>> From the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.
[ Silence ]
>> Grant Harris: Welcome to the Library
of Congress, my name is Grant Harris.
I am head of the European Reading Room, and I welcome you
to this event sponsored by The European division
of the Library of Congress.
Last week we were still planning an event
that would just be a book talk, simply a book talk, an important one
for us and then we had thrown at us the opportunity
to have the famed Sretensky Monastery Choir sing in addition.
So we're very pleased to have the full choir here in the room.
It is directed by Nikon Zhila and we will hear them now.
I will ask you to please turn off your cell phones.
That would be a good time.
One of the reasons is that this will, event will be recorded
and will eventually be on the Library of Congress webpages
for listening and viewing.
So, I, I welcome, I would have you help me welcome the full Sretensky
Monastery Choir.   Please help me.

[Applause]   [ Choir Warm Up ]

[ Sretensky Monastery Choir Singing ]
[ Applause ]   [ Choir Warm Up ]

[ Sretensky Monastery Choir Singing ]
[ Applause ]
>> Grant Harris: Father Tikhon is the spiritual leader
of the 600 year-old Sretensky Monastery.
Last year he published a book in Russian that has sold more
than a million copies quite quickly.
This book has been translated into ten languages.
We're here to celebrate the English translation.
This is the book launch
for the English version entitled "Everyday Saints".
I have had time to read the first 50 pages of this book
and I find it really enlightening.
I have to agree with the translator of the book, who writes,
"Whether you are religious or skeptical, whether you care
about Russia or not, you can still let this book transport you
to a world and a way of looking at things
of which most of us have no inkling."
Father Tikhon will speak to us in Russian.
We also have Father Victor Potapov here as well, and he will interpret.
He is the head priest of The Saint John the Baptist Church
in Washington D.C. He's also a former commentator
for Voice of America.
I will also acknowledge Mother Cornelia who has helped
to organize this and we may need to call on her
for a few translation terms from time to time.
She is the editor of the English translation of the book.
She is also the editor of the English edition
of the largest internet resource on Orthodox Christianity
in the former Soviet Union.   [ Silence ]

>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Victor Potapov: First of all I would
like to thank sincerely Doctor James Billington,
the Director of the Library of Congress.
Also the, his colleagues Grant Harris,
Harold Like [assumed spelling] and everyone else at the Library
that have taken, have made this meeting possible.

>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Victor Potapov: For us in Russia it came as a surprise
that my book has been translated into different languages.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Victor Potapov: It's a great honor for me
to have my book translated, particularly in English
and that the English language readers can have access to my work.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: The main thing in this book is
about the life of Christians in Russia.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And how people live a full life with God.
How they manifest this life with God in everyday life.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Maybe this aspect
of this story is what got the American book publishers interested
in bringing this book out to English.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: What Russian Christians experienced
in the 20th Century is a unique experience.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Notwithstanding the fact
that persecution of Russian Christians in the Soviet Union
in the 20th Century can be compared to the persecution
of Christians in the first century.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: The Orthodox Christians
in my country never consider themselves heroes.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Many of them were thankful for the trials
and tribulations in which they encountered in life.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Because thanks to these trials
of the experience they found the Lord.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: I was very amazed that my elder,
my spiritual elder, my mentor,
Father John Kusankin [assumed spelling],
spent a long time in prison.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: He was tortured during interrogation.
His fingers were broken.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And when he recalled his years
in prison he said these were the best times, best years of my life.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: This is of course, it was very difficult.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But God was always near me.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And yet a unique opportunity
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: in these difficult circumstances
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: to fulfill the commandments of God.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And through the fulfilling
of commandments from God is open to us the connection
between us, God and eternity.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Father John, my spiritual father,
once related the following story.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: The KVD which became KGB later,
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: the priest at the church
where Father John was attending wrote a report
to the KBG reporting on Father John.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: and also
about the Deacon and the choir director.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And after the report was received by the KGB,
Father John was arrested and sentenced to prison.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And during the last interrogation before being
sentenced to prison, they, Father John met the priest that reported
on him, during the last interrogation.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Father John knew exactly
who was responsible for having him sent away to prison.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But when this priest who reported
on Father John, entered the room
where Father John was being interrogated,
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Father John was overjoyed
to see his brother in Christ
with whom he had celebrated [indecipherable] all these years.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: and he threw himself on the priest
and hugged him and kissed him.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: and the priest who reported on him fainted.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: and so the interrogation
with the priest wasn't able to happen
because he fainted, lost consciousness.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: So this shows that people we able,
in the most difficult of circumstances, to fulfill the will
and commandments of God and live a life in God.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: There's another outstanding thing
that I would like to tell you.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: People who lived
in my country back then didn't think that they were living
out a tragedy, or tragic situation,
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: a very compelling tragedy.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: The [indecipherable]
that the country was sick
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: that much has to be changed

