Oklandia
Religious Fables, Folklore, Legends, and Stories
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Submitted by: Yuri Klitsenko

In 2005 Russian Orthodox Christians
celebrate Easter on 1 May.
 

Sending you some information about "Oklandia" near Murom where St. Peter, St. Fevronia and Hare lived.   The most mystical place is Svetloyar Lake having ghost town-temple Kitezh on its bottom. In 1238 the town sank when Tatars besieged it. God transferred Kitezh in some parallel dimension where the town still exists. It is guarded by a Wonder-Fish, a Russian kind of "Loch Ness monster". 

 Researcher of local history Aleksander Epanchin says that there was village Rusaki having 2 monasteries - for men and for women. The monks started committing sins with the mermaids from the nearest deep place of the river. The Heaven became indignant with the monks' debauchery and punished them. In the beginning of XVIII century, village Rusaki and its monasteries went underground, and Svyatoe (Holy) Lake was created on the spot. At night or early in the morning ringing of bells and motet is heard over the lake, and during full moon a gold cross is well-seen on the lake's bottom. One day a fisherman put his nets into the lake, and pulled out a rope. He pulled the rope, and a church dome appeared on the water surface. The fisherman was so stunned, that he fell down into the water from his boat. Church in Dedovo keeps an icon which was found in the lake.

In 1960s divers explored the lake's bottom, and they found a wooden deck with a door in it, a long chain was attached to the door. Local residents believe that the water will go down some day, and both the monasteries will be brought to light again.   River Oka near Murom   http://archeologia.narod.ru/murom/murom1.jpg   Svyatoe (Holy) Lake   http://www.kashkanov.ru/r_osen03(6)_05.jpg   http://archeologia.narod.ru/murom/murom0.jpg  

  Svetloyar Lake   “Ten years ago I and Father Yevgeny came to the lake to erect an oak cross in place of a ruined chapel,” Zinaida says. “The priests consecrated it and said a prayer. In the evening we came back to look at it once again. As we stood on the lake’s side we suddenly saw a big cathedral fenced by a serrated wall and the golden church domes reflected on the surface of the lake. I gasped. Father Yevgeny says quietly: “You keep silent and watch.” So we stood in silence for another ten minutes and then the reflection gradually vanished".  

The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia   Maiden Fevronia has lived in a hermitage in a thick forest since childhood. Birds and beasts - a Crane, a Bear and an Aurochs (the extinct wild cow) - come up when they hear her voice. Prince is amazed by a vision of Fevronia talking to beasts and wonders if he is having a dream. Fevronia has a vision of the transformation of nature into God's church.

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