On July 17 (NS) in 1918 Czar Nicholas II, the Empress Alexandra together with their five children and several loyal retainers were massacred under exceptionally brutal circumstances by the Bolsheviks.Holy Royal Martyr's of Russia pray for us!
“They have set up kings, but not with my consent, and appointed princes, but without my knowledge.”
-Hosea 8:4
H/T: MM
6 comments:
Nearly 15 years ago I read Robert Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra with no bias and it convinced me they are saints. Which doesn't mean he was qualified to be emperor! Basically a not very bright country gentleman. Re: Rasputin, they saw what he wanted them to see and if they'd listened to him and stayed out of WWI they would have lived. The February revolution was a matter of survival but of course the October one and Lenin were evil.
"Re Rasputin" speaks to the ease of deception of sincere Christians - the boundary between superstition and faith can be fuzzy. Rasputin was satanic and a saint in the sense of Seraphim of Sarov would have seen this - else our faith is a lie. I have to say that neither Nicholas nor Alexandra where saints in life, though clearly they were sincere Orthodox - whether regicide qualifies one for martyrdom in the Christian sense is not so clear either. However, it was a monumental crime by a monumentally criminal organization.
The Bolshevik's ascension to power proves the adage in Proverbs: the Earth trembles when a slave becomes a king.
The Royal Family have been canonized as passion bearers, not martyrs. The difference being: martyrs make a decision to die for Christ when rejecting him would save their lives; passion bearers meet death humbly, in a Christ-like manner. This definition has not always been held to in history. There were many saints who died for reasons other than embracing Christ.
The last words in Russian, after seeing the family and servants right before they were murdered, are "Sacrifice of redemption" or "Redemptive sacrifice", or "Redeeming Sacrifice". This is not the first time I have seen this terminology, I saw an icon print from Russia that was simply labeled "Tsar Redeemer". This is all questionable, to say the least, and quite a ways off from the officially endorsed "passion bearer" language.
Fr. Yousuf Rassam
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