I’ve got admit it – I’m a bit disappointed that the Eastern Orthodox beat us Catholics to this – they took the Gospels, four icons, crosses and a relic of the True Cross into space. How cool is that?

I saw this link via newadvent.org and just had to share it with all of you:

“Relics, icons and crosses are onboard International Space Station, cosmonaut says”
Catholic News Agency

Moscow, Russia, Jan 20, 2010 / 12:11 am (CNA).- The Gospels, four icons, crosses and a relic of the True Cross have been taken aboard the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS), a Russian cosmonaut has reported. A photo taken by the station crew shows an icon and a crucifix floating in zero gravity in the ISS.

Writing on his blog at the website of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Cosmonaut Maksim Suraev responded to readers’ questions about religious symbols on the space station.

“We have four holy icons on the Russia segment. We also have the Gospels and a big cross,” he said, according to a blog entry translated by Russia Today in November 2009.

Russia Today reported that the Lord’s Divine Cross was given to A.N. Merminov, the head of Roscosmos, by the late Patriarch of Moscow Aleksy II. The cross was delivered to the station in 2006 by the crew of Soyuz TMA-8.

Read the rest of the article from Catholic News Agency (CNA): Relics, icons and crosses are onboard International Space Station

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