Winter Palace
“The sky retained the same washed-out blue as every morning for the past four months. The drought was the worst in history, the heat a fierce animal by midday.
Ivona went to church every morning, always for the six o’clock service. Always wearing the black lace head shawl and a coat, even on the warmest of summer dawns. Always clutching a few lilacs from her garden, to be placed before her favorite side altar. And always arriving well before Mass was to begin so as to have time to light a candle and kneel and say the ritual prayers twice through before confession.
The fact that she went to church daily made Ivona Aristonova, in her own eyes, a very religious person. Her neighbors, too, considered her devout because she followed the visible pattern. There was little room in her tightly controlled world for the inner life of faith, but she valued the ritual of the church. Church ritual was understandable. It was definable. It was a visible path to follow.
Guest 7 months ago
Fantastic, thought provoking and inspiring as always, it makes me want to read up on Russian and Eastern European historyWrite Review:
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