Деятельность о. Иоанна в Русско-Японскую войну и его борьба с революцией

A LOT of sins and iniquities have accumulated among the Russian people. Under the cover of peace and tranquility, the sinful worm invisibly undermined the foundations of the spiritual and external prosperity of Russia. And so, as punishment for this, at the end of January 1904, the difficult and unhappy Russo-Japanese War began. A great patriot and prayer book for the Russian land, Fr. John of Kronstadt, of course, could not remain indifferent to the difficult days experienced by Holy Orthodox Russia, and spoke with his powerful pastoral word. First of all, they sent the following excellent message to our troops to distant Manchuria. Fraternal appeal to our valiant troops on the fields of distant Manchuria My dear brothers, Christ-loving warriors, of every rank - from the highest to the lowest, standing face to face with an insidious and cunning enemy! My short heartfelt word to you in the name of the Lord. Russia, our dear fatherland, is now experiencing difficult days, such as have never happened during the entire period of its existence. But do not forget for a moment, beloved, that the disasters we are experiencing, inside and outside, were sent to us from a righteous and all-good Providence because the Russians have forgotten their God, their Savior, in a way that has never happened before; They boldly trampled all His commandments, and everyone began to fulfill the evil will of his heart, turning his whole life inside out, especially our so-called unfortunate, distraught intelligentsia. Severe, extremely painful blows were sent to us from the Lord God, but these are paternal blows and punishments, temporary, for admonition and punishment. After God and the Mother of God, and all the saints, all of Russia turns its gaze to you, dear brothers, places its hopes, expecting a complete victory in the name of the Lord over the enemies who have taken up arms against us on all sides. Be bold, stand firm, and see salvation from the Lord, 80 says the inspired prophet on behalf of God. He also says: when you go out to war against your enemy and see horses and chariots and more people than yours, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God is with you. When you begin the battle, then let the priest come and speak to the army, and say to them: listen, today you enter into battle with your enemies, let not your heart weaken, do not be afraid, do not be embarrassed and do not be terrified of them; for the Lord your God is coming with you to fight for you against your enemies, to save you 81 . But do not forget to fulfill the commandments of your God: keep and fulfill them with all your heart and all your soul, and you will be blessed when you enter and when you go out. The Lord will defeat your enemies who rise up against you before you; one way they will come against you, and seven ways they will flee from you 82 . Remember, dear brothers, courageously fighting on the battlefield for the faith, the king and the fatherland, that the Lord is with us, and He Himself will fight with you, if you firmly place your hope in Him; For the Lord will not save by multitude of hosts, 83 not by deadly weapons, but by His almighty power. Remember the solar appearance of the cross in the sky to Tsar Constantine and his army with the inscription in stars around the cross: by this you will conquer, that is, by the cross, that’s where the strength of the Christian army is in the cross, for Christ by the cross has defeated and will defeat our enemies, visible and invisible. Believe firmly that the Lord is with you: behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age, 84 He says. Remember our elected Voivode, the Mother of God, who saved Russia countless times in battles with enemies. May God grant that even now, after the glorious victory, we all sing with one heart and one mouth: To the chosen Voivode, victorious... I fraternally advise you all, before every battle, to speak or sing the church dogma: the world-wide glory that vegetated from man, (produced - from the word growth), and the Lord who gave birth, the heavenly door, let us sing to the Virgin Mary, the disembodied song and the faithful fertilizer (praise), this for the heavens and the church of the Divine have appeared; Having destroyed this barrier of enmity, peace was introduced and the kingdom was opened. This is the affirmation of faith, the Champion of the Imam of the Lord born from Her. Dare, dare, people of God: for He will conquer his enemies, for He is omnipotent. (Learn this song by heart). With this sacred song go out into battle and win. Amen. In his sermons, Fr. John often revealed the truth that war was sent as punishment for sins. “The ill-fated war,” he said, was allowed to fall on us as a righteous punishment from a righteous God. What do we need in this chaos? First of all, strict action by all authorities is needed - or - first of all, general repentance of all classes of the population of Russia is needed - a common fast is needed, a public fervent prayer to God for the conversion of the lost, for the correction of morals, the fear of God is required, the fear of the righteous judgment, the terrible punishment of God. Our Sovereign Monarch, appointed by God to govern the nations according to the commandments of God and state laws, calls everyone to this; and we call on all compatriots to fervent and deep repentance, fervent prayer and almsgiving. We must transform ourselves immediately, change in everything. May God grant a saving, moral turn to the entire Russian all-class people onto the right path. Enough. We have experienced the destruction and senselessness of crooked paths to the point of satiety and disgust.” Elsewhere Fr. John says. “At the present time of the ill-fated war - a time of unbelief and general corruption of the morals of Russia, many say: Our God! Our God! Why did you leave us! For a year and a half, Russia has been waging a terrible, bloody and ruinous war, and, despite all the amazing valor and bravery of our troops, we have not yet defeated the pagans who treacherously attacked us, and it is not we who are defeating them, but they who are defeating us. Where is Your help to us, usual in former times, Lord? Now You are against us, and not for us, and You are fighting not for us, but for the pagans? You have forsaken us and do not walk in our strength because of our iniquities. For we became Your enemies, and You armed the most soulless creature against our army - when You sent against them a terrible cloud of dust, which assisted our enemies. Now we have a time of fasting and repentance. But the multitude of freethinkers who have renounced Your faith do not even think about fasting and repentance, and all the more aggravate Your righteous anger. If we wish good for ourselves and Russia, let us fear the righteous judgment of God; let us repent unfeignedly of our iniquities; Let's stop doing evil, let's learn to do good, befitting Christians; Let us pray, teach and learn - render what is God’s to God, and Caesar’s to Caesar (Matthew 22:21).” – The fiery patriotic shepherd called on everyone to closely unite and unite in the days of the difficult war. “Russia, as an Orthodox state, is one civil body, whose head is an autocratic Sovereign; and as members of one state living organism, we must sympathize with its sorrows and joys, its glory and dishonor, its power and exhaustion, even under the burden of a real, unsuccessful war - and not only sympathize, but also help with all the means in our power, especially with fervent prayer and heartfelt goodwill of our mother Russia, who is bleeding with the blood of her sons. He who is a true son of the church is also a faithful and benevolent son of the fatherland; and whoever does not recognize the church as a mother cannot be a faithful son of the fatherland, and he will not see the heavenly fatherland, for which the church prepares us, us, as wanderers and aliens of the earth. Why do many Russian intellectuals now hate Russia and wish it harm and gloat about its failures? Because they rejected the teachings of their mother church, who gave birth to them in baptism and raised them with her teachings, worship and sacraments, which they rejected. These are pathetic little minds that have fallen away from God and the church and have become attached to atheism and all sorts of vices that corrupt a person to the bones and marrow.” – Approving the Orthodox