In Star City (Zvezdnyi Gorodok) just an hour and a half northeast of Moscow, Fr. Paphnutius (Fokin) is the rector of the Church of the Transfiguration. In an interview with RIA Novosti, he explained why all Russian astronauts believe in God, what sacred Christian items they take with them to the International Space Station (ISS), and how faith comes to their aid in extreme situations in orbit.
Cosmonauts Day is celebrated in Russia on April 12 in honor of the first manned space flight in 1961, by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin. On this day, the Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of St. John Climacus, the author of The Ladder of Divine Ascent. This saint is revered as one of the patron saints of astronauts.

According to Fr. Paphnutius,
“All cosmonauts are believers. There is an opinion that in space, as in war, there are no non-believers. It’s just that everyone’s faith is different… We have cosmonauts who serve as altar servers in the church, there are those who go to other churches and have their own personal confessors, and there are those who do not go to a church.”
“Space is a hostile environment towards humans: a step to the right, a step to the left - and there is a high probability of death. Astronauts spend a long time in a confined space; a thin wall separates them from an environment in which human life is impossible. The crew members will have long interactions. For a believer, an Orthodox Christian who lives a spiritual inner life, it is easier for him to carry out the tasks facing the crew. There must be a certain amount of patience.”
Astronauts honored at the Church of the Transfiguration in Star City
“It's like any other human activity. ‘Whoever wants to overcome temptations without prayer and patience will not conquer them, but will become more entangled in them,’ says the monk, St. Mark the Ascetic.”
Hieromonk Paphnutius noted that with prayer and patience it is easier to overcome extreme stress and the difficult situations that are often involved with flights into space.
“This primarily refers to a state when a person relies not only on himself, but realizing his weakness and spiritual poverty, he turns to God, the Most Holy Theotokos, and revered saints for help. Indeed, there are many sacred items on the ISS.”
Gagarin, Cosmonauts and St. Sergius of Radonezh
The priest said that, in particular, on the ISS there is the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, given by Patriarch Kirill in 2011 to crew members of Alexander Samokutyaev.
Fr. Paphnutius said,
"The icon is constantly located in the large diameter of the service module of the Russian segment. Cosmonauts also take relics of saints with them — most often they take the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Our church is a Patriarchal Metochion, and it is under the spiritual care of the brethren of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Our cosmonauts especially venerate St. Sergius."
He also noted that in 1964, Yuri Gagarin visited the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and venerated the relics of St. Sergius. (Interestingly, St. Sergius was born in Rostov the Great, an area in Russia where a number of Orthodox Christians from America have recently been settling.)
Icons on board the International Space Station (ISS)
“Previously, before being sent into orbit, crews went to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where they received a blessing from the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh… Crew members can also come to our church, where we serve a prayer service of St. Sergius of Radonezh, bless, and sprinkle holy water.”
He noted that foreigners who work and undergo training in Star City also come to visit the local church.
“Literally a few days ago, Americans came to the church. In Star City, a group of American astronauts continues to study at the training center. The events of recent years have not spread to space — connections have been preserved. Probably, space is the only area in which most of the international connections have been preserved. Of course, Americans come to an Orthodox church not for worship, but as an excursion - to look, to be curious. I had one case — an American woman worked in Star City as a general practitioner; she was brought in to prepare Japanese tourists for a flight. She asked for someone to take her to an Orthodox church.”
The Church of the Transfiguration in Star City was founded on August 4, 2008, on the day of commemorating St. Mary Magdalene. This significant event was preceded by a long and difficult journey. In the 1990s, cosmonauts and employees of the Cosmonaut Training Center (CTC) began to regularly visit the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The abbot of the Lavra, Archimandrite Theognostus (now Metropolitan of Kashir, vicar of the Patriarch) appointed one of the brethren to accompany the guests from the CPC. Most often, the tour guide was the Lavra resident, Abbot Job (Talats), the first rector of the Church of the Transfiguration. In 2020, with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill and Bishop Paramon — the abbot of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra — Abbot Job was tonsured into the great schema with the name Onuphry, in honor of the Venerable Onuphry the Great.
Since 2010, the church has had a special status as a metochion of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' under the spiritual care of the brethren of the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius.
Source: RIA (Russian)
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