2008
_______________________________
Before we do anything else, let’s delve into the question, “Is this an icon, and is it’s painter a Church person?” Let’s take the latter first… Ilya Pivnik is a well-known icon painter in St Petersburg; particularly, his excellent depictions of New Martyrs are in many churches. Therefore, Pivnik isn’t some unreliable dabbler in iconography. He spent some months on Mount Athos, where he painted icons for several chapels.
******
St Ioann Kronshtadtsky
Ilya Pivnik
2000
Podvorie of the Leushino Convent of St John the Baptist (St Petersburg RF)
______________________________
Is Pivnik’s painting an icon? Certainly, it follows the canons of Russian icon painting. Note well that I V Stalin doesn’t have a nimbus. In researching this, about 95 percent of the images “out there” lack such, the few that have such seem to be PhotoShops. Indeed, it’s clear from the icon that Stalin isn’t a holy figure; he’s simply a figure in the action. If one was to simply gauge from this icon, it’s apparent that the only “holy figure” in the icon is Blessed Matrona. Note well that she doesn’t bless Stalin or curse him. She’s simply in her room and Stalin is walking away, not even talking to her. The only takeaway from this is that Stalin and Blessed Matrona maybe talked, and that Stalin’s leaving.
******
______________________________
Is this controversial? You bet your ass! It’s radioactive. There’s so much “Sturm und Drang” that I’d say that it’s impossible to get at the truth of the matter. Click here for a discussion on the controversy surrounding this icon. Did Stalin meet Matrona? She was a well-known figure in the city and Stalin’s views on religion (particularly, in later life) were ambiguous and (sometimes) contradictory. The Church fared relatively well after 1941… it was Khrushchyov who shut down parishes by the gross (when the persecution ended, 60 percent were gone).
******
St Serafim Vyritsky
______________________________
What’s alleged to have happened? Supposedly, Stalin went to Blessed Matrona to receive her blessing for his defence of Moscow. Some say that she blessed him and prayed for the victory of the Red Army. This isn’t new in Russian history… St Sergei of Radonezh blessed Grand Prince St Dmitri Donskoi and St Serafim Vyritsky prayed for the victory of the Red Army in the VOV. However, there’s been so much kerfuffle that we’ll never really KNOW if it happened. You pays your money and you takes your choice.
As for me, I BELIEVE. I won’t have an argument… I BELIEVE.
******
______________________________
Mark this down well… we have a terrible crisis facing Holy Rus, one as serious as the Fascist invasion. America threatens Holy Rus using Galician/Ukie Nationalist clients. The Vatican backs America (at least, segments of it do). They want to rape Russia and pick it as cleanly as they’ve stripped the Ukraine. I believe that Red and White must unite to fight the foe. This means that we mustn’t support those in the USA who hate our motherland and want to destroy her. That’s why good Orthodox Christians can’t have anything to do with Uniates or Republicans or Langley or the US State Department or any part of the American foreign policy apparat… all are the sworn enemies of Holy Rus.
******
_____________________________
It’s time to stand behind Holy Rus and the Assembly of All the Saints Who Shone Forth in the Russian Land. It’s time to make Potapov and Paffhausen repudiate their past whoring for Langley and the K Street slimeocracy in public. At least, we shouldn’t stand with those who hate our ethos… and the Republican Party, with its repulsive “Rugged Individualism” stands against everything held by the Holy Church.
It’s time to stand up… God wills it…
BMD
Voices from Russia 
8 April 2014. Blessed Matrona and Stalin: Did It Happen and Is This an Icon?
Tags: Blessed Matrona of Moscow, Christian, Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Church, Iosif Stalin, Joseph Stalin, Matrona, Moscow, Mount Athos, political commentary, politics, Red Army, Religion, Religion and Spirituality, Russia, Russian, Soviet Union, Stalin, USSR
Blessed Matrona of Moscow and I V Stalin
Ilya Pivnik
2008
_______________________________
Before we do anything else, let’s delve into the question, “Is this an icon, and is it’s painter a Church person?” Let’s take the latter first… Ilya Pivnik is a well-known icon painter in St Petersburg; particularly, his excellent depictions of New Martyrs are in many churches. Therefore, Pivnik isn’t some unreliable dabbler in iconography. He spent some months on Mount Athos, where he painted icons for several chapels.
******
St Ioann Kronshtadtsky
Ilya Pivnik
2000
Podvorie of the Leushino Convent of St John the Baptist (St Petersburg RF)
______________________________
Is Pivnik’s painting an icon? Certainly, it follows the canons of Russian icon painting. Note well that I V Stalin doesn’t have a nimbus. In researching this, about 95 percent of the images “out there” lack such, the few that have such seem to be PhotoShops. Indeed, it’s clear from the icon that Stalin isn’t a holy figure; he’s simply a figure in the action. If one was to simply gauge from this icon, it’s apparent that the only “holy figure” in the icon is Blessed Matrona. Note well that she doesn’t bless Stalin or curse him. She’s simply in her room and Stalin is walking away, not even talking to her. The only takeaway from this is that Stalin and Blessed Matrona maybe talked, and that Stalin’s leaving.
******
______________________________
Is this controversial? You bet your ass! It’s radioactive. There’s so much “Sturm und Drang” that I’d say that it’s impossible to get at the truth of the matter. Click here for a discussion on the controversy surrounding this icon. Did Stalin meet Matrona? She was a well-known figure in the city and Stalin’s views on religion (particularly, in later life) were ambiguous and (sometimes) contradictory. The Church fared relatively well after 1941… it was Khrushchyov who shut down parishes by the gross (when the persecution ended, 60 percent were gone).
******
St Serafim Vyritsky
______________________________
What’s alleged to have happened? Supposedly, Stalin went to Blessed Matrona to receive her blessing for his defence of Moscow. Some say that she blessed him and prayed for the victory of the Red Army. This isn’t new in Russian history… St Sergei of Radonezh blessed Grand Prince St Dmitri Donskoi and St Serafim Vyritsky prayed for the victory of the Red Army in the VOV. However, there’s been so much kerfuffle that we’ll never really KNOW if it happened. You pays your money and you takes your choice.
As for me, I BELIEVE. I won’t have an argument… I BELIEVE.
******
______________________________
Mark this down well… we have a terrible crisis facing Holy Rus, one as serious as the Fascist invasion. America threatens Holy Rus using Galician/Ukie Nationalist clients. The Vatican backs America (at least, segments of it do). They want to rape Russia and pick it as cleanly as they’ve stripped the Ukraine. I believe that Red and White must unite to fight the foe. This means that we mustn’t support those in the USA who hate our motherland and want to destroy her. That’s why good Orthodox Christians can’t have anything to do with Uniates or Republicans or Langley or the US State Department or any part of the American foreign policy apparat… all are the sworn enemies of Holy Rus.
******
_____________________________
It’s time to stand behind Holy Rus and the Assembly of All the Saints Who Shone Forth in the Russian Land. It’s time to make Potapov and Paffhausen repudiate their past whoring for Langley and the K Street slimeocracy in public. At least, we shouldn’t stand with those who hate our ethos… and the Republican Party, with its repulsive “Rugged Individualism” stands against everything held by the Holy Church.
It’s time to stand up… God wills it…
BMD