Christ-loving warriors who shed their blood on the fields of Manchuria, Fr. John in one of his sermons exclaims: “The fields of Nippon and Manchuria, which hid the bodies of our compatriots, Orthodox Russian soldiers! I will not call you fields of death or graves of the dead, but fields of life, treasuries of immortality, for all the bodies of slain warriors will rise incorruptible and flourish with immortality. Listen to what a wonderful image of the resurrection of the dead the prophet of God Ezekiel gives us in the inspired book of his prophecies.” The following is a verbatim version of the famous passage from Ezekiel 37:1–10. “Lord, Conqueror of death and hell, grant a quick and glorious victory to our Christ-loving army against the enemies of Your cross and rejoice the hearts of Your faithful servants, depressed by military failures and the triumph of our countless enemies, external and internal, foreign and our own, and stop the lips of unbelief and mockery,” exclaims Fr. John in one sermon. “At the present difficult time that Russia is going through, we read in another sermon, a time of all-disastrous, all-consuming war with Japan and internal sedition, we especially need the consolation and help of the Mother of God, the Mounted and invincible commander, queen of heaven and earth. But where is Her wondrous help and intercession, which our ancestors, our ancient noble princes, kings, saints, such as for example, so quickly received? John of Novgorod, and other reverend miracle workers and the Russian people! The scythe of God mows down like grass, the sickle of God reaps like countless ears of corn - the Russian army, villainous gangs, with instant shots from deadly weapons everywhere, take the lives of the faithful servants of the Tsar and the Fatherland, or set fire to all sorts of government and private institutions, houses of civilians, factories, factories, commercial ships; they are committing crimes on land and at sea throughout the entire state, spreading the spirit of rebellion, disobedience, strikes everywhere, and we remain as if helpless - and heaven itself seems to have abandoned us with its help, and the Almighty and All-Good Lady has, as it were, turned Her face away from us, and we remain like abandoned orphans, without intercession. What does this mean? Is it not within us that lies the reason for all these outrages, disasters, misfortunes that strike us one after another? Yes, this reason is in us, Russia has forgotten God who saves; lost faith in Him; abandoned the law of God, enslaved herself to all sorts of passions, deified the blind human mind; Instead of the will of God, wise, holy, righteous, she has placed the specter of sinful freedom, opened the doors wide to all arbitrariness, and as a result she suffers immeasurably, suffers the shame of the whole world, a worthy retribution for her pride, for her hibernation, inaction, corruption, coldness towards the Church of God. – God punishes us for our sins; The Lady does not send us a helping hand. Let's finally wake up and feel better; let us humble ourselves before God, who righteously punishes and admonishes us.” The Russo-Japanese War, which from beginning to end represented a series of setbacks and defeats, ended for us with the humiliating Peace of Portsmouth. This war resonated with acute, excruciating pain in the hearts of Russian patriots. The Kronstadt shepherd also deeply mourned our military failures. On the holiday of August 30 - the transfer of the relics of the heavenly Patron of St. Petersburg to St. led Prince Alexander Nevsky, who won heroic victories over the Swedes, Fr. John, comparing this and other victorious wars of ancient Russia with our defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, says: “Why couldn’t we defeat our pagan enemies with our brave army? Let's say it without hesitation: from unbelief in God, the decline of morality and from the senseless Tolstoy teaching: do not resist evil, following which Port Arthur surrendered to capitulation, and military ships into shameful captivity with all their equipment. What a glorious teacher for the entire Russian army and for all military and other authorities, St. blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky! But which of the intellectuals now reads about his exploits, and who believes the miracles told? It is from this lack of faith and from our proud, arrogant mind and arrogance of our military strength that we suffer all sorts of defeats and have become a laughing stock for the whole world! A terrible lesson was given by God to the Russian intelligentsia, who do not believe in God and idolize themselves. Learn, Russia, to believe in God Almighty, who rules the destinies of the world, and learn faith, wisdom and courage from your holy ancestors.” In connection with the difficult external Japanese war, Russia had to fight an even more difficult internal war - the war against the revolution. However, the unsuccessful Russo-Japanese War was only an external impetus for the revolution. The root of revolutionary leprosy was hidden very deeply in Russian society long before the Japanese War. This root (from which other “roots of bitterness” branched out, vegetating into the future, Heb. 12:15), consisted in coldness towards the faith of their fathers, in indifference to the Orthodox faith, which coldness and indifference under the influence of Tolstoy’s false teaching began to be revealed in us long before the war and revolution in the facts of the departure of some from the Orthodox Church to Catholicism or another heterodox confession, or even sects, Tolstoyism, Pashkovism or Shtunda. Religion is the head and core of state life. When the core of a tree rots, the whole tree begins to fall apart. In the same way in Russia - religious feeling began to fade, rot and deteriorate - Russia itself began to fall apart (through war and revolution). Foreseeing with his perspicacious eye the state catastrophes approaching us from the dark shadow of the distant future due to the weakness of religious feeling, Fr. John, even before the war and revolution, issued a formidable accusatory word regarding the apostasy of many people from Orthodoxy. WORD about. John of Kronstadt regarding the seduction and departure of some of the people of the Orthodox Church into Catholicism or another heterodox religion, or Pashkovism, Tolstoyanism and Stunda Do persons who were by birth, baptism and upbringing in the Orthodox Church and are leaving or have gone into Catholicism and some other non-Orthodox religion, or into Stunda, Pashkovism and Tolstoyism - are they aware of everything that they leave and what they accept, and to what extreme and to what deprivation they reach? Let us establish a certain point of view on the Orthodox Church and on other faiths and sects. So what? Is the church and the Orthodox faith really just a name without historical significance and without the full power of truth and vitality - or is it a solid and unshakable building of the Heavenly, Eternal, All-Wise and Almighty Architect-God, like a mountain, great and wonderful, on which and in which the Lord Himself and the Head of the Church - Jesus Christ - lives and acts incessantly for the salvation of all the faithful? Is there only one name - the Orthodox Church, without real Orthodoxy and without the greatest, indescribable power, invincible by any forces of hell? Isn't it inherent in constant triumph over all the machinations of visible and invisible enemies and over human tricks and absurd fables? Does the Orthodox Church stand alone in the world, without glorious and loud witnesses of its truth and Orthodoxy, its wonderful life-giving and saving power, even to our time? Isn’t it not the All-True and Almighty, All-Saving Head of the Church – Christ, who constantly stands for us, filling it with glory and salvation, and with His invincible power? Isn’t the Most Holy Lady Theotokos always with us, constantly exuding miracles of mercy to Orthodox believers and those who fervently pray? Are not all the Apostles and Prophets with us and with us with their divinely inspired writings, the pure meaning of which we have not violated one iota? Are not all the Martyrs with us and for us, those who preserved the good faith and completed their feats and were crowned by the Hero of Christ with crowns of glory and incorruptibility? Are not the great universal teachers and saints for us and not with us - Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Gregory