>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov:
but although these things were happening,
believers in Russia never felt themselves apart from society
or apart from the other people, who weren't particularly believers.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: This is something that I noticed
that this was not the fact amongst secular dissonance.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Many dissonances were pessimistic,
pessimistic about the situation in the country, not happy.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But Christians who,
who lived in these difficult circumstances
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: they continued to, to be people steeped
in love, hope and charity.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But of course in my book speaks not only
about persecution and difficult times
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: I also relate a number of
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: paradoxical and humorous stories.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Because the life
of a real Christian is complex and consists of many, many aspects.

>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Silence] [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: I'm very grateful to the Russian readers
who have valued my book already a million,
one hundred thousand copies that have been sold.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And I am also grateful
to the American readers who have been able to read chapters
from my book, excerpts from my book both in Russian and in English.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Because this shows that the experience
of Christian life is important both to Russians and Americans.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And for us Russians it's very important
to acknowledge and to get
to know better the religious life here in the United States.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Thank you very,
very much for the warm reception of my book.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: You have any questions?

>> Grant Harris: Let me just add that this will be cybercast later.
If you ask a question, it will be on the cybercast.
>> [Speaking Foreign Language] [Multiple Speakers]
[Speaking Foreign Language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: In American woman who became Orthodox
[Speaking Foreign Language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: and she became Orthodox because she learned
from the Russian church what it means to be persecuted for Christ.
[Speaking Foreign Language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And difficulties and trials
and tribulations, we encounter them more and more in the world
in various aspects of life.   [Speaking Foreign Language]

>> Father Victor Potapov: What relationship do you think your book
about the difficult life of Christians
in Russia can be understood in Western society
which is not exactly a spiritual one?
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Suffering should never be a goal,
the only goal of life of any person.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: For a Christian also.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: It is part of life, every life.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov:
In the Holy Scripture we encounter the following wonderful words
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov:
Always find something precious in everything.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov:
And the question is are we able to do this in life.
Are we able to find something precious in our everyday life?

>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov:
Can a person in suffering find not only physical
or emotional difficulty but can he find something more,
something precious and good in suffering?
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Perhaps he can find, in suffering, the mystery,
the mystical link that connects us,
our temporal life to the eternal life.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And such suffering and such a discovery
in suffering can be found in any society be it Russia or American.
[Silence] Any other questions?   >> TSM Global Consultants.

I'm wondering in your encounters with all of these people
who have inspired you to write the book, did you find any bitterness

that they held for the people who persecuted
or for those who tortured them?
>> Father Victor Potapov: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: In my encounters with the church people,
I rarely encountered any kind of bitterness.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: When people would meet bitter people
in the church, we would always feel very sorry for them.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: because this person has missed the point.
He doesn't understand the most important thing
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Of course,
we never judged these kind of people.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: We always prayed for people like that
so that he would be able to overcome this human, negative human, trait.
[Silence]   >> [Speaking Foreign Language]

