Fr. Seraphim Rose - The future of Russia and the end of the world

- [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.