On February 10, 2020, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church (traditionally, since 2000, this holiday has been celebrated on the first Sunday after February 7). Today there are more than 1,700 names in the Council. Here are just a few of them.

, archpriest, first martyr of Petrograd

The first priest in Petrograd to die at the hands of the atheistic authorities. In 1918, on the threshold of the diocesan administration, he stood up for women insulted by the Red Army and was shot in the head. Father Peter had a wife and seven children.

At the time of his death he was 55 years old.

, Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia

The first bishop of the Russian Church to die during the revolutionary turmoil. Killed by armed bandits led by a sailor commissar near the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

At the time of his death, Metropolitan Vladimir was 70 years old.

, Archbishop of Voronezh

The last Russian emperor and his family were shot in 1918 in Yekaterinburg, in the basement of the Ipatiev House, by order of the Ural Council of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies.

At the time of the execution, Emperor Nicholas was 50 years old, Empress Alexandra 46 years old, Grand Duchess Olga 22 years old, Grand Duchess Tatiana 21 years old, Grand Duchess Maria 19 years old, Grand Duchess Anastasia 17 years old, Tsarevich Alexy 13 years old. Together with them, their close associates were shot: physician Evgeny Botkin, cook Ivan Kharitonov, valet Alexey Trupp, maid Anna Demidova.

And

The sister of the martyr Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the widow of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, who was killed by revolutionaries, after the death of her husband, Elisaveta Feodorovna became a sister of mercy and abbess of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy in Moscow, which she created. When Elisaveta Feodorovna was arrested by the Bolsheviks, her cell attendant, nun Varvara, despite the offer of freedom, voluntarily followed her.

Together with the Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich and his secretary Fyodor Remez, the Grand Dukes John, Konstantin and Igor Konstantinovich and Prince Vladimir Paley, the Venerable Martyr Elizabeth and the nun Varvara were thrown alive into a mine near the city of Alapaevsk and died in terrible agony.

At the time of death, Elisaveta Feodorovna was 53 years old, nun Varvara was 68 years old.

, Metropolitan of Petrograd and Gdov

In 1922 he was arrested for resisting the Bolshevik campaign to confiscate church property. The actual reason for the arrest was rejection of the renovationist schism. Together with the hieromartyr Archimandrite Sergius (Shein) (52 years old), the martyr Ioann Kovsharov (lawyer, 44 years old) and the martyr Yuri Novitsky (professor at St. Petersburg University, 40 years old), he was shot in the vicinity of Petrograd, presumably at the Rzhevsky training ground. Before execution, all the martyrs were shaved and dressed in rags, so that the executioners would not identify the clergy.

At the time of his death, Metropolitan Benjamin was 45 years old.

Hieromartyr John Vostorgov, Archpriest

A famous Moscow priest, one of the leaders of the monarchist movement. He was arrested in 1918 on charges of intending to sell the Moscow diocesan house (!). He was held in the Internal Prison of the Cheka, then in Butyrki. With the beginning of the “Red Terror” he was executed extrajudicially. Publicly shot on September 5, 1918 in Petrovsky Park, together with Bishop Efrem, as well as former Chairman of the State Council Shcheglovitov, former Ministers of Internal Affairs Maklakov and Khvostov and Senator Beletsky. After the execution, the bodies of all those executed (up to 80 people) were robbed.

At the time of his death, Archpriest John Vostorgov was 54 years old.

, layman

The ailing Theodore, who suffered from paralysis of his legs from the age of 16, was revered during his lifetime as an ascetic by the believers of the Tobolsk diocese. Arrested by the NKVD in 1937 as a “religious fanatic” for “preparing for an armed uprising against Soviet power.” He was taken to Tobolsk prison on a stretcher. In Theodore's cell they put him facing the wall and forbade him to talk. They didn’t ask him anything, they didn’t carry him during interrogations, and the investigator didn’t enter the cell. Without trial or investigation, according to the verdict of the “troika”, he was shot in the prison yard.

At the time of execution - 41 years old.

, archimandrite

Famous missionary, monk of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, confessor of the Alexander Nevsky Brotherhood, one of the founders of the illegal Theological and Pastoral School in Petrograd. In 1932, together with other members of the brotherhood, he was accused of counter-revolutionary activities and sentenced to 10 years in prison in Siblag. In 1937, he was shot by the NKVD troika for “anti-Soviet propaganda” (that is, for talking about faith and politics) among prisoners.

At the time of execution - 48 years old.

, laywoman

In the 1920s and 30s, Christians throughout Russia knew about it. For many years, OGPU employees tried to “unravel” the phenomenon of Tatyana Grimblit, and, in general, without success. She devoted her entire adult life to helping prisoners. Carried packages, sent parcels. She often helped complete strangers to her, not knowing whether they were believers or not, and under what article they were convicted. She spent almost everything she earned on this, and encouraged other Christians to do the same.

She was arrested and exiled many times, and together with the prisoners she traveled in a convoy across the whole country. In 1937, while a nurse in a hospital in the city of Konstantinov, she was arrested on false charges of anti-Soviet agitation and “deliberate killing of the sick.”

Shot at the Butovo firing range near Moscow at the age of 34.

, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'

The first Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, who ascended the Patriarchal throne after the restoration of the patriarchate in 1918. In 1918, he anathematized the persecutors of the Church and participants in bloody massacres. In 1922–23 he was kept under arrest. Subsequently, he was under constant pressure from the OGPU and the “gray abbot” Yevgeny Tuchkov. Despite the blackmail, he refused to join the Renovationist schism and collude with the godless authorities.

He died at the age of 60 from heart failure.

, Metropolitan of Krutitsky

He took holy orders in 1920, at the age of 58, and was the closest assistant to His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon in matters of church administration. Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne from 1925 (the death of Patriarch Tikhon) until the false report of his death in 1936. From the end of 1925 he was imprisoned. Despite constant threats to extend his imprisonment, he remained faithful to the canons of the Church and refused to remove himself from the rank of Patriarchal Locum Tenens until the legal Council.

He suffered from scurvy and asthma. After a conversation with Tuchkov in 1931, he was partially paralyzed. The last years of his life he was kept as a “secret prisoner” in solitary confinement in the Verkhneuralsk prison.

In 1937, at the age of 75, by the verdict of the NKVD troika in the Chelyabinsk region, he was shot for “slander of the Soviet system” and accusing the Soviet authorities of persecuting the Church.

, Metropolitan of Yaroslavl

After the death of his wife and newborn son in 1885, he accepted holy orders and monasticism, and from 1889 served as a bishop. One of the candidates for the post of locum tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, according to the will of Patriarch Tikhon. We tried to persuade the OGPU to cooperate, but to no avail. For resistance to the renovationist schism in 1922-23 he was imprisoned, in 1923-25. - in exile in the Narym region.

He died in Yaroslavl at the age of 74.

, archimandrite

Coming from a peasant family, he took holy orders at the height of persecution of his faith in 1921. He spent a total of 17.5 years in prisons and camps. Even before his official canonization, Archimandrite Gabriel was revered as a saint in many dioceses of the Russian Church.

In 1959, he died in Melekess (now Dmitrovgrad) at the age of 71.

, Metropolitan of Almaty and Kazakhstan

Coming from a poor, large family, he dreamed of becoming a monk since childhood. In 1904 he took monastic vows, and in 1919, at the height of persecution of the faith, he became a bishop. For resistance to renovationism in 1925–27 he was imprisoned. In 1932, he was sentenced to 5 years in concentration camps (according to the investigator, “for popularity”). In 1941, for the same reason, he was exiled to Kazakhstan, in exile he almost died from hunger and disease, and was homeless for a long time. In 1945, he was released early from exile at the request of Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), and headed the Kazakhstan diocese.

He died in Almaty at the age of 88. The veneration of Metropolitan Nicholas among the people was enormous. Despite the threat of persecution, 40 thousand people took part in the bishop’s funeral in 1955.

