Yeltsin Joins Crowd of Worshipers for Russian Celebration of Easter
Russian Federation leader Boris N. Yeltsin and other senior Soviet officials joined worshipers at Easter services Sunday, giving an official stamp to the Russian Orthodox church’s most important holiday.
Yeltsin stood in the center of a special section after midnight in the vast Epiphany Cathedral. He and other prominent guests of honor--Soviet Prime Minister Valentin S. Pavlov and Deputy Moscow Mayor Sergei Stankevich--placed candles in a gilt stand as Patriarch Alexei II looked on.
Thousands jammed the cathedral, the seat of Russian Orthodoxy, and many more spilled over into the streets outside. Under Eastern rites, Easter is a week later than in the West.
In his message to Russian Orthodox communities throughout the country, Alexei called for patience in the current political and economic upheavals.
“God deemed that we should live in these years which will decide the fate and future of our country,” the patriarch proclaimed.
“In these troubled times, many of you lack a peaceful creative spirit, the spirit of humility and love. May the joy of Easter be a source of the peace sought by all.”
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