Regarding the Royal Passion-Bearers/New Martyrs of Russia

[Apologist]

Here are a few excerpts from an article:

One of the main arguments of the opponents of the canonization of the Tsar Family is the assertion that the death of Emperor Nicholas II and his Family cannot be acknowledged as martyrdom in Christ's name. The Commission, basing on the thorough consideration of the circumstances of the death of the Tsar Family suggests that they should be canonized as Saint strastoterptsy. In the liturgical literature and in Lives of Saints of the Russian Orthodox Church the word 'strastoterpets' is applied to those Russian Saints who, emulating Christ, humbly and with patience endured physical and moral sufferings and death at the hands of their political adversaries. The examples of strastoterptsy in Russian history were Saint Dukes Boris and Gleb (+1015), Igor of Chernigov (+1147), Andrei of Bogolubovo (+1174), Mikhail of Tver (1319) and Tsarevich Dimitry (+1591). All of them by their feat of strastoterpchestvo gave the lofty example of Christian morality and patience.

The Emperor unfailingly attended to the needs of the Orthodox Church, generously donating money for the construction of new churches in Russia and abroad as well. During the years of his reign the number of parishes in Russia rose by more than 10 000, more than 250 new monasteries were opened. The Emperor personally took part in the laying the first stone of new churches and in other Church festivities.
Deep piety singled out the Royal couple among the aristocracy of that time. The upbringing of the children of the Royal dynasty was imbued with religious spirit. All its members lived according to traditions of Orthodox piety. Going to Church on Sundays and every Church feast, fasting was an essential part of their life. The personal religiousness of the Tsar and his wife was not in merely following traditions. The Royal couple visited churches and monasteries during their numerous voyages, worshipped miracle-working icons and Saints' relics, made pilgrimages, as it was in 1903 during the glorification of St.Seraphim of Sarov. Short services in the court churches could not satisfy the Emperor and Empress. They went to the cathedral of St. Theodore in Tsarskoye Selo, where Empress Alexandra prayed before the lectern with liturgical books open and attentively followed the process of the Divine Service.

Devoutness of the Emperor revealed itself in the fact that during the years of his reign there were more saints canonized than during the two preceding centuries, when only 5 Saints had been glorified. At the time of the last reign Theodosius of Chernigov (1896), Venerable Seraphim of Sarov (1903), St. Duchess Anna of Kashino (veneration re-established in 1909), Holy Hierarch Josaph of Belgorod (1911), Holy Hierarch Germogen of Moscow (1913), Holy Hierarch Pitirim of Tambov (1914) and Holy Hierarch John of Tobolsk (1916) were canonized. And the Emperor had to show particular persistence in trying to achieve the decision of canonization of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, Holy Hierarchs Josaph of Belgorod and John of Tobolsk. Nicholas II highly revered St. Righteous Father John of Kronstadt. After his beatific decease the Tsar ordered nation-wide commemoration of the departed on the day of his death.

As a politician and State figure the Tsar acted on his religious and moral principles. One of the most common arguments against the canonization of Emperor Nicholas II are the events of 9 January 1905 in Saint-Petersburg. In the historical note of the Commission concerning this question it is explained: Having read on January 8th Gapon's petition, which had the character of a revolutionary ultimatum not allowing to start constructive negotiations with the representatives of the workers, the Tsar had ignored this document, illegal in its form and undermining the authority of the State power, which was unstable under war conditions as it was. During the whole day of January 9th the Tsar hadn't taken any decisions directed at the suppression of the mass demonstrations of the workers. It was the Commander-in-Chief of St. Petersburg who gave the order to open fire to the troops. Historical evidence doesn't allow us to suggest that there was conscious evil will in the activity of the Tsar, which was turned against the people and was embodied in concrete sinful actions and decisions.

From the beginning of the First World War the Tsar regularly went to the Headquarters, visits the military units of the front-line forces, aid-posts, military hospitals, munitions, in short, everything that played a role in this war. The Empress devoted herself to the wounded from the very beginning of the war. Having taken a course in hospital nursing, she together with elder daughters, Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana, every day for several hours looked after the wounded in the hospital in Tsarskoye Selo. The Emperor regarded his being the Supreme Commander-in-Chief as performing his moral and State duty before God and the people, at the same time always giving the leading military experts broad initiative in the solution of military-strategic and operational-tactical schemes.

