Slavonic, Slavonic, more Slavonic

Saturday, I ended up, by mistake, at St. Nicholas Cathedral on 97th street. By mistake, because I was aiming for the other Russian Orthodox Cathedral, the Synodal Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign, where I wanted to hear the choir again.  I'd heard them a little over a year ago when the relic of the head of St. John Chrysostom visited from Moscow.

The head of St. John Chrysostom (more photos)

But mixed up the names of the two cathedrals and ended up at the wrong one. I stayed for the Vigil anyways.  Their choir isn't as good as I remember the one at the Synodal Cathedral being, but the Church is one of the most beautiful in Manhattan.

Photo part of a set of the Cathedral by Flickr user Chad Husby

The photo doesn't really do it justice, though part of that is that I visited at dusk.  In the dark Church, the Bishop had the sparkliest miter   This was two hours of solid Church Slavonic, of which I know about 5 words.  Fortunately, the words I know, like "Gospodi, pomiluj" (Lord, have mercy), are repeated often.  People think Latin is a challenge!  I suppose it'd be easier if I had a foundation in Russian.