July 21 - is one of the most important feast days in Russian Orthodox Church as well as in Russia in whole. It is a commemoration of a mracle-making icon of Holy Mother of God of Kazan.
Historically, many icons of Holy Mother of God were discovered to be making miracles such as protecting and healing. Here is some history....
The year of 1579. White mercilessly scorching sun, cloud of dust on the roads of city of Kazan. Dust and ash from a recent fire - a week ago here reigned a terrible blaze.  It started near the church of St. Nicholas, then spread to the Kazan Kremlin. Long hours of blazing glow, wailing women, crying babies - and many laughing mischievously - "where is your God now?" Many in those days doubted Christ teaching and faith.

In that fire many families were left homeless with little prospects to rebuild their homes in time for winter. In a hurry with the construction, among other victims of the fire was an archer Daniel Onuchin. Daniel had a daughter named Matrona. As to many young children her age the fire was not much of a grief, but the time for discoveries - here and there children found a beautiful piece of glass or an unusual stone . And only at night time they realized that the blaze took their homes and changed their lives.
One of those nights Matrona was awaken by a strange dream - Holy Mother Of God presented in the front of her. Not only she was there, she ordered a little girl to uncover an icon from under the ground. "Dreams are from God, but visions only come to holy people" - said her parents, and they were right. But Holy Mother of God appeared to the little girl the next night and the night after that. Then the parents decided to believe their little girl.

Matrona and her mother went to to look for place from Matrona's dream as she remembered it. They began to dig the ground deeper and deeper - and, was that She? Indeed - they uncovered the icon of Holy Mother of God, they carefully cleaned dirt and dust from it... But how did She get there? Perhaps, a while ago the secret followers of Christianity did this to hide Heavenly Queen from infidels.

The news of a new icon of Holy Mother of God flew faster then the fastest bird. And now, the Priest of surrounding temples - Archbishop Jeremia - reverently takes the icon and  solemnly carries to the St. Nicholas cathedral. From there, after the prayer service, with the holy procession the icon was taken to the Cathedral of Annunciation - the very first Orthodox cathedral in Russia erected by Ivan the Terrible. From the very beginning of the procession it became clear that the icon is a miracle-
making. Two blind men that joined procession - now we know their names: Joseph and Nikita - gained their sights.

The Icon of Holy Mother of God of Kazan

These miracles were the first in a long list of miracles and healings. They so impressed Ivan the Terrible, he commanded to erect Kazan Cathedral and founded a convent. There's some time later took monastic vows Matrona and her mother.

The icon of the Holy Virgin of Kazan type refers to the icons of Hodigitria-"the one showing the way" - and indeed She was.
After a while She found Her home in Kazan Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow, one of the most famous churches in Moscow that was build in and now the image is stored in the Epiphany Cathedral.

Kazan Cathedral. Moscow 

On many occasions Russians appealed to Holy Mother if God of Kazan for protection and guidance -
and many miracles were granted. Before the Battle of Poltava, in 1812,  Peter the Great and his army
prayed before the icon of Our Lady of Kazan for help to defeat French invaders. The image of Our
Lady of Kazan overshadowed Russians troops. On October 22, 1812 Russian troops led by Miloradovich and Platov pitched rearguard Davoust. It was the first major defeat of the French after the departure from Moscow; the enemy lost 7000 people. On that day it snowed greatly and the strong winds brought frigid temperatures. It was as if the nature was fighting on Russians side. This was the beginning of the end of  conqueror of Europe - French army.
One of the miracles of Our Lady of Kazan icon refers to the year of 1943. The German Nazis surrounded Moscow for the last battle preparing to defeat Communist Russia. Russian troops are outnumbered and exhausted. Joseph Stalin - the Commander-in-Chief and a General Secretary of USSR (Soviet state that denied religion and lived the way of atheism) - ordered for the icon of Our
Lady of Kazan to be place onto the airplane and to be flown over City of Moscow. Once again
Russians ( though "Soviet") were pleading to their Mother for protection. Despite all the reasonable
expectations and prognosis the 1943 battle for Moscow became the turning point of WWII - and beginning of defeat of Nazi Germany invaders. Fascists lost this fight.

Prayer before the icon of Our Lady of Kazan
Oh Holy Lady Theotokos Theotokos! With fear, faith and love pripadayusche before the icon of thy honest, we pray thee: turn not away thy face from resorting to you, begging Mother of Mercy, Thy Son and our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, but retain our peaceful country, establish His holy Church yes u will keep inviolable from unbelief, heresy and schism. Not imams bo inyya assistance not imams inyya hope, except Thee, O Virgin Immaculate: Thou art the Omnipotent Christians Hostess
and Mediatrix. Deliver all of you praying with faith from falling sinful, wicked people from libel,
from all temptations, sorrows, troubles and from futile death; grant us the spirit of contrition, humility of heart, purity of thoughts, correction grehovnyya life and leaving sins, that they all sing praise votes greatness Thy heavenly kingdom, and be worthy customs with all the saints glorify most honorable
and majestic name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.



Translated from the source:
http://www.pravmir.ru/
Images from: http://www.pravmir.ru/kazanskaya-ikona-istoriya-chudesa-molitvy/#ixzz386Aty9PM






Источник: http://www.pravmir.ru/kazanskaya-

Russian Orthodox Moms tea room: Inspired by my grandmother - "Babushka Masha"

Russian Orthodox Moms tea room: Inspired by my grandmother - "Babushka Masha": Making crapes from scratch tonight. A healthy and inexpensive way to feed family in the morning (make them the night before). My guys also ...

Inspired by my grandmother - "Babushka Masha"

Making crapes from scratch tonight. A healthy and inexpensive way to feed family in the morning (make them the night before). My guys also like it as a desert with various toppings .
I've been making crapes for some years now and it is one of family favorites.
Here is a story ( of course) behind it...

Grandma's breakfast crapes: 

 - water at room temperature - 3 cups
 - 2 eggs
 - 1 tbs of slightly melter butter or oil
 - pinch of salt
 - 1/2 tbs of white sugar
 - all-purpose flower - 2 cups
 - oil for frying

Choose a heavy frying pan for making crapes. Combine eggs, salt, sugar and butter and mix well together. Add water ( you can also use milk of desired). Gradually add all the flower and mix well ( the batter should be a consistency of buttermilk).Heat a frying pan on med-high, add some oil (just a coating). Pour a 3/4 of soup ladle onto a heated frying pan - turning pan around spread evenly. Fry until golden. Turn over and fry the other side, 

Early 80-s in Soviet Russia. I am about 7-8 years old. Spending summer at grandparents in a countryside. Grandpa - dedushka Misha - is a superintendent at a local collective farm construction, and grandma  - babushka Masha - took an early retirement to take care if us kids. Kids are - my cousin Alesha and I. We practically live here all summer.
Babushka and dedushka live in their own house with attached acres. They grow potatoes for sale as an extra income ( tax free). There is a cow, couple of pigs , all types of domestic birds and of course a dog and cats as pets for us kids.
We sleep in one great room, in brass or stainless steel beds on duck feather beds and pillows. We sleep through early morning and hear grandmaster tip-toeing into the room to check on us.
As we rise  - breakfast awaits for us on wooden table painted with green lead paint and covered with an acrylic cloth with flowered print. Breakfast is usually many things. Today it is crapes. Grandma makes them very thin and lacy - just as we like it. We have it with honey, sour cream, jams or just like that - with a glass of whole unpasteurized milk. Needless to say that honey came from a beekeeper couple of houses over, sour cream is made of milk from out own beloved cow Lyska, and jams - they are made by grandmother from variety of fruit and berries my cousin and I gathered ( black and red currants, raspberries, gooseberries, bing cherries).

Bottom row, second from the left - is grandma "babushka Masha". She is 19 years old. It is a year of 1933. 

Village Chuevo. My grandfather Misha. It is 1963 - he survived  WWII and time of Soviet repression. 

Re-living these moment 30 years later I now started to realize how happy and free we were.
We did not have many things. Grandparents didn't have a phone - we used our neighbor's;  no car - the bus was always on schedule and the fair was symbolic; we didn't have a room for each child or a number of bathrooms in a house. But what we had was so much greater! We had a future, security, confidence that tomorrow will be better than today; we respected our elders and trusted our leaders. We believed that we live in the best time and in the best country in the world!
We were truly happy!

New beginning...

Orthodox moms tea room

New beginning...

Today I am returning to my blog writing. It's been interesting 3 years since the last post has been produced and posted.
Pursuing a professional career I dedicated most of my time within those years to a JOB.
Today I am writing this sitting on a floor in the smallest room of the house that my husband and our daughter are working on converting it to the nursery.  The reason for need of a nursery is the final deciding point for me to leave a "professional" world and to be become a full-time mom/wife/writer.  Yes, the wisdom finally came with a small human growing inside me waiting to be presented to this world. We are going to be parents again, at age 52 and 40.
As many other couples out there waiting for years for a miracle of becoming parents ( or parents again) we have been waiting for our little miracle for over 4 years.
Unfortunately much time was spent trusting in science and modern medicine that caused many disappointment and produced no desired results. What I was missing all those years was The most essential aspect of any human being: faith.
I was born into Russian orthodox family and baptized into  a Russian orthodox church. I was indeed more fortunate than many people as I was brought into faith early in my life. But that was it. For many years I never questioned my purpose of life and destiny. For many of years I was drifting with the stream, not living, but coping.
Until one day I was given a proof that my soul is worth saving, that He loves us and believes in us event if we don't. He showed his presence in the most beautiful way - He gave me a chance to start over. With this new life inside me that based on medical reasonings should not have been there.
So, here is my new beginning.....

3x5 Folded Card

Little Girl Pink Thank You Card

Elegant thank you cards and notes by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Some of Russian Easter celebration traditions.

CHRIST IS ALIVE!

 Russian Easter doesn’t always fall on the same dates as the Western  Christian Churches. It is explained by the differences in the calendar used by different countries. The Russian Federation, (Russian State) as well and other Western States follow the Gregorian Calendar, however the Russian Orthodox Church uses Julian Calendar that is usually 2 weeks after. And since the Easter does not have set day, but rather varies by the Equinox, Russian Easter celebration is almost always on the different date (unlike Russian Christmas, observed on January 7th, that constitutes 2 weeks difference from the date the Western Churches celebration).  

In the Russian Orthodox Church Lent covers the 40 days before Easter. As explained in dictionaries, lent is an annual season of fasting in preparation for a certain religious event. It involves certain types of restrictions, mostly culinary. The allowed diet could be simply explained as vegan: any food items containing animal products (including dairy and eggs) are not allowed. Lent is merely a time to restrict things one may enjoy: parties, celebrations, alcohol. 
On the Thursday before Easter Sunday every Russian family would spend the day tidying up their houses, dying the eggs, and preparing special Easter treats called: “KILICH” and “PASKHA” .

Easter is an important religious holiday in Russia.  Year after year Easter is celebrated on a different day, and Russian Easter usually comes later. It is called “Paskha” .

Traditionally, Russians will start celebrating Easter on Sunday morning by going to church for Easter service, bringing baskets with eggs and Paskha (Russian Easter bread) to the church to be blessed.  After the service, Russians return to their homes where they have traditional Easter feast. People usually visit their relatives.  The traditional greeting, if translated is “Christ is resurrected” the answer to this is “Christ is resurrected indeed ”.

There are many explanations for the color and ornaments of Russian Easter Easter Eggs. The curve means Eternity and the Sun cycle, the grate and the fylfot symbolizes the Sun. The red color has the meaning of joy and love, the yellow color means the moon and stars or the crops, the bronze color stands for Mother Earth .

There is no Easter Bunny or Easter egg hunt in Russia. Children receive painted eggs (wooden or hard boiled chicken) and Easter sweets. This painting ( Nikilai Koshelev, "Children Rolling Easter Eggs", 1855) of Russian children playing Easter eggs game: every child takes a turn to roll the egg down a wooden ramp, and the winner is the one whose egg rolled the farthest. Another game Russian children enjoy playing on  Easter is this: children pair up each holding hard boiled egg in ones hand.  Then they hit one egg off the other to see whose egg breaks first, then the “tougher” egg is the winner!

  С Праздником Светлой Пасхи!

  Happy Easter!

Getting Started

So here I am, starting the "Russian Tea Room" blog.
What I've had in mind for its purpose is to carry the culture and the language of the nation I was privileged to be born in - Russian. I must stop here and explain...
Being an immigrant from mentioned country for over 10 years, I've come to realization of how natural it is to loose the sense of who you were "before".
So, I am using this as an opportunity to keep on remembering where I've come from, and pass it on to those who share my concern (or just simply curious), including my own 7-years old daughter.