Christmas in January: Russian Orthodox celebrate in Zurich

Celebrating a mass like 1000 years ago: What believers are looking for in the Russian Orthodox Church in Zurich.

A woman gently kisses the wooden cross with Christ painted on it. Another pulls out her cell phone and takes photos of the Christmas decorations: fir branches with plastic stars hanging from the ceiling.

A man walks through the crowd looking for his car keys. A child’s eyes almost close. And in the front stands a priest in a golden and white robe, with his back to his congregation. He raises his hands and everyone crosses himself.

It is January 6th, Christmas Eve in the Russian Orthodox Church of the Resurrection on Narzissenstrasse in Zurich District 6. And it is the start of a six-hour prayer marathon, during which the congregation stands and rings in their Christmas day by candlelight.

In the middle is Maroan Maizar. He bows lower than the others. The former investment banker has just converted to the Russian Orthodox faith. After two years of preparation and, as he says, a lot of commitment.

“I'm a traditionalist”: Maroan Maizar has just converted to the Russian Orthodox faith.

“I’m a traditionalist”: Maroan Maizar has just converted to the Russian Orthodox faith.

At Christmas in Russia, believers light candles in front of images of saints.

At Christmas in Russia, believers light candles in front of images of saints.

In the Russian Orthodox Church of the Resurrection in Zurich, rites and customs are celebrated that seem timeless. This is what attracts Maroan Maizar.

Maizar calls himself a “knotted traditionalist”. And that’s exactly why he’s here. «The fair is still the same as it was a thousand years ago. Tradition lives here and you experience it. “

The convert’s rebirth

In the Russian Orthodox Church in Zurich, this longing for seemingly timeless rites and customs is satisfied in a special way. The service always follows the same sequence. The choir sings songs over 1000 years old without instruments or a microphone. The church did not even go along with the Gregorian calendar reform 500 years ago. That is also the reason why Christmas is only celebrated at the beginning of January.

Maroan Maizar has sparkling eyes when he talks about his baptism. It was “a new birth”, with a new ecclesiastical name for him and for his wife Marlena, who had also converted. Maizar grew up in Switzerland. His father was a Muslim and his mother a Catholic. He has also looked for spirituality in a Buddhist monastery.

Many believers only understand the readings in the church language Old Slavonic in parts.

Many believers only understand the readings in the church language Old Slavonic in parts.

The readers recite passages from the Bible in a sonorous voice.

The readers recite passages from the Bible in a sonorous voice.

There is no compulsory headscarf for women in the Church of the Resurrection in Zurich.  Nevertheless, almost all of the churchgoers present wear one.

There is no compulsory headscarf for women in the Church of the Resurrection in Zurich. Nevertheless, almost all of the churchgoers present wear one.

He has now found it in the middle of Zurich in the largest Russian Orthodox church in Switzerland. In a tall white building that once belonged to a free church and is now part of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Politics is not talked about in the Church of the Resurrection. Russians and Ukrainians, Belarusians and Georgians stand side by side here.

In churches, basements or industrial areas: There are a large number of Christian Orthodox churches in Zurich

sgi. Russians, Serbs, Ethiopians, Armenians: They all have their own Orthodox churches – some are large and representative, others are in basements, multi-purpose rooms, industrial areas. There are over a dozen in the Canton of Zurich. They have been organized in the Association of Orthodox Churches since 2014 – with the long-term goal of official state recognition. According to the Federal Statistical Office, there are around 40,000 members of the Orthodox faith in the canton of Zurich, a good third of them in the city. There are 190,000 throughout Switzerland.

Many of the believers have recently immigrated, others have roots further back in the East. In addition, there is a considerable proportion of converts. Eight of them will be baptized again this Christmas Eve.

Her role model is right next to it as the priest’s right hand: the deacon Daniel Schärer. Some would call it a coincidence how he came to believe. For him it is providence.

The Bible and the cheat sheet

Providence worked over thirty years ago in the form of a CD with Russian Orthodox singing. It was in the Jecklin music store in Zurich when the young Schärer – from a devout Protestant family and in search of God – happened to hear it. The sound enchanted him so much that he attended an Orthodox church service shortly afterwards.

“Here is God among the people”: the deacon Daniel Schärer in the Church of the Resurrection.

St. Nicholas watches over the Orthodox Christmas.

St. Nicholas watches over the Orthodox Christmas.

