I know Orthodox Christians who lived in the USSR and Albania. Besides these kind of miracles, there were miracles of a more subtle kind — the kind that showed the spirit of God moving among those people and sustaining the faith.
Back in the 1980’s, the score for Rachmaninoff’s music for the Divine Liturgy, considered lost, was found in the archives of an American monastery. An American choir learned it and performed it on their tours. In 1989 or so, the choir performed in the USSR. I saw the performance on TV. When they got to the “Our Father,” everyone in the audience, young and old, including Red Army soldiers, sang along.
In Albania, all expression of religion was banned and all houses of worship were closed in 1968. Between then and the fall of the communists, there was essentially an entire generation that supposedly had no exposure — at least publicly — to religion. Shortly after the communists were overthrown and Albania opened up, a young woman from Albania visited our church and sat in with the choir. She had a beautiful voice and knew all of the hymns. I never had the chance to ask her how she had learned them. I have to be satisfied with knowing that God was at work in that darkness, and courageous believers took the risk of being open and faithful to Him.
Years ago, I worked with a wonderful woman from Poland (in Aslip IL).
She said that they pretended not to go to church, and the Police pretended not to see them there.
Back in the 1980’s, the score for Rachmaninoff’s music for the Divine Liturgy, considered lost, was found in the archives of an American monastery. An American choir learned it and performed it on their tours. In 1989 or so, the choir performed in the USSR. I saw the performance on TV. When they got to the “Our Father,” everyone in the audience, young and old, including Red Army soldiers, sang along.
In Albania, all expression of religion was banned and all houses of worship were closed in 1968. Between then and the fall of the communists, there was essentially an entire generation that supposedly had no exposure — at least publicly — to religion. Shortly after the communists were overthrown and Albania opened up, a young woman from Albania visited our church and sat in with the choir. She had a beautiful voice and knew all of the hymns. I never had the chance to ask her how she had learned them. I have to be satisfied with knowing that God was at work in that darkness, and courageous believers took the risk of being open and faithful to Him.
Thank you for this EXCELLENT post.