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- [Fr. Seraphim] Eminences,
reverend fathers, brothers and sisters.

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Every Orthodox Christian is placed
between two worlds:

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this fallen world where we try
to work out our salvation

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and the other world, heaven,

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the homeland towards which we are striving

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and which if we are leading
a true Christian life

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gives us the inspiration to live
from day to day

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in Christian virtue and love.

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But the world is too much with us.

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We often in fact nowadays, usually,

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we forget the heavenly world.

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The pressure of worldliness is
so strong today

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whether we look at the Soviet Union

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where it is enforced by the government

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or to the free world
where we voluntarily go on this way

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that we often lose track of what our life

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as Christians is all about.

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Even if we may be going
to church frequently,

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even if we may consider ourselves

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to be active church members,

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how often our being in church,
our churchliness

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is only something external

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bound up with beautiful services
with the whole richness

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of our Orthodox tradition,

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but lacking in something
much more fundamental:

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the deep conviction in our hearts

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that Orthodoxy is the faith
that can save our souls for eternity.

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But often in the midst
of outward splendor,

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we are lacking for real love for
and commitment to Christ,

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who is incarnate the God
and the Founder of our faith.

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And often for us church becomes
just a matter of habit.

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Something we go through outwardly

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which does not change us inwardly,

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does not make us grow spiritually

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and lead us to eternal life and God

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which is the whole purpose
of our existence.

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Keeping this mind,
we can see that we are living

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in those times

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which our Lord Jesus Christ warned us
about in the Gospel

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when He said,
"The love of many shall grow cold."

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These are the latter times.

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When the Christian Gospel
which was received

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with such fervor by the first Christians

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has become only one small part
of our worldly life

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instead of the center and meaning
of our life,

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which is what it would be
if we realized what our faith is.

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Orthodox Christianity,

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as a burning faith
which we are not ashamed to confess

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and to have as the most precious thing
in our life,

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is to a great extent in a state of decline

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and retreat in the world today.

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But quite ironically
and quite providentially

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as Orthodoxy and Christianity have seemed
to retreat,

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on the other hand Russia
or rather the Soviet Union,

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the atheist regime
which has ensnared the Russian land

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has advanced from strength to strength

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and now has a leading,
perhaps the leading position

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in the world history of our time.

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Therefore what is happening
in the Soviet Union today

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is looked to with great interest
by the rest of the world.

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And significantly a good part
of what is happening

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in the Soviet Union today

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and what undoubtedly will be happening
in the future

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is bound up with the real Russia,
with Orthodox Russia.

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The Orthodox revival in Russia today is
closely bound up

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with the future of the Russian land.

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In 19th and 20th century,
early 20th century Russia,

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there were many prophecies
of spiritual men

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not only concerning the coming of atheism

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and the revolution to Russia

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and the epoch of blood and slavery

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which was introduced into the world,

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but also what would happen to Russia
after this epoch

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if the Orthodox Russian people
would repent of their sins

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which produced the revolution.

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This morning, therefore, I would like us

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to look at some of these prophecies

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and the way they are bound up
with what is happening in Russia today.

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We will try to look not
from the superficial point of view

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of the popular newsmagazines,

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but deeper, and try to see something

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of what is happening to the soul and heart
of Russia

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and what may be expected there

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according to these prophecies

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and our knowledge
of the more general prophecies

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concerning what is to happen
before the end of the world.

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Immediately the question arises:

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why should we talk
about the end of the world?

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Are we really living in the last times?

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Why do we have
to bind together the subject

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of the future of Russia
and the end of the world?

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But it so happens that
even secular writers nowadays speak

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of our times as being apocalyptic.

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And truly the problems
that plague the world today—

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such as the exhaustion
of resources and food,

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overpopulation,

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the literal monsters
which have been created

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by modern technology,

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and especially the weapons
which are capable

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of destroying entire countries

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or even the whole civilized earth—

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all these point to the approach
of a time of crisis

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in human history

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which is quite beyond anything
the world has ever seen,

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and perhaps points to the literal end
of life upon earth.

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At the same time,

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religious thinkers of various kinds point

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to a blossoming
of non-Christian religious movements

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in our time,

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and speak about the coming of a new age

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in which a new religious consciousness

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will dominate men's minds

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and put an end to the 2,000 year reign
of Christianity.

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Astrologers talk about the Aquarian age

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which they think is to begin
around the year 2000.

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And the very approach
of the year 2000 is enough

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to inspire in many minds the idea
of a new epoch

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somehow different from the rest
of human history.

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Among many non-Orthodox Christians,

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these ideas take the form of a teaching

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which is extremely important for us
to understand

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in connection with the future of Russia,

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and it's called chiliasm:

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the belief that Christ is soon
to come to earth

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and reign right here with His saints

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before the end of the world.

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This teaching is a heresy
which was condemned

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by the early Church Fathers and councils

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and has its origin in a misinterpretation

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of the Book of Revelation, the Apocalypse.

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The Orthodox teaching is that the reign

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of Christ with His saints
when the devil is bound

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for a 1,000 years which is described

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in the Apocalypse 20:3

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is the period we are now living in.

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The whole period,

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1000 being a symbolical number
indicating wholeness,

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this whole period between the first

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and second coming of Christ.

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In this period the saints do reign
with Christ in His church,

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but this is a mystical reign

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which is not to be defined
in the outward political sense

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which is given to us by the chiliad.

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The devil is truly bound in this period,

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that is restricted in exercising
his ill will against humanity.

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And believers who live the life
of the church

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and receive the holy mysteries of Christ

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live in this period a blessed life

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preparing them for eternal kingdom
of heaven.

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The non-Orthodox
who do not have holy mysteries

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and do not taste of the true life
of the church

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cannot understand this mystical reign
of Christ,

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and this is why they look
for something outward.

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And so it is that the future of the world

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in which Russia obviously
will have a central place

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is bound up with ideas
that you can call apocalyptic,

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either with the literal end of the world
in a physical sense

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or the end of the civilized world
as we know it,

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and the expectation
of some entirely new paradise-like reign.

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Some people have interpreted
Russia's place in this new era

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in terms of the heresy of chiliasm.

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In fact, if we look at the teaching
of communism,

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we see that it is exactly a teaching
of chiliasm.

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We can see that it teaches
that a totally new historical epoch

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begins with communism,

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that when communism
finally dominates the world

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there will be universal happiness

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and the liberation of mankind
from everything

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that is bounded in the past,
including religion.

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Today after over 60 years

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of the communist experiment in Russia

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and a shorter period in other nations,

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we can see how foolish is this belief
underlying communism.

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The reality of communism is not paradise
on earth

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but what we call now gulag.

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Mankind has not been liberated at all,

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but enslaved worse than ever before.