For many believers, the Russian Orthodox Church is a piece of home away from home. The convert Daniel Schärer, on the other hand, seeks the kingship of God.

“There I felt: Here is God among the people.” And so he stayed with them too.

Today Daniel Schärer stands in front of the altar of the Church of the Resurrection. He holds a gold-studded Bible high in front of his head and sings an Old Slavic prayer. In between he looks at a little cheat sheet.

It is late in the evening. Christmas is getting closer.

Daniel Schärer – a trained psychologist and teacher at a vocational high school – made it from convert to church elder. He has been with us for 32 years. What is so appealing to him about the Orthodox faith?

“It’s not about individualism, about myself,” he says, “but about the kingship from God.” His church does not follow fashions, does not conform. «We live», he says, «in a fallen world, we have to overcome ourselves and our passions. Through fasting, prayer and song. “

Theologically and spiritually, says Daniel Schärer, his church is still in late antiquity. It’s a good thing for him.

“We only need the instrument that God created – the voice.” The choir is a central part of the service.

Most Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas 13 days after Catholics and Protestants - because of a calendar reform that was not implemented 500 years ago.

Most Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas 13 days after Catholics and Protestants – because of a calendar reform that was not implemented 500 years ago.

Russian Orthodox men and women take a break from standing on the side benches.

Russian Orthodox men and women take a break from standing on the side benches.

You can see that in a basement just a few streets away in a similar way – and yet a little different. The second Russian Orthodox Church in Zurich is located there. She is closer and more intimate than her big sister, warmer and older too. And she doesn’t ask for a Covid certificate that evening, but only lets 50 people in.

The altar in the light of the neon tube

The church has been in this basement since 1933. Every piece of wall is hung tightly with images of saints, every piece of concrete floor is covered with carpets. In the narrow sanctuary lie a golden Bible and purple robes, illuminated by a neon tube. The altar wall is said to come from the chapel of a warship of the Russian Tsar that fled from the Red Army.

The two priests are sitting on a bench in an adjoining room. One old and big, the other young and small.

They tell of the division of the Russian Orthodox Church into two parts during the Soviet era. There was the church of the exiles and the church of those who came to terms with the regime.

Also in Zurich. The cellar church of the two priests is smaller and poorer than its neighbor. But in it, the two say, the Russian Orthodox tradition survived, unaffected by Soviet influence. “We maintain the old tradition even more.”

Peter Sturm, the elder, was born in Gdansk on the flight from the east. For him, the Zurich church was a piece of that home that he never had. Vladimir Svystun, the younger, was secretly baptized as a child in Ukraine. During the religious revival after the fall of the Iron Curtain, he came to church and, thanks to his studies, came to Switzerland.

When the priest disappears into the chancel, it is time for the reader.

When the priest disappears into the chancel, it is time for the reader.

The Russian Orthodox believers protect themselves against Corona with a very special disinfectant.

The Russian Orthodox believers protect themselves against Corona with a very special disinfectant.

Only those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered are allowed to celebrate Christmas in the Church of the Resurrection. Disinfectants with a halo are available at the kiosk.

Someone’s Knocking. “Peter, someone wants to go to confession,” says a woman. The conversation is over. And as I walk, I see people in ordinary street clothes come down the stairs to spend their Christmas Eve in a windowless room that is filled with memories.

Pray till dawn

Back in the Church of the Resurrection, where the clothes are more festive, the fur coats and flawless sneakers more common. There are still a few minutes until midnight. A red curtain is drawn in front of the altar. Some are on their way home, while others are just arriving – for the actual Christmas mass, which will last until three in the morning.

But before that there is a short break. A woman in the corridor asks for paper for her hand-rolled cigarettes. Next to it sits the convert Maroan Maizar with his wife Marlena. He does stretching exercises for his back. She has replaced her shoes with Birkenstock finches.

Both are tired. But they will stay – until the end.

A congregation of around 300 people: the Russian Orthodox Church of the Resurrection is at home in a former free church.

A congregation of around 300 people: the Russian Orthodox Church of the Resurrection is at home in a former free church.

There is a trick on the back of the Bible: the deacon Daniel Schärer reciting a prayer.

There is a trick on the back of the Bible: the deacon Daniel Schärer reciting a prayer.

The Russian Orthodox community celebrates Christmas Day from nine in the evening to three in the morning.

The Russian Orthodox community celebrates Christmas Day from nine in the evening to three in the morning.

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