Россия

There was no Tsar - there was no Russia. Now all of Rus' is a field of passion-bearers. Its earth was sanctified by their blood, and its air by the rise of their souls to heaven. When your suffering is over, your righteousness will go with you and the glory of the Lord will follow you. “The Roman country praises with praiseworthy voices Peter and Paul, who believed in Jesus Christ the Son of God; Asia, Ephesus, Patm - John the Evangelist; India - Thomas; Egypt - Map; all countries and cities and people honor and glorify their teachers, who taught them the Orthodox faith. Let us also, according to our strength, praise with small praises the great and wondrous work of our teacher and mentor, the great Khagan (prince) of our Earth, Volodimer, grandson of old Igor.” This is what Saint Hilarion, Metropolitan of Kiev, said in the middle of the 11th century, when a little more than half a century had passed since the baptism of Rus'. Even then, the holy man saw with his penetrating gaze the greatness of the work of the saint. Vladimir and called on Rus' to glorify him with dignity. With what words and colors can we express what St. did? Vladimir, having baptized Rus', we, who have waited for the 950th anniversary of this bright event? Let us remember what Russia was before Vladimir and what it became after its baptism by Saint Vladimir. Here is Rus' from the time of “old Igor” or Vladimir’s father, Svyatoslav. Each tribe lived its own separate life. Separate clans often quarreled with each other, took revenge on each other and often engaged in mutual self-destruction, observing the laws of bloody revenge. The Russian princes before Vladimir were more conquering leaders than fathers and benefactors of their people. They were more interested in campaigns and booty than in caring for their subjects. Many tribes were still at a very low degree of moral and cultural development; Among some of them, even “kidnapping” was common, i.e. kidnapping girls to make them their wives. It would be a mistake to think that the Slavs had only negative traits and represented an exclusively semi-savage mass. No, on the contrary, there was a lot of good in their nature. They were hospitable, courageous and honest. Wives were faithful companions to their husbands, often remaining faithful even to the dead. The Slavs honored their elders and obeyed them in private and public matters. But at the same time, they showed treachery, cruelty, and cunning. At times, especially during wars, they became terrible for everyone around them. The peaceful Slav became a wild beast. Woe to those upon whom his rage was directed; it spared no one! Byzantium was in awe of its northern neighbors, and they themselves were often afraid of each other. So the Slavic world stood at the crossroads between good and evil, now showing the wonderful properties of man created in the image of God, now showing the formidable signs of a beast in human form. What could be the highest ideals among the Slavs? What could their feelings and thoughts be directed towards? What could they be inspired by and to whom should they direct their gaze? The gods in whom they believed possessed all the properties of their worshipers and were the embodiment of their good and bad qualities. The Slavs served the gods they invented, thereby confirming their own shortcomings, the justification for which was the properties of their gods. Serving the formidable Perun, the Slavs waged cruel wars, exterminating their neighbors. It is difficult to say what Eastern Europe would have become if Saints Cyril and Methodius had not shed the light of Christ on the Slavs and laid the foundation for the enlightenment of the Slavic peoples. Saints Cyril and Methodius and their disciples enlightened some of the Slavs with Christian teaching. The influence of Christianity immediately affected them and introduced them into the family of Christian nations. In a short time, the countries that adopted Christianity were transformed. But the main mass of the Slavs, the Eastern Slavs, continued to live as before. One could at times fear that their warlike princes, like Svyatoslav, would destroy even the young shoots that had grown in the fields of their brothers watered by Christianity. The darkness hanging over the eastern Slavic tribes was so deep and hopeless that it could not be dispersed by the first Russian Christian princess Olga, who shone on the princely throne like a morning star in the sky. It was necessary for the Red Sun himself to rise, and Olga’s grandson, Grand Duke Vladimir, appeared as such for Rus'. Having received the first beginnings of the Christian faith from his grandmother, but drowning them out with the revelry of passions in his youth, Vladimir, shocked to the depths of his soul by the martyrdom of the Varangian boyars Theodore and John, decides to change his way of life. After carefully examining the issue of faith - Vladimir's life was closely connected with his beliefs - Vladimir makes a choice. Being holistic and straightforward by nature, he does not stop halfway and accepts what was best. He is enlightened by the light of Orthodoxy and, having been baptized, becomes a zealous fulfiller of Christ's commandments. With his example and appeals, he carries his subjects along with him. The change in Vladimir is striking, who has become, from a voluptuous and unrestrained young man in his passions, a holy man. But an equally striking change occurred in baptized Russia. The baptism of Kyiv, and after it the rest of Rus', opens up a new life for the Eastern Slavs and becomes the starting point of their glorious history. The disunited Slavic tribes that made up Vladimir's power, with the adoption of Christianity, felt their unity. The consciousness of unity was especially strengthened by the fact that in church terms all of Rus' for several centuries constituted one metropolitanate, despite the subsequent division of Rus' into fiefs. The Church had the greatest influence on the unification of Rus' into one state. Not only Slavic, but also other tribes living in Eastern Europe, with the spread of Orthodoxy among them, merged into one with the Russian people. Having a pacifying effect during civil strife, the Church at the same time instilled the consciousness that the Russian people are one and therefore must be one whole in everything. Under the shadow of the holy Orthodox Church, Rus' developed, strengthened and grew into a great state, occupying one sixth of the universe. The Russian people, who voluntarily accepted Christianity not under coercion, strove from the very first years after baptism to implement the gospel teachings in their lives. Baptism reborn and internally changed previously rough-hearted people. Having retained their old good qualities, they are freed from the bad properties that came along with them. The struggle between good and evil took place not only in the soul of Vladimir, but in the entire people as a whole, and a turning point in the direction of good occurred. The Russian people after baptism were no longer what they were before baptism. He was truly a new people, “new people.” This does not mean that everyone immediately became perfect, that evil disappeared from everyone’s soul, and it no longer existed in Rus'. No, it was there, it continued to fight against the good in every person. But the driving force of the Russian people was Orthodoxy, which covered all aspects of personal, public and state life. Family and social life was imbued with the spirit of the Gospel; views were formed under the influence of church rules, and state laws were consistent with the canons. The general direction of life of the Russian people was the search for God's truth. The desire to realize the truth of God permeated both legislation and the implementation of justice and government activities. The mental and spiritual life of the Russian people is distinguished by the same desire to serve God. Almost all aspects of its cultural life originate from Church life and develop under the influence of the Church. Russian books and Russian art began in monasteries and were so imbued with the Christian spirit that even those writers of later times who set themselves the task of fighting church teaching could not completely free themselves from its influence. The supreme rulers of Rus' themselves, the Grand Dukes and the All-Russian Tsars, were aware of their responsibility to the Tsar of the Reigns and looked at themselves as servants of God, and they were the same in the eyes of their subjects. Therefore, the Russian tsars were not tsars “by the will of the people,” but tsars “by God’s Grace.” Of course, not everything in Rus' coincided with that general direction. Much evil has happened to it over the past centuries. If “there is no man who lives and does not sin,” then all the more there cannot be sins and evil in the history and life of the people. However, just as to characterize a person it is important which qualities are the brightest in him and overcome the rest, so to characterize a people it is necessary to determine what constitutes the main content of their spiritual life. For Rus' and the Russian people, despite all the former individual deviations and even falls, the main thing was serving the truth and standing in the truth. When we remember ancient Greece, the words of the Apostle Paul about the ancient Greeks come to mind: “The Greeks seek wisdom”; although of course there were many among them who did not seek wisdom. Associated