Superficial faith

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"Why do some people, well educated and baptized as Christians, fall away from Christianity and give themselves over to philosophy and pedantic theories, pretending that these are truer than Christianity? They do so for two principle reasons: either because of a totally superficial understanding of Christianity or because of sin. A superficial understanding of Christianity rejects it, and sin flees from Christ as does a criminal from the judge. Superficial and sinful Christians were as often enraged and infuriated with Christianity as the pagans. The superficial and culpable find it is more comfortable for them to bathe in the shallow puddle of human thoughts than in the perilous depths of Christ. For those who sincerely follow Christ, He constantly calls them to a greater and greater depth, as He once said to the Apostle Peter: Launch out into the deep (Lk. 5:4). St Mark the Ascetic writes that the Law of God is understood in accordance with the fulfillment of the commandments of God: 'Ignorance compels a person to speak in opposition to that which is beneficial, and insolence multiplies vice.'"

Church, Truth, and other currently unpopular words

By St. Hilarion (Troitsky) the New Hieromartyr

"The truth of the Church was greatly distorted in the West after Rome had fallen away from the Church. In the West, God's kingdom began to be viewed more as an earthly kingdom. Latinism obscured the Christian concept of the Church in the consciousness of its members with its legalistic account of good deeds, its mercenary relationship to God and its falsification of salvation. Latinism gave birth to a legitimate, although very insubordinate, offspring in the form of Protestantism. Protestantism was created from the soil of humanism which was not a religious phenomenon; on the contrary, all its leading ideas are purely earthly, human. It created respect for man in his natural condition. Protestantism, having carried over the basis of humanism into the religious field, was not a protest of genuine ancient Church Christian consciousness against those forms and norms which were created by medieval Papism, as Protestant theologians are often inclined to claim. Far from it; Protestantism was a protest on the very same plane. It did not re-establish ancient Christianity, it only replaced one distortion of Christianity with another, and the new falsehood was much worse than the first. Protestantism became the last word in Papism, and brought it to its logical conclusion. Truth and salvation are bestowed upon love, i.e., the Church - such is Church consciousness.

Latinism, having fallen away from the Church, changed this consciousness and proclaimed: truth is given to the separate person of the Pope, and the Pope manages the salvation of all. Protestantism only objected: Why is truth given to the Pope alone? - and added: truth and salvation are open to each separate individual, independently of the Church. Every individual was thus promoted to the rank of infallible Pope. Protestantism placed a papal tiara on every German professor and, with its countless number of popes, completely destroyed the concept of the Church, substituting faith with the reason of each separate personality. It substituted salvation in the Church with a dreamy confidence in salvation through Christ in egoistic isolation from the Church. In practice, of course, Protestants departed from the very beginning and by roundabout ways, by contraband, so to speak, introduced some of the elements of the dogma about the Church, having recognized some authorities, although only in the area of dogma. Being a religious anarchy, pure Protestantism, like all anarchies, turned out to be completely impossible, and by that, testified before us to the indisputable truth that the human soul is Church-prone by nature. Still, the theoretical side of Protestantism appealed to human self-love and self-will of all varieties, for self-love and self-will received a sort of sanctification and blessing from Protestantism. This fact is revealed today in the endless dividing and factionalism of Protestantism itself. It is Protestantism that openly proclaimed the greatest lie of all: that one can be a Christian while denying the Church.

Nevertheless, by tying its members by some obligatory authorities and church laws, Protestantism entangles itself in a hopeless contradiction: having itself separated the individual from the Church, it nevertheless places limits on that freedom. From this stems the constant mutiny of Protestants against those few and pitiful remnants of Church consciousness which are still preserved by the official representatives of their denominations … It is easy to understand that Protestantism corresponds to the almost completely pagan outlook generally approved in the West. There, where the cult of individualism blossoms luxuriantly, finding prophets in fashionable philosophy and singers in the belles-lettres, Christ's ideal of the Church can, of course have no place; for it negates self-love and self-will in people and demands love from them all … Even independently of Protestantism, however, many now come to the denial of the Church, assimilating, in general, the western European attitude which developed outside the Church and which is completely alien and even hostile to the spirit of the Church … love is forced out by pride and self-love (which is called "noble" - although the holy fathers of the Church speak of self-love and pride only in connection with the devil), when self-denial is substituted by self-assertion and meek obedience is replaced by proud self-will, then a dense fog shrouds the truth of the Church, which is inseparably linked with directly opposite ideals … Thus there is nothing easier than to re-interpret Christ's teaching according to one's personal taste and to invent "Christianity," passing off, under this name, the dreams of one's heart and the images of one's own idle fantasy. The sacred books of the New Testament were written by practical, unscholarly apostles. Throughout the centuries there have been "correctors of the Apostles," as Saint Irenaeus of Lyons calls them, ones who considered themselves higher than the Apostles, those "Galilean fishermen." Does it become a highly educated European of the twentieth century to accept on faith all that is said by some "fishermen"? So many free themselves from the authority of the Apostles and desire to interpret Christ's teaching while being guided only by their personal whims.