The judgements of Nicholas II as a State figure are extremely contradictory. In discussing this we should never forget, that considering State activity from the Christian point of view we must consider not this or that form of a State order, but the place, which is taken by a concrete person in the State structure. The subject to assessment is how this or that person has managed to embody Christian ideals in their life. We should note that Nicholas II looked upon his monarchic responsibilities as his holy duty.

There were two periods in the life of Emperor Nicholas II - the time of his reign and the time of his confinement. The Commission has attentively studied the last days of the Tsar Family, connected with suffering and martyrdom of its members. Emperor Nicholas often compared his life with the great suffering of Job's, on the day of whose Church commemoration he was born. Having taken his Cross as the Biblical righteous man, he endured all trials steadily, meekly and without a slightest murmur. This very patience was clearly revealed in the last days of the Emperor's life.

From the moment of the abdication it was not the outward events, but rather the inner spiritual state of the Tsar that takes our attention. The Tsar having taken, as it seemed to him, the only right decision, at the same time experienced severe spiritual torment. "If I stand in the way of the happiness of Russia and all the leading social forces ask me to leave the throne and pass it to my brother and son, I'm ready to do this, ready not only the reign, but the whole my life give for my Motherland. I think nobody who knows me can doubt it", - said the Tsar to General D. Dubensky.

"Tsar Emperor Nicholas, having seen so much betrayal around him… retained indestructible belief in God, fatherly love for the Russian people, readiness to lay his life for the honour and glory of his Motherland". On March 8th 1917 the commissars of the Provisional Government having arrived in Mogilev, announced through General Alekseyev about the arrest of the Tsar and necessity to go to Tsarskoye Selo. He addresses his troops for the last time, calling for the fidelity to the Provisional Government, the very one which had subjected him to arrest, appealing for performing one's duty before the Motherland to the completion of victory.

In methodical killing of every member of the Royal dynasty that fell in their hands, the Bolsheviks were first of all guided by ideology because the national view of the Emperor was still as of the Anointed Monarch, and the entire Tsar Family symbolized Russia, which was being destroyed. On July 21st 1918 His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon in his sermon at the Divine Liturgy in Moscow Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan as if had answered the questions and doubts which after eight decades the Russian Church tries to comprehend: "We know that he (Emperor Nicholas II - M.J.) abdicated from the throne with a view to the good for Russia and because of his love for it."

The Royal Family spent a lot of time reading edifying books, first of all the Holy Scriptures and regularly, almost unfailingly attended Church services. Kindness and peace of mind hadn't left the Empress in this difficult time. The Emperor, being of reserved disposition, felt calm and placid only in close family circle. The Empress didn't enjoy the life of high society.

Moral dissipation, which reigned at the court, was alien to the strict upbringing of the Empress; her religiousness was regarded as oddity, even as hypocrisy. In the letters of Tsarina Alexandra one can see the whole depth of her religious feelings- there is so much strength of spirit, dolefulness about the fate of Russia, faith and hope for the help of God in them. Whoever she wrote to, she found the words of support and compassion. These letters are the real evidence of Christian faith. The prisoners found solace and strength for enduring sorrows in spiritual reading, prayer, divine service, taking Holy Communion.
In the letters of the Tsarina a lot is said about her spiritual life as well as the other members of her Family. "There is a great comfort in prayer: I feel sorry for those who find it unfashionable, unnecessary to pray…" In another letter she writes: "Lord, help to those who can't hold love of God in their embittered hearts, who only see everything bad and don't try to understand that all this will be gone, it can't be other way, Saviour has come and given us a lead. Who follows His way of love and suffering, comprehends all the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven".