with the idea of ​​Sparta is the idea of ​​physical development. Phenicia associated its name with trade. Rome boasted of civic virtues. The Russian people acquired the name of a God-bearing people and the Russian land - the name of Holy Rus'. Holy Rus' is due to the multitude of saints who have shone in the Russian land. Starting from the sons of St. Vladimir - the faithful princes Boris and Gleb, the first to become famous for miracles in Rus', and from the baptist of Rus', Saint Vladimir with his grandmother Olga, a countless host of saints lived and were glorified by holiness and miracles in the Russian land. Those holy saints were the “red fruit” of Orthodox Rus', flesh of flesh and bone of bone of the Russian people. They were not alien to him in their beliefs and way of life, no, they were the most vivid expression of the aspirations of the entire people. From the baptism of Rus' to the present day, it seems that not one hour passed without a saint living somewhere in the Russian land, who after his death became a heavenly representative for the Russian land. All regions of Russia, from Carpathian Rus' (Reverends Moses Ugrin and Ephraim of Novotorzhsky) to Alaska, which briefly belonged to Russia (Reverend Herman), had their own ascetics. Every country in Russia, almost every significant city had its own shrines. Its spiritual centers were monasteries, which influenced both villages and cities. Every place, every language was sanctified by the service of God. The history of Russia, full of wondrous evidence of God’s providence for it, is the history of God’s construction, a new sacred history. The influence of its holy men on the historical events of Russia is so great that it is impossible to separate the history of the Russian State from the history of the Church. The way of life of the Russian people was affected by the church. Even Russia's foreign policy was in many ways an expression of its spiritual image. It was never like this... But where are you now, Holy Rus'? Or are you no more? The throne of St. Vladimir fell, shrines were desecrated, churches were destroyed. Did the God-bearing people become a beast or did the red dragon devour Holy Rus'? How did the place of spiritual exploits become a place of heinous crimes, and where the saints were saved, now robbers rule? Is it really true that Holy Rus' no longer exists and will never exist, or perhaps it never even existed, and it only wore the cloak of holiness, which has now fallen away forever? No! Not self-deception and a ghost, but true reality is Holy Rus'! In heaven the incense of the prayers of the saints who have shone forth in the Russian land and are now praying for her before the throne of God does not cease to rise. But not only in heaven, but also here, on sinful earth, Holy Rus' continues to exist. The power of the God-fighters only enslaved, but did not destroy it. The council of the wicked, which ruled the Russian people, is alien to them, for it has nothing in common with the essence of Russia. The foreign international power, the “international,” has thrown its yoke upon it, but remains its enemy. Even those among them who previously called themselves Russian, being such by blood, have now lost that name, for they have become alien to Rus' in spirit. “She departed from us, but was not maddened from us” can be said about such people (1 John 2:19). They fell away from the Russian people and became the oppressors of Rus'. Having rejected God, they renounced their likeness to God and surpassed the wild beasts in ferocity and cruelty. But Rus' remains holy. The countenance of the apostles did not diminish when Judas fell away from them, nor did the lordship of the angelic order darken when Satan and the angels who listened to him disappeared from it. Just as the devil was supposed to appear from among the angels, but with the fall of Dennitsa and his followers, the remaining angels were even more inflamed with love for God and shone even brighter in heaven, so atheists also appeared from among the Russian people, but their falling away even more revealed the holiness of Russia and glorified it both in heaven and throughout the heavenly world. Countless hosts of new martyrs testified to their fidelity to Christ. The Russian people as a whole, enduring suffering with unspeakable patience, the likes of which no other people in the world have ever experienced, gave countless new confirmations of steadfastness in the faith. Despite the most severe persecution, the Church remains undefeated. Although many churches have been destroyed, so that in a number of cities that formerly boasted majestic churches, now not a single one of them remains, but believers secretly gather and pray to the Lord God. The times of the catacombs, which she had never known before, have been resurrected for Russia, for she had never before experienced persecution of faith. In the great choir of saints of God glorified in Rus' there were many saints and saints, righteous people and holy fools. But there were only a few martyrs on Russian soil in all previous times. The “blessed martyr’s army,” whose blood was the seed of Christianity throughout the universe, glorified almost daily by the earthly Church, almost did not exist in the heavenly Russian Church. The time has come to fill its ranks. The small number of martyrs and passion-bearers who suffered in past centuries have now been joined by a countless number of new passion-bearers and martyrs. Among them are the crowned Tsar, the descendant and successor of the Baptist of Rus', with his entire family, and the namesake First Hierarch of the Baptist of Rus', and hierarchs, and princes, bolyars, warriors, priests, monastics, scholars and non-learners, townspeople and villagers, nobles and commoners. Every age, every class, every region of Rus' gave new passion-bearers, all of Rus' was drenched in martyrdom’s blood, it was all sanctified by it. O wondrous and glorious army of new sufferers! Who can adequately glorify you! Truly “blessed is the land that has drunk with your blood, and holy is the village that has received your body.” Blessed are you, Russian land, purified by the fire of suffering! You have passed through the water of baptism, now you are passing through the fire of suffering, and you too will enter into peace. Once upon a time, Christians reverently collected sand in the Colosseum, filled with martyr’s blood. The places of suffering and death of martyrs were made sacred and especially revered. And now all of Rus' is a field of passion-bearers. Its earth was sanctified by their blood, and its air by the rise of their souls to heaven. Hey, sacred are you Rus'! The ancient writer was right when he said that you are the Third Rome and there will never be a fourth. You surpassed ancient Rome with many feats of martyrs, you surpassed Rome, which baptized you, with your standing in Orthodoxy, and you will remain unsurpassed until the end of the world. Only the earth, sanctified by the sufferings and earthly life of the God-Man, is holier than you in the eyes of the Orthodox. Shake off the sleep of despondency and laziness, sons of Russia! Behold the glory of her suffering and be cleansed, washed from your sins! Strengthen yourself in the Orthodox faith so that you may be worthy to dwell in the dwelling of the Lord and move into His holy mountain! Arise, arise, arise Rus', you who drank from the hand of the Lord the cup of His wrath! When your suffering is over, your righteousness will come with you and the glory of the Lord will follow you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the radiance rising above you. Then lift up your eyes around and see: behold, your children will come to you from the west and the north and the sea and the east, blessing Christ in you forever. The Day of Remembrance of the Saints who shone forth in the Russian Land points us to the spiritual sky under which the Russian Land was created and lived. Before Saint Prince Vladimir, pagan, scattered tribes lived at Russian soil and were at war with each other. Holy Prince Vladimir brought them a new faith, a new consciousness, the meaning of life, a new inner state of mind, gave them a new, uniting spirit of life, and thus a single people was formed. The very existence of the Russian people is connected with the emergence of spiritual life in them, with the assimilation of the foundations of the Christian worldview: it is pointless to look for the meaning and purpose of life in earthly life, which ends in death. We must strive to assimilate the divine, grace-filled, eternal life, and then this temporary, earthly life will be settled: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Truth, and all this will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Faith, the Orthodox Church, united disparate tribes into one people and the most essential property of the Russian people was faith in the Kingdom of God, the search for it, the search for truth. For the sake of the Kingdom of God, for the sake of participation in it, for the sake of prayer, Russian ascetics left the bustle of the world, into the forests, onto uninhabited islands. They sought only the Kingdom of God, they did not want to create or build anything, they left people, but people followed them, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, which was on those islands and forests around the righteous, and so laurels and monasteries grew. The search for truth is the main thread in the life of the Russian