A speech on the occasion of the thirty-fifth anniversary of the siege of Sevastopol, delivered in St. Isaac's Cathedral on February 20, 1890, in the presence of His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich

“As silver and gold are tempted in the furnace, so is the chosen one of the Lord’s heart” (Prov. 17:3). In everyone's life there are trials: hardships, troubles, misfortunes. The Lord sends them for our good, to warn us against conceit and pride, to teach us humility and obedience, to purify our soul, as silver and gold are purified in fire, and finally, as was the case with some chosen ones, to show others an example of faith, patience, and love. The time of trial is difficult and terrible, the worst thing is that it comes suddenly and exposes a person for who he is, how much he believes, how much he loves... But whoever, by the grace of God, endures temptation, it will be forever memorable: there are so many edifying lessons in it! These days of sorrow experienced are like radiant stars illuminating the path of our lives. And the whole people, by the will of the Lord, are exposed to temptation. Such a temptation is especially the war, when all the forces of the people, both material, mental, and moral, are strained to the last degree, and it is revealed how strong and strong the people are. The temptation to which, according to the inscrutable destinies of God, Russia was subjected to at the end of the glorious and victorious reign of the deceased Emperor Nicholas in God, was especially terrible and dangerous precisely because of its suddenness. And this strange union of the two strongest Christian powers with the enemies of the faith, and then the accession of another third Christian power to this unnatural union, without any reason for this, and this treachery of a neighbor who had just been blessed with great mercy, and, finally, this rush of enemy forces towards one city almost defenseless from the land - all this was a series of completely unexpected blows. And now glorious Sevastopol stands alone for all of Russia against the giants of the world. Bombarded with cannonballs both from the sea and from the land, surrounded by a fiery stripe of guns spewing death every minute, it burned as if in a huge fiery Babylonian furnace. Gradually the flame of the fire expanded more and more, and finally there was no place left where one could hide from it. Terrible shells pierced both roofs and walls and, exploding in the basements, tore apart the children and women hiding there. We, who stood far from the struggle, vividly remember this terrible time: everyone’s eyes were directed there, to this long-suffering city, our hearts were there, the fate of all of us was decided there. “Even if iniquity be seen,” David sings, “Lord, Lord, whoever will stand” (Ps. 129:3). Such a grave and sudden temptation could not help but reveal foreign impurities and weaknesses in us. The reforms of the past glorious reign, which radically changed both the composition of the army and other parts of government, were a consequence of the terrible blow we suffered. But, due to some special arrangement, all these ulcers of ours were revealed for the most part around and near the glorious city, or the valor of its defenders shone so brightly that behind them the ulcers and disorder were no longer visible. Here, from the beginning to the end of the siege, the spirit of the first glorious leaders of the defense reigned, who sealed their behests to the army in its eyes with the death of heroes. Here, as if only what was best in the heart of Russia was deliberately gathered and revealed: and this selfless devotion to duty... “stay where you are,” “hold on until they kill you,” “either push the enemy back, or explode into thin air,” and this inexhaustible energy and, one might say, unparalleled diligence - in a few days the seven-verst fortress appears, work is carried out day and night, today some fortification is destroyed, overnight it was erected again before the eyes of the astonished enemy - and this invariable complacency, amid a hail of bullets and the crackle of bombs and grapeshots, and this is mercy and forgiveness... a moment of truce, and hostility is gone... And wondrous warriors defended us, and defended the honor and glory of Russia - not with these hasty embankments, not with these outdated weapons - with their own valiant breasts. And when, finally, the enemies took possession of the piles of blood-drenched stones, victory was clearly recognized and proclaimed in them and in the whole world, the great victory of the Russian people, a moral victory... Where did the Russian warrior find this fire of spirit, which for so long resisted the deadly fire of a weapon? The chronicles of defense clearly indicate this source of our strength, which, however, has been such at all times - this is faith, which was not yet touched by the corrupting spirit of our time, a living, sincere faith. The war was started for the faith, for the rights of the church. When the enemies were still moving towards us, a church was founded in Sevastopol in honor of St. Vladimir. The significance of this event was then clarified by our famous oration: “here is the font of our baptism, here is the beginning of our sacred history: rather, in all the mountains here there will not remain one stone upon another, rather than the moon taking the place of the Cross