"And from that moment on, the "mystery of Iniquity" was set free and we are all witness to the unrestrained rampant and spread of evil throughout the world. . ."
Editor's Note: This article was generated by machine translation, so our staff cautions the reader about possible inaccuracies that may have resulted from this. However, it was deemed worthwhile to still publish such a piece because of the intrinsic value of the message - which remains evident even in its translated form.
Bishop Nektarios (in the world Oleg Mikhailovich Kontsevich; December 7, 1905, Tulsa, Kurland - February 6, 1983, USA) was the bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and since 1962, Bishop of Seattle, vicar of the Western American Diocese.
He lived in Ukraine since childhood and visited Optina hermitage with his mother where he was nurtured by the saint Nektarios of Optina. His mother accepted the monastic schema with the name Nektaria and was buried next to the grave of the Elder Nektarios, of whom she was a disciple. During World War II he lived in Kiev and was the spiritual child of Fr. Adrian Rymarenko, and was a member of the community he led.
On March 11, 1962, he became Bishop of Seattle, Vicar of the Western American Diocese. He was a close associate of Archbishop St. John (Maximovich) and supported him during his trial in 1963. For several years he headed the Diocese of San Francisco.
He was an active proponent of the canonization of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.
We offer our readers an excerpt from Bishop Nektarios (Kontsevich)'s 1981 report, "The Mystical Significance of the Russian Martyrs," which was devoted to the substantiation that Tsar Nicholas, as the Anointed One of God and His Family must lead the whole host of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.
Bishop Nektarios (Kontsevich):
"From the day of the fall of the Russian Autocracy, the devil has assailed the Orthodox Church of Russia with particular fury. Truly, in the history of all the Local Churches there has never been such a fatal persecution of the Church as the Russian Orthodox Church has suffered and continues to suffer.
A satanic, God-fighting government has taken hold in our homeland, and therefore we cannot hope that it - this government - can change for the better, because Satan can only perfect himself in evil. But with the Lord all things are possible - in power He will free Russia from the bonds of the devil. And much depends on how we, together with the faithful Russian people, accept the message of the glorification of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.
So, we prepare ourselves for the historic Church ACT - the Glorification of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. Many books, articles, and memoirs have been written about these martyrs and their tormentors, about the atrocities of the tormentors.
Let us think of our confessor Patriarch Tikhon, of Metropolitan Vladimir, who was shot, of the other saints Benjamin, Joseph, Andronicus, Hermogenes, Peter, Cyril, Agathangel, and many other archpastors who were shot and martyred. Let us also remember the thousands of clergymen and millions of laity martyred in prisons and concentration death camps for their confession of faith.
As we have said, all of the New Martyrs have long been glorified by God since their martyrdom, but few pay attention to the mystical side of the question, and this is very important, because, having endured torture, they are victors of evil, have the courage of the Lord to pray for us, and are added to the number of God's Benefices. Therefore, the apparent victory of the tormentors who put to death their victims is the defeat of those same tormentors.
It is especially important to note the martyrdom of our Lord Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich and his family. He was the last Monarch to be anointed by the holy oil to the kingship. The Sovereign is the Anointed One of God. This Sacrament is administered by the Church at the Coronation and the Anointed One enters through the Royal Doors [Holy Doors] into the altar to the throne and receives Holy Communion separately, as a priest, of the Body and Blood of Christ. Thereby the Holy Church emphasizes the great spiritual significance of the royal office, by equating it with priestly service.
Thus the Sovereign is the Anointed One of God. A holy Person, the bearer of the special power of the Grace of the Holy Spirit. This divine power, working through God's Anointed One, held back the spread of evil "the mystery of iniquity."
In his second letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul writes: "THE MySTERY OF INIQUITY IS NOW IN ACTION, BUT IT WILL NOT BE DONE TILL IT IS TAKEN OUT OF THE MEANS THAT MAKES IT HAPPEN" (2 Thess. 2:7).
Our spiritual writer, Bishop Theophan the Recluse, and others explain that by "The One who withholds" is to be understood the Royal Authority. The devil has long sought to reveal the Antichrist to the world, but could not, because the Divine Grace, purely operating through God's Anointed One, the Holder, did not make it possible.
