The Words of Nine Prophets on the Destiny ofRussia

The Fall and Resurrection of Russia

The Words of Nine Prophets of Holy Russia on the Destiny of Russia

EVEN WHILE ALLOWING workers of destruction to prepare the fall of Orthodox Russia because of the sins of the Orthodox people, God at the same time has raised up genuine prophets who both warned of the inevitable disaster coming upon Russia for her abandonment of her Orthodox foundation, and foresaw her ultimate resurrection through suffering and repentance. The prophetic visions related below contain the basic features of what has been revealed concerning the future of Russia. They are compiled almost entirely from first-hand sources, and the prophets themselves are all either recognized Saints or candidates for canonization.

SAINT SERAPHIM OF SAROV (From the Notes of Motovilov)

ONCE I WAS in great sorrow, reflecting on what would happen to our Orthodox Church if the evil of our time would continue to increase more and more; and being convinced that our Church was in an extremely lamentable condition, both because of the immorality of the flesh which was increasing, and likewise if not indeed even much more because of the impiety of spirit through the godless philosophies which were being spread everywhere by the newest false teachers, I very much desired to know what Batiushka Seraphim would tell me about this.

After having spoken in detail about the holy Prophet Elijah, he answered to my question, among other things, the following:

"Elijah the Tishbite, in complaining to the Lord against Israel that in its entirety it had bent the knee to Baal, said in prayer that he alone, Elijah, had remained faithful to the Lord, but they were already seeking to take away his soul also... And what, Batiushka, did the Lord answer him to this? – 1 have left seven thousand men in Israel who have not bent the knee to Baal. – And so, if in the kingdom of Israel, which had fallen away from the kingdom of Judea which was faithful to God, and had become completely corrupted, there remained still seven thousand men faithful to the Lord, then what shall we say of Russia? I suppose that in the kingdom of Israel at that time there were no more than three million people. And how many, Batiushka, are there now in our Russia?"

I replied: "About sixty million." And he continued:

"Twenty times more. Then judge for yourself how many we have now who are still faithful to God! So it is, Batiushka, so it is: Whom He did foreknow, He also did forechoose; and whom He did forechoose, He also did predestinate; and whom He did predestinate, He will also watch over and glorify. And so, what is there for us to be downcast about!... God is with us! (Rom. 8:29-31.) He that trusteth in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, and the Lord is round about His people (Ps. 124:1-2). The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth even forevermore; the sun shall not smite thee by day nor the moon by night (Ps. 120:6-8).

And then I asked him what this meant, and why he was saying this to me. "Because," Batiushka Father Seraphim replied, "in this same way the Lord will preserve, as the apple of His eye, His people, that is, Orthodox Christians who love Him and serve Him with all their heart and all their mind, both in word and deed, day and night. And such are they who preserve entirely all the rules, dogmas, and traditions of our Eastern Orthodox Church, and who with their lips confess the piety which has been handed down by the Church, and who act in very deed in all circumstances of life according to the holy commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ."

In confirmation of the fact that there remain yet many in the Russian land who are faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ and who live piously in an Orthodox way, Batiushka Father Seraphim said once to an acquaintance of mine -either Father Gurias, who was the guestmaster of Sarov, or Father Simeon, who was in charge of the Masleshchensky Yard that once, being in the Spirit, he saw the whole Russian land, and it was filled and as it were covered with the smoke of the prayers of the faithful who were praying to the Lord...

The Universal Luminary, St. Seraphim of Sarov by Archbishop Benjamin, Paris, 1932, pp. 116-8


The Seven Holy Youths, the Sleepers of Ephesus
Commemorated October 22 and August 4
16th century Novgorod icon showing the Youths asleep in the cave.


SCHEMA-ARCHIMANDRITE HELIODORUS OF GLINSKY HERMITAGE


Schema-Archimandrite Heliodorus
1795—June 25, 1879
A disciple of the renowned propagator of the Paissian Tradition, Abbot Philaret of the Glinsky Hermitage near Kursk, he himself was of such spiritual life that he was deemed worthy of prophetic visions and left a whole flock of disciples.


BEING STILL HIERODEACON with the name of Joannicius and being young, the Elder, Father Heliodorus, so completely cleansed his heart that remarkable visions were granted to him. This happened at the end of the reign of Emperor Alexander I, as related in the Elder's own words:

"Once late in the evening I was sitting in my cell alone reading the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, and I stopped on the second chapter of his Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, on verses 2 through 10. I stopped on these frightful verses of the holy Apostle and became deep in reflection, considering the appearance in the world of the man of sin, the son of perdition, whose very appearance would be according to the activity of satan, so that this frightful man would sit in the temple of God, giving himself off for God and demanding for himself Divine honors. What kind of frightful man this will be, I thought, and what a frightful time will that be for those living on the earth! At the same time, naturally, there came the desire not to see this terrible time, and therefore there was formed in my mind the basic thought of turning to God in such words: O Lord! Grant me not to see this terrible time! At this time I felt that someone behind me had placed his hand on my right shoulder and said: You yourself will see it in part.

"Feeling the touch on my shoulder and hearing a voice speaking, I looked around, but there was no one, and the door of the cell was locked. Again I looked around to be convinced, but there was no one. I was astonished and began to reflect what this might mean and who this invisible one might be who had spoken and answered my thoughts. Would I really see, even if only 'in part,' that frightful time, and how soon would it be? For a long time I reflected and thought in perplexity and fear, going from one reflection to another. Finally, trusting in the will of God, I performed my evening rule, lay down to rest, and had just forgotten myself in a light sleep when I saw the following vision:

"I was standing at night in some kind of high building. Around me there were many large constructions, such as there are in large cities. Above me was the vault of heaven, adorned with brightly shining stars, as happens on a clear, moonless night. Looking at the vault of heaven, I admired the beauty of the fixed stars. Then, turning my glance to the east, I saw there, coming up from behind the horizon, an oval of enormous dimensions; it was composed of stars of various sizes. In the middle of the oval in its upper and lower parts, there were stars of large size which gradually became smaller, and at the sides of the oval they became quite small. In the midst of the oval there was traced with large letters the name ALEXANDER.

"This oval rose in the east and went quietly, moving majestically and setting in the west. Looking at the magnificent beauty of the movement of the oval, I reflected and said to myself, How glorious and great is our Orthodox Faith, O Orthodox Tsar! Behold, his name also is so glorious and magnificent in the heavens.1

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1 Alexander I, reigned 1801-1825. (Ed. note.)


"Having followed with my eyes the oval of stars until it was concealed in the west beyond the horizon, I again looked to the east and I saw: There came out from there a second oval of stars, just as magnificent as and in all respects like the first one, and in its midst there was depicted another name in large letters – NICHOLAS. And an inward voice informed me that after Alexander I there would be, as the successor of his throne, Nicholas.1 And this was astonishing for me, for the heir of the throne was not Nicholas, but Constantine Pavlovich. This oval also went just as majestically along the horizon and, setting in the west, was hidden beyond the horizon.

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1 Nicholas I, 1825-1855.


"Having followed this oval also with my eyes, I again directed my gaze to the east, and again I saw there an oval of stars rising, in form like the first two in all respects, but considerably smaller in size and composed of stars of small size and, in addition, with the color of blood. In the midst of the oval there was depicted with bloody letters the name – ALEXANDER. And an inward voice informed me that after Nicholas the successor of his throne would be Alexander, whose days would be shortened by an evil deed.1 This oval went along the sky and was quickly hidden in the west beyond the horizon.

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1 Alexander II, 1855-1881, assassinated by anarchists.


"Then from the east, in the same way, there arose, passed along the sky, and was concealed in the west with great rapidity an oval like the first ones, but only of small size, with the name delineated on it weakly and as it were in the fog – ALEXANDER. And I was informed by an inward voice that the days also of this Emperor would be shortened, and his reign over the Russian people would be short.1

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1 Alexander III, 1881-1894.


"After this in the east, delineated palely and mistily, appeared the name NICHOLAS. There was no oval of stars around it; it moved along the sky as it were by jumps and then entered into a dark cloud out of which its separate letters separated in disorder.1 After this there came an impenetrable darkness and it seemed to me that everything was falling to pieces, like cardboard playhouses, at the moment of the end of the world. Terror seized me, standing at that time on an elevated place which was not connected with the world which was being destroyed."

