i was born orthodox. i don't have any memories of not fasting for meat.didn't fast from dairy products or fish. when my husband and i were married, we decided that we wanted to be a little more strict, that we wanted to follow the church's teaching that we would fast for meat and dairy and oil. my children have no recollection of not fasting, ever. it was very difficult at first. we ate a lot of spaghetti and tomato sauce and a lot of split pea soup because, basically, those where things i knew i could make that tasted good. to make it more interesting, i pulled from different cultural and ethnic types of food, indian curries, asian stir fries, middle-eastern cuisine, to try to make food that was more tasty, more diverse, so that we're not eating the same thing day after day and getting so frustrated and bored with fasting foods. >> it's amazing when you have the resources. i mean, you n make something different every day and you wouldn't get bored with anything. at school it's a little trying. but i make do as best i can. >> you get so many questions abo

those from an o orthodox background find a whole new experience. >> i was shocked. i've only seen this in movies. >> along with the preaching of the gospel, worship and a style of music played in church is a big draw too. >> hey, come to church. you know, we have music in church and it's fun. like gospel music? >> in addition to the main service, moscow good news has an active children's ministry that puts on regular drama performances about the life of christ. they also have an entire church dedicated just to reaching the elderly. >> and despite the tremendous success of moscow good news church, it faces a huge public perception problem. you see, today in russia charismatic churches are often considered cults. >> so the government puts laws on the books to restrict religious freedom. because the russian orthodox church views them as competitors, they side with the government. >> the official position of the russian orthodox church is that everything besides them is a cult. >> but a new generation of young russians are emerging with different views on the matter. >>

spring don't simulate of doesn't need to speak russian services in the orthodox church in kodiak city are held in english. father in a camp he was born in new england a place that is far away from here he has no russian roots nevertheless he decided to serve as an orthodox priest in alaska but it was a long story. it's a story of growing up in a first in church a protestant church but always running seeking out for face or for experience of the earth and finding that an orthodoxy is a young man and eventually answering a call into the priesthoods of. the church were father in county sears stands where the first church in the new world used to be alaska is still predominantly orthodox the u.s. state. russians and and the priest said then came didn't force us to not speak our language they didn't force us to not follow our traditional ways of living we did you know start practicing our all the religious practices but pretty much everything else they had the same hunting language but then during the american period. when the americans came they wanted to civilize us. american archaeologi

more than 100 orthodox christian, catholic and protestant leaders attended. the president spoke of holy week as a time of humility, salvation and grace. >> this magnificent grace, this expansive grace, this "amazing grace" calls me to reflect. and it calls me to pray. it calls me to ask god for forgiveness for the times that i've not shown grace to others. >> the president also hosted a passover seder on monday night for jewish staff and friends. >>> vigils were held across the gulf coast on wednesday to mark the one-year anniversary of the bp oil spill. many religious groups have been among those providing support to people affected by the disaster. catholic charities in new orleans says it's still offering job counseling, financial assistance, and mental health services. the group reports that 79% of its clients have yet to receive payments on their claims. >>> the united states announced that it would begin using armed drones in libya, as leader moammar gadhafi's forces intensified attacks on the rebel-held ci of misrat human rights groups say the city is

weeks of meant as we've mentioned before orthodox believers they do. animal products such as meat fish is allowed though twice during lent isn't if i remember correctly with. total foods or food is welcomed on some days to most people stick to that. actually the lens is not only dire it's only only diets but also. doing good deeds most of the people calling up to think or for work they were being doing the whole year to bring repentance for those probably inadequacies that they had in their lives and to think about what good things they can do for their neighbors actually this is another thing or another meaning of land and if you'll hear the gospel or also reading said before lent is said that it's not only in abstaining. from this that kind of food but also thinking of for the soul for. the good for the people and for the others big practical side of this is that of course of course now tomorrow listen to this service listen listen listen will go on this mass will go on one two into doing a good while ago here that actually the pastoral service last

