July 17 is the day of memory of the Passion-Bearers of Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra, Tsarevich Alexy, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia.
In 2000, the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his family were canonized by the Russian Church as holy martyrs. Their canonization in the West - in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia - took place even earlier, in 1981. And although holy princes are not uncommon in the Orthodox tradition, this canonization is still in doubt among some. Why is the last Russian monarch glorified in the face of saints? Does his life and the life of his family speak in favor of canonization, and what were the arguments against it? The veneration of Nicholas II as the king-redeemer - an extreme or a pattern?
We are talking about this with the secretary of the Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints, the rector of the Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanitarian University, Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov.
Death as an argument
- Father Vladimir, where does such a term come from - royal martyrs? Why not just martyrs?
When in 2000 the Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints discussed the issue of glorifying the royal family, it came to the conclusion that although the family of Tsar Nicholas II was deeply religious, ecclesiastical and pious, all its members performed their prayer rule daily, regularly partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ and lived highly moral life, observing the gospel commandments in everything, constantly doing works of mercy, during the war they worked diligently in the hospital, caring for wounded soldiers, they can be canonized as saints primarily for their Christianly perceived suffering and violent death inflicted by the persecutors of the Orthodox faith with incredible cruelty. But still, it was necessary to clearly understand and clearly articulate why exactly the royal family was killed. Maybe it was just a political assassination? Then they cannot be called martyrs. However, both among the people and in the commission there was a consciousness and a sense of the holiness of their feat. Since the noble princes Boris and Gleb, called martyrs, were glorified as the first saints in Russia, and their murder was also not directly related to their faith, the idea arose to discuss the glorification of the family of Tsar Nicholas II in the same face.
When we say “royal martyrs”, do we mean only the family of the king? The relatives of the Romanovs, the Alapaevsk martyrs, who suffered at the hands of the revolutionaries, do not belong to this rank of saints?
No, they don't. The very word "royal" in its meaning can only be attributed to the family of the king in the narrow sense. After all, relatives did not reign, they were even titled differently than members of the sovereign's family. In addition, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Fedorovna Romanova - the sister of Empress Alexandra - and her cell-attendant Varvara can be called precisely martyrs for the faith. Elizaveta Feodorovna was the wife of the Governor-General of Moscow, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov, but after his assassination she was not involved in state power. She devoted her life to the cause of Orthodox mercy and prayer, founded and built the Martha and Mary Convent, and led the community of her sisters. Varvara, the sister of the monastery, shared her suffering and death with her. The connection of their suffering with faith is quite obvious, and both of them were canonized as new martyrs - abroad in 1981, and in Russia in 1992. However, now such nuances have become important for us. In ancient times, no distinction was made between martyrs and martyrs.
But why was it the family of the last sovereign who was glorified, although many representatives of the Romanov dynasty ended their lives with violent death?
Canonization generally takes place in the most obvious and instructive cases. Not all the murdered representatives of the royal family show us an image of holiness, and most of these murders were committed for political purposes or in the struggle for power. Their victims cannot be considered victims for their faith. As for the family of Tsar Nicholas II, it was so incredibly slandered by both contemporaries and the Soviet government that it was necessary to restore the truth. Their murder was epochal, it strikes with its satanic hatred and cruelty, leaves a feeling of a mystical event - the reprisal of evil with the God-established order of life of the Orthodox people.
- And what were the criteria for canonization? What were the arguments for and against?
The canonization commission worked on this issue for a very long time, very meticulously checking all the arguments “for” and “against”. At that time there were many opponents of the canonization of the king. Someone said that this should not be done because Tsar Nicholas II was "bloody", he was charged with the events of January 9, 1905 - the shooting of a peaceful demonstration of workers. The commission carried out special work to clarify the circumstances Bloody Sunday. And as a result of the study of archival materials, it turned out that the sovereign at that time was not in St. Petersburg at all, he was in no way involved in this execution and could not give such an order - he was not even aware of what was happening. Thus, this argument was dropped. All other "against" arguments were considered in a similar way, until it became clear that there were no weighty counter-arguments. The royal family was canonized not just because they were killed, but because they accepted the torment with humility, in a Christian way, without resistance. They could have taken advantage of those offers to flee abroad, which were made to him in advance. But they deliberately didn't want to.
- Why can't their murder be called purely political?
The royal family personified the idea of the Orthodox kingdom, and the Bolsheviks not only wanted to destroy possible contenders for the royal throne, they hated this symbol - Orthodox king. Killing the royal family, they destroyed the very idea, the banner of the Orthodox state, which was the main defender of all world Orthodoxy. This becomes understandable in the context of the Byzantine interpretation of royal power as the ministry of the “outside bishop of the church.” And in the synodal period, in the “Basic Laws of the Empire” published in 1832 (Articles 43 and 44), it was said: “The Emperor, like a Christian Sovereign, is the supreme defender and guardian of the dogmas of the dominant faith and the guardian of orthodoxy and every holy deanery in the Church. And in this sense, the emperor in the act of succession to the throne (dated April 5, 1797) is called the Head of the Church.
The sovereign and his family were ready to suffer for Orthodox Russia, for the faith, they understood their suffering in this way. The Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt wrote back in 1905: “Our Tsar of a righteous and pious life, sent by God to Him heavy cross suffering as His chosen and beloved child.
Renunciation: Weakness or Hope?
- How to understand then the abdication of the sovereign from the throne?
Although the sovereign signed the abdication of the throne as from the duties of governing the state, this does not mean yet his renunciation of royal dignity. Until his successor was appointed to the kingdom, in the minds of the whole people he still remained the king, and his family remained the royal family. They themselves perceived themselves as such, and the Bolsheviks perceived them in the same way. If the sovereign, as a result of renunciation, would lose his royal dignity and become an ordinary person, then why and who would need to persecute and kill him? When, for example, the presidential term ends, who will persecute the former president? The king did not seek the throne, did not conduct election campaigns, but was destined for this from birth. The whole country prayed for its king, and a liturgical rite of anointing with holy chrism to the kingdom was performed over him. From this anointing, which was the blessing of God on the most difficult service to the Orthodox people and Orthodoxy in general, the pious sovereign Nicholas II could not refuse without having a successor, and everyone understood this very well.
The sovereign, transferring power to his brother, withdrew from his managerial duties not out of fear, but at the request of his subordinates (almost all front commanders were generals and admirals) and because he was a humble person, and the very idea of \u200b\u200bstruggle for power was absolutely alien to him. He hoped that the transfer of the throne in favor of brother Michael (subject to his anointing to the throne) would calm the unrest and thereby benefit Russia. This example of refusal to fight for power in the name of the well-being of one's country, one's people is very instructive for the modern world.
- Did he somehow mention these views of his in diaries, letters?
Yes, but it can be seen from his very actions. He could have sought to emigrate, to go to a safe place, to organize a reliable guard, to secure his family. But he did not take any measures, he wanted to act not according to his own will, not according to his own understanding, he was afraid to insist on his own. In 1906, during the Kronstadt rebellion, the sovereign, after the report of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said the following: “If you see me so calm, it is because I have an unshakable faith that the fate of Russia, my own fate and the fate of my family are in the hands of the Lord. Whatever happens, I bow to His will." Already shortly before his suffering, the sovereign said: “I would not want to leave Russia. I love her too much, I'd rather go to the farthest end of Siberia. At the end of April 1918, already in Yekaterinburg, the Sovereign wrote: “Perhaps an expiatory sacrifice is needed to save Russia: I will be this sacrifice - may the will of God be done!”
“Many see renunciation as an ordinary weakness…
Yes, some see this as a manifestation of weakness: a powerful man, strong in the usual sense of the word, would not abdicate. But for Emperor Nicholas II, strength was in something else: in faith, in humility, in the search for a grace-filled path according to the will of God. Therefore, he did not fight for power - and it was hardly possible to keep it. On the other hand, the holy humility with which he abdicated the throne and then accepted a martyr's death still contributes to the conversion of the whole people with repentance to God. Still, the vast majority of our people - after seventy years of atheism - consider themselves Orthodox. Unfortunately, the majority are not churched people, but still they are not militant atheists. Grand Duchess Olga wrote from imprisonment in the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg: “Father asks me to tell all those who remained devoted to him, and those on whom they can influence, so that they do not avenge him - he has forgiven everyone and prays for everyone, and so that they remember that the evil that is now in the world will be even stronger, but that it is not evil that will overcome evil, but only love. And, perhaps, the image of a humble martyr tsar moved our people to repentance and faith to a greater extent than a strong and powerful politician could do.
Revolution: catastrophe inevitable?
- The way they lived, the way they believed last Romanovs influenced their canonization?
Undoubtedly. A lot of books have been written about the royal family, a lot of materials have been preserved that indicate a very high spiritual dispensation of the sovereign himself and his family - diaries, letters, memoirs. Their faith is attested by all who knew them and by many of their deeds. It is known that Emperor Nicholas II built many churches and monasteries, he, the Empress and their children were deeply religious people, regularly partaking of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. In conclusion, they constantly prayed and prepared in a Christian way for their martyrdom, and three days before their death, the guards allowed the priest to celebrate the liturgy in the Ipatiev House, at which all members of the royal family took communion. In the same place, Grand Duchess Tatiana in one of her books underlined the lines: “Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ went to their death, as if on a holiday, facing inevitable death, retaining the same wondrous peace of mind that did not leave them for a minute. They walked calmly towards death because they hoped to enter into a different, spiritual life, opening up for a person beyond the grave. And the Sovereign wrote: “I firmly believe that the Lord will have mercy on Russia and pacify passions in the end. May His Holy Will be done." It is also well known what place in their lives was occupied by works of mercy, which were performed in the spirit of the Gospel: the royal daughters themselves, together with the empress, cared for the wounded in the hospital during the First World War.
There is a very different attitude towards Emperor Nicholas II today: from accusations of lack of will and political failure to veneration as a redeeming king. Is it possible to find golden mean?
I think the most dangerous sign The grave condition of many of our contemporaries is the absence of any relation to the martyrs, to the royal family, in general to everything. Unfortunately, many people are now in some kind of spiritual hibernation and are not able to contain any serious questions in their hearts, to look for answers to them. It seems to me that the extremes that you have named are not found in the entire mass of our people, but only in those who are still thinking about something, looking for something else, striving for something internally.
What can be answered to such a statement: the tsar's sacrifice was absolutely necessary, and thanks to it Russia was redeemed?
Such extremes come from the lips of people who are theologically ignorant. So they begin to reformulate certain points of the doctrine of salvation in relation to the king. This, of course, is completely wrong; there is no logic, consistency or necessity in this.
- But they say that the feat of the New Martyrs meant a lot to Russia...
