What in the world is this website all about ? Is it run by the MP ? Or the MP + the OCA with a little input from
pro-MP Rocor-MP factions - ??
There is a photo report published by them by Fr Peter Perekrestov. But the Cathedral where he is listed as Senior Priest is WRONG. Not the "of the Sign". But as all who have been there know, it's The Mother of God Joy of All Who Sorrow.
Then a bunch of trite animal photos plump out a fairly boring photo essay on Orthodoxy in California. The cat and the dog aren't even cute. And a chipmunk ? What does that have to do with EITHER California OR Orthodoxy ?!
Then there is some new tomb built apparently over Fr Seraphim [Rose]'s grave, a photo of which is included. Is this an indication that the MP is interested in Fr Seraphim's glorification?
But where are the photos related to a glorified Saint, St John Maximovitch ? There is a portrait of the Saint's parents which appears on the wall in the first photo. But the topic is strange : a "Schemamonk Ilya" of whom I had never heard [anyone know who he is ? A visitor, possibly from the MP to St John's Cell, which is the location of this image ?] in an ambiguous posture. Is he blessing children? It's so vague and weird.
The caption for the Fr Seraphim Rose tomb reads : St German SKETE. It's been known for all its decades of existence as - a monastery.
Strange ! "13. California has many expensive cars (not as many as in Moscow, of course), and old models in excellent condition. One advantage of buying old cars here is that they almost never rust in our climate."
What is the point of comparing the luxury car population of California with that of Moscow ? -!
Then, the assertion in the second sentence is false. I had an old model and it rusted out SO badly living out in the Avenues a few blocks from the Pacific Ocean that I had to have the whole car body Bondo-ed [ a kind of fiberglass glue which covers up holes ]. The roof of the car was almost collapsing due to having rusted all the way through.
It's the newer models made out of plastic rather than metal which probably suffer little or not at all in the fog and ocean air.
Is this essay an exercise in unreality ?!
The accompanying photo looks like a car ad for a BMW, devoid of any significance for an Orthodox person. The viewer looks for a small icon pressed onto the dashboard, or naybe hanging from the rearview mirrow. But zip : just a soulless car interior --- which doesn't even look particularly luxurious !
Then, the piece de resistance : Anthony of Sourozh is quoted where any venerable prelate of the Russian Church Abroad should rightly have been introduced as an authority. The essay is about Rocor-MP life in San Francisco, after all [except for the photo of St Herman of Alaska Monastery, currently under the Serbian Patriarchate]. A quotation from one of the saintly past diocesan hierarchs such as Archbishop Tikhon [Troitsky], or from Metropolitan Philaret [Vosnesensky], who often visited here would have been in good taste.
The Eritrean women who attend one of the SF Rocor-MP Churches are overdone. They are unique but hardly representative of the flock in general. 2 pictures of them out of only 20 altogether ?
And, oh, the black and white photo of the Clergy Conference at the Old Holy Virgin Cathedral makes the Vicar Bishop of the Rocor-MP's Western American Diocese look like Ivan the Terrible from a distance. No other higher clergy are shown anywhere in this sequence. For example, there is a popular speaker and writer, Archimandrite Irenei, who might be of interest to the audience in Russia. But no, one only sees an irrelevant city, Arcata. What does anyone need with that ?
The photo proclaiming SF as 'the most beautiful city in America' boringly shows a sunset. Where is the obvious pictureque view of the golden domes of Holy Virgin Cathedral on Geary with a sunset or moonscape to inspire Orthodox viewers from around the world ? This photo series is a failure !
Source cited by the Rocor-MP website was pravmir.ru in the following link: http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/syn ... raphy.html