of Christ here.” The newly built walls were sprinkled with holy water during a solemn religious procession, and this touching sacred act expressed that all hope for protection rested on the mercy and help of God. Going to his post, the warrior went straight to death and prepared for it according to Christian rites: he put on a clean shirt and lit a candle in front of the holy icon. Everyone knows what a lively participation he took in the plight of the soldiers, how the valiant Archbishop Innocent encouraged, consoled, and blessed them. How many times on the battlefield, in its most difficult and fatal moments, with a cross in his hand, did the altar minister appear, and with this banner of victory, and with the sacred song “Lord, save Thy people,” inspired the tired and exhausted. This living and sincere faith placed its special, sacred imprint on the warrior’s relationship with the powers that be and with the fatherland. At the head of everything, the warrior saw the King, God’s Anointed One, and the relationship of the King to the warriors was in all truth and, one might say, in all artistic beauty - this is always the truth - the relationship of a loving Father to obedient and devoted children. In what touching expressions from the height of the throne love and gratitude were expressed to them and pronounced in the name of the Most High blessing! “No one should lose heart,” wrote Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich, “hope in God’s mercy. Remember that we, Russians, defend our native land and our faith, and surrender with obedience to the will of God... My prayers, my soul and all my thoughts are with you” (from a letter to Prince Menshikov). One can imagine how these words of mercy affected hearts so devoted to the Tsar, as only a Russian heart can be devoted to Him. With what tenderness the soldiers received the holy icon of the Mother of God, which the Queen Mother sent them as a blessing! Finally, on the very Wednesday of the warriors, under cannonballs and bombs, the king’s children appear to share with them their labors and dangers and to personally utter to them from the Sovereign Father and Mother words of blessings and signs of mercy. Let other nations, even if they were called the most enlightened, make an idol for themselves out of the thought of the people, and place above them these random, therefore inevitably weak, often insignificant rulers. The Tsar is dear to the Russian heart, as a living bearer of the power of God, a herald and executor of the will of the Most High, and as a mighty one, presented in living, clear, amiable features to the mind and heart, a representative of that dear fatherland, the honor and glory of which these valiant sons selflessly defended with such torments and sorrows. From whom else could a great ascetic, buried alive underground in these pits and mines, a Russian warrior, hear such strong approval of his feat, such living sympathy for his labors and sorrows? With his loving and submissive heart, he felt that the merciful eye of the Tsar saw him too, saw and appreciated his work and sorrow, and went to death not only to fulfill his duty, but also to console the Tsar’s heart, and calmly faced death in the confidence that the Lord would not only have mercy and forgive him for the work of love, but through his Anointed One would look upon his widow and orphans. Faith in God and the love it inspires for the Tsar and the Fatherland - this is the covenant left to us by the glorious leaders of the Sevastopol defense and especially bequeathed by them to the Christ-loving Russian army! “Blessed is the man who, having endured temptation, having already been skilled, receives the crown of life (James 1:12). Blessed are you, who fell for the Faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland. The feat of your love will be ranked among the feat of the holy martyrs of Christ. And the church will not cease to offer its prayers for you, as for its best and most chosen sons. Warm and sincere greetings to you, valiant participants in the great struggle! Our heart especially rejoices, seeing you here, among these participants, the valiant leader of the Russian army, that Son of the Tsars, Who spoke to the suffering soldiers these words of the Tsar’s-Fatherly favor and mercies of the Monarchs, so vital for them. Few of you, these eyewitnesses and participants in the glorious defense, remain alive. Death reaps its harvest even in the days of peace. But the Lord allowed you to see with your own eyes and feel in your heart that your glorious deed does not die, that it is passed on from generation to generation, like the most precious testament. And the further generations go, the higher and more luminous this glorious and unparalleled defense in history will shine before them. Having fulfilled to the best of our ability the duty of love for the defenders of Sevastopol who fell on the battlefield and died in the midst of the world, let us thank the Lord for His ineffable mercy shown to us in the days of trials, and grant us, Lord, the memory of this terrible visit, unceasing and firm within ourselves! Let us pray for the health and prosperity of our most pious emperor, for the entire reigning house and for the people faithful to him, “may our true holy faith always remain ours heartily and effectively, and with it our victory will always be.” Amen. You might be interested in: