The Religious and Mystical Significance of the Murder of the Royal Family, By Archbishop Avery (Taushev)
From the book A Time for Everything by Archbishop Averky (Taushev), published in the series "Spiritual Heritage of the Russian Diaspora" by Sretensky Monastery in 2006.
A panel from the icon of the New Martyrs of Russia, painted for the Epiphany Church in Boston.
A terrible night! This coming night marks exactly fifty-four years since the horrific atrocity committed on Russian soil with the acquiescence of the Orthodox Russian people—alas! how terrible, how painful, and how sorrowful it is to realize this!
It is but cold comfort to us that the actual killing of the Royal Family was not carried out by Russian hands—but by the hands of non-Orthodox, non-Russian individuals. Yet, even so, the entire Russian nation bears guilt for this monstrous, unprecedented crime, for it neither resisted nor prevented it; rather, the people conducted themselves in such a way that this atrocity became the natural expression of the mindset that had ripened in the minds and hearts of the vast majority of unfortunate, misguided Russians—from the "lower classes" right up to the very "heights" of the high nobility. This atrocity is utterly without parallel in the history not only of Russia but of all humanity, given the extreme intensity of the evil forces at work and the incredible—one might even say senseless—cruelty involved; this is especially striking when one considers that, without any trial or investigation, there were killed not only our Tsar and Sovereign—who was guilty of no offense—but also his entire family: pure, innocent children and faithful servants devoted to him with all their hearts. It is difficult even to imagine what lay within the cruel hearts of those savage, bloodthirsty murderers who had lost all conscience, shame, and any semblance of humanity.
The entire Russian people bear the guilt for this grave sin committed on Russian soil. Yet, alas, fifty-four years have passed, and far from all Russians have come to realize the full gravity and destructive nature of this terrible sin! Many still regard this terrible event with astonishing levity, and there are even those who to this day harbor within their souls the poison that led our unfortunate Motherland, Russia, to this ghastly crime.
And yet, one would think that all Orthodox Russian people—after everything they have endured since then—ought to have finally seen the truth and properly assessed all that occurred: the entire bloody calamity that befell our Motherland as a result of the terrible sin of regicide. Moreover, some even attempt to condemn us for serving memorial services for the murdered Royal Family, claiming that we are "engaging in politics." Our serving of memorial services for the Royal Family is an act that is not political in the least, but purely spiritual—religious and mystical—just as the murder of the Royal Family itself was no ordinary political act, unlike the assassinations of so many other monarchs, presidents, ministers, and high-ranking officials. No! This murder bore a completely unique character—as evidenced, for instance, by the inscription (a Kabbalistic inscription) discovered on the walls of the Ipatiev House cellar where this terrible murder was committed—a murder that held a purely mystical, and by no means political, significance and meaning.
This murder was plotted and orchestrated by none other than the servants of the coming Antichrist—those individuals who had sold their souls to Satan and were intensely preparing for the imminent global reign of Christ’s enemy, the Antichrist. They fully understood that the primary obstacle standing in their path was Orthodox Tsarist Russia. Consequently, it was necessary to destroy Orthodox Russia and replace it with a godless, anti-divine state that would gradually extend its dominion over the entire world. To ensure Russia’s swift and certain destruction, they had to eliminate its living symbol: the Orthodox Tsar—our most pious Sovereign. He was truly the most pious of men—not merely because he was designated as such in liturgical commemorations, but because of the genuinely devout disposition of his authentic Christian soul. That is precisely why all these Satanists—servants of the Antichrist—harbored such fierce, unbridled hatred toward him; they gnashed their teeth at him and slandered him...