The Tsar children meekly and humbly endured all humiliation and sufferings together with the parents. Archpriest Athanasy Belyayev, who confessed the Tsar children, wrote: "The impression [from the confession] was like this: Lord, let every child be so high morally, as the children of the former Tsar. Such gentleness, humbleness, obedience to parental will, full devotedness to God's will, purity in thoughts and total unfamiliarity of the earthly life - passionate and sinful, - wrote he, - amazed me and I was absolutely bewildered: should I, as confessor, remind them of the sins, which were probably not known to them, and how to bring them to repentance in sins which were familiar to them".

In almost complete isolation from the outward world, surrounded by rude and cruel guardians, the prisoners of the Ipatyev's house show remarkable nobleness and lucidity of mind. Their genuine greatness of spirit came not from their monarchical origin, but from extraordinary spiritual height, which they gradually had reached. Together with the Royal Family the servants who followed them in their exile had been shot to death.

[Chrysostomos]

I believe that they did a DNA analysis from Ana Anderson and compared it the DNA of the Royal Family (one of it's living lineage), and it didn't match. Also, if memory serves me correctly, when they unearthed the remains of the Holy Royal Martyrs of Russia, one set of the remains was determined to be St. Anastasia.

[gphadraig]

During the 1905 war between Russia and Japan, the Russian Archbishop blessed the Japanese troops of his flock who were going off to fight the Russians. This was his podvig as the Orthodox primate of Japan. At the conclusion of hostilies and Russia's humiliation the Tsar honoured the good pastor. Not something one might envisage any of our present day leaders doing?

The letters between the Tsar and Tsarina were very touching. Following the Tsar's overthrow Russian history largely fell into the hands of those on the left and extensive 'anti' propaganda fuelled by the soviets and their 'useful idiots'.

However as another contributor has wisely commented saints are not perfect but human, with all that that conveys. Nor does being saintly make you the most effective ruler on the block. Only One is Perfect.

Sadly the sheer volume of propaganda put out against the late Tsar is hard to counter-balance. Goebbels correctly stated, repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.............

[Liudmilla]

gphadraig wrote:

repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.............

AMEN!

[尼古拉前执事]

The Russian poet Georgii Ivanov chanced to live in that Russia which
was yet a
tsardom. Following the revolution, he went abroad. And lo! Once, when
he, grieving for his
native land, gazed upon a photograph of the family of the last Russian
Tsar, Nikolai II, the
following verses formed themselves in his mind:

A tiny enamel cross on a loop

And the broadcloth of a grey double-breasted jacket…

What beauteous faces,

And how very long-ago it was.

What beauteous faces,

But how hopelessly pale

The Heir-Apparent, the Empress,

The four Grand Duchesses.

Modest and middle-aged, He was a soldier with a
simple Russian face (“Private Nikolai
Romanov” as He loved to be called). The Tsar
in Georgii Ivanov’s poem is shown as a
contemporary, exceedingly attractive man. But
even for the poet who wrote these verses, after
only some years following the collapse of old
Russia, “this was very long ago”. “Long ago”
because that was another era in the revolution
the bond of time was sundered between the past
and the present, and an abyss was opened up.

Why is there such sorrow in the eyes of the
Empress, despite the perfect majesty of Her
figure in the photograph? And why are the
beautiful duchesses and their brother so pale
and sad? It is because they sense their doom
and the end of the old world; it is because of
their prophetic foreknowledge of the fact that a
soon and dreadful death awaits them on the eve
of 17 July 1918. The Tsar and His family,
together with their faithful servants, will be
viciously slaughtered in the cellar of the
Ekaterinburg house belonging to the engineer Ipatiev.

The initial years of the reign of Nikolai II
were were auspicious and, so it seemed, filled
with promise that Russia would
flourish. Nikolai initiated the convening of an
international peace conference, which took place
in the Hague in 1899. This conference defined
the principle of a peaceful resolution of
international conflicts. How tragic, then, was
the fact that it fell out to Him to carry on bloody wars…

During the reign of Nikolai II Russia constantly
became a great industrial realm: in the course
of 20 years, Russian industrial output increased
fourfold. Russia, then, was the breadbasket of
all Europe: in 1913, the grain harvest was a
third greater than that of the USA, Canada and
Argentina, combined! The population grew: the
Russian ruble was genuinely golden, for over a
100 percent of the money in circulation was secured by gold holdings.

