An icon painter from Russia in the service of the Masons
An icon painter from Russia in the service of the Masons
Those who watched the April 29, 2011 broadcast of the "wedding of the century" - the marriage of the heir to the British throne, Prince William and Kate Middleton in Westminster Abbey ( see video ), probably could not help but notice that on the columns of the Cathedral of St. Peter in front of the temple lamps are two Orthodox icons of the Savior and the Virgin ( see ill .).
These images ( Christ, Blessed Virgin Mary with the Christ Child) , which appeared in Westminster Abbey in 1994, were painted by the artist Sergei Fyodorov ( see ill .) from Russia ( Sergei Fyodorov, more rarely Fedorov ).
He was born in 1959 in Pskov and learned the basics of icon painting from Fr. Zeno (Theodora). Among his works in Moscow are the painting of the Church of the Holy Fathers of the Seven Ecumenical Councils, the iconostasis of the Intercession Church in the Danilov Monastery, as well as the iconostasis ( see illustration ) of the Church of the Ascension of the Lord on Nikitskaya (“Small Ascension”).
In 1996 Sergei Fedorov executed a nine-figure Deesis ( see ill .) in the crypt of Winchester Cathedral ( Winchester Cathedral , Hampshire, England). Among the saints they depicted St. Swithan (St. Swithun), patron saint of Winchester Cathedral , and St. Swithun . Birinus ( St. Birinus ) , first missionary bishop of Winchester.
In 2001 - 2004 Sergei Fedorov worked on a fresco in the Rochester Cathedral, which was dedicated to the 2000th anniversary of Christianity. According to the icon painter, it was "the first fresco painted in the British Isles in the last 800 years." The fresco ( see ill .), located above the entrance to the cathedral, is dedicated to the theme of baptism.
Under the upper composition depicting the Baptism of the Lord, there are scenes of the baptism of St. King of Kent. Ethelbert (Ethelbert or Æthelbert) St. Augustine of Canterbury after his arrival in the kingdom in 597. It was St.Ethelbert granted the lands on which Rochester Cathedral was built. If you follow where the male figure points with his finger on the left side of the lower composition, then the viewer will see the right scene of the baptism of 2 thousand Anglo-Saxons of St. Ethelbert ( see ill .).
In one of his interviews, Sergei Fedorov did not consider it necessary to hide that he also depicted on this fresco a group of Freemasons ( see ill .), who can only be recognized by initiated "brothers". This stunning confession of the icon painter could have raised a lot of questions if it were not for the information published in the English press about the financing of the Rochester Cathedral project by the Freemasons of Kent County. This, in particular, is reported by the Masonic Quarterlymagazine ( see ill .), which is the official publication of the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE).
In 2006, Sergei Fedorov painted an icon of the Savior with Pope Gregory the Great and St. Augustine of Canterbury ( see illustration ) . This image (66 x 46) was intended as a gift to Pope Benedict XVI from Archbishop Rowan Douglas Williams during his visit to the Holy See in November 2006 . On the back of the icon is the inscription : “ Presented by Rowan, Archbishop of Canterbury to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI with fraternal love and esteem as a sign of my prayer for your apostolic ministry and of the shared goal of our two communions - the full visibility of the one holyChurch on earth .
Recall that before his enthronement in early 2003, Bp. Rowan Williams ( Bishop of Monmouth ) declared that Freemasonry and Christianity were "incompatible" and refused to put Masonic clerics in leading positions in the Anglican Church. According to him, over the past 50 years, Freemasons have penetrated the highest church echelons, and thousands of clerics are among the 350,000 British "brothers". So , the former archbishop . Canterbury Geoffrey Fisher , who led the Church of Englandfrom 1945 to 1961 , also served as chief chaplain " United Grand Lodge of England "(Grand Chaplain for the United Grand Lodge of England).
However, soon under strong pressure, the archbishop. Rowan Williams was forced to give in to the Freemasons and even apologize publicly to them in a letter addressed to Robert Morrow ( Robert Morrow , the Grand Secretary of the United Grand Lodge of England ). In this letter, he explained his act with a flash of disappointment from the news that his own father was in the ranks of "free masons." It is hardly coincidental that on the eve of a visit to the Roman high priest, Archbishop. Rowan Williams was “advised” to place an order with an icon painter from Russia, who has been working in the UK for a long time on orders from Freemasons.