Only the feat of the New Martyrs alone was able to withstand the rampant evil that Russia was subjected to. Great people stood at the head of this martyr's army: Patriarch Tikhon, the greatest saints, such as Metropolitan Peter, Metropolitan Kirill and, of course, Tsar Nicholas II and his family. These are such great images! And the more time passes, the clearer will be their greatness and their significance.
I think that now, in our time, we can more adequately assess what happened at the beginning of the twentieth century. You know, when you are in the mountains, an absolutely amazing panorama opens up - a lot of mountains, ridges, peaks. And when you move away from these mountains, then all the smaller ridges go beyond the horizon, but only one huge snow cap remains above this horizon. And you understand: here is the dominant!
So it is here: time passes, and we are convinced that these new saints of ours were really giants, heroes of the spirit. I think that the significance of the feat of the royal family will be revealed more and more over time, and it will be clear what great faith and love they showed through their suffering.
In addition, a century later, it is clear that no most powerful leader, no Peter I, could, by his human will, restrain what was happening then in Russia.
- Why?
Because the cause of the revolution was the state of the whole people, the state of the Church - I mean the human side of it. We often tend to idealize that time, but in fact, everything was far from cloudless. Our people took communion once a year, and it was a mass phenomenon. There were several dozen bishops throughout Russia, the patriarchate was abolished, and the Church had no independence. The system of parochial schools throughout Russia - a huge merit of the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod K. F. Pobedonostsev - was created only by late XIX century. This, of course, is a great thing, the people began to learn to read and write precisely under the Church, but this happened too late.
Much can be listed. One thing is clear: faith has become largely ritual. Many saints of that time, if I may say so, testified to the difficult state of the soul of the people - first of all, St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), the holy righteous John of Kronstadt. They foresaw that this would lead to disaster.
Did Tsar Nicholas II and his family foresee this catastrophe?
Of course, and we find evidence of this in their diary entries. How could Tsar Nicholas II not feel what is happening in the country when his uncle, Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov, was killed right by the Kremlin with a bomb thrown by the terrorist Kalyaev? And what about the revolution of 1905, when even all the seminaries and theological academies were engulfed in a riot, so that they had to be temporarily closed? This speaks volumes about the state of the Church and the country. For several decades before the revolution, systematic persecution took place in society: faith, the royal family were persecuted in the press, terrorists attempted to kill the rulers ...
- You want to say that it is impossible to blame only Nicholas II for the troubles that have fallen on the country?
Yes, that's right - he was destined to be born and reign at that time, he could no longer change the situation simply by exerting his will, because it came from the depths of people's life. And under these conditions, he chose the path that was most characteristic of him - the path of suffering. The tsar suffered deeply, mentally suffered long before the revolution. He tried to defend Russia with kindness and love, he did it consistently, and this position led him to martyrdom.
What are these saints?
Father Vladimir, in Soviet times, obviously, canonization was impossible due to political reasons. But even in our time it took eight years… Why so long?
You know, more than twenty years have passed since perestroika, and the remnants of the Soviet era still have a very strong effect. They say that Moses wandered in the desert with his people for forty years because the generation that lived in Egypt and was brought up in slavery had to die. For the people to become free, that generation had to leave. And it is not very easy for the generation that lived under Soviet rule to change their mentality.
- Because of a certain fear?
Not only because of fear, but rather because of the stamps that were planted from childhood, which owned people. I knew many representatives of the older generation - among them priests and even one bishop - who still found Tsar Nicholas II during his lifetime. And I witnessed what they did not understand: why canonize him? what kind of saint is he? It was difficult for them to reconcile the image, which they perceived from childhood, with the criteria of holiness. This nightmare, which we now imagine and cannot truly imagine, when huge parts of Russian Empire, although the first World War promised to end victoriously for Russia; when terrible persecutions began, anarchy, Civil War; when the famine came in the Volga region, repressions unfolded, etc. - apparently, somehow it turned out to be linked in the young perception of the people of that time with the weakness of power, with the fact that there was no real leader among the people who could resist all this rampant evil . And some people remained under the influence of this idea until the end of their lives ...
And then, of course, it is very difficult to compare in your mind, for example, St. Nicholas of Myra, the great ascetics and martyrs of the first centuries, with the saints of our time. I know one old woman whose uncle, a priest, was canonized as a new martyr - he was shot for his faith. When she was told about this, she was surprised: “How ?! No, of course he was very good man but what kind of a saint is he? That is, it is not so easy for us to accept the people with whom we live as saints, because for us the saints are “celestials”, people from another dimension. And those who eat, drink, talk and worry with us - what kind of saints are they? It is difficult to apply the image of holiness to a person close to you in everyday life, and this also has a very great importance.
In 1991, the remains of the royal family were found and buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress. But the Church doubts their authenticity. Why?
Yes, there was a very long debate about the authenticity of these remains, many examinations were carried out abroad. Some of them confirmed the authenticity of these remains, while others confirmed the not very obvious reliability of the examinations themselves, that is, an insufficiently clear scientific organization process. Therefore, our Church has evaded the solution of this issue and left it open: it does not risk accepting what has not been sufficiently verified. There are fears that by taking one position or another, the Church will become vulnerable, because there is no sufficient basis for an unambiguous decision.
End crowns the work
Father Vladimir, I see that on your table, among others, there is a book about Nicholas II. What is your personal attitude towards him?
I grew up in an Orthodox family and knew about this tragedy from early childhood. Of course, he always treated the royal family with reverence. I have been to Yekaterinburg many times...
