IV. VIDEOS in Russian

                       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.

	Included in this portrayal of the entirely open-air celebrations are:
	the Vigil of the feast;
	the veneration of the Dormition plashchenitsa (shroud depicting the Falling-Asleep of the Mother of God);
	interviews with the abbot and the archbishop;
	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.]