Soviet Police Keep Watch at Orthodox Easter Rites

Inside the Virgin Church early Sunday, a priest in red, silver and white vestments declared, “Christ is risen.” Worshipers, standing shoulder to shoulder with lighted candles, answered, “Christ is risen.”

Outside, keeping close watch, stood members of the militsia, their gray uniforms trimmed in red, and other police officers in somber civilian dress.

Sunday was Easter in the Orthodox churches of the Soviet Union and the rest of the world, an observance that comes a week after the Easter celebrations of Protestants and Roman Catholics of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The difference is due to the Orthodox adherence to the Julian calendar, while the rest of Christianity follows the newer Gregorian calendar.

The celebrations in the Soviet Union matched those held in Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where tradition places Jesus’ Resurrection. More than 30,000 pilgrims joined in the observances in Jerusalem.

At the Virgin Church here, the security men, as agents of the officially atheist Soviet government, tried to persuade several young people not to attend the celebration in the church, not far from the Kremlin walls.

For the most part, they failed, and many young men and women joined the congregation for the long, joyous liturgy.

The scene, reflecting the tension between the Orthodox church and the authorities, was duplicated at other Moscow churches still allowed to function.

At the home of the church hierarchy in nearby Zagorsk, Easter worshipers were confronted not only by police but by Red Army troops lined up at the entrance to the monastery and cathedral.

The troops did not refuse entry, but their presence may have discouraged citizens careful about confronting the authorities.

In the Moscow area, Easter traditions flourished despite official frowns. At the nearby village of Peredelkino, for example, hundreds of people on Saturday brought their special Easter breads and cakes for blessing by the Orthodox priest.

Kulich , a round loaf resembling pound cake, and paskha , a cake of sweet cream cheese and raisins, were placed on long tables for the ritual. A priest in black vestments, swinging a brush dipped in holy water over the candle-topped cakes and their owners, chanted a prayer as he walked the length of the tables.

The faithful flocked to churches Saturday night. In an apparent effort to keep young people at home, Soviet television scheduled a concert by a popular singer, Alla Pugacheva, to begin an hour before the midnight church services.

On Sunday, enormous crowds flocked to cemeteries to decorate graves with flowers, colored Easter eggs and pieces of cake and candy. Some enjoyed picnics in the neatly fenced-off sites, and others cleared away the winter debris from the graves, many marked with Russian Orthodox crosses.

At the Vagankovskoye Cemetery in northwestern Moscow, the street approaching the main gate was jammed with people from early morning until evening. Thousands lined up to pay respects at the grave of Vladimir Vysotsky, a popular ballad singer and satirist whose songs depicted some of the harsh realities of Soviet life. He died in 1980 at age 42.

The official Soviet media paid scant attention to the Russian Easter, devoting their attention instead to slogans for the coming May Day holiday and stories about Air Defense Day, also observed on April 14.