the Wonderworker, Gregory of Nyssa and John Chrysostom? Isn’t it with us and not for us - the adamants of Orthodoxy - the reverend fathers: Anthony the Great, Athanasius of Athos, Paul of Thebes, Isaac of Dalmatia, the golden stream of Orthodox writings and honey-flowing songs, John of Damascus, and our Russian reverend fathers: Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk, Sergius of Radonezh, Zosima and Savvatiy Solovetsky, Varlaam Khutynsky and all our other wonderful reverend fathers? Do those who renounce Orthodoxy, and those of our intellectuals who consider any faith, even Mohammedan and Buddhist, to be indifferent - do they know what the pillars of Orthodoxy were, all our faithful holy princes: Equal-to-the-Apostles Vladimir, who chose the Orthodox from all Christian faiths, especially St. blessed prince Alexander Nevsky, denouncer of Latinism, Daniel and Roman of Galicia, St. Mikhail of Chernigov and Mikhail, the blessed prince of Tverskoy? Is the recent glorification of the newly-minted saint and wonderworker of Chernigov Theodosius an empty spectacle? Aren’t the all-Russian saints, who are incorruptible and resting incorruptible, not still glorious among God and people: Peter, Alexy, Jonah and Philip, the Moscow wonderworkers, and the whole multitude of Russian saints and saints glorified by God: Nikita, John, Moses and Euthymius of Novgorod, Demetrius of Rostov, Mitrofan and Tikhon of Voronezh and others? And Seraphim of Sarov, glorified by God during his lifetime by the appearances of the Lord and the Mother of God, is he not a witness to the truth and salvation of our faith and church? Finally, I will say: isn’t the whole history of the Church for us from the beginning to the present? What other faith can boast of so many witnesses to the truth? But whoever renounces Orthodoxy renounces communion with all the saints, who, by the way, are called saints because they have sacredly preserved the dogmas of the faith and demonstrated it in practice; he who renounces the Orthodox faith, for this very reason, also renounces communion with the Head of the Church Himself - Christ. I also ask each and every one who hesitates in St. Orthodox faith: are we abandoned by the miraculous and saving power of God? Are we not constantly saved in our St. faith and the Church. And which of the Orthodox, reasonable and enlightened, who have learned through experience the salvific nature of their faith and its satisfaction to our entire being, will leave their Orthodoxy and move to some other faith? There is only one true and all-saving faith in the world - the Orthodox faith; it is such in history, in its truth, in its very essence, full of light and vitality - which cannot be said about other religions; for in them the truth is mixed with false human wisdom, institutions and rules that are contrary to Revelation and greatly complicate the salvation of souls. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away,” says the Lord. Meanwhile, in heterodox faiths, many of the Lord’s words are distorted (about the Holy Spirit, about both types of communion, about the primacy of the church). Let us firmly hold on to St. Church and their Orthodox faith. Only the Orthodox Church is the pillar and foundation of the truth, for the spirit of truth rests eternally in it, constantly and loudly testifying to the whole world about its truth.” However, Russian society did not listen well to the instructions of the Kronstadt lamp, for it was darkened by the darkness of unbelief and false liberalism. It is rightly said that if God wants to punish a person, then, first of all, he will take away his reason, so that a person, seeing, does not see and, hearing, does not hear; surrounded by great danger, he does not recognize it. So it was with Russian society. Instead of repenting of their sins, condemning their unbelief and strengthening in faith, they began to speak vain and false things. They began to talk about the need to change the form of government, about the need to abolish autocracy and other “strange” verbs. This gave the Kronstadt luminary, in two of his sermons, delivered almost simultaneously (in May 1905), to clarify to his listeners the enormous significance and extreme necessity of the tsarist autocracy for Russia. These sermons are so important that we present them here in full, one after another. WORD for the birthday of the Most Pious Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich, May 6, 1905 Add (Lord) the days to the days of the king, extend His years for generations and generations. May he abide forever before God; command mercy and truth to protect him. ( Ps. 60:7–8 ). The necessity of tsarist autocracy for the state, just as the autocrat's mind is necessary for the soul We celebrate the birthday of the most august Sovereign, Autocrat of all Russia, and we pray to the Lord, according to the instructions of the Tsar and Prophet David, that the King of Kings would multiply his days in prosperity and health for many years: add days to His days, and extend His years for generations. It is not in vain that the God-inspired king-prophet offers an intense prayer to the Almighty for the continuation of the royal life for many years, and it was he who offered it in the consciousness of the greatest importance and necessity of the royal autocratic power for the state. David, as the king chosen by God and anointed by God to reign, himself experienced the benefits and necessity of royal power for the well-being and prosperity of all his subjects, united by his wise fatherly governance; for the king is a God-ordained and God-wise and authorized shepherd, which David was, and his subjects are his sheep, obligated to obey him, according to the commandment and covenant of God Himself, to Whom countless hosts of Angels unquestioningly obey, to Whom heaven and earth and all creation obey. Imagine, for a moment, what would happen, for example, to the countless, well-ordered will and wisdom of God, this host of Angels, if they, like the fallen angels, also ceased to obey the will and mania of their Creator and Master, and wanted to be governed by themselves? They would destroy themselves forever. We see a terrible lesson in disobedience to the Creator precisely in the fallen angels, who, having refused to obey the all-good will of the Creator, submitted to the evil will of the former first angel or Satan, who disturbed part of heaven, and according to his will and reason they created and are doing all kinds of evil in the world, being themselves full of all wickedness and malice, and burning in hellish fire. The same would happen with the human race and, in particular, with our intellectuals, who would want to be governed or govern the state with their myopia, with their selfish, passionate, violent hobbies, from which nothing good can be expected except the breaking of the old, although necessary, and the introduction of new forms of government, a new direction, or lawlessness according to new, Western models that do not suit us. Not for a single day would there be order from such a gathering of egoists, and nothing good for the people, except for all injustice and partiality, as this was proven by the peoples led by a heterogeneous assembly of representatives, and not guided by the autocratic, impartial - paternal authority of the Sovereign, who always walks with God, like David. Tsarist autocracy was sanctified and approved by God Himself almost at the beginning of the human race. The necessity of tsarist autocracy can be clearly demonstrated from the very properties of our soul. Our soul consists of three main forces - mind, heart and will, united by a single being of the soul. The range of action of these three forces is infinite; and in order for the life of the soul to flow correctly, fruitfully and with benefit for ourselves and for the people around us, these forces must act in accordance with, obeying the law of conscience implanted in everyone by the Creator, or His written law, or the Gospel brought to earth by the Son of God, our Creator and Savior. Thus, a sincere person and a true Christian, with his countless thoughts, feelings, intentions and deeds, submits to the sovereignty of his conscience or the law of God, the law of Christ, the Gospel, and tastes inner peace, and his life goes correctly. But, if the human soul does not want to subordinate these three main powers of the soul - reason, heart, will - to the law of conscience or