we have reports from the main russian orthodox cathedral as thousands celebrate easter . now for the story of a convicted killer who once day out himself a russian prisoner has racked with pain from l. ners is pleading with the authorities to be released from his misery the case has reignited the debate over assisted suicide a practice that's illegal in the country or even our snow reports. cannot east forty five and he's dying and he can then static he's not sixty connects in ten months. and i almost blind he can hardly distinguish objects in the backyard of the jail where he's serving his sentence for murder his gangrenous nice heritage and doctor's forecasts he want they've crossed trees for much longer in a wheelchair if. i can't live without pain killers. i'm always on drugs if i didn't take them i'd be unable to walk at all would be. your and foremost saugor and war veteran canady no longer has the energy to fight for life instead. he's bitterly fighting for death. in that his health has not always been so bad it deteriorated rapidly after he was behind bars in two

we reported from the main russian orthodox cathedral as thousands celebrate easter . and the convicted killer campaign for release but from life not jail. global finance leaders warned off the looming threat of a new can on a crisis at the i.m.f. and world bank annual spring meeting and while some blame turmoil in the middle east for stunting economic recovery washington also came in for a fair share of the criticism its failure to tame a huge public sector debt and budget deficit has triggered calls to strip the u.s. off its right to give financial advice to others as are reports. and you will spring gathering about the world economy produced a dreadful financial forecast we are one shock away from a full grown crisis critics say through the establishment of the international monetary fund and world bank america has positioned itself as an economic dr to the world using the institutions to retain global domination and fulfill the business interests of large corporations craving resources belonging to cash strapped countries what they do is they very often pressure go

world are united in easter celebrations with thousands flocking to his service at russia's main orthodox cathedral. in the russian capital you're watching r t i'm marina josh welcome to the program after more than a month of allied operations in libya the word stalemate is frequently being used to describe the situation there and for those countries involved in the action it's beginning to cause political trouble at home especially in france where the president's feeling the pinch reports of how the country's intervention in libya and its former colony of ivory coast has backfired for nicolas sarkozy with accusations of imperialism if nicolas sarkozy hoped intervening in libya and the oil every coast with his popularity is big for oil he's now for the most unpopular president in the history of france's fifth republic according to the latest opinion polls the main beneficiary has been marie le pen as head of the national front party she's expected to milk him out of next year's presidential election because the world's pledged france will never again kill people in africa the pen told me

church the head of the russian orthodox church. who came here especially for this solemn ceremony now indeed everything has happening here now inside the exclusion zone just meters away where i'm standing right now from the epicenter of all evil in chernobyl the infamously known pipe of the fourth block of the chernobyl nuclear power plant that is where the explosion happened exactly twenty five years ago around it is is the area called the exclusion zone thirty kilometers in radius and this represents some certain museum or abnormality because you can see so many things which are of normal in the normal world here in this exclusion zone from a different levels of radiation which are covering the area in certain sports some areas you might see absolutely normal levels of radiation whilst just a kilometer or two away you would see the levels which would not allow you to be there for more than ten to fifteen minutes like the red forest is the area just behind the the nuclear power plant over there now you can see dead towns like pret

and unless you're an orthodox pilgrim, it can take a while.you'll fly to athens and make your way to a scruffy little town in northern greece where there's no airport and where the roads are dicey. then, you'll hop on a ferry, unless the trip has been cancelled because of rough seas. that happens all the time, but on a calm day, it can be a very pleasant ride. the monks will tell you it takes years of prayer and soul- searching before they're ready to leave the world for mt. athos. for the likes of us, though, it takes little more than an hour. it was the beginning of lent when we took these pictures, and the ferry was packed with pilgrims from all over the orthodox christian world-- greeks, bulgarians, serbs, romanians, russians. it wasn't long before the first monasteries came into view and we thought we were sailing to byzantium, to a fantasy land of castles and palaces. ( bells ring ) we were headed for vatopedi, one of the oldest and largest monasteries on mt. athos. it had the feel of a medieval city. holiness seemed to seep from the ver

