To Lublin We Go.

First thing this morning I had to see my daughter off for the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport. I was very glad for the visit, even though it was so short. She was off in her rental, and Nikolaus and I were off to Liturgy in Lublin. Getting to Lublin means driving down county roads, the way was actually very simple, I just had to remember two roads; County Road H, and then to turn onto County Road F. That's it, H and F and I would be led to Holy Assumption Church which was on the edge of town. Lublin was settled by Polish, Carpatho-Russian, and Ukranian immigrants. They came to the area, opened shops, schools, and made a community. One of the first things they did was to build a church. They as a community bought land, and pledged their time and labor to make sure it was done. When the the building became too small to fit the growing community, they built another one using the same strategy. Like many of the old churches, the cemetary sits next to the church, with a huge Russian cross at the gateway. Orthodox worship is intended to be like heaven on the earth, so it is really fitting that it be there, next to the earthly temple. The names on the headstones reflect the ethnicity, as does the silver cupola on the roof. It has been there since 1908, and yet it is such a surprise to drive upon it, the silver cupola pointing towards the heavens out of the treetops, and listening of course to some very good Russian a capella music, the rolling green hills hold a very mystical place.