Treason in High Places: On the Hundredth Anniversary of 30 December 1916
Quench not the spirit. Despise not prophesyings. But test all things, hold fast to that which is good.
1 Thess. 5, 19-21
Russia will not perish…it was and will be glorified; the tears of those who suffer, whoever they are, are higher than all idle talk.
Gregory Rasputin-Novy, 16 November 1916
Poor Russia bears a penance…It is our duty to cleanse the memory of the Elder from slander…This is vital for the spiritual life of the whole Russian Church…As Divine Truth begins to be revealed, everything will change in Russia.
Elder Nikolay (Guryanov) (1909-2002)
The West will never tolerate the rebirth of Holy Rus. It will always try to annihilate us, foisting on us as heroes its one-time agents of influence (to a greater or lesser extent): Lenin, Trotsky or Stalin. It will always strive by any means available to blacken and slander our Orthodox Civilization and our holy Tsar, in order through them to besmirch and compromise our Orthodox Church and our present State, blowing them apart from inside.
Petr Multatuli, Contemporary Russian Historian
Exactly 100 years ago, on 30 December 1916 (new style), the peasant elder Gregory Efimovich Rasputin-Novy was brutally and ritually murdered. Responsible were British spies and treasonous and parasitic Russian aristocrats, one of them an Oxford graduate, transvestite and occultist. Gregory, a ‘good, simple and religious man’, in the words of the Tsar, had been outrageously slandered by all the enemies of Christ and His Holy Church. These included ignorant, xenophobic nationalists, oligarchic February revolutionaries (and their ‘liberal’ Western and Westernized supporters to this day), as well as Bolshevik October revolutionaries with their German ideology and German/US finance and orders.
In the words of one of the assassins, Purishkevich, Gregory’s murder was ‘the first shot’ in the largely British-orchestrated February Revolution against the Christian Tsar. It anticipated by over two months the bloody torrent of the many millions of cruel deaths to come. His scapegoating, which had been going on for years before his death, which he had accurately prophesied, was only the self-justification of guilt-ridden murderers. Attitudes towards him have become a litmus test which shows the depth of repentance and mystical understanding necessary if the worldwide apostasy that began with the removal of the Tsar, who had held back Antichrist, is to be stemmed. Only then can the long-awaited restoration of our beloved Christian Emperor and Empire take place.
Below we present for the first time an English adaptation of the best-known of the three akathists to him, the one written by Nikolay Kozlov, all of which we have carefully read and compared. It is not an exact translation because the original, like the author’s full service to the New Martyr Gregory, at various points contains ambiguities in theological and other domains which could be misinterpreted by those of ill will. Although we give full credit to the author, this first ever version in a Western language is a long-considered adaptation, even original in parts, as much as a translation, with, for example, the words ‘Tsar’ generally translated as ‘Emperor’ and ‘Orthodox’ as ‘Christian’, as well as other changes.
May this be an English wreath laid on the gravesite of the still officially uncanonized but much venerated elder, healer, prophet and protomartyr of the Russian Revolution. This was ordered by anti-Christian sponsors and implemented by apostates, blinded by rationalism, from the anti-Christian globalist forces of evil. In their apostasy, folly and treachery these forces brought a curse of 100 years to the whole planet, not just an extended First World War and then Satanism in Russia, but a Second World War with its holocaust of 30 million Slav victims and a Cold War which endures to this day. It is from this that we may only now in 2016 be recovering, as the threat of a Third World War miraculously seems to be receding for now.
May the curse that has beset the whole world for 100 years at last be lifted!
Kontakion I
Called from the furthest bounds of East and West by the Most Holy Mother of God through her Image of Kazan to become a faithful servant of the Double-Headed Eagle, thou didst journey as a pilgrim to the holy places of the vast Orthodox Lands, even to the earthly Jerusalem, fearing God, honouring the Tsar and having compassion on the people. When the Spirit came down on thee, thou didst not forsake thy calling even unto death, acquiring boldness before the Lord and praying for those who sing to thee: Rejoice, O martyr Gregory, friend of the Emperor and guardian of the Empire!
