«And if in our relationships with people, in our everyday affairs and concerns we learn to be guided by the divine ordinances, then many things will change both within and around us. Life will acquire true meaning and be filled with real joy and happiness.»
I would like to begin this issue of The Russian Mind with these words from the Christmas Message of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. Because it is dedicated to the wonderful holidays of the New Year, Christmas and the Old New Year, which many Orthodox continue to celebrate. Tradition is tradition! Hence our materials on these topics. These include the Orthodox Messenger dedicated to the Holy Nativity; a talk on the founder of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (established by his imperial will of Emperor Alexander III in 1882) Vasily Khitrovo and his life’s work – Russian Palestine; Christmas poems by Joseph Brodsky; and New Year’s stories by Olga Kuzmina and Marina Solovyova.
In addition, the Literature section will feature essays on the great men of Russian culture Anton Chekhov and Boris Pasternak.
And in the Events and Information section we will tell you about the unveiling in Moscow of a monument to the famous detective Arkady Koshko, nicknamed «the Russian Sherlock Holmes” in the West.
Happy New Year, dear readers of the Russian Mind! Merry Christmas!
By Kirill Privalov