One can marvel greatly at how far people go in their "interpretation" of Christianity. Whatever they might desire, they immediately find in the Gospel. It would appear that it is possible to cover one's every idle dream and even ill intentioned thought by means of the Gospel's authority. No, the faith of Christ becomes clear and definite for man only when he unhypocritically believes in the Church; only then are the pearls of this faith clear, only then does the faith remain free from the pile of dirty rubbish of all possible, self-willed opinions and judgments. The Apostle Paul had already spoken of this when he called the Church of the living God the pillar and ground of the truth (cf. 1 Tim. 3:15)."

Excerpted from "'Christianity' or the Church?"

Living in Peace and Rest

Christ Jesus says, “Come to me, all ye who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart; and ye shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is good and my burden light” (Mat. 11:28-30). Further the Apostle Paul calls to us, “Let us fear then, lest perhaps, being left a promise to enter His rest, any of you seem to have come short of it … He said somewhere concerning the seventh day thus; 'And God rested from all His works on the seventh day ... there remaineth a sabbath-keeping to the people of God. For he who entered into His rest, he also did rest from his works, even as God did from His own. Let us give diligence then to enter into the rest, lest anyone should fall into the same example of disobedience” (Heb 4:1,4,9-11).

True rest and peace according to the Scriptures and the Saints is participation, by grace, in the very life of God. As God rested on the seventh day, so now the Christian is called to cease from his own work and enter into the rest of God. This participation begins at the moment of baptism and a Christian is called to deepen and expand it as he progresses in Christ. St. Symeon the New Theologian says, “God is light … He is the supreme light, the repose of all contemplation for those who have attained it.” Rest is an attaining to the Light of God; it is the vision of God. St. Augustine tells us, “The reward of virtue shall be God Himself, the Author of virtue; and He promised Himself … For thus too is that to be rightly understood which the Apostle says:'That God may be all in all.' He Himself will be the end of our desires. He shall be seen without end. He shall be loved without surfeit. He shall be praised without weariness … There we shall rest and we shall behold, we shall behold and we shall love, we shall love and we shall praise. This is what shall be in the end without end.”

True rest is beholding God, the unveiling of our eyes; it is the transformation of our being, as St. Paul says, “We all, with unveiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18). Godly rest is transformation by participation. This beholding is not the looking of one person outside himself to another, for not only does the soul “behold the glory of God, but from it also receives a certain splendor” as St. John Chrysostom reveals. The righteous one beholds and is ever beheld by the Lord, as St. John of Damascus says, “those who have performed good actions will shine like the sun … with our Lord Jesus Christ, seeing Him forever and being ever in His sight.” The true vision of God by the soul signifies a union by grace. St Symeon the New Theologian says of God, “Your divine glory is seen by us as pure light, a gentle light. It is revealed as light, it unites itself with us as light.” The soul that beholds God possesses God in himself, as St. Gregory Palamas says, “To him who mysteriously possesses and sees light, he knows and possesses God in himself … he is never separated from eternal glory.” Rest is union, it is a foretaste of that complete union that will happen at the general resurrection. It is a union that must have been entered upon while in the body. It is the ceasing of the works of the flesh, the perfection and completion of the embarking of the new creation that was energized in a man while sojourning in the flesh. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). This is the Life given to those who are willing to lose their life in the flesh, as Christ the Lord spoke, “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Mat 16:25).

