431. Речь Благочестивейшему Государю Императору Александру Николаевичу пред вступлением Его Императорского Величества в Большой Успенский Собор

(Said on August 19; published in the Journal of Creativity of the Holy Father for 1862, in the Strannik and in the Moscow Vedomosti.) Most pious Sovereign! Before the thousand-year-old elder Novgorod greets You with the millennium of Your Russia, may seven-hundred-year-old Moscow be allowed to precede You with this greeting. The King of Ages has given you the lot to stand on the border of the millennium that has passed and the millennium that is beginning, so that by attentive recollection of the past you can refine and direct your gaze on the present and the future. Grateful remembrance of God's past blessings will attract new blessings of God. May the honorable memory of the valor manifested in past generations encourage new generations to valor. Let an impartial look at the errors of the past reflect them from the present. May good royal experiences and examples be used as advice and guidance. What was the beginning of the civilization and enlightenment of Russia? What united it after the princely fragmentation? What prevented her from falling under an alien yoke, and pulled her out from under the yoke? What of the destructive civil strife recreated it into a highly concentrated Monarchy? Isn’t the Orthodox faith above all? We pray to the King of Ages, God, that He may assist You in all that is good and useful for Russia, and most of all in preserving the Orthodox faith, which protects Russia, for centuries to come. In the magazine “Creations of the Holy Fathers” for 1862, Prince. 3rd printed that on the day of commemoration of the millennium of Russia, September 8, 1862, before the end of the prayer singing in the Great Assumption Cathedral, His Eminence Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, said a prayer corresponding to this remembrance, also published in the Wanderer and in Soulful Reading. “Lord God, King of the ages, speak of a tongue and a kingdom, and build and plant them” (Jer. 18:9)! Falling before Your Majesty with fear and reverence, we gratefully confess Your mercies, which have been revealed to the people and kingdom of Russia in many parts and in many ways over ten centuries. For You, Lord, spoke Your creative word to this people, and You created a kingdom in them, and You planted, and rooted, and grew, and You expanded it into the lands of its habitation, and You established real power over it from You, and You strengthened it against those who opposed it, and You protected it with laws, and most of all, You enlightened and inspired it with saving by faith, and even sometimes with a rod you visited his unrighteousness, but you did not remove your mercy and do not move away from us. We glorify You, Lord and Benefactor, we praise, thank, sing and magnify, and, from Your very generosity in faith and hope, confirmation and boldness before You is acceptable, we humbly pray: preserve the throne and kingdom of the Most Pious Autocratic Great Sovereign Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich of all Russia in true greatness, firmness and glory. Forgive, O all-merciful Lord, all our sins and our Father, and direct our steps to the doing of Thy commandments. Keep the Orthodox faith in us in its purity and strength, and may it remain, as it were, the focus of social unity, the source of enlightenment, the foundation and stronghold of popular good morals, the truth of laws, the beneficence of government, the inviolability of well-being. May the ancient planting of goodness not wither and dry up, but may a new stem of the best be grafted onto it, and may a new flower of splendor and the fruit of perfection come forth. So look upon us and be generous to us, so that we may be blessed by You, from day to day and from century to century we bless You, Lord. Glory to Thee God, our Benefactor, forever and ever. Amen. At the end of the prayer service and after the proclamation of many years to the Most Pious Sovereign Emperor and the Highest Family, the Protodeacon made the following proclamations: Who enlightened Russia with the Christian Orthodox faith, Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir and Grand Duchess Olga, who successively over the centuries created and strengthened the autocracy of Russia by the Blessed Tsar and Grand Duke, who newly created the Russian kingdom and expanded and glorified it in God to the deceased Most Pious Emperors and To the empresses, “eternal memory.” To all the chosen sons of Russia, who for centuries faithfully fought for its unity, good and glory, in the fields of piety, education, governance and victorious defense of the Fatherland, “eternal memory.” Having laid times and seasons in Your hand, Lord, by Your wise all-good Providence, to the thousand-year-long preservation and restoration of the All-Russian Kingdom, add Your great mercy and preserve it in faith and truth, in God’s law and good order “for many years and centuries.” You might be interested in: