Month: March 2013

Orthodox feast of the Birth of the Mother of God (part VIII), church of the Birth of the Mother of God, Radchytsk, September 21, 2012.  Сьвяток Нараджэньня Божай Маці (частка VIII), царква Нараджэньня Божай Маці, Радчыцк 2012 год. The parish priest gave an energetic sermon at the end of the service.

Orthodox feast of the Birth of the Mother of God (part VII), church of the Birth of the Mother of God, Radchytsk, September 21, 2012.  Сьвяток Нараджэньня Божай Маці (частка VII), царква Нараджэньня Божай Маці, Радчыцк 2012 год. Blessing of parishioners at the end of the procession.

Orthodox feast of the Birth of the Mother of God (part VI), church of the Birth of the Mother of God, Radchytsk, September 21, 2012.  Сьвяток Нараджэньня Божай Маці (частка VI), царква Нараджэньня Божай Маці, Радчыцк 2012 год. Orthodox processions move counter-clockwise around the church; Roman Catholic processions clockwise.

Polesia in Winter (part XX).  Палесьсе ўзімку (частка ХХ). Sometimes in Belarus one feels transported into a 17th-century Dutch drawing. Al’pjen’ 2013.  Альпень 2013 год.

Orthodox feast of the Birth of the Mother of God (part V), church of the Birth of the Mother of God, Radchytsk, September 21, 2012.  Сьвяток Нараджэньня Божай Маці (частка V), царква Нараджэньня Божай Маці, Радчыцк 2012 год. Members of the choir, which sang beautifully.

Orthodox feast of the Birth of the Mother of God (part IV), church of the Birth of the Mother of God, Radchytsk, September 21, 2012.  Сьвяток Нараджэньня Божай Маці (частка IV), царква Нараджэньня Божай Маці, Радчыцк 2012 год. As the feast-day service lasts more than four-and-a-half hours, there is a rest period in the middle.

Anointing with holy oil, Orthodox feast of the Birth of the Mother of God (part III), church of the Birth of the Mother of God, Radchytsk, September 21, 2012.  Сьвяток Нараджэньня Божай Маці (частка III), царква Нараджэньня Божай Маці, Радчыцк 2012 год.

Orthodox feast of the Birth of the Mother of God (part II), church of the Birth of the Mother of God, Radchytsk, September 21, 2012.  Сьвяток Нараджэньня Божай Маці (частка II), царква Нараджэньня Божай Маці, Радчыцк 2012 год. For this feast day the parish priest is assisted by the priest from a nearby village.

Orthodox feast of the Birth of the Mother of God (part I), church of the Birth of the Mother of God, Radchytsk, September 21, 2012.  Сьвяток Нараджэньня Божай Маці (частка І), царква Нараджэньня Божай Маці, Радчыцк 2012 год. The population of Radchytsk has aged and shrunk over the past thirty years.  However, parishioners still celebrate… Continue reading Photo of the Day for March 13, 2013

Belarus in Faces (part LXXV).  Беларусь у тварах (частка LXXV). Marusja, daughter-in-law of Granny Vul’ljana and Granddad Ivan (who died on February 14), is a paragon of kindness, resilience, and industriousness.  Here, paused in her knitting, she is lost in thought about the close call she and her husband had when their neighbor’s barn caught… Continue reading Photo of the Day for March 12, 2013