If in this life Christ is taking form in us then He “assuredly transforms us, re-creates us, and changes us into the image of the Godhead,” teaches St. Symeon. Rest is the believer entering into God, and God entering into him. St. Symeon the New Theologian again says, “He (Christ, my note) mingles with the soul but does not blend with it. The One who is pure essence is entirely united with the essence of the soul … How, I cannot tell. The two become one. The soul is united with its Creator and the Creator is in the soul, totally with the soul alone.” This is eternal life, to be in God and have God abiding in us.

Those who choose to live without Christ, dwell without Christ. By willful sin they willfully cast themselves from life. Having hardened their souls through love for sin they cannot be penetrated and illumined by Christ. St. Nicholai Velimirovich tells us, “A heart filled with evil is harder than granite. A mind darkened by sin cannot be illuminated by all the light of heaven.” God is all around them, but not the one place He desires most to be - inside them, in the heart.  

The goal of the Christian life is to know the Lord, One God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is not something that will happen only in the future, but is a process which must be embarked upon now. It is here and now that we may fall down in repentance before the Creator of all things. It is right here and now that we may abide in that life which Christ the Lord spoke of, “I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10). Thus, dwelling in the grace of God (by the grace of God) a Christian may have faith, “for we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (1 Cor. 5:1). If our life is hidden in Christ we will dwell in Christ, and abiding in Him we will remain in that peace which pass understanding and is truly not of this world.

On Sorrow and Affliction in the Christian life

By St. Dimitry of Rostov

"Observe a physician of the body, what does he do with the sick? Sometimes he prescribes bitter medicine; sometimes he must burn and cut malady away, he uses therapy to reveal the root cause of the pain. All this is done, of course, for healing and not for sickness, for life and not for death. The sick person may complain and groan, not wanting to receive bitter medicine, but when he becomes healthy he is very thankful to the physician. And so, the Lord, the Physician of our souls, seeing our putrid sinful wounds offers the needed method of healing. He burns away through misfortunes, He cuts away with unexpected grief, He gives us to drink tears of affliction; all this is done only for our healing, so as to bring us to life and restoration, as David said, “The Lord chastened me strictly, but He has not given me over to death” (Ps. 117:18).¹ In the time of chastisement He is more good, rather than fierce, more compassionate, rather than angry; even though He pours wine on our wounds and cruel sorrows, it is never without oil;² we are struck, but not without compassion, we pass through embitterment, but not without mercy and comfort.³

It is very necessary for us to be chastened, without which it is impossible to be healed of our spiritual festers. We must receive chastisement not with sorrow or grumbling but with thankfulness, with patience, and great courage of soul.⁴ Truly, in the midst of sorrows our human nature is inclined to grumble, complain, and break down in exhaustion; but, O lover Christ, do not break down, do not become faint of soul, take courage and your heart will be strengthened. Pray this prayer of St. John Chrysostom, “Lord, give unto me courage of soul!” O Christian with thankfulness speak in this way, “Blessed is God, for I know that I endure less than I deserve.” Remember your many shortcomings; do not refuse to endure the treatment, because after enduring you will bless God Who has healed you. “Blessed is the man who endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love Him” (James 1:12), says the apostle. Do not be like an impatient person when some unpleasant thing happens, not in line with the wishes of his heart, he jumps on everyone with grumbling; such a one thinks everyone is guilty but him. You must never weaken; nail yourself to the cross of patience and courage.

Speak in this manner, “I'm ready to bear trials, only give me the strength.” Listen to what the apostle says, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man, but God is faithful, Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13). God allows sorrows for those He loves, according to what they can bear; He gives patience in the midst of sorrows to those who hope on Him. And so, cast your sadness upon the Lord, trust in Him, and He will protect your soul. Every persecution, embitterment, offense, abasement – all these are normal and bring salvation for the one who loves God. Our Mighty God soon turns weeping and crying into comfort and rejoicing. When a child is in the midst of learning he may be sorrowful and perplexed, but when he has completed it he is very joyful. Patiently endure and be expecting God's mercy early, later and at every hour. Listen to the words of the apostle, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations” (James 1:2).

So, in what should you rejoice? Rejoice in the fact that these things are bringing you benefit. Take for instance flax, until it undergoes the threshing process, until it is beaten and broken down with the scutching blade, it remains unfit for making rope or fabric; so it is with a soul that has not been ground, if it has not been softened by tribulations it cannot come to a knowledge of its own unworthiness. Gold and silver must be refined so as to be purged of impurities, likewise the soul is refined by everything that God allows; it comes to a knowledge of itself and its weakness, it learns humility and in this way is brought into the blessing of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is only “through much tribulation that we enter into the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22); heavenly crowns are given to those who endure evil in temptations. Who is the one worthy of eternal glory? Is it not the one who suffers though affliction, according to the apostle's words, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17). Endure then, O lover of God, that you may be called a beloved son of God. And when sadness and sorrow visit you, never doubt that you are one of God's beloved children.

