- [Fr. Seraphim] Eminences, reverend fathers, brothers and sisters.
Every Orthodox Christian is placed between two worlds:
this fallen world where we try to work out our salvation
and the other world, heaven,
the homeland towards which we are striving
and which if we are leading a true Christian life
gives us the inspiration to live from day to day
in Christian virtue and love.
But the world is too much with us.
We often in fact nowadays, usually,
we forget the heavenly world.
The pressure of worldliness is so strong today
whether we look at the Soviet Union
where it is enforced by the government
or to the free world where we voluntarily go on this way
that we often lose track of what our life
as Christians is all about.
Even if we may be going to church frequently,
even if we may consider ourselves
to be active church members,
how often our being in church, our churchliness
is only something external
bound up with beautiful services with the whole richness
of our Orthodox tradition,
but lacking in something much more fundamental:
the deep conviction in our hearts
that Orthodoxy is the faith that can save our souls for eternity.
But often in the midst of outward splendor,
we are lacking for real love for and commitment to Christ,
who is incarnate the God and the Founder of our faith.
And often for us church becomes just a matter of habit.
Something we go through outwardly
which does not change us inwardly,
does not make us grow spiritually
and lead us to eternal life and God
which is the whole purpose of our existence.
Keeping this mind, we can see that we are living
in those times
which our Lord Jesus Christ warned us about in the Gospel
when He said, "The love of many shall grow cold."
These are the latter times.
When the Christian Gospel which was received
with such fervor by the first Christians
has become only one small part of our worldly life
instead of the center and meaning of our life,
which is what it would be if we realized what our faith is.
Orthodox Christianity,
as a burning faith which we are not ashamed to confess
and to have as the most precious thing in our life,
is to a great extent in a state of decline
and retreat in the world today.
But quite ironically and quite providentially
as Orthodoxy and Christianity have seemed to retreat,
on the other hand Russia or rather the Soviet Union,
the atheist regime which has ensnared the Russian land
has advanced from strength to strength
and now has a leading, perhaps the leading position
in the world history of our time.
Therefore what is happening in the Soviet Union today
is looked to with great interest by the rest of the world.
And significantly a good part of what is happening
in the Soviet Union today
and what undoubtedly will be happening in the future
is bound up with the real Russia, with Orthodox Russia.
The Orthodox revival in Russia today is closely bound up
with the future of the Russian land.
In 19th and 20th century, early 20th century Russia,
there were many prophecies of spiritual men
not only concerning the coming of atheism
and the revolution to Russia
and the epoch of blood and slavery
which was introduced into the world,
but also what would happen to Russia after this epoch
if the Orthodox Russian people would repent of their sins
which produced the revolution.
This morning, therefore, I would like us
to look at some of these prophecies
and the way they are bound up with what is happening in Russia today.
We will try to look not from the superficial point of view
of the popular newsmagazines,
but deeper, and try to see something
of what is happening to the soul and heart of Russia
and what may be expected there
according to these prophecies
and our knowledge of the more general prophecies
concerning what is to happen before the end of the world.
Immediately the question arises:
why should we talk about the end of the world?
Are we really living in the last times?
Why do we have to bind together the subject
of the future of Russia and the end of the world?
But it so happens that even secular writers nowadays speak
of our times as being apocalyptic.
And truly the problems that plague the world today—
such as the exhaustion of resources and food,
overpopulation,
the literal monsters which have been created
by modern technology,
and especially the weapons which are capable
of destroying entire countries
or even the whole civilized earth—
all these point to the approach of a time of crisis
in human history
which is quite beyond anything the world has ever seen,
and perhaps points to the literal end of life upon earth.
At the same time,
religious thinkers of various kinds point
to a blossoming of non-Christian religious movements
in our time,
and speak about the coming of a new age
in which a new religious consciousness
will dominate men's minds
and put an end to the 2,000 year reign of Christianity.
Astrologers talk about the Aquarian age
which they think is to begin around the year 2000.