the law of God, - in one day, or in the course of its life, it will do a thousand inappropriate, most harmful things, will think of terrible things - to unbelief, atheism, to anarchy, to the constitution - to dynamites and bombs, to shooting at anyone, to stoning, to arson, to suicide, to every kind of adultery, theft, drunkenness, embezzlement and all sorts of disgrace - so then, although do not live either in the city or in the village, but go away and be confined in the mountains and in dens, and in the abysses of the earth 85, as it seems, we have almost lived up to this. This is what a person’s internal or external anarchy, disobedience, disobedience to the law of conscience or the law of God, or the king and government can lead to. Russian intellectuals have now come to this and, some of them, working secretly in hidden rooms to prepare murderous projectiles, sneak up on the targeted persons in order to instantly defeat them and take their lives. - This is what a person has become capable of, who in his malice has become like the evil spirits that destroy human life through countless passions - and numerous types of murder and suicide. Only one firm, confident, royal power, governed by God, according to His creative, paternal laws, can curb all insolence, all social disorder and direct the life of the people onto the right, solid path, with the assistance of a wise, God-fearing government - and for such a great and complex matter it receives from God the right, power and strength - only the autocrat clearly realizes this. Truth elevates the language (the people), but the tribes are degraded by their sins 86 . Amen. WORD on the day of the sacred anointing and crowning of the Most Pious, Most Autocratic Great Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich The Lord's kingdom is, and He is Ruler over the nations. Ps.21:29. Is Russia the kingdom of God? From year to year, the Church and Russia gratefully remember and brightly celebrate the day of the sacred anointing and crowning of our most pious Sovereign, Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich, - and glorify the Lord, who placed on Him honor and greatness, in the words of the Prophet Tsar, and on his head a crown of pure gold 87. Royal anointing is a sign of the outpouring of the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the life-giving - on the anointed person - and wisdom and strength to govern his subjects. This sacred rite is God's institution. About David, anointed to the kingdom by Samuel the prophet, it is said in the history that from the hour he was sealed with oil, the Spirit of God began to hover over him. King David himself says this about the gracious effect of the sacred anointing on him, and the power of God communicated through him. God girds me with strength, and arranges for me a right path, makes my feet like a deer’s, and sets me on my high places, teaches my hands to fight, and my arms crush the brass bow; You have given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand upholds me, and Your mercy magnifies me. You widen my step under me, and my feet do not falter. I pursue my enemies and overtake them, and I do not return until I have destroyed them; I smite them and cannot rise, they fall under my feet, for You have girded me with strength for war and have brought down under my feet those who rebelled against me; You have turned the rear of my enemies to me, and I will destroy those who hate me. I scatter them like dust before the wind, like street dirt, I trample them. You delivered me from the rebellion of the people, you made me the head of the foreigners: a people whom I did not know serves me: according to one rumor about me, they obey me; foreigners caress me; the foreigners turn pale and tremble in their fortifications; As the Lord lives, and blessed is my protector! Exalted be the God of my salvation. God, who avenges me and subdues the nations for me, and delivers me from my enemies! For this I will praise You, O Lord, among the foreigners, and I will sing to Your name, majestically saving the king and showing mercy to Your anointed David and his descendants forever 88 . You see what power the sacred anointing, or, more precisely, the pouring of oil on his head, had for King David - and what God was for him as the king of the chosen people. God controlled, so to speak, all the steps, all the actions of David - through him He reigned over Israel; The kingdom of David was truly the kingdom of the Lord. But David was also a king after God’s heart, 89 as God Himself testified to this, and he was the true shepherd of the Jewish people, as a king and at the same time a prophet, constantly teaching them the right faith and strict piety with his famous God-inspired psalms and harmonious worship; He waged frequent wars with internal and external enemies, defeated them all and delivered a peaceful reign to his successor Solomon. Is it possible to say about our fatherland of the present time that it is the Lord’s kingdom, and the Lord is the Ruler of the Russian people? - According to the right Christian, apostolic faith, undamaged by human wisdom, according to the Orthodox rite of worship and sacraments, according to the power of signs and wonders performed from the relics of the glorified saints of God and miraculous icons, and in general according to the countless signs of God's mercy that are performed to this day over faithful Christians and - according to the good, pious life of a considerable number of true Christians, among Russians - Russia can be called the kingdom of God. This, however, is only on one side. On the other hand, due to the godlessness and wickedness of many Russians, the so-called intellectuals, who have lost their way, fallen from the faith and revile it in every possible way, trampled on all the commandments of the Gospel and allowed every kind of debauchery in their lives, the Russian kingdom is not the Lord’s kingdom. And therefore, look what is happening in it at the present time: there is a strike of students and workers everywhere - in different institutions - people; the noise of parties aimed at overthrowing the real monarchical system established by God, the everywhere dissemination of daring, insane proclamations, disrespect for the authority of the authorities established by God, for there is no authority unless it is from God, but the real authorities are created by God, according to the Apostle 90; children and youth imagined themselves to be the bosses and arbiters of their own destinies; marriages have lost all meaning for many, and divorces on a whim have multiplied indefinitely; many children are abandoned to their fate by unfaithful spouses; Some kind of nonsense and arbitrariness reigns. Is this the Orthodox kingdom, is this the kingdom of the Lord? Finally, an unpunished transition from Orthodoxy to any faith is allowed. Every kingdom divided against itself will be desolate, says the Lord, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand 91. If things go like this in Russia, both atheists and anarchists - madmen will not be subject to the righteous punishment of the law, and if Russia is not cleansed of many tares, then it will be desolate, like the ancient kingdoms and cities, wiped off the face of the earth by the justice of God for their atheism and for their iniquities (Babylonian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek-Macedonian). May God rise again, and may His enemies be scattered, and may those who hate Him flee from His face, like smoke disappearing, may they disappear; as wax melts in the presence of fire, so let sinners perish at the face of God, and let the righteous rejoice 92. Amen. Much later Fr. John said the following to explain his main idea about the need for autocracy for Russia. “Hold on, Russia, firmly to your faith and the Church and the Orthodox Tsar, if you want to be unshakable by people of unbelief and anarchy, and do not want to lose the kingdom and the Orthodox Tsar. And if you fall away from your faith, as many intellectuals have already fallen away from it, then you will no longer be Russia or Holy Russia, but a rabble of all sorts of infidels seeking to destroy each other. Remember the words of Christ to the unfaithful Jews: the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and given to a tongue (people) that produces its fruits.” (Matt. 21:42). On April 17, 1905, the Supreme Manifesto on Religious Tolerance was published, and on October 