Also, keep in mind that it is not always because of sin that evil circumstances befall us. Many righteous ones, for the benefit of their souls and for the testing of their faith and righteousness patiently endured much evil. Call to mind Job and Tobit the righteous God-pleasers. Who among the saints lived their life without sorrows, grief and sufferings? They sinned very little, but endured much. They were persecuted, treated with dishonor, and tortured, and still they rejoiced in the Lord; but you, O Christian, faint of soul, when you encounter a little misfortune become perplexed and sorrowful beyond reason. Truly, you do not desire to be turned away alone from the host of God's chosen ones, because you refused to endure those things that came upon you? Remember there is no unending pain, no sorrow that does not pass, therefore, have undoubting hope that in the end the strong Lord will turn your passing sadness into eternal joy."

Translated from Russian by Fr. Zechariah Lynch

1My own direct translation of the text, so as to stay more consistent with St. Dimitry's words. Ps. 118:24, MT

2Cf. Lk. 10:25ff. In ancient times wine was used as a disinfectant for wounds, the alcohol would cause a burning sensation. Oil was applied to sooth and coat the wound and help enhance natural healing properties.

“Heal, O Savior, the corruption of my debased soul, O only Physician. Apply the compress to me, and the oil and wine – works of repentance, compunction and tears.” Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, First Wednesday of Great Lent, Song 8.

3“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives” (Heb. 12:5-6, Prov. 3:11-12)

4 Великодушие literally “greatness of soul”    

Globalism is like a huge mill that grinds everything

“We must speak with children about the dangers of temptation. Toward the end of the 1950's a new epoch dawned in Europe, and two misfortunes came quickly upon us: the post-christian era and globalism, along with the erosion of faith and the crumbling of morality.

Now that I have reached old age I have begun to understand that in this time the last attack of the devil has begun, and it is directed against the treasures of the Orthodox faith and Christian life.

Globalism is like a huge mill that grinds everything; the result is an unrecognizable mixture in which no one will retain his personhood, and self-knowledge is lost. Now everything will be easy, everything will be allowed – total freedom, for the Church has stood as a hindrance and barrier (to these things).

Fr. Gregory of Mt. Athos

Translated from Russian. Athonite Elders, Moscow, 2011.

Do We Really Want Christ in Christmas?

“Keep Christ in Christmas,” around town I have already seen a few billboards pleading the case. And it seems nice and noble, because what Christ loving Christian wants Christmas to degenerate into simply a commercialized day in the midst of the vague and generic heading of “Happy Holidays”? Yet, is it even possible to take Christ out of Christmas and would It still remain Christmas? And does the “secular” world really have the power to de-Christify (I just made that word up) Christmas? Or does this mysterious vanishing of Christ from Christmas have a more sinister origin? Indeed, I would argue, it does. It originates with Christians (I use this word in a general manner). Christ Jesus was long ago removed from the figurative American manger on Christmas morning by well meaning Christians. Unwittingly they replaced Him with, presents, meals, family, friends, and so on. For Christians, too many times now, Christmas morning is not about going to church and worshiping the God-Man, but about earthly goodies.

Do we really want Christ in Christmas? If Christ was the true center for us then maybe all our festivities (good when centered on Christ but worthless without Him) would have to take a secondary role. And do we really want that? As I pondered this mysterious vanishing of Christ from Christmas, I thought maybe I am wrong, and maybe there are plenty of Christian groups gathering on Christmas morning to worship God. Thus, I began making calls to various, mostly Protestant, churches in town inquiring about their Christmas time services. Almost no one had a service on Christmas day (although one church has a service on Christmas day in the evening, one of the Presbyterian churches will have a 11:30pm service Christmas eve. The Roman churches mostly have midnight services, which is a commendable practice, and some on Christmas morning. Yet I focused on Non-denomination, Evangelical Protestant churches, mainly because America has been typically a “Protestant” Nation). When I inquired as to a service on Christmas morning I was greeted mostly by a stunned silent pause, and an audibly baffled and confused “no” was the answer (I could almost hear the thought “don't you have presents to open?”). After a number of calls I simply gave up. Almost no Protestant church (at least in my town, as far as I can tell) is going to gather and worship God on Christmas morning. And who is taking Christ out of Christmas? The “world”?

