Thanks, Alan, Christine, Attila and Jack! This church replaced a tiny church built back in the 1930s that was no longer structurally sound. (I suspect that the original church was built by the parishioners before building codes were enforced.) I believe the bell is from the original church. In Russia, I saw several old, heavy bells set up at ground level near a church or cathedral. The most famous is the Tsar Bell, in the Moscow Kremlin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bell
Alan, I agree that they did a great job combining a modern church with the traditional architectural details of a Russian Orthodox structure. In the old country, now the Zakarpattia Oblast in Ukraine, My grandfather belonged to the Greek Catholic or Uniate church, which was Orthodox in liturgy and tradition, but a separate entity directly under the pope, since the region was incorporated into the Austrian Empire after the collapse of Kievan Rus in the 13th century. That region was part of Hungary when my grandfather emigrated to the US, later became part of Czechoslovakia, then was seized by the Soviets during WWII, first as an independent region and then as part of the Ukrainian SSR. When the Rusyns (or Ruthenians) can to the US, they collected money to bring a few of their priests from Europe, but the priests were rejected by the local Roman Catholic hierarchy. as a result, some joined Russian Orthodox churches, some became Latin Rite Catholics, but some, like my grandparents, opted to form their own churches, following the pattern of those in Ruthenia. For decades, they continued to operate as a tiny independent religious organization, but late in the last century, they became part of the Orthodox Church in America, along with the Greek Orthodox churches. Although I was raised Lutheran, I always went to the Rusyn Church with my father on Christmas, Easter and family weddings and baptisms, and I have clear memories of the tiny older church, without pews, men standing on one side and the woman on the other, with the stirring Russian chants, the intricate icons and the overwhelming incense. The services are now in English, and the priests no longer have long beards, but much of the traditional service remains. Many of my cousins still belong to this church, and occasionally one of them will host a traditional Russian Christmas Eve dinner on January 6, before midnight mass. Dan Matyola http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola On Mon, Sep 29, 2014 at 12:33 AM, Alan C <[email protected]> wrote: > A beautiful modern Church. What is the significance of the bell on a > pedestal? > > Alan C > > -----Original Message----- From: Daniel J. Matyola > Sent: Monday, September 29, 2014 6:21 AM > To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List > Subject: PESO: Holy Ghost > > > The Carpatho-Russian Othodox Church of the Holy Ghost. (My paternal > grandfather was one of the origianal founding members.) > http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=17867842 > Comments are invited. > > Dan Matyola > http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. > > --- > This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus > protection is active. > http://www.avast.com > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
