Voices from Russia

Drinking Tea (Vasili Nesterenko, 1997)

Editor’s Foreword:

This started life as a reply to a comment of Fr Andrew Morbey of Minneapolis MN. Well… it just GREW, like Topsy. To do it justice requires a full post. Fr Andrew, thank you for getting the ol’ brain in gear. Oh, by the way, do you take cream in your tea or do you take it straight, in the Russian manner?

****** 

I would not say that Honeycutt and Greene are “Orthodox apologists”. Both are nothing but half-baked Evangelical Anglicans with the thinnest possible Orthodox veneer. Honeycutt’s corrosive Russophobia is never far from the surface. As one Russian bishop rightly said, “Russophobia is a form of Christophobia”. Greene is nothing but a “pushy American female”, as a Russian priest-friend of mine remarked (I would add that she is bezkulturny). Honeycutt and Greene are nothing but Grabovois, and the mirage of the American church they advocate does not exist, save in their disordered imaginations.

In addition, both are apologists for the “American Church”, not Orthodoxy, and one can see how their work is immersed in Evangelical Protestantism and American Positiivism (as is virtually everything written by Anglo-Saxon converts, I am afraid). Besides this, they are out of the AOCANA, which is only formally Orthodox. The Antiochians are nothing but Evangelicals/Anglicans with an Orthodox ritual (any group with a LAYMAN as chancellor is hardly churchly). Ergo, anything that arises from them must be ignored, and, indeed, fought. They are the American equivalents of the “Patriarchate of Kiev” and Philip Saliba is nothing but an American Philaret Denisenko. To join the AOCANA is to run to an American Penza Cave, huddling in the dark away from the ordinary Orthodoxy of the ages. To tell the truth, I refuse to set foot in any of their conventicles, they present “a likeness of power without the substance thereof”.

The bishops of the MP assembled outside the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow for the Archpastoral Council

A choice is coming. We may follow Moscow, or we may follow the various pied-pipers out there. Saliba is one, Black Bart is another, SVS leads another cohort. If one follows SVS or Black Bart, one is on the high road to Uniatism. Dangerous, indeed. However, Philip Saliba is the most dangerous in a churchly (tserkovnost) sense. He has placed American phyletism as the driving engine of his movement, just as Philaret Denisenko places “Ukrainian” phyletism as the driving force of his. Any nationalism in church life is corrosive, and American nationalism is no exception. The fact that 70 percent of the AOCANA clergy are converts (most ordained before they were ready, as Mr Honeycutt illustrates so abundantly) is a weakness, not a strength. Compare this to the fraternal unity shown at the late Archpastoral Council in Moscow. Bishops from all over the world, of all nationalities, united together in holding high the banner of Orthodoxy. You can have UNITY (as shown by the MP) or you can have notional ISOLATION (as shown by AOCANA, OCA, and the Paris lot).

American converts are the largest portion of the Orthodox voices on the internet. Therefore, the world has gained a distorted view of the Church. All too many American converts are nothing but spoilt children in soiled nappies daring to lecture at the MDA. They have never faced the test, and they must have the humility to listen to those who have faced such, although I believe that shall require a miracle of the Lord. All too often, I come away from a convert or from one of their writings with the sad conclusion, “You can tell a convert, but, you can’t tell ‘em much”.

In short, we Russians have faced Butovo and Solovki, our Church is founded on the blood of millions of martyrs, and many of us here in America faced the useless (but, damaging) and bitter jurisidictional wars of the 70s and 80s. I should add that the worst (and most fanatical) actors in those bitter wars were the Anglo-Saxon converts on both sides. I should say that I find the current crop of converts no different. They are moralistic Savanarolas ready at the drop of a hat to light the fires of the auto dà fé under their opponents. They have no idea of the actual tolerance of the Church. I have heard “baba’s religion” and “nominal Orthodox” from Anglo-Saxon mouths once too often. Indeed, this website is a reaction to all that. They oppose a bloodless vision of the church to the rich and lively lived tradition of the Church. Of course, the wheat is mixed with the tares. Didn’t our Lord Christ say so?

Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg (1953- ), one of the greatest (if not the greatest) pastors in the Church today

We can see the result of the above in our church life today. The OCA is a grinning and lifeless corpse with its devotees dancing about it in a grisly (and very sad) analogue of a pagan sacrifice, whilst the AOCANA is nothing but Billy Graham with Byzantine make-up. For all its faults (and it DOES have them, by God!), the MP stands for the Orthodoxy of the ages. Compare Herman Swaiko and Philip Saliba to Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg, Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev, Metropolitan Sergei of Voronezh, or Metropolitan Mefody of Kazakhstan. There is NO comparison. We either stand with Moscow or we shall stray away from the Orthodoxy of the Holy Fathers. I wish that there was a kinder way of saying this, but, there is not.

We have the ill-fortune (or, is it a privilege?) to live in “interesting times”. What we do now shall have resonance for our grandchildren. That is why we must give decent burial to the corpse of the OCA, reject the siren-call of Saliba, and follow our elder brothers in the Faith in Moscow. God shall bless us for showing humility, at the least. The blood of the martyrs calls us! Shall you ignore the call? Remember for Whom the martyrs shed their blood (and are still shedding their blood in the Baltic states, the Ukraine and Carpatho-Russia, by the way)…

I am following the call of the New Martyrs of Russia, what about you?

Vara Drezhlo

Friday 11 July 2008

Editor’s Afterword:

One should note that opinion pieces, such as the one above, always go out under my name, and, if express opinion on an article posted, it always as an openly-labelled editor’s note. I stand tall, I am not ashamed, and I do not hide behind the mask of “Anonymous”.

Bog blagoslovit, my friends. May God give us the strength to face and overcome the coming trials.

Icon of the Assembly of the New Martyrs of Russia

This year is the 90^th anniversary of the death of the Royal Passionbearers. Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye gave an interview to Yekaterinburg Initiative about the proper understanding of the legacy and heritage of Nikolai II in the church and society.