people, and it is no coincidence that the first written set of laws, which was supposed to streamline life, was called “Russian Truth”. But not only those who left the world and people thought about heaven, about the Kingdom of God, all believing Russian people understood the meaning of life. All who truly built Russia as a state, living in the world and fulfilling their duties, also considered the most important thing to be faithful to the Divine Kingdom and Divine Truth. In Russia there were princes, generals, masters, people of all kinds and occupations, but their main understanding and desire and meaning of life was also the acquisition of the Kingdom of God, participation in it. St. Alexander Nevsky spent his whole life in military and state exploits, rode on horseback through all of Siberia to the Tatar Khan to establish peace in Russia, became famous for his military victories, but when he fell ill and death came, he accepted it as liberation from the labors of earthly life and surrendered to what was dearest to his soul and took monastic vows in order to enter the longed-for Kingdom of God no longer as an earthly warrior, but as a warrior of Christ. Prince Theodore of Smolensk also became a monk before his death. Such spiritual leaders of the Russian people, in their striving for the Kingdom of God, are the best exponents of the main feature of the spiritual life of the people, the main force that directed their historical life. The assimilation of the Christian faith also reborn the Russian princes. Power is always an expression of consciousness and will. Power is always guided by one philosophy or another, one or another understanding of the purpose and meaning of life and its activities. Before Vladimir the Saint, Russian princes were leaders of warring tribes and waged wars for the sake of military booty and glory. Having become Christians, they became leaders of individual parts of a single people. With the adoption of Christianity came consciousness and a sense of unity. There was truth in the brotherhood of princes and the internecine war became a lie. St. Prince Vladimir gave the Russian people a new meaning of life and new vitality. Disasters, failures, defeats are powerless before the main force of life, powerless before spiritual life. The Kingdom of God and the spiritual joy of participating in it remain unaffected. A terrible storm passes and man lives again. So the martyrs smiled from the joyful feeling of God’s grace during the most cruel torment. Hence the vitality of Russia. Calamities do not strike her heart. The Tatars burned all of Russia. Kyiv fell and in the same year Novgorod rose and the Great commander and leader of the Russian people, the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, raised the Russian people to fight not against the Tatars, who tortured the body of Russia, but against the Catholic Swedes, who, taking advantage of Russia’s misfortune, wanted to capture the soul of the Russian people and kill the spiritual strength of the Russian people and Russia. For Alexander Nevsky, it was necessary, first of all, to preserve that spiritual strength. The history of the rise of Moscow is a clear confirmation of the same idea. In its inception, Moscow was a small local association. But at its head are the noble princes who have mastered the indicated Orthodox understanding of the truth, and therefore, when the holy hierarch Metropolitan Peter told the prince that Moscow would be exalted and the saint himself would live and be buried there, if the prince built the House of the Most Holy Theotokos in Moscow, then the prince fulfills this covenant. In other words, Saint Peter said that if you are completely faithful to Orthodoxy and first of all you seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all this, everything worldly, everyday, and state will be added to you. This was Moscow’s plan and it was faithful to the covenant of St. Peter and the night military guard roll call on the Kremlin walls was done with the words: “Most Holy Theotokos, save us.” This does not mean that both life and people were holy! Oh no! People are always sinful, but it is important, but salutary, when there is a consciousness of good and evil, when there is a desire for truth, because then there can be an uprising. Sinful Moscow, the capital of sinful Russia, fell to the bottom in its historical life, but rose because the consciousness of truth did not die. In troubled times, Russia fell so much that all her enemies were sure that she was mortally struck. In Russia there was no tsar, power and troops. In Moscow, foreigners had power. People became “exhausted,” weakened, and looked to foreigners for salvation, to whom they fawned. Death was inevitable, and Russia would inevitably have perished if the consciousness of Truth had been completely lost. But Russia, the Russian people, were saved by Saint Hermogenes. The enemies of Russia kept him in a basement, in the Kremlin, mocked him, tortured him, and tried to make him submit to them, betraying the Russian understanding of truth. Saint Hermogenes was tortured to death, but did not give up spiritually and called Russia to its historical path of a Christian state with Christian power, called to remember the truth and be faithful to it. Saint Hermogenes, in faith and confession, spiritually and morally revived the Russian people, and they again took the path of seeking the Kingdom of God and its Truth, the truth of subordinating earthly state life to the spiritual principle, and Russia rebelled. In history it is impossible to find such a depth of the fall of the state and such a quick, miraculous uprising within a year, when people rebelled spiritually and morally. This is the history of Russia, this is its path. After Peter I, public life deviated from the Russian Path. Although she did not deviate completely, she lost the clarity of consciousness of the truth, the clarity of faith in the Gospel Truth “Seek first of all the Kingdom of God and His Truth.” The grave suffering of the Russian people is a consequence of Russia's betrayal of itself, its path, its calling. But those severe sufferings, the melancholy of life under the rule of fierce atheists show that the Russian people have not completely lost the consciousness of the truth, that the untruth of a godless state and godless government is spiritually and morally difficult for them. Russia will rise just as it rebelled before. Will rise when faith flares up. When people rise spiritually, when they again have a clear, firm faith in the truth of the Savior’s words: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Truth, and all these things will be added to you.” Russia will rise when it loves the Faith and confession of Orthodoxy, when it sees and loves the Orthodox righteous and confessors. Today, on the day of all saints who have shone in the Russian land, the Church indicates them, and the Orthodox see with spiritual delight how many there are in the Kingdom of God! And there are countless others who have not yet been glorified. Here, silently and fearlessly, Metropolitan Vladimir of Kyiv goes to his death. The murderers take him out of the gates of the Lavra to kill him outside the city, as they killed the Lord the Savior, and the saint silently, like a lamb of the slaughter, will accept death for Christ, for the Faith, for the Russian Church, for the fact that he sought first of all to acquire the Kingdom of God, eternal life. There are many martyrs and confessors, and again we see God’s blessing over their feat of faith, and again the appearance of incorruptible relics: the bodies of the righteous who already live according to the laws of the future life, where there is no suffering and corruption, and the incorruptibility of the relics testifies to this. Thus, the incorruptible remains of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, resting in the Gethsemane monastery, testify to us her righteousness in the eyes of God. Russia will rise when it lifts its gaze and sees that all the saints who have shone in the Russian land are alive in the Kingdom of God, that they have the spirit of eternal life and that we need to be with them and spiritually touch and partake of their eternal life. This is the salvation of Russia and the whole world. In Russia there is no spirit of life, no joy of life. Everyone is afraid of him, as they are afraid of demons. Russia was also terrible to other powers, but because it attracted peoples to itself. Loyalty to the commandment “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Truth” created Russian humility, humbled the authorities, and in the days of greatest earthly glory, the Russian authorities, through the mouth of Emperor Alexander I, confessed themselves as Christian authorities and wrote on the monument to their glory: “Not to us, not to us, but to Your Name.” The Russian sky, the Russian saints call us to be with them, as they are with us. They are calling to join the spirit of eternal life, and the whole world thirsts for that spirit. A restored Russia is needed by the whole world, from which the spirit of life has departed and it is all shaking in fear, as if before an earthquake. Russia is waiting for a Christ-loving army, Christ-loving Kings and leaders who will lead the Russian people not for earthly glory, but for the sake of loyalty to the Russian Path of Truth. “Not to us..., not to us, but to Your Name” (Ps. 113:9). In repentance, in faith, in purification, may the Russian land be renewed and may holy Rus' arise. 