After the Soviet Union’s collapse, Orthodox Christians throughout the Slavic world celebrated the slow, steady construction of churches after decades of persecution.
In 2004, the poet Nina Borodai wrote a long prayer — “Song of the Most Holy Theotokos” (Greek for “God-bearer”) — seeking the prayers of St. Mary for the lands of “Holy Rus,” a term with roots dating to the 988 conversion of Prince Vla…