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1 Nicholas II, 1894-1918, martyred by the Bolsheviks at the beginning of the present age of lawlessness.


On the Bank of God's River
vol. 2, pp. 175-177

SAINT JOHN OF KRONSTADT


Saint John of Kronstadt
Commemorated October 19 and December 20
A true son of Holy Russia, this pillar of Orthodoxy for the last times is one of the greatest saints of Christ's Church. Saint John embodied almost all phases of sanctity: he was an apostle, teacher, priest, preacher, ascetic, unmercenary healer, wonderworker, and prophet.


ONE SUNDAY in the Autumn of 1916 in the Monastery of St. John in Petersburg, where the venerators of Father John used to gather, the Liturgy was celebrated by Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow. After the Liturgy, in the quarters of the Abbess of the Convent, Abbess Angelina, there gathered a number of clergymen and military men. Metropolitan Macarius read for those who had gathered one place in the diary of Father John of Kronstadt, in which were described his visions and prophecies concerning Russia... It turns out that many years before the Great War Father John wrote absolutely precisely in his diary both the participants in the war and the outcome of the war. Father John likewise prophesied the military failures of Imperial Russia and the Revolution bound up with them. He indicated that the dominance of revolutionary ideas would be prolonged, that there would be innumerable casualties of the Revolution, rivers of blood, the woe and misfortune of the entire population. The deliverance of Russia from the Red yoke Father John prophesied as being from the East.

I. K. Sursky, Father John of Kronstadt (Belgrade, 1942), vol. 2, pp. 3, 23-24

"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 Russia 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."

Sermon of 1905, in Father John of Kronstadt 50th Anniversary Book, Utica, N.Y., 1958, p. 164

HIERO-SCHEMA-MONK ARISTOCLEUS


Hiero-Schema-Monk Aristocleus
August 26, 1918
A hesychast and man of Jesus Prayer, he was a highly esteemed spiritual director for many years in the St. Panteleimon Monastery on Mt. Athos, where he liturgized daily. His last ten years were spent in the Athonite metochion (podvorie) in Moscow, where he was known for his profound spiritual counsels and the gift of clairvoyance and prophecy.


ON THE 6TH OF MARCH, 1917, just after the outbreak of the Revolution, Father Aristocleus said that now there had begun the judgment of God upon the living, and there would not remain one land on the earth nor a single person whom this would not touch. The beginning would be in Russia, but it would continue from there. He said nothing whatever consoling, and yet the whole time he said: "But do not fear anything, do not fear. The Lord will reveal His miraculous mercy."

Later, before his death on August 26, 1918, he said, when he was told that the White Army had been formed and there was hope: "No, there is no hope, because the spirit is not right." He said that everyone had to suffer very much and deeply repent, and only repentance through suffering would save Russia. When he was told that the war was not over yet, he said: "And there will be another one. Only do not rejoice over this yet. Many Russians will think that the Germans will deliver Russia from the Bolshevik power, but this is not so. The Germans, it is true, will enter Russia and will do much, but they will depart, since the time of deliverance will not yet be. That will be later, later."

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, he said, 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 overweighs, then will God reveal His mercy upon Russia. Ten days before his repose 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 life, but all this will not be for long.

Orthodox Russia, 1969, No. 21, p. 3

HIERO-SCHEMA-MONK ALEXIUS OF ZOSIMA HERMITAGE


Hiero-Schema-Monk Alexius
September 19, 1928
The recluse Elder, who by his high spiritual life and guidance of laymen made the Zosima Hermitage near Moscow renowned. He was the Schema-monk who drew the historic lot from the urn before the Vladimir Wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God which indicated God's choice of Patriarch Tikhon.


AFTER THE OUTBREAK of the Revolution the Elder Alexius of Zosima Hermitage was in the Chudov Monastery. This Elder was always at Vespers in the church of the Chudov Monastery, and afterwards he would bless the people. And the people were confused, all were weeping and afraid. Father Alexius was standing once on the ambo before the Altar dedicated to the Annunciation, and the people were all around him and were speaking, asking, being simply overwhelmed with grief. And someone cried out loudly: "Then our Russia is lost, Holy Russia is lost!" And Batiushka was standing there, tall and magnificent and radiant. And suddenly with a loud voice he asked: "Who is it that is saying that Russia is lost, that she has 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."

Orthodox Russia, 1970, No. 1, p.9

HIEROMONK ANATOLE THE YOUNGER OF OPT;;;


Hieromonk Anatole the Younger of Optina
July 30, 1922
One of the very last God-bearing Fathers in the chain of the great Elders of Optina Monastery, Father Anatole was a disciple and a cell-attendant of Elder Ambrose. Thousands flocked for consolation to this clairvoyant healer of human hearts, to whom future mysteries were revealed.


ELDER ANATOLE was visiting Moscow on the 27th of February, 1917. Already everything had become very bad and uncertain. An unbridled mob was rioting in the streets and one couldn't make out what they were talking and screaming about. What was happening? What was to come? But Batiushka said: "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, not everyone will perish. One must pray, everyone must repent and pray fervently. And what happens after a storm?" Someone said that after a storm there comes a calm. "So it is," said Batiushka. "And there will be a calm." At this everyone said: "But there is no more ship, it is shattered to pieces; it has perished, everything has perished!" – "It is not so," said Batiushka. "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 thus this will be a miracle evident to everyone."

Orthodox Russia, 1970, No. 1, p. 9

ELDER NECTARIUS OF OPTINA

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."

I. M. Kontzevitch, Optina Monastery and its Epoch
(Jordanville, N.Y., 1973), p. 538

HIEROMONK BARNABAS OF THE GETHSEMANE SKETE


Hieromonk Barnabas
February 17, 1906
A clairvoyant Elder of the Gethsemane Scete of Saint Sergius' Lavra, he was a source of spiritual nourishment for the monks of his own monastery and for the nuns of the Iveron Convent on Vyksa, which he founded, and he became one of the most renowned and beloved spiritual directors for laymen.


THE CLAIRVOYANT Elder Barnabas spoke of the disasters coming upon Russia and the cruel persecutions against the Orthodox Faith. When in the women's monastery which he founded there was being built a great and magnificent church, one of the nuns was telling Father Barnabas about this with enthusiasm, but the Elder replied: "You will live until the time wnen not only will this church not be here, but even the very place on which it stands will be paved over." This nun told us this after the Revolution. The words of the Elder were fulfilled. Not only was this marvellous church destroyed, but the very place where it had been was paved over.

Elder Barnabas said: "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."

Some of the New Martyrs of Russia have likewise spoken similar things, using the words of the Holy Fathers that there would come such grief as the world has not yet seen, but then there would come a short flowering – before the end of the world. Truly, has there ever been a grief more bitter than the persecutions of the satanic regime which destroys and defiles everything holy-churches, icons, holy relics – with a purely diabolical rage, torturing old priests and monks, putting out their eyes, cutting off their noses and tongues, crucifying them, shooting them in the mouth while saying, "We are giving you communion"? But the persecutions evoked an unheard of flowering of faith. People have gone to tortures and death joyfully, with singing; there have even been children confessors and martyrs. And the general opinion in Russia has been that such a flowering could only be before the end of everything. Concerning this spiritual flowering Bishop Peter the New Martyr also spoke. He did not speak of an outward flowering. Those who live only by the world's standards cannot understand this; for this there is necessary a revelation to the heart.

From a private letter (N. Kieter)

ARCHBISHOP THEOPHANES OF POLTAVA


Archbishop Theophanes of Poltava
1873—1940
Former rector of the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy, a profound and precise theologian, an expert in patristics and a great ascetic himself, he was the compiler of a still-unpublished "Russian Philokalia." He was one of the founders of the Russian Church Abroad. His last years he spent in total seclusion, even living in a cave, like a second Bishop Theophanes the Recluse, for whom he had great love.


YOU ASK ME about the near future and about the last times. I do not speak on my own, but give the revelation of the Elders. And they have handed down to me the following: The coming of Antichrist draws nigh 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 nigh, unless because of our sins the Lord God shall revoke, shall alter what has been promised. According to the witness of the word of God, this also happens.

The Orthodox Word, 1969, no. 5, p. 194