Ikos I
Coming forth from the village of the Intercession of the Mother of God, thy destiny was revealed to be as an intercessor for the Imperial Family, O martyr Gregory, by thy prayers opposing the efforts of the dragon to overthrow the Christian Emperor and bestow his Empire on the beast from the bottomless pit. In wonder at thy service and protection beneath the veil of the Mother of God, we sing to thee thus:
Rejoice, thou who didst heal the heir to the throne after earthly doctors had laboured in vain.
Rejoice, thou who didst heal the future hope of the Christian Empire through thy prayers.
Rejoice, thou who didst turn the sorrow of the Empress into joy by the Holy Spirit.
Rejoice, thou who didst not seek any earthly reward for thy labours.
Rejoice, thou who didst imitate the mystical feat of the great martyr George.
Rejoice, thou who didst bear thy name as an evil for the sake of the Lord’s Anointed.
Rejoice, thou who didst obtain from thy Lord a new name that shines like a star in the heavens.
Rejoice, thou who didst speak words of the Lord like as a prophet of the New Israel.
Rejoice, thou who made the slanders and blasphemies of the enemies of Christ into salvation.
Rejoice, O spiritual warrior and companion in the battle for Sovereignty.
Rejoice, O invisible companion of the Emperor’s prayer.
Rejoice, O good and faithful servant even unto death.
Rejoice, O martyr Gregory, friend of the Emperor and guardian of the Empire!
Kontakion 2
Seeing the Christian Empire troubled and shaken by the enemies of Christ, thou, O martyr Gregory, wast revealed after the repose of the Righteous John of Kronstadt as a new prophet to denounce the spiritual impurity of the Emperor’s foes and confirm the good estate of his faithful subjects, singing to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 2
Having the mind of the saints of old, whom thou didst love, and concealing God’s gifts from the world behind the foolishness of the Cross, thou wast beloved by the Emperor and Empress. Slandered by the spite of apostates and the jealousy of traitors, thou, O blessed one, wast no friend to the dark forces that hated Christ. Teach us also by the knowledge that God inspired in thee to withstand temptations, the enemies of Christ and the devil, singing to thee thus:
Rejoice, O man of God, honoured by Imperial friendship.
Rejoice, O messenger of the will of God, revealed to the Emperor.
Rejoice, O treasury of the Wisdom of God, hidden from the world.
Rejoice, O servant of Christ, whose nobility was far greater than that of princes.
Rejoice, O bee made wise by God, who gathered mystical nectar from the Emperor’s flowers.
Rejoice, O sweetness feeding the lovers of honey with holy honeycombs.
Rejoice, O faithful keeper of the Sovereign Empire against the servants of Antichrist.
Rejoice, O untiring guardian and zealot of ancient piety against the demons.
Rejoice, O converser with the Imperial Family.
Rejoice, thou who didst suffer for the good order of the Empire.
Rejoice, O meadow of virtue cultivated from generation unto generation.
Rejoice, O fool for Christ blessed by God amid the intrigues of Babylon.
Rejoice, O martyr Gregory, friend of the Emperor and guardian of the Empire!
Kontakion 3
Raised up from a distant province for thine Imperial destiny by the Divine Love of Providence, thou, O blessed Gregory, admiring the Redeemer, didst witness to Him. In thy vigilance, as prophesied by the Righteous John according to thy name, thou didst sacrifice thy soul for thy Imperial Friends, prophesying and calling out to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 3
In thee the Sovereign Family found a new intercessor, a new prophet and a new martyr, for thou, O faithful Gregory, wast revealed to be a forerunner of the Imperial Martyrs, like them slain in the darkness of the night by the base in a basement. As the offering of thy soul for the Emperor was accepted, now pray for those who call out to thee in this wise:
Rejoice, O trusted intercessor for the Imperial City come from a lowly village.
Rejoice, O protection against those who plotted to slay the Emperor.
Rejoice, thou who gavest thy life for the Tsar as a protomartyr.
Rejoice, thou who didst suffer at the hands of those who then martyred the Imperial Family.
Rejoice, thou who didst repeat the famed patriotic feats of old.
Rejoice, thou who didst mystically sacrifice thy soul for the Emperor.
