RUSSIA Thousands of Russians pilgrimage against the horrors of war

Between June and October there are at least twenty pilgrimages. The greatest is the “Road of the Romanovs”, which covers 3,500 km from St. Petersburg to Ekaterinburg. Pilgrims seek peace and solace. The holy monks invite people to put their trust exclusively in God and not in the plans of men.

Moscow () – The summer season has shown a significant phenomenon in Russia: the great increase in pilgrimages to the country’s shrines. This is revealed by an investigation Moskovskij Komsomolets. It had already arisen with the pandemic, and the same is happening with the aggression against Ukraine. Many Russians seek solace from saints and holy icons, along with the blessing of monks and “starets” (mystics) in holy places, which are often off the beaten path.

The impossibility of traveling abroad for vacations has contributed to an increase in domestic tourism: people mainly flock to areas where civil and ecclesiastical historical monuments are erected, and the most sought-after destinations are sanctuaries. During the summer months, there are at least twenty major pilgrimages of the Orthodox faithful, and around them a community of believers and people who seek comfort and meaning in the face of current tragic events is created.

Among the pilgrimages, the most grandiose and solemn is the one from St. Petersburg to Ekaterinburg, known as the “Romanovsky Khod” (the path of the Romanovs). They cover 3,500 kilometers on foot, over three and a half months, in an uninterrupted flow between May and July to the site of the martyrdom of Saint Tsar Nicholas II “strastoterpets” (he who suffered the passion) and members of the imperial family. The faithful gather in this Ural forest until the beginning of the autumn snowfall. During the Covid pandemic, those who did not want to submit to the rules of isolation and distancing were concentrated in this place.

The season of religious processions officially closes with the feast of St. Sergius of Radonež, on October 8, at the Sergiev-Posad Lavra (Monastery), 70 km from Moscow. This is the “Russian Vatican”, which commemorates the revival of monasticism in the fifteenth century with the victory over the Tatars and the season of the great Russian iconography of Andrei Rublev and the other disciples of Sergius. In a pilgrimage, the majority of the people must participate, according to ancient Russian traditions. In fact, during Soviet times, when pilgrimages were branded as “illegal demonstrations”, people still gathered, despite official prohibitions.

This year there was a record number of participation in the meeting of the “krestokhodtsy” (cross bearers). It is about the path of the “Velikorektsij” (great river) from Kirov, along the Viatka River, a large tributary of the Volga, to the place where the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas was found in the village of Velikoretskoe. The solemn celebrations on June 8 brought together about 25,000 people, who walked for a whole week, and until October, pilgrims took turns asking for the intercession of Russia’s most beloved saint.

One of the most “instructive” pilgrimages, the so-called Irinarkhovskij Khod, in the Yaroslavl region, he proposes as a golden rule the meaning of “a necessary path of suffering, experiencing the difficulties and trials of life, for the good of the soul”. Many pilgrims reported that they had joined this program out of compassion for those suffering from war, both among the aggrieved and among the patriots, the mobilized and their families, not knowing how else to find inner peace.

The pilgrimage unites the feelings of “militant Christianity” (it represents the parade of the Celestial Army) with the humiliation of the path of the penitents: in both cases it is seen as the only possible path to redemption. Many pilgrims wear the “verigi”, the very uncomfortable metal boots of Saint Irinarkh from the early 17th century, which also resemble the armor of soldiers in the mud. People try to refrain from smoking and drinking alcohol and listen to the admonitions of the holy monks who urge to trust only in God, and not in the plans of men: “It is He who leads you to the true goal of the pilgrimage of life”.