17 of the same year, the Manifesto on Civil Freedom. Unfortunately, many Russian people misunderstood the benefits bestowed by these manifestos, began to think that now everything was allowed, and riots, robberies and strikes began everywhere. Russia burst into flames with a continuous revolutionary fire, into which the Jews diligently poured fuel. Then Fr. John gave his following speech, which is given in detail. WORD on the day of accession to the ancestral all-Russian throne of the most pious Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich A blessing for the people of God-ordained power and disasters from anarchy Let every soul be submissive to the higher authorities; for there is no power except from God; the existing authorities have been established by God. Therefore, he who resists authority resists God's institution; and those who resist will bring condemnation upon themselves. Rom.13:1–3. Russia solemnly celebrates today the accession of its Sovereign to the All-Russian throne directly after the death of His father, the Peacemaker, Alexander III. The highest manifesto then proclaimed out loud to everyone in what spirit the Successor Son would rule the state, namely, in the spirit of the Parent who had died in God. This was the case for several years, but the approaching war and the rapidly changing spirit of the times, international relations and political imitation of Western peoples led Russia to a different trend, to a different way of life and to the rule of the Tsar in a living union with the people, in the person of the State Duma. But before this happened, all of Russia went on strike in all public bodies, and fell into anarchy and disobedience to the authorities. No country in the world has ever experienced such sweeping, universal harm from anarchy and disobedience to authorities, or suffered such material, political and moral losses and stagnation in trade, industry and education, as Russia. The past days and months serve as proof of this. But the benefits of autocratic power over the course of several hundred years of Russia’s existence have also been experienced by her, and she knows this well, like a man knows his own five fingers; because it achieved breadth, power, wealth and glory precisely thanks to the firm autocratic power in Russia - and the selfless submission of the Russian people to the powers that be. And it is not in vain that the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of the Apostle Paul, commands every soul to obey the powers that be. “Let every soul be subject to the higher authorities: for there is no authority except from God, but the existing authorities were established by God. Therefore, he who resists authority resists God's institution; but those who resist will bring condemnation upon themselves.” In another of his sermons, Fr. John says the following: “Now, for example, many desire and have achieved complete freedom of religion, politics, printing, education, family, work and all other things. Did these seekers understand the true, reasonable, holy freedom for which the Lord created them, and which we lost through sin, becoming slaves of sin, which He again brought to us from heaven? Have you learned freedom from passions and lusts, freedom to willingly practice every virtue? We have lost this true, living, royal freedom, and instead we have found and are defending a sinful, senseless, destructive freedom; freedom - to mock every shrine of faith, even over royal and church power, freedom to ridicule, trample, and overthrow everything sacred.” False understandings about freedom gave rise to Fr. John to give his lengthy speech, where freedom is explained. “When a strong, wise, correct and all-directing power is awake and active, encouraging some and righteously punishing others with justice, then everything in society goes on as usual; spiritual and material life, educational, political, economic, social, military - everything carries out its usual course and development, bringing every benefit to the entire State. And when, as a result of general disobedience to authorities and the inaction of subordinate members of society, as well as the inaction of the authorities, activity stops, as blood circulation in an organic body stops, then everything in society freezes, falls, collapses, and public security disappears, and members of society go one against another, theft, embezzlement, hostility and murder are given full rein. This is what happened the other day in Russia, when everything stopped working everywhere - educational institutions, workshops with workers, railways, printing houses, post offices and telegraphs. Truly, Russia has fallen into a state of chaos. This is the destruction of anarchy. The ancient pagan peoples were safer and happier in their civil and family life than the Russian people enlightened (if they were such) by the teachings of Christ, who loudly called themselves educated and intellectuals. Truly: the wisdom of this world is madness before God, 93 and that is exactly what she showed herself to be. In the demonic kingdom there is order and the subordination of some evil spirits to others - the lower to the higher, the less powerful to the stronger; and in the Christian state all subordination, all authority has disappeared: children do not recognize the authority of their parents, they are subordinate to the authority of their superiors; the pupils are the authorities of the teachers, the students do not recognize the authorities - the professors and rectors, everyone took their conductor's batons in their hands, and everyone began to command instead of calmly and without pretension, as was the case before, obeying and learning. Something mysterious and absurd emerges. Spiritual leadership and the sacred power of the church have been trampled upon; worship is neglected; preaching is powerless; Christian morality is falling more and more; Anarchy is growing - boys and girls - and they have taken their will. But where is the power that is strong, authoritative, self-aware, responsible, established by God and receiving its strength and its fear from Him? Take, You, the power, the right given to You by God, and with a firm hand hold the scepter and power given to You by God, and be fearful of all the enemies of God and Yours. Then, seeing Your scepter and orb in strong hands, all the evil will righteously fear You, and the good will rejoice. Do you want to not be afraid of power? Do good and you will have praise from her; and if you do evil, be afraid, for you are not carrying a sword without the mind 94 . So, Russia, fear God as before, and honor the Tsar, and let every soul be submissive to the higher authorities 95. Amen". “Let us now talk about what the freedom of a Christian consists of, and what his duties are before God and people. Everyone was now overcome by fever and a thirst for freedom. But freedom is misunderstood by the majority, not according to God’s mind, but according to human, blind understanding; namely, it is understood as a reason to please the flesh, in which goodness does not live. For everything that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life; it is not from the heavenly Father, but from this world 96; it is enmity against God. Take for example freedom of the press, whose representatives, jokingly or seriously, call it the sixth great power. With all their might they sought this freedom from the government, and they achieved it. But what kind of freedom is this? - The freedom of other cursive writers to write and print whatever catches their eye, whatever just comes to mind, or whatever could be used to harm a hated person or society, and - above all - the freedom to throw literary mud at their own writing brethren, a conscientious, believing, reasonable, sincere, patriotic brethren - the true salt, the light of literature. What kind of freedom is this? This is an uprising, an ink campaign against true freedom, an attempt to destroy in the press everything that is true, reasonable, ideal, beautiful, firm in faith, politics, community life, in the family, in education, in domestic and public work, in government. It is disgusting to read in some small newspapers, and sometimes large ones, abusive antics against serious newspapers, in which much of what is printed is like oil, like a balm for an upright, right, unwise heart. Let us also take political freedom, religious freedom. The press waited for this freedom from the government. What