Rejoice, thou who didst accept royal hallowing from God.
Rejoice, thou who wast revered by thine Emperor and Empress as a man of God.
Rejoice, thou who wast crowned on earth with a crown of thorns.
Rejoice, thou who wast crowned in heaven with a royal crown.
Rejoice, O friend of the ancient and sacred union of Emperor and people against apostates and traitors.
Rejoice, O spiritual offshoot of the Imperial Family.
Rejoice, O martyr Gregory, friend of the Emperor and guardian of the Empire!
Kontakion 4
Rightfully spurning the wisdom of the world as vainglorious and impure and preferring the foolishness of the Cross, thou, O blessed one, didst denounce the lies and delusions, intrigues and evil schemings of those who had rejected Christ and didst pray with the greatest simplicity for those who sing to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 4
Hurling slanders and blasphemies at the Emperor who had been crowned by God, in their folly the traitors forced the Anointed of the Lord from his ancestral throne and led him like a lamb from his Gethsemane to his slaughter. Seeing the depth of thy love for the Emperor, who looks down on us now, we sing to thee, O Gregory, thus:
Rejoice, thou who in thy life with the Imperial Family wast falsely accused of every sin and vice.
Rejoice, O ever-watchful guardian of the Ruling Family who suffered for the sins of Russia.
Rejoice, thou who art not parted in death from their heavenly glory.
Rejoice, O gatekeeper in the heavenly mansions, guiding those who are called to speak of the Imperial mystery.
Rejoice, thou who denouncest unfaithful ministers before the Imperial Family.
Rejoice, O stumbling block for those gone astray from Christ, who even now scorn the Emperor’s glory.
Rejoice, thou who didst abide night and day in prayer for the Christian Ruler.
Rejoice, O never-slumbering eyes of the Tsar, delaying the appearance of Antichrist.
Rejoce, O holy standard of all the faithful servants of the Emperor.
Rejoice, O denouncer of treason, cowardice and deceit.
Rejoice, O humble ploughman who didst put thy hand to the plough of the Empire.
Rejoice, O mystical shield and protection of the Christian Emperor.
Rejoice, O martyr Gregory, friend of the Emperor and guardian of the Empire!
Kontakion 5
Like a star shining forth from the Russian Lands in the distant east and moving on its God-given course to Christ, thy soul, O martyr Gregory, burned like a bright flame amid the delusions of the spiritual night in the west, going before the Emperor who cried out to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 5
Seeing thee going before the Emperor as a prophet and fool for Christ, and witnessing to the grace of God resting on His Anointed, in their folly the traitors turned on thee like wolves in order to part thee from the Emperor. Wondering at the many miraculous acts of Divine Providence which guide the Christian Empire, we sing to thee thus:
Rejoice, O pilgrim who during many years prayed at the holy places.
Rejoice, O sower of the noble seeds of beauty, goodness and truth among the Orthodox people.
Rejoice, thou who didst mystically see the Imperial destiny of Holy Rus.
Rejoice, O fisherman, who gavest wise counsel to those caught in thy spiritual nets.
Rejoice, thou who didst come like a prophet unto thine own and wast not known by them.
Rejoice, O pearl of great price who was cast before swine.
Rejoice, thou who didst love God, Tsar and Empire.
Rejoice, O citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem.
Rejoice, thou who didst worship in the Holy Land and the earthly Jerusalem.
Rejoice, O pilgrim to Patmos, where John the Theologian saw the vision of the last times.
Rejoice, thou who didst eclipse the dark star of the enemies of the Tsar with the Sun of Righteousness.
Rejoice, thou who gavest sight to those made spiritually blind by the world.
Rejoice, O martyr Gregory, friend of the Emperor and guardian of the Empire!
Kontakion 6
False brethren, weak in faith and cold of heart, did not wish to honour the see of Tobolsk, but thou, O wondrous Gregory, zealous for the greater glory of the Empire, didst intercede before the Tsar for the glorification of the holy hierarch John Maximovich, who is wonderful among the saints, calling out to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 6
By thy prayers and intercessions before the Emperor, the light of Christ shone forth from the shrine of the holy relics of the sainted John of Tobolsk, for thou, O martyr Gregory, didst diligently labour to keep thy land faithful to the Tsar; through thy intercessions forsake not us who call out to thee such things as these:
Rejoice, O fulfilment of the mystical prophecies of Holy Rus for all the peoples of the world before the end.