for a strong orthodox believe or euthanasia has been a hard decision and it won't be without its victims on the other side of the prison bars. no i will not allow him to die i will not. enough his mother can understand words to her son to sick dad but she country can sell herself with the reality of bad decision. if you don't rise or die with him what would i leave for all who fall. in our history and why it is waiting wishing for death whether it's natural or. central russia party has come to you live from the heart of what's go christian believers are united in easter celebrations this year the event falls on the same day for all of them in moscow thousands of washable as well able to attend a special service at the main russian orthodox cathedral. or a fourth witnessed ground near us. there's over five thousand people have attended the service this year including president and prime minister putin and a lot of the families inside bringing their children it really is a family event a religious event that's marked by thousands and thousands of people every year but so the cathedral and

we report from the main russian orthodox cathedral as thousands celebrate easter. convicted killer campaigning the full release but not from jail rather from life. you has come under fire for how it spends its money a new report reveals billions of dollars being pumped into unnecessary projects among them dancing classes in two african countries euro m.p. . says brussels is incapable of controlling its own budget let alone the money it sends a broad. clearly the system isn't working and i think this report makes very clear but there is no surprise i mean from our point of view here you have the european union for sixteen years in a row they haven't signed off their own accounts because of auditor's you know so much fraud in their cars they can't even sign them off so it's not a surprise that you know there's a allegations of private jets being bought by certain country leaders surely that after receiving this kind of the u.s. aid the whole thing is a mess it needs discipline i think it's better done by nation states two thirds of the way actually goes to northern p

that came before them the most interesting thing happening today is the blessing of the russian orthodox priest he's giving his blessing to the group before they go off on their mission of course this was a practice during. cosmonauts. requested for this before he went on his mission to the mir space station this was the t m a twenty two so used to twenty mission another interesting tidbit we found out is that the russian orthodox priest himself he actually wanted to be a cosmonaut but he didn't manage to achieve close as he could get to that dream is to be working with an awesome self so he's there giving his blessings so that's what we've been watching for today and another tradition that we have to go through . before actually launching into space. aside from the journalists who are here. people for the side. of this space program we also have a lot of people coming here just to witness what's going on as tourists. i'm joined now by actually a tourist here at baikonur oh thank you very much for joining us just tell us briefly why are you here i know you are tourists but what is it tha

as christians worldwide celebrate the most holy festival this year falls on the same day for both orthodox and western worshippers. witness them outside the cross to say that cathedral in moscow. easter is a major holiday in russia with the traditional the service that takes place here at christ the savior cathedral and. over five thousand people attending including president medvedev and prime minister and also families inside bringing their children it really is a family event a religious event that's marked by thousands and thousands of people every year but to look at the table and celebrate not only inside but also lined the streets as well with candles just to take part in the ceremony. to celebrate easter it's a russian christian holiday which is always been some russian. business trip and we just couldn't help but come here. is the first time you had a chance to celebrate this festival in moscow so we came to see the service here it's a joy to be here and it's interesting. the comprising i came here straight after work it's a great holiday. now to another church after we've seen it

that came before them the most interesting thing happening today is the blessing of the russian orthodox priest who's giving his blessing to get through before they go off on their mission and of course this was a practice. actually began when cosmonauts that i called requested for this before he went on his mission to your space station this was the t m a twenty so you see i'm twenty another interesting tidbit we found out is that the russian orthodox priest himself he actually wanted to be a cosmonaut but he did manage to achieve these are the closest he could get to a bad dream is to you working with your calls on our cell so he's there giving his blessing so that's what you've been watching for today and another tradition that we have to go through is having a haircut before the actual launch of space anyway there. aside from the journalists who are here people from other people for the side of the caught this space program we also have a lot of people coming here just to witness what's going on as tourists here as tourists i'm joined now by admiral you she's actually a tourist here

we also know that you know the head of the russian orthodox orthodox church party are curial has already arrived to kiev and he will also be holding vigils in kiev and in the inside the chernobyl exclusion zone on tuesday this comes less than a week after a huge international donor conference which was held in the crimean capital with ukraine seeking more money to build another circle for goods now is clearly people understand that there's still great deal of danger underneath the surface underneath the steel structure because nobody still knows to the date how much nuclear fuel has remains under the support for this i did a report explaining all the details of how things are now with the old and the new and we can have a look at this report right now. japan's ongoing struggle to contain the fukushima disaster is fuelling the growing anxiety over nuclear energy safety the last time the world was this scared was in the shadow of the chernobyl reactor explosion in nineteen eighty six but this latest outspend demonstrates that despite the great progress made in the last twenty five years ye

came before them were the most interesting thing happening today is the blessing of the russian orthodox priest who's giving his blessing to the group before they go off on their mission and of course this was a practice. actually began when. a request for this before he went on his mission to the mir space station this was the t m a twenty two so you see on the twenty another interesting tidbit we found out is that the russian orthodox priest himself he actually wanted to be a cosmonaut but he did manage to achieve the closest he could get to dream is to working with the cosmonauts themselves so he's there giving his blessing so that's what we've been watching for today and another tradition that he had to go through has happened before. launching into space you have a lot of tourists here going to the different monuments go into the launch pad as well to have a closer look at the rocket which of course the symbol the face actually. for the fiftieth anniversary of his first space flight another interesting thing is that we've been talking to the lives of the cosmonauts especially the tw

s tomorrow on tuesday inside the exclusion zone we also know that the head of the russian orthodox orthodox church party are curial has already arrived to kiev and he will also be holding vigils game kiev and in the inside that your local exclusion zone on tuesday this comes less than a week after huge international donor conference which was held in the korean capital with ukraine seeking more money to build another circle for us now is clearly people understand that there's still great deal of danger underneath the surface underneath the steel structure because nobody still knows to the date how much nuclear fuel has remained under the support of any of course but indeed we've seen lots of warre strong the international community and the fact that ukraine has managed to attract more investment into building a new circle for just proves that the world is still worried about this fact especially in the wake of the fukushima disaster unraveling in japan now i did a report explaining all the details of how things are now with the old and the new and we can have a look at this report right now

m a twenty the so you see on twenty another interesting tidbit we found out is that the russian orthodox priest himself he actually wanted to be a cosmonaut but he did manage to achieve these are the closest he could get to mr you working with your cause without insults so he's there giving his blessing so that's what we've been watching for today and another tradition that we had to go through. before. launching into space. aside from the journalists who are here. the people. side. we also have a lot of people coming here just to witness what's going on as tourists. i'm joined now by she's actually here at baikonur thank you very much for joining us just tell us briefly why are you here i know you're a tourist but what is it that drew you to this place well i'm actually in moscow this year and i'm interested in russian space program and the history of the russian space program as well as the corker. between the u.s. and american space program what was the most interesting because so far that you've seen that you can share with people who can't wait to hear or hear baikonur. it's almost

falls in the same day for all of them in russia thousands flock to service at the country's main orthodox cathedral with both president and prime minister among the worshippers. next we will gather the plight of a u.s. soldier at the center of the wiki leaks scandal. on april nineteenth the pentagon announced it would be moving private first class bradley manning from a military facility at quantico virginia to fort leavenworth kansas private manning is suspected of sharing secret documents with a whistle blowing web site wiki leaks and since the time he's been in custody nearly a year now he has been held mostly in solitary confinement that's no contact no communication no daylight for twenty three hours a day and manning himself has said in addition he has been forced at times to sleep naked criticisms against his treatment have been mounting and many say they simply want to know more want to hear it from manning himself i'm joined now by one man that he's the u.n. special robbers for on torture cruel inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment one thank you so much for being with me

christians worldwide celebrate their most holy festival this year falls on the same day for both orthodox and western worshippers our correspondents are outside the christ the savior cathedral in moscow so sorry the easter mass is being held right behind you it's an elaborate service can you tell us what it involves. absolutely well a huge number of people turning out tonight to celebrate this traditionally is that it's. quite the savior behind me that i doubt. just off the eleven pm and it's going to close up of course the celebrations marking easter will continue into the day you know earlier on we saw the procession led by patriarch kirill he's leading the service. and they walk around the outside carrying the crucifix and thousands of people ever yet and the ceremony at this year in a different president that faded employment is defeated inside with a five thousand other western face and it's not just inside the cathedral itself but people have been celebrating lots of people turned up on the streets to knights and mark the occasion we had to. find out what the celebration what the ho

