Airdropping the Church Militant
[ by Charles Cameron — out of the clear blue… ]
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I suppose you could think of this double image as representing “the ideal” (above) and “the real” (below). In actuality, the upper image is of “Cathedral Balloon @ Balloon Fiesta ’08” — while the lower image is of an actual Russian army chapel, of which the Guardian notes:
The latest addition to the Russian military arsenal takes the form of an airborne church complete with parachuting priests.
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Fr John Peck over at The Orthodox Church of Tomorrow gleefully tosses us this image from the Russian Airborne Force Press-Service:
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Not until that rather boxy parachuting chapel equals and indeed surpasses the great mediaeval cathedrals in splendor will we begin to be on our way to Revelation 21.21:
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
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Hat-tip to Michael Robinson, my “go to” source (what an abysmal phrase, but language is never static. eh?) for all things antiquarian, aesthetic and ecclesial…