Nikolai II looked upon service to the people as
His sacred duty: He treated His subjects as a
loving father. Historical memory has preserved
many instances of the particularly touching
disposition of the Gosudar [Sovereign] towards
the common people. The Tsar possessed the
supreme power of pardoning those sentenced to
death: the triumph of Christian love over and
above the juridical norm in this governmental
privilege granted to God’s Anointed One
manifested itself quite clearly. The Tsar
frequently employed this power He possessed and
always investigated how precisely His commands
were put into practice; on one occasion, He even
sent off a pardoned political criminal to the
Crimea to be treated for an illness, having
provided the latter with the funds wherewith to
do so. Nikolai II regarded Russia not
sentimentally, but religiously: for Him, service
to the Native Land did not separate itself from
service to God. The Tsar was the representative
of the national Russian culture and of a
transcendental reality of the likes of Holy Rus’.

Nikolai II did much for the Russian Orthodox
Church. During His reign the number of temples
and monasteries increased by more than ten
thousand. Eight saints were glorified while He
was on the throne. Among them was the venerable
Serafim of Sarov, a wonderworker and
intercessor, and a servant of the Mother of
God. During the solemnities glorifying the
venerable Serafim (July 1903), the Gosudar and
the Gosudarynya [Sovereign-Lady] visited
Sarov. Immediately after the repose of Father
Ioann of Kronstadt in 1909, the Gosudar
predicted that Batiushka [Venerable Father]
Ioann would subsequently be glorified [this
glorification took place in the Russian Orthodox
Church Abroad in 1964 Trans.] and established a
date for the prayerful commemoration of the
pastor of Kronstadt. Truly prophetic was the
remark made by Nikolai II about the
Martyr-Patriarch Germogen, who was canonized in
1913, and “whose example will shine forth, both
at the present time and in times to come”. Was
it not this example that inspired Patriarch St.
Tikhon and the bishops Vladimir, Veniamin,
Ilarion and other Russian hierarchs, who
suffered during the soviet persecution of the Church?…

The Gosudarynya long implored God to send Her a
son: following the visit to Sarov, Her prayer
was heard. The Heir-Apparent of the Russian
Throne, Aleksei, was born in 1904. But this joy
did not last long. It was soon discovered that
the Tsarevich was suffering from an incurable
illness haemophilia. Frightful was the shock
experienced by the parents. All medical means
available at the time were resorted to, but
everything was in vain. Only the help of the
mysterious Siberian, Grigorii Rasputin, turned
out to be successful. He became one of their
own for the Royal Family. The Tsar attended to
Rasputin'’ opinion. The Tsaritsa respected him
profoundly. But their friendship with him
brought down upon them the condemnation of
many. Consequently, as a result of a
conspiracy, Rasputin was cruelly murdered in 1916.

Behind the political events of external
history all the wars, thr revolutions, and the
collapse of empires there are spiritual forces
secretly at work. No explanation of the reasons
behind the revolutions of 1905 and 1917 will be
complete and accurate if it is not recognized
that the chief reason for them was the departure
of Russian society from God and the Church.

In February 1917, availing itself of the Tsar’s
absence from the capital, the aristocracy
opposed to Him heightened its activity. In the
court there was talk of the advisability of
staging a coup d'état and elevating Grand Duke
Nikolai Nikolayevich to the Throne. The
opposition maintained that the Tsar and Tsaritsa
were blocking the way to Russia’s victory in the
war: Nikolai Nikolayevich demanded that the
Gosudar abdicate from the Throne. Telegrams
with like demands were also sent by the majority
of the front-commandants. And when the
revolution occurred in February 1917, those
roundabout the Tsar sided with the Provisional
Government. They began to assure the Tsar that
only His abdication from the Throne would save
Russia. And the Gosudar, facing betrayal,
sacrificed Himself by attending to these
voices. This occurred on March 2
[n.s.]. «There is no such sacrifice that I
would not make in the name of the genuine
welfare and for the salvation of
Russia. Therefore am I prepared to abdicate
from the Throne». such was the content of the
telegram that he gave to the president of the Duma.