I think if you treat it with attention, seriously, then you can’t help but feel, see the greatness of this feat and not be fascinated by these wonderful images - the sovereign, the empress and their children. Their life was full of difficulties, sorrows, but it was wonderful! In what severity the children were brought up, how they all knew how to work! How not to admire the amazing spiritual purity of the Grand Duchesses! Modern young people need to see the life of these princesses, they were so simple, majestic and beautiful. For their chastity alone, they could already be canonized, for their meekness, modesty, readiness to serve, for their loving hearts and mercy. After all, they were very modest people, unpretentious, they never aspired to glory, they lived the way God set them, in the conditions in which they were placed. And in everything they were distinguished by amazing modesty, obedience. No one has ever heard them display any passionate character traits. On the contrary, a Christian dispensation of the heart was nurtured in them - peaceful, chaste. It is enough even just to look at photographs of the royal family, they themselves already show an amazing inner appearance - of the sovereign, and the empress, and the grand duchesses, and Tsarevich Alexei. The point is not only in education, but also in their very life, which corresponded to their faith and prayer. They were real Orthodox people: as they believed, so they lived, as they thought, so they acted. But there is a saying: "The end crowns the deed." “In whatever I find, in that I will judge,” says the Holy Scripture on behalf of God.
Therefore, the royal family was canonized not for their very high and beautiful life, but above all for their even more beautiful death. For the sufferings before death, for the faith, meekness and obedience to the will of God they went through these sufferings - this is their unique greatness.
Why do the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia remain unknown saints?
Martyr, martyr is a witness. He bears witness to the Truth - not just in words, but in such a terrible and glorious way: without renouncing it in the face of terrible torment and death. The martyrs of the first centuries of Christianity cemented its foundation with their blood. But in the 20th century, under the blows of demonic forces, its walls shook and swayed, already undermined by negligence and apostasy. And again, blood was needed. And again there was a call, inaudible to carnal ears: Faithful, testify! Nobody heard the latest evidence, except for the NKVD investigators and members of the legendary "troikas". The vulture "secretly" sealed the voices of the doomed - the executioners were sure that forever. However - there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed(Mark 4:22). The hour struck, hands were found, untied the laces of gray folders with black vultures. The candle that they tried to hide in the deaf darkness, the Lord Himself placed at the right time on a candlestick(see: Mark 4:21). And we have a lot to see now - by the light of this candle.
But why are we not in a hurry to see? Why do the fates of the Russian New Martyrs, even those of them who are commemorated at every all-night vigil, not arouse mass interest and attract the attention of, well, perhaps historians and individual well-read parishioners? Why do these people, who are not far from us in time, remain unknown saints to us?
Why do we, today's Orthodox Christians, who have received our happiness - the happiness of freely and openly belonging to the Church - for free, think so little about what blood, what torments, so many sacrifices our happiness is actually paid for?
Archimandrite Zacchaeus (Wood), rector of the church in the name of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine on Vspolye (Moscow Compound of the Orthodox Church in America):
— I am not at all convinced that the Russians do not know their newly glorified saints. On the contrary, I feel that the Russian people love them. Hieromartyr Peter Postnikov is especially dear to our parishioners, the clergy of our church.
For me personally, as a son of the American Orthodox Church, the closest, of course, are those of the New Martyrs whose earthly path is somehow connected with the American continent. This is Archpriest John Kochurov, who served at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Chicago. It was through his efforts that the community in Chicago raised funds to build a beautiful church consecrated by St. Tikhon, the future Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, when he was Archbishop of the Aleutian and North American. I had the honor and special grace - I was ordained a deacon at the throne of this cathedral. Also close to my heart is Hieromartyr Alexander Khotovitsky, who was martyred as a dean of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow and previously served on the American continent, was an associate of St. Tikhon and Father John Kochurov.
The blood of the new martyrs has become a grace for thousands and thousands of Russian people who have become acquainted with the saints of the 20th century through reading their lives, through stories about their sufferings and deeds, and finally, through prayerful communion with them. The host of New Martyrs and Confessors is the great wealth of the Russian Orthodox Church, and they are reverently revered now in its entirety. That is why His Holiness the Patriarch annually serves the Divine Liturgy at the Butovo training ground. Every year I serve His Holiness on this Russian Golgotha, and these services have great spiritual significance for me.
Marina Shilova, director of the Sunday school at the church in the name of St. Seraphim of Sarov, Saratov:
“Each new holy name is a new example of human destiny, an example for each of us. This is the image of a burning candle, love for others. This is the alarm, at which we only look back in confusion - what to do? This is the voice of the soldiers of Christ, appealing to our conscience: “Stop sleeping! Think again! Start loving each other with a merciful love. Throw away everything petty and superficial, ignite your hearts with faith and do not let everyday bustle put out this weak flame. The Russian New Martyrs completely trusted the will of God and remained faithful and courageous until death. The veneration of these saints is one of the first steps towards the revival of our Fatherland.
Why, then, do they remain unknown saints to us?.. You often come across the fact that people can name no more than two or three names of the New Martyrs of Russia. Apparently, there are many reasons: both the fact that we learned about them relatively recently, and the fact that there are no akathists, services ... But a huge layer of the history of our country and church history is connected with the names of the new martyrs. But they will remain unknown saints if we do not strive to learn more about them and pass on our knowledge to children. As a Sunday school teacher, I try to work in this direction. In extracurricular activities, school events For pupils and their parents, we pay special attention to the topic of the New Martyrs of Russia. Children and parents get acquainted with the life of Saratov Hieromartyr Mikhail Platonov, because the history of the church in the name of St. Seraphim of Sarov is connected with this saint. Days of Remembrance are held at the school, when each pupil can light a memorial candle and sing “Eternal Memory” together with everyone. On October 10, together with the children, we visit the Resurrection Cemetery, where a prayer service and memorial service are served at the place of death and burial of the Saratov New Martyrs.
