From Cats to Missiles: What Orthodox Priests Bless in Russia (in Pictures)

Oct 10, 2018 - 01:50 pm

Russian Orthodox Priest, Father Sergei, blesses members of the media after having blessed the Soyuz rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad, Oct. 10, 2018. NASA / Bill Ingalls /Flickr

A priest blesses the new Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter aircraft, the first of its kind to join the Russian Navy Baltic Fleet. Chernyakhovsk air base, December 2016. Vitaly Nevar / TASS

A metropolitan bishop blesses an S-400 Triumf medium-range and long-range surface-to-air missile system at the base of the Russian Southern Military District, January 2017. Alexei Pavlishak / TASS

Every year, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia sanctifies Easter cakes at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Moskva News Agency

Military equipment being blessed before a Victory Day parade on May 9. Moskva News Agency

Cats were blessed on International Homeless Animals Day’ at a church in Lemeshovo, a small town south of Moscow. August 2018. Alexander Avilov / Moskva News Agency

Servicemen sporting St. George's ribbons being blessed by the clergy on Victory Day. Moskva News Agency

A priest consecrating a Christmas-themed metro car in Moscow. Andrei Nikerichev / Moskva News Agency

A Russian Orthodox priest blessed the Soyuz rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday in preparation for a space launch scheduled for Oct. 11.

Over the years, Russian priests have been called to bless everything from tanks and missiles to cats and metro cars.

Here are a few of our favorite pictures.

From Cats to Missiles: What Orthodox Priests Bless in Russia (in Pictures)

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