,,,after the Russian Revolution, when the Communists decreed that religion was the opium of the people, priests all over the nation were tortured and killed or sent to the Gulag. Many churches were destroyed or, like this one, turned into warehouses. Christians were banned from the Communist Party.
A generation was frightened away from worship and subsequent generations were coerced. Children were born and grew old and were buried without ever hearing the ancient divine liturgy of St. John the Chrysostom sung in the churches of their grandfathers.
Many churches of Russia fell into ruin, but with the fall of communism, they are making a comeback, one of these being St. Michael the Archangel, perfectly restored in recent years. The Russian Orthodox comeback is difficult, with cultural clashes and terrible incidents such as the shooting Sunday that killed a nun and a worshipper in far eastern Russia.
But faith has survived in Russia.
Gospodi pomilui!
Sadly, a paywall for Canadians.
This is great to hear, also that there are about 500 evangelical churches in and around Sochi that have prepared for evangelism during the Olympics:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christandpopculture/2014/02/during-the-olympics-russian-christians-work-for-reform-and-revival/
May the Lord bless the harvest.