happened? All the newspapers and magazines started talking about politics - in hundreds of ways, who is good at what and who is rich in what, in what way of thinking. All higher educational institutions, even other secondary educational institutions, rushed into politics, the concept of which they were not mature enough to understand, and, having become involved in politics, forgot that they were students, forgot their books, their specialties, criticized and teased their professors, and, perhaps, rectors, demanded autonomy for themselves, like men of mature age, eliminated the authorities, as befits, supposedly, autonomists - and proclaimed anarchy; Otherwise, they wouldn’t mind getting into the State Duma. What will they do there? It’s not difficult for anyone to guess. – What if the common people, from the plow and the scythe, start to engage only in politics? Who will plow and mow? What is freedom of faith, which is allowed even by the government? – Freedom to profess the faith that anyone wants; Moreover, even the Orthodox are not forbidden to leave their faith and go even to Mohammedanism and idolatry; Freedom in faith allows, in the present day, anyone who wants to blaspheme their Orthodox faith in every possible way, because confessors of other faiths respect and praise their faith or other faiths; and ill-intentioned writers, Orthodox by baptism, indeed, freely, without a twinge of conscience, speak ill of the Orthodox faith, and of the Orthodox Church, and of its shepherd; especially in blasphemy of the Orthodox faith, Count Leo Tolstoy, a complete apostate from God, a worshiper of his own self, a worshiper of the blind human mind, surpassed everyone. He, due to the falsely understood freedom of thought and worship of the human mind, rejected God and the creation of the world, and the fall of man, and his re-creation, and in general all of sacred history, all faith, every good, righteous hope given to people by God, rejected everything holy, and left humanity with nothing, only with its sins, sorrows, troubles, illnesses, deaths without any enlightenment, without any hope for a better, eternal world. Is this not yet the freedom of the present age and the present apostate humanity? Is this freedom to ultimately kill the faith and hope of the people? Our ancestors sinned, but they called sin a sin, and today’s liberals, when they sin, try to justify the sin, as if it were a legitimate matter. – Take the sins of carnal lust: all this, according to their teaching, is not only the simple weaknesses of human nature, but also the laws of nature, its requirements. Among them are those who idolize carnal passion itself, like the worshipers of Artemis in ancient times. And all this abomination is printed, and they read it, and they talk about it without disgust, without disgust, as if it were something worthy of attention! – Is this freedom? No, this is not freedom, but terrible slavery to sin and passions, which results in the terrible execution of God, the extermination of the race and eternal torment. Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin; the slave does not remain in the house forever, the Son (of true freedom) remains forever 97. True Christians must crucify and eradicate passions. Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with passions and lusts 98. You, brothers, are called to freedom, wrote the Apostle Paul to the Galatians, as long as your freedom is not a reason to please the flesh, but serve one another with love (Christian, holy love). If you bite and devour each other (like today's greyhound writers), then beware that you are not destroyed by each other 99. Doesn't the current false freedom only serve as a reason for pleasing the multi-passionate flesh, for apostasy from God, for depravity and destruction? To her? Amen". During the revolutionary period, the spiritual rot and disintegration of Russia was revealed with all clarity. It was clear that for the moral healing of society a formidable accusatory word was needed, shepherds were needed who would come before God “in the spirit and power of Elijah.” The glorious Kronstadt shepherd was such a fiery accuser. Undoubtedly, for the future historian, his sermons will be important as a characteristic of the moral life of Russian society during the revolutionary period. Therefore, we will dwell here, albeit briefly, on those sermons where Fr. John notes the vices of Russian society in the revolutionary era. “Our so-called intellectuals,” he says, do not believe in the resurrection of the dead and the immortality of the human soul, in righteous reward for all, in the eternal bliss of the righteous and in the eternal torment of unrepentant sinners - and therefore they have completely lost their way from the vital, rational, Divine basis and have become not intellectuals (reasonable), but madmen, doing completely insane things; imbued with hatred of faith, of Christian piety, of truth and righteousness, of everything holy, honest and praiseworthy, while they themselves should have feared power: for it is said: “there is no power except from God; The existing powers were created by God. Do you want to not be afraid of power? Do good, and you will receive praise from it; If you do evil, be afraid, because the madman carries a sword 100. And when I say this, I think that these enemies of all truth, the enemies of the Church of Christ, are raising their swords against me. But may the Eternal and Vigorous One, who dwells in heaven, preserve those who fight against unrighteousness. Behold, he will not slumber, the guardian of Israel will fall asleep below 101. We see phenomena that have never happened before: youths and youths, who have just entered life and do not understand it, its goals, want to dominate men of experience and science, over people who have served their fatherland with benefit, honor and glory, over powerful people, invested with royal trust. Indeed, boys rule over elders, according to the prophet Isaiah. – When will this end? When will power wield the sword wisely? When will he receive the power bestowed from God and instill fear in those who want to dominate the authorities with fear? Oh, how the Russian people, and especially the so-called liberals, have become unworthy of their Christian title, unworthy of the Gospel, because they oppose it in everything - unworthy of Christ, the Lamb of God, who redeemed us with His blood from the righteous wrath of God, from the hereditary corruption of sin, from curse and death. Due to the inexpressibly great goodness of God, humanity has been pardoned by God, exacted, honored and exalted - how do they, for the most part, respond to such condescension of God, to such immeasurable mercy? “It responds with disdain, negligence or unbelief, even mockery, like our Russian heretic Leo Tolstoy and all his followers - immersion in a carnal, animal, unclean life. Where does such disregard for the highest interests of life come from? Where does such incomprehensible disbelief come from in the Divine truthful revelation and God’s care for our eternal salvation? From the blind, proud mind of man, which our modern writers still extol, from their voluntary deprivation of the light of faith, abundantly brought to earth by the incarnate Son of God, from the deprivation of the light of the Gospel, boldly rejected by the false wisdom of man. They, these imaginary sages of this age, who have rejected the leadership of the Word of God and the church, do not participate with us in great Christian celebrations and are alien to its heavenly, saving spirit. Where is the grace of baptism for them? Where is the spirit of Christ? Where is the correspondence to the heavenly title? Where is the desire for the heavenly fatherland, for which we were born by water and Spirit? Where is the desire for a holy life? Where are the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control? “They don’t exist, and without them there is no Christianity.” Where is the Christian hope, to which the great and saving promises of God are given - not false? Where is the new life in Christ, for whoever is in Christ is a new creation, 102 and not old due to former passions. Where do they have the saving, invaluable connection with the church, with this mysterious Body of Christ, by virtue of which the Most Holy Theotokos is the Head of mental instruction and the Intercessor of all Christians who resort to Her with faith in repentance? They separated themselves from the