Punk Prayer
February 21, 2012
Today, on Tuesday of Maslenitsa Week, we – the soloists of Pussy Riot: Garadzha, Tyurya, Schumacher, Serafima and Kot invited all the most devout friends of the group to a “punk prayer” in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
“Since peaceful hundred-thousand demonstrations do not produce immediate results, we will ask the Mother of God before Easter to quickly drive Putin away,” Serafima told the rest of the team as we headed to the Temple in the February morning frost.
Last Sunday, Serafima returned from the Temple and demanded that all the other Pussy Riot members urgently learn Byzantine znamenny chants. “Today, during matins, I understood what and how to ask the Mother of God for, so that something would finally move in our soulless land,” Serafima said. The words of the Punk Prayer immediately came to the whole group’s mind:
(Chorus)
Virgin Mary, Virgin Mary, drive Putin away,
drive Putin away, drive Putin away
(end of chorus)
Black cassock, golden shoulder straps
All the parishioners crawl to bow
The ghost of freedom in heaven
Gay Pride sent to Siberia in shackles
The head of the KGB, their main saint
Leads the protesters to the pretrial detention center under escort
So as not to offend the Holy One
Women need to give birth and love
Shit, shit, the Lord’s
shit Shit, shit, the Lord’s shit
(Chorus)
Virgin Mary, Virgin Mary, become a feminist
Become a feminist, become a feminist
(end of chorus)
Church praise of rotten vodjas
Religious procession of black limousines
A preacher is going to your school
Go to class – bring him money!
Patriarch Gundyai believes in Putin
It would be better if he believed in God, bitch
The Virgin’s belt will not replace rallies –
The Virgin Mary is with us at the protests!
(Chorus)
Mother of God, Virgin, drive Putin away,
drive Putin away, drive Putin away
(end of chorus)
First, we all sang “Mother of God, drive Putin away” three times, crossed ourselves, and began to sing the first verse of the song.
Patriarch Kirill, known for his tobacco business and $4 billion fortune, has recently spoken out against the political activity of citizens. “Orthodox people do not know how to go out to demonstrations, they stand at the waist of the Holy Mother of God… These people do not go out to demonstrations, their voices are not heard, they pray in the silence of their monasteries, in their cells, in their homes,” the Holy One recently declared in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior during the celebration of the third anniversary of his accession to the throne. Yes, that’s right: the voices of Russians are not heard because they have long been stolen by the Central Electoral Commission. Citizens want to drive Putin out, but the Central Electoral Commission is stealing the votes.
The Holy One considers the last 12 years in relations between the Church and the state a “miracle.” We completely agree with him – such a miracle has not happened in Rus’ for a long time. Not only have state authorities seized all the media, but Putin also states that Orthodoxy is not given enough time and space in newspapers and on TV, and this must be urgently corrected.
It’s sickening that the Patriarch shamelessly campaigns for Putin, already addressing him as the President of Russia and saying that Putin allegedly “corrected the crookedness of history.” If Putin corrected anything, it was the pockets of his close associates – for example, the pocket of His Holiness Kirill.
We sing “Black cassock, golden shoulder straps”, meaning that the black cassocks hide KGB shoulder straps, which are especially valued in Putin’s system and have the status of gold. Patriarch Kirill is a well-known Chekist.
When we say that “gay pride has been sent to Siberia in shackles,” we are referring to the law banning the propaganda of homosexuality, which was adopted in Arkhangelsk, Kostroma, and St. Petersburg. This law effectively prohibits the LGBT community from organizing public events and public associations, condemning the community to a closed existence. In addition, the wording of the law is such that it places the terms “homosexuality” and “pedophilia” side by side, which is offensive and homophobic in itself.
Women, according to the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church, should give birth and love. The Russian Orthodox Church does not like feminists: thus, according to Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov, “feminism is such a powerful blade against the family!” Pussy Riot is in fact against the traditional patriarchal family, where women are given a secondary, subordinate role.
And we, feminists, will serve the Punk Prayer at the altar, because women are not allowed to be there. The Virgin Mary, for example, would not be able to enter the altar if she were in the Temple.
At the very end of the Punk Prayer, the lead singer of Garage fell to her knees and crossed herself several times.