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But Russia, the first country
to experience the communist yoke

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is also the first country to begin
to wake up from it

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and to survive it.

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Despite the continued reign
of communist tyranny in Russia,

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atheism has not captured the soul
of Russia.

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And a religious awakening that can be seen
now in Russia is

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undoubtedly only the beginning
of something

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quite immense and elemental,

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namely the recovery of the soul
of a whole nation

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from the plague of atheism.

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This is the reason why Russia today
can speak a word

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of significance to the whole world,

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which is plunging into the same trap
of atheism

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from which Russia is emerging.

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And this is why the future of Russia is
so closely bound up

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with the future of the whole world
in a religious sense.

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Before turning specifically
to the prophecies about Russia,

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I would like to summarize briefly

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the general Orthodox teaching
of what is to happen

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just before the end of the world.

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This will give us a background in which

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to place the prophecies
regarding the future of Russia.

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The events before the end
of the world are described

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in a number of places in Holy Scripture:

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the 24th chapter of Matthew

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and other similar chapters
in the other Gospels,

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almost the whole Book of the Apocalypse

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especially from chapter 8 onward,

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the 2nd chapter of 2 Thessalonians
of St. Paul,

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and St. Peter's 2nd epistle
the 3rd chapter,

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several chapters of the Book of Daniel,

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and many other passages.

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The Apocalypse describes the events

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before the end of the world
in a series of visions.

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Some of these visions are bright
and positive

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relating to the fulfillment
of God's justice

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and the salvation of His chosen ones.

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And some are dark and negative

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relating to the terrible plagues
that will come on earth

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for the sins of mankind.

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Sometimes, in fact quite often,

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we tend to overemphasize the dark
and negative side

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of this book,

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because we see how much evil is increasing
around us.

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But this comes from our faintheartedness
and worldliness.

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To get the whole picture of what is
to happen at the end,

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we must bear in mind all the events
that will happen

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both the negative and the positive.

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As the time of the end comes,

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it is true that there will be a time
of tribulation

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such as the world has never seen,

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as described in Matthew 24:21.

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There will be famines, plagues,
earthquakes,

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wars and rumors of wars,

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persecutions, false prophets,
false christs,

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and the love of many
including Christians will grow cold.

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But at the same, the Gospel
will be preached to all nations,

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and those who endure
with the aid of Christ

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all the trials to come upon men
at that time will be saved.

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The evil and false religion in the world

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which we see increasing about us today
so much

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will come to its peak in the reign
of antichrist,

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a world ruler who will seem to bring peace

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out of world disorder,

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and will seem to be Christ come again
to earth

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reigning over the whole world
from the restored temple in Jerusalem.

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But there will be those who see
through the deception,

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and in particular two Old Testament
prophets who never died.

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Elijah and Enoch will return to earth.

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Elijah to covert the Jews

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and Enoch to preach to the other nations.

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The short reign of antichrist
only 3.5 years will end

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in new disorders and wars,

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in the midst of which
Christ himself will come from heaven

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preceded by the sign of the cross.

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00:11:46,605 --> 00:11:49,663
And this world will be consumed by fire
and totally renewed

254
00:11:49,885 --> 00:11:51,419
at the same time that the bodies

255
00:11:51,419 --> 00:11:53,187
of the dead will arise from the tombs

256
00:11:53,187 --> 00:11:55,426
and be rejoined to their souls
in order to stand

257
00:11:55,426 --> 00:11:57,238
before the final judgement of God.

258
00:11:59,460 --> 00:12:01,522
This in a very brief scope

259
00:12:01,737 --> 00:12:05,243
is the sort of things
which one can expect to happen

260
00:12:05,344 --> 00:12:07,368
as the world actually comes to its end.

261
00:12:09,068 --> 00:12:10,484
And now about Russia.

262
00:12:11,829 --> 00:12:13,391
In 19th century Russia,

263
00:12:14,142 --> 00:12:15,471
a number of prophets

264
00:12:15,471 --> 00:12:18,035
and even farseeing laymen like Dostoyevsky

265
00:12:18,388 --> 00:12:20,389
foresaw the coming of the revolution

266
00:12:20,414 --> 00:12:23,001
which would come upon Russia
as a result of unbelief,

267
00:12:23,041 --> 00:12:26,527
worldliness, and a purely formal attitude
to Orthodoxy

268
00:12:26,970 --> 00:12:29,353
devoid of the burning,
self-sacrificing faith

269
00:12:29,353 --> 00:12:30,816
which Orthodoxy demands.

270
00:12:34,198 --> 00:12:36,015
Some people saw this in general terms

271
00:12:36,015 --> 00:12:39,096
as a terrible disaster ready
to overtake the Russian land.

272
00:12:39,150 --> 00:12:41,134
As did Bishop Theophan the Recluse

273
00:12:41,134 --> 00:12:43,471
when he looked at the lack
of true Christian faith

274
00:12:43,471 --> 00:12:44,491
in so many people

275
00:12:44,491 --> 00:12:47,518
and cried out,
"In 100 years what will be left

276
00:12:47,518 --> 00:12:49,076
"of our Orthodoxy?"

277
00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:52,997
Others saw more specific
to the frightful revolution

278
00:12:53,098 --> 00:12:54,970
which would spread to the entire world.

279
00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:56,929
Thus St. John of Kronstadt said

280
00:12:57,019 --> 00:13:00,179
in a sermon delivered in 1905, quote,

281
00:13:01,300 --> 00:13:03,323
"Russia, if you fall away from your faith

282
00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:06,671
"as many of the intellectual class have
already fallen away,

283
00:13:07,330 --> 00:13:09,877
"you will no longer be Russia
or Holy Russia.

284
00:13:10,427 --> 00:13:13,157
"And if there will be no repentance
in the Russian people,

285
00:13:13,157 --> 00:13:14,903
"then the end of the world is near.

286
00:13:15,525 --> 00:13:18,150
"God will take away the pious tsar
and will send a whip

287
00:13:18,319 --> 00:13:21,165
"in the person of impious, cruel,
self-appointed rulers

288
00:13:21,472 --> 00:13:24,561
"who will inundate the whole earth
with blood and tears,"

289
00:13:25,235 --> 00:13:26,322
end of quote.

290
00:13:28,255 --> 00:13:30,883
This is the state
in which the world now finds itself

291
00:13:31,801 --> 00:13:33,804
with nearly half of it drenched with blood

292
00:13:33,804 --> 00:13:36,056
and enduring the tyranny
which began in 1917

293
00:13:36,056 --> 00:13:37,587
with the Russian Revolution.

294
00:13:39,114 --> 00:13:40,357
Somebody asked a question.

295
00:13:40,357 --> 00:13:42,029
"Is there any hope for deliverance,

296
00:13:42,085 --> 00:13:44,320
"or will atheism simply conquer
the whole world

297
00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:46,403
"and set up the kingdom of antichrist?"

298
00:13:47,454 --> 00:13:48,794
We have good reason to doubt

299
00:13:48,794 --> 00:13:51,050
that future events will be
as simple as this.

300
00:13:51,413 --> 00:13:52,808
Both because the very country

301
00:13:52,808 --> 00:13:55,454
that began the reign of atheism, Russia,

302
00:13:55,543 --> 00:13:57,593
is now undergoing a religious awakening

303
00:13:57,722 --> 00:14:00,302
which is already a hindrance to the spread
of atheism.

304
00:14:00,947 --> 00:14:04,224
And also because antichrist according
to Orthodox prophecy

305
00:14:04,495 --> 00:14:07,082
will not be simply an atheist tyrant
like Stalin

306
00:14:07,395 --> 00:14:08,614
but a religious figure

307
00:14:08,614 --> 00:14:11,821
who will persuade
rather than compel people to accept him.

308
00:14:14,230 --> 00:14:15,994
The holy men who were alive in Russia

309
00:14:15,994 --> 00:14:17,619
at the beginning of the revolution

310
00:14:17,849 --> 00:14:20,567
were aware of the apocalyptic nature
of this event,

311
00:14:20,886 --> 00:14:23,792
that is that it is bound up somehow
with the end of the world.

312
00:14:24,359 --> 00:14:27,022
And they knew that it would be a long
and difficult trial

313
00:14:27,022 --> 00:14:28,282
for the Russian land,

314
00:14:28,582 --> 00:14:31,742
but they also foresaw that
there would be an end to this trial.

315
00:14:32,002 --> 00:14:36,234
And here we can see the difference
between our normal human wisdom

316
00:14:36,419 --> 00:14:38,652
and the inspired wisdom of these prophets,

317
00:14:38,742 --> 00:14:40,558
because according to our human wisdom

318
00:14:40,558 --> 00:14:42,435
things look bad, they're getting worse,

319
00:14:42,435 --> 00:14:43,873
and there seems to be no hope.

320
00:14:43,952 --> 00:14:46,410
According to those inspired by God
they saw

321
00:14:47,024 --> 00:14:49,458
dependent of course upon man's repentance

322
00:14:49,983 --> 00:14:52,759
that there would be something positive
happening in Russia.

323
00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:58,371
The Elder Alexius of Zosima Hermitage—

324
00:14:58,747 --> 00:15:01,726
he was the monk who drew the lot
that elected Patriarch Tikhon—

325
00:15:02,208 --> 00:15:03,923
heard people crying in church

326
00:15:03,923 --> 00:15:05,792
in the Chudov Monastery where he was

327
00:15:05,836 --> 00:15:07,684
in the early months of the revolution.

328
00:15:08,512 --> 00:15:10,615
People were calling out,
"Our Russia is lost.

329
00:15:10,655 --> 00:15:12,173
"Holy Russia is lost."

330
00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:14,812
To this he answered as follows.

331
00:15:15,499 --> 00:15:17,816
"Who is it that is saying
that Russia is lost,

332
00:15:17,816 --> 00:15:19,258
"that she is perished?

333
00:15:19,653 --> 00:15:21,350
"No, no, she is not lost.

334
00:15:21,548 --> 00:15:23,851
"She has not perished and will not perish.

335
00:15:24,087 --> 00:15:26,055
"But the Russian people must be purified

336
00:15:26,101 --> 00:15:27,888
"of sin through great trials.

337
00:15:28,275 --> 00:15:30,305
"One must pray and fervently repent.

338
00:15:31,052 --> 00:15:33,599
"But Russia is not lost
and she has not perished."

339
00:15:35,216 --> 00:15:39,090
This of course is a very general idea
opening up the idea

340
00:15:39,126 --> 00:15:41,144
of hope in the future of Russia,

341
00:15:41,144 --> 00:15:43,870
that there will be something
after this communist tyranny.

342
00:15:44,468 --> 00:15:46,535
Starets Anatole the Younger of Optina

343
00:15:46,865 --> 00:15:50,122
in the very first days of the revolution
in February 1917

344
00:15:50,841 --> 00:15:54,193
made a more specific prophecy in the form
of a vivid picture

345
00:15:54,313 --> 00:15:55,724
of the future of Russia.

346
00:15:56,267 --> 00:15:57,475
He said, quote,

347
00:15:58,108 --> 00:15:59,504
"There will be a storm,

348
00:15:59,544 --> 00:16:02,099
"and the Russian ship will be smashed
to pieces,

349
00:16:02,794 --> 00:16:05,713
"but people can be saved
even on splinters and fragments.

350
00:16:05,957 --> 00:16:07,737
"And not everyone will perish.

351
00:16:08,184 --> 00:16:12,117
"One must pray, everyone must repent
and pray fervently.

352
00:16:12,826 --> 00:16:14,507
"And what happens after a storm?

353
00:16:15,004 --> 00:16:16,283
"There will be a calm."

354
00:16:16,873 --> 00:16:19,589
At this everyone cried out,
"But there is no more ship.

355
00:16:19,589 --> 00:16:21,599
"It is shattered to pieces,
it is perished.

356
00:16:21,599 --> 00:16:22,820
"Everything is perished."

357
00:16:23,429 --> 00:16:25,856
To this the elder said, "It is not so.

358
00:16:26,624 --> 00:16:28,982
"A great miracle of God
will be manifested.

359
00:16:29,132 --> 00:16:30,844
"And all the splinters and fragments

360
00:16:30,844 --> 00:16:32,616
"by the will of God and His power

361
00:16:32,648 --> 00:16:34,605
"will come together and be united.

362
00:16:34,822 --> 00:16:36,871
"And the ship will be rebuilt
in its beauty,

363
00:16:36,928 --> 00:16:39,596
"and will go on its own way
as foreordained by God.

364
00:16:39,965 --> 00:16:43,528
"And this will be a miracle evident
to everyone," end of quote.

365
00:16:45,195 --> 00:16:48,806
Again Elder Barnabas
of Gethsemane Skeet spoke

366
00:16:48,852 --> 00:16:50,190
before the revolution

367
00:16:50,276 --> 00:16:52,167
of the disaster coming upon Russia

368
00:16:52,167 --> 00:16:54,739
and the cruel persecutions
against the Orthodox Faith.

369
00:16:55,721 --> 00:16:59,341
He said as the revolution
was breaking out, quote,

370
00:16:59,381 --> 00:17:02,381
"Persecutions against the Faith will
constantly increase.

371
00:17:02,867 --> 00:17:05,638
"There will be an unheard of grief
and darkness,

372
00:17:05,729 --> 00:17:08,110
"and almost all the churches
will be closed.