church; we tore ourselves away from her holy union and joined, united with the one who at the very beginning broke our blissful union with the Source of life - God, and plunged us into sin, damnation and death, opening the doors of hell for the human race. May the Lord, with the message of destinies, turn them to His church, may he humble their proud mind and proud heart, may he dispose their stubborn, corrupted will to the knowledge and fulfillment of His holy, all-wise, all-blessed, eternal will, may He put His divine fear in them, and may He unite them with the holy mystical Body of His Church, and may He honor them with the kingdom Your heavenly one. Amen". “What an edifying lesson the Feast of the Entry teaches Christians. That lesson, forgotten or forgotten now by many Christians of all confessions, that the church of God is the school given to us by God of true knowledge of God and piety, where we learn to recognize the meaninglessness and destruction of sin, turn away from it with all our hearts and learn all virtue, all truth and holiness, the fear of God, love, glorification and thanksgiving to God for all His countless mercies - the true repentance, humility, patience, kindness, mercy, selflessness, obedience, complete devotion to the will of God. Without a church, without worship, without the sacraments given by God for our salvation, without teaching in the word of God, it is impossible to be saved, “for the whole world lies in evil” 103 according to the teaching of the word of God, and the world will be condemned by the righteous judgment of God: “judge us, we are punished by the Lord, lest we be condemned with the world” 104 . Our modern atheists preach that we don’t need churches, we don’t need God’s law in schools, we don’t need prayer, we don’t need priests. How? You want people to become dumb animals, beasts, so that the earth becomes an arena of slaughter, bloodshed, so that people, like animals, rush at each other and torment each other - as unfortunately, this has already come to this, due to the unbelief of many, and Russia has already represented a real massacre in different cities, and, as it were, an enemy invasion and a sea of ​​flames. Is this not what our atheists are leading us to? – Yes, this will not happen in primordially Orthodox Russia. Leave us the churches - this is the earthly sky; this is the kingdom of God on earth, where the most honorable and magnificent name of God is constantly glorified, where we are sanctified through prayer and sacraments, where we sincerely talk with God, like children with the Father; where we become living churches of God, where we are most closely united with God, partake of God’s incorruption and become divine ourselves through the participation of the Divine Mysteries. Glory to God, who has established churches of His name everywhere and is educating in them reverent, faithful Christians into living churches of Himself, as it is written: “Do you not know that you are the church of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you?” 105 Only in the church of God do we learn to sincerely believe in God, to know ourselves, to love both God and each other; Only in the church do we learn that we have a common Father in heaven, who founded there an eternal, imperishable city for His faithful and loving children, and that from the foundation of the world He inscribed those devoted to Him among the citizens of heavenly Jerusalem. Amen". The laxity was especially evident in educational institutions. Just as during the fall of our ancestors, Satan, who entered the serpent, acted through a woman, as the weakest creature, so in the revolutionary years he diligently sowed his weeds among students, taking advantage of their youth and inexperience. This is what the Kronstadt shepherd says about this. “Let’s talk about the evil word of the serpent, which he planted in the hearts of Eve and Adam, and which he still whispers and with which he confuses and destroys the human race, which does not believe the word of God, especially our non-believing student youth, who imagine themselves to be superhumans and so-called autonomists. They have no faith in God, they make a daring mockery of the One Whom we call God; in immeasurable pride, they consider themselves above everyone, above authorities, parents, and do not want to obey anyone; we, they say, are a law unto ourselves, we are autonomists, we are gods. But these self-legalists have no law. Nowhere is there such nonsense in the student world, or among the intelligentsia, as in Russia; The whole world knows this and all the newspapers are trumpeting about it. What absurd principle operates in our teaching and learning world? The serpent, that ancient serpent who whispered to Eve and Adam so that they would not obey God, but listen to him, the serpent, that they would be autonomous, they would be like gods. Isn’t it time to come to your senses, isn’t it time to take up reason, faith, God, the Church of God, the Book of Books?” The time for convening the 1st State Duma was approaching. And this important fact was not ignored by the great shepherd. He depicts the following good qualities that true elected representatives of the people sitting in the State Duma should have. “In the present difficult circumstances of the state, the Tsar needs good, experienced, reasonable advisers, but they were not there, or they were, but internal treason and sedition destroyed them in all sorts of villainous ways; is still threatening. May the native Russian Duma, one of the honorary advisers, approach the Tsar - to judge together with the Tsar, without limiting His autocratic rights, about the best defense of the fatherland from enemies internal and external. May the autocracy of Russia appear fully armed with sincere, faithful minds and hearts, devoted men, and may they, with God's help, establish immovably Russia and the throne of the kingdom, shaken by malicious seekers of wrong rights, self-government and the final destruction of both autocracy and Orthodoxy. Lord, raise up Your power and come to save us.” The first two State Dumas were unsuccessful. Before the convening of the 3rd Duma, the Kronstadt shepherd said the following. “Shut up, dreamy constitutionalists and parliamentarians! “Get away from Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, because you think not about the things of God, but about the things of men” (Matthew 16:23), the Lord said to Peter, who was arguing. Depart too, you who oppose God's command. It is not for you to dispose of the thrones of the kings of the earth: Away, daring ones, who do not know how to govern themselves, but bicker with each other, and have not done anything significantly useful for Russia. The Lord gives power, strength, courage and wisdom to the king to rule over his subjects. But may worthy helpers approach the throne, those who have God’s right conscience and the fear of God, who love God and His Church, which He Himself founded on earth - and may all who have a seared conscience, who do not have the advice of the right, wise and well-intentioned, flee from the throne, as was recently the case with the first traitorous minister. Delve into the words of the prophet and King David, you, especially those who are gathering in the third State Duma and preparing to be advisers to the Tsar, whose power occupies a sixth of the world - and study comprehensively its needs and needs, the illnesses and wounds of the Motherland, its countless treasures of land and water, which foreigners use so much, due to the lack of enterprise of the Russians - and be His right hand, His eyes, sincere and faithful, active well-wishers and advisers to Him, at the same time God-fearing and unchanging to faith and fatherland. God calls us to this great cause - the improvement and pacification of the fatherland. At the same time, remember that the earthly fatherland with its Church is the threshold of the heavenly fatherland, therefore love it fervently and be ready to lay down your soul for it in order to inherit eternal life there. “Our Father, we say, who art in heaven.” Do you see where our Father, the Lord God, dwells in all eternal glory? In heaven; there is our fatherland. He who is faithful to God is also faithful to the King. Let me remind you of the words of the psalmist, prophet and king: “The Lord looks down from heaven and sees all the sons of men. From the throne on which He sits He looks down upon all those who live on earth; He