And the very approach of the year 2000 is enough
to inspire in many minds the idea of a new epoch
somehow different from the rest of human history.
Among many non-Orthodox Christians,
these ideas take the form of a teaching
which is extremely important for us to understand
in connection with the future of Russia,
and it's called chiliasm:
the belief that Christ is soon to come to earth
and reign right here with His saints
before the end of the world.
This teaching is a heresy which was condemned
by the early Church Fathers and councils
and has its origin in a misinterpretation
of the Book of Revelation, the Apocalypse.
The Orthodox teaching is that the reign
of Christ with His saints when the devil is bound
for a 1,000 years which is described
in the Apocalypse 20:3
is the period we are now living in.
The whole period,
1000 being a symbolical number indicating wholeness,
this whole period between the first
and second coming of Christ.
In this period the saints do reign with Christ in His church,
but this is a mystical reign
which is not to be defined in the outward political sense
which is given to us by the chiliad.
The devil is truly bound in this period,
that is restricted in exercising his ill will against humanity.
And believers who live the life of the church
and receive the holy mysteries of Christ
live in this period a blessed life
preparing them for eternal kingdom of heaven.
The non-Orthodox who do not have holy mysteries
and do not taste of the true life of the church
cannot understand this mystical reign of Christ,
and this is why they look for something outward.
And so it is that the future of the world
in which Russia obviously will have a central place
is bound up with ideas that you can call apocalyptic,
either with the literal end of the world in a physical sense
or the end of the civilized world as we know it,
and the expectation of some entirely new paradise-like reign.
Some people have interpreted Russia's place in this new era
in terms of the heresy of chiliasm.
In fact, if we look at the teaching of communism,
we see that it is exactly a teaching of chiliasm.
We can see that it teaches that a totally new historical epoch
begins with communism,
that when communism finally dominates the world
there will be universal happiness
and the liberation of mankind from everything
that is bounded in the past, including religion.
Today after over 60 years
of the communist experiment in Russia
and a shorter period in other nations,
we can see how foolish is this belief underlying communism.
The reality of communism is not paradise on earth
but what we call now gulag.
Mankind has not been liberated at all,
but enslaved worse than ever before.
But Russia, the first country to experience the communist yoke
is also the first country to begin to wake up from it
and to survive it.
Despite the continued reign of communist tyranny in Russia,
atheism has not captured the soul of Russia.
And a religious awakening that can be seen now in Russia is
undoubtedly only the beginning of something
quite immense and elemental,
namely the recovery of the soul of a whole nation
from the plague of atheism.
This is the reason why Russia today can speak a word
of significance to the whole world,
which is plunging into the same trap of atheism
from which Russia is emerging.
And this is why the future of Russia is so closely bound up
with the future of the whole world in a religious sense.
Before turning specifically to the prophecies about Russia,
I would like to summarize briefly
the general Orthodox teaching of what is to happen
just before the end of the world.
This will give us a background in which
to place the prophecies regarding the future of Russia.
The events before the end of the world are described
in a number of places in Holy Scripture:
the 24th chapter of Matthew
and other similar chapters in the other Gospels,
almost the whole Book of the Apocalypse
especially from chapter 8 onward,
the 2nd chapter of 2 Thessalonians of St. Paul,
and St. Peter's 2nd epistle the 3rd chapter,
several chapters of the Book of Daniel,
and many other passages.
The Apocalypse describes the events
before the end of the world in a series of visions.
Some of these visions are bright and positive
relating to the fulfillment of God's justice
and the salvation of His chosen ones.
And some are dark and negative
relating to the terrible plagues that will come on earth
for the sins of mankind.
Sometimes, in fact quite often,
we tend to overemphasize the dark and negative side
of this book,
because we see how much evil is increasing around us.
But this comes from our faintheartedness and worldliness.
To get the whole picture of what is to happen at the end,
we must bear in mind all the events that will happen
both the negative and the positive.
As the time of the end comes,
it is true that there will be a time of tribulation
such as the world has never seen,
as described in Matthew 24:21.
There will be famines, plagues, earthquakes,
wars and rumors of wars,
persecutions, false prophets, false christs,
and the love of many including Christians will grow cold.
But at the same, the Gospel will be preached to all nations,
and those who endure with the aid of Christ
all the trials to come upon men at that time will be saved.
The evil and false religion in the world
which we see increasing about us today so much
will come to its peak in the reign of antichrist,
a world ruler who will seem to bring peace
out of world disorder,
and will seem to be Christ come again to earth
reigning over the whole world from the restored temple in Jerusalem.
But there will be those who see through the deception,
and in particular two Old Testament prophets who never died.
Elijah and Enoch will return to earth.
Elijah to covert the Jews
and Enoch to preach to the other nations.
The short reign of antichrist only 3.5 years will end
in new disorders and wars,
in the midst of which Christ himself will come from heaven
preceded by the sign of the cross.
And this world will be consumed by fire and totally renewed
at the same time that the bodies
of the dead will arise from the tombs
and be rejoined to their souls in order to stand
before the final judgement of God.
This in a very brief scope
is the sort of things which one can expect to happen
as the world actually comes to its end.
And now about Russia.
In 19th century Russia,
a number of prophets
and even farseeing laymen like Dostoyevsky
foresaw the coming of the revolution
which would come upon Russia as a result of unbelief,
worldliness, and a purely formal attitude to Orthodoxy
devoid of the burning, self-sacrificing faith
which Orthodoxy demands.
Some people saw this in general terms
as a terrible disaster ready to overtake the Russian land.
As did Bishop Theophan the Recluse
when he looked at the lack of true Christian faith
in so many people
and cried out, "In 100 years what will be left
"of our Orthodoxy?"
Others saw more specific to the frightful revolution
which would spread to the entire world.
Thus St. John of Kronstadt said
in a sermon delivered in 1905, quote,
"Russia, if you fall away from your faith
"as many of the intellectual class have already fallen away,
"you will no longer be Russia or Holy Russia.
"And if there will be no repentance in the Russian people,
"then the end of the world is near.
"God will take away the pious tsar and will send a whip
"in the person of impious, cruel, self-appointed rulers
"who will inundate the whole earth with blood and tears,"
end of quote.
This is the state in which the world now finds itself
with nearly half of it drenched with blood
and enduring the tyranny which began in 1917
with the Russian Revolution.
Somebody asked a question.
"Is there any hope for deliverance,
"or will atheism simply conquer the whole world
"and set up the kingdom of antichrist?"
We have good reason to doubt
that future events will be as simple as this.
Both because the very country
that began the reign of atheism, Russia,
is now undergoing a religious awakening
which is already a hindrance to the spread of atheism.
And also because antichrist according to Orthodox prophecy
will not be simply an atheist tyrant like Stalin
but a religious figure
who will persuade rather than compel people to accept him.
The holy men who were alive in Russia
at the beginning of the revolution
were aware of the apocalyptic nature of this event,
that is that it is bound up somehow with the end of the world.
And they knew that it would be a long and difficult trial
for the Russian land,
but they also foresaw that there would be an end to this trial.
And here we can see the difference between our normal human wisdom
and the inspired wisdom of these prophets,
because according to our human wisdom
things look bad, they're getting worse,
and there seems to be no hope.
According to those inspired by God they saw
dependent of course upon man's repentance
that there would be something positive happening in Russia.
The Elder Alexius of Zosima Hermitage—
he was the monk who drew the lot that elected Patriarch Tikhon—
heard people crying in church
in the Chudov Monastery where he was
in the early months of the revolution.
People were calling out, "Our Russia is lost.
"Holy Russia is lost."
To this he answered as follows.
"Who is it that is saying that Russia is lost,
"that she is perished?
"No, no, she is not lost.
"She has not perished and will not perish.
"But the Russian people must be purified
"of sin through great trials.
"One must pray and fervently repent.
"But Russia is not lost and she has not perished."
This of course is a very general idea opening up the idea
of hope in the future of Russia,
that there will be something after this communist tyranny.
Starets Anatole the Younger of Optina
in the very first days of the revolution in February 1917
made a more specific prophecy in the form of a vivid picture
of the future of Russia.
He said, quote,
"There will be a storm,
"and the Russian ship will be smashed to pieces,
"but people can be saved even on splinters and fragments.
"And not everyone will perish.
"One must pray, everyone must repent and pray fervently.
"And what happens after a storm?
"There will be a calm."
At this everyone cried out, "But there is no more ship.
"It is shattered to pieces, it is perished.
"Everything is perished."
To this the elder said, "It is not so.
"A great miracle of God will be manifested.
"And all the splinters and fragments
"by the will of God and His power
"will come together and be united.
"And the ship will be rebuilt in its beauty,
"and will go on its own way as foreordained by God.
"And this will be a miracle evident to everyone," end of quote.
Again Elder Barnabas of Gethsemane Skeet spoke
before the revolution
of the disaster coming upon Russia
and the cruel persecutions against the Orthodox Faith.
He said as the revolution was breaking out, quote,
"Persecutions against the Faith will constantly increase.
"There will be an unheard of grief and darkness,
"and almost all the churches will be closed.
"But when it will seem to people that it is impossible to endure any longer,
"then deliverance will come.
"There will be a flowering.
"Churches will even begin to be built.
"But this will be a flowering before the end," end quote.
Schema-hieromonk Aristocleus not long before his death
in August 1918 said,
"It is now we are undergoing the times before antichrist,
"but Russia will yet be delivered.
"There will be much suffering, much torture.
"The whole of Russia will become a prison.
"And one must greatly entreat the Lord for forgiveness.
"One must repent of one's sins
"and fear to do even the least sin,
"but strive to do good even the smallest.
"For even the wing of a fly has weight
"and God's scales are exact.
"And when even the smallest of good in the cup overweigh,
"then will God reveal His mercy upon Russia."
Ten days before the end of his life
he said that the end would come through China.
There would be an extraordinary outburst and a miracle of God would be manifested.
And there will be an entirely different light,
but all this will not be for long.
St. John of Kronstadt also said the deliverance
from this terrible yoke of the 20th century
would come through the East.
Elder Nectarius of Optina in the 1920s prophesied.
Quote, "Russia will arise,
"and materially it will not be wealthy,
"but in spirit it will be wealthy.
"And in Optina there will yet be seven luminaries, seven pillars."
Abbot Theophan of Poltava summed up in the 1930s
the prophesies which he had received from such elders as these.
He said the following.
"You ask me about the near future and about the last time.
"I do not speak on my own,
"but give the revelation of the elders.
"The coming of antichrist draws near and is very near.
"The time separating us from him should be counted a matter of years,
"and at most a matter of some decades.
"But before the coming of antichrist Russia must yet be restored
"to be sure for a short time.
"And in Russia there must be a tsar forechosen
"by the Lord himself.
"He will be a man of burning faith, great mind, and iron will.
"This much has been revealed about him.
"We shall await the fulfillment of what has been revealed.
"Judging by many signs it is drawing near,
"unless because of our sin the Lord God shall revoke,
"shall alter what has been promised.
"According to the witness of the Word of God this also happens."
End of quote.
Thus you may see in the prophecies of these God-inspired men
in the early part of the century
a definite expectation of the restoration of Holy Russia
and even the restoration of an Orthodox tsar
for a short time, not long before the coming of antichrist
and the end of the world.
This is to be something miraculous
and not an ordinary historical event.
But at the same time it is something
that depends upon the Russian people themselves,
because God always acts through the freewill of men.
Just as Nineveh was spared when the repented
and Jonah's prophecies proved false
so also the prophecies of the restoration of Russia
will prove false
if there is no repentance in the Russian people.
Archbishop John Maximovitch of blessed memory—
his tomb is in the cathedral of this city—
reflected deeply on the meaning of the Russian Revolution
and the exile of so many Russian people,
a million or more people.
In his report to the All-Diaspora Sobor in Yugoslavia in 1938
he gave his reflections on this subject.
He said, quote,
"The Russian people as a whole has performed great sins
"which are the cause of their present misfortune.
"The specific sins are oath breaking and regicide.
"The public and military leaders renounced their obedience
"and loyalty to the tsar even before his abdication,
"forcing this latter from the tsar
"who did not desire bloodshed within the country.
"And the people openly and noisily greeted this deed,
"and nowhere did it loudly express its lack
"of agreement with it.
"Those guilty of the sin of regicide," killing of the tsar,
"are not only those who physically performed it,
"but the whole people which rejoiced on the occasion of the overthrow of the tsar
"and allowed his abasement, arrest, and exile,
"leaving him defenseless in the hands of the criminals,
"which fact in itself already predetermined the end.
"Thus the catastrophe which has come upon Russia
"is the direct consequence of terrible sins.
"And the rebirth of Russia is possible only
"after cleansing from them.
"However, up to this time," 1938,
"there has been no genuine repentance.
"The crimes that have performed have clearly not been condemned.
"And many active participants in the revolution continue
"even now to affirm that at that time it was not possible to act in any other way.
"And not expressing their direct condemnation of the February Revolution,
"the uprising against the anointed of God,
"the Russian people continued to participate in this sin
"especially when they defend it through to the revolution."
End of quote.
Of course regicide, the killing of the anointed tsar
is not the only sin that lies upon the conscience
of the Orthodox Russian people.
This crime is as it were a symbol
of the whole falling away of Russia
from Christ and through Orthodoxy,
a process that took up most of the 19th
and early 20th centuries,
and only now is perhaps beginning to be reversed.
If you read the works of Bishop Theophan the Recluse,
St. John of Kronstadt, Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov,
and other inspired men of that time, you will see that they were
constantly talking about the falling away of the Russian people from Orthodoxy
and the terrible results that will come because of that.
It is most interesting that in Russia itself today
the question of the canonization of the tsar together with the other new martyrs
is bound up with the lifting of the literal curse
which has lain upon the Russian land since his martyrdom.
Father Gleb Yakunin who is now suffering a cruel imprisonment
precisely for making statements like this
has written a letter to the Orthodox Russians of the diaspora,
signed also by several of his fellow strugglers.
His letter expresses the same ideas about the tsar
that Vladika John has expressed.
At the end of this letter he writes, quote,
"The meaning for a world history of the martyr's death
"of the imperial family,
"something that likens it to the most significant biblical event,
"consists of the fact that here
"the Constantinopolitan period
"of the existence of the church of Christ comes to an end
"and a new martyric, apocalyptic age begins.
"It has begun with the voluntary sacrifice
"of the last anointed Orthodox emperor and his family.
"The tragedy of the imperial family has lain like a curse
"on the Russian land,
"having become the symbolic prologue
"of Russia's long path of the cross,
"the death of tens of millions of her sons and daughters.
"The canonization of the imperial martyrs will be for Russia
"the lifting from her of the sin of regicide.
"This will finally deliver her from the evil charms,"
end of quote.
It is of course too simple
to say that the canonization of the new martyrs
including the imperial family
will bring about the restoration of Holy Russia.
But if the Orthodox people both in Russia and abroad
will receive this act with all their hearts
and use it as an opportunity to repent deeply of their sins,
there is no calculating the impact
this might have upon Russia.
One great prophecy of the future of Russia was known
to only a few before the revolution.
It was so daring that the church censor would not allow it
to be printed.
It was found in the same collection
of the manuscripts of Motovilov
that gave to the world the famous conversation of St. Seraphim
on the acquisition of the Holy Spirit.
