Relic leaves Russia after ‘blessing three million’

AFP 28/11/2011 MOSCOW – A relic said to have belonged to the Virgin Mary left Russia Monday after a stay that saw it worshipped by three million people in a potent display of the power of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Belt of the Virgin Mary attracted a million people in Moscow alone, inspiring them to queue in a five-kilometre (three mile) line for up to 26 hours in hope of touching the silver chest holding the relic and receiving a miracle. “Nearly three million people came to the relic over this time, according to the most modest estimates,” Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill said after a brief service at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport to see off the relic after its 40-day stay in Russia.