New resident priest holds first service at Unalaska s Church of the Holy Ascension kucb.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kucb.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The local Russian Orthodox community celebrated Slavi, or Russian Christmas, over the weekend, which follows the Julian calendar and takes place Jan. 7. It was the first time the church held in-person Christmas services since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unalaska’s Church of the Holy Ascension is one of the oldest churches in Alaska, and arguably the oldest Russian Orthodox church in the state. On Russian Orthodox Christmas, congregants stood at the front of the church, spinning large, colorfully decorated stars in clockwise circles, while the choir sang traditional songs in Russian, Unangam Tunuu, English and the Eastern Orthodox Church’s liturgical language, Slavonic.
Friday is Russian Orthodox Christmas and the first of three days of celebrations. To commemorate the holiday this year, we’re taking a look back at a story from 2021, where KUCB’s Maggie Nelson digs into past starring ceremonies and talks to a couple locals about the meaning of the religious and cultural celebration. The archival audio used for this special program was provided by Julia Dushkin.