NB! · Books · Moscow · Observations
Well, my dears, the book is finally out. Thank you all for waiting alongside me. I bought my own copy at the Moskva bookshop, but I hope it will turn up in other bookshops too 💓
Coming Up · Moscow · Observations · Society
Among the forthcoming cultural events, I have noted the musical production by Evgenia Berkovich, "Esther's Black Book", which the Brusnikin troupe will perform at the Boyar Chambers on 9 and 11 December. The staging is devoted to the theme of xenophobia; the action unfolds outside time
Architecture · Observations · Heritage · Society
A standpipe of 1902 in the centre of old Kolomna still works; its decorative panels record that this vital item of civic improvement is a gift from the hereditary honorary citizen Shevlyagina. In every age there has been no better way of leaving a good memory of oneself than to
Moscow · Observations · Heritage · Society · Nature
The remarkable Moscow scholar Maria Survillo has drawn attention to the destruction of trees on the grounds of the Donskoy Monastery. Dreadful, tragic, irreparable. How cynically and methodically the image of old Moscow and the evidence of its former beauty are being destroyed 😣 P.S. To the champions of the
Observations · Society
I simply do not understand when this war will finally end and Russia return to a plain, peaceful life. When shall we at last be able to rejoice in that very peaceful sky, that prosperity and well-being, for which millions of our compatriots died? Why is it that, of
Faith · Observations
The episcopal cappa magna is held to depict the blood-soaked path of Holy Mother Church. The moiré cloak cascading from the shoulders allegorically conveys the streams of blood that, as it were, stand behind the history of the church hierarchs. The need to have the cappa held up symbolises
Faith · Art · Observations · Society
It is hard to call today's conditions the greatest calamity in the history of a mankind that has seen real grief, poverty and hunger in its recent past. So the attacks on the outward manifestations of church tradition are rather an aesthetic dispute, of the kind that took
Faith · Observations · Heritage · Society
Is it right to connect the passage from the Gospel of Mark, in which Jesus speaks of the scribes in long robes and of the poor widow giving the temple her last mite, with the argument about the wealth of the Church against the backdrop of a world economic crisis?
Faith · Observations · Mores
Cardinal Franz Rode in cappa magna. This is not merely a mantle borne aloft by several attendants; it is a kind of embodiment of the splendour of the world and the might of Christian values. Having donned the great mantle, the priest then divests himself of it in public, appearing
Faith · Observations · Rome
One should not suppose that this archaic garment is worn only by the ultra-traditionalist Cardinal Burke, although remarks aimed at him on this score are quite characteristic of how the long cardinalatial cloak is perceived in general. "Burke wears this cloak to spite everyone", "Imagine what
NB! · Observations
Archaeology · Museums · Observations · Pop Culture
Found an absolutely brilliant show, Abandoned Mine Explorers: a group of enthusiasts roams North America in search of old mines condemned to destruction, levelling and oblivion. The explorers descend to the very bottom of forgotten tunnels and shafts and hunt for objects left behind by miners a hundred years ago.