Most likely, the “conversion” of Sergei Fedorov took place back in 1994, during his work at Westminster Abbey, which is their “cathedral” for English Freemasons. See: Westminster Abbey - the history of a Masonic cathedral As is known, as early as 1376, the "Freemasons" (Masons) belonging to the London company became known as "Freemasons" (Freemasons). And in 1388-1395. Henry de Yeveley was Supervisor of the King's Works and Master Mason at Westminster Abbey. In 1479, in the same place, in Westminster Abbey, the Masonic Master Robert Stowell was ordained.
In the XX century. Monarchy in England became closely associated with Freemasonry when King George V changed the name of his dynasty from German Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to English Windsor by royal decree of 17 July 1917 ( cf. this date for the Russian dynasty : http :// expertmus .livejournal.com/ 35064.html ) . _ _ It is also important to take into account the historical context of immersion in the Freemasonry of the British Monarchy: http :// expertmus . livejournal . com /38258. htmlAlready the father of Elizabeth II King GeorgeVI (1895-1952) was from 1939 both Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England and Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. His coronation took place on May 12, 1937 at Westminster Abbey, and 2 months later. On July 11, 35,000 "brothers" attended the funeral of the famous Freemason in New York, composer George Gershwin (real name Jacob Gershowitz).
At present, many members of the royal house of England are members of Masonic lodges ( the Grand Lodge of London , the United Grand Lodge of London etc. ) . The grandson of King George V , cousin of Queen Elizabeth II , Prince Edward ( Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick ), born October 9, 1935, has been the Grand Master since 1967, heading the United Grand Lodge of England. He is the uncle of the newlywed princeWilliam, therefore the marriage of the heir to the British throne was attended by "brothers" - Freemasons from all over the world: heads of state, political leaders, members of royal dynasties, incl. Romanian. No wonder, because the "United Grand Lodge of England" is at the head of the world circles of Freemasonry, whose headquarters is the "Jerusalem Chamber" in front of the entrance to ... Westminster Abbey . By the way, none of the Russian journalists covering the wedding ceremony of Prince William mentioned the demonstrators who protested right in front of the wedding procession against the dominance of Freemasons in the political life of Great Britain.
So there is nothing surprising in the fact that few believers in Russia know about the Masonic connections of the icon painter Sergei Fedorov, who was even ordered by the church authorities in Moscow to paint “in the ancient style” a large, full-length icon of St. Daniel, in silver basma, by 700 anniversary of the repose of St. blgv. Prince Daniel of Moscow ( see illustration ). On this icon, the holy prince is depicted not as a monk, but as a statesman, ruler of the Russian State. On September 6, 2003, during the procession from the Kremlin, Moscow priests took turns carrying a huge icon on special stretchers, changing every 200 m ( see illustration ).
However, information of this kind rarely seeps into the Russian press, although no-no-yes, and in connection with the Masons there will be a mention of any of the high-ranking officials from Russia, including the closest assistant to Patriarch Kirill vl. Hilarion (Alfeeva) , in honor of which the Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem of the Knights of Rhodes and Malta Matthew Festing in his official residence - Villa Magistrale on the Aventine Hill in Rome - gave a dinner on May 20, 2010. The dinner was attended by Grand Commander of the Order of Malta Gerardo Ercolani Fava Simonetti, Grand Chancellor Jean-Pierre Mazeri, Bishop Paolo Sardi, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Vatican N.I. Sadchikov, Ambassador of the Order of Malta in Moscow Gianfranco Facco Bonetti and other honored guests.
At the end of the solemn event, the Grand Master addressed Vladyka Hilarion with a welcoming speech, in which he noted: “In 1992 , after 75 years of dominance of atheism, the Order of Malta regained the status of a subject of international law in Russia, was officially recognized by the state . Since that time, the constant concern of the leadership of the Order has been to establish and maintain, through their diplomatic representatives in Moscow, warm relations and close cooperation with the Moscow Patriarchate in general and with the Department for External Church Relations in particular.
We consider the revival and spread of the Christian faith, which is manifested in the multiplication of Orthodox communities in Russia and other countries in southern Eastern Europe, as one of the most outstanding events in the modern history of European Christianity. As Christians, we cannot but admire the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in restoring, building and maintaining thousands of churches and chapels, in cities and villages, many monasteries and seminaries, in the vast expanses of your country - not only to educate the souls of believers, but also to preserve great cultural heritage accumulated over the thousand-year history of Christianity.
I would like to ask all the guests to raise their glasses with me for the health and well-being of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, for the prosperity of the Moscow Patriarchate, which you represent today. I raise this glass for you, for all those around you and in these decisive times I work with you for the development of inter-Christian relations.”
In response, the Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations thanked the Grand Master for the warm welcome, confirming the importance of the charitable and social work carried out by the Order in many countries of the world. At the end of the meeting, both sides exchanged souvenirs ( see ill .)…
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