373
00:17:08,546 --> 00:17:12,118
"But when it will seem to people that
it is impossible to endure any longer,

374
00:17:12,428 --> 00:17:14,192
"then deliverance will come.

375
00:17:14,550 --> 00:17:16,279
"There will be a flowering.

376
00:17:16,369 --> 00:17:18,287
"Churches will even begin to be built.

377
00:17:18,610 --> 00:17:21,928
"But this will be a flowering
before the end," end quote.

378
00:17:23,997 --> 00:17:26,876
Schema-hieromonk Aristocleus not long
before his death

379
00:17:26,876 --> 00:17:29,424
in August 1918 said,

380
00:17:29,541 --> 00:17:32,482
"It is now we are undergoing the times
before antichrist,

381
00:17:32,864 --> 00:17:34,761
"but Russia will yet be delivered.

382
00:17:35,011 --> 00:17:37,208
"There will be much suffering,
much torture.

383
00:17:37,398 --> 00:17:39,393
"The whole of Russia will become a prison.

384
00:17:39,510 --> 00:17:42,076
"And one must greatly entreat the Lord
for forgiveness.

385
00:17:42,555 --> 00:17:44,145
"One must repent of one's sins

386
00:17:44,145 --> 00:17:46,181
"and fear to do even the least sin,

387
00:17:46,439 --> 00:17:48,807
"but strive to do good even the smallest.

388
00:17:49,140 --> 00:17:50,955
"For even the wing of a fly has weight

389
00:17:50,955 --> 00:17:52,800
"and God's scales are exact.

390
00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:56,625
"And when even the smallest
of good in the cup overweigh,

391
00:17:57,069 --> 00:17:59,514
"then will God reveal His mercy
upon Russia."

392
00:18:00,837 --> 00:18:02,627
Ten days before the end of his life

393
00:18:02,897 --> 00:18:05,067
he said that the end would come
through China.

394
00:18:05,545 --> 00:18:09,404
There would be an extraordinary outburst
and a miracle of God would be manifested.

395
00:18:09,578 --> 00:18:11,732
And there will be an
entirely different light,

396
00:18:11,732 --> 00:18:13,587
but all this will not be for long.

397
00:18:15,885 --> 00:18:18,404
St. John of Kronstadt
also said the deliverance

398
00:18:18,844 --> 00:18:21,388
from this terrible yoke
of the 20th century

399
00:18:21,388 --> 00:18:22,909
would come through the East.

400
00:18:24,378 --> 00:18:27,226
Elder Nectarius of Optina
in the 1920s prophesied.

401
00:18:27,592 --> 00:18:29,246
Quote, "Russia will arise,

402
00:18:29,592 --> 00:18:31,847
"and materially it will not be wealthy,

403
00:18:32,087 --> 00:18:33,991
"but in spirit it will be wealthy.

404
00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:37,705
"And in Optina there will yet be
seven luminaries, seven pillars."

405
00:18:40,329 --> 00:18:42,998
Abbot Theophan of Poltava summed up
in the 1930s

406
00:18:42,998 --> 00:18:45,953
the prophesies which he had received
from such elders as these.

407
00:18:46,050 --> 00:18:47,430
He said the following.

408
00:18:48,278 --> 00:18:51,143
"You ask me about the near future
and about the last time.

409
00:18:51,841 --> 00:18:53,539
"I do not speak on my own,

410
00:18:53,539 --> 00:18:55,439
"but give the revelation of the elders.

411
00:18:55,835 --> 00:18:58,685
"The coming of antichrist draws near
and is very near.

412
00:18:59,414 --> 00:19:02,710
"The time separating us from him
should be counted a matter of years,

413
00:19:02,884 --> 00:19:04,907
"and at most a matter of some decades.

414
00:19:05,435 --> 00:19:08,580
"But before the coming of antichrist
Russia must yet be restored

415
00:19:09,036 --> 00:19:10,752
"to be sure for a short time.

416
00:19:11,066 --> 00:19:13,212
"And in Russia there must be
a tsar forechosen

417
00:19:13,212 --> 00:19:14,646
"by the Lord himself.

418
00:19:15,033 --> 00:19:18,366
"He will be a man of burning faith,
great mind, and iron will.

419
00:19:19,061 --> 00:19:21,135
"This much has been revealed about him.

420
00:19:21,505 --> 00:19:24,215
"We shall await the fulfillment
of what has been revealed.

421
00:19:24,575 --> 00:19:27,005
"Judging by many signs it is drawing near,

422
00:19:27,245 --> 00:19:29,891
"unless because of our sin
the Lord God shall revoke,

423
00:19:29,990 --> 00:19:31,711
"shall alter what has been promised.

424
00:19:32,012 --> 00:19:35,021
"According to the witness
of the Word of God this also happens."

425
00:19:36,375 --> 00:19:37,413
End of quote.

426
00:19:38,564 --> 00:19:41,375
Thus you may see in the prophecies
of these God-inspired men

427
00:19:41,375 --> 00:19:43,076
in the early part of the century

428
00:19:43,401 --> 00:19:46,421
a definite expectation of the restoration
of Holy Russia

429
00:19:46,839 --> 00:19:49,318
and even the restoration
of an Orthodox tsar

430
00:19:49,775 --> 00:19:52,493
for a short time,
not long before the coming of antichrist

431
00:19:52,493 --> 00:19:53,976
and the end of the world.

432
00:19:54,679 --> 00:19:56,313
This is to be something miraculous

433
00:19:56,313 --> 00:19:58,269
and not an ordinary historical event.

434
00:19:58,761 --> 00:20:00,477
But at the same time it is something

435
00:20:00,477 --> 00:20:02,775
that depends upon
the Russian people themselves,

436
00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:06,016
because God always acts
through the freewill of men.

437
00:20:06,618 --> 00:20:09,122
Just as Nineveh was spared
when the repented

438
00:20:09,207 --> 00:20:11,141
and Jonah's prophecies proved false

439
00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:13,664
so also the prophecies of the restoration
of Russia

440
00:20:13,664 --> 00:20:14,814
will prove false

441
00:20:14,814 --> 00:20:17,110
if there is no repentance
in the Russian people.

442
00:20:18,723 --> 00:20:21,212
Archbishop John Maximovitch
of blessed memory—

443
00:20:21,393 --> 00:20:23,538
his tomb is in the cathedral of this city—

444
00:20:24,433 --> 00:20:27,094
reflected deeply on the meaning
of the Russian Revolution

445
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,174
and the exile of so many Russian people,

446
00:20:29,174 --> 00:20:30,619
a million or more people.

447
00:20:31,287 --> 00:20:35,743
In his report to the All-Diaspora Sobor
in Yugoslavia in 1938

448
00:20:36,186 --> 00:20:38,221
he gave his reflections on this subject.