Now I would conjecture that this trend, which is symptomatic of the overall greater trend of churchlessness that many who claim Christ subscribe to, and has its roots in the very prominent view of “individual relationship” with Jesus that most in the modern Protestant world adhere to (I purposely did not say “personal”). According to the very strong “me & Jesus” mentality, which dominates modern thought, why would I (me, myself) need to gather with others on Christmas? I can worship Jesus “in my heart” at home just as well, and open presents for that matter! And of course, Christ understands and condones (so the thought goes), because He always does (most of all when it agrees with my fancy). But if Christ is truly “in the heart”, then one would have a deep desire to gather and worship Him within the community of His Church, at least this has been the Christian practice for 2,000 years. A person will give preeminence to that which is the true treasure of the heart. As Someone once said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart shall be also." And yes this treasure costs us something.

On Nativity morning, the day when the birth of the Incarnate God-Man is celebrated (and just in case you missed that, it is the day when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, who is both fully God and fully man; together with the whole mystery of God Himself entering into the human arena in such a physical manner) it has become common and, indeed, even the expected practice of many Christians to just stay at home. Again who is, as it were, removing Christ from Christmas?

But that's what services on Christmas Eve are for, right?

A service on Christmas is just bothersome (I can't sit around in my PJ's). Why would we go to church on Christmas morning when we can ooh and awe over baby Jesus the night before? When it comes down to it service on Nativity morning interferes with the other (seemingly) important things we have to do, like presents and food. And we do not want that! And then we wonder why the world does not take Christmas seriously, and why it is so eager to exclude Christ from the feast!? He becomes a nice guest to  whom we give a corner seat and occasionally turn and say, “Cheers Jesus!” The world is simply secularizing common “Christian” (American) practice. The jolly old guy who gives out stuff is more important than the Son of God made the son of man. 

Now, this may seem harsh, and indeed it may well be. But as Christians, and most of all Orthodox Christians, why would we want to be in any other place but God's Temple on the incredibly awesome day of the Nativity? As the sun rises on the “Today” of Christ's birth, and the very air seems to tremble with the mystery, and that which was veiled even to the eyes of angels is revealed on earth, “Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One … for our sake the Eternal God is born as a little child!” Yet, we cannot hear the mysterious silence because we insist on giving preeminence to a din of our own creation. If we cannot hear the mystery how then do we expect the world to? If we have not prepared our hearts to receive the Lord on the day of His birth according to the flesh, how will they then contain the grace of God? If we are not willing to make that effort to come and fall down before the Eternal One, Only Begotten of the Father, now begotten in time by the Most-Pure Virgin, then how can we expect the world to even care? Should we be surprised that many are eager to keep Christ out of Christmas? 

Christmas loses its meaning devoid of worship. Presents, meals, and even family become hollow shells of nicety when the marrow of worship on Christmas day is removed. The seemingly simple action of ignoring worship on Christmas preaches a very clear message - these other things mean more to us; thus the world has taken hold of that message and has run with it. Christmas is about things, Christmas is about food, Christmas is about get-togethers. Christ? Well, those who claim to follow Him don't want the journey to honor Him to interfere with these things, so why would we? Christ? Those who claim to be His followers were the first ones to replaced Him with all these things. If His own do not really want worship of Him to disrupt Christmas festivities, then why should we?

Granted, thankfully, this practice of staying at home has no origins whatsoever in the Orthodox Christian Faith, but it sure can influence those of us who are among the “faithful.” And we must actively resist its falseness. There is only one place for us as Orthodox Christians on Christmas morning and that is greeting Our Incarnate Lord of Glory, falling down with the hosts of heavenly ranks, and chanting “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Nothing else matters. Corruption is overthrown, death is crumbling, sin is dethroned, Christ is born, glorify Him! The Sun of Righteousness has risen, The Orient from on high has dawned, glorify Him!

Thus this mysterious tragedy of Christ being removed from Christmas is not an exterior happening. It cannot be fixed by public manger scenes (as nice as they are), nor billboards and bumper stickers. These are simply external band-aids on an internal malady.