created the hearts of all and looks into all their affairs.” ( Ps. 32:13–15 ). Therefore, everyone will be judged strictly. Amen". The great prayer book showed his deep patriotism on November 26, 1906, during the consecration of the banner of the Union of the Russian People. An employee of the English magazine “The Guardian” says the following about Fr. John of Kronstadt, with whom he talked that day... After a picturesque description of the consecration of the banner of the Union of the Russian People in the Mikhailovsky Manege, in which Fr. John, the correspondent outlines his conversation with Fr. John on the law of toleration. “I remember this conversation well. I was sitting at the table in his room in Kronstadt. He put his hand on my shoulder and asked me to speak louder, since he can’t hear well. We talked about new laws giving religious freedom... Opinion about. John is very interesting. “Our people,” he said, are very ignorant and incapable of making an intelligent choice of religion; therefore, it would be much better not to give him a reason to stray from the true path.” He then expressed his opinion about the Russian "intelligentsia" in strong terms. “Our intelligentsia,” he said, is good for nothing, they are godless anarchists like Leo Tolstoy, whom they adore, but I strongly condemn. That’s why they hate me terribly and are ready to wipe me off the face of the earth, but I’m not afraid of them and don’t pay the slightest attention to them.” The old priest ended his speech with a characteristic Russian phrase: “I am an eyesore for them.” The Englishman finds in the review about. John has a lot of truth about the intelligentsia. “In Russia,” he writes, the majority of educated people, excluding supporters of the Russian system, consider it generally accepted that faith is not necessary and even meaningless. Once a highly educated woman from St. Petersburg asked me if I believed in the existence of God, and when I said that I did, she remarked with surprise: “How strange! And I always considered you an intelligent person.” Russians do not bother to deal with questions of faith, but are content with repeating a few hackneyed phrases regarding the essence of the nature of faith, phrases that were considered smart at the end of the 18th century, but which are now hopelessly outdated. Father John is subjected to severe persecution by the Russian liberation press, and there is no slander that would not be spread against him. But it is enough to meet him to be convinced that you are dealing with some transparently good person, and the extraordinary power of his prayers is proof of his piety. I started talking to the priest about his glory. “I am not and have not sought fame,” he told me, it comes to me on its own. I give glory to Him who said: Whoever glorifies Me, them I will glorify.” This is how Fr. is understood and appreciated. John in enlightened heterodox England. (“Russian Banner”). In the fall of 1907, Fr. John was elected an honorary member of the Union of the Russian People. On October 19, 1907, on the day of the Angel of the venerable shepherd, he was greeted on behalf of the main Council by the authorized representatives, headed by Count E.I. Konovnitsyn, and presented the following letter: “Merciful Shepherd and Father! His Imperial Majesty, Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich, Autocrat of All Russia, in the ways of His Royal mercy and benevolence, Most Highly commanded in a Personal Telegram dated June 4, 1907, the Union of the Russian People to serve as a reliable support of law and order in our Fatherland. Accepting this Supreme Will to its fullest implementation, the Main Council of the Union of the Russian People unanimously calls on You, revered Shepherd, to provide unceasing prayerful protection to the cause of its service for the benefit of the great Russian people before the Throne of the Eternal God, to whom you, Father, have served for 52 years, as a faithful son of the Tsar and the Church of Christ. Hungering and thirsting for spiritual closeness to you and unity with you, the Good Shepherd, the Main Council of the Union of the Russian People, at its meeting on October 15, according to journal No. 71, unanimously elected you to its lifelong honorary members. Accept, Father, the humble title offered to you, as evidence of which this diploma is awarded to you.” Chairman of the Main Council The deeply patriotic mood of Fr. John on May 8–9, 1908, when members of the 3rd State Duma visited him in Kronstadt. This is how this event happened. On May 8, 1908, some members of the State Duma, including about 60 people, among whom there were, with Bishop Eulogius at the head, up to 25 priests, arrived in Kronstadt with the sole purpose of visiting the great ascetic, glorified by the miracles of the Lord, a constant prayer book and the divine lamp of Orthodoxy - Fr. Ioann Ilyich Sergiev. On the eve of the trip, Bp. Evlogy received a reply telegram from his dear father that he was glad to see the elected representatives of the people. Calling his guests “chosen people”, Fr. John with the insight of St. The Spirit divined in them real representatives of the people, who appeared with a loving heart and a clear conscience for the great cause of serving the Tsar and Russia... Real ones, and not fake ones, who sold their honor, faith, Tsar and homeland to the Jews and seditious people... Real ones, ready to lay down their earthly lives for the truth and the people's welfare, and not fake ones, who have achieved an honorary title “deputy” by means of Jewish silver coins and striving for the complete destruction of an already tormented country... All the deputies who came to Kronstadt were 49 people. This number included 23 priests. The visitors stayed in Kronstadt, in the House of Diligence. They were met here by the sacristan of St. Andrew's Cathedral, Archpriest Popov. In his speech, which greeted Fr. The leader of the venerable Duma members, among other things, said that the State Duma should work according to the principles of true Russian life and should not borrow innovations from the West. Then, in the house church of the House of Diligence, the priest-deputies, led by Bishop Eulogius, held an all-night vigil, which began at 11 a.m. on the 8th and ended at 2 a.m. on the 9th. O. Archpriest John Ilyich was not present at this all-night vigil. - On the 9th. John Ilyich in St. Andrew's Cathedral, co-served by 17 priest-deputies, celebrated the early liturgy. After the liturgy, our venerable Fr. The archpriest delivered his wonderful sermon, filled with faith in God and love for the Fatherland. This majestic sermon was based on the high priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ for love and unity. Our public love and our social unity have never been shaken as at the present time. That is why our great modern preacher based his words on the high priestly prayer to Jesus Christ for love and our mutual unity on the basis of faith, love and hope. The starting point of unity is the unity of faith. Celebrated on May 9th is St. Nicholas the Miracle. was one of the greatest champions of the unity of faith. From here Fr. John Ilyich called on the priest-deputies to follow the example of St. Nicholas the Miracle. and steadfastly guard in the State. The Duma interests the Orthodox Church, preventing the exercise of complete freedom of religion. State Duma, said further about. The archpriest must also beware of other freedoms: speech, press, meetings. They sow hostility and hatred and divide society. All activities of the State. The Duma must be imbued with the spirit of national principles. Members of the State Duma left Kronstadt consoled, encouraged and spiritually enlightened... For people who are not believers, who do not understand the Divine institution of the Tsarist Autocracy, it makes no difference who will rule Russia, the Tsar, the anointed of God, or some kind of Jewish president... But this is far from “all the same” for Orthodox believers, Russian patriots, to whom the highly revered Kronstadt shepherd belonged. During the period of Russian spiritual blindness, inspired by the revolutionary darkness, his patriotic activity was a bright beacon pointing to the right path. Truly, with this activity he became like St. Sergius of Radonezh, St. Metropolitans of Moscow Peter, Alexy, Jonah and Philip, Mitrofaniy of Voronezh, Dmitry of Rostov and other saints of God, who combined deep faith and deep patriotism.