Optina Choir uses Holy Virgin Cathedral SF image

[Barbara]

It's a puzzle ! I was looking for another video when I saw the image of an old postcard of the iconostasis of Rocor-MP's Holy Virgin Cathedral in San Francisco. I recognized that right away - because exactly this postcard fell on the floor in front of me yesterday. It's easy to see anyway due to the faded color tone and the earlier arrangement of Icons. In this old postcard, the life size -- Angel size -- Archangel Michael icon is still standing on the far left front of the picture. This magnificent work was done by the émigré icon painter from Harbin, China, Nikolai Zadorozhny. Whereas after Rocor's 2007 union with the Moscow Patriarchate, this masterpiece was unfortunately relegated to the back corner on the same side of the Church and replaced by something else.

Seeing the title of the video was "Optina Pustyn Men's Choir", I clicked on it to see what the connection might be.

It's still a mystery, as there is no mention in the notes. I don't believe there was ever a concert by this choir conducted there. Maybe someone at Optina liked the frescoed interior of the Cathedral where the relics of St John Maximovitch lie ?

[Barbara]

How the above video diverges from others done about Optina Monastery singing becomes clear when one glances at this "Psalm Singing" clip. Images are all from the Moscow Patriarchate : church exteriors, interiors during the Liturgy [ with Patriarch Kirill ], processions, a Theophany celebration, various contemporary monastic figures deemed holy by World Orthodoxy, such as the elder Raphael mentioned on the Solovki thread [ at 1:50 ]. Interspersed between all these are icons in Sofrino style of major Saints : St Sergei, St Seraphim, Sts Anthony and Feodosy of the Kiev Caves, and the Axion Estin Icon.

Elder Amvrosy's picture - which appears twice, at 1:02 and 3:22, - is the only reference to Optina I notice.

The result is a rather disconnected flow of images with no central theme. It is possible, however, that the visual side is the work of the man who posted this, rather than the Optina Monastery itself.