Remarkable monks

Armed special police in Kiev, Ukraine, stand behind a shield wall facing angry demonstrators in this January photo.  Civil protests began last November in favor of moving their economy/culture closer to Europe and further from Russia.

Some worry that a civil war could erupt in the streets with all the resulting loss of life and property.  So these Russian Orthodox monks are willing to risk much to subdue the raging emotions.  They place themselves in the middle of the faceoff,  taking shifts to pray on the street.  Go here for comments that one of them made on his facebook page.

In the words of Fr. Alipy, "You can’t even imagine how important it is for the clergy to stand there!"  There's a youtube video of the monks praying in the street while police rattle their shields.