YI

Your Eminence, what can you say about Nikolai II as a Christian politician?

Metropolitan Vikenty

Tsar Nikolai II was a model for the politicians of his time, and, in my view, he can serve as a model for contemporary politicians. He had the desire to influence the world in such a way so that there would be peace on earth and harmony, so that arms could be cut back to a reasonable level… Brought up in the Orthodox faith, his soul exemplified such moral values as conscientiousness, love for neighbour, and a tendency towards accord. He hoped that he could influence others to realise the ideals of unity, brotherhood, and mutual respect, including respect between politicians, between statesmen, between peoples, and between states. When we study his activity as a ruler, we see him as a man who based his rule upon the Christian values that his parents taught him. He tried to spread these values amongst all the heads of state with whom he associated.

The tsar’s intent in organising the Hague International Court of Justice was to prevent conflicts between states and between peoples, and it became a shining legacy of his spirit. He wished that people would not come to blows, but, rather, solve their disputes and problems peacefully. Many countries of the world now follow his wise counsels, and, in later years, many other international institutions arose on the basis of his ideas, such as the United Nations. It is evident from this that Tsar Nikolai II had enormous stature as a political figure in the world, especially in his role as a theorist of world peace.

YI

For many years, there were those who called pre-revolutionary Russia “the prison-house of the nations”… At that time, what was Russian policy towards resident foreigners and the heterodox in faith?

Archbishop Vikenty

As far as relations with other religious confessions were concerned, Tsar Nikolai II treated them all with respect. When he went to the parts of his empire that were predominately Muslim, he went to the mosque to show his respect of their faith, he read books about Islam to learn more about it, and he greeted his Muslim subjects on their religious holidays. On the whole, his interaction with them was very good, and his Muslim subjects repaid him with love, respect, esteem, and honour. This is an example of the atmosphere of the brotherhood and good relations that existed between the religious confessions in Russia. We did not have religious conflicts.

YI

Did the tsar do well as head of the Church?

Archbishop Vikenty

During his reign, approximately 7,000 churches and about 19 monasteries were built. Churches abroad were built using money from his privy purse. The tsar loved to go on pilgrimages to holy places very much, and he tried to instil in the people a similar love for doing such. In fact, whenever and wherever the tsar went on pilgrimage, a great host of people would follow. As a whole, the influence of Tsar Nikolai on church life was enormous. He approved the canonisation of many holy righteous men of God. Indeed, he canonised more saints in his reign than were glorified in previous centuries. Of course, we know that he added to the Menaion those such as St Seraphim of Sarov, St John of Tobolsk (a distant relative of St John Maksimovich), and a great many others of the righteous, as well.

YI

Vladyki, many people today believe that the imperial family is an excellent role model. What do you think of that?

Archbishop Vikenty

Oh, yes, I quite agree. At the time, and today as well, the imperial family was an example of high morals and spirituality, it was an exemplar of a real Christian family. Firstly, the mutual love of the spouses shone forth, and, secondly, it was a large and harmonious family, where the children were very well brought up. Despite the fact that the tsar ruled a vast empire and had many governmental responsibilities, he did not forget his family, and he took an active role in the raising of his children. Since he valued it very much, he found the time to sit with them, to read to them edifying spiritual literature, and he told them stories from the lives of the Orthodox saints. Together, they walked to the church to attend liturgy, the tsar would help his children with their devotions, they had a living connection with God, and they received solace and comfort from God through their prayers. All too frequently, Tsarevich Aleksei was ill [with excessive bleeding caused by his haemophilia], and, of course, the entire family fervently entreated God on his behalf, they felt that the Lord heard their prayers, that he helped and eased the sufferings of their brother and son.

In another instance, it would be instructive to note the depth of their prayer whilst they were imprisoned in Yekaterinburg and Tobolsk. In their letters we feel their coming before God in prayer, their hope in the Lord, and their profound faith. Undoubtedly, all these things were the fruits of their upbringing, which the parents instilled in their children from infancy onwards. Of course, the tsar’s great patience and generous humility were the evidence of a patient Christian soul, and although he evidenced such over the entire course of his life, they particularly manifested themselves precisely during the months of the family’s imprisonment.

Another testimony to the authentic faith of the tsar was the genuine conversion to Orthodoxy of his wife, the Tsaritsa Aleksandra. In order to convince such a person as Aleksandra, a woman who already had very deep beliefs, with roots in another religion and in another faith, it was necessary [for Nikolai] to know Orthodoxy very well, to know [how to express] the difference between Orthodoxy and Protestantism. He could show the beauty of Orthodoxy in his words and in his behaviour. The Tsaritsa saw his genuine love, because she was an honest and straightforward person who hated falsehood. Therefore, when she saw that Nikolai not only said good words about Orthodoxy, but, when she also saw his deep faith, then, she saw in her heart the beauty of Orthodoxy and she entirely fell in love with it, with all her heart and all her soul. Of course, she tried to pass on to her children the spiritual fruit that she gained from her husband, Tsar Nikolai.

At that time, it is not surprising that Russia was not only very well ruled, but, the population was growing by leaps and bounds. This generation of children was very large, many families had 10, 15, or even 18 children, and such numbers were not considered remarkable. Now, in looking for solutions to our demographic problem, we, unfortunately, look at a family’s income and their living conditions. However, in those days, they did not take such things into consideration, and they lived a simple and natural life that they saw as God’s divine gift to mankind, and they carried out the Will of God expressed in the commandment, Increase, and multiply, and fill the earth. The population increase during the reign of Tsar Nikolai was more than 3 million per year. This was how the power of Russia increased steadily. If we had continued this rate of growth up to the present, there would be over 600 million people living in Russia today.

YI

What meaning does the glorification of the Holy Royal Martyrs bear for Russia?

Archbishop Vikenty

Church of the Saviour on-the-Spilled-Blood (Khram Spas na Krovi), Yekaterinburg

For Russia, the glorification of the Holy Royal Martyrs has very great significance, not least because Tsar Nikolai was accused of every sort of grave error that could be done and he was blamed for everything wrong in the country. For a long time, it was said that the revolution came about due to his misrule, because he was a pathetic and incompetent man. In fact, there are many other reasons for the fact that this catastrophe came upon us.

Because of the canonisation, we know more about him because we have more attentively studied the period of Russian history when he reigned and we have been able to clear away many accumulated lies. Increasingly, we better understand his ability in governing the country and his achievements, that he made our Russian motherland majestic and powerful. We see what enormous labour he put into the development of our state so that it would be not only be rich materially, but, also rich spiritually, so that all would possess a deep and conscious faith, and just as the coat of arms of Russia has two wings, our Russian motherland would have two matched curved wings, i.e., it would have a strong and powerful material prosperity and it would also have a vigorous spirit. Now, it is very important for us to study the life and endeavours of Tsar Nikolai II so that our statesmen today can use this accumulated experience.

YI

Has the attitude of the people changed in regards to the memory of the tsar in recent years? If so, what are its dynamics?

Archbishop Vikenty

The Church of the Saviour on-the-Spilled-Blood (Khram Spas na Krovi) in Yekaterinburg

At present, in Yekaterinburg and in the surrounding oblast, I note that the attitude of the people to Tsar Nikolai II has changed greatly, for the better. If in previous years, especially in the Soviet period, people were at times proud of the fact that here, in Yekaterinburg, in the Ipatiev House, “we killed the tsar”, now, on the contrary, people realise that this was an appalling tragedy. In the past, we considered that this was not a crime, but, a good deed, a deliverance from an oppressor and tyrant. However, now, we realise that this was a tragedy, a crime, and an unspeakable barbarity.

This is how everyone now speaks, who come to the Church of the Saviour on-the-Spilled-Blood and to [the monastery] at Ganina Yama, they look about these places and realise the full import of what was done here. Coming here, they pray and feel the blessings of God, and they feel aid from the Royal Martyrs. The Royal Martyrs have given much help to the families of believers; their intercessions have helped to rid many of the habits of smoking and alcoholism.

Those myths about the tsar that are rooted deeply in the consciousness of our society, those constantly-repeated deceitful and incorrect historical fables about his epoch still hold many of our people captive. So, it is necessary to greatly increase our efforts to describe and to document these events so that the people would correctly understand the situation. Now, we hold many conferences and exhibitions in order to show the achievements of the tsar it all of its variety. Thus far, unfortunately, our society does not properly esteem Tsar Nikolai as a moral, highly spiritual, and religious man and as an effective politician. These exhibitions and conferences assist people to realise the importance of the last tsar for Russia. Last year, when we prepared an exhibition in St Petersburg, the staff at the Public Archives said that there are about 23,000 documents concerning the imperial family. In proportion to which they became acquainted with these documents, they completely changed their attitude to the tsar. Thus far, they understood it in the manner that they were taught in the Soviet years, i.e., he was a pathetic and weak-willed person. But, now, after having acquaintance with archival documents, these specialists saw a mighty, strong, and moral politician.

We should deepen our study of the historical evidence and present it to society so that the truth about the reign of Nikolai II would reach as many people as possible. Then, of course, our mission, our task, shall be completed.

17 June 2008

Yekaterinburgskaya Initiativa (Yekaterinburg Initiative)

Quoted in Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=radio&div=885 (in Russian)

In pre-revolutionary Yekaterinburg, it was very crowded every 9 July as a motley crowd of locals and pilgrims from all over the province flooded into the town. They all came with the same purpose in mind, to honour and venerate their beloved Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God, and all were filled with the same spiritual joy during the feastday dedicated to the icon. Nobles and merchants, petty bourgeois and peasants, everyone hurried to the convent where the icon was kept. There was a solemn and reverent religious procession, a bustling fair, the touching singing of the sisterhood chorus, the generous hospitality of the convent, souvenirs and hand-made gifts by the nuns, all of this and more awaited those who went to the “Tikhvin Days” at the convent…

Today, the sisters of our convent return to our city its beloved icon, and they revive the holiday in its honour.

The Ancient Icon

According to legend, the wonder-working Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God appeared in Russia in 1338. The first time it was seen, it stood bathed in unearthly light above the waters of Lake Ladoga. Then, it appeared in different places until it finally stopped in Tikhvin, where a special church was built to house it. In 1577, an edict of Tsar Ivan Grozny decreed that the icon was to be housed at the Tikhvin Monastery. At various times, copies were made of the wonder-working Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God, and these, in turn, became as venerated as the original. One of these copies was brought to Yekaterinburg on 9 July 1811.

The Celestial Abbess: The Protectress of the City

Church of the Assumption in Yekiaterinburg, where the Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God was brought in 1811

In the morning on 9 July 1811, the bells rang out the holiday from all the belfries in the city. The harmonies of the bronze heralds proclaimed the joyous news: “Behold, the Most Pure cometh!” The crowds streamed from all the churches accompanied by the singing of the bells. The multi-faceted crowd sparkled with the festal vestments of the priests and minor clergy, icons, bright clothing and kerchiefs… everything merged into one united and colourful flow. The banners floated over the heads of the crowd and the praises of the Queen of Heaven sounded continually. The joyous crowd moved together, merging into a deep and moving river of humanity. It was a religious procession of the whole people, acting as one. Yekaterinburg thus greeted its new sacred object, the Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God, a precise copy of the ancient wonder-working image. The innumerable believers rejoiced and a glowing spiritual joy overfilled the soul of Abbess Taisia, superior of the Novo-Tikhvin convent, who had the sacred image brought to Yekaterinburg.

She distinctly remembered the day more than five years ago when, as the simple laywoman Tatiana Kostromina, she left her humble home to go to the bustle of the imperial capital of St Petersburg to ask about the conversion of this small skete into a regular convent. She prayed fervently, and she implored the Queen of Heaven to help her achieve this goal! Without any money, without any recommendations, she left for the northern capital, where no one knew her and she knew no one, to bow in supplication before the Holy Synod. From whence did this modest and illiterate daughter of a master workman in a Ural factory get the determination, despite the seeming impossibility of her quest, to turn to the mighty of this world, to insist, to plead, yes, to convince…? The mother abbess, in recalling all of this, could not assign the source of her determination to anything other than the beneficent aid of the Queen of Heaven, to whom she herself and all her sisterhood prayed incessantly with great zeal. They shed their fervent tears precisely before the Tikhvin icon in the small cemetery chapel.

The Most Holy Mother of God did not leave them barren and bereft; she did not leave them without Her aid. Soon after she arrived in St Petersburg, Tatiana found patrons to help her with this God-pleasing endeavour. Then, she met with Prince Golitsyn, who was the Oberprokurator of the Holy Synod, Admiral Fyodor Ushakov, who is now glorified as one of the saints, and other well-known people of that time. Prince Golitsyn was a childhood friend of Tsar Aleksandr I, and he convinced His Majesty that the intentions of the suppliant from the Urals were pure and merited support, and that led to a favourable outcome of the whole affair. Need I mention that the tsar himself was devoted to the Tikhvin icon? According to the terms of imperial decree, the new convent was to be called the Novo-Tikhvin convent.

Here it was, the daughter of the master workman, Tatiana Kostromina, now Abbess Taisia, entered Yekaterinburg precisely on the feastday of the Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God. She returned to the sisterhood after long years of separation with the precious sacred image, the Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God, a precise copy of the wonder-working icon, which had been made to her order.

A Hospitable Abode

A photo taken near the turn of the 20th century in the sewing workshop of the convent. The sisterhood was renowned for the high quality of their workmanship.

From that time forward, on the day that the Tikhvin icon arrived in Yekaterinburg, 9 July, was a special holiday in the town, it was a unique day in the city’s life. Preparations for it began long before the date. The sisterhood made convent souvenirs, painted icons, wove patterned carpets, and sewed and embroidered tablecloths, curtains and other household items for sale at the Tikhvin Icon Fair on 9 July. The items made by the sisters were famous for their high quality of workmanship, so, both townspeople and pilgrims eagerly sought to buy them.

Two weeks before the beginning of the holiday, the superior of the convent erected spacious tents in the cloister courtyard for the lodging of poor pilgrims. The most zealous amongst them came to the convent ten days before the festivities began. The nuns gave free food and lodging to anyone who came. The reserves of food, pastries, and sweets required for this were simply stupendous. All of the visitors were enraptured by the aroma coming from the sisterhood’s bakery; no one could resist the fancy bread that the sisters made themselves. The religious procession with the Tikhvin icon was an impressive spectacle, in front, some 50 priests and minor clerics, followed by the sisterhood of the convent (before the revolution it was some 1,000 strong!), and several thousand laity, both local and pilgrims came behind. The procession wended it s way around the convent, which was, truth to tell, a small monastic town.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the convent was actually a small monastic town

Every year, everybody, the locals and pilgrims alike, expected something new and different at the festival. For example, in 1913, an unusual fountain was unveiled. It was a refined metal cross, from which cold drinking water flowed. A newspaper at the time wrote, “Hundreds of hands are stretched out to this ‘miracle’, in order get a drink or to wash their faces”. Near the “cross”, encircled by flowers, was the Tikhvin icon, and unceasing laudations and prayers were said before it.

Return of the Sacred Image

Years passed… the faith atrophied in the hearts of Orthodox Christians and love shrank away… a revolutionary maelstrom engulfed Russia… the angelic peals of the bells were no longer heard, the banners were trampled into the dirt, and no one in the city sang praises to the Lord and His Most Pure Mother. The Novo-Tikhvin Convent was padlocked and the sisters were banished, and the sacred image… the Tikhvin icon, so long a fixture of the city… disappeared without a trace…

…2008, Yekaterinburg in Russia. The terrible persecution and war against Christ and His Church are now only entries in dusty history books. The golden crosses atop our churches rival the sun with their dazzling beauty and the revival of Orthodox Russia is rung out by the many-voiced bells of the city. Our convent came alive, yet again. We yearned for the return of our most revered sacred object.

“For a long time, we wished to have in our convent the same icon as was here in pre-revolutionary days, and, now, in 2008, we finally decided to do it. The sisters themselves painted a precise copy of the ancient Tikhvin icon”, related Nun Devora, the supervisor of the iconography atelier of the convent. Several months ago, some of the sisters drove to Tikhvin, were they studied the special features of the old image, how the old icon was painted, its size and other necessary details, and only after this did they begin the project. They ground the pigments, they prepared the paints, dissolving the elements not only with solvents, but, with their prayers. Reverential fear changed into quiet happiness. Having been in the proximity of the original sacred image, with the consciousness of taking part in a great endeavour, it sometimes caused them to pause in trepidation, but, their zealous faith in the constant aid of their Patroness gave them strength. Well… the face of the Most Pure Mother is complete, here is the Christ Child clinging in trust to His Most Gentle Mother… the gilding, the symbol of the brightness of Paradise of God covers the surface of the board. Some more time, and all the work shall be done…

Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye (1953- ), one of the greatest and most-respected archpastors in the contemporary Russian church

In July, Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye shall bless the finished Tikhvin icon in the course of the liturgy in a special visit to Tikhvin. On 8 July 2008, almost two centuries ago to the day of the arrival of the original image, the icon shall be delivered to Yekaterinburg on the feastday of the wonder-working Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God. Once again, the bronze heralds shall peal out to the Orthodox faithful the same wondrous news: “Behold, the Most Pure cometh!” Again, the clergy and thousands of believers shall march in procession in order to carry the long-awaited sacred image down the streets of the city to the gates of the resurrected Novo-Tikhvin convent. Everything shall be just as it was in the olden days. The icon shall be encircled with living flowers in an open-air shrine decorated with more flowers, and laudations and prayers shall be said before it yet again. Yes, the fair shall return, and the sisters shall show their traditional hospitality to all guests.