449
00:20:38,631 --> 00:20:40,003
He said, quote,

450
00:20:41,681 --> 00:20:44,405
"The Russian people as a whole
has performed great sins

451
00:20:44,405 --> 00:20:46,693
"which are the cause
of their present misfortune.

452
00:20:46,928 --> 00:20:49,562
"The specific sins are oath breaking
and regicide.

453
00:20:49,813 --> 00:20:52,526
"The public and military leaders renounced
their obedience

454
00:20:52,526 --> 00:20:55,016
"and loyalty to the tsar
even before his abdication,

455
00:20:55,367 --> 00:20:57,104
"forcing this latter from the tsar

456
00:20:57,104 --> 00:20:59,392
"who did not desire bloodshed
within the country.

457
00:20:59,642 --> 00:21:02,426
"And the people openly
and noisily greeted this deed,

458
00:21:02,931 --> 00:21:04,929
"and nowhere did it
loudly express its lack

459
00:21:04,929 --> 00:21:06,481
"of agreement with it.

460
00:21:06,573 --> 00:21:09,331
"Those guilty of the sin of regicide,"
killing of the tsar,

461
00:21:09,561 --> 00:21:11,800
"are not only those
who physically performed it,

462
00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,600
"but the whole people which rejoiced on
the occasion of the overthrow of the tsar

463
00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,096
"and allowed his abasement,
arrest, and exile,

464
00:21:18,569 --> 00:21:21,189
"leaving him defenseless in the hands
of the criminals,

465
00:21:21,199 --> 00:21:23,861
"which fact in itself
already predetermined the end.

466
00:21:24,638 --> 00:21:27,529
"Thus the catastrophe which has come
upon Russia

467
00:21:27,871 --> 00:21:30,293
"is the direct consequence
of terrible sins.

468
00:21:30,616 --> 00:21:32,616
"And the rebirth of Russia
is possible only

469
00:21:32,616 --> 00:21:34,117
"after cleansing from them.

470
00:21:34,352 --> 00:21:37,070
"However, up to this time," 1938,

471
00:21:37,327 --> 00:21:39,212
"there has been no genuine repentance.

472
00:21:39,212 --> 00:21:42,232
"The crimes that have performed have
clearly not been condemned.

473
00:21:42,232 --> 00:21:44,848
"And many active participants
in the revolution continue

474
00:21:44,848 --> 00:21:48,765
"even now to affirm that at that time it
was not possible to act in any other way.

475
00:21:49,611 --> 00:21:53,033
"And not expressing their direct
condemnation of the February Revolution,

476
00:21:53,033 --> 00:21:55,103
"the uprising against the anointed of God,

477
00:21:55,333 --> 00:21:58,071
"the Russian people continued
to participate in this sin

478
00:21:58,266 --> 00:22:01,023
"especially when they defend it
through to the revolution."

479
00:22:02,446 --> 00:22:03,504
End of quote.

480
00:22:04,806 --> 00:22:07,462
Of course regicide,
the killing of the anointed tsar

481
00:22:07,462 --> 00:22:09,745
is not the only sin that lies
upon the conscience

482
00:22:09,745 --> 00:22:11,454
of the Orthodox Russian people.

483
00:22:11,698 --> 00:22:13,486
This crime is as it were a symbol

484
00:22:13,486 --> 00:22:15,492
of the whole falling away of Russia

485
00:22:16,236 --> 00:22:18,087
from Christ and through Orthodoxy,

486
00:22:18,418 --> 00:22:20,471
a process that took up most of the 19th

487
00:22:20,471 --> 00:22:22,408
and early 20th centuries,

488
00:22:22,707 --> 00:22:26,118
and only now is perhaps beginning
to be reversed.

489
00:22:26,890 --> 00:22:29,362
If you read the works
of Bishop Theophan the Recluse,

490
00:22:29,362 --> 00:22:31,892
St. John of Kronstadt,
Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov,

491
00:22:32,278 --> 00:22:36,138
and other inspired men of that time,
you will see that they were

492
00:22:36,138 --> 00:22:39,813
constantly talking about the falling away
of the Russian people from Orthodoxy

493
00:22:40,396 --> 00:22:43,015
and the terrible results that will come
because of that.

494
00:22:43,942 --> 00:22:46,550
It is most interesting that
in Russia itself today

495
00:22:47,098 --> 00:22:50,856
the question of the canonization of the
tsar together with the other new martyrs

496
00:22:50,936 --> 00:22:53,221
is bound up with the lifting
of the literal curse

497
00:22:53,221 --> 00:22:55,911
which has lain upon the Russian land
since his martyrdom.

498
00:22:56,780 --> 00:22:59,921
Father Gleb Yakunin
who is now suffering a cruel imprisonment

499
00:22:59,921 --> 00:23:02,045
precisely for making statements like this

500
00:23:02,370 --> 00:23:05,527
has written a letter
to the Orthodox Russians of the diaspora,

501
00:23:05,835 --> 00:23:08,272
signed also by several
of his fellow strugglers.

502
00:23:09,993 --> 00:23:12,325
His letter expresses the same ideas
about the tsar

503
00:23:12,325 --> 00:23:14,020
that Vladika John has expressed.

504
00:23:15,057 --> 00:23:17,064
At the end of this letter he writes,
quote,

505
00:23:17,561 --> 00:23:20,081
"The meaning for a world history
of the martyr's death

506
00:23:20,081 --> 00:23:21,746
"of the imperial family,

507
00:23:21,766 --> 00:23:25,063
"something that likens it
to the most significant biblical event,

508
00:23:25,421 --> 00:23:27,322
"consists of the fact that here

509
00:23:27,322 --> 00:23:28,874
"the Constantinopolitan period

510
00:23:28,874 --> 00:23:31,745
"of the existence of the church
of Christ comes to an end

511
00:23:32,065 --> 00:23:35,242
"and a new martyric,
apocalyptic age begins.

512
00:23:35,837 --> 00:23:37,881
"It has begun with the voluntary sacrifice

513
00:23:37,881 --> 00:23:40,765
"of the last anointed Orthodox emperor
and his family.

514
00:23:41,140 --> 00:23:43,801
"The tragedy of the imperial family
has lain like a curse

515
00:23:43,801 --> 00:23:45,120
"on the Russian land,

516
00:23:45,120 --> 00:23:47,272
"having become the symbolic prologue

517
00:23:47,272 --> 00:23:49,161
"of Russia's long path of the cross,

518
00:23:49,279 --> 00:23:52,107
"the death of tens of millions
of her sons and daughters.

519
00:23:52,751 --> 00:23:55,556
"The canonization of the imperial martyrs
will be for Russia

520
00:23:55,556 --> 00:23:57,940
"the lifting from her of the sin
of regicide.

521
00:23:58,293 --> 00:24:00,946
"This will finally deliver her
from the evil charms,"

522
00:24:01,067 --> 00:24:02,345
end of quote.

523
00:24:04,338 --> 00:24:06,090
It is of course too simple

524
00:24:06,750 --> 00:24:08,945
to say that the canonization
of the new martyrs

525
00:24:08,945 --> 00:24:10,393
including the imperial family

526
00:24:10,456 --> 00:24:12,720
will bring about the restoration
of Holy Russia.

527
00:24:13,273 --> 00:24:16,285
But if the Orthodox people
both in Russia and abroad

528
00:24:16,596 --> 00:24:18,665
will receive this act
with all their hearts

529
00:24:18,901 --> 00:24:22,052
and use it as an opportunity
to repent deeply of their sins,

530
00:24:22,177 --> 00:24:24,007
there is no calculating the impact

531
00:24:24,007 --> 00:24:25,734
this might have upon Russia.

532
00:24:27,152 --> 00:24:29,577
One great prophecy of the future
of Russia was known

533
00:24:29,577 --> 00:24:31,559
to only a few before the revolution.

534
00:24:31,806 --> 00:24:34,521
It was so daring
that the church censor would not allow it

535
00:24:34,521 --> 00:24:35,537
to be printed.

536
00:24:36,278 --> 00:24:37,975
It was found in the same collection

537
00:24:37,975 --> 00:24:39,783
of the manuscripts of Motovilov

538
00:24:39,783 --> 00:24:42,726
that gave to the world
the famous conversation of St. Seraphim

539
00:24:42,726 --> 00:24:44,536
on the acquisition of the Holy Spirit.

540
00:24:45,301 --> 00:24:48,870
This prophecy which has now appeared
in several printings in the last decade

541
00:24:49,128 --> 00:24:51,415
concerns the literal resurrection
of St. Seraphim

542
00:24:51,415 --> 00:24:53,097
before the end of the world.

543
00:24:53,405 --> 00:24:56,073
This is what St. Seraphim told
to Motovilov.

544
00:24:59,403 --> 00:25:00,245
Quote,

545
00:25:01,947 --> 00:25:03,391
Motovilov begins,

546
00:25:03,691 --> 00:25:06,497
"Many times I heard from the mouth
of the great God-pleaser,

547
00:25:06,497 --> 00:25:08,258
"the Elder, Father Seraphim,

548
00:25:08,388 --> 00:25:10,924
"that he would not lie in Sarov
with his flesh.

549
00:25:11,442 --> 00:25:14,155
"And behold once I, Motovilov,
dared to ask him,

550
00:25:14,563 --> 00:25:16,657
"'Batiushka, you deign to say all the time

551
00:25:16,738 --> 00:25:19,060
"'that with your flesh
you will not lie in Sarov.

552
00:25:19,391 --> 00:25:22,292
"'Does that mean that the monks of Sarov
will give you away?'"

553
00:25:23,595 --> 00:25:25,292
And St. Seraphim replied,

554
00:25:25,502 --> 00:25:27,575
"Your godliness, the Lord God has ordained

555
00:25:27,575 --> 00:25:30,082
"that I humble Seraphim should live

556
00:25:30,082 --> 00:25:32,190
"considerably longer than 100 years.

557
00:25:32,737 --> 00:25:35,114
"But since toward that time
the bishops will become

558
00:25:35,114 --> 00:25:37,894
so impious that in their impiety
they will surpass

559
00:25:37,894 --> 00:25:40,606
"the Greek bishops at the time
of Theodosius the Younger,"

560
00:25:40,606 --> 00:25:42,035
in the fifth century,

561
00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,329
"so that they will no longer even believe
in the chief dogma

562
00:25:45,329 --> 00:25:47,676
"of the Christian faith,"
the resurrection,

563
00:25:48,301 --> 00:25:50,488
"therefore it has been pleasing
to the Lord God

564
00:25:50,488 --> 00:25:54,604
"to take me humble Seraphim
from this temporal life until the time

565
00:25:55,199 --> 00:25:56,712
"and then resurrect me.

566
00:25:56,831 --> 00:25:59,070
"And my resurrection will be
as the resurrection

567
00:25:59,070 --> 00:26:01,152
"of the seven youths in the cave of Ochlon

568
00:26:01,152 --> 00:26:03,118
"in the days of Theodosius the Younger."

569
00:26:03,310 --> 00:26:05,164
That is the seven sleepers of Ephesus

570
00:26:05,164 --> 00:26:07,540
who were walled up in a cave,

571
00:26:07,738 --> 00:26:11,376
and after nearly 200 years were dug out
and woke up.

572
00:26:13,068 --> 00:26:15,595
"Having revealed to me this great
and fearful mystery,

573
00:26:15,595 --> 00:26:17,311
"the great elder informed me

574
00:26:17,311 --> 00:26:20,314
"that after his resurrection he would go
from Sarov to Diveyevo.

575
00:26:20,728 --> 00:26:23,725
"And there he would begin the preaching
of worldwide repentance.

576
00:26:23,756 --> 00:26:27,185
"For this preaching and above all
because of the miracle of resurrection,

577
00:26:27,185 --> 00:26:30,655
"a great multitude of people will assemble
from all the ends of the earth.

578
00:26:30,887 --> 00:26:32,745
"Diveyevo will become a lavra,

579
00:26:32,890 --> 00:26:34,860
"Vertyanova will become a city,

580
00:26:34,949 --> 00:26:36,772
"and Arzamas a province.

581
00:26:37,072 --> 00:26:39,037
"And preaching repentance in Diveyevo,

582
00:26:39,037 --> 00:26:41,729
"Batiushka Seraphim will uncover
four relics in it

583
00:26:42,065 --> 00:26:45,252
"and after uncovering them,
he himself will lie down in their midst.

584
00:26:45,587 --> 00:26:48,074
"And then soon will come the end
of everything."

585
00:26:49,992 --> 00:26:52,264
This prophecy was never printed in Russia,

586
00:26:52,482 --> 00:26:54,303
and yet it is known there today.

587
00:26:54,917 --> 00:26:57,460
In a letter from a priest published
in the first issue

588
00:26:57,460 --> 00:27:00,504
of "Nadezhda",
a collection of materials from Russia,

589
00:27:01,172 --> 00:27:03,677
describing his visit to Sarov and Diveyevo

590
00:27:03,986 --> 00:27:06,675
and his discovery there
that Holy Russia was still alive,

591
00:27:06,675 --> 00:27:09,733
and that some nuns from Diveyevo
were still living there.

592
00:27:11,778 --> 00:27:13,737
This monastery was closed in 1926

593
00:27:13,737 --> 00:27:17,285
and the nuns remained in private houses,
a few of them.

594
00:27:18,586 --> 00:27:21,440
He heard there, this priest
who was traveling toward Diveyevo

595
00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,031
heard the prophecy from an old woman,
Evdokia,

596
00:27:24,449 --> 00:27:26,633
who had just received Holy Communion
from him.

597
00:27:27,568 --> 00:27:29,050
Addressing the priest she said,

598
00:27:29,050 --> 00:27:32,530
"Soon, soon here in Diveyevo
there will be a celebration.

599
00:27:32,968 --> 00:27:35,658
"No it is not years, not months
but days and hours

600
00:27:35,658 --> 00:27:37,973
"that remain until the opening
of the monastery

601
00:27:37,973 --> 00:27:39,950
"and the manifestation of four relics.

602
00:27:40,290 --> 00:27:42,884
"Those of the Saint,
the Foundress Alexandra,

603
00:27:43,113 --> 00:27:45,726
"Matushka Martha and Blessed Evdokeyushka,

604
00:27:45,777 --> 00:27:47,906
"who was tortured and killed
by the atheists.

605
00:27:48,208 --> 00:27:50,791
"The Saint commands me:
say to him and no one else

606
00:27:51,349 --> 00:27:53,483
"that soon, soon both the monastery

607
00:27:53,483 --> 00:27:55,073
"and the relics will be opened.

608
00:27:55,074 --> 00:27:57,931
"He commands to tell you that without fail
you must come here

609
00:27:57,931 --> 00:28:00,133
"for the opening of the church
and the relics."

610
00:28:00,653 --> 00:28:01,718
End of quote.

611
00:28:03,575 --> 00:28:06,165
Of the fact
that Holy Russia is still alive

612
00:28:06,302 --> 00:28:08,962
despite the continued reign of atheism
in Russia

613
00:28:09,086 --> 00:28:12,270
we have the testimony now
of many observers in Russia itself.

614
00:28:12,573 --> 00:28:16,025
Here is but one of them,
Gennady Shimanov says,

615
00:28:22,147 --> 00:28:24,123
"Holy Russia cannot be buried.

616
00:28:24,584 --> 00:28:26,276
"It cannot pass away.

617
00:28:26,537 --> 00:28:28,323
"It is eternal and victorious.

618
00:28:28,485 --> 00:28:30,233
"And it is precisely to it

619
00:28:30,497 --> 00:28:33,682
"that the final word in the history
of our people will belong.

620
00:28:38,901 --> 00:28:40,947
"Holy Russia went away only
from the surface

621
00:28:40,947 --> 00:28:42,472
"of contemporary life,

622
00:28:42,608 --> 00:28:44,747
"but it continues to live
in its hidden depths

623
00:28:44,747 --> 00:28:46,552
"germinating until the time.

624
00:28:46,619 --> 00:28:49,570
"So that in the time pleasing to God
having survived the winter

625
00:28:49,686 --> 00:28:51,686
"it will again break through
to the surface

626
00:28:51,686 --> 00:28:53,740
"and adorn the face of the Russian land,

627
00:28:53,830 --> 00:28:57,066
"which has been so cruelly lashed
by fiery and icy storms."

628
00:28:57,724 --> 00:28:59,925
This is the word of someone
in Russia today

629
00:29:00,094 --> 00:29:03,161
who sees the awakening faith in Russia,

630
00:29:03,535 --> 00:29:06,475
who has hopes
that this will produce something great

631
00:29:06,475 --> 00:29:08,229
and positive in the future.

632
00:29:08,673 --> 00:29:11,253
And this testimony can be repeated
many times

633
00:29:11,253 --> 00:29:14,097
by people in the Soviet Union and those
who come from there.

634
00:29:15,830 --> 00:29:18,353
In the book which most
thoroughly describes the events

635
00:29:18,353 --> 00:29:20,357
which are to occur
at the end of the world,

636
00:29:20,357 --> 00:29:22,576
the Apocalypse of St. John the Theologian,

637
00:29:23,448 --> 00:29:25,548
at the opening of the seventh seal

638
00:29:25,585 --> 00:29:28,714
which precedes the final plagues
to come upon mankind,

639
00:29:29,384 --> 00:29:30,765
it is said, quote,

640
00:29:31,048 --> 00:29:34,090
"There was silence in heaven for the space
of half an hour."

641
00:29:34,500 --> 00:29:36,489
Apocalypse 8:1.

642
00:29:37,737 --> 00:29:40,355
Some people have interpreted this
to mean a short period

643
00:29:40,355 --> 00:29:42,691
of peace before the final events
of world history,

644
00:29:43,245 --> 00:29:46,058
namely the short period of the restoration
of Russia

645
00:29:46,344 --> 00:29:49,434
when the preaching of worldwide repentance
will begin with Russia,

646
00:29:49,743 --> 00:29:52,639
the new ultimate word
which even Dostoyevsky hoped

647
00:29:52,639 --> 00:29:55,532
Russia would give to the world
in his Pushkin speech.

648
00:29:57,238 --> 00:29:59,007
Under present world conditions

649
00:29:59,007 --> 00:30:02,618
when the events of one country are known
to the whole world almost instantly,

650
00:30:03,050 --> 00:30:05,615
and when Russia cleansed
by the blood of its martyrs

651
00:30:05,773 --> 00:30:08,071
indeed has a better chance
than any other country

652
00:30:08,071 --> 00:30:10,603
to awake from the sleep
of atheism and unbelief,

653
00:30:10,871 --> 00:30:13,769
we can already conceive the possibility
of such an event

654
00:30:13,991 --> 00:30:16,739
of Russia preaching repentance
to the world.

655
00:30:17,773 --> 00:30:20,090
As Father Dimitry Dudko
and others have said,

656
00:30:20,090 --> 00:30:22,899
"It cannot be that the blood of
Russia's innumerable martyrs

657
00:30:22,899 --> 00:30:24,094
"will be in vain.

658
00:30:24,144 --> 00:30:26,620
"Undoubtedly it is a seed
of the last great flowering

659
00:30:26,620 --> 00:30:28,074
"of true Christianity."

660
00:30:29,686 --> 00:30:32,015
However it is easy to become lost
in dreams

661
00:30:32,015 --> 00:30:33,661
of the future of the world.

662
00:30:34,321 --> 00:30:37,301
We should be aware of what is to happen
at the end of the world

663
00:30:37,503 --> 00:30:39,416
and of what may happen in Russia.

664
00:30:39,781 --> 00:30:42,877
But spiritual events
such as the restoration of Russia

665
00:30:43,242 --> 00:30:45,918
do not happen automatically
or by themselves.

666
00:30:46,512 --> 00:30:48,649
They depend upon each individual soul.