1240th year... The capital city, the mother of Russian cities - Kyiv, was destroyed. Countless hordes of Tatars flood the Russian land, destroying its cities and burning villages. The armies of individual Russian principalities that dared to fight them are dying one after another. But here comes a new misfortune - and enemies moved from the west to Orthodox Rus'. The Swedes send an army against it, and behind them the Teutonic and Livonian knights sharpen their swords. They have a common goal - to take possession of not only the land, but also the soul of the Russian people, to enslave the body of a Russian person to foreign power, and the soul to the Roman throne. The decisive hour is approaching. Swedish troops are already landing within the Novgorod borders. What to do? - submit to them or engage in battle, risking the destruction of the entire small Novgorod army? Novgorod was then ruled by the pious prince Alexander Yaroslavovich. He understands that by submission he will save the lives of the Novgorodians and their property, but not only state, but also spiritual freedom will be lost, that - where by violence, and where by cunning, the aliens will catch the Russian soul in the Roman net and that Rus' will lose the Orthodox Faith! Prince Alexander knows that Orthodoxy is the truth and is a priceless pearl for which one must sacrifice everything. He believes that God will not abandon those who strive for truth and righteousness and decide to enter into battle. On July 15, 1240, the day of the death of the baptizer of Rus', Grand Duke Vladimir, he attacked the newly landed Swedish army and, with the help of God, completely defeated it. The remnants of the foreign troops hastily abandoned the Russian land, and Prince Alexander soon repelled other enemies from the west. Meanwhile, new Tatar hordes are moving towards Rus' from the east. But Alexander is not afraid of them: the Tatars, while imposing tribute on the Russian population, do not interfere in the internal way of their life. Prince Alexander sees that it is now impossible to fight them by force, but he knows that if the Orthodox soul of the Russian man is preserved, the time will come when he will throw off the Tatar yoke. He sees in the Tatars the scourge of God, sent down to Rus' for her sins, and he decides to humbly endure God’s test. He obediently goes to the Horde, fulfills all the orders of the khan, persuades the Russian people not to resist the Tatar power, but to accumulate spiritual strength within themselves and place their trust in God. It was not easy for the glorious Nevsky conqueror to humiliate himself before the khan, and it was not easy to convince the Russian people to follow his example. But the exploits of the holy Grand Duke Alexander, his courageous stand for the Orthodox Faith and humility under God's test bore fruit, although not soon. The Russian people, who preserved Orthodoxy, grew stronger while under Tatar rule, which gradually weakened. The day has come - Orthodox Rus' has straightened up and thrown off the Tatar yoke. And, carrying the light of Orthodoxy, the Russian people themselves moved to places inhabited by Tatars. So the strongest stronghold of the former Tatar kingdom, Kazan, fell on the day of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos. Immediately after the annexation of Kazan to Russia, Orthodox preachers arrived there and many Tatars received holy baptism. Almost 27 years passed after the conquest of Kazan, and the pious girl Matrona once saw in a dream the Most Pure Mother of God, who commanded her to inform the church and civil authorities to dig up Her icon in the place indicated by Her. The phenomenon was repeated three times, and the girl carried out Her orders. When, on July 8, 1579, they began to dig in the place indicated by the Mother of God, they found an icon buried there. Priest of the Church of St. Nicholas, named Ermolai, took the icon out of the ground and transferred it to his church. Soon that icon became famous for many miracles and became known throughout Rus' as the miraculous Kazan icon. Priest Ermolai, having become a widower, soon became a monk with the name Hermogenes, later became Metropolitan of Kazan, and in the Time of Troubles became the Patriarch of All Russia and the pillar of the Russian Land. After the death of St. Hermogenes, tormented by hunger by the enemies of Russia for his steadfastness, his letters, sent throughout Rus' along with letters from the Archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, St. Dionysius, did their job. They stirred up Rus', and an army moved from Nizhny Novgorod to liberate Rus' from the Poles who had captured it. With her she carried an icon of the Mother of God brought from Kazan, once found by Saint Hermogenes. With her, she liberated Moscow and in a solemn religious procession the Russian army entered Moscow, carrying ahead the miraculous Kazan icon in 1612 on October 22, which day has been celebrated since then and is now celebrated throughout Russia. In memory of him, a church was built in Moscow, in which an exact copy of the icon was placed. And when Tsar Peter returned to Russia the banks of the Neva, which she had lost during the hard times, and built a new capital there, a monastery named after St. Alexander Nevsky. There, on the shores glorified by the courage of the holy Prince Alexander, his holy relics were transferred from Vladimir, and in the built majestic cathedral in the name of the Kazan Mother of God, Her miraculous icon was placed, found in the former capital of the Tatar kingdom, before which the Grand Duke Alexander once humbled himself, having prepared with his humility the victory over him, the unification and greatness of the Russian Land. What is the moral strength of St. Grand Duke Vladimir? “Whoever does and teaches, he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19) Why is Grand Duke Vladimir holy and equal to the apostles? He turned from pagan darkness to the light of Christ, was baptized himself, baptized the people of Kiev and sent them to other cities and regions of his principality to baptize. He was the first of the all-Russian rulers to become a Christian and laid the foundation for the Christian structure of the Russian state. With him, the Russian State begins to be Orthodox, and Christianity penetrates into all areas of national and state life. Did he act only as a ruler, were his actions aimed at this only acts of state? No, he showed himself to be a true Christian and preached Christ not so much by word as by his personal example. Brought up in paganism, Prince Vladimir, although he heard about Christ from his grandmother, Blessed Princess Olga, in his earliest childhood, was at first a zealous pagan. He diligently performed pagan rituals, tried to please the pagan gods, and brought them thanks for his successes, because he was convinced that he was serving the truth. When did the murder of St. by a crowd of Kievites take place? Varangian Theodore and his son John, on whom the lot fell to be sacrificed to Perun in gratitude for the victory, Vladimir realized that he was mistaken. He felt the discord between the moral law and the demands of paganism and with a sensitive soul felt its wrongness. The search for truth and righteousness led him to Orthodoxy, and overcoming all the internal and external obstacles that stood in the way of him, he accepted holy baptism. Now, having become a Christian, he began to serve Christ even more zealously than he had previously served the pagan gods. Now, with his whole being, he sacrificed himself and everything he possessed as a sacrifice to the Truth, for Christian teaching reveals divine truths and expresses the highest moral internal law. Vladimir became different after baptism. He retained all the best qualities that he had before, rejecting all his vicious inclinations and habits. From a cruel person who did not even spare his own brother, who was killed during an internecine war with him, he became so soft-hearted that he did not want to execute criminals either, doing this in exceptional cases in order to stop atrocities. From dissolute he became chaste, left his numerous former wives and lived in an honest marriage with his Christian marriage partner, Princess Anna. From a predatory conqueror he becomes a peace-loving ruler. From a selfish collector of tribute, he became indifferent to earthly treasures, being always ready to sacrifice them to acquire immaterial values. For the squad, he was now not so much a formidable leader, punishing the slightest disobedience, but a wise boss, understanding the soul of his subordinates and appreciating his associates. For all the people under his control, he became a loving father, caring for all his many children, which his subjects were now for him, taking care of the satisfaction of all their needs and requirements. His special attention was now attracted to those who were helpless - orphans, widows, cripples. Prince Vladimir especially remembered them during the festivities and sent them carts with food and other necessary things. The festivities themselves were now not revelry, but mutual joyful fraternal communication. In all areas of life, Grand Duke Vladimir the Red Sun showed himself to be a Christian - both in his personal life, and in his family life, and in public life, and in state life. Having learned the truth, he served it with all his heart, spreading light wherever he could. He himself embodied