For the "mystery of Iniquity", in order to gain freedom of action, it was necessary to "take from the environment" the Holder, which happened by God's permission for the sins of the Russian people. A terrible atrocity has been committed - REGICIDE. Killed the Emperor - God's Anointed One, Protector of the Orthodox Church, Head of the Orthodox State. Murdered the Holder. And from that moment on, the "mystery of Iniquity" was set free and we are all witness to the unrestrained rampant and spread of evil throughout the world.
From what has been said, it is absolutely clear that the atrocity was a RITUAL and not a political murder, as evidenced also by the Kabalistic inscription on the cellar wall of the Ipatiev House, where this truly satanic atrocity was committed. Just as Christ was crucified on Calvary for the sins of the whole world, abandoned by all, so the Emperor was sacrificed for the sins of All Russia, abandoned by all. No one helped his Sovereign in the days of his ordeal, when he was a prisoner of Satan's godforsaken power. Therefore, the mortal sin of regicide weighs on the entire Russian People, and therefore, to one degree or another, on each of us.
And, if this is so, then, in order to have at least a small hope of removing this sin from the conscience of Russia, it is necessary, in addition to our own pure penitence, to glorify the Sovereign at the head of all the Russian New Martyrs. For he accepted a martyr's death for the Orthodox Faith, the Holy Church, and for the Fatherland. How, then, can we prepare ourselves for the day of the great event of the glorification of the Russian Martyrs?
We cherish the hope that when the news of the glorification of the Tsar at the head of all the Russian New Martyrs will reach the faithful Russian people in our homeland, who together with us, realizing the sin of the Tsar's murder weighing over Russia, will, with tears of repentance, plead the Lord for forgiveness and, in prayerful chanting, will call upon the Tsar-Martyr for help with their hearts:
'HOLY ROYAL MARTYR AND PASSION-BEARER NICHOLAS, WITH ALL THE NEW MARTYRS OF THE LAND OF RUSSIA, PRAY TO GOD FOR US SINNERS.' Then, WE BELIEVE, the luminous soul of the Sovereign Sorrower of the Land of Russia, will bow before the Throne of God and make a solemn prayer for the salvation of Russia and for us sinners. "The blood of a martyr cries out to Heaven."
And the Lord, in hearing the holy prayer of His humble servant, our Tsar-Martyr, in power He will work a Miracle, and, having removed from the conscience of the Russian People the grievous sin of regicide, with the breath of His lips He can sweep away the communist yoke and all the filthiness of God's power from the face of the Russian Land.
With the Lord all things are possible!
In His power, He will change sorrow into joy, and He will uplift the HOLY ORTHODOX RUSSIA.
Amen."
"Russian Pilgrim" N 3 '91 (USA)
Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose):
Blessed Memory Archbishop John Maximovich thought long and hard about the meaning of the Russian Revolution and the scattering of the Russian people.
In his message to the All-Diaspora Council of Bishops in Yugoslavia in 1938, he wrote: "The Russian people as a whole have committed the great sins which are the cause of the present disasters, namely, the crime of perjury and regicide. The social and military leaders refused obedience and loyalty to the Tsar even before his abdication, forcing the latter from the Tsar, who did not want internal bloodshed, while the people clearly and noisily welcomed what had happened without loudly expressing their disagreement with it.
In the sins of regicide was not only the guilt of the physical executors, but all the people who rejoiced at the overthrow of the Tsar and allowed his humiliation, arrest and exile, leaving him defenseless in the hands of criminals, which by itself already predetermined the end.
Thus, the calamity that has come upon Russia is a direct consequence of her grave sins, and her rebirth is only possible after her purification from them. But so far there has been no real repentance, the crimes committed have not yet been condemned, and many active participants in the revolution continue to argue that it was impossible to do otherwise.
Without directly condemning the February Revolution, the rebellion against the Anointed One, Russian people continue to participate in sin, especially when they defend the fruits of the revolution. (Act of the All-Diaspora Council, 1938, Yugoslavia.)
Of course, regicide is not the only sin on the conscience of the Russian people. It is as if a symbol of Russia falling away from Christ and true Orthodoxy, a process which took place during the 19th and 20th centuries, and which is only now, perhaps, changing its direction. It is interesting to note the fact that in modern Russia the question of glorification of the Tsar and the New Martyrs is connected to the removal of the curse that has lain on Russian soil since their martyrdom.
"The Future of Russia and the End of the World." Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose)
Source: 3rm.info (Russian)