Alas! Even today, some people still believe these slanders—particularly naive foreigners who have been misled by propaganda. Yet it is truly strange when Russians themselves sometimes repeat these vile, loathsome slanders against our most merciful, kind, and humane Tsar—a true Christian. His entire pious family shared this same spirit. The Empress—so foully and unjustly maligned—was a woman of high moral character, a genuine Russian patriot, and a deeply devout Orthodox Christian. It was in this very spirit that they raised their royal children. We know that the Divine Liturgy was sometimes celebrated daily in the Tsar’s palace—as attested by the confessors of the royal family—and that the Empress herself and the four Grand Duchesses would sing the entire Liturgy in the choir and always go to confession with tears. Such was the magnitude of the pious, truly Christian disposition of their souls! Yet these monsters in human form prepared such a terrible, cruel, and agonizing death for them. Truly, only Satan himself could have unleashed such malice against this most pious family—simply because it was the symbol of Orthodox Russia, the symbol of Holy Rus', which stood as a bulwark of the true Orthodox faith for the whole world, for all of humanity.
Our great all-Russian righteous one, Saint John of Kronstadt, stated repeatedly and decisively that the Antichrist would not come as long as the autocratic Tsarist power existed in Russia—a power that "restrains the lawless agitation of the godless." But when the Tsar was gone, then the Antichrist would appear. Our great righteous one foresaw these terrible times, even though he did not live to see them; all of this came to pass relatively soon after his righteous repose († 1908). When pious pilgrims from Perm once came to visit him, he greeted them with a puzzling, enigmatic statement: "A black cross hangs over Perm!" They understood the meaning of this only after the horrific regicide of 1918, for the city of Yekaterinburg—where this terrible atrocity was committed—was at that time part of the Perm Governorate. Later, while Saint John the Righteous was serving at the Leushino Monastery’s *podvorye* (metochion), he began to cry out during his sermon: "Repent! Repent!" "A terrible time is coming—a time so terrible that you cannot even imagine it!" "When will this be?" asked the eighty-year-old Abbess Taisia. "You and I, Mother, will not live to see it," said Saint John, "but *they*—" he pointed to the younger nuns—"they will live to see it!"
Of course, we now understand the nature of the terrible times our great righteous one foretold. Alas! All this came to pass simply because the Orthodox Russian people paid no heed to the fervent appeals of their righteous one, who often cried out in his sermons: "We need a universal moral cleansing, a profound national repentance, and a transformation of our ways from pagan to Christian. Let us cleanse ourselves, wash ourselves in the tears of repentance, and be reconciled with God—and God will be reconciled with us!"
That universal moral cleansing, that profound national repentance, did not come to pass. Alas, it remains unseen to this very day! And therein lies the sole reason why—despite the ardent desire of many among us, and despite our prayers—the salvation of our Motherland, Russia, has not yet arrived.
Without repentance, there is no salvation—this was the unanimous declaration of many Holy Fathers of the Church and holy ascetics.
And until we come to our senses completely and offer true repentance to God, we cannot hope for anything good, for anything truly virtuous; evil will only grow ever stronger and more pervasive in the world, until the terrible time of the Antichrist’s appearance arrives—an event whose approaching signs are becoming so clear and evident that only the spiritually blind fail to see them, or—more accurately—refuse to see or acknowledge them.
That is why the day now upon us has been designated by our supreme church authority as a "Day of Russian Sorrow," and a strict fast has been appointed for it. It is a day of profound national repentance—a call to which the great righteous man of All-Russia once summoned us, though in vain.
That is why, following this memorial service, and in accordance with the decree of our supreme church authority, we shall recite a special prayer of repentance—accompanied by kneeling—the words of which are drawn from the prayer of the Three Youths during their captivity in Babylon.
Let us, then, cleanse ourselves, brethren! Let us wash ourselves with the tears of repentance, forsake pagan ways and strive to acquire Christian virtues, and be reconciled with God; let us cast aside our mutual malice, envy, slander, and hatred; let us be filled—in accordance with Christ’s commandment—with a spirit of truly Christian love for our neighbor; and let us love, above all else in the world, our loving Creator and Father—God—and our Mother, the Holy Church. Without this, it is hopeless to count on any better future; without this, our unhappy Motherland, Russia, will not rise again; and without this, the entire world faces a terrible destruction that is undoubtedly bearing down upon it. Amen.
1972