The corruption of the people, who had succumbed
to their base passions, began Russia sped with
unrestrained swiftness to her doom. The
Samoderzhaviye [Autocracy] was that mystical
principle which had restrained the forces of
evil; now nothing opposed the entry of the
anti-Christian element into the world…

The Tsar, with those near and dear to Him, found
Himself under guard in Tsarskoye Selo. The
prisoners relied only upon the will of God, and
the Lord helped them to preserve their peace of
heart and soul to the very end. The Tsar and
His family were forced to bear humiliation and
mockery from their wardens and other «new»
people surrounding them. On July 31, the
Martyrs began to make their way to their
Golgotha: they were evicted from their palace and sent to Siberia.

In their suffering, the spirit of the Royal
Martyrs matured and grew strong. «The Way of God
is a daily cross», the Tsaritsa recorded these
words of the venerable Isaac of Syria in Her
notebook. And also the utterance of Mark the
Great: «Christians must bear griefs and inner
conflicts, in order that, drawing these blows
against themselves, they might gain the victory
through patience. Such is the way of
Christianity». That selfsame disposition is
reflected in the verses copied at the beginning of 1918 by Grand
Duchess Olga:

Send us patience, O Lord, do,

In these times of violent days and gloomy

To bear persecution from the people

And the torments of our executioners.

Grant us the strength, O righteous God,

To forgive our neighbour’s evil deeds

And with Thy meekness grant that we

Might meet our burdensome and bloody Cross.

In seditious days of insurgent disquiet,

When our enemies shall rob us,

To bear the shame and humiliation,

O Christ-Saviour, help us, do!

O Master of the world, God of the universe,

Bless us with prayer

And grant serenity to a meek and humble soul

In an inexpressibly fatal hour!

And at the threshold of the grave

Inbreathe into Thy servants’ lips

A strength that’s more than human

To pray meekly for our foes.

(See NOTE, below)

Only two and a half months of life remained to
the Martyrs. The mockery to which they were
subjected became ever more “refined”…

Three days prior to the evil deed, a Divine
Service was held for the Royal Family. When the
singing began of the prayer «With the Saints
give rest...» the entire family suddenly fell to
their knees. On that day, according to the
testimony of eyewitnesses, they appeared somehow
unusually depressed. Almost as though sensing
the impending end of their lives, they sang the burial song for
themselves…

On the eve of 17 July 1918, [their murderers]
came for them, saying that they would be
transporting them outside the city. Instead,
they were taken to the cellar, where stood
several chairs, and the Gosudar, bearing the
Heir-Apparent in His arms, sat down upon the one
in the middle. Besides the Royal Family, also
present were Doctor Botkin and some
servants. They awaited the signal for
departure. Suddenly, Commissar Yurovskii
entered the cellar, accompanied by soldiers, and
announced that they were to be shot. The
Gosudarynya managed to cross Herself: She was
killed immediately, together with the
Gosudar. Aleksei and Duchess Anastasia suffered
longer than all the rest: the first bullet did
not kill them and the soldiers finished them off
with bayonets. Doctor Botkin and three others
shared the fate of the Royal Family.

The vicious murder of innocent people, among
whom were a child and young maidens, is already,
in and of itself, a frightful crime. But the
Ekaterinburg tragedy is called “the murder of
the 20th century” and is considered to be an
historical catastrophe for a special reason,
nevertheless. Nikolai II was not simply a
marvellous man and a good Christian He was
God’s Anointed One. When He ascended to the
Throne, the Mystery [Sacrament] of Anointing was
performed over Him, whereupon Nikolai became a
sacred individual. Therefore is the murder of
the Gosudar and of His family a frightful
extortion of that which is sacred, being an act
that brought down Divine wrath upon Russia and
has had fatal consequences for her future destiny.

===============================================================
NOTE: The Russian original of the above “Prayer”
is in verse. Written in Elets, in October 1917,
it was dedicated to Their Imperial Highnesses,
the Grand Duchesses Olga Nikolayevna and Tatyana
Nikolayevna by its composer, S. Bekhteyev, and
sent to them in Tobolsk, by way of Countess A. V. Gendrikova. Trans.]