The end of a cheese-fare week before the Great Lent was widely celebrated in the Dormition orthodox parish in Beijing. A carnival meal, consisting of the traditional Maslyanitsa dish – pancakes, was prepared for the Sunday school pupils. This day the children weren’t only having a tea-drinking party, but also got acquainted to the sense of this Russian festival and the tradition of the Great Lent.
On Sunday after the Divine Liturgy all parishioners and the guests of the church were invited to join a Maslyanitsa carnival party with pancakes, tea and Russian pies. The parishioners from Russia , the Ukraine, Kazakhstan, France, Italy, the USA, Serbia, Romania and other countries were welcome to the carnival.
At the beginning of the party a Many Years singing was devoted to a family of compatriots that come back to Russia after the end of the assignment. All present people wished them the Lord’s help in the homeland and a soon returning, if possible, to Beijing that has already become a lovely city for them. The pancake party continued more than two hours; at the end of the carnival it was possible to stay and take part in the Sunday school for grown-ups.
In the evening of the same day the Vespers with the Rite of Forgiveness were conducted in the Dormition church.