Rejoice, thou who didst proclaim the city of Tobolsk to be Christ’s.
Rejoice, O hope of the land that suffered the blood of idolatry in former times.
Rejoice, O intercessor for the Empire made white by the red blood of the first martyred Tsar.
Rejoice, O spiritual guardian of the prison, which received the Imperial Captives.
Rejoice, O native of the land where mystically met the earthly and heavenly paths of Emperor and prophet.
Rejoice, thou who didst bear chains on thy body like a hidden schema.
Rejoice, thou who tookest the sanctuary of Tobolsk from its enemies with the sword of the Spirit.
Rejoice, thou who didst work many wonders and healings in thy lifetime.
Rejoice, thou who gavest repentance to the hierarch Germogen, appearing to him after death.
Rejoice, thou who didst mystically accompany the Tsar through the land of Tobolsk.
Rejoice, thou who lookest down on us from Heaven together with the Imperial Family.
Rejoice, O martyr Gregory, friend of the Emperor and guardian of the Empire!
Kontakion 7
Desiring that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, thou, O blessed one, didst guide both the good and the bad through life’s sorrows, giving spiritual treasures to the faithful, who call out to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 7
Christ showed thee to be a new passion-bearer, for thou didst not render any of thy persecutors evil for evil, praying for them and making ready for the Day of Judgement. Help us to escape the horrors of Gehenna that await Satan and his henchmen, as we call out to thee thus:
Rejoice, O generous almsgiver who didst love the poor.
Rejoice, thou who didst bar the gates of hell for the faithful.
Rejoice, thou who didst help the poor and naked.
Rejoice, thou who gavest every good gift for Christ and the Tsar.
Rejoice, thou who hast the exceeding great power to console in sorrow.
Rejoice, thou who didst call the rich and powerful to repentance from their spiritual impurity.
Rejoice, thou who dost ever sorrow for all who were guilty before the Tsar and sinful before God.
Rejoice, for none who came to thee with faith departed sorrowing and unconsoled.
Rejoice, thou who in wisdom didst conceal thy deeds from traitors with the foolishness of the Cross.
Rejoice, thou blessed by God who wast wiser than the enemies of Christ, the world and the devil.
Rejoice, thou who didst appear deaf and mute before those who insulted thee.
Rejoice, thou who didst pray for the enemies of God before the Day of Wrath.
Rejoice, O martyr Gregory, friend of the Emperor and guardian of the Empire!
Kontakion 8
Seeing thy life of struggles and labours in the world through the eyes of spiritual impurity, O holy Gregory, some fell into temptation, for they heeded the words of the enemies of Christ, whose slanders against thee described their own vices, raising up a persecution against thee and thy spiritual children, who call out to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 8
Thou didst endure all the filth and torment of the enemies of Christ with valour, O martyr Gregory. Struck by cutting words and piercing slanders sharper than swords and spears, thou didst accept bodily wounds, foreknowing thy violent death at the hands of enemies of Christ and traitors. As thou didst smite the old dragon, who rose up against the Christian Emperor with the Cross of the Lord, pray for us who call out to thee thus:
Rejoice, O protomartyr, against whom the demons inspired slander in every enemy of Christ.
Rejoice, thou whose life God had already preserved from death.
Rejoice, thou who didst bear the feat of martyrdom by the power of Christ.
Rejoice, thou who wast pierced in the side like the Saviour, with the cross in thy hands.
Rejoice, thou who wast thrown down beside a dead dog according to the evil custom of the enemies of Christ.
Rejoice, thou who wast cast into a freezing watery grave.
Rejoice, thou whose body was buried by the Imperial Family in a place of honour.
Rejoice, thou whose body was taken up and burned by the enemies of Christ, so having suffered both ice and fire.
Rejoice, for the enemies of Christ slew thee in a basement at night like the Imperial Martyrs.