After the festival, the icon shall be placed in the Church of All Saints, as this is the only church restored so far in the convent complex. In 2010, for the 200^th anniversary of the convent, the icon shall be transferred to the newly-restored Cathedral of St Aleksandr Nevsky.

Through the prayers of the Mother of God, the beloved icon of Yekaterinburg returns home… yes, the locals bow before Her yet again, laying their hopes in prayer before their gracious Patroness.      

Most Holy Mother of God, help us!

22 May 2008

Novo-Tikhvin Convent, Yekaterinburg RF

http://www.sestry.ru/church/content/life/events/58/ (in Russian)

Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg and Verkhotrye (1953- ) at a Pannikhida for fallen heroes on Victory Day 2008 

Yekaterinburg, 26 May 2008 (Information Agency of the Yekaterinburg Diocese):

On Monday, 26 May, at 19.00 Moscow time, Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye shall appear live before the audience of the TV station Soyuz (Union) and the listeners of the radio station Voskreseniye (Resurrection). The live spiritual broadcasts of our archpastor are already a tradition here in Yekaterinburg. Orthodox believers in the Urals region await them impatiently, they listen to the words of Vladyki with great attention, and they ask him questions over the telephone in the course of the broadcast. Vladyki’s first live interview on the TV and radio was on 2 April 2005, as soon as the television channel Soyuz began broadcasting in Yekaterinburg. You can pose your questions to Vladyki Vikenty today over the telephone.

Pravoslavnaya Gazeta Yekaterinburg

http://orthodox.etel.ru/2008/21/26/26otvet.htm (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

Here is a REAL Orthodox archpastor! Don’t you wish that Vladyki Vikenty was YOUR bishop? If your bishop is not as open and “transparent” as Vladyki Vikenty is… it’s time to find another bishop, no?

Syosset and SVS… be warned.  

The Imperial Reception of the Freeholding Elders in the Courtyard of the Petrovsky Palace on 18 May 1896 (Ilya Repin, 1897)

Yekaterinburg, 19 May 2008 (Interfax):

Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye believes that it is imperative that we recognise and honour the merits of the last Russian emperor, Tsar Nikolai II. “Unfortunately, over many decades, his memory suffered from much slander and trivial criticism, and there was much mud thrown at his character. After some 90 years, it is necessary for us to cleanse his reputation, washing off all the mud, so that we can recognise the outstanding legacy of Tsar-Passionbearer St Nikolai II”, Archbishop Vikenty said at a conference in Yekaterinburg dedicated to the 140^th anniversary of Tsar St Nikolai’s birth.

Vladyki remembered that, during the Soviet period, schoolchildren were told that 1913 was the most booming year in Russian history, but, students were never told who was responsible for that achievement. “We must give all tribute and honour to the wisdom of the man who led Russia to such a high level of development. To think that we were told that the reign of Tsar St Nikolai II was ineffectual”, he emphasised. He added that during the period of St Nikolai’s rule some 7,000 new churches and 200 new monasteries were built in Russia, and 19 churches were built abroad.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=24529 (in Russian)

A Portrait of Tsar St Nikolai Aleksandrovich (Ilya Repin, 1896)

Yekaterinburg, 16 May 2008 (Interfax):

A unique memorial to Tsar St Nikolai II the Passion-bearer fabricated entirely from materials found in the Ural region shall be unveiled on his Day of Remembrance at Ural Mountains State University in Yekaterinburg. The 140^th anniversary of the birth of the last Russian emperor, Tsar St Nikolai II, is on 19 May. A decree of Tsar St Nikolai established the first VUZ (Institute of Higher Education) in the region, a school known today as Ural Mountains State University. The new memorial is in honour of that founding, the university press service reported to Interfax.

According to the press-release, all elements of the icon and its shrine (kiot) are going to be done in mosaic-style using precious stones from the Ural region such as rubies, garnets, sapphires, emeralds, amethysts, and other gems. The corona of the tsar-martyr is made from chased and figured gilded silver, and figured silver lace decorates the cover (oklad) of the icon. The shrine for the icon is to use white-red Pushtun marble; the red splotches appear on the face of the stone as if it is oozing blood. This is to symbolise the tragic fate of the last Russian emperor, who was shot, together with his family and his servants, in Yekaterinburg.

At the dedication of the memorial, Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye shall serve a molieben. As part of the events planned for the Day of Remembrance for Tsar St Nikolai II, students from the university shall take part in a sports festival and an athletic competition called “The Miner”.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=24486 (in Russian) 

Editor’s Foreword:

This appears to be off-topic, but, it is not. I shall use the following to illustrate some disturbing trends in Orthodox Church life.

Ben Stein vs. Sputtering Atheists

I confess that when the producers of Ben Stein’s new documentary Expelled called, offering me a private screening, I was less than excited. It is a reality of PC liberalism: There is only one credible side to an issue, and any dissent is not only rejected, it is scorned. Global warming. Gay “rights”. Abortion “rights”. On these and so many other issues there is enlightenment, and then there is the Idiotic Other Side. PC liberalism’s power centres are the news media, the entertainment industry, and academia, and all are in the clutches of an unmistakable hypocrisy: Theirs is an ideology that preaches the freedom of thought and expression at every opportunity, yet practices absolute intolerance toward dissension.

Evolution is another one of those one-sided debates. We know the concept of Intelligent Design is stifled in academic circles. An entire documentary to state the obvious? You can see my reluctance to view it. I went into the screening bored. I came out of it stunned. Ben Stein’s extraordinary presentation documents how the worlds of science and academia not only crush debate on the origins of life, but also crush the careers of professors who dare to question the Darwinian hypothesis of evolution and natural selection.

Mr Stein asks a simple question: “What if the universe began with an intelligent designer, a designer named God?” He assembles a stable of academics, experts all, who dared to question Darwinist assumptions and found themselves “expelled” from intellectual discourse as a result. They include evolutionary biologist Richard Sternberg (sandbagged at the Smithsonian), biology professor Caroline Crocker (drummed out of George Mason University), and astrophysicist Guillermo Gonzalez (blackballed at Iowa State University). That’s disturbing enough, but what Stein does next is truly shocking. He allows the principal advocates of Darwinism to speak their minds. These are experts with national reputations, regularly-welcomed guests on network television, and the like. But the public knows them only by their careful seven-second sound-bites. Mr Stein engages them in conversation. They speak their minds. They become sputtering ranters, openly championing their sheer hatred of religion.

PC liberalism has showered accolades on atheist author Richard Dawkins’ best-selling book The God Delusion. But, when Mr Stein suggests to Professor Dawkins that he’s been critical of the Old Testament God, Professor Dawkins protests, not that Mr Stein is wrong, but that he’s being too mild. He then reads from this jaw-dropping paragraph of his book: “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully”. Professor Dawkins has a website. Its slogan is, “A clear-thinking oasis”.

It’s understood that God had nothing to do with the origins of life on Earth. “What, then, is the alternate explanation?” Mr Stein asks these experts, and their very serious answers are priceless. One theorises that life began somehow on the backs of crystals. Another states electric sparks from a lightning storm created organic matter (out of nothing). Another declares that life was brought to Earth by aliens. Anything but God. The most controversial part of the film follows Mr Stein to the Dachau concentration camp, underlining how Darwin’s theories of natural selection led to the eugenics movement, embraced by Adolf Hitler. If there is no God, but only a planetary lab waiting for scientists to perfect the human race, where can Darwinism lead? Mr Stein insists that he isn’t accusing today’s Darwinists of Nazism. He points out, however, that Hitler’s mad science was inspired by Darwinism.

Now, that the film is complete, the evolutionist prophets featured in the film are on the warpath inveighing against it, and the alleged idiots who would lower themselves to watching it. Richard Dawkins laments how the film will solicit “cheap laughs that could only be raised in an audience of scientific ignoramuses”. Minnesota professor and blogger P. Z. Myers predicts the movie is “going to appeal strongly to the religious, the paranoid, the conspiracy theorists, and the ignorant… which means they’re going to draw in about 90 percent of the American market”. Professors Myers and Dawkins now both complain they were “duped” into appearing in the movie (for pay). Everyone should take the opportunity to see Expelled, if nothing else, as a bracing antidote to the atheism-friendly culture of PC liberalism. But, it’s far more than that. It’s a spotlight on the arrogance of this movement and its leaders, a spotlight on the choking intolerance of academia, and a spotlight on the ignorance of so many who say so much, yet know so very little.

18 April 2008

L. Brent Bozell III

L. Brent Bozell III is the president of the Media Research Center. To find out more about Brent Bozell III, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

Copyright 2008 Creators Syndicate Inc

http://news.yahoo.com/s/uc/20080418/cm_uc_crbbox/op_235852 (in English)

Editor’s Afterword:

It is not only the Darwinist clerisy that dabbles in such childish behaviour. One can see it in the attitude of the academics at SVS in Crestwood to those of us who they consider the “great unwashed”. The juvenile antics of Paul Meyendorff, Mary Christine Erickson, and Bradley Nassif are known to all who have dared to disagree with them. Therefore, one could call this section, “Vara Drezhlo (and others) vs. the Sputtering Renovationists”.

These people are “broken records”. If you dare to express anything in opposition to their notions, you are a “liturgical fundamentalist”. Hmm… is this in the Scriptures? No… could it be in the Fathers (which these sorts misquote ad infinitum)? No… it’s not there, either. Eureka! It MUST be somewhere in the trashy oeuvre of Schmemann. NO! It’s not there either. Even Schmemann was not that silly and inane. One wonders what he would have done to such purveyors of loose drivel. He was a heretic, but, he had intellectual standards, to be sure.

Of course, “fundamentalist” is a smear-word tossed about liberally by those on the left. I have found that none of those who use it most frequently know its original meaning, and none know of J. Gordon Machen and his ideas. You see, it is against the therapeutic tenets of American Positivism (the actual creed taught at SVS) to be “violent” or “hateful”. They wish to say “extremist” or “fanatic”, but, that would be HATE SPEECH. Let us all shudder together in unison! In short, “fundamentalist” is a weasel word sucked dry of any real meaning. It is shorthand. They mean to say, “I don’t like what you say, but, I am too lazy (or ignorant) to encounter it on its merits. I am going to smear you and do my best to destroy your reputation”.

Firstly, I believe that those of us who are engaging in a conversation about Orthodoxy should use Orthodox terminology, and not borrow from the heterodox or the godless. “Liturgical fundamentalism” is not part of our lexicon. Patriarch Aleksei does not use it. Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg does not use it. Deacon Andrei Kuraev does not use it. Fr Vsevolod Chaplin does not use it. NO ONE in the healthy Russian Church uses it. Metropolitan Laurus of Blessed Memory did not use it, and I am sure that Fr Luke and Fr George at the monastery do not use it. I have never heard Fr Andrew Philips use it (although he may have used it to illustrate the inanities of modernism, to be sure). So, no one in the ROCOR uses it either.