the teachings of Christ and was an example to follow in everything. That is why Orthodoxy penetrated so quickly and deeply into all aspects of Russian life. The prince captivated everyone with his personal feat. He was a conqueror of himself, through which he ruled over others, preaching Christ with his deeds, no matter what area they belonged to. He served the True God as an individual, as the head of a family, as a leader, as a judge, as a ruler, as a Sovereign. He was always the same servant of Truth and Righteousness, striving for them to reign everywhere. He deeply realized that only what is true, what is honest, what is righteous, what is most pure, what is most loving, what is praiseworthy, whatever virtue and whatever praise” should be the basis of the life of both an individual and an entire nation. Therefore, he did not separate one from the other, and what he showed in his personal life, he carried out in state affairs. That new spirit of integrity, unity in all areas of life and the implementation of truth in everything was shown in himself and passed on to the Russian people by Saint Vladimir. He is its Enlightener and Baptist, Sovereign and Apostle, commander and teacher, unifier and guardian. He was followed by his best successors, and it is no coincidence that it was on the day of his memory that the Neva victory was won by the blessed Grand Duke Alexander, in whom the spiritual image of his Equal-to-the-Apostles ancestor was clearly imprinted. Service to God, begun by St. Vladimir on earth, continues now at the Throne of the Most High, before Whom he prays for the Russian land, enlightened and sanctified by him, and shines from the heights with heavenly light, illuminating the path to Truth, Truth for the Russian people. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Church tomorrow glorifies St. Andrew, Bishop of Crete, creator of the Great Penitential Canon, and we have gathered to pray for the repose of the soul of the Tsar-Martyr and those like him who were killed. In Russia, Russian people also annually gathered in churches on St. Andrew of Crete, but not the one who is glorified tomorrow, but the venerable martyr Andrew, martyred for confessing Christ and the truth of Christ. On this day of St. Andrew in Russia, people with a joyful feeling gathered to thank the Lord for the miraculous salvation of Emperor Alexander III in Borki on October 17, 1888. During his journey, a terrible train crash occurred; all the carriages were destroyed except one, in which the Tsar and his Family were located. So on the day of St. Andrew of Crete, who was martyred by the enemies of Christ and His Church, the Heir, and subsequently the Sovereign Nikolai Alexandrovich, was saved, and also on the day of St. Andrew of Crete, but who peacefully ended his days on earth, the Sovereign was killed by atheists and traitors. On the day of St. Andrew the Martyr, Russia glorified the prophet Hosea, celebrated on the same day, who predicted the resurrection; Churches were built in their honor, where the Russian people thanked God for the salvation of the Tsar. And 30 years later, on St. Andrew, who taught about repentance, the Emperor was killed in front of the entire people, who did not even make an attempt to save him. This is all the more scary and incomprehensible because Sovereign Nikolai Alexandrovich embodied the best features of the tsars whom the Russian people knew, loved and revered. The Tsar-Martyr most of all resembled Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the “Quiet One,” but surpassed him in his unshakable meekness. Russia knew Alexander II, the "Liberator", but Tsar Nicholas II liberated even more people from the brotherly Slavic tribe. Russia knew Alexander III, the “Peacemaker,” and Tsar Nicholas II did not limit himself only to caring for peace in his days, but took a major step towards ensuring that all the peoples of Europe and the whole world lived peacefully and resolved their misunderstandings peacefully. For this purpose, on his selfless and noble personal initiative, the Hague Conference was convened. Russia admired Alexander I and called him blessed for freeing Europe from the alien power of one man. Emperor Nicholas II, in conditions many times more difficult, rebelled against the same attempt by another person to extend his power to the Slavic people, alien to him by blood and faith, and in defending them showed steadfastness that knew no compromise. Russia knew the great reformer Peter I, but if we recall all the transformations of Nicholas II, then we do not know who to give preference to, and the latter transformations were carried out more carefully, thoughtfully and without harshness. Russia knew John III, John Kalita as the collectors of Russia, but Sovereign Nicholas II completed their work when in 1915 he returned to Russia, albeit for a short time, all her sons. All-Russian Tsar - he was the first and only All-Russian Tsar. His inner, spiritual moral character was so beautiful that even the Bolsheviks, wanting to discredit him, could only reproach him for one thing - piety. It is known for certain that he always began and ended his day with prayer. He always took part in great church celebrations, and mingled with the people who were approaching the Great Sacrament, as was the case at the opening of the relics of St. Seraphim. He was a model of chastity and the head of an exemplary Orthodox family, raised his children in readiness to serve the Russian people and strictly prepared them for the upcoming work and feat. He was deeply attentive to the needs of his subjects and wanted to clearly and intimately imagine their work and service. Everyone knows the case when he walked several miles in full soldier's equipment in order to better understand the conditions of soldier's service. He walked then completely alone, and this clearly refutes the slanderers who say that he was afraid for his life. If Peter I said, “But know about Peter that life is not dear to him, if only Russia would live,” then Sovereign Nikolai Alexandrovich truly, one might say, fulfilled this. They say he was gullible. But the great Father of the Church, St. Gregory the Great said that the purer the heart, the more trusting it is. What did Russia give to her pure-hearted Sovereign, who loves her more than his life? She repaid him with slander. He was of high morality - they began to talk about his depravity. He loved Russia - they began to talk about treason. Even people close to the Emperor repeated this slander, recounting rumors and conversations to each other. Under the influence of the evil intent of some and the licentiousness of others, rumors spread and love for the Tsar began to cool. Then they began to talk about the danger for Russia and discuss ways to free themselves from this non-existent danger, and in the name of supposedly saving Russia, they began to say that the Sovereign must be removed. Calculated anger did its job: it separated Russia from its Tsar, and at a terrible moment in Pskov he was left alone. No relatives. There were devotees, but they were not allowed in either. The Tsar’s terrible abandonment... But he doesn’t leave Russia, Russia leaves him, who loves Russia more than his life. Seeing this, and in the hope that his self-depreciation will calm and pacify the raging passions of the people, the Tsar abdicates the Throne. But sometimes passion does not calm down, having achieved what it wants - it flares up even more. There was rejoicing among those who wanted the overthrow of the Emperor. The others were silent. The arrest of the Emperor followed and further events were inevitable. If you leave a person in a cage with animals, sooner or later they will tear him to pieces. The Tsar was killed, and Russia remained silent. There was no indignation or protest when this terrible atrocity was committed, and this silence is the great sin of the Russian people, committed on the day of St. Andrew of Crete, the creator of the Great Penitential Canon, read during Great Lent... Under the arch of the Yekaterinburg basement, the Lord of Rus' was killed, deprived of the royal crown by human cunning, but not deprived of sacred anointing by God’s truth. All regicides in the history of Russia were carried out by a handful of people, but not by the people. When Paul I was killed, the people did not know about it, but when they found out, they brought sympathy and prayers to his tomb for many years. The murder of Alexander II caused a storm of indignation in Russia, which improved the moral state of the people, and this affected the reign of Alexander III. The people remained clean from the blood of the Tsar Liberator. Here the people, “the whole people,” are guilty of shedding the blood of their King. Some killed, others approved of the murder and thus committed no less a sin, others did not interfere. All are guilty and truly we must say: “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matthew 27:25). Treason, betrayal, violation of the oath of allegiance to Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich and his heirs without indicating their names, passivity and petrification, insensibility - this is what the Russian people wove out of the wreath with which they crowned their Tsar. Today is a day of mourning and repentance. Why, we ask, did the Lord, having saved the same Tsar on the day of Andrew the Martyr, not save him on the day of another Andrew - the teacher of repentance? With deep sadness we answer: yes, the Lord could