This prophecy which has now appeared in several printings in the last decade
concerns the literal resurrection of St. Seraphim
before the end of the world.
This is what St. Seraphim told to Motovilov.
Quote,
Motovilov begins,
"Many times I heard from the mouth of the great God-pleaser,
"the Elder, Father Seraphim,
"that he would not lie in Sarov with his flesh.
"And behold once I, Motovilov, dared to ask him,
"'Batiushka, you deign to say all the time
"'that with your flesh you will not lie in Sarov.
"'Does that mean that the monks of Sarov will give you away?'"
And St. Seraphim replied,
"Your godliness, the Lord God has ordained
"that I humble Seraphim should live
"considerably longer than 100 years.
"But since toward that time the bishops will become
so impious that in their impiety they will surpass
"the Greek bishops at the time of Theodosius the Younger,"
in the fifth century,
"so that they will no longer even believe in the chief dogma
"of the Christian faith," the resurrection,
"therefore it has been pleasing to the Lord God
"to take me humble Seraphim from this temporal life until the time
"and then resurrect me.
"And my resurrection will be as the resurrection
"of the seven youths in the cave of Ochlon
"in the days of Theodosius the Younger."
That is the seven sleepers of Ephesus
who were walled up in a cave,
and after nearly 200 years were dug out and woke up.
"Having revealed to me this great and fearful mystery,
"the great elder informed me
"that after his resurrection he would go from Sarov to Diveyevo.
"And there he would begin the preaching of worldwide repentance.
"For this preaching and above all because of the miracle of resurrection,
"a great multitude of people will assemble from all the ends of the earth.
"Diveyevo will become a lavra,
"Vertyanova will become a city,
"and Arzamas a province.
"And preaching repentance in Diveyevo,
"Batiushka Seraphim will uncover four relics in it
"and after uncovering them, he himself will lie down in their midst.
"And then soon will come the end of everything."
This prophecy was never printed in Russia,
and yet it is known there today.
In a letter from a priest published in the first issue
of "Nadezhda", a collection of materials from Russia,
describing his visit to Sarov and Diveyevo
and his discovery there that Holy Russia was still alive,
and that some nuns from Diveyevo were still living there.
This monastery was closed in 1926
and the nuns remained in private houses, a few of them.
He heard there, this priest who was traveling toward Diveyevo
heard the prophecy from an old woman, Evdokia,
who had just received Holy Communion from him.
Addressing the priest she said,
"Soon, soon here in Diveyevo there will be a celebration.
"No it is not years, not months but days and hours
"that remain until the opening of the monastery
"and the manifestation of four relics.
"Those of the Saint, the Foundress Alexandra,
"Matushka Martha and Blessed Evdokeyushka,
"who was tortured and killed by the atheists.
"The Saint commands me: say to him and no one else
"that soon, soon both the monastery
"and the relics will be opened.
"He commands to tell you that without fail you must come here
"for the opening of the church and the relics."
End of quote.
Of the fact that Holy Russia is still alive
despite the continued reign of atheism in Russia
we have the testimony now of many observers in Russia itself.
Here is but one of them, Gennady Shimanov says,
"Holy Russia cannot be buried.
"It cannot pass away.
"It is eternal and victorious.
"And it is precisely to it
"that the final word in the history of our people will belong.
"Holy Russia went away only from the surface
"of contemporary life,
"but it continues to live in its hidden depths
"germinating until the time.
"So that in the time pleasing to God having survived the winter
"it will again break through to the surface
"and adorn the face of the Russian land,
"which has been so cruelly lashed by fiery and icy storms."
This is the word of someone in Russia today
who sees the awakening faith in Russia,
who has hopes that this will produce something great
and positive in the future.
And this testimony can be repeated many times
by people in the Soviet Union and those who come from there.
In the book which most thoroughly describes the events
which are to occur at the end of the world,
the Apocalypse of St. John the Theologian,
at the opening of the seventh seal
which precedes the final plagues to come upon mankind,
it is said, quote,
"There was silence in heaven for the space of half an hour."
Apocalypse 8:1.
Some people have interpreted this to mean a short period
of peace before the final events of world history,
namely the short period of the restoration of Russia
when the preaching of worldwide repentance will begin with Russia,
the new ultimate word which even Dostoyevsky hoped
Russia would give to the world in his Pushkin speech.
Under present world conditions
when the events of one country are known to the whole world almost instantly,
and when Russia cleansed by the blood of its martyrs
indeed has a better chance than any other country
to awake from the sleep of atheism and unbelief,
we can already conceive the possibility of such an event
of Russia preaching repentance to the world.
As Father Dimitry Dudko and others have said,
"It cannot be that the blood of Russia's innumerable martyrs
"will be in vain.
"Undoubtedly it is a seed of the last great flowering
"of true Christianity."
However it is easy to become lost in dreams
of the future of the world.
We should be aware of what is to happen at the end of the world
and of what may happen in Russia.
But spiritual events such as the restoration of Russia
do not happen automatically or by themselves.
They depend upon each individual soul.
This event will not happen without the participation
of the Orthodox people,
our repentance and struggle.
And this involves not only the people of Russia itself,
it involves also the whole of the Russian diaspora
and all the Orthodox people of the world.
Archbishop John in the same report to the Sobor of 1938
which I've already quoted
speaks of the apocalyptic mission of the Russian people
outside of Russia.
Quote,
"In chastising, the Lord at the same time
"also shows the Russian people the way to salvation
"by making it a preacher of Orthodoxy in the whole world.
"The Russian diaspora has made all the ends
"of the world familiar with Orthodoxy.
"The mass of Russian exiles for the most part is
"unconsciously a preacher of Orthodoxy.
"To the Russians abroad it has been granted
"to shine in the whole world with the light of Orthodoxy,
"so that other people seeing their good deeds
"might glorify our Father who is in heaven,
"and thus obtain salvation for themselves.
"The diaspora will have to be converted to the path of repentance,
"and having acquired forgiveness for itself
"through prayer to God
"and through being reborn spiritually,
"it will become capable also of giving rebirth
"to our suffering homeland," end of quote.
Thus the Russians abroad
by their living the true life of Orthodoxy
should be already preparing the way
for St. Seraphim's preaching of worldwide repentance.
To some extent this is happening.
And one can even begin to see a parallel
to the Orthodox revival in Russia,
a genuine Orthodox awakening in America
and other lands outside of Russia.
Particularly in the past few years
this has become quite noticeable
as searching people in America, simple Orthodox people,
have been coming to Orthodoxy, becoming baptized
and taking up their life of fervent Christianity.
All of this depends upon each one of us.
If we are awakening to true Orthodox life,
then Holy Russia will be restored.
If we are not awakening to Orthodox life
and becoming reborn spiritually,
then God can withdraw His promise.
Archbishop John ended his report to the 1938 Sobor
with a prophecy and a hope
that there will be a true Pascha in Russia
that will shine forth to the whole world
before the very end of all things
and the beginning of the universal kingdom of God.
He spoke about this in the following words.
"Shake away the sleep of despondency and sloth,
"O sons of Russia.
"Behold the glory of her sufferings and be purified.
"Wash yourselves from your sins.
"Be strengthened in the Orthodox Faith
"so as to be worthy to dwell in the dwelling of the Lord
"and to settle in His holy mountain.
"Leap up, arise O Russia,
"you who from the Lord's hands have drunk the cup
"of His wrath.
"When your suffering shall have ended,
"your righteousness shall go with you
"and the glory of the Lord shall accompany you.
"The people shall come to your light
"and kings to the shining which shall rise upon you.
"Then lift up your eyes and see.
"Behold, your children come to you
"from the west and the north, and sea and the east,
"blessing in you Christ forever."
Amen.