Церковь Святой Блаженной Ксении

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Yes, welcome. We are always glad to see our guests.  

 You can stand anywhere in the church. There are benches along the walls for those who have difficulty standing. 

We do not require this from you. If you want, like all parishioners, to light a candle, cross yourself, venerate the icons and the cross, then you, of course, can do this. 

We worship the Lord God alone. A person in the Church does not pray to icons, but in front of icons, which are designed to help us focus in prayer. An icon is like a family photograph. We lovingly keep and kiss photographs of people dear to us. How can we not kiss the holy icons of Jesus Christ and the saints of God? An icon for us is a shrine for the sake of the one who is depicted on it. And so, veneration of icons, like any shrines that exist in Christianity, is not idolatry. It is an expression of love, not worship, which is reserved for God.

 No. We worship exclusively God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We honor the Mother of God as an amazing example of faith, obedience and love. The veneration of the Mother of God has a Gospel basis: “From now on all generations will call Me blessed” (Luke 1:48). We address Her as “Most Holy Theotokos” or “Mother of God”, since the Son born by Her is the true Son of God.