This year, teachers and pupils of our Sunday school visited the holy places of the Yekaterinburg diocese, the places of the martyrdom of the holy Royal Passion-bearers - the family of the last Russian Tsar-martyr Nicholas II and the venerable martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth. Such trips help to reflect on the meaning of our Christian life. New martyrs are ordinary Russian people who lived on our land a little earlier than us; people who have attained holiness are for us a prime example true Christian life and possibly death. I think that it is to the New Martyrs of Russia that every Russian should cry for help, so that our faith is strengthened, so that our Fatherland has someone and for whom to protect.
Priest Georgy Ivankov, Rector of the Church of the Holy Royal Martyrs, Dubki, Saratov District:
On the one hand, it is a matter of time. The tradition of veneration cannot be formed in a few years. No matter how much we would like to say that the New Martyrs are our countrymen, their descendants live among us, they are newly glorified saints. And we have been venerating St. Nicholas for more than a thousand years, and he came to Russia already a saint.
But on the other hand, this is also our - priests - fault. We tell people very little about these saints, although we commemorate them at the all-night vigil, although we commemorate them on the appointed day. It is impossible to plant the cult of the New Martyrs by force, “from above,” but it is our duty to help form the tradition. It seems to me that it would be possible to hold special classes, seminars for priests on this topic. Books about them, hagiographic literature are also needed. When there are such books in the temple, they are in demand and attention. And the parishioners respond when you tell them about these people and about the miracles that really happen - for example, when referring to the Royal Passion-Bearers, to the family of the last Russian emperor: the rumor about a miracle diverges especially quickly.
Priest Vyacheslav Danilov, rector of the church in honor of the Nativity of Christ, p. Rybushka of the Saratov region:
Yes, there is no wide public veneration, there are few churches consecrated in the name of the new martyrs today, many of these saints remain only locally venerated. The rest are commemorated at services dedicated to the cathedrals of saints, but only a few of the parishioners praying at these services can tell something about those who are commemorated. There are few such newly glorified saints who are known to many: Saint Alexy Mechev, his son, Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev, Hieromartyr Hilarion, Archbishop of Vereya, and some others. The reason is perhaps that the canonization of the New Martyrs was not a consequence of their popular veneration. The oppression of the anti-religious authorities could not but affect all aspects of church, spiritual life. The people's memory has preserved very little. It can be said that the people do not remember the feat of the martyrs and confessors of the twentieth century: the memory is etched. Information about the life of confessors has to be collected bit by bit.
In our church, the throne was consecrated in the name of Hieromartyr Cosmas of Saratov. And when I tell about him to people who come to Rybushka for the first time, when I distribute his life to the parishioners (I try to ensure that every parishioner has it), people very often ask the question: have his relics been preserved? Is it possible to go to the place of his burial? And we have to explain that this is impossible in this case.
Restore the memory of the people, create and strengthen the tradition of veneration of the saints who suffered for Christ in Soviet years, is a lot of work, but it is quite real.
Archpriest Alexy Abramov, rector of the church in the name of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene, Saratov:
— Soviet period for the Russian Orthodox Church became crowned: a whole host of holy martyrs and confessors were honored with martyr crowns. Most of them died in obscurity (which the Soviet authorities took care of). Those of our contemporaries who know that their relatives were martyred for Christ often do not attach much importance to their deeds, do not remember their names; their feat does not become an example of Christian life. I recall the story of one rural woman living in the Saratov region: during the period of the persecution of the Church, her relative was a priest, after his arrest no one was allowed to visit him or give him any food. The priest was starved to death, and after death, the body was given to the relatives. However, this woman could not tell any details - where he served, in what rank, or at least what his name was, although he was related to her. In part, this ignorance is due to the horror of the Soviet state and the careful desire to forget, hide from others and even from their own children, involvement in the "enemy of the people." That is why they forgot their names, did not keep their memory of the martyr's Christian feat, and only a faint echo remained in the family tradition: "there was ...".
Our church is one of many monuments to the Christian martyrdom. The rector of the church in the name of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene at the Mariinsky Institute for Noble Maidens, Archpriest Sergius Ilmensky, who, after the death of his wife, was tonsured with the name Feofan, and later the episcopal rank, received a martyr's crown and was glorified in the host of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. The parishioners of our church honor his memory with special love. We collect historical evidence about him, for which a trip to the homeland of the holy martyr was organized; thanks to the hard work of the parishioners, his icon was painted; a bell was cast with his icon and a prayer to him. His memory day - December 24 - we celebrate as a special parish holiday. You and I, living after one of the most cruel persecutions of the Church, considering ourselves the heirs of those who suffered for the faith of Christ, must remember Tertullian's words that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christianity." Let us be worthy workers in the field of Christ, so that the fruits of these seeds will sprout already in our lifetime.
Alexey Naumov, historian, author of the books “Lands of the Khvalynsk Temples”, “Russian Cross of Count Medem”, “Counts of Medem, Khvalyn branch”:
— The world is undergoing global changes. There is a devaluation, or rather, a substitution of concepts: love, faith, honor. A person ceases to believe in goodness. Mass media culture forms its own cult: glamour, parties, luxury. Society as a whole has a consumer consciousness. The stratum of true believers is small. Through their efforts, churches are built and consecrated in honor of the new martyrs, their holy relics are found, historical research and lives. Someone's work may seem like a drop in the ocean, but streams can gather from such drops, which someday will merge into rivers and seas.