Rejoice, for apostates and traitors of the Imperial line were guilty of thy peasant blood.
Rejoice, thou who wast raised up from afar for an Imperial destiny.
Rejoice, thou who didst beforehand show the Emperor a martyr’s end.
Rejoice, O martyr Gregory, friend of the Emperor and guardian of the Empire!
Kontakion 9
Having shared and passed through every temptation of thine Imperial Friends by the grace of God, thou didst confess the Imperial mystery of the Incarnation, O blessed Gregory, which none knows, save the pious Orthodox who truly confess Christ and so are faithful to the Tsar, singing to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 9
All the long words of orators and all the airy works of philosophers are unable to express the depth of the spiritual impurity of those in seats of authority, who had lost the Orthodox Faith and so fell into envy, spite, slander and treason against the Emperor, the Empress and thee; but as for us, we see and honour only the glory of thy cross and call out to thee thus:
Rejoice, thou who didst share the Imperial burden before their Golgotha.
Rejoice, thou who didst eat at the Emperor’s table.
Rejoice, thou who didst choose the path of loyalty to the Emperor, refusing the pieces of silver of the traitors.
Rejoice, thou chosen out of distant Siberia who becamest one of the Ruler’s own.
Rejoice, thou who didst look on the Emperor and Empress as a faithful son.
Rejoice, O holy new prophet blessed by God to protect Sovereign Rus.
Rejoice, for thou didst shame those who shamed Holy Rus in the sight of the whole world.
Rejoice, thou who wast rewarded by the Empress.
Rejoice, thou who voluntarily tookest on thyself the sorrows of the Emperor.
Rejoice, thou who didst gain the envy and spite of the enemies of Christ.
Rejoice, thou who wast the Emperor’s faithful servant.
Rejoice, for thou wast one of those of whom the world is not worthy.
Rejoice, O martyr Gregory, friend of the Emperor and guardian of the Empire!
Kontakion 10
God entrusted thee with the protection of the Christian Emperor, the faithful Empress and their godly children, O prophet and wonderworker Gregory. Thou didst stop the issue of blood of the heir, shedding thine own blood instead, that with the piety and holiness of the Orthodox spirit thou couldst feed the souls of thine Imperial Friends, who call out to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 10
In their cunning and jealousy the enemies of Christ, greedy for power, tried to build a dividing wall of slander and lies between the Emperor and the people, that they might slay first him and then them, but thou, O wise one, pulled down that dividing wall, interceding for the people before the Emperor and showing the people to him, thus interceding for us too, who call out to thee such things as these:
Rejoice, for the Imperial Family were among thy spiritual children.
Rejoice, for in thy person they mystically adopted the Russian people.
Rejoice, O wise and patient mentor of thine Imperial disciples.
Rejoice, thou who didst savour their souls with the salt of Divine grace.
Rejoice, thou who didst teach the Imperial Family prophecy and holiness.
Rejoice, thou didst bless them with the simplicity of wisdom.
Rejoice, O offshoot of the Church sacredly grafted onto the Imperial vine.
Rejoice, thou who by thy grafting dost break off the withered branches of the Church.
Rejoice, thou who gavest a good answer for thy sacred pledge.
Rejoice, for thou makest us too, who honour thee, the Emperor’s friends.
Rejoice, thou who mystically askest for the Tsar’s forgiveness for those who betrayed him.
Rejoice, for in thee we await the restoration of the nobility of old.
Rejoice, O martyr Gregory, friend of the Emperor and guardian of the Empire!
Kontakion 11
Loving the Church and partaking of the Holy Mysteries more eagerly than of all the treasures of the world, thou, O Gregory, tookest up thy cross of serving the Emperor in accordance with thy destiny appointed by Divine Providence, calling out to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 11
The hierarchy was divided; brave and humble-minded missionaries, serving the Tsar and the people in east and west, blessed thee with warm hearts; proud and self-admiring functionaries, serving themselves and the worldly in ease and wealth, despised thee with cold hearts. Praying for the enlightenment of scribes and pharisees, we honour thy memory and that of all those faithful to the Imperial Family, singing praise to thee in this wise:
Rejoice, thou who wast mystically raised up from among the people by the Emperor.