>> Father Victor Potapov: Do you feel that the fact
that the book was translated, your book was translated into English,
that there is an attempt to build a bridge that is standing
between various faith groups?
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: I think it's every person,
no matter what faith he belongs to, can, every single person can,
of course, contribute and explain something wonderful
about his faith experience.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Once I was in America, I was absolutely amazed
by the experience of a man who was about 70 years old from Texas.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: He just, in a very matter of fact way,
told me that in all of his lifetime,
he never once missed the Sunday service in church.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: He wasn't a theologian, a very simple man.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But my whole experience with speaking
with him and getting to know him showed me
that he was a real Christian through and through.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Of course it will be a great reward
to everyone who participated in the production of this book,
that if the experience of Russian Christians related
in this book would bring something positive to American readers,
we will be well rewarded.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But, of course, as far as hoping
that all Christians will someday come together
and unite is a nave notion.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But it's a wonderful idea
and we should strive to work together.
[Silence]   >> [Speaking Foreign Language]

>> Father Victor Potapov: [indecipherable] Voice
of the American Russian Service   >> [ Speaking Foreign Language ]

>> Father Victor Potapov: I have two questions.
One, how did the idea come to you to collect all these stories
and put them into book form?   >> [ Speaking Foreign Language ]

>> Father Victor Potapov:
And the second question is your book has been printed
in over a million copies, which is an absolutely amazing number
of copies.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> [Speaking Foreign Language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: How did you popularize the book?
How was the book PR'ed?   How did you advertise?

>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: I'll first answer your first question.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: In answer to your first question,
a blessing to do this book was given to me by an American,
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: as surprising as it may sound.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: A relative of Father Victor Potapov's
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: an American Bishop
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov:
a wonderful Russian, American Russian man
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Bishop [indecipherable]
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And probably people in the Library
of Congress know him because he has been here as a guest many of times
as a user of the library and he's served and is buried here
at Rock Creek cemetery in Washington.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> The book, my book has a whole chapter dedicated to him.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: He, he insisted that I write
down all these stories which I had told him over the years,
and he said that this should be put into book form.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Bishop Basil thought that this,
it was extremely important to do this because it showed,
it showed the outer world how people coped,
how Christians coped in Russia with life.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: The book, it took two years to write the book.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Most of the book was written
on a laptop in the seat of a car.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: or in a plane.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: As far as your second question is concerned,
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: There was really no,
said there was no wide advertising really.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: There were a number
of reviews appeared in Russian press,
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: and then people began discussing the book
in different social medias.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: This was the human aspect
that got the book to be so popular
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov:
and we didn't spend any money on advertising.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: We were also, to this day,
we're surprised at the number of copies
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: When I presented the book
for publishing, for printing,
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: We thought that the most we would sell about,
in two years, about maybe 30,000 copies
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: but it turned out to be a lot more.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: We thought
that 30,000 would be a wildly large number.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But this just shows
that these stories found a very receptive audience.
These are stories that were needed to be heard.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: To be able to enter into a totally different,
but at the same time realistic world,
which is described in my book,
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: where both God and people exist, coexist.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov:
Where people will seek sincerity, goodness and
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: without any kind of political correctness.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: visa vie evil.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Where people are who they are.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: We're, people allow themselves the luxury
of being just real Christians.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: where at the same time the world doesn't
really understand this.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: and will not forgive this.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: So this is the very interesting world
of the Russian Orthodox Church.   [Silence]

>> Nora Fitzgerald: Nora Fitzgerald, Russia Beyond the Headlines.
I just read the inside of your book that sales of the book will be used
to build a memorial cathedral in Moscow dedicated to the victims
of communist repression in Russia.   Can you elaborate?


>> Father Victor Potapov:   [ Speaking Foreign Language ]

>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Yes, the, the profits from the book will go
to the building of a cathedral on the
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: where my monastery is located.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: It will be dedicated to the [indecipherable]
of Russia, whose blood was spilt on the [indecipherable] street.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: In the 1920s and 1930s,
that particular place many Christians perished,
who have their lives to Christ.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Like in Rome, in the Coliseum for example.