The New Martyrs of the 20th century are our great-grandfathers, grandfathers, and for the older generation, their parents. Their spiritual feat is part of the history of our families. But I think it will take time to fully appreciate and comprehend everything. Many New Martyrs lack attributes corresponding to the saint: extended hagiography, icon-painting image, troparion. But there are new martyrs and confessors who are already revered throughout the Orthodox world. For example, St. Luke of Crimea (Voino-Yasenetsky), the Royal Passion-Bearers. And here big role belongs to the Russian Diaspora, or rather, to emigrants and refugees of the first wave and their descendants. They lost their homeland, but no one took away their God and the opportunity to build temples.
And further. It took ten years of work to make the holy martyr Count Alexander Medem known in the Saratov region! This includes speeches at conferences, and a book that has now been translated into German and published in Germany, and a memorial plaque on the house where he lived, this is an art exhibition "Khvalynskaya Alexandria". And here is the result: the Orthodox gymnasium in Khvalynsk is named after our saint! For many, Count Medem has already become a source of spiritual strength, and I am sure that the number of his admirers will grow.
Nelli Tsygankova, library worker at the church in honor of the Intercession of the Mother of God, Pokrovsk (Engels):
“They will remain unknown saints if we do nothing to honor them, to perpetuate their martyrdom. It seems to me that on the days of their memory it is necessary not only to mention their names during the service, but to talk about them separately, as the priests tell in sermons about other saints. It would be nice to hang out somewhere in a conspicuous place in the porch a leaflet about the service and martyrdom of that new martyr whose memory falls on this day. You just need to work with the calendar and find the necessary information in advance in books or on the Internet. Not even priests could do this, but employees of temple libraries or regular parishioners. In Sunday schools, classes should be held on the New Martyrs of Russia, and, of course, in churches on their memorable days, their icons should be placed on lecterns.
I have a special relationship with the New Martyrs, which is partly why. My grandfather, Pavel Petrovich Bogoyavlensky, came from the village of Malaya Moroshka, the former Morshansky district of the Tambov province. My grandmother, who took me as a child to one of the two churches that were then operating in Saratov, the Holy Trinity Cathedral, did not tell me anything about my grandfather, but there were rumors in the family that he was from the family of clergymen. All the Epiphany in this village were from the priestly class. And in the same village in 1848 was born Vasily Nikiforovich Bogoyavlensky, the future Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia Vladimir, who under the Soviet regime became the first holy martyr in the rank of bishop. According to our family tradition, the Hieromartyr Metropolitan Vladimir was my grandfather's second cousin. Like it or not, it is virtually impossible to establish with accuracy now. But I greatly revere the New Martyrs and consider the prayerful memory of them a matter of extreme importance.
Svetlana Kleimenova, Bibliographer of the Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts of the Zonal scientific library them. V.A. Artisevich of Saratov state university:
—Unfortunately, not much is known about the new martyrs. So many names - and behind each name someone's fate ... It seems to me that the point is precisely in insufficient awareness, and by no means in indifference to the fates of these people, because their fates cannot leave anyone indifferent.
I read about the Holy Martyr Vladimir Ambartsumov, whose childhood was spent in Saratov, his father founded the Saratov School for Deaf Children. In the fate of Father Vladimir, it is striking how long and patiently the Lord led him from Lutheranism, through Baptism, to the true faith - Orthodoxy, to the adoption of holy orders, and finally - to the martyr's crown, which he was waiting for, to which he walked consciously. Father Vladimir became the founder of a large, friendly Orthodox family. His son is a priest, as are numerous grandchildren. Daughter Lydia, in the marriage of Kaleda, in the monasticism of George, died recently. Another evidence of that terrible era, when I read about these people, was remembered and amazed. A little boy asks his mother: “Mom, why are they taking everyone away, but they don’t come for us?” And the mother calmly replies: “That’s because, son, we are not worthy to suffer for Christ.” The boy grew up and became a priest, this is Father Gleb Kaleda. But after all, the majority of Soviet children went to school, taught, as expected, "The Death of a Pioneer", "Left March" and about nothing such didn't think about it.
On the whole, the feat of our saints of the 20th century is a book to be opened… Here, much will depend on the efforts of historians who will recreate them through painstaking archival work. life path each of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. Many now say that the New Martyrs of Russia are like the Christians of the first centuries. True. However, the veneration of Christians of the first centuries was shaped by a centuries-old tradition. Our new martyrs showed the same fidelity to Christ as the first Christians, but the time has come for everyone to learn about the podvig of their faith quite recently.
Alisa Orlova, journalist, Moscow:
- I am a direct descendant of the repressed, my great-grandfather died in the camp, my grandfather served time and left, my great-grandmother got a nervous illness from constant fear that everything would happen again, that they would come again ... In the Soviet post-Stalin years, the population was divided into two categories: repression did not know or did not want to think about it, because it did not affect their families; others, those directly affected by it, remained silent. My grandfather never talked about what he experienced, I know a little, in particular, that he wore a cross sewn into a camp padded jacket.
