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St. Innocent Monastic Community
Redford, Michigan

IV. VIDEOS in Russian

wpeF.jpg (2572 bytes)                       VR-12.  DORMITION FEAST DAY
               at the Pskov-Pechersky Dormition Monastery
 
                                                        VHS Videotape      30 mins.   Made in Russia in 1996.  
                                                                                  ISBN 1-881211-34-7    
                                                                    PRICE: $19.95

DESCRIPTION:

Depicted in this wonderful video are highlights of the Dormition patronal feast-day celebration at the Men's Monastery of the Dormition, located in Pechory, near Pskov, at the far northwest edge of Russia, almost to Estonia.  This video is a perfect companion to the next video (#VR-13; also available in English, #VE-24) that portrays the general life and history of this same beautiful monastery.

bullet Included in this portrayal of the entirely open-air celebrations are:
bullet the Vigil of the feast;
bullet the veneration of the Dormition plashchenitsa (shroud depicting the Falling-Asleep of the Mother of God);
bullet interviews with the abbot and the archbishop;
bullet and, especially emphasized -- the procession with the magnificent, precious, double-sided, very large and heavy, metal-covered, beaded and jeweled icon of the Dormition, with 18 smaller feast-day icons flanking it.  The procession goes all the way around the outside of the walls of the very large monastery.

Thousands of people are present, many of them younger men and women.   Most of the festivities shown are in the daylight, although the conclusion is at night.  The very beautiful singing includes the very excellent Monastery Children's Choir. 

There is a striking contrast between this very large and established monastery, and the small, newly re-opened, remote monasteries, as viewed in other videos (VR-#14 and #15 and others).

[Russian production. In Russian.]