Alexander Prokhanov [ 26/2/1938]. Article of July 3, 2026.
«Once, in a conversation with me, Bishop Tikhon Shevkunov said that one cannot understand the history of Russia without believing in miracles. Russia, in its historical ascent, performs numerous feats, achieves great victories, composes magnificent symphonies and poems, and erects royal palaces and unparalleled cities. And then it collapses, crumbles, falls into the abyss, so that there remains neither kingdom, nor tsar, nor people, but only a hellish Russian inferno.
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| Nicholai Roerich. Victory will be our. |
But a miracle occurs: from the mysterious depths, from the dome of a ruined church or from an ancient stone that fell from the sky, or from the tear of an orphaned infant, Russia suddenly resurrects. It blossoms like a magical flower, rises up, builds cities, writes poems and operas, achieves victories, is about to touch the long-awaited Kingdom of Heaven with its hand, and then — it falls into the abyss. Again, turmoil, the clanging of axes, the Volga is red with blood. And there is neither Russia, nor people, nor the Kingdom of Heaven. But, oh miracle! Once again, the molecule of Russian immortality comes to life, and Russia rises like a wondrous flower after a life-giving downpour. The history of Russia is paschal; it rises from the dead, its resurrection is a miracle. [As also many lives of common people]
On Russian soil, there are many places where miracles occurred, where the incredible and the inexplicable took place. The people's memory points us to these places. In Pskov, by the Kremlin wall, stands the Church of the Protection of the Mother of God. The Polish King Stefan Batory besieged Pskov, defeating the Russian army on the approaches to Pskov. His siege engines breached the wall, and the furious Polish cavalry surged through the breach. The Pskovites faced a massacre, execution, and a brutal death. Then suddenly a radiance appeared in the breach. In a dazzling glow, the Most Holy Theotokos appeared, blinding the Poles, and the horrified king recalled the troops, dismantled the tents, and left for Warsaw.
On summer nights, the air suddenly lights up near the Pokrovskaya Tower, as if the silver veil of the Mother of God is passing by.
Near Vladimir, at the Bogolyubsky Monastery, there is a chapel at the place where the Virgin Mary appeared to Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky. The prince was leaving from Kyiv to Vladimir, the Kyivan-Norwegian Rus' was coming to an end, and from the mists of Russian history, the Moscow Rus' was emerging. The Virgin Mary, appearing to the prince, blessed him to rule Vladimir and Suzdal, the precursors of the Moscow kingdom.
I was at the chapel during the procession and suddenly smelt roses.
When I was a forester in the forests of the Moscow region, I heard from the local peasant women the tale of the miracle of the Most Holy Theotokos near Moscow. The Germans approached Moscow, the Russians had no more troops, a small handful of soldiers remained in a tiny trench, and the enemy was preparing for their terrible final assault, their dreadful machines and invincible regiments were already moving towards Moscow. And in the snowy fields, a shining column suddenly rose to the heavens. He went towards the enemy. The enemy was horrified and fled. This shining pillar was the Most Holy Theotokos, she was carrying a candle. And the Red Army soldiers rose from the trenches, with their Mosin-Nagant rifles, rushed after the Virgin Mary, and drove the enemy, who left his giant vehicles by the side of the roads.
I found a glade in the woods, red with wild strawberries. It was all fragrant with the scents of wonderful berries. And it seemed to me that the footsteps of the Virgin Mary had descended upon this glade.
One of the most miraculous places in Russia is Chersonesus. There, a great miracle occurred — there Christ saw among many other princes and rulers Prince Vladimir and baptised him in a stone font. Chersonesus connects Russia with the Kingdom of Heaven – from Chersonesus the path leads directly to the Kingdom of Heaven, nourishing Russia with inexhaustible heavenly powers, bestowing Russia with immortality. Enemy forces throughout the ages have wanted to sever Russia from the Kingdom of Heaven, to cut the miraculous light conduit connecting Chersonesus with the heavens. Throughout the ages, Russia has fought for Chersonesus. All Russian wars—both the unknown ones on forest edges and village outskirts, and the great ones on the Nepryadva and Lake Chud, on the Borodino fields and in the burning Stalingrad steppes—are all battles for Chersonesus.
I first saw Chersonesus many years ago, when the temple was still in ruins, ancient masonry protruding from the ground, among which lay a stone baptismal font where the Holy Prince dipped his feet. The rose bushes were in bloom, the turquoise sea sparkled, and in the distance, like a misty island, the aircraft carrier "Moscow" sailed. I heard the scent of the roses, and the air sang softly, as if a wonderful psalm were pouring down from the heavens.
Recently, I was in Chersonesus among the magnificent tents erected by the efforts of Bishop Tikhon, sitting on the benches of the ancient amphitheatre, listening to the opera "Walking into Fire," [of Maxim Shevchenko] while in the skies, explosions roared, machine gun tracers flew, and downed drones burst into flames, resembling black mourning veils brushing against the flame of a candle. Since that terrible raid, which struck hundreds of houses in Sevastopol, the brutal siege of Crimea began, with daily and nightly bombings surrounding Crimea with fires, derailed trains, and burnt trucks.
Crimea is under siege. Ukrainian drones are diving on residential buildings and military garrisons. The "Baba Yaga" drones, like hundreds of witches riding their broomsticks, are rushing towards the Crimean Bridge in iron mortars. The unmanned boats are churning the waters, wanting to blow up the wondrous bridge, to shatter the light conduit between Russia and Chersonesus, between Russia and the Kingdom of Heaven.
A holy battle for Crimea is underway. There is a shortage of food, gasoline is running out, electricity is being cut off in homes, and the beaches and sanatoriums are deserted. Brave drivers break through to Crimea under fire, delivering trucks with food supplies. Tankers with gasoline deliver fuel for combat aircraft. Anti-aircraft gunners on the outskirts shoot down squadrons of drones. Firefighters are extinguishing burning hospitals and art galleries.
«If a person has not come to terms with the eternity of his life, it means that he has not come to terms with anything at all. And he has lived his life in vain. If a person has not posed these "cursed questions" to himself, according to a famous expression of Dostoevsky, and has not made every effort to honestly answer them, then that person has done absolutely nothing in life. Even if he has planted a thousand trees, built an entire city, and brought ten sons into the world. Christ has left us these words: "What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world but lose his own soul?"
The icon painter will write an icon dedicated to the defence of Crimea. He will write the miracle of the Most Holy Theotokos under Chersonesus. He will write an icon of the Crimean Mother of God. This will be the icon of the "Church Militant." The great Russian host with marines, motorised riflemen, anti-aircraft gunners, drone operators, artillerymen, helicopter and fighter pilots, sailors, firefighters, doctors, teachers, locomotive engineers, and truck drivers, all the people, men and women with children in their arms, are moving along the eternal Russian road from the smoke and fire-tormented land to the Kingdom of Heaven. And His Grace Tikhon leads this spiritual Russian host.
President [Vladimir Putin], send me to Crimea, I will write my "Sevastopol Stories."
Crimea under siege. Ukrainian drones are diving, between Russia and the Kingdom of Heaven.
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https://pravoslavie.ru/. |
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