, archpriest

Hereditary rural priest, missionary, unmercenary. In 1918, he supported the anti-Soviet peasant uprising in the Ryazan province and blessed the people “to go to fight the persecutors of the Church of Christ.” Together with Hieromartyr Nicholas, the Church honors the memory of the martyrs Cosmas, Victor (Krasnov), Naum, Philip, John, Paul, Andrei, Paul, Vasily, Alexy, John and the martyr Agathia who suffered with him. All of them were brutally killed by the Red Army on the banks of the Tsna River near Ryazan.

At the time of his death, Father Nikolai was 44 years old.

Saint Kirill (Smirnov), Metropolitan of Kazan and Sviyazhsk

One of the leaders of the Josephite movement, a convinced monarchist and opponent of Bolshevism. He was arrested and exiled many times. In the will of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon was indicated as the first candidate for the post of locum tenens of the Patriarchal Throne. In 1926, when a secret gathering of opinions took place among the episcopate on a candidacy for the post of Patriarch, the largest number of votes was given to Metropolitan Kirill.

To Tuchkov’s proposal to lead the Church without waiting for the Council, the bishop replied: “Evgeniy Alexandrovich, you are not a cannon, and I am not a bomb with which you want to blow up the Russian Church from within,” for which he received another three years of exile.

, archpriest

The rector of the Resurrection Cathedral in Ufa, a famous missionary, church historian and public figure, he was accused of “campaigning in favor of Kolchak” and shot by security officers in 1919.

The 62-year-old priest was beaten, spat in his face, and dragged by his beard. He was led to execution in only his underwear, barefoot in the snow.

, metropolitan

An officer of the tsarist army, an outstanding artilleryman, as well as a doctor, composer, artist... He left worldly glory for the sake of serving Christ and took holy orders in obedience to his spiritual father - St. John of Kronstadt.

On December 11, 1937, at the age of 82, he was shot at the Butovo training ground near Moscow. He was taken to prison in an ambulance, and to execution - he was carried out on a stretcher.

, Archbishop of Verei

Outstanding Orthodox theologian, writer, missionary. During the Local Council of 1917–18, then-Archimandrite Hilarion was the only non-bishop who was named in behind-the-scenes conversations among the desirable candidates for the patriarchate. He accepted the episcopate at the height of persecution of the faith - in 1920, and soon became the closest assistant to the holy Patriarch Tikhon.

He spent a total of two three-year terms in the Solovki concentration camp (1923–26 and 1926–29). “He stayed for a repeat course,” as the bishop himself joked... Even in prison, he continued to rejoice, joke and thank the Lord. In 1929, during the next stage, he fell ill with typhus and died.

He was 43 years old.

Martyr Princess Kira Obolenskaya, laywoman

Kira Ivanovna Obolenskaya was a hereditary noblewoman, belonged to the ancient Obolensky family, which traced its ancestry to the legendary Prince Rurik. She studied at the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens and worked as a teacher in a school for the poor. Under Soviet rule, as a representative of “class alien elements”, she was transferred to the position of librarian. She took an active part in the life of the Alexander Nevsky Brotherhood in Petrograd.

In 1930–34 she was imprisoned in concentration camps for counter-revolutionary views (Belbaltlag, Svirlag). Upon release from prison, she lived 101 kilometers from Leningral, in the city of Borovichi. In 1937, she was arrested along with the Borovichi clergy and executed on false charges of creating a “counter-revolutionary organization.”

At the time of the execution, the martyr Kira was 48 years old.

Martyr Catherine of Arskaya, laywoman

Merchant's daughter, born in St. Petersburg. In 1920, she experienced a tragedy: her husband, an officer in the Tsar’s army and head of the Smolny Cathedral, died of cholera, then their five children. Seeking help from the Lord, Ekaterina Andreevna became involved in the life of the Alexander Nevsky Brotherhood at the Feodorovsky Cathedral in Petrograd, and became the spiritual daughter of the Hieromartyr Leo (Egorov).

In 1932, along with other members of the brotherhood (90 people in total), Catherine was also arrested. She received three years in concentration camps for participating in the activities of a “counter-revolutionary organization.” Upon returning from exile, like the martyr Kira Obolenskaya, she settled in the city of Borovichi. In 1937 she was arrested in connection with the Borovichi clergy case. She refused to admit her guilt in “counter-revolutionary activities” even under torture. She was shot on the same day as the martyr Kira Obolenskaya.

She was 62 years old at the time of the shooting.

, layman

Historian, publicist, honorary member of the Moscow Theological Academy. The grandson of a priest, in his youth he tried to create his own community, living according to the teachings of Count Tolstoy. Then he returned to the Church and became an Orthodox missionary. With the Bolsheviks coming to power, Mikhail Alexandrovich joined the Temporary Council of United Parishes of the city of Moscow, which at its very first meeting called on believers to defend churches and protect them from the encroachments of atheists.

Since 1923, he went underground, hid with friends, wrote missionary brochures (“Letters to Friends”). When he was in Moscow, he went to pray at the Vozdvizhensky Church on Vozdvizhenka. On March 22, 1929, not far from the temple, he was arrested. Mikhail Alexandrovich spent almost ten years in prison; he led many of his cellmates to faith.

On January 20, 1938, he was shot in a Vologda prison at the age of 73 for anti-Soviet statements.

, priest

At the time of the revolution, he was a layman, an associate professor in the department of dogmatic theology at the Moscow Theological Academy. In 1919, his academic career came to an end: the Moscow Academy was closed by the Bolsheviks, and the professorship was dispersed. Then Tuberovsky decided to return to his native Ryazan region. In the early 20s, at the height of anti-church persecution, he took holy orders and, together with his father, served in the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary in his native village.

In 1937 he was arrested. Together with Father Alexander, other priests were arrested: Anatoly Pravdolyubov, Nikolai Karasev, Konstantin Bazhanov and Evgeniy Kharkov, as well as laymen. All of them were deliberately falsely accused of “participation in a rebel-terrorist organization and counter-revolutionary activities.” Archpriest Anatoly Pravdolyubov, the 75-year-old rector of the Annunciation Church in the city of Kasimov, was declared the “head of the conspiracy”... According to legend, before execution, the convicts were forced to dig a trench with their own hands and were immediately, facing the ditch, shot.

Father Alexander Tuberovsky was 56 years old at the time of the execution.

Venerable Martyr Augusta (Zashchuk), schema-nun

The founder and first head of the Optina Pustyn Museum, Lidia Vasilievna Zashchuk, was of noble origin. She spoke six foreign languages, had literary talent, and before the revolution she was a famous journalist in St. Petersburg. In 1922, she took monastic vows in Optina Hermitage. After the monastery was closed by the Bolsheviks in 1924, Optina was preserved as a museum. Many inhabitants of the monastery were thus able to remain in their jobs as museum workers.

In 1927–34 Schema-nun Augusta was in prison (she was involved in the same case with Hieromonk Nikon (Belyaev) and other “Optina residents”). From 1934 she lived in the city of Tula, then in the city of Belev, where the last rector of the Optina Hermitage, Hieromonk Issakiy (Bobrikov), settled. She headed a secret women's community in the city of Belev. She was shot in 1938 in connection with a case at 162 km of the Simferopol highway in the Tesnitsky forest near Tula.

At the time of the execution, Schema nun Augusta was 67 years old.

, priest

Hieromartyr Sergius, son of the holy righteous Alexy, presbyter of Moscow, graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University. During the First World War, he voluntarily went to the front as an orderly. At the height of persecution in 1919, he took holy orders. After the death of his father in 1923, Hieromartyr Sergius became rector of the Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki and served in this temple until his arrest in 1929, when he and his parishioners were accused of creating an “anti-Soviet group.”

The holy righteous Alexy himself, already known during his lifetime as an elder in the world, said: “My son will be taller than me.” Father Sergius managed to rally around himself the spiritual children of the late Father Alexy and his own children. Members of the community of Father Sergius carried the memory of their spiritual father through all the persecution. Since 1937, upon leaving the camp, Father Sergius served the liturgy in his home, secretly from the authorities.

In the fall of 1941, following a denunciation from neighbors, he was arrested and accused of “working to create underground so-called. “Catacomb churches”, implants secret monasticism similar to the Jesuit orders and on this basis organizes anti-Soviet elements for an active struggle against Soviet power.” On Christmas Eve 1942, Hieromartyr Sergius was shot and buried in an unknown common grave.

At the time of the shooting he was 49 years old.

Have you read the article New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. Read also:

July 17 is the day of remembrance of the Passion-Bearers Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra, Tsarevich Alexy, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia.

In 2000, the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his family were canonized by the Russian Church as holy passion-bearers. Their canonization in the West - in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia - occurred even earlier, in 1981. And although holy princes are not uncommon in the Orthodox tradition, this canonization still raises doubts among some. Why is the last Russian monarch glorified as a saint? Does his life and the life of his family speak in favor of canonization, and what were the arguments against it? Is the veneration of Nicholas II as the Tsar-Redeemer an extreme or a pattern?

We are talking about this with the secretary of the Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints, the rector of the Orthodox St. Tikhon's Humanitarian University, Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov.

Death as an argument

- Father Vladimir, where does this term come from - royal passion-bearers? Why not just martyrs?

When in 2000 the Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints discussed the issue of glorifying the royal family, it came to the conclusion: although the family of Emperor Nicholas II was deeply religious, ecclesiastical and pious, all its members performed their prayer rule daily, regularly received the Holy Mysteries of Christ and lived a highly moral life, observing the Gospel commandments in everything, constantly performed works of mercy, during the war they worked diligently in the hospital, caring for wounded soldiers, they can be counted as saints primarily for their Christianly accepted suffering and violent death caused by the persecutors of the Orthodox Church. faith with incredible cruelty. But it was still necessary to clearly understand and clearly formulate why exactly the royal family was killed. Maybe it was just a political assassination? Then they cannot be called martyrs. However, both the people and the commission had an awareness and feeling of the holiness of their feat. Since the noble princes Boris and Gleb, called passion-bearers, were glorified as the first saints in Rus', and their murder was also not directly related to their faith, the idea arose to discuss the glorification of the family of Emperor Nicholas II in the same person.

When we say “royal martyrs,” do we mean only the king’s family? The relatives of the Romanovs, the Alapaevsk martyrs, who suffered at the hands of the revolutionaries, do not belong to this list of saints?

No, they don't. The very word “royal” in its meaning can only be attributed to the family of the king in the narrow sense. Relatives did not reign; they were even titled differently than members of the sovereign’s family. In addition, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Fedorovna Romanova - the sister of Empress Alexandra - and her cell attendant Varvara can be called martyrs for the faith. Elizaveta Feodorovna was the wife of the Governor-General of Moscow, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov, but after his murder she was not involved in state power. She devoted her life to the cause of Orthodox charity and prayer, founded and built the Martha and Mary Convent, and led the community of her sisters. The cell attendant Varvara, a sister of the monastery, shared her suffering and death with her. The connection between their suffering and faith is completely obvious, and they were both canonized as new martyrs - abroad in 1981, and in Russia in 1992. However, now such nuances have become important for us. In ancient times, no distinction was made between martyrs and passion-bearers.

But why exactly was the family of the last sovereign glorified, although many representatives of the Romanov dynasty ended their lives by violent death?

Canonization generally occurs in the most obvious and edifying cases. Not all killed representatives of the royal family show us an image of holiness, and most of these murders were committed for political purposes or in the struggle for power. Their victims cannot be considered victims for their faith. As for the family of Emperor Nicholas II, it was so incredibly slandered by both contemporaries and the Soviet government that it was necessary to restore the truth. Their murder was epoch-making, it amazes with its satanic hatred and cruelty, leaving a feeling of a mystical event - the reprisal of evil against the divinely established order of life of the Orthodox people.

-What were the criteria for canonization? What were the pros and cons?

The canonization commission worked on this issue for a very long time, very pedantically checking all the pros and cons. At that time there were many opponents of the canonization of the king. Someone said that this could not be done because Emperor Nicholas II was “bloody”; he was blamed for the events of January 9, 1905 - the shooting of a peaceful demonstration of workers. The commission carried out special work to clarify the circumstances of Bloody Sunday. And as a result of the study of archival materials, it turned out that the sovereign was not in St. Petersburg at all at that time, he was in no way involved in this execution and could not have given such an order - he was not even aware of what was happening. Thus, this argument was eliminated. All other arguments “against” were considered in a similar way until it became obvious that there were no significant counter-arguments. The royal family was canonized not simply because they were killed, but because they accepted the torment with humility, in a Christian way, without resistance. They could have taken advantage of the offers to flee abroad that were made to them in advance. But they deliberately did not want this.

- Why can’t their murder be called purely political?

The royal family personified the idea of ​​an Orthodox kingdom, and the Bolsheviks not only wanted to destroy possible contenders for the royal throne, they hated this symbol - the Orthodox king. By killing the royal family, they destroyed the very idea, the banner of the Orthodox state, which was the main defender of all world Orthodoxy. This becomes understandable in the context of the Byzantine interpretation of royal power as the ministry of the “external bishop of the church.” And during the synodal period, the “Basic Laws of the Empire” published in 1832 (Articles 43 and 44) ​​stated: “The Emperor, as a Christian Sovereign, is the supreme defender and guardian of the dogmas of the ruling faith and the guardian of orthodoxy and all holy deanery in the Church. And in this sense, the emperor in the act of succession to the throne (dated April 5, 1797) is called the Head of the Church.”

The Emperor and his family were ready to suffer for Orthodox Russia, for the faith; this is how they understood their suffering. The Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt wrote back in 1905: “We have a Tsar of righteous and pious life, God sent Him a heavy cross of suffering, as His chosen one and beloved child.”

Renunciation: weakness or hope?

- How to understand then the abdication of the sovereign from the throne?

Although the sovereign signed the abdication of the throne as a responsibilities for governing the state, this does not mean his renunciation of royal dignity. Until his successor was installed as king, in the minds of all the people he still remained the king, and his family remained the royal family. They themselves understood themselves this way, and the Bolsheviks perceived them the same way. If the sovereign, as a result of abdication, would lose his royal dignity and become an ordinary person, then why and who would need to persecute and kill him? When, for example, the presidential term ends, who will prosecute the former president? The king did not seek the throne, did not conduct election campaigns, but was destined for this from birth. The whole country prayed for their king, and the liturgical rite of anointing him with holy myrrh for the kingdom was performed over him. The pious Emperor Nicholas II could not refuse this anointing, which manifested God’s blessing for the most difficult service to the Orthodox people and Orthodoxy in general, without having a successor, and everyone understood this perfectly well.

The sovereign, transferring power to his brother, stepped away from fulfilling his managerial duties not out of fear, but at the request of his subordinates (almost all front commanders were generals and admirals) and because he was a humble man, and the very idea of ​​a struggle for power was completely alien to him. He hoped that the transfer of the throne in favor of his brother Michael (subject to his anointing as king) would calm the unrest and thereby benefit Russia. This example of abandoning the struggle for power in the name of the well-being of one’s country and one’s people is very edifying for the modern world.

- Did he somehow mention these views in his diaries and letters?

Yes, but this is clear from his very actions. He could strive to emigrate, go to a safe place, organize reliable security, and protect his family. But he did not take any measures, he wanted to act not according to his own will, not according to his own understanding, he was afraid to insist on his own. In 1906, during the Kronstadt rebellion, the sovereign, after the report of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said the following: “If you see me so calm, it is because I have an unshakable belief that the fate of Russia, my own fate and the fate of my family lies in hands of the Lord. Whatever happens, I bow to His will.” Shortly before his suffering, the sovereign said: “I would not like to leave Russia. I love her too much, I’d rather go to the farthest end of Siberia.” At the end of April 1918, already in Yekaterinburg, the Emperor wrote: “Perhaps an atoning sacrifice is necessary to save Russia: I will be this sacrifice - may God’s will be done!”

- Many see renunciation as ordinary weakness...

Yes, some see this as a manifestation of weakness: a powerful person, strong in the usual sense of the word, would not abdicate the throne. But for Emperor Nicholas II, strength lay in something else: in faith, in humility, in the search for a grace-filled path according to the will of God. Therefore, he did not fight for power - and it was unlikely that it could be retained. But the holy humility with which he abdicated the throne and then accepted a martyr’s death even now contributes to the conversion of the entire people with repentance to God. Still, the vast majority of our people - after seventy years of atheism - consider themselves Orthodox. Unfortunately, the majority are not churchgoers, but still not militant atheists. Grand Duchess Olga wrote from captivity in the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg: “Father asks to tell all those who remained devoted to him, and those on whom they can have influence, so that they do not take revenge for him - he has forgiven everyone and is praying for everyone, and so that they remember that the evil that is now in the world will be even stronger, but that it is not evil that will defeat evil, but only love.” And, perhaps, the image of the humble martyr king moved our people to repentance and faith to a greater extent than a strong and powerful politician could have done.

Revolution: the inevitability of disaster?

- Did the way the last Romanovs lived and believed influence their canonization?

Undoubtedly. A lot of books have been written about the royal family, a lot of materials have been preserved that indicate a very high spiritual structure of the sovereign himself and his family - diaries, letters, memoirs. Their faith was evidenced by all who knew them and by many of their actions. It is known that Emperor Nicholas II built many churches and monasteries; he, the empress and their children were deeply religious people who regularly partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. In conclusion, they constantly prayed and prepared in a Christian manner for their martyrdom, and three days before their death, the guards allowed the priest to perform a liturgy in the Ipatiev House, during which all members of the royal family received communion. There, Grand Duchess Tatiana, in one of her books, emphasized the lines: “Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ went to death as if on a holiday, facing inevitable death, they retained the same wondrous calm of spirit that did not leave them for a minute. They walked calmly towards death because they hoped to enter into a different, spiritual life, which opens up for a person beyond the grave.” And the Emperor wrote: “I firmly believe that the Lord will have mercy on Russia and pacify passions in the end. Let His Holy Will be done.” It is also well known what place in their lives occupied works of mercy, which were performed in the spirit of the Gospel: the royal daughters themselves, together with the empress, cared for the wounded in the hospital during the First World War.

There are very different attitudes towards Emperor Nicholas II today: from accusations of lack of will and political insolvency to veneration as a tsar-redeemer. Is it possible to find a middle ground?

I think that the most dangerous sign of the difficult state of many of our contemporaries is the lack of any attitude towards the martyrs, towards the royal family, towards everything in general. Unfortunately, many are now in some kind of spiritual hibernation and are not able to accommodate any serious questions in their hearts or look for answers to them. The extremes that you named, it seems to me, are not found in the entire mass of our people, but only in those who are still thinking about something, are still looking for something, are internally striving for something.

How can one answer such a statement: the Tsar’s sacrifice was absolutely necessary, and thanks to it Russia was redeemed?

Such extremes come from the lips of people who are theologically ignorant. Therefore, they begin to reformulate some points of the doctrine of salvation in relation to the king. This, of course, is completely wrong; there is no logic, consistency or necessity in this.

- But they say that the feat of the new martyrs meant a lot for Russia...

Only the feat of the new martyrs was able to withstand the rampant evil to which Russia was subjected. At the head of this martyr's army were great people: Patriarch Tikhon, the greatest saints, such as Metropolitan Peter, Metropolitan Kirill and, of course, Emperor Nicholas II and his family. These are such great images! And the more time passes, the clearer their greatness and their meaning will become.

I think that now, in our time, we can more adequately assess what happened at the beginning of the twentieth century. You know, when you are in the mountains, an absolutely amazing panorama opens up - many mountains, ridges, peaks. And when you move away from these mountains, all the smaller ridges go beyond the horizon, but above this horizon there remains one huge snow cap. And you understand: here is the dominant!

So it is here: time passes, and we are convinced that these new saints of ours were truly giants, heroes of the spirit. I think that the significance of the feat of the royal family will be revealed more and more over time, and it will be clear what great faith and love they showed through their suffering.

In addition, a century later it is clear that no most powerful leader, no Peter I, could have restrained with his human will what was happening then in Russia.

- Why?

Because the cause of the revolution was the state of the entire people, the state of the Church - I mean its human side. We often tend to idealize that time, but in reality everything was far from rosy. Our people received communion once a year, and it was a mass phenomenon. There were several dozen bishops throughout Russia, the patriarchate was abolished, and the Church had no independence. The system of parochial schools throughout Russia - a huge merit of the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod K. F. Pobedonostsev - was created only towards the end of the 19th century. This is, of course, a great thing; people began to learn to read and write precisely under the Church, but this happened too late.

There is a lot to list. One thing is clear: faith has become largely ritualistic. Many saints of that time, so to speak, testified to the difficult state of the people's soul - first of all, Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov), holy righteous John of Kronstadt. They foresaw that this would lead to disaster.

- Did Tsar Nicholas II himself and his family foresee this catastrophe?

Of course, we also find evidence of this in their diary entries. How could Tsar Nicholas II not feel what was happening in the country when his uncle, Sergei Aleksandrovich Romanov, was killed right next to the Kremlin by a bomb thrown by the terrorist Kalyaev? And what about the revolution of 1905, when even all the seminaries and theological academies were engulfed in rebellion, so that they had to be temporarily closed? This speaks about the state of the Church and the country. For several decades before the revolution, systematic persecution took place in society: the faith and the royal family were persecuted in the press, terrorist attempts were made on the lives of rulers...

- Do you want to say that it is impossible to blame solely Nicholas II for the troubles that befell the country?

Yes, that’s right - he was destined to be born and reign at this time, he could no longer simply change the situation by force of will, because it came from the depths of people’s life. And under these conditions, he chose the path that was most characteristic of him - the path of suffering. The Tsar suffered deeply, suffered mentally long before the revolution. He tried to defend Russia with kindness and love, he did it consistently, and this position led him to martyrdom.

What kind of saints are these?..

Father Vladimir, in Soviet times, obviously, canonization was impossible for political reasons. But even in our time it took eight years... Why so long?

You know, more than twenty years have passed since perestroika, and the remnants of the Soviet era are still very much felt. They say that Moses wandered through the desert with his people for forty years because the generation that lived in Egypt and was raised in slavery needed to die. For the people to become free, that generation had to leave. And it is not very easy for the generation that lived under Soviet rule to change their mentality.

- Because of a certain fear?

Not only because of fear, but rather because of the cliches that were implanted from childhood, which owned people. I knew many representatives of the older generation - among them priests and even one bishop - who still saw Tsar Nicholas II during his lifetime. And I witnessed what they did not understand: why canonize him? what kind of saint is he? It was difficult for them to reconcile the image that they had perceived since childhood with the criteria of holiness. This nightmare, which we now cannot truly imagine, when huge parts of the Russian Empire were occupied by the Germans, although the First World War promised to end victoriously for Russia; when terrible persecution, anarchy, and Civil War began; when famine came in the Volga region, repressions unfolded, etc. - apparently, in the young perception of the people of that time, it was somehow tied up with the weakness of the government, with the fact that the people did not have a real leader who could resist all this rampant evil . And some people remained under the influence of this idea until the end of their lives...

And then, of course, it is very difficult to compare in your mind, for example, St. Nicholas of Myra, the great ascetics and martyrs of the first centuries with the saints of our time. I know one old woman whose uncle, a priest, was canonized as a new martyr - he was shot for his faith. When they told her about this, she was surprised: “How?! No, he, of course, was a very good person, but what kind of saint was he? That is, it is not so easy for us to accept the people with whom we live as saints, because for us saints are “celestials,” people from another dimension. And those who eat, drink, talk and worry with us - what kind of saints are they? It is difficult to apply the image of holiness to a person close to you in everyday life, and this is also very important.

In 1991, the remains of the royal family were found and buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress. But the Church doubts their authenticity. Why?

Yes, there was a very long controversy about the authenticity of these remains; many examinations were carried out abroad. Some of them confirmed the authenticity of these remains, while others confirmed the not very obvious reliability of the examinations themselves, that is, an insufficiently clear scientific organization of the process was recorded. Therefore, our Church avoided resolving this issue and left it open: it does not risk agreeing with something that has not been sufficiently verified. There are fears that by taking one position or another, the Church will become vulnerable, because there is no sufficient basis for an unambiguous decision.

End crowns the work

Father Vladimir, I see on your table, among others, there is a book about Nicholas II. What is your personal attitude towards him?

I grew up in an Orthodox family and knew about this tragedy from early childhood. Of course, he always treated the royal family with reverence. I have been to Yekaterinburg several times...

I think that if you pay attention and seriously, you cannot help but feel, see the greatness of this feat and not be fascinated by these wonderful images - the sovereign, the empress and their children. Their life was full of difficulties, sorrows, but it was beautiful! How strictly the children were brought up, how they all knew how to work! How can one not admire the amazing spiritual purity of the Grand Duchesses! Modern young people need to see the life of these princesses, they were so simple, majestic and beautiful. For their chastity alone they could have been canonized, for their meekness, modesty, readiness to serve, for their loving hearts and mercy. After all, they were very modest people, unassuming, never aspired to glory, they lived as God placed them, in the conditions in which they were placed. And in everything they were distinguished by amazing modesty and obedience. No one has ever heard of them displaying any passionate traits of character. On the contrary, a Christian dispensation of heart was nurtured in them - peaceful, chaste. It’s enough to even just look at photographs of the royal family; they themselves already reveal an amazing inner appearance - of the sovereign, and the empress, and the grand duchesses, and Tsarevich Alexei. The point is not only in upbringing, but also in their very life, which corresponded to their faith and prayer. They were true Orthodox people: they lived as they believed, they acted as they thought. But there is a saying: “The end is the end.” “What I find, in that I judge,” says the Holy Scripture on behalf of God.

Therefore, the royal family was canonized not for their life, which was very high and beautiful, but, above all, for their even more beautiful death. For their near-death suffering, for the faith, meekness and obedience with which they went through this suffering to the will of God - this is their unique greatness.

Why do the new martyrs and confessors of Russia remain unknown saints?

Martyr, martyr is a witness. He testifies to the Truth - not just with words, but in such a terrible and glorious way: without renouncing it in the face of terrible torment and death. The martyrs of the first centuries of Christianity cemented its foundation with their blood. But in the twentieth century, under the blows of demonic forces, its walls shook and swayed, already undermined by negligence and apostasy. And again blood was needed. And again a call was heard, inaudible to carnal ears: faithful, bear witness! No one heard the latest evidence except NKVD investigators and members of the legendary “troikas”. The vulture “secretly” sealed the voices of the doomed - the executioners were sure that forever. However - there is nothing secret that would not be revealed(Mark 4:22). The hour struck, and hands were found to untie the laces of the gray folders with black heads. The candle that they tried to hide in the deep darkness was placed by the Lord Himself at the right time on a candlestick(see: Mark 4:21). And we must see a lot now - by the light of this candle.

But why are we not in a hurry to see? Why do the fates of the Russian new martyrs, even those of them who are commemorated at every all-night vigil, not arouse mass interest and attract the attention of perhaps historians and individual well-read parishioners? Why do these people, who are very close to us in time, remain unknown saints to us?

Why do we, today's Orthodox Christians, who received our happiness - the happiness of freely and openly belonging to the Church - for nothing, think so little about what blood, what torment, so many sacrifices our happiness actually paid for?

Archimandrite Zacchaeus (Wood), rector of the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine on Vspolye (Moscow metochion of the Orthodox Church in America):

— I am not at all convinced that Russians do not know their newly glorified saints. On the contrary, I feel that the Russian people love them. Our parishioners and the clergy of our church are especially fond of Hieromartyr Peter Postnikov, who served in our church in the name of the Great Martyr Catherine and received the crown of martyrdom on the same day as the well-known Metropolitan Seraphim (Chichagov) at the Butovo training ground.

For me personally, as a son of the American Orthodox Church, those closest to me, of course, are those of the new martyrs whose earthly path is somehow connected with the American continent. This is Archpriest John Kochurov, who served at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Chicago. It was through his efforts that the community in Chicago raised funds to build a beautiful church, consecrated by St. Tikhon, the future Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', when he was Archbishop of the Aleutians and North America. I had the honor and special grace of being ordained to the rank of deacon at the throne of this cathedral. Also close to my heart is the Hieromartyr Alexander Khotovitsky, who suffered martyrdom while being the keymaster of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, and previously served on the American continent, was an associate of St. Tikhon and Father John Kochurov.

The blood of the new martyrs became a blessing for thousands and thousands of Russian people who became acquainted with the saints of the twentieth century through reading their lives, through stories about their sufferings and exploits, and finally, through prayerful communication with them. The host of new martyrs and confessors is the enormous wealth of the Russian Orthodox Church, and they are now reverently revered by its entirety. That is why His Holiness the Patriarch annually celebrates the Divine Liturgy at the Butovo training ground. Every year I concelebrate with His Holiness at this Russian Golgotha, and these services have great spiritual significance for me.

Marina Shilova, director of the Sunday school at the church in the name of St. Seraphim of Sarov, Saratov:

— Each new holy name is a new example of human destiny, an example for each of us. This is the image of a burning candle, love for neighbors. This is the alarm that we only look back at in confusion - what to do? This is the voice of the soldiers of Christ, appealing to our conscience: “Stop sleeping! Come to your senses! Begin to love one another with merciful love. Throw away everything petty and superficial, light your hearts with faith and do not let the bustle of everyday life extinguish this weak flame.” The Russian new martyrs completely trusted the will of God and remained faithful and courageous until death. Veneration of these saints is one of the first steps towards the revival of our Fatherland.

Why do they remain unknown saints to us?.. You often come across the fact that people can name no more than two or three names of the new martyrs of Russia. There are apparently many reasons: the fact that we learned about them relatively recently, and the fact that there are no akathists or services... But the names of the new martyrs are associated with a huge layer of the history of our country and church history. But they will remain unknown saints if we do not strive to learn more about them and pass on our knowledge to children. As a Sunday school teacher, I try to work in this direction. In extracurricular activities and school-wide events for students and their parents, we pay special attention to the topic of the New Martyrs of Russia. Children and parents get acquainted with the life of the Saratov martyr Mikhail Platonov, because the history of the temple in the name of St. Seraphim of Sarov is connected with this saint. The school holds Memorial Days, when each student can light a memorial candle and sing “Eternal Memory” with everyone else. On October 10, together with the children, we visit the Resurrection Cemetery, where a prayer service and memorial service are served at the site of the death and burial of the Saratov new martyrs.

This year, teachers and students of our Sunday school visited the holy places of the Yekaterinburg diocese, the sites of the martyrdom of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers - the family of the last Russian Tsar-martyr Nicholas II and the Venerable Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth. Such trips help us think about the meaning of our Christian life. The new martyrs are ordinary Russian people who lived on our land a little earlier than us; people who have achieved holiness are for us a shining example of true Christian life and, possibly, death. I think that it is to the New Russian Martyrs that every Russian should cry out for help, so that our faith will be strengthened, so that our Fatherland will be protected by someone and for whom.

Priest Georgy Ivankov, rector of the Church in the name of the Holy Royal Martyrs, Dubki village, Saratov region:

“On the one hand, it’s a matter of time. A tradition of veneration cannot be formed in a few years. No matter how much we would like to say that the new martyrs are our fellow countrymen, their descendants live among us - these are newly glorified saints. And we have been venerating St. Nicholas for more than a thousand years, and he came to Rus' already a saint.

But on the other hand, this is also our fault – the priests. We tell people very little about these saints, although we remember them at all-night vigils, although we commemorate them on a set day. It is impossible to forcefully impose the cult of the new martyrs, “from above,” but it is our duty to help form a tradition. It seems to me that it would be possible to conduct special classes and seminars for priests on this topic. Books about them and hagiographic literature are also needed. When such books are in the temple, they are in demand and attention. And parishioners respond when you tell them about these people and about the miracles that really happen - for example, when addressing the Royal Passion-Bearers, the family of the last Russian emperor: word of the miracle spreads especially quickly.

Priest Vyacheslav Danilov, rector of the Church in honor of the Nativity of Christ, p. Rybushka Saratov region:

— Yes, there is no widespread public veneration, there are few churches consecrated in the name of the new martyrs today, many of these saints remain only locally venerated. The rest are commemorated at services dedicated to the cathedrals of saints, but only a few of the parishioners praying at these services can tell something about those commemorated. There are few such newly glorified saints who are known to many: Saint Alexy Mechev, his son, Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev, Hieromartyr Hilarion, Archbishop of Vereisky, and some others. The reason is perhaps that the canonization of the new martyrs was not a consequence of their popular veneration. The oppression of the anti-religious authorities could not but affect all aspects of church and spiritual life. People's memory has preserved very little. We can say that the people do not remember the feat of the martyrs and confessors of the twentieth century: the memory has been erased. Information about the lives of confessors has to be collected bit by bit.

In our church, the throne is consecrated in the name of the holy martyr Cosmas of Saratov. And when I tell about him to people who come to Rybushka for the first time, when I distribute his life to parishioners (I try to ensure that every parishioner has one), people very often ask the question: have his relics been preserved? Is it possible to go to his burial place? And we have to explain that this is impossible in this case.

Restoring people's memory, creating and strengthening the tradition of venerating the saints who suffered for Christ during the Soviet years is a lot of work, but it is quite possible.

Archpriest Alexy Abramov, rector of the Church in the name of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene, Saratov:

— The Soviet period became a crowning one for the Russian Orthodox Church: a whole host of holy martyrs and confessors were awarded martyr’s crowns. Most of them died in obscurity (which the Soviet authorities took care of). Those of our contemporaries who know that their relatives suffered martyrdom for Christ often do not attach special significance to their exploits and do not remember their names; their feat does not become an example of Christian life. I remember the story of one rural woman living in the Saratov region: during the period of persecution of the Church, her relative was a priest, after his arrest no one was allowed to visit him or give him anything to eat. The priest was starved to death, and after his death his body was given to his relatives. However, this woman could not tell any details - where he served, in what rank, or even what his name was, although he was related to her. In part, this ignorance is caused by horror of the Soviet state and a careful desire to forget, to hide from others and even from one’s own children, involvement in the “enemy of the people.” That is why their names were forgotten, their memory of the Christian martyrdom was not preserved, and in the family tradition only a faint echo remained: “there was...”.

Our temple is one of many monuments to Christian martyrdom. The rector of the church in the name of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene at the Mariinsky Institute of Noble Maidens is Archpriest Sergius of Ilmensky, who after the death of his wife took monastic vows with the name Theophan, and later received the episcopal rank, gained the crown of martyrdom and was glorified among the host of new martyrs and confessors of Russia. The parishioners of our church honor his memory with special love. We are collecting historical evidence about him, for which a trip to the homeland of the holy martyr was organized; thanks to the hard work of the parishioners, his icon was painted; a bell with his icon and a prayer to him was cast. We celebrate his memory day—December 24—as a special parish holiday. You and I, who are living after one of the most severe persecutions of the Church, who consider ourselves heirs of those who suffered for the faith of Christ, must remember the words of Tertullian that “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christianity.” Let us be worthy workers in the field of Christ, so that the fruits of these seeds will sprout in our lifetime.

Alexey Naumov, historian, author of the books “Lands of the Khvalynskaya Temple”, “Russian Cross of Count Medem”, “Counts Medem, Khvalynsk Branch”:

— The world is undergoing global changes. There is a devaluation, or rather, a substitution of concepts: love, faith, honor. A person stops believing in goodness. Mass media culture forms its own cult: glamor, parties, luxury. Society as a whole has developed a consumer consciousness. The layer of true believers is small. Through their efforts, churches in honor of the new martyrs are built and consecrated, their holy relics are found, historical studies and lives are written. Someone's work may seem like a drop in the sea, but from such drops streams can gather that will someday merge into rivers and seas.

The new martyrs of the twentieth century are our great-grandfathers, grandfathers, and for the older generation, parents. Their spiritual feat is part of the history of our families. But I think it will take time to fully appreciate and comprehend everything. Many new martyrs lack the attributes corresponding to the saint: extended hagiography, iconographic image, troparion. But there are new martyrs and confessors who are already revered throughout the Orthodox world. For example, Saint Luke of Crimea (Voino-Yasenetsky), the Royal Passion-Bearers. And here a big role belongs to the Russian Abroad, or more precisely, to the emigrants and refugees of the first wave and their descendants. They lost their homeland, but no one took away God and the opportunity to build churches from them.

And further. It took ten years of work for people to learn about the holy martyr Count Alexander Medem in the Saratov region! These include speeches at conferences, a book that has now been translated into German and published in Germany, a memorial plaque on the house where he lived, and the art exhibition “Khvalynskaya Alexandria.” And here is the result: the Orthodox gymnasium in Khvalynsk is named after our saint! For many, Count Medem has already become a source of spiritual strength, and I am sure that the number of his admirers will grow.

Nelly Tsygankova, library employee at the church in honor of the Intercession of the Mother of God, Pokrovsk (Engels):

“They will remain unknown saints if we do nothing to honor them, to perpetuate their martyrdom.” It seems to me that on the days of their memory it is necessary not only to mention their names during the service, but to talk about them separately, as priests talk about other saints in sermons. It would be nice to hang a leaflet somewhere in a visible place in the vestibule about the service and martyrdom of the new martyr whose memory falls on this day. You just need to work with the calendar and find the necessary information in books or on the Internet in advance. This could not even be done by priests, but by employees of temple libraries or regular parishioners. In Sunday schools it is necessary to conduct classes about the new martyrs of Russia and, of course, in churches on their memorable days their icons should be placed on lecterns.

I have a special relationship with the new martyrs, partly for this reason. My grandfather, Pavel Petrovich Bogoyavlensky, came from the village of Malaya Moroshka in the former Morshansky district of the Tambov province. My grandmother, who took me as a child to one of the two churches operating at that time in Saratov, the Holy Trinity Cathedral, did not tell me anything about my grandfather, but there was talk in the family that he was from a family of clergy. All the Epiphanies in this village were from the priestly class. And in the same village in 1848, Vasily Nikiforovich Bogoyavlensky was born, the future Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia Vladimir, who under Soviet rule became the first martyr in the rank of bishop. According to our family tradition, the Hieromartyr Metropolitan Vladimir was my grandfather’s second cousin. Whether this is true or not is now virtually impossible to establish with accuracy. But I greatly respect the new martyrs and consider the prayerful memory of them to be a matter of extreme importance.

Svetlana Kleimenova, bibliographer of the department of rare books and manuscripts of the Zonal Scientific Library named after. V.A. Artisevich Saratov State University:

— Unfortunately, not much is known about the new martyrs. There are so many names - and behind each name there is someone’s fate... It seems to me that the point is precisely insufficient information, and not at all indifference to the fates of these people, because their fates cannot leave anyone indifferent.

I read about the holy martyr Vladimir Ambartsumov, whose childhood was spent in Saratov; his father founded the Saratov School for Deaf Children. What is striking about the fate of Father Vladimir is how long and patiently the Lord led him from Lutheranism, through Baptism, to the true faith - Orthodoxy, to accepting holy orders, and finally - to the crown of martyrdom, which he was waiting for, towards which he consciously walked. Father Vladimir became the founder of a large, friendly Orthodox family. His son is a priest, as are his many grandchildren. Daughter Lydia, married to Kaleda, and monastic to George, died quite recently. Another evidence of that terrible era when I read about these people was memorable and amazing. A little boy asks his mother: “Mom, why are they taking everyone away and not coming for us?” And the mother calmly replies: “This is because, son, we are not worthy to suffer for Christ.” The boy grew up and became a priest, this is Father Gleb Kaleda. But the majority of Soviet children went to school, were taught, as expected, “The Death of a Pioneer,” “Left March” and about nothing like this didn't think about it.

In general, the feat of our saints of the twentieth century is a book that remains to be opened... Much here will depend on the efforts of historians who, through painstaking archival work, will recreate the life path of each of the new martyrs and confessors of Russia. Many now say that the Russian new martyrs are similar to the Christians of the first centuries. True. However, the veneration of Christians of the first centuries was formed by a centuries-old tradition. Our new martyrs showed the same fidelity to Christ as the first Christians, but the time has come for everyone to learn about the exploit of their faith quite recently.

Alisa Orlova, journalist, Moscow:

— I am a direct descendant of those who were repressed, my great-grandfather died in the camp, my grandfather served his time and was released, my great-grandmother got a nervous illness from the constant fear that everything would happen again, that they would come for them again... In the Soviet post-Stalin years, the population was divided into two categories: some nothing about they did not know about the repressions or did not want to think about it, because their families were not affected; others, those who were directly affected, remained silent. My grandfather never talked about his experience, I know a little, in particular, that he wore a cross sewn into his camp padded jacket.

It so happened that I came on my journalistic business to the church in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Rogozhskaya Sloboda; The last rector of this church before its closure was the Hieromartyr Peter Nikotin, an archpriest; he was shot at the Butovo training ground along with four of his parishioners. Entering the temple, I immediately saw such an information stand, and on it, among other documents telling about the last abbot, was the protocol of his interrogation in 1937. I read it and couldn’t put it down. What kind of courage a person must have had who calmly said to the faces of his tormentors: “My worldview does not correspond to the Soviet one... The country should be governed by another system, not the Soviet one.” But this was not the first arrest in his life! After that, I read everything I could find about the Holy Martyr Peter and his temple.

In order to remember and honor the new martyrs, we need to learn more about them, we need to find the strength within ourselves; go to where they served, where they received their martyr’s crowns - to the Butovo training ground, to other similar places - and touch this shrine. This is our very recent history. Whether we honor our saints depends not on anyone else, but on ourselves.

Journal “Orthodoxy and Modernity” No. 18 (34), 2011

Brother will betray brother to death, and father his son; and children will rise up against their parents and kill them; and you will be hated by everyone because of My name; he who endures to the end will be saved(Holy Gospel of Matthew, 10:21,22)

From the very beginning of its existence, the Soviet government took an uncompromising and irreconcilable position towards the Church. All religious denominations of the country, and the Orthodox Church in the first place, were perceived by the new leaders not just as a relic of the “old regime,” but also the most important obstacle to building a “bright future.” An organized and regulated society, based exclusively on ideological and material principles, where the only value was recognized as the “common good” in “this age” and iron discipline was introduced, could in no way be combined with faith in God and the desire for Eternal Life after the General Resurrection. The Bolsheviks unleashed the full might of their propaganda on the Church.

Not limiting themselves to the propaganda war, the Bolsheviks immediately began numerous arrests and executions of the clergy and active laity, which were carried out en masse in several waves from the October Revolution to the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

Another disaster was the constant control by state security agencies, which actively contributed to the emergence and fanning of numerous disagreements and schisms in the church environment, the most famous of which was the so-called. "renovationism".

The materialistic worldview of the leaders of Bolshevism could not accommodate the words of Christ: “ I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it"(Matthew 16:18). Driving the Church into more and more difficult conditions, destroying more and more people, and intimidating and alienating even more, they were never able to bring this matter to an end.

After all the waves of persecution, persecution and repression, at least a small remnant of people faithful to Christ remained, they managed to defend individual churches, and find a common language with the local authorities.

In the face of all these troubles, in an atmosphere of rejection and discrimination, not everyone decided to openly profess their faith, to follow Christ to the end, enduring martyrdom or a long life full of sorrows and difficulties, not forgetting other words of Christ: “ And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but fear Him more who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna"(Matthew 10:28). We call Orthodox people who managed not to betray Christ during persecution in Soviet times, who proved this by their death or life, New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.

The first new martyrs

The very first new martyr was Archpriest John Kochurov, who served in Tsarskoe Selo near Petrograd and was killed a few days after the revolution by irritated Red Guards for calling on the people not to support the Bolsheviks.

Local Council of the Russian Church 1917-1918. restored the patriarchate. The council in Moscow was still ongoing, and on January 25, 1918, in Kyiv after the Bolshevik pogrom in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, he was killed Metropolitan Kyiv and Galitsky Vladimir (Epiphany). The day of his murder, or the Sunday closest to this day, was established as the date of commemoration of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, as if anticipating the fact that the Bolshevik persecutions would continue. It is clear that on the territory of our country this date could not be celebrated openly for many years, and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia established this day of remembrance in 1981. In Russia, such a celebration began to take place only after the Council of Bishops in 1992. And most of the New Martyrs were glorified by name at the Council of 2000 G.

Elected by the Local Council of 1917-1918. Patriarch Tikhon (Bellavin) and he himself subsequently joined the number of New Martyrs. Constant tension and severe opposition from the authorities quickly exhausted his strength, and he died (or possibly was poisoned) in 1925 on the Feast of the Annunciation. It was Patriarch Tikhon who became the first to be glorified (in 1989, abroad - in 1981).

New Martyrs from the Imperial House

Particularly noteworthy among the New Martyrs are the Royal Passion-Bearers - Tsar Nicholas and his family. Some people find their canonization puzzling, while others experience an unhealthy deification of them. The veneration of the murdered royal family is not and should not be associated with any conspiracy theories, unhealthy national chauvinism, monarchism or any other political speculation. At the same time, all the confusion regarding the canonization of the royal family is associated with a misunderstanding of its reasons. The ruler of a state, if he is glorified as a saint, does not necessarily have to be an outstanding brilliant and powerful politician, a talented organizer, a successful commander (all of this may or may not be, but in themselves they are not reasons for canonization). Emperor Nicholas and his family were glorified by the Church because of their humble renunciation of power, authority and wealth, refusal to fight and acceptance of an innocent death at the hands of atheists. The main argument in favor of the holiness of the Royal Passion-Bearers is their prayerful assistance to people who turn to them.

Grand Duchess Elisaveta Fedorovna, the wife of Emperor Nicholas's uncle, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, left court life after the death of her husband at the hands of terrorists in 1905. She founded the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy in Moscow, a special Orthodox institution that combined elements of a monastery and an almshouse. During the difficult years of war and revolutionary turmoil, the monastery operated, providing a variety of assistance to those in need. Having been arrested by the Bolsheviks, the Grand Duchess, together with her cell attendant, nun Varvara and other close people was sent to Alapaevsk. The day after the execution of the imperial family, they were thrown alive into an abandoned mine.

Butovo training ground

South of Moscow, near the populated area Butovo(which now gives names to two districts of our city) is located secret training ground, where priests and laity were shot on a particularly large scale. Nowadays, a memorial museum dedicated to them has been opened at the Butovo training ground. Another place of mass feat of the New Martyrs and Confessors was Solovetsky Monastery, converted by the Bolsheviks into a place of detention.

Days of Remembrance of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia:

January 25 (February 7) or the nearest Sunday– Cathedral of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

March 25 (April 7, the Feast of the Annunciation)- memory of St. Patr. Tikhon

4th Saturday after Easter– Cathedral of the New Martyrs of Butovo

The memory of other New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia is celebrated almostevery day.

Troparion of the New Martyrs (Tone 4)

Today the Russian Church joyfully rejoices,/ glorifying its New Martyrs and Confessors:/ the saints and priests,/ the Royal Passion-Bearers,/ the noble princes and princesses,/ the reverend men and wives/ and all Orthodox Christians,/ in the days of the godless persecution/ their lives for the faith in who laid down Christ / and kept the truth with his blood. / By those intercessions, Long-suffering Lord, / preserve our country in Orthodoxy / / until the end of the age.

Today the Russian Church joyfully rejoices, glorifying its New Martyrs and Confessors: saints and priests, Royal Passion-Bearers, noble princes and princesses, reverend men and women and all Orthodox Christians, who in the days of the godless persecution laid down their lives for their faith in Christ and established the truth with their blood. Through their intercession, Long-suffering Lord, preserve our country in Orthodoxy until the end of time.

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Throughout its two centuries of existence, the Christian Church has proven its faithfulness to God. The best proof is human life. Neither theological works, nor beautiful sermons, nothing proves the truth of religion more than a person who is ready to give his life for its sake.

Living in the modern world, where everyone can freely profess their faith and express their opinion, it is difficult to imagine that just a hundred years ago this could lead to execution. The 20th century left a bloody trail in the history of Russia and the Russian Church that will never be forgotten and will forever remain an example of what the state’s attempt to gain total control over society can lead to. Thousands of people were killed simply because their faith was not acceptable to the authorities.

Who are the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

The main Christian denomination of the Russian Empire is Orthodoxy. After the 1917 revolution, members of the faith were among those subjected to communist repression. It was from these people that the host of saints subsequently came, which is a treasure for the Orthodox Church.

Origin of words

The word "martyr" is of ancient Greek origin ( μάρτυς, μάρτῠρος) and is translated as “witness”. Martyrs have been revered as saints since the beginning of Christianity. These people were firm in their faith and did not want to renounce it even at the cost of their own lives. The first Christian martyr was killed around 33-36 (First Martyr Stephen).

Confessors (Greek: ὁμολογητής) are those people who openly confess, that is, testify to their faith even in the most difficult times, when this faith is prohibited by the state or does not correspond to the religious belief of the majority. They are also revered as saints.

Meaning of the concept

Those Christians who were killed in the 20th century during political repression are called new martyrs and confessors of Russia.

The martyrdom is divided into several categories:

1. Martyrs are Christians who gave their lives for Christ.
2. New martyrs (new martyrs) are people who suffered for their faith relatively recently.
3. Hieromartyr - a person in the priestly rank who accepted martyrdom.
4. A venerable martyr is a monk who accepted martyrdom.
5. Great Martyr - a martyr of high birth or rank who endured great torment.

For Christians, accepting martyrdom is a joy, because by dying, they are resurrected for eternal life.

New Martyrs of Russia

After the Bolsheviks came to power, their main goal was to preserve it and eliminate their enemies. They considered enemies not only to structures directly aimed at overthrowing Soviet power (the White Army, popular uprisings, etc.), but also to people who did not share their ideology. Since Marxism-Leninism presupposed atheism and materialism, the Orthodox Church, as the largest, immediately became their opponent.

Historical reference

Since the clergy had authority among the people, they could, as the Bolsheviks thought, incite the people to overthrow the government, and therefore pose a threat to them. Immediately after the October uprising, persecution began. Since the Bolsheviks were not completely strengthened and did not want their government to look totalitarian, the elimination of representatives of the Church was not determined by their religious beliefs, but was presented as a punishment for “counter-revolutionary activities” or for other fictitious violations. The wording was sometimes absurd, for example: “he delayed the church service in order to disrupt field work on the collective farm” or “he deliberately kept small silver coins in his possession, pursuing the goal of undermining the correct circulation of money.”

The rage and cruelty with which innocent people were killed sometimes exceeded that of the Roman persecutors in the first centuries.

Here are just a few such examples:

• Bishop Feofan of Solikamsk was stripped in front of the people in the bitter cold, tied a stick to his hair and lowered into an ice hole until he was covered with ice;
• Bishop Isidore Mikhailovsky was impaled;
• Bishop Ambrose of Serapul was tied to the tail of a horse and allowed to gallop.

But most often, mass execution was used, and the dead were buried in mass graves. Such graves are still being discovered today.

One of the places for execution was the Butovo training ground. They were killed there 20,765 people, of which 940 are clergy and laity of the Russian Church.

List

It is impossible to list the entire council of new martyrs and confessors of the Russian Church. According to some estimates, by 1941, about 130 thousand clergy were killed. By 2006, 1,701 people had been canonized.

This is just a small list of martyrs who suffered for the Orthodox faith:

1. Hieromartyr Ivan (Kochurov) - the first of the murdered priests. Born July 13, 1871. He served in the USA and conducted missionary activities. In 1907 he moved back to Russia. In 1916 he was appointed to serve in the Catherine Cathedral of Tsarskoye Selo. On November 8, 1917, he died after prolonged beatings and dragging along railroad sleepers.
2. Hieromartyr Vladimir (Epiphany) - the first of the murdered bishops. Born January 1, 1848. Was Metropolitan of Kyiv. On January 29, 1928, while in his chambers, he was taken out by sailors and killed.
3. Hieromartyr Pavel (Felitsyn) was born in 1894. He served in the village of Leonovo, Rostokinsky district. He was arrested on November 15, 1937. Accused of anti-Soviet agitation. On December 5, he was sentenced to 10 years of work in a forced labor camp, where he died on January 17, 1941.
4. Reverend Martyr Theodosius (Bobkov) was born on February 7, 1874. His last place of service was the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in the village of Vikhorna, Mikhnevsky district. On January 29, 1938 he was arrested and executed on February 17.
5. Hieromartyr Alexy (Zinoviev) was born on March 1, 1879. On August 24, 1937, Father Alexy was arrested and imprisoned in the Taganskaya prison in Moscow. He was accused of holding services in people's homes and conducting anti-Soviet conversations. On September 15, 1937 he was shot.

It should be noted that during interrogations they often did not admit to what they did not do. They usually said that they were not involved in any anti-Soviet activities, but this did not matter because the interrogations were purely formal.

Speaking about the martyrs of the 20th century, one cannot fail to mention St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow (January 19, 1865 - March 23, 1925). He is not glorified among the martyrs, but his life was a martyr because the patriarchal service fell on his shoulders in these difficult and bloody years. His life was full of difficulties and suffering, the greatest of which was knowing that the Church entrusted to you was being destroyed.

The family of Emperor Nicholas is also not canonized as martyrs, but for their faith and dignified acceptance of death, the Church honors them as holy passion-bearers.

Day of Remembrance of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

Even at the bishops' council of 1817-1818. decided to commemorate all the deceased who suffered in persecution. But at that time they could not canonize anyone.

The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad was the first to take a step towards their glorification November 1, 1981, and set a date for the celebration February 7, if this day coincides with Sunday, if not, then on the next Sunday. In Russia, their glorification took place at the Council of Bishops in 2000.

Celebration traditions

The Orthodox Church celebrates all its holidays with the Holy Liturgy. On the day of the celebration of St. This is especially symbolic of martyrs because during the Liturgy the sacrifice of Christ is experienced, and at the same time the sacrifice of the martyrs who gave their lives for Him and for the holy Orthodox faith is remembered.

On this day, Orthodox Christians remember with bitterness those tragic events when the Russian land was soaked in blood. But the consolation for them is that the 20th century left the Russian Church with thousands of holy prayer books and intercessors. And when they are asked who the new martyrs are, they can simply show old photographs of their relatives who died in persecution.

Video

This video presents a slide of photographs of the new martyrs.

“Russian Golgotha” is a film about the feat of the Saints of the twentieth century.