Therefore, true sons of the Church and the Fatherland, come, let us magnify the Lord of our fathers together; let us unbend the sacred tablets of the people's existence and proclaim the fate of God's Providence, revealed in the lives and deeds of our kings. But so that our weak eye may not be darkened by the multitude and variety of God's ways, let us now focus our reverent attention solely on the fate of the blessed reigning House.

When Providence takes a nation or tribe under its protection, it apparently removes it from among the rest at the very beginning, appropriates it to Itself especially, and puts upon it a certain indelible seal of the highest election. As it seems, this seal was laid at the very beginning on the sovereign house of the Romanovs! If anyone, then the name "crowned by God" and "exalted by God" in all its power befitted its ancestor! People acted so little in this case, or, more precisely, so much opposed, that it was most likely to be expected that the young lad would be completely forgotten. In fact, who remembered Michael, except the Heavenly Father, Who hid him for a time in the mystery of His face from the rebellion of man (Psalm 30:21)? It seems to me that I see how the crown, torn from Godunov's brow by the storm, is transferred from head to head, as if looking for a worthy one! Not finding one, he apparently wants to join the crowns of foreigners! But now the head of the son of the Russian land, the man of abuse and counsel, is crowned with him. Isn't this the end of disasters? Won't Shuisky find the means to establish his throne, to pacify the Fatherland? - No, Providence wants the good of Russia not for years, but for eternity; for this he needs not courage, but goodness and innocence; The new royal vertigrad must begin from the virgin rod. And so, in the voice of the people, at last, the voice of God is reflected; they seek the earthly king at the foot of the Throne of the King of Heaven; from the depths of the holy monastery comes the one who must appease the wrath of God over the troubled Fatherland with his innocence. What a blessed and holy beginning! At this time, the words of the prophet were fulfilled over Russia, as over ancient Israel: "I will lead a child little..." and he shall lay his hand on the caves of the fiends of asps (Isaiah 11:6:8). For what was Michael, in comparison with many men of power, if not a little child? And that there were many cities and villages, embraced by the spirit of rebellion, if not "caves of asps"? - But the God-crowned lad laid his sovereign hand on these caves, and they turned into dwellings of the world. It seemed that he had come out of the holy monastery, surrounded by the invisible Heavenly Host. After some experiments of patience, necessary for the rooting of the young royal age in humility and hope in God, all the hostile began to bow down at the mere name of the autocrat. And where courage and art were exhausted without success, one royal word was enough, and Russia, which had hitherto wavered from one end to the other of Mikhailov's reign, like an ocean after a storm, lay within its boundaries with the natural quietness of a child.

Blessed is not the Lord, Who has so favored our beloved Fatherland? Who removed the seekers of other tribes from the Orthodox throne? Who raised up the progenitor of kings from among His people, from the house of His holiness? Who gave young kindness its strength and strength?

Thy processions have been seen, O God, the processions of my God the King, Who is in holiness!

Let us look further. Already Russia, rooted in greatness by the autocracy of the throne, ascends from perfection to perfection. The deep wounds of the Fatherland have been healed; the rejected members became part of the public body; even alien regions begin to seek peace under the shadow of autocrats who reign in God's mercy. Greater perfection cannot be desired according to the ordinary order of things!

But for a people faithful to the God of their fathers, there is no other order than the will of God and the will of kings. It is predestined that the young sons of the North should come out to the disgrace (theater, spectacle - ed.) of world events to moderate and bring the ardent children of the South to their senses; so that as soon as possible they will be equal in education with their elder brethren - and it will be! What do you need for this? To speed up the course of things for a whole century? - It will speed up. To spread the light of civil education even where the name of the laws is not known? -Spreads. To force the tsar himself to voluntarily descend from the throne to the woodworkers' temple, and instead of the autocratic skipper, to take up a mlat and an axe? -Will.

You already see, most honorable listeners, that our word concerns the deeds of the great reformer of our Fatherland. What an instructive subject for a reverent contemplator of God's destinies! The greatness of Peter is the true greatness of God's Providence for our Fatherland. Walking in the footsteps of this monarch in your mind, you involuntarily think that you are following in the footsteps of one of the God-chosen men of antiquity, armed with miracles. At Peter's beckoning to the sea, they forget their impassability, the rivers take on a different course, the deserts turn into cities, the mountains are humbled, the wilds are filled, the very tabernacle of the covenant – the Church of God – in the form of its external administration takes on a new appearance under him*. Who commanded this extraordinary luminary to rise in a country that had hitherto been famous only for the northern lights? Who breathed into his soul a multitude of great thoughts, each of which would have made great the mind that produced it? Where did the strength of the will come from, which found within itself that irresistible support on which, leaning on, it was able to move the whole Fatherland forward for a whole century? In the language of the world, which nowhere and in nothing wants to see the ways of God, such people are usually called geniuses: a name that strikingly changes the [course of] thought with which it is used! For the ancient world, meaning by the geniuses of guardian spirits, wanted to explain the greatness of extraordinary people by the supernatural influence of the latter; and now by the same name they think to turn them into sons of chance and to break their union with Heaven! That is, it is better to use words without thought than to admit that all these so-called geniuses are the visible instruments of Providence, the living mysteries of God's destinies, the true messengers of Heaven, who are to be the guardian angels of the nations.

