I CALLED AT MOSCOW ON MY WAY . . .

By BISHOP L. T. PICACHY, of Jamshedpur, India
AT NEW DELHI, on the 4th of September, the first Saturday of the month. I said the votive Mass of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for a spiritually fruitful stay in Moscow.
As the Air India 707 "Lhotse" winged pact the snow-clad ridges of the Hindu Khush and soared gracefully over the southern frontier of Russia, I recited my rosary for the people of this land.
The words of the Psalmist came to my mind: "The Lord looked down from his holy height, from heaven He beheld the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die."
Officiully, there are eight Catholic priests in Russia, two in Moscow. three in Leningrad, one in Odessa and two in 'Ms.
The Church of St. Louis is the only Catholic parish of Moscow. It is a modest building able to contain 400 worshippers.
There are three Masses on Sundays all said by the parish priest. Fr. Michael Taretyclis, art elderly Lithuanian of the diocese of Vilna in Lithuania, Fr. Tarvydis has been two years in the parish, He told me that he had some 6.000 parishioners scattered all over Moscow. He said he has liberty to visit his people.
Children are prepared for Holy Communion both at home and in the church.
last Christmas the Soviet authorities gave him permission to appear in an Italian Television talk on "Pope Paul VI and Peace," which was prepared in Moscow and broadcast in Rome.
As I entered the church at 8.30 a.m. on Sunday. September 5, there was a sizeable congregation of some 200 waiting for the second Mass to begin at 9 a.m. They were mainly old women of the poorer class.
I had brought a treasured relic for this little flock of Christ, men and women all tested in the
crucible of suffering. It was a simple silver pectoral cross which had placed on all the sacred spots of the Holy Land during my pilgrimage there in 1963.
As a token of the love and admiration of India's Catholics for our heroic brethren in Russia and in other satellite countries I presented this cross to priest and people and asked them to keep it at Mary's altar of St. Louis, Moscow, as it source of hope and inspiration.
After Mass the people flocked to kiss my ring. A 7-year-old Russian girl with golden hair was at first bashful to approach the tall stranger. But she plucked up courage and then came several times to kiss the ring.
She accompanied me to the door of the taxi. The Communist driver held my bag respectfully while the faithful wished me farewell. He dreve me to my hotel and feelingly kissed my eing before alighted, He refused to accept the fare.
Moscow is an impressive city of six and a half million. The streets are wide and clean. I have not seen a single traffic jam.
Over a million tourists visit Moscow annually, There is only one tourist agency called Intourist. Like nearly everything else it is State owned, It is efficient, but there is a slight air of regimentation.
Tourists are treated with great courtesy. I found all the officials very helpful.
'There is a sombre tone over the whole city. There are few billboards. Some tourists consider the buildings drab, but a few buildings are exceptionally beautiful, particularly Moscow University with its 32,000 students.
A Bishop dressed in black with red buttons. sash and pectoral cross is not a common sight in Russia. From the moment of my arrival to my departure everyone just looked around and stared. At times the people came up and took my cross in their hands.
The sole purpose of ray visit to Moscow was to pray there for the gifted and friendly people of Russia. I had the joy of reciting the noon-day Angelus in the Church of the Annunciation which stands in the heart of the Kremlin,
Our Catholic churches have been converted into museums, hut they are preserved carefully, and the frescoes, paintings and church all treasures are looked after.
In the Cathedral Church of the Assumption which is also in the Kremlin, I pointed out to Edward Zozaev, my Communist guide, that the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary which stood in front of Lis had been copied by the RedempWrist Fathers and that we CathoL lies venerate this picture as Mary, Lady of Perpetual Succour.
As I went past Lenin's mausoleum in Red Square, which is the saluting base of the Soviet high commissars on May Day and other national festivals, the crowds turned and gazed at the Bishop from India.
I paid no attention to them, for I kept repeating in my heart. "Christus vincit. Christus regrew., Christus imperat."
The Air India plane for London failed to arrive on the seventh. I had to take a Russian Aeroplot winger to Paris the following day.
As die plane soared into a calm autumn sky On the morning of the birthday of Our Lady. I blessed Russia and her people and prayed that Mary's Angelus may soon sound for the thousands of church bells which lie waiting for the dawn of a new era of belief and happiness.
We should often say the words of the Lourdes hymn of the feast of the Assumption: "Graciously obtain pardon for sinners. Bring help to the sorrowful, the poor and the afflicted. Be to all men in life's severe trials the light that promises sure hope of salvation."