy saint of God. Otherwise, there will be no point in this worship. Like in a store: he came, took something for some money and went back. This is not a shop, but a church,” the priest said.
The relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker will arrive in St. Petersburg
© RIA Novosti / Igor Russak
The solemn meeting of the relics of St. Nicholas will take place on July 13 at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, the admission of pilgrims to the shrine will begin at 16.00, the Smolny press service reports.
Metro will open earlier
The nearest metro station to the Lavra of Alexander Nevsky will be opened an hour earlier in those two weeks that the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker will be in St. Petersburg. The underground will be closed at a later date. The lobby of Ploshchad Aleksandra Nevskogo-2 station will be open for passengers from 05.32 to 00.23. This regime is valid from July 13 to July 28, while a Christian shrine will be in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Pilgrims will be provided with free water
The admission of pilgrims to the shrine in the Holy Trinity Cathedral will begin at 16.00. From July 14 to July 27, it will be possible to bow to the holy relics from 7.00 to 22.00. On the way of pilgrims to the cathedral, mobile shops with pastries, tea and coffee will operate, pilgrims will be provided with free water, about a hundred dry closets will be installed.
Two ambulance teams will be constantly on duty at the Lavra. Unauthorized trade will be stopped. About 500 volunteers will work daily in the area of the monastery. A hotline will operate from July 13 to promptly resolve issues that arise for pilgrims.
social queue
Adjustment of the queue of pilgrims will begin from the exit of the metro station "Alexander Nevsky Square", traffic will be filmed on Chernoretsky Lane. The column will be located in Chernoretsky Lane, Telezhnaya Street and Professor Ivashentsov Street. The movement to the Holy Trinity Cathedral will pass through Alexander Nevsky Square, Lavrsky Proyezd, 2nd Lavrsky Bridge, along the embankment of the Monastyrka River, then the main gate of the Lavra and the main entrance to the cathedral.
In addition, for children under 2 years of age accompanied by one parent, as well as for disabled people of group I, a preferential queue will be organized. It will be formed under the control of representatives of social services.
On July 28, the solemn seeing-off of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker will take place. From St. Petersburg, the shrine will return back to Bari.
The ark with the relics of one of the most revered Christian saints left the Papal Basilica of the Italian city of Bari (Italy) for the first time in 930 years. Saint Nicholas is one of the most revered saints throughout the Christian world. Every year, thousands of Orthodox believers come to Bari to venerate the relics of the great saint of God. However, for most Orthodox Russia such distant pilgrimages are difficult to accomplish. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' expressed the hope that prayer at the miraculous relics of St. Nicholas would serve to strengthen faith in the hearts of people.
What to ask a saint?
Nicholas the Wonderworker is considered the protector of travelers, the needy, unjustly convicted, widows and orphans. Most often, the saint is asked to heal from a serious illness, help in a hopeless situation, relieve need, get married, and keep peace in the family.
Given the summer time and the possibility of a long stay in the queue, it is recommended:
- take a supply of water with you plastic bottle(in plastic bottles of 0.5 l);
- dress according to the weather (taking into account weather forecasts);
- to be in a headdress;
- if there are medical indications, take with you medicines that you regularly take.