Rejoice, thou who wast blessed by many faithful hierarchs such as Aleksiy, Makariy, Pitirim, Barnabas, Isidore and Melchizedek.
Rejoice, O pleaser of God, who didst honour Christ our God in every place of His dominion.
Rejoice, thou who hadst spiritual power, shaming the powerless wisdom of this world.
Rejoice, O unmercenary builder of the church in thy home village.
Rejoice, thou who didst love the Mother of God and wast zealous for piety.
Rejoice, O resolver of disputes, not with the booklore of scribes and pharisees, but with simplicity of heart.
Rejoice, O peacemaker sent by God among the disorder of men.
Rejoice, thou who didst fulfil the prophecies of the holy wonderworker Seraphim.
Rejoice, O lover of the Scriptures through the Spirit, who gavest the name of God all glory and honour.
Rejoice, thou who didst receive from Christ the gift of discernment.
Rejoice, thou who didst fight the serried ranks of heretics.
Rejoice, O martyr Gregory, friend of the Emperor and guardian of the Empire!
Kontakion 12
By thy prayers increase the grace of intercession of Christian Emperors for the whole world, O martyr Gregory, for the prayer of the righteous avails much. After God had raised thee up from among the people to shame the apostasy and so lack of love of the rich and powerful, the treason of princes, the cowardice of generals and the deceit of the fleshly-minded ushered in an age of bitter persecution, but of sweet glory for the faithful, who called out to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 12
Singing of the wonders worked in thy life by the grace of God, the healing of infirmities, the casting out of evil spirits, the granting of victory in battle, the foretelling of things to come, the consoling of the sorrowing with a single word and wise counselling for all life’s needs and cares, we call on thee, O wondrous Gregory, cease not to pray for us who are scattered across the face of the earth, awaiting the coming restoration of the Christian Empire and the new Tsar, who will sweep away the unworthy and the unfaithful, and calling out to thee such things as these:
Rejoice, O wise husbandman of the Imperial garden.
Rejoice, O fence against the thorns of the rich and powerful.
Rejoice, for no man has ever been slandered in his life like unto thee.
Rejoice, for even after thy martyrdom those who honoured thee were slandered.
Rejoice, O spiritual cloth with which every tear is wiped from every eye.
Rejoice, that evil words against thee may be forgiven.
Rejoice, O mystery of peasant nobility, tilling the earth of the soul.
Rejoice, O faithful servant of the holy ones of God.
Rejoice, for by thy martyrdom the dragon was run through.
Rejoice, O bright star of Siberia and martyr for Holy Rus.
Rejoice, for the Imperial Family loved thee.
Rejoice, O fair flower from the Imperial meadow.
Rejoice, O martyr Gregory, friend of the Emperor and guardian of the Empire!
Kontakion 13
O glorious new martyr and wonderworker Gregory, by the cross of foolishness for Christ’s sake and voluntary suffering thou didst defeat the dragon, like the martyrs George, Theodore and Mercurius of old, and as the friend who fought for the Emperor of the Russian Lands thou dwellest with the holy ones in eternity, pray for the servants of Christ that by thine intercessions we unworthy sinners may also be accounted among the number of the friends of the Emperor, singing to Almighty God: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
The above kontakion is read three times, then the first ikos, followed by the first kontakion.
Prayer
O holy new martyr and wonderworker Gregory, the Emperor’s friend who fought against the traitors who took Holy Rus to the depths, show the foes of the Orthodox Lands on the left side and on the right side the might of the double-edged sword of Divine justice. May they not destroy the holy seed of Sovereignty, may the Christian Empire and Emperor be restored for all before the end, still mightier than before, according to the prophecy, through thine intercessions and the prayers of the Imperial Martyrs, that all who love the Name of God in Orthodox wise all over the world may make glad forever. Amen.
Troparion, Tone IV
O friend of the Emperor, who fought for Christian Rule, / thou didst appear as a fool for Christ to the world, / which did not know thee and evilly slandered thee. / O holy passion-bearer and martyr Gregory, / as thou didst offer thyself up as a sacrifice to Christ for the Emperor, / so pray for us