Moscow (AsiaNews) Follow Christ and do not be slaves of idols imposed by the modern world. Such was the invitation extended to Alexei II to 5,000 faithful gathered yesterday evening in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow for the Christmas vigil. During the celebration, the Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias exhorted those present to commit themselves to "good actions: try to share the joy of Christmas with those around you, especially those who are alone. Let this joy follow you in your life and give you the strength to overcome trials and tribulations".
Today, Orthodox Christians of the Russian church, from the Holy Land and some of the other eastern Orthodox Churches celebrate Christmas, according to the Julian calendar. This is 13 days later than the Gregorian calendar adopted by Catholics, Protestants, some Orthodox and the secular world. On 7 January, the religious and secular world in Russia comes together and ends fasting from meat, sweets and alcohol started on 28 November. Christmas is a national holiday.
The Patriarch addressed many political figures including the Prime Minister, Mikhail Fradkov, and religious personalities, like the Nuncio in Russia, Mgr Antonio Mennini. In his message of greetings to Alexei II, the President Vladimir Putin who was visiting Yakutskha in Siberia yesterday thanked the Orthodox Church for "its contribution to promoting peace, agreement and mutual understanding in society".
Alexei II launched an appeal to members of the congregation to follow Christ, the source of "true good" and not to allow themselves to "be enslaved by idols of power, glory and pleasure imposed by the world around".
The same was expressed by an Orthodox priest, Yakov Krotov, a historian and journalist. Speaking to AsiaNews, he underlined the importance of remembering today that "only by turning to Jesus, the source of absolute freedom, can our faith succeed in not transforming itself into fear", as a result of tragedies which continued to occur in 2005. One for all, perhaps the closest to the Russian people, but certainly among the most forgotten of the world, is the Chechen tragedy. Fr Krotov said: "The past year did not bring any improvements; blood continues to flow in Chechnya and helps us to evaluate as deeply as ever what is happening in Iraq. For us Christians, it is terrible to see that, even in our country, there are people who use religious jargon to justify the spilling of blood, which pits Christianity and Islam against each other". Fr Krotov expressed the hope that the birth of Jesus will be a time which spurs Christians not to allow themselves to be "trapped in the fluid sands of fear, and to transform this feeling into faith in Christ, true freedom."
Until tonight, Moscow is an armoured city: 3,000 members of the security forces have been mobilised. Security is concentrated in particular around religious buildings and near metro stops; in some cases, the forces of order even used metal detectors.