have miraculously saved him on that day, but the Russian people were not worthy of this. The Emperor has now accepted the crown of martyrdom, but this is not an excuse for us, not a reduction in our guilt, just as Judas, Pilate and Caiaphas and those who demanded that Pilate kill Christ were not justified, but even more strongly accused by the Resurrection of Christ. It is a great sin to raise your hand against God’s Anointed One. When King David was brought the news of the murder of Saul, he ordered the messenger to be executed, although he did not take part in the murder, but only hastened to bring this news and attributed to himself the murder of the King. Even the slightest involvement in such a sin does not remain unavenged. In sorrow we say “his blood be on us and on our children.” But let us remember that this atrocity of the entire people was committed on St. Andrew of Kritsky, calling us to deep repentance. Let us remember that there is no limit to God’s mercy and there is no sin that cannot be washed away by repentance. But our repentance must be complete, without any self-justification, without reservations, with condemnation of ourselves and the entire evil deed from its very beginning. After the salvation of the Royal Family, an icon was drawn in Borki depicting saints whose names were borne by Members of the Royal Family. Perhaps the time will come when not their heavenly patrons, but the Royal Martyrs themselves will be depicted on icons, in memory of the remembered event. – But now we will pray for the repose of their souls and we will ask the Lord for deep tearful repentance and forgiveness for ourselves and for the entire Russian people. Amen. After the death of Saul, who fell on his sword during the battle with the Philistines, one Amalekite ran to inform David, who was being persecuted by Saul at that time. Assuming that David would be very pleased with the news brought, he decided to impersonate Saul’s murderer in order to further increase the expected reward. However, after listening to the story invented by Amalek about how he, at the request of the wounded Saul, killed him, David grabbed his clothes and tore them, and all the people who were with him did the same. They wept and wept and fasted until evening. “And David said to the young man who told him: Where are you from? And he answered: I am the son of a stranger from Amalek.” Then David said to him, “How were you not afraid to raise your hand to kill the Lord’s anointed?” and ordered one of the servants to kill him. Then David said: “Your blood is on your head; for your mouth bore witness against you when you said, “I have killed the Lord’s anointed.” (2 Kings 1:13–16). This is how a foreigner was executed, posing as the murderer of Saul. He was cruelly executed, although Saul did a lot of evil, for which the Lord abandoned him, and he was the persecutor of the innocent David. From David’s words it is clear that he doubted the veracity of the Amalekite’s story and was not sure that he was the murderer of Saul, however, he put him to death, considering even calling himself a regicide and boasting about this act worthy of death. How much more serious and sinful is the murder of the Orthodox Anointed of God, how much greater the punishment should fall on the murderers of Tsar Nicholas II and his family?! In contrast to Saul, who retreated from God and was therefore abandoned by Him, Tsar Nicholas II is a model of piety and complete devotion to the will of God. Having received not the Old Testament libation of oil on the head, but the gracious “Seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit” in the Sacrament of Confirmation, Emperor Nicholas II was faithful to his high rank until the end of his life and was aware of his responsibility before God. Emperor Nicholas II gave an account to his conscience in every action, and eternally “walked before the Lord God.” “The most pious” during the days of his earthly prosperity, not only in name, but also in deed itself, during the days of his trials He showed patience similar to the patience of the righteous Job. The hands of criminals rose against such and such a Tsar, and, moreover, even when he was purified from the trials he endured, like gold in a furnace, and was an innocent sufferer in the full sense of the word. The crime against Tsar Nicholas II is even more terrible and sinful because his entire family and innocent children were killed along with him! Such crimes do not go unpunished. They cry out to Heaven and bring down God's wrath on earth. If a foreigner - the imaginary murderer of Saul - was subjected to death, the entire Russian people are now suffering for the murder of the defenseless Tsar-Sufferer and his family, who committed a terrible crime and remained silent when the Tsar was subjected to humiliation and imprisonment. A deep awareness of the sinfulness of what we have done and repentance before the memory of the Tsar-Martyr is required of us by God’s truth. Memory of the innocent princes of St. Boris and Gleb awakened the conscience of the Russian people during the appanage unrest and shamed the princes who started discord. Blood of St. Grand Duke Igor produced a spiritual revolution in the souls of the people of Kiev and united Kiev and Chernigov by the veneration of the murdered holy prince. St. Andrew Bogolyubsky with his blood sanctified the autocracy of Russia, which was established much later than his martyrdom. All-Russian veneration of St. Mikhail Tverskoy healed the wounds on the body of Russia caused by the struggle between Moscow and Tver. Glorification of St. Tsarevich Dimitri clarified the consciousness of the Russian people, breathed moral strength into them and, after severe upheavals, led to the revival of Russia. Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II with his long-suffering family is now included in the ranks of those passion-bearers. The greatest crime committed against him must be atoned for by ardent veneration of him and glorification of his feat. Russia must bow before the humiliated, slandered and tortured, as the people of Kiev once bowed before the Reverend Prince Igor, who was tortured by them, as the people of Vladimir and Suzdal did before the murdered Grand Duke Andrei Bogolyubsky! Then the Passion-Bearer Tsar will have boldness towards God, and his prayer will save the Russian land from the disasters it endures. Then the Tsar-Martyr and his fellow sufferers will become the new heavenly defenders of Holy Russia. Innocently shed blood will revive Russia and overshadow it with new glory! Word before the memorial service for the Tsar-Martyr Forty years ago, in one day, the greatness and glory of the Russian Power, the stronghold of peace throughout the world, collapsed. The signature of the Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich on the act of abdication of the Throne is the historical boundary separating the great and glorious past of Russia from its dark and painful situation now. The whole weight of the evil of the current government and the way of life is directed at honest, well-intentioned and pious people, and the entire people are in oppression and constant fear. People are afraid even of their own and unspoken thoughts, afraid that it will be reflected in their facial expression. What happened on that day 40 years ago? The people’s retreat from the Anointed One of God, the retreat from the power submissive to God, the deviation from the oath of allegiance given before God to the Sovereign, the Anointed One of God, and his delivery to death. Deprived of power, and then of freedom, is the one who gave all his strength in the name of God to serve Russia. For decades, the dark forces of evil waged a struggle against the Anointed One of God, against the state power faithful to God. The same forces killed the Sovereign Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich, the Tsar-Liberator. That crime sobered up the people, shook up the whole country, and that moral upsurge gave the opportunity to Sovereign Emperor Alexander III the Peacemaker to rule Russia with a strong hand. Two decades of peaceful life and development in Russia have passed, and a new conspiracy to overthrow the Royal Throne has emerged. It was a conspiracy by the enemies of Russia. In Russia itself there was a struggle against its very essence and, having destroyed the Throne, the enemies of Russia destroyed even its name. Now the whole world can see how the Tsar’s power, faithful to God, and Russia are connected. There was no Tsar - there was no Russia. The struggle against the Tsar and Russia was waged by hidden atheism, which later made its way openly. This is the essence of the struggle against the Tsar and Russia, against the basis of its life and historical development. This is the meaning and purpose of that struggle, which perhaps not everyone was aware of - those who were its accomplices. Everything dirty, insignificant and sinful that could be in a person’s soul was called against the Tsar and Russia. All this, with all its might, rose up to fight against the Royal Crown, crowned with a cross, for Royal service is bearing the cross. People are always raised against the cross with slander and lies, doing the devil’s work, for, according to the word of the Lord Jesus Christ: “he is a lie and the father of lies, and when he speaks a lie, he speaks his own” (John 8:44). Everything was raised against the most meek, pure and loving Tsar, so that in the terrible hour of the struggle against him, he would be left alone. Dirty slander was first spread against the Tsar and his family so that the people would lose interest in him. Infidel allies took part in the conspiracy. The closest employees, when the Tsar needed moral support, did not give it and violated the oath. Some - by taking part in the conspiracy, others - out of weakness, advising renunciation. The Emperor was left completely alone, with “treason, meanness and cowardice” all around. From the day of the renunciation, everything began to collapse consistently. It couldn't have been any other way. The one who united everything, standing guard over the Truth, was overthrown. A sin was committed and a free path was opened for sin. It is in vain that they want to separate February from October: one was a direct consequence of the other. In these days of March, Pskov was Gethsemane for the Emperor, Yekaterinburg became Golgotha ​​for him. Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich died as a martyr, with unshakable faith and patience, having drunk the cup of suffering to the dregs. A sin against him and Russia was committed by everyone who in one way or another acted against him, did not oppose him, or even took part in the event that took place 40 years ago with sympathy. That sin lies on everyone until it is washed away by sincere repentance. As we offer prayers for the repose of his soul, we also pray for Tsars Pavel Petrovich and Alexander Nikolaevich, who were also killed in the March days. And we pray for forgiveness of the Russian people for the grave sin of treason and regicide. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. Before us, before the Russian people, the path of rebellion is the path of consciousness of sin and repentance. For the revival of Russia, all political and programmatic associations are in vain: Russia needs a moral renewal of the Russian people. We must pray for forgiveness of our sins and for mercy for our Fatherland, just as the Lord God freed Israel from Babylonian captivity and restored the destroyed city of Jerusalem. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries to Me from the earth; and now you are cursed from the earth, which opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother at your hand” (Gen. 4:10–11). This is what God said to Cain after he killed Abel. Gentle, meek Abel lay lifeless and speechless on the ground. But his blood cried out to heaven. What was she crying about? The earth screamed, nature screamed, crying out to God for justice. She screamed because she could not remain silent, shocked by the crime that had been committed. There are events that shock even the soulless elements. The Lord Himself then executes judgment on them. This was the first murder, the murder of Cainovo. These are many other heinous crimes. These include the terrible regicide in Yekaterinburg. Why was Tsar Nicholas II persecuted, slandered and killed? Because He was the King, the King by the Grace of God. He was the bearer and embodiment of the Orthodox worldview that the Tsar is a servant of God, the Anointed of God, who must give an account to Him for the fate of the people entrusted to him, for all his deeds and actions, not only personal, but also as a Ruler. This is how the Orthodox Russian people believed, this is how the Orthodox Church taught, this is how Tsar Nicholas realized and felt. He was completely imbued with this consciousness. He looked at his bearing of the Royal Crown as serving God. He remembered this for all his important decisions, for all important issues that arose. That is why he was so firm and unshakable in those matters in which he was convinced that such was the will of God, he stood firmly for what seemed necessary to him for the good of the Kingdom he headed. And when he saw that he was rendered unable to perform his royal service according to his conscience, he laid aside the royal crown, like St. Prince Boris, not wanting to become the cause of strife and bloodshed in Rus'. The Tsar’s self-sacrifice, which did not bring any benefit to Russia, but on the contrary, gave an even greater opportunity to commit a crime with impunity, brought unimaginable sorrow and suffering. But in them he showed greatness of spirit, which likened him to the righteous Job. The anger of the enemies did not subside. He was dangerous for them even then, for he was the bearer of the consciousness that the Supreme Power must be submissive to God, receive sanctification and strengthening from Him, follow God’s commandments, He was the living embodiment of faith in God’s Providence, acting in the destinies of kingdoms and peoples and directing rulers faithful to God to good and useful deeds. Therefore, he was intolerant of the enemies of faith and of those who strive to place human reason and human strength above all... Tsar Nicholas II was a servant of God in his inner worldview, in his convictions, in his actions, and such he was in the eyes of the entire Orthodox Russian people. The fight against him was closely connected with the fight against God and faith. In essence, he became a martyr, remaining faithful to the King of kings, and accepting death as the martyrs accepted it. Tsar Nicholas the Long-Suffering The prototype of the suffering and risen Christ was the righteous Job the Long-Suffering, whose memory is celebrated today and the book about whom is read during Holy Week, because the righteous Job was the first prototype of the great sufferer for our sins, the Savior of the world. Like Job, from possessing great wealth he became a beggar, the Son of God, leaving His heavenly Throne, “became poor,” becoming a Man like us, enduring all human needs and not having anywhere to lay his head. Just as righteous Job suffered reproaches from his closest friends, so Christ endured reproach and slander from His fellow tribesmen and the betrayal of Judas. But as after the suffering of St. Job was again crowned with glory and wealth, and so the Son of God rose from the dead, ascended to His heavenly Throne, sung by the angels and receiving worship from the whole world. Just as there were prototypes of Christ before His coming to earth, so after His coming, those who believe in Him should be His images. Christ Himself said at the Last Supper “he gave you an image (example), just as I created... and you will create” (John 13:15). And the holy Apostle Paul says: “Be like me, even as I am Christ” (1 Cor. 4:16). Man is created in the image and likeness of God, and every person must demonstrate that likeness in himself with his good qualities, reflecting the likeness of God in us. Sin desecrated nature and man became incapable of true good, having lost living communication with God. Christ the Son of God, having become incarnate, again showed us the Prototype to which we must become like. “You must have the same feelings as in Christ,” writes St. Apostle Paul to believers (Phil. 2:5). Tsar Nicholas II appeared as such a living reminder of the suffering of Christ in the days of his trials. He was betrayed by those he trusted. He was abandoned by almost all his associates; only a few went with him to his Golgotha. The crowds, who had recently met and greeted him with delight, now reviled him, cheering those who wanted his execution. How Job's friends, who had recently seemed devoted to him, accused him of crimes he had not committed. “Crucify, crucify him” was heard everywhere and those who remained faithful to him did not dare to raise their voices, hiding “for the sake of the Jews.” The Tsar-Martyr endured this with kindness and forgiveness. “I was born on the day of Job the Long-Suffering and I am destined to suffer,” he said long before the sorrowful days. With patience and meekness he endured everything that befell him and drank the cup of his suffering to the dregs. Just as Job, who did a lot of good before, became famous for his suffering even more than for his good deeds, so Tsar Nicholas II became famous throughout the world for his suffering and his generous enduring even more than for the many glorious deeds of his reign. After many thousands of years, he revealed in himself the ancient prototype of Christ Job, having become like him, and with Paul he can say: “I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus on my body” (Gal. 6:17). He showed everyone an example of fulfilling the commandments of Christ and will receive from Him, instead of the Royal crown, the crown of righteousness. The innocent sufferer Christ was sinless, but neither righteous Job nor the Martyr King were sinless. But whoever suffers with Christ will be glorified with him. Only the righteous Job himself could plead with God for Job’s sinful friends, and for the now suffering Russia that has sinned, the prayer of the Tsar-Martyr is now necessary and powerful. 