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I agree, Alice. Also, while you might not be able to judge from one or two visits whether a church has grace (how does one judge that, anyway?), surely 'a feeling of grace' is different - to me, it suggests a hopeful, peaceful, grateful sensation. It's perfectly valid to say you walked into a building and straightaway felt a sensation of grace, and if that doesn't happen any more in many Russian churches, it's sad.

I wondered what was meant by this statement:

'Historically speaking, a society which is corrupt from top to bottom, is not typically one that puts much of a priority in maintaining its Churches.'

Which societies would you consider corrupt or uncorrupt? I only ask because here in the west, many of the most beautiful Cathedrals that took huge amounts of labour, expense and dedication to build, were built under regimes of dubious virtue.