Would we see “Christ in Christmas?” Then we must begin by removing the world and materialism from the manger of our own hearts, and there enshrine Christ. Thus on Christmas morning, wake up and come to the Temple of God, the Church, and there offer a gift of sacrifice and praise for the unfathomable mercy He has performed on our behalf; then go and enjoy presents, meals, family, and friends. Then these things will be filled with Christ Jesus our Lord because they will be spinning on the axis of worship, the worship of God Incarnate. Then everything will truly matter, and everything will shine with the light of Christ.

When you are asked: "what do you do on Christmas morning?" Tell them, I go and worship Jesus Christ God Incarnate, what else is there?    

The New-Martyr Pavel of the Russian Far East

1886 saw a terrible cholera epidemic in the city of Kolyvan, Siberia when young Pavel (Paul) Lasareff was 6 years old. Days passed while the family watched wagons carrying many bodies to be buried. From the Orthodox Church, the sound of the mournful bells rang out day after day. On Trinity Sunday, young Pavel clung to his mother in fear, and that evening, he refused to eat.

He went to bed, but there was for him only restless sleep, as there had been for days. In his bedroom, he awakened to see his icon of the Virgin Mary illuminated by the hanging icon lamp. He could think of nothing else but the cholera epidemic and the endless bodies he had seen taken away. He jumped out of bed, knelt on the floor, and extended his hands toward the image of the Holy Mother. He prayed, imploring her help and salvation from the terrible death around him. He prostrated himself on the floor and then grew calm in silent supplication. “Save my beloved mother, father, brothers and sister; save our dear nanny and the whole city.”

Suddenly, he sensed a light, straightened up and stood on his knees. The amazed child fearfully looked at an unusual miraculous appearance. “Standing in place of the silver-clad icon, dressed in a light blue garment and bathed in beams of brilliant light, was the Holy Virgin Mary! “O Queen of Heaven. O most Holy Mother of God save us!” Pavel clearly remembers whispering this prayer with tears running down his cheeks, and he heard her say, “Child, your and others’ prayers have been heard by Almighty God. Do not be afraid and tell your mother that the epidemic of cholera will stop on Nikolaievsk Street.” “Thanks be to God,” he whispered, and the divine appearance disappeared.

This incident began the life of Pavel Lasareff. After a few days the epidemic stopped precisely at the spot that the Virgin Mary had predicted (barely two blocks from his house), and from that point on Pavel faithfully followed Christ. He sang in the church choir, became well educated, obtained a university degree, served in the Russo-Japanese War, married Claudia Sintsoff; and in 1916 was ordained into the priesthood of the Orthodox Church. All the while he remained mindful of the compassion shown throughout his life by the Virgin Mary. Father Pavel and his wife, Matushka Claudia, raised four children: Eugene, Leon, Barbara and Militina

Fr. Pavel & Mat. Claudia

But struggle marked the life of the priest’s family. Matushka Claudia became paralyzed on the left side of her body. Six months of medical attention proved to no avail. One night Fr. Pavel had a dream in which the Bishop who ordained him appeared and told him that the Holy Virgin Mother would soon visit, and that oil from the vigil lamp in the church was to be applied to the ailing parts of Claudia’s body. The visitation of the Virgin Mother came through the wonder-working icon of the Theotokos of Abalak, which was traveling from village to village. Again, the Virgin Mother took care of the family and Matushka Claudia was completely healed.

But soon the family was to experience the most horrible trial of all. 1918 brought the wave of the Russian Revolution across the land, and Fr. Pavel revealed to his Matushka that the time for martyrdom and death for Christ’s Church was approaching. He begged her to be courageous and to support him when the frightful hour would come. When Fr. Pavel was ordained, the Bishop prophesied to him that soon dark Satanic forces would persecute the Church. Before the Holy Gospel the Bishop asked if he was ready as a warrior of Christ’s Army not to betray the Temple of God. Fr. Pavel answered, “Yes!” The newly ordained Priest Pavel served in the Siberian village of Antonovka located in the Russian Far East (the closest major city was Vladivostok).