95th anniversary of the birth of the Tsar-Martyr On May 6, the Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of St. righteous Job the Long-Suffering. Righteous Job was “blameless, just and God-fearing and shunned evil” (Job 1:1) in the days of his prosperity. He was “an eye to the blind, feet to the lame, a father to the poor” (Job 29:15–16), trying to help everyone in need and trouble. But no matter how great his virtues were, it was not so much through them as through his sufferings and his resigned enduring of them that he became glorified before the whole world and earned praise and eternal glory from God. He became an example for the entire human race of how to endure suffering and submit to God’s Providence. He was the prototype of the Great Innocent Sufferer who suffered for the whole world. On his memory day 95 years ago, Tsar Nicholas II was born. Distinguished by his piety from childhood, he tried to imitate in virtue the saints on whose day he was born and the one whose name he bore. His government activities were aimed at raising the people's well-being, and he personally did not miss an opportunity to provide assistance to those in need. Deep faith in God's Providence strengthened him. It especially manifested itself in the mournful days that followed the renunciation. He endured bullying, insults, imprisonment and other misfortunes with such patience that he appeared as the new Job of our days. Having suffered all sorts of bullying, he retained fortitude and complete kindness with forgiveness towards his enemies. He became more spiritually elevated by his sufferings than by the glorious events of his reign. He did not see here, in earthly life, after suffering, prosperity again, like the righteous Job, but even more so his reward in heaven, where instead of the Royal crown, the crown of the Passion-Bearer, who followed the Son of God with his cross, shines on him. May he now rejoice with the saints in the Kingdom of Christ and may his memory shine on earth! The first saints glorified in Rus' were the holy passion-bearers Boris and Gleb. Devotion to the will of God, kindness towards their murderers, as well as their previous life, attracted the hearts of everyone to them, and the signs and wonders with which God glorified them revealed their power and heavenly glory. People resorted to them in times of need, they were glorified, commemorating them several times a year throughout Rus'. Their appearance on the Neva at night on the eve of the repose of their father, Grand Duke Vladimir, inspired the Blessed Prince Alexander to win the famous victory over the Swedes that day and served as the beginning of the glorification of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir himself. Those two first passion-bearers were joined a century and a half later by Grand Duke Igor, who became a monk with the name Gabriel and was killed by the people of Kiev, who wanted another prince. All Russia deeply reveres the blessed Grand Duke Mikhail of Tverskoy, who after many torments was killed in the Horde through the machinations of Prince Yuri of Moscow; from that time to the present day, both Tver and Moscow bowed low at the relics of the saint, the inhabitants of the surrounding regions resorted to him in sorrows and needs, and the Russian Sovereigns drew strength for the construction of the Kingdom of Russia. The source of not only healings from bodily illnesses, but also spiritual strength was the Blessed Prince Dimitri, who was killed in Uglich during the Time of Troubles. Those names shine brightly from the depths of centuries, and gracious help pours out to all who call on them. They and other passion-bearers of the Russian Land stand before God for it. Now the Tsar-Martyr and his Family have joined their host. There are still no obvious signs testifying to their holiness, but the qualities they showed in the days of testing closely united them with the famous passion-bearers. Undoubtedly, having forgiven them their voluntary and involuntary sins, the Lord installed them in His Abodes. But He gives power to the prayers of His saints and glorifies them on earth, when it becomes necessary and useful for the earthly Church. The stronger our prayers for the Royal Martyrs are, the more we honor them, the sooner the Lord will make intercessors for the Russian Land those whom He has already honored with Heavenly Glory. News is already coming from Gethsemane about healings taking place at the tomb of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. And if our faith and prayer are strong, perhaps the Lord will give strength to the prayer of the Tsar-Martyr, Tsarevich Alexy and the Royal Martyrs, and they will shine with a bright dawn over the Fatherland, washed with tears of repentance and martyr’s blood. Word from Bishop John on the day of his Angel after the liturgy and offering congratulations before the start of the meal I offer my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has gathered this day to celebrate the day of my Heavenly patron, St. John of Tobolsk. First of all, I am deeply grateful to our Eminence Head of the Mission, Archbishop Victor, for joint prayers and services, as well as warm words of attention and support. I thank the clergy who participated with me in the offering of the Bloodless Sacrifice, as well as those who came to the prayer service, the church choir, the altar servers who took part in the service, and all those who offered prayers with us. So I especially thank you for your prayers because prayer is of great importance to us. She brings down the grace of God upon us, and not only the flock needs the prayer of their shepherds, but shepherds, especially archpastors, need the prayers of their flock for them, in order to have the right to rule the word of truth. I also thank everyone who, being busy, still took time from their work or rest to come and congratulate me. I express my heartfelt gratitude to those who took care of the current celebration and the reception of visitors and to all those who expressed their attention to me in various ways. I take this opportunity to thank church and charitable organizations for their diligent and useful activities, which are now taking place in very difficult conditions, which, however, did not affect the success of their activities, which for the most part is very high. May the Lord reward their doers and workers, and may their zeal under temptation not weaken: not a single good deed is done without temptations and troubles. And it would be surprising if they weren’t! Can we really expect the primordial enemy of God and humanity to easily allow himself to be defeated? If people in a fight try in every possible way to be winners and usually do not easily yield to their opponents, how much more does the leader of all evil and the hater of good strive for victory? Just as warring states try to upset the ranks of their opponents, causing internal unrest in them, the primordial murderer tries in every possible way to cause misunderstandings and mutual displeasure between those doing a good deed in order to upset him. But knowing where those disorders come from, let us not succumb to the temptations of the sower of enmity and malice, but let us in every possible way avoid division and maintain peace, lovingly forgiving of the weaknesses of our neighbors. It is impossible for us to do this only on our own, so we must diligently seek help from Above. Our representatives will be the holy saints of God, who have passed through a sea of ​​temptations and are now standing before the Throne of God. Today marks 25 years since the Church openly glorifies and calls upon, as an illustrious saint of God, St. John of Tobolsk, who, as a great righteous man and wonderworker, has long been revered by Siberia and Chernigov. He lived in an exceptional time for Russia, during the reign of Peter I, when Russia was at a turning point, and during the days of the Great Northern War the question of its future existence was being decided. Tsar Peter spent the eve of the Battle of Poltava in conversation with St. John, who was then the Archbishop of Chernigov. Encouraging the Tsar, Saint John prophesied the words of the Holy Scripture to the Tsar: “May the Lord God give you your enemies who resist you and be crushed before you: they will come against you one way, and they will flee from before you seven ways” (Deut. 28:7). Indeed, the Battle of Poltava ended in the complete defeat of the enemy, who was forced to flee Russia in different ways, and the days of rise and glory came for Russia. The glorification of Saint John also took place during the difficult days of the Great War for Russia, and Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II, recalling the spiritual support provided by Saint John to his ancestor, wrote on the Synod’s resolution on the glorification of the saint: “I believe in the intercession of Saint John Maximovich in this time of trial for Orthodox Rus'.” However, the Russian people were not yet ready to receive God's mercy. Even greater trials were required for him. And now the 25th anniversary of glorification occurs when exhausted Russia is again at a turning point and the Russian people are thrown back “waiting for the salvation of the Lord” (Gen. 49, 18). May the hope of the Martyr-Tsar now be fulfilled, and may the Lord God, with whom a thousand years are like one day, and one day like a thousand years, through the intercession of Saint John, bring speedy salvation to our Fatherland, revive it to its former greatness, “return the captivity of his people” and give to those who mourn now “the anointing of joy... and the adornment of glory instead of the spirit of despondency” (Isa. 61, 3). Here, in Shanghai, may Saint John help us, in complete unity of spirit, to work for the good of the Church and our neighbors, until some of us return to our homeland, and for others the Lord destined to end their days here, enlightening the country of China with the Light of the Orthodox Faith of Christ and thereby continuing the work of the Mission, which was begun by the now glorified Saint John. June 10, 1941 Memory of St. John of Tobolsk, Shanghai. You might be interested in: