Holy Royal Martyrs of Russia pray for us!
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St. John of San Francisco
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9 comments:
A beautiful and poignant musical and artistic tribute to the Imperial Martyrs. The scene from a movie depicting their murder by the Bolsheviks I found awful to watch.
I agree. The killing of the unborn is even more horrendous.
Very nice. I would love to know the translation of the song - I can only pick out a few words other than the names.
Holy Royal Passion-bearers and St Elizabeth Romonova, pray for us and for our troubled world!
The family I can accept and venerate, but to hold the Tsar himself in equal esteem? That is tough to swallow. Does not that whitewash his responsibility for contributing to the death and destruction of WWI? Clearly, his order for general mobilization contributed as much as anything to that horror, and if he had chosen NOT to, the war could have been averted, or at least delayed.
The family aside carried no such burden, and paid a steep price; but there something there that unsettles me still about the Tsar himself being accorded the same as they.
Does anyone know of a good book on the Royal Martyrs? Anything readable will do, but something with depth and respectful objectivity would be good.
Stephen,
The Tsar's decision to mobilize in support of Orthodox Serbia no doubt contributed to the crisis of WWI, though there was plenty of blame to go around from one end of Europe to the other.
I know that I, personally, do not venerate Tsar St. Nicholas for his political or military acumen (or lack thereof) but for the manner in which he bore his abdication, humiliation, and imprisonment.
Many of the saints were not perfect in their life (Ss Jerome and Cyril had real mean streaks, for instance), but how they handled, repented of, and allowed God to heal or work through them in spite of their imperfections manifested the power of God to use clay vessels.
Through out it all, this flawed man and his family remained faithful, devout, and dignified. I bear far less strenuous trials with far less patience and love. The Royal Passion-bearers give me great hope and they stand in a beautiful tradition stretching back to Princes Ss Boris and Gleb.
Father bless,
Fr. Joseph,
I would suggest Robert K. Massie's "Nicholas & Alexandra" as a good primer. It is a secular biography but I think it is generally good and readable. There are a number of other good and more detailed works that have popped up in recent years. But that's a good starting point. N&A is also likely available in any well stocked library.
In ICXC
John
John, Thank you. I have just made a library request for the Massie book. Anything available that looks at them from a more hagiographical point-of-view to complement that one?
Fr Theodore said...
7/06/2011 8:48 AM
Very well said, thank you. Indeed as ruler, the Tsar was flawed. But during his and his family's ordeal, he showed amazing faith and fortitude. They were never more noble than during those 16 months of ever worsening captivity.
The more I read about this time, the more I admire them all. One may accept one's own fate. But how many of us could follow these footsteps if our whole family was also threaten ?
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