667
00:30:49,472 --> 00:30:51,901
This event will not happen
without the participation

668
00:30:51,901 --> 00:30:53,347
of the Orthodox people,

669
00:30:54,090 --> 00:30:55,937
our repentance and struggle.

670
00:30:56,488 --> 00:30:59,267
And this involves not only the people
of Russia itself,

671
00:30:59,625 --> 00:31:02,437
it involves also the whole
of the Russian diaspora

672
00:31:02,608 --> 00:31:04,912
and all the Orthodox people of the world.

673
00:31:05,806 --> 00:31:09,728
Archbishop John in the same report
to the Sobor of 1938

674
00:31:09,728 --> 00:31:11,096
which I've already quoted

675
00:31:11,817 --> 00:31:14,388
speaks of the apocalyptic mission
of the Russian people

676
00:31:14,388 --> 00:31:15,643
outside of Russia.

677
00:31:15,954 --> 00:31:16,812
Quote,

678
00:31:17,969 --> 00:31:20,881
"In chastising, the Lord at the same time

679
00:31:20,881 --> 00:31:23,759
"also shows the Russian people the way
to salvation

680
00:31:24,382 --> 00:31:27,671
"by making it a preacher of Orthodoxy
in the whole world.

681
00:31:28,466 --> 00:31:30,537
"The Russian diaspora has made
all the ends

682
00:31:30,537 --> 00:31:32,686
"of the world familiar with Orthodoxy.

683
00:31:33,122 --> 00:31:35,956
"The mass of Russian exiles
for the most part is

684
00:31:35,956 --> 00:31:38,349
"unconsciously a preacher of Orthodoxy.

685
00:31:39,271 --> 00:31:41,272
"To the Russians abroad
it has been granted

686
00:31:41,272 --> 00:31:44,042
"to shine in the whole world
with the light of Orthodoxy,

687
00:31:44,348 --> 00:31:46,440
"so that other people
seeing their good deeds

688
00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:48,725
"might glorify our Father
who is in heaven,

689
00:31:48,933 --> 00:31:51,332
"and thus obtain salvation for themselves.

690
00:31:51,967 --> 00:31:55,059
"The diaspora will have to be converted
to the path of repentance,

691
00:31:55,094 --> 00:31:57,404
"and having acquired forgiveness
for itself

692
00:31:57,404 --> 00:31:58,811
"through prayer to God

693
00:31:58,811 --> 00:32:00,962
"and through being reborn spiritually,

694
00:32:01,072 --> 00:32:03,570
"it will become capable also
of giving rebirth

695
00:32:03,664 --> 00:32:06,441
"to our suffering homeland," end of quote.

696
00:32:08,390 --> 00:32:10,312
Thus the Russians abroad

697
00:32:10,312 --> 00:32:12,752
by their living the true life of Orthodoxy

698
00:32:13,255 --> 00:32:15,067
should be already preparing the way

699
00:32:15,067 --> 00:32:17,900
for St. Seraphim's preaching
of worldwide repentance.

700
00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:20,412
To some extent this is happening.

701
00:32:20,764 --> 00:32:22,739
And one can even begin to see a parallel

702
00:32:22,739 --> 00:32:24,646
to the Orthodox revival in Russia,

703
00:32:24,954 --> 00:32:27,275
a genuine Orthodox awakening in America

704
00:32:27,275 --> 00:32:29,209
and other lands outside of Russia.

705
00:32:29,461 --> 00:32:31,446
Particularly in the past few years

706
00:32:31,446 --> 00:32:33,282
this has become quite noticeable

707
00:32:33,282 --> 00:32:37,766
as searching people in America,
simple Orthodox people,

708
00:32:37,766 --> 00:32:40,284
have been coming to Orthodoxy,
becoming baptized

709
00:32:40,284 --> 00:32:43,330
and taking up their life
of fervent Christianity.

710
00:32:48,045 --> 00:32:50,256
All of this depends upon each one of us.

711
00:32:51,384 --> 00:32:53,942
If we are awakening to true Orthodox life,

712
00:32:54,259 --> 00:32:56,664
then Holy Russia will be restored.

713
00:32:57,368 --> 00:32:59,820
If we are not awakening to Orthodox life

714
00:33:00,531 --> 00:33:02,488
and becoming reborn spiritually,

715
00:33:02,714 --> 00:33:04,987
then God can withdraw His promise.

716
00:33:06,279 --> 00:33:09,253
Archbishop John ended his report
to the 1938 Sobor

717
00:33:09,463 --> 00:33:11,165
with a prophecy and a hope

718
00:33:11,545 --> 00:33:13,553
that there will be a true Pascha in Russia

719
00:33:13,553 --> 00:33:15,498
that will shine forth to the whole world

720
00:33:15,599 --> 00:33:17,555
before the very end of all things

721
00:33:17,555 --> 00:33:20,109
and the beginning
of the universal kingdom of God.

722
00:33:20,632 --> 00:33:22,797
He spoke about this
in the following words.

723
00:33:25,379 --> 00:33:27,754
"Shake away the sleep
of despondency and sloth,

724
00:33:27,754 --> 00:33:29,113
"O sons of Russia.

725
00:33:29,712 --> 00:33:32,496
"Behold the glory of her sufferings
and be purified.

726
00:33:33,317 --> 00:33:35,126
"Wash yourselves from your sins.

727
00:33:35,574 --> 00:33:37,735
"Be strengthened in the Orthodox Faith

728
00:33:37,825 --> 00:33:40,439
"so as to be worthy to dwell
in the dwelling of the Lord

729
00:33:40,459 --> 00:33:42,310
"and to settle in His holy mountain.

730
00:33:42,790 --> 00:33:44,733
"Leap up, arise O Russia,

731
00:33:45,001 --> 00:33:47,284
"you who from the Lord's hands
have drunk the cup

732
00:33:47,284 --> 00:33:48,337
"of His wrath.

733
00:33:48,878 --> 00:33:50,709
"When your suffering shall have ended,

734
00:33:50,709 --> 00:33:52,616
"your righteousness shall go with you

735
00:33:52,746 --> 00:33:55,110
"and the glory of the Lord
shall accompany you.

736
00:33:55,715 --> 00:33:57,431
"The people shall come to your light

737
00:33:57,431 --> 00:34:00,122
"and kings to the shining
which shall rise upon you.

738
00:34:00,743 --> 00:34:02,781
"Then lift up your eyes and see.

739
00:34:02,891 --> 00:34:04,510
"Behold, your children come to you

740
00:34:04,510 --> 00:34:07,414
"from the west and the north,
and sea and the east,

741
00:34:07,526 --> 00:34:09,676
"blessing in you Christ forever."

742
00:34:10,063 --> 00:34:10,963
Amen.