In the summer of 1918 severe drought plagued many parts of Russia. The villagers of Antonovka asked Fr. Pavel to serve a Moleben (Te Deum) service in the fields asking God in His mercy to send rain. Thousands of farmers formed a procession carrying the church banners, icons, and the Holy Gospel onto the fields after the Sunday Liturgy. Fr. Pavel prayed deeply and zealously while the villagers prostrated themselves in the grass. Suddenly lightning flashed followed by the violent roaring of Siberian thunder; then came a calm stillness along with mounting darkness. In the distance, the growing sound of heavy falling rain could be heard in the dense mass of the virgin Siberian forest. The people jumped up and began to run to the village. Only the priest, his eldest son, some banner carriers, and the choir remained until the end of the prayer service. Eugene, Fr. Pavel's oldest son, remembered, “Happy under the soaking rain, Father and I entered the main street of the village following the group of banner carriers.” The villagers joyfully lined up along the fences and crossed themselves, venerating the church banners as they passed by.

One day in early winter, 1918, Fr. Pavel solemnly came to the breakfast table and said in a very serious tone, “The bishop who ordained me appeared to me in a dream. He blessed me and put his bishop's stole (omofor) on my shoulders, then he pulled the sleeve off my arm from the elbow to my wrist. A blue line of vein stood out; along the vein six red round spots were marked. The bishop pointed to the six points and said, 'be ready to commit yourself into the hands of God: after six months the servants of Satan will kill you!'”

From this time forward Fr. Pavel became even more focused in the work given to him by God, and he would often show spontaneous affection for his wife and children.

He was overheard to tell his wife, “Do not be distressed nor be sorrowful; when it will be particularly painful, call to mind the dreadful suffering of the Most Holy Mother of God, Who witnessed the suffering on the Cross of Her beloved Son, of whose innocence She was aware.”

Fr. Pavel was a fearless defender of his flock. When asked to flee before the Communists he refused to abandon the church and the people entrusted to him.

After midnight in the dark early hours of June 7^th, 1919, the eve of Holy Trinity Sunday (Pentecost), a group of nine armed Bolsheviks came to arrest Fr. Pavel. The Communist killers appeared at the home armed and with bayonets fixed. When his hour came he was calm. He made a last sign of the cross in front of his icon corner and kissed the central icon. The holy image of the Heavenly Queen heard the last prayer of Reverend Father Pavel. Before he was taken away he blessed and kissed his wife and children telling them, 'Pray to the Queen of Heaven, and she will help, guide and save you all.'

Fr. Pavel was taken to a school building in the neighboring village of Nikitovka, which was being used as the Bolshevik headquarters. Eugene rode with a delegation of villagers the next day to obtain Fr. Pavel's release, but the mission failed. He was sentenced to death because he refused to renounce Christ and make a public announcement that he had deceived the people about the existence of God. This was the last time Eugene saw and embraced his father. Fr. Pavel asked about Matushka Claudia and the other children, then in parting he said, “Tell Mama that I will come home tonight and be with you until the end of your lives.” By this he meant that he would be martyred that evening. When his father was taken away, Eugene covered his face while hot tears ran down his cheeks. Some of the Bolsheviks then forced Eugene to a window saying, “Look, open your eyes, you snakish breed to see how we punish lackeys of capitalistic bloodsuckers.” Outside the window stood a family friend, the Roman Catholic priest, Ignatius from the village of Rakovka in front of a firing squad. When Eugene tried to look away, one of the men burned his neck with his cigarette, and he fainted. He later learned that his father, along with the Catholic priest had been shot and their bodies taken somewhere and either burned or buried. Reverend Father Pavel had become one of the New Martyr’s of the Russian Communist Revolution, standing for his faith in Christ and His Church. He was martyred on the Feast of Pentecost,  May 20th/June 2nd, 1919.

That young son of Fr. Pavel, Eugene Lasareff-Mironoff, fled later to the United States as a grown man and became one of the outstanding choir directors of St. Michael’s Orthodox Church in Pueblo, Colorado. The icon of the New Martyr Pavel hangs in St. Michael’s today, a gift from Helen, Eugene’s wife. Both are buried in Imperial Cemetery in Pueblo. 

Troparion to New-Martyr Pavel, Tone 4-

O Holy new-martyr Pavel/

Faithful priest and servant of Christ/

Willingly didst thou shed thy blood for Him/

And in the midst of godless apostasy/

Thou wast unshaken in the Orthodox Faith/

Therefore entreat Christ our God/

That we may faithfully endure to the end//

And that our souls may be saved!