>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov:
This church will be a very bright, colorful church.

>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: This church will be built in a style
that will underscore the triumph of good over evil.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: We would like to be able to finish, complete,
the construction of this church in time, by February 2017.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov:
The hundredth anniversary of the Revolution
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: There are many monuments being proposed
to be built for the hundredth, for the hundredth anniversary
of the Russian Revolution.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But a lot of them are not very pleasing.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Very depressing and very negative in
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But this isn't the way this anniversary
should be celebrated.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: This is part of our history.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: We have to not only judge this revolution,
this history, but we have to think it through,
understand the meaning behind what happened a hundred years ago.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov:
And we shouldn't [indecipherable] all the time
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov:
without bearing any intellectual or spiritual fruit,
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: but to understand and assess what happened.
>> I'm Jim Carnell [assumed spelling] I work
with a Russian American Commission on prisoners
of war, missing in action.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: [Speaking foreign language]
>> [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: [Speaking foreign language]
>> I haven't had a chance to read the book, unfortunate, but I shall
>> Father Victor Potapov: [Speaking foreign language]
>> But I was intrigued by Harry Leach's,
or maybe someone else's comments, that,
there's part of the book about [indecipherable].
>> Father Victor Potapov: [Speaking foreign language]
>> And my question was did you personally have a chance
to meet [indecipherable] and maybe just a work about [indecipherable]
>> Father Victor Potapov: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: I only met him once.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: at a church service
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: in Christ the Savior Cathedral.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: We were standing in the middle
of the church with [inaudible]
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Oh, I'm sorry, for Easter, for Pashka
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And all of a sudden we were standing
in the middle of the church and all these body guards came running.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> and [indecipherable] was behind them
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: and the Patriarch gave him a big Easter egg.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And during the service he was standing there
holding in the [indecipherable] this big Pashka egg.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And he didn't know what to do with it.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: I feel very sorry for him.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: and this day he congratulating the Christians
with the feast
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: He said on Pashka, he said on television
and I want to congratulate everyone with Christmas.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov:
This is another story that's not in the book.

>> [ Speaking Foreign Language ]
>> Father Victor Potapov: There's a revival of Russian Orthodoxy going
on in Russia and do you think the re-unification
of the Moscow [indecipherable] in the Russia Orthodox church outside
of Russia, will bring about more interest
in Orthodoxy in North America?
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: I think it's premature to say
that all Americans will become Orthodox.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But of course Americans have been
in Orthodoxy for a long time, but after the re-unification
of the two branches of the Russian Orthodox Church it has achieved a
new dimension.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: The fact that we were invited
to do this book presentation, the American Library
of Congress is already in indication of some interest.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: I know for a fact that Dr. Billington
and his colleagues are very knowledgeable
about the Russian culture and Russian art and our faith.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Orthodoxy
in America is not a very large confession
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But that's fine.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But there are Orthodox people
in America that are outstanding.
There are a number of outstanding spiritual leaders and confessors.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: These could be ethnic Russian Americans
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: For example,
Arch Bishop John [indecipherable] of San Francisco.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Bishop Basil [indecipherable]
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: He thought himself a real American
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: and always underscored the fact
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But he was at the same time very Russian.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And of course another one
who is a Saintly man, metropolitan Laurus [assumed spelling],
who headed the church abroad.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Also, not just Russians,
I can also mention Father [indecipherable]
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Not widely known in America but he
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: but all
of what's Russian knows [indecipherable] through his works.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: He's one of the Christian prophets
of the 20th century as far as Russians are concerned.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: He didn't speak much Russian
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: No Russian, but he [indecipherable]
and of course he wrote all those books
and numerous articles in English.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: He died 30 years ago
in a tiny village called [indecipherable] California.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But his books have been printed
and reprinted in millions of copies in Russia.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: He possibly more than anyone else,
had the most profound influence on the mentality of Russian Christians.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: So as the word Jesus Christ said little flock
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: The little flock of American Orthodox
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Is doing a lot for world orthodoxy.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But we don't mind if it grows, outgrows.
[Silence]   >> Thank you Father, and thank you

for bringing the glorious choir with you today.
>> Father Victor Potapov: [Speaking foreign language]
>> I wonder if you could say a word about the place of music and art
and beauty in the Orthodox vision of life.