Is it not for this blindness and ingratitude that the great benefactors of mankind will land so suddenly from among the living?.. At least, the death of the great reformer of Russia followed in spite of all the needs and aspirations of the Fatherland. One might have thought that his soul had been summoned out of the blue to do something great in another world; and the minister of the word, without any flowery words, could ask at his grave: "What are we doing? Whom are we burying?" (the beginning of the homily at the burial of Peter the Great Theophan Prokopovich). We do not bury him, the whole of Russia might answer, but we escort to the Throne of the King of Kings one of those messengers of the Almighty, whom He entrusts to perform miracles of His wisdom and love. Peter's tomb is a monument testifying to the special presence of God among our forefathers, and faith can fearlessly inscribe on it the words of the king of Israel: "Thy processions have been seen, O God, the processions of my God, the King, Who is in holiness."

The processions of God's Providence in the destinies of nations are accomplished in the light; but sometimes, in order to bring human pride to reason, the Most High lays down His darkness (Psalm 17:12); and then the nations, as if abandoned by Providence, like ancient Israel, are ready to cry out: The Lord has left us to eat! The Lord has left us to eat! This terrible darkness was spread over our Fatherland as well. With Peter, it seemed, the sun of Russia knew the West and set forever. In vain the darkness of the night at the beginning of each reign is illuminated with bright radiances. It was a momentary flash of lightning - a light that does not create, but destroys. Even at the time when, for the consecration of darkness, by the voice of Providence, the daughter of Peter (Empress (1741-1761/62) Elizabeth Petrovna rose on the firmament of Russia, like the moon. (Editor's note)), even then, with its quiet flickering, the mighty Russian was not yet able to depart for his great work with all his forces. For this, his crown-bearers required the succession not only of blood and goodness, but also of the greatness and strength of Peter's spirit. But was it possible to expect this great succession, when with the daughter of Peter the most sacred line of his descendants was apparently ready to cease forever?

It is impossible from man, but it is possible from God, Who does good to the Orthodox people! Among the daughters of Germany, the hand of Providence has long prepared the vessel of Russia's greatness. Everything that is best in the gifts of nature and art adorns the young princess; The wise marvel at her intelligence, the good at the goodness of her heart, but all wonder why so many perfections have been combined in a woman far from the throne. No one knew that the future fate of the North rested on the shoulders of the young confidante of wisdom. But the King of kings knows His chosen ones! And behold, for the good of Russia, in spite of all obstacles, Catherine is on the throne! Now, peoples and kings, turn your eyes to the North, and heed and learn the destinies of the wisdom and righteousness of God! In the deeds of the wondrous woman, the decrees of Heaven will be heard. With what rapidity extraordinary events hasten to surround the throne of God's chosen one! Her pen and sword seem to be arguing with each other about the accomplishment of great deeds! Look: the borders of the Fatherland are expanding to the ancient borders of the Russian land; millions of brethren of the same faith are returning to the bosom of their common mother, the Orthodox Church**; the enemies of the name of Christ begin to tremble at the very name of a Russian; The cross ceases to be a symbol of weakness and humiliation in the East; at the voice of victory, Greece awakens from its slumber of death... No less miracles are performed within the Fatherland. From the lips of the monarch, all classes learn their rights and duties; and within the walls of Moscow the light sees the first of its kind experience of that legislation with which foreign wisdom is now so extolled. Oh, how good is the Lord to you, dear Fatherland, Who has vouchsafed you to see on His throne not only many wondrous men, but also the greatest of women; Who turned in her person to your good all that was best in the foreign education and arts of that time!

The right hand of the Lord create this power; she adorned Catherine with extraordinary gifts and abilities; she chose her from the host of royal daughters, led her amidst troubles and temptations, and elevated her to the throne of Russia; it surrounded it with great executors of great intentions; She gave kindness its strength and wisdom strength. At the grave of Catherine, as well as at the grave of Peter, the Russian must say with reverence: Thy processions have been seen, O God, the processions of my God the King, Who is in the holy!

Let us turn our last gaze to the last reign.

My God, what a spectacle human societies present! - The rules of wickedness, insanely sown for half a century, suddenly bear terrible fruit in their appearance****. The most famous of the Western thrones falls with a noise, revealing an abyss beneath it, ready to swallow up all the thrones in the world. The giant that came out of the midst of this abyss closes it with self-woven porphyry, but the spirit of transformations, expelled by him from his people, seems to be concentrated and incarnated in himself.

Whirlwind after whirlwind sweeps the face of the earth; He carries away thrones from where they stood for centuries; He puts it where there was nothing but huts. One of the greatest judgments of God is carried out over kings and nations!