so first or just from the central moscow very good evening again of course we see orthodox and catholic christians mark easter on the sago. i don't want. yes. the celebration doesn't fall on a fixed date. and all that yelling calendar. by the lunar calendar celebrations on the same day yeah it might be me but it's a major celebration here in russia. it's going to be taking place around ten minutes time no. i quite say yeah it could be true and every year thousands of people flock to attend the service we've already had this round five thousand people inside already later on and the president and his wife will be joining. us well now the people. in history. and historic building that it was actually completely destroyed in one thousand nine hundred thirty one with dynamite and it was rebuilt in the night. and as he said it's going to be starting in around ten minutes we're going to be bringing you all the details we certainly are going to join sort of a father from the russian orthodox church to talk us through what we see. you know if you have a flavor of what's going on behind you brin

an israeli phone company trying to tap into the ultra orthodox jewish market has come up with a kosher smartphone with hasidic folk music ring tones and menu in yiddish. >>> who is sent packing and who moves on in both the nba and the stanley cup playoffs? including a desperate scramble between the spurs and the grizzlies in their playoff nba matchup. the early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >>> severe weather still expected throughout the day today. not tornadic but damaging winds. your updated forecast is coming up. >>> good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports wednesday, nfl owners suffered another loss in its battle with the players union. a federal judge denied the owners' request for a stay of her decision to end the league's 45-day lockout of the players while the nfl appeals to a higher court. now with an early look at your other sports headlines here's nbc's fred roggin. >> reporter: good morning. the boston bruins and montreal canadiens have met in a game seven more than any other teams in american sports history. last night's may

. >> just a few kilometers away at the syrian orthodox church, this you is very different. many of the worshipers here are also from syria. -- thwe view is very different. to many syrian christians, the president's regime is stability. they are not sure what the process will bring. >> we don't know which forces are behind this movement. we do know that the current administration always makes sure that there is a dialogue between religions and syria -- between religions in syria. >> churches in syria cancel the traditional easter procession. they prefer to keep a low profile. there is no sign of hostilities from the muslim majority but there is nervousness nonetheless. they can find other examples of persecution in the region. >> there are signs of hostility from iraq and egypt. i do believe that this phenomena exist elsewhere in the arab world. >> some in the german syrian community hope for a respite -- hope for a revolution. they have a sense of anxiety for their loved ones back home. >> that has been our "in depth," report thank you for watching.

orthodox jews who normally consider a woman's voice blasphemous were among the interested spectators.>> thailand celebrated its new year in a world record. the normally falls on some of the nation's hottest days and includes a traditional water festival which encourages water fights. this year they attempted to break the record for largest water pistol shoot-outs. thailand broke spain's old record and bill karins, saying this to you, when we finally get some good weather here in new york i am going to challenge you. >> to a water gun fight. >> absolutely. >> i will get you one of those tiny guns and a big super soaker. >> a big super soaker, that's exactly what i thought you would say. time for a look at some of the stories we'll follow on nbc. >>> a house panel will hold a hearing to discuss accountability at the arlington national cemetery. the cemetery has been engulfed in the scandal after the revelation of unmarked and mismarked graves. talks expected to resume in the nfl lockout. a judge has ordered them to meet a mediator over a new collective bargaining agreement. today marks

whereas in fact hell is, in orthodox terms, is simply our refusal to accept the love of god, our inability to accept it. and that exists on earth as it does after death. we can be living in hell right now if we do not accept the love that is openly given us by god, the father and the son. that is what hell is. heaven is simply the ability to let go of your pride and let god in. chris: is this an after-life discussion or is this a current life? >> it's both. it's both. if you believe that our souls are eternal, then obviously the souls still exist on earth. but our time orte is the ability on moment of choice whether to be loved or whether to say we do not deserve to be loved. chris: don't hold back, kids. >> i'm there with him. chris: go ahead. >> you know, i'm the jew on the panel with four catholics, i think, but doesn't the list proclaim the mysteries of faith? celebrate the mysteries. these are mysteries. and as john kennedy said here on earth, god's work is truly our own. we create our own heavens and our own hells. chris: let me try the commercial idea. could this be commercialism, l