I believe that this odd formulation was picked up by the SVS lot at General Theological, Union Theological, or Yale Divinity. They are more concerned with being accepted by liberal heterodox academia than they are with staying within the guidelines laid down by the Church. If they wish to be part of the “liberal” milieu, I say that they should be allowed to do so. Only do NOT call yourself Orthodox theologians and academics. Let there be “truth in packaging”. Let SVS continue to preach Renovationism… I am not the Grand Inquisitor, and I am NOT conducting an auto-da-fé. If I did such, I would be guilty of the same sin as they are. If this is the path they wish to follow, they should be allowed to do so, but, the Church should disown this positivist and theomachist institution and forbid all candidates for the priesthood to study there.

We must bear in mind that Schmemann taught that many great saints of the Church such as Basil the Blessed of Moscow were clinically insane. This alone is grounds for sending these people off. I remember seeing Schmemann’s lip curl in contempt as a laywoman described an actual miracle. I have NEVER forgotten that dismissive look. Do not forget that Schmemann boldly taught the obnovlenstvo of Vvedensky openly at SVS. This contempt of the SVS clerisy for the ordinary faithful is not new. We should do something about it, and right smartly. Such people have no right denigrating good Orthodox Christians and their beliefs.

Be faithful to the true heritage of the Church, or be gone, I say.                  

Tsar St Nikolai Aleksandrovich with his family

Moscow, 16 April 2008 (Interfax):

The Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate instructed Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg to draft a programme of events in commemoration of the 90^th anniversary of the deaths of the entire family of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II. In addition, religious services in commemoration of the royal martyrs will be held in all Russian churches on 16-17 July, the Holy Synod decided at a session in Moscow on Tuesday. Last month, the members of the religious and public organisation Yekaterinburg Initiative urged the Russian leadership to rename all communities in Russia named after people who participated in the killing of the royal family.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=4559 (in English)

Monty Hall (1921- ), on the stage of Let’s Make a Deal in 1975. The King of Kitsch, wasn’t he?

Those of us “of a certain age” remember the over-the-top antics of the nutter Monty Hall on Let’s Make a Deal. Some of the doors concealed treasures, others held gags, and still others were intended to make fools of the contestants to “entertain” a jaded television audience.

It sounds like the current OCA crisis, does it not? If we choose the right door, we shall receive a prize, if we choose wrongly, we shall get a “booby prize” so ridiculous that we would be exposed to the world as fools.

There are three real choices facing the faithful of the OCA. One is to bury their heads in the sand and “trust Syosset” as a certain John Garvey is advocating. This is fatuous. If the present structure cannot generate the revenue necessary to function, how shall it be able to do so in future? If these apparatchiki had a practise of lying to the faithful in the past, they shall likely continue doing so in future. This course mandates ever-larger bites from the parishes, which in the end, would bring down the structure, probably within a year or so. This path is flawed because both the central administration and SVS are located in expensive metropolitan areas, and both refuse to move. Ergo, another financial crunch is inevitable, and this option is about as viable as buying a Trabbie for personal transportation.

The second scenario envisages a discrete OCA. If you wish to preserve a group formally known as the Orthodox Church in America, there is only one route open. The central administration and SVS would be abolished, the functions of Syosset would be devolved onto the dioceses, and priestly formation would be concentrated [in the lower 48] at St Tikhon’s in Pennsylvania, due to the much lower costs of doing business (as compared to the astronomical salaries required in the NYC metro area). The only administrative overhead needed would be an office for the metropolitan with a staff of 2 or 3 clerics and an admin assistant or two to assist them. There are only 115,000 members in the OCA, after all. This would mean returning to the cautious and prudent policies of the Metropolia, and rejecting Schmemann’s opium dream.

Although this is the most prudent and fiscally responsible path (if one wishes a discrete OCA, that is), the Syosset and SVS fanatics shall fight this so hard that this plan has no hope of survival. The Syosset/SVS crowd is so wedded to the NYC metro area, and so despise the hinterland, that they would rather see the OCA crash to the earth rather than move. Of course, this begs the question of why such a foolish move was made in the first place… that, later. This option is like buying a sensible Toyota or Chevy for personal transportation, but, the ones who wish to have a flashy Caddie or Rolls are calling the shots.

The third choice, I believe, is being taken as we speak. As Syosset refuses to budge, and the people who have put forward the St Tikhon’s proposal (I have seen such on the internet) have been rebuffed by the powers that be, we are led, nolens volens, to door number three. That is, the OCA quietly implodes. Rather, it would be like a balloon loosing air slowly through a pin-prick. It is doing so now. If you doubt my words, look at Alaska…

As this slow decomposition takes place, I believe that a new alignment of Orthodoxy in this country shall take place. What we see today is a situation that has existed since about 1965. Firstly, we must understand that the OCA is not going to go en bloc to the MP, even though that is the most prudent and canonical course for it to follow. I believe that the OCA is going to shatter into three discrete parts.

The Romanians in the OCA are going to return to their mother church in Romania. This body was the canonically squiffy group under Valerian Trifa that was for all intents and purposes Romanian samosvyatsy. With the fall of the communists, there is no longer any reason for an existence apart from the Patriarchate of Romania. If the crisis continues, the chances of this diocese returning to its mother church are so high that I would say it is almost a sure thing. If they leave, the OCA loses its most well-organised diocese, and the OCA reverts to being a Metropolia successor body. Without the Romanians, Syosset no longer shall have the funds to continue, which shall lead to an even faster decay.

SVS and the loud convert element are going to decamp to AOCANA. I must state that the converts I am referring to are a minority of all converts, but, unfortunately, they are the majority of voices on the internet. If one sees a radical position on a church issue, either on the right or on the left, it is almost always a canon-quoting convert that is the culprit.

Why would they go to Philip Saliba and his minions? It would be that the Russian ethnic element in the OCA, which is still predominant, shall reunite with the mother church in Moscow. Let me give you a small, but telling, detail. You can repeat scurrilous rumour on the sexual lives of hierarchs (even if true, a sin against charity… bring formal charges or be silent, I say) or advocate a married episcopate (a bald-faced heresy) on the Orthodox Christians for Accountability website with the full blessing of the webmaster. However, if you wish to talk about the merits of Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev as metropolitan in the Americas, the webmaster shut down the discussion.

I can assure you that I am not the only Orthodox Christian of Russian descent who speaks Russian. I am not the only Orthodox Christian of Russian descent to have contacts in Russia. I am not alone in following the news of the mother church in Russia. I am not alone in considering myself “Russian Orthodox” and no one shall take that title away from me.

I know that there are many Russian Orthodox faithful in America and Canada who feel as I do. I correspond with many of them, we exchange information and ideas, and some of my posts have been in response to the expressed ideas of my fellow Russian Orthodox Christians.

WE ARE READY TO RUMBLE.

THE ALASKA NATIVES ARE READY TO RUMBLE.

You see, the SVS/Syosset people think that we act like other American suburbanites. Any sociologist shall tell you that a discrete group retains behaviour and custom longer than it does language. For example, “Arab” Christians are the descendants of the pre-Muslim invasion population; they are not Arabs per se, even though they have adopted the Arabic language after some 1,300 years of Muslim occupation. Russians (and other Slavs) are famous for their endurance. We take it, and take it, and take it some more… then, “enough is too much already”.

We are ready for reunion with our mother church. The loudmouth convert faction hates this, for they know that reunion with Moscow means a return to traditional faith and practises, and all experimentation would be halted (on both extremes, the right is as dangerous as the left). Philip Saliba is one of the most skilled and unctuous “politicians in a cassock” that I have ever seen. He would tell them, “I believe in an American church, see, most of my clergy are converts. Why, we just welcome you!”

This sort of convert shall leave, and they shall find out the reality of the AOCANA just as the EOC did. I would refer people to the way Saliba handled the Ben Lomond affair. I would point up the actions of Bishop Antoun “the Enforcer” (he does all of Saliba’s dirty work so that Philip can wear the white hat). Of course, recently, there was the $1,000 “gift” from each parish to Saliba personally (if one balked, Antoun the Enforcer threatened the priest). Then, there were the folks that Saliba barred personally when the Toledo group merged with his in the ‘70s. Nice guy… In short, the converts shall find that AOCANA is no picnic, and that if they do not become part of the sycophantic choir praising Philip Saliba, they shall find themselves out, and very smartly at that.

So, who shall lead us out of the desert? Some people think it shall be Hilarion Alfeyev, a good man (a bit squiffy on doctrine, though), but, I believe that Moscow is going to keep him as its “diplomat” to the EU (that is what his job is, in essence) because no one else has his diplomatic and linguistic ability.

I think that the best candidate for Metropolitan of the US would be… Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg.

He cleaned up a similar mess in his diocese when he took over in 1999, as his predecessor was guilty of corruption and homosexuality. The Diocese of Yekaterinburg (the third-most-important diocese after Moscow and St Petersburg) is now cleansed because of Vladyki Vikenty’s efforts. He is a great pastor, and he spares no effort in preaching and living the traditional faith. I do NOT care if he does not speak English at present. We need a MORAL and PURE leader. If he does not speak English, he can learn it. In any case, we do not need speeches, we need a SHINING EXEMPLAR who shows the way in how he acts, not how he speaks.

Vladyki Vikenty walks the walk, and if it takes him some time to talk the talk, people shall forgive him, for the former is more important than the latter.

Following this submission, I shall post some more information on Vladyki Vikenty and the circumstances surrounding his elevation. You shall see that he is the ideal man to clean up our mess here in America. I also shall post (without editing) the MP Report on the Sourozh crisis in England. Reflect on the fact that it took the MP only 100 days to solve the problem… how long has the OCA mess been chugging along? What sort of action do you desire?

You may listen to Syosset/SVS and see that their crisis has dragged on since October 2005… some 30 months! Or, you can join yourself to the good tree of Moscow that kicked out a pederast bishop and solved a later crisis in three months. I know where I stand… what about you?

Vara Drezhlo

Sunday 2 March 2008

Moscow, 4 June 2007 (Interfax):

Droplets of myrrh came out on the portrait of Patriarch Aleksei II on Trinity Day (Russian colloquialism for Pentecost: editor’s note) in the church of St Aleksandr Nevsky in the town of Nizhniaya Salda near Yekaterinburg. “It is a sign from God! The Lord himself has marked the patriarch’s image to strengthen our faith!” parishioners said, according to the newspaper Tvoi Den (“Your Day”).

The portrait of the patriarch was put in the church next to the iconostas three years ago. Passing by the church shop at the Church of Christ-on-the-Spilled-Blood in Yekaterinburg, the rector of the church in Nizhniaya Salda, Fr Mikhail Parygin, saw the primate’s portrait in a wooden frame in a shop window. “My heart rejoiced when I saw the image of His Holiness. I bought it immediately, as if angels stopped me before it”, Fr Mikhail said.

The miraculous myrrh was discovered by parishioners. The portrait began exuding fragrance shortly before matins. “I came the other day to the church to pray for the health of my relatives. As usual, I came up to the patriarch’s portrait and suddenly saw droplets of myrrh beading up on the picture. I had a lump in my throat. I ran to Fr Mikhail straight away to tell him about the miracle”, parishioner Lyubov Ivanovna related. The priest admitted that, at first, he refused to believe what the woman said and it was only after he came to the Patriarch’s picture that he “was numbed as he saw myrrh trickling down in small drops from the right bottom corner of the portrait”.

Having learned about the portrait of the patriarch exuding myrrh, Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye came to Nizhniaya Salda. Having seen the emanation with his own eyes, the archbishop said, “The myrrh may be a sign of tears of joy. The Russian Orthodox Church has united through the efforts of His Holiness, and the Lord is rejoicing in His children”.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=3143 (in English)