Lives of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia of the Twentieth Century

Beloved in the Lord servants of the Altar of the Lord, dear brothers and sisters!

We are all witnesses to the great miracle of the rebirth of the Russian Orthodox Church. Many of us know firsthand the trials that our Russian Church went through in the past twentieth century. Persecutions of unprecedented scale fell upon Her, innumerable sacrifices were made by Her children for Christ's sake.

What lesson can we learn from the experiences of the Church of Christ in the twentieth century? Hieromartyr Hilarion, Archbishop of Verey, can answer for us: "In these years, my faith in the Church has only grown stronger and my heart has been strengthened in hope in God... When so much of human affairs turned out to be built on quicksand... The Church of God stands unshaken, only adorned with the blood of the new martyrs, as if in scarlet and linen. What we knew from church history, what we read about in the ancients, we now see with our own eyes: the Church wins when it is harmed... Not only do we not believe, but we also see that the gates of hell are powerless before God's eternal creation. Amidst the winds of false teachings, amidst the turbid furious waves of malice, lies, and slander of violent enemies, the Church stands like a rock..."

The canonization of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in the 20th century, carried out by the Council of Bishops in August 2000, is undoubtedly one of the greatest events in the entire history of the Russian Orthodox Church. For us, eyewitnesses of this event, it may not yet be quite clear what spiritual prospects open up for us in recognizing the podvig of the innumerable host of ascetics of the faith.

Amidst the difficulties of the modern life of Russian society, surrounded by atheism, heterodoxy and sectarianism, schisms and heresies, in spite of the propaganda of evil, violence, acquisitiveness, unprecedented depravity and new, previously unthinkable temptations, in the face of the still unknown trials of the 21st century, the Russian Orthodox Church summed up her spiritual experience during the 20th century. With the blood of her martyrs, the Russian Church prepared herself for the entry into the third millennium.

Our grateful acceptance of this experience of holiness can bring us back together. By pointing to the host of saints of modern times and calling to seek their prayerful intercession, the Church fulfills her maternal duty towards the people who await sanctification from Her.

"In glorifying the podvig of the New Martyrs, the Russian Orthodox Church trusts in their intercession and prays that the Lord may show His mercy upon us and give all our compatriots time for repentance, kindle in their hearts the fire of faith, zeal for the rebirth of Holy Russia, our earthly Fatherland."

I wish all readers to be inflamed with zeal for salvation, hope for God's help in the straitened circumstances of our life. Through the prayers of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia of the twentieth century, may the Lord grant us to labor for the glory of God and the Church of Christ for eternal salvation.

With love in the Lord, Metropolitan of Krutitsy and Kolomna, Chairman of the Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints

From the compilers