The small European country of Estonia (bordered by Russia on the east, by Latvia on the south, and by the Baltic Sea on west and north, just under Finland) became a satellite of the Communist government after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. The interiors of many parish churches were re-painted by the Communists. However, they weren’t just “whitewashed.” The Communists used transport-reducer-enamel, the kind used on their tanks. Thus the holy images underneath were totally ruined. Since the fall of the “Iron Curtain”, Estonia has become a booming industrial and manufacturing center, because of her “zero world debt” status. To bring in tourists, much rebuilding is being done (using the same tools and building methods of a century ago). As for the church interiors, however, all the paintings must be completely re-done, due to the grim effects of the transport-reducer-enamel.
Although the churches in Estonia are being re-dedicated for their original purpose (the celebration of the Divine Liturgy), it is under the auspices of the schismatic “Orthodox” church. So they, like Constantinople’s great jewel (currently a museum) are still in enemy hands. The last time Holy Mass was said in the Hagia Sophia, it was a Catholic liturgy (although Constantinople had been in and out of schism for two hundred years, she was in union with Rome at the time of her fall). We have reason to hope that the Hagia Sophia and the Estonian churches will be back in Catholic hands, for Our Lady of Fatima gave us the solution to Communism, Islam, and schism. May Her triumph come quickly!
