City of Reconstruction
St. Catherine’s Cathedral
AROUND EVERY OTHER CORNER is evidence of St. Petersburg being refurbished and restored. A good example is the churches, many of which were used as storehouses during the soviet era.
Lenin had adopted from Marx the idea that “religion is the opium of the masses.” He wanted Russians to honor the red flag of communism and determine their own fate through hard work, not to pray to God for salvation and assistance.
So church was out and something had to be done with these magnificent buildings which, with their onion domes, are such a familiar symbol of Russia. To punctuate Lenin’s emphasis on atheism, those symbols were demolished, neglected, or used for storage.
The small Catholic (St. Catherine’s) cathedral pictured here lies along the middle of Nevsky Prospect, the main avenue that forms the social backbone of downtown. You hardly notice the church though because the broad sidewalk in front of it is an art market where local painters hang their work on large wooden stands. You have to look up to notice the cathedral whose exterior is still worn with chipped, dull paint.
The small chapel
But inside, the church looks almost new. Fresh plaster walls painted in crisp yellow, white, and blue provide a serene backdrop for ornate pilasters, ceiling sculptures, and floor tiles. As soon as you walk inside, you feel the calm and inner quiet of Self. There is a natural urge just to sit, look, and be.
On one wall you see a refurbished altar. On the other, you see part of an altar as it had been during the 70-year soviet era—reduced to rubble. In the back of the church on one side is this small chapel. It feels like a church within the church—an innermost sanctuary reserved for the deepest contemplation.
Sitting in this jewel of a chamber, I wondered if perhaps it was where the religious, history, and art books had been stored, since the larger body of the church had stored mostly vegetables and motorbikes.
Something strange about Russian communism is that it actually never happened. Lenin’s vision, much as you may disagree with it, was relatively pure. The overwhelmingly poor working class of Russia should no longer suffer hardship for the lavish benefit of the czar and his circle. Lenin thought everyone should have equal opportunity, and he envisioned communism, not as a first step, but as the ultimate form that would have its basis in a socialistic model where everyone had what they needed and everyone had to work.
St. Catherine in the small chapel
But Lenin died seven years into his experiment and was pretty much debilitated the last two years by a brain tumor. Stalin then rose to power, and what had started as a uniquely bold vision became an increasingly corrupt whirlpool that most helpless Russians could not get out of—until recently.
Needless to say, today the churches are full of people—some working, some not—in hope of salvation and many other things.
