God works in mysterious ways. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War. We all waited with holy awe for this great date - May 9th. It so happened in our country that May 9 became a secular Easter, one of the most important national holidays. But what is there “one of” - the most important, without the slightest doubt.
Over time, this date was filled with an ever deeper meaning. As a result, it turned out that May 9 was almost the only day that unites us all. Unites unconditionally, regardless of age, nationality and religion or lack thereof.
May 9 has become a symbol of power and inflexibility, the strength of spirit of our great people. It was and is a holiday with tears in his eyes. This is a triumph of justice and unparalleled dedication. This is a holiday when we again and again recall the greatness of our people. There is nothing in the world that closely resembles the feat accomplished by Soviet people 75 years ago. How many lives were put on the altar of victory? Tens of millions, and we will never know the exact numbers. Can it compare with anything? No, he can not.
What is the Immortal Regiment today? For many, this is, in fact, a procession, the quintessence of secular Easter.
"Christ is risen from the dead, having corrupted death by death, and having given his stomach in tombs." This troparia comes to mind whenever you see: our grandfathers, fathers are alive again, go back in this formation, but with our feet. They are all alive as long as we remember them. That’s why it’s impossible for the Orthodox to miss the Easter service, and for a Russian citizen it’s impossible not to go with portraits of his veterans every year in the Immortal Regiment.
Remembering this feat is our sacred duty to our ancestors and to our descendants. Because the country is alive as long as its history and memory of our great victories are alive.
In this difficult year of 2020, the transfer of the date of the parade is probably not accidental. It did not take place on May 9, but precisely because of this, it took place on June 24, exactly that day, when in 1945 a parade of Red Army troops took place on Red Square under the command of Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky. The parade, which was hosted by Marshal Georgy Zhukov.
This has its own metaphysics and its own special, deep meaning. Our grandfathers then, in 1945, on that day watched the parade on Red Square. We were lucky, we found our grandfathers, veterans of World War II. We remember those family holidays on May 9, those stories of witnesses of those great events. Now we must pass this memory on to our children and grandchildren if we want to preserve ourselves and our country. It is our duty, and no one but us will do it.
Happy Victory Day! Glory to the victorious heroes!
The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.