A friend sends along this NBC report about a remote village in Alaska where a community of Russian Orthodox Old Believers -- a schismatic sect dating to the 17th century -- took refuge a generation ago. It's now rather a crunchy-con/Benedict Option kind of place. Fascinating. Check it out:
BTW, here's an Associated Press story about the Old Believers' village that's much less sentimental about their community, and the challenges it faces.
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Charles Cosimano wrote:
"And they are still fighting over how many fingers to make the sign of the Cross with?
I don't think I could write a parody of that. I would not have to."
Your comment indicates an ignorance of how the Orthodox bless themselves.
The thumb and the first two fingers are joined together to remind us of the Trinity. The "ring finger" and the little finger are held together and folded into the palm to indicate the two natures of Christ, divine and human. That is the usage that was adopted from the Greeks.
The link below will give you some additional information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_of_the_cross
I have been to their Cathedral in Moscow, and there, as elsewhere, they are not without Bishops and priests. But even there they keep to themselves.
At least they're not Duckhobors or Skopstsy. They don't gather in one place, in entire families, and strip naked in front of authorities/groups that they think have wronged them (they used to do this in the Canadian west). They don't castrate themselves, either, or engaged in public self-flagellatioin.
So, yes, this is Russian Orthodox weirdness, but believe me, it does get a LOT weirder.
After reading your blog, thought you would be interested in this...
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One of the interesting things about both Orthodoxy and Catholicism is that one can find Saints on both sides of many controversies that were once considered important enough to die for, but which time has proven were more elaborate sideshows than things core to faith.
I've often thought that a nice gesture towards Christian unity on the part of both the Catholic and Orthodox churches would be to agree to acknowledge one another's saints. I'm sure the vast majority would be unobjectionable to the other party. I'm not saying I see it happening, but it would be nice and would enrich the spiritual life of both churches. In particular, I'm sure there are many Orthodox saints who deserve to be better known in the West.
Charles Cosimano reminds me of the time I made the Sign of the Cross with the wrong number of fingers in catechism class one day. I was probably seven or eight years old. I had seen a painting of a saint who was doing it that way, so I tried to imitate that--being a pious child who was eager to do everything just right.
Sister absolutely jumped down my throat. "Not like that!" she hissed, grabbing my offending hand and forcibly re-molding the fingers into the correct form. I had no idea why she was mad, but she scared me half to death. My first introduction to the joys of heresy . . . .
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