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| Holy Royal Martyrs of Russia | |
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| Topic Started: Saturday, 4. July 2009, 11:19 (74 Views) | |
| O'Ratty | Saturday, 4. July 2009, 11:19 Post #1 |
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 Reading Tsar Nicholas II was the son of Alexander III, who had reposed in the arms of Saint John of Kronstadt. Having been raised in piety, Tsar Nicholas ever sought to rule in a spirit consonant with the precepts of Orthodoxy and the best traditions of his nation. Tsaritsa Alexandra, a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria of England, and a convert from Lutheranism, was noted for her piety and compassion for the poor and suffering. Their five children were beloved of all for their kindness, modesty, and guilelessness. Amidst the political turmoil of 1917, Tsar Nicholas selflessly abdicated the throne for what he believed was the good of his country. Although he had abdicated willingly, the revolutionaries put him and his family under house arrest, then sent them under guard to Tobolsk and finally Ekaterinburg. A letter written from Tobolsk by Grand Duchess Olga, the eldest of the children, shows their nobility of soul. She writes, "My father asks that I convey to all those who have remained devoted to him ... that they should not take vengeance on his account, because he has forgiven everyone and prays for them all. Nor should they avenge themselves. Rather, they should bear in mind that this evil which is now present in the world will become yet stronger, but that evil will not conquer evil, but only love shall do so." After enduring sixteen months of imprisonment, deprivation, and humiliation with a Christian patience which moved even their captors, they and those who were with them gained their crowns of martyrdom when they were shot and stabbed to death in the cellar of the Ipatiev house in Ekaterinburg in 1918. Together with them are also commemorated those who faithfully served them, and were either slain with them, or on their account: General Elias Tatishchev; Prince Basil Dolgorukov; the physician Eugene Dotkin; the lady-in-waiting Countess Anastasia Hendrikova; the serving-maid Anna Demidova; the cook John Kharitonov; and the sailors Clement Nagorny and John Sednev. Apolytikion in the First Tone Most noble and sublime was your life and death, O Sovereigns; wise Nicholas and blest Alexandra, we praise you, acclaiming your piety, meekness, faith, and humility, whereby ye attained to crowns of glory in Christ God, with your five renowned and godly children of blest fame. O Marytrs decked in purple, intercede for us. Kontakion in the Third Tone Royalty and martyrdom were joined together, O blest ones, in your death for righteousness and right belief, O wise Sovereigns, Nicholas and Alexandra, with your five children. Hence, Christ God hath deemed you worthy of thrones in Heaven; and with twofold crowns of glory, ye reign for ever, adorned with grace divine. Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery Apolytikion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery http://www.goarch.org/chapel/saints_view?contentid=108&type=saints Edited by O'Ratty, Saturday, 4. July 2009, 11:38.
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Concepts create idols; only wonder grasps anything. - St. Gregory of Nyssa | |
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| Deleted User | Saturday, 4. July 2009, 15:08 Post #2 |
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An interesting account O'Ratty. It ignores certain realities such as the Tsars Anti-Semitic stance and the pogroms in the early 20th century which he authorised and encouraged. It also ignores the massacre on Sunday (1905) when his guard killed over 90 people and injured hundreds more while they attempted to present a petition asking for greater freedom. The Tsar was far from willing to Abdicate and was forced to do so after leading the army to defeat in 1917 and being threatened by a revolt by his own councillors, and even members of the imperial family. So hated was Tsar Nicholas that it was impossible for his cousin George the V to risk sending assistance to rescue the Tsar and his family and offer them safe haven in England. George V was afraid that the revolutionaries would use the Tsars presence in England as a rallying cry to lead a revolution in the UK. As for the Tsaritsa she was so beguiled by Rasputin that she could hardly be considered virtuous in her support for the Orthodox Church and she only became orthodox after it was agreed that she would not be required to renounce her Lutheran Faith, thus she became Orthodox not as a statement of faith but out of political necessity. The Romantic view of Nicholas II is I am afraid an affront to the millions of Russians who suffered deprivation under his Autocratic reign. His Grand-father had been a great reformer and was assassinated and in fairness to Nicholas II he was afraid of granting any concessions for fear that he would suffer the same fate, ironically he was murdered in the end precisely because he would not give way to the wishes of the people. It is tragic that his children had to pay such a high price for their Fathers crimes but I would not be listing him as a noble servant of God. It was however interesting to read a different perspective but the facts from independent sauces and records from foreign embassies suggest that the truth of his life was far less virtuous. |
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| O'Ratty | Saturday, 4. July 2009, 17:29 Post #3 |
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Well yes, Penfold - quite right: a question of perspective. The world sees only a weak, unimaginative, uxorious autocrat, misguided and reactionary; his wife a neurotic, guilt-ridden German princess, prey to charlatans and misplaced devotion. The Church, the family of the Faith, sees these human imperfections too - but her perspective is not politics or "progress" or any other category of human failure and folly. She sees her martyred children, turned in the end wholly to God in faith, hope, repentance and forgiveness, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit. The Tsarina's conversion might very well have been "difficult" (as compared to that of her sister, our glorious Mother in Christ Grand Duchess St Elizabeth, who warned her off Rasputin right from the start); but there is no uncertainty about her Orthodoxy subsequently.
"Everything is true, except the facts" as was observed in another context. "Independent sauces", indeed. Perspective, again?
By the same token, we'll let that one speak for itself. Does it tell us more about Nicholas or his cousin? Perhaps neither... Perhaps "not this man, but Barrabas" hints at a truer "perspective". Edited by O'Ratty, Saturday, 4. July 2009, 18:33.
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Concepts create idols; only wonder grasps anything. - St. Gregory of Nyssa | |
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| Deleted User | Saturday, 4. July 2009, 19:21 Post #4 |
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O'Ratty In the end my jugment is not important if after the passage of time the Orthodox Church have seen fit to consider the Tsar for Sanctity then I respect their judment of one of their own. May the Lord have mercy upon his soul and guide his footsteps in he life here after.  |
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