Grigory Nikolaevich Zhuravlev (1860-1916) was a self taught iconographer who was born without limbs. One of the many icons he painted with his teeth was this St Nicholas the Wonderworker who he gifted to the Emperor.
The Emperor happily accepted the icon and gave the peasant Zhuravlev a payment out of gratitude.
The Emperor happily accepted the icon and gave the peasant Zhuravlev a payment out of gratitude.
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"I looked at the fine portrait of the late Tsarevich Alexis which decorated the wall. 'Have you veneration for him?' I asked, 'Certainly, both for his life and his death. I revere the entire family of the Emperor. Alexis is a saint, very much like St. Dimitry the tsarevich. The murdered Imperial family may be considered.'
'Will they be canonized?'
'Who knows? there are many saints who are not canonized, many saints unknown to men but known only to God. I heard that in the church of Oplenatz in Serbia, the late Nicholas II is already represented as a saint with a halo. The formal veneration is merely a registration of a widely spread public veneration. A certain priest Anosov wrote a fine Akathist to Nicholas II. I read it. This Akathist can not be used in church, but it is beautiful and correct. So many people ask why the tragedy of Ekaterinburg happened. Nothing happens without Divine permission. God allowed this tragedy for our own benefit. Remember the way of God are not ours."
'Will they be canonized?'
'Who knows? there are many saints who are not canonized, many saints unknown to men but known only to God. I heard that in the church of Oplenatz in Serbia, the late Nicholas II is already represented as a saint with a halo. The formal veneration is merely a registration of a widely spread public veneration. A certain priest Anosov wrote a fine Akathist to Nicholas II. I read it. This Akathist can not be used in church, but it is beautiful and correct. So many people ask why the tragedy of Ekaterinburg happened. Nothing happens without Divine permission. God allowed this tragedy for our own benefit. Remember the way of God are not ours."
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Sergius Bolshakoff's talk with Elder Michael the blind, of Valaam, and his veneration for the Romanov family in the 50s. Taken from- Interior Silence (book)
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"The fact that we pray for the Russian Tsar is only because he is the patron of our Orthodox Church, and the local Orthodox clergy and schools are supported through his generosity; but we do not force anyone at all to pray for him as our ruler in the local land. On the contrary, along with prayers for him, supplications are offered for the President of the United States."
St Tikhon of Moscow (when he was bishop of America) letter to the General Agent of education in Alaska- Sheldon Jackson, December 11, 1899.
St Tikhon of Moscow (when he was bishop of America) letter to the General Agent of education in Alaska- Sheldon Jackson, December 11, 1899.
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Source- St Tikhon of Moscow, Instructions & Teachings for the American Orthodox Faithful (1898-1907) (book)
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Tikhon Nikolaevich in Finland, 1989, for the 100th anniversary of the Langinkoski Imperial Fishing Lodge, built by his Grandfather, Tsar Alexander III.
Tikhon's wife, Olga, noted in her memoirs that when they were in their hotel room in Helsinki, their television caught channels from nearby soviet union. If that wasn't ironic enough, one of the programs that aired featured a presentation where a man condemned the regicide of the Tsar Nicholas II (Tikhon's uncle) calling the murder "a monstrous criminal offense of which the perpetrators are neither punished nor convicted". Tikhon was left in shock and tears, realizing the situation in the east was changing and that the iron curtain would soon fall.
Tikhon's wife, Olga, noted in her memoirs that when they were in their hotel room in Helsinki, their television caught channels from nearby soviet union. If that wasn't ironic enough, one of the programs that aired featured a presentation where a man condemned the regicide of the Tsar Nicholas II (Tikhon's uncle) calling the murder "a monstrous criminal offense of which the perpetrators are neither punished nor convicted". Tikhon was left in shock and tears, realizing the situation in the east was changing and that the iron curtain would soon fall.
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Forwarded from Royal Martyr Nicholas II
New Martyr Patriarch Tikhon, friend to Tsar Nicholas II, liked American Thanksgiving, referring to it as "Turkey Day". He arranged a moleben service for the eve of Thanksgiving. St Tikhon was deeply moved that the country he served as a Bishop for 9 years had set aside a national day of giving thanks. The Hierarch would never forget this holiday even when returning to Imperial Russia. He even sent a Thanksgiving letter to President Wilson in 1918.
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Royal Martyr Nicholas II
Photo
A memorial plaque dedicated to Emperor Nicholas' friend- Carl Gustav Mannerheim. Installed in St Petersburg, 2016. Unsurprisingly it was vandalized and removed a few months later by individuals who still commonly hold to the red ideology.
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