Published: 14 November, 2009, 09:09
Edited: 9 December, 2009, 04:46
Our church is five years old. It’s all Siberian cedar and larch, built in some Altai locality. It was taken to pieces and the logs were delivered by sea to this station. It took two months to reassemble it by hand.
Some say its log construction is likely to grow iron-strong with the years. There are steel chains inside that anchor the church against the savage Antarctic winds. Some super-strong sealer has been injected between the logs: as the rain often hits the side and the walls need particular protection.
No one before us had engaged in this sort of capital construction in the Antarctic. Other stations – the Americans, for example, or the Chileans – have chapels as well, but they are of the usual Antarctic frame-and-panel kind. Our temple is the most beautiful structure in this continent, and the planet’s southernmost Orthodox Church.
It is Father Sergius’ second winter, while it is the first such experience for Vasily. A recent medical checkup revealed that they were the strongest men on the team: the hand dynamometer showed 70 dynes apiece (No surprise there, as both are former paratroopers and saw action in local conflicts...).
Aside from their direct duties, the priests perform all other jobs like anyone else, be it construction work, maintenance or galley chores. Moreover, on Fridays they clean the banya [a steam house-like sauna – Ed.] as is the local, charitable tradition.
Worship is usually on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings, and, of course, on feast-days.
After worship, the priest, also in keeping with a kind old tradition, treats his flock to tea and wine in his house atop the hill.
Yet worship or no worship, the church doors are always open – to us, to neighbors, to tourists…