>> Father Victor Potapov: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: It would seem that it's not such,
doesn't play such a large role in religious life.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: but in reality, that's not the case.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: There's a very ancient, monastic textbook
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: that in Slavonic,
it's called the [indecipherable], in Greek it's called [indecipherable]
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: In Russian it sounds, the title of the book,
sound like love for goodness.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: It sounds very [indecipherable]
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: It's not a correct translation.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Major monastic book in Orthodox tradition
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: It really should be called a love of beauty.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Because in Slavonic,
[indecipherable] means beauty.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And within this title of the book, is,
the answer to the most important thing in Orthodox Christianity.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: [indecipherable] not
by accident once said that beauty will save the world.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And he had in mind,
this particular Christian understanding of beauty.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Even it's ugly, it's ugly
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: No matter what beautiful dresses evil puts on,
it's ugly.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: The divine beauty
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: is once the human soul strives to achieve,
to unite with even if it doesn't always understand what it's doing.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: This is something that the soul hungers for.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: So of course,
art in the church has a very important role.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: And for us it's a great joy.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: to see that how
in the United States of America
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: for example,
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: our choir is always warmly received.

>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: It often also shows how much Christians
of different confessions and different countries have in common.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Because our choir sings
in the language foreign to Americans in the Church Slavonic,
which is the [indecipherable] language
of the Russian Orthodox Church
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But notwithstanding the fact
that you might not understand the words, but through the sounds,
the music, a very important message is being conveyed
and being understood.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: without words.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: These words, these sounds make it easy
to understand a very ancient message, a very ancient message.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: When Russian immigrants would come
to a concert of the choir and would applaud the singers,
of course for us it was understandable why they were
doing this.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: but we were particularly amazed
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: when here in the Library of Congress
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: when people gather here in the Library
of Congress, the crowd who came to our concert here at the,
five years ago, where people weren't particularly interested
in Russia, but
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov:
they wouldn't allow the choir to leave the stage.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: We almost missed our flight
because they wanted to just keep singing additional pieces.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov:
These people were wildly applauding all these really
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Ladies and gentlemen in the
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> [ Speaking Foreign Language ]
>> Father Victor Potapov: You of course,
remember that Dr. Billington wrote a wonderful book on Russian icons, art
>> [ Speaking Foreign Language ]
>> Father Victor Potapov: and in the 1920s [indecipherable] a Russian
immigrant wrote the only book, authoritative book on Russian icons
>> [ Speaking Foreign Language ]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Don't you think that [indecipherable] books
[ Multiple Speakers ]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But we will also see if we can do something
about it as well, maybe do it   >> [Speaking foreign language]

>> Father Victor Potapov: A second question.
>> [ Speaking Foreign Language ]   [ Multiple Speakers ]

>> [ Speaking Foreign Language ]   [ Multiple Speakers ]

>> [ Speaking Foreign Language ]   [ Multiple Speakers ]

>> Father Victor Potapov:
Three hours of free time we can discuss politics
but I don't think we have the time.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: I don't like revolutionaries.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: I don't like demonstrations.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: I don't judge people
who go to demonstrations.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But really we would prefer not to talk about
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But the elites in our country,
of course, they come and go.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: But on,
they have very little influence on our life in reality.
[Silence]
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Thank you very much
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: for allowing me

to present my book to you
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: and to have our choir sing
at the Library of Congress, thank you.
>> Archimandrite Tikhon: [Speaking foreign language]
>> Father Victor Potapov: Of course, you are all invited to come
to our concerts here in Washington of the Sretensky choir.
[Applause]
>> This has been a presentation of the Library of Congress.