It so happened that I came on my journalistic business to the church in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Rogozhskaya Sloboda; the last rector of this church before the closure was the holy martyr Peter Nikotin, an archpriest, he was shot at the Butovo training ground along with four of his parishioners. Entering the temple, I immediately saw such an information stand, and on it, among other documents telling about the last rector, was the protocol of his interrogation in 1937. I read it and couldn't put it down. What courage must have been possessed by a person who calmly said in the face of his tormentors: “My worldview does not correspond to the Soviet one ... Another system, not the Soviet one, should rule the country.” But this was not the first arrest in his life! After that, I read everything I could find about the Hieromartyr Peter and about his church.
In order to remember and honor the New Martyrs, we need to learn more about them, we need to find the strength within ourselves; go where they served, where they accepted their martyr's crowns - to the Butovo training ground, to other similar places - and touch this shrine. This is our most recent history. Whether we honor our saints does not depend on anyone else, but on ourselves.
Journal "Orthodoxy and Modernity" No. 18 (34), 2011
The future Emperor Nicholas II Romanov was born on May 6 (19), 1868. His father Alexander III gave his son a semi-military strict upbringing, the Tsarevich forever developed the habit of a modest life, simple food and hard work. The boy grew up in an atmosphere of Orthodox piety, and from early childhood he had a deep religious feeling. Those who knew him tell that the Royal Child, hearing stories about the Passion of the Savior, sympathized with Him with all his soul and even pondered how to save Him from the Jews.
In 1894, after the death of his father, Nikolai Alexandrovich ascended the Russian Throne and in the same year married the Hessian princess Alix, who received the name Alexandra Feodorovna in Holy Baptism. The coronation celebrations were overshadowed by several accidental tragedies, which were perceived by the people as ominous omens.
The Royal Couple had five children: daughters Olga, Tatyana, Maria, Anastasia and a son - the heir Alexei. The Sovereign brought up his children in the same way as he was brought up himself - in the spirit of the Orthodox faith and folk traditions: the whole family often attended services, fasted. Empress Alexandra, who was born in Lutheranism, like her sister, the venerable martyr Elizabeth, embraced Orthodoxy with all her heart and stood out with her piety even among the Russian people. She loved the long, orderly statutory services, she always followed the course of the service from books. It is not surprising that the frivolous court society revered her as a hypocrite and saint.
The sovereign actively participated in church life, much more than his predecessors: during the reign of Nicholas II, 250 monasteries and more than 10 thousand churches were opened in Russia and abroad. During his reign, more saints were glorified than in the previous 2 centuries. At the same time, the Emperor had to show special perseverance, seeking the canonization of the now so revered Seraphim of Sarov, Joasaph of Belgorod, John of Tobolsk. Nicholas II highly honored St. John of Kronstadt, and the righteous John often called on the people to stand up for their Tsar, predicting that otherwise the Lord would take the Tsar away from Russia and let her rulers who would flood the whole earth with blood.
The deep sincere faith of the Tsar brought him closer to the common people. However, the Sovereign also patronized other religions, therefore not only the Orthodox loved him; for example, the Emperor's bodyguards were Muslim Caucasians. Sometimes the Tsar's tolerance even went against the interests of the Orthodox Church.
The Sovereign treated the Tsar's ministry as his sacred domain. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was a model politician for him - at the same time a reformer and careful guardian of national traditions and faith. In public affairs, Nicholas II proceeded from religious and moral convictions. On his initiative, the famous Hague conventions on the humane conduct of war were concluded, but his proposal for general disarmament remained misunderstood.
From the beginning of the First World War, the Tsar was always with his army, personally led, although not always successfully, military operations, and communicated a lot with the soldiers. The Empress and her daughters became sisters of mercy and cared for the wounded. The personal participation of the royal family in the feat of war helped the people to patiently bear this feat. However, the pro-Western intelligentsia, which already fell away from folk traditions and faith before the war, now, taking advantage of the difficulties of wartime, has stepped up its activities of Orthodoxy and the monarchy. There is no doubt that Nicholas II made significant miscalculations in foreign and domestic policy, he deeply experienced them and was inclined to see his personal fault in the misfortunes of the Fatherland.
By the spring of 1917, a conspiracy had matured in the tsar's entourage to remove Nicholas II from power. On March 2, betrayed by his closest people, the Sovereign was forced to sign the Abdication of the Throne in favor of his brother Michael. “I do not want at least one drop of Russian blood to be shed for me,” said Nikolai Alexandrovich. Grand Duke Michael refused to accept the crown, and the monarchy in Russia fell. The former emperor and his family were arrested by the Provisional Government.
Sovereign Nikolai Alexandrovich was born on the day of the memory of Job the Long-suffering and often repeated that this coincidence was not accidental: the Sovereign, according to many, foresaw the misfortunes that would fall to his lot, and in the last year of his life, Nicholas II really became like an ancient righteous man . Together with the Sovereign, all the members of his Family carried the same cross. Once in custody, they were subjected to incessant humiliation and bullying, the guards enjoyed the power over the former Autocrat. The royal prisoners experienced a particularly difficult time, having fallen into the hands of the Bolsheviks. At the same time, they behaved with unfailing calmness and good-naturedness, it seemed that they were completely insensitive to harassment and insults. The most hard-hearted escorts, faced with the meekness of the former Tsar and his Family, were soon imbued with sympathy for them, and therefore the authorities had to change guards frequently. In captivity, the Imperial Family did not leave prayer, the reading of the Holy Scriptures. According to the memoirs of the executioners, the prisoners amazed everyone with their religiosity. The confessor allowed to confess them testifies to the amazing moral height at which these sufferers, especially children, were, as if completely alien to any earthly dirt. According to the diaries and letters of the Royal Family, it is clear that it was not their own misfortunes, for example, the constant illnesses of their children, that caused them the most suffering, but the fate of Russia, which was dying before our eyes. Outwardly calm, the Sovereign wrote: “The best time for me is the night, when I can forget at least a little.”
April 26, 1918 royal family transported to Yekaterinburg to the house of engineer Ipatiev, as the Bolsheviks feared that the prisoners would be released by the advancing White Army. The regime is being tightened: walks are prohibited, the doors to the rooms were not closed - the guards could enter at any moment. On July 16, a cipher message was received from Moscow containing an order to execute the Romanovs. On the night of July 16-17, the prisoners were lowered into the basement under the pretext of an early move, then suddenly soldiers with rifles appeared, the “verdict” was hastily read out, and immediately the guards opened fire. The shooting was chaotic - the soldiers were given vodka before that - therefore the holy martyrs were finished off with bayonets. Together with royal family servants died: doctor Yevgeny Botkin, maid of honor Anna Demidova, cook Ivan Kharitonov and lackey Trupp, who remained faithful to them to the end. After the execution, the bodies were taken outside the city to an abandoned mine in the Ganina Yama tract, where they were destroyed for a long time with the help of sulfuric acid, gasoline and grenades. There is an opinion that the murder was ritual, as evidenced by the inscriptions on the walls of the room where the martyrs died. Ipatiev's house was blown up in the 70s.
During all the time of Soviet power, violent blasphemy poured out on the memory of the holy Tsar Nicholas, nevertheless, many among the people, especially in emigration, from the very moment of his death, revered the martyr tsar. Countless testimonies of miraculous help through prayers to the Family of the last Russian Autocrat; popular veneration of the royal martyrs in last years the twentieth century became so wide that in August 2000, at the Jubilee Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, Sovereign Nikolai Alexandrovich, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and their children Alexei, Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia were canonized as holy martyrs. Their memory is celebrated on the day of their martyrdom - July 17th.
Passion-bearer - the name of the Christian martyrs. In principle, this name can be applied to all martyrs who endured suffering (passion, lat. passio) in the name of Christ. Mostly, this name refers to those saints who endured suffering and death with Christian meekness, patience and humility, and in their martyrdom the light of Christ's faith conquering evil was revealed. Often the holy martyrs accepted a martyr's death not from the persecutors of Christianity, but from their co-religionists - because of their malice, deceit, conspiracy. Accordingly, in this case, the special nature of their feat is emphasized - good-naturedness and non-resistance to enemies. So, in particular, the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, St. Demetrius Tsarevich are often referred to.
Based on the materials of the report of Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk.
At the dawn of Christianity, persecution of the Church of Christ was almost universal. It was very difficult for the pagan world to accept the teachings of Christ.
How can you, for example, love and forgive your enemy? For a person of that time - an unacceptable thought: countries and peoples were in constant war. How can you ever forgive? After all, there is a court with well-developed Roman law.
The ideas of the Divine Teacher led many into bewilderment, and it very often grew into hatred and anger towards those who managed to contain the New Testament. And many of the latter became the first: martyrs, persecuted.
Recent history has also revealed many martyrs who (unlike the ancients) had no choice: to apostatize from God or not.
Such is the family of the last Russian emperor, whom none of the persecutors offered to renounce Christ. But it was precisely in the lack of alternatives to suffering for Him that our Church saw a feat worthy of glorification.
Such are the hundreds of known and nameless victims of mass repressions during the hard times.
New persecutions not only surpassed in their scale the persecution of Christians in the ancient world. The most sophisticated methods of reprisals, deceit and falsifications were developed.
Unlike the Roman executioners, the experts from Lubyanka were well aware of the teachings and practices of the Church. And from the very beginning of the persecution, one of their tasks was to prevent the glorification of new saints. That is why the true fate of confessors of the faith was unknown to their contemporaries: interrogations took place in dungeons, investigation materials were often falsified, executions were carried out secretly.
Hiding the true motives of their repressive policy, the persecutors passed sentences on confessors under political articles, accusing their victims of "counter-revolutionary activities."
Outwardly, this is very unlike the fate of the martyrs of the Ancient Church. However, only at first glance. After all, the people of the Church, who had not taken off their cross during the years of repression, and who had often already gone through arrests, prisons and camps, knew what lay ahead for them. Arrest and execution only completed their daily confessional feat.
New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia- this is how the Church calls all those who suffered for their faith in Christ in Russia during the period of post-revolutionary persecution.
Their exact number is unknown, but presumably exceeds one million people.
Among those who died for professing Christianity are about 200 bishops and from 300 to 380 thousand priests.
The murders of believers by the anti-Christian authorities began immediately after the revolution and culminated in 1937-38, when every second priest (106,800) was shot, and most of the survivors served long terms in camps.
By 1940, only four bishop Russian Orthodox Church, continued to operate about a hundred parishes.
Among the New Martyrs and Confessors - the Murdered Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, heir to the throne Tsarevich Alexei, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, Grand Duchess Elizabeth, Metropolitan of Kyiv Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky), Metropolitan of Petrograd Veniamin (Kazansky), Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne Metropolitans Peter (Polyansky) and Agafangel (Preobrazhensky), Archbishop Thaddeus (Uspensky), Bishop of Revel and Estonian Platon (Kulbush) and many tens of thousands of known and unknown clergy, monastics and laity who, by death and suffering in chains, testified their fidelity to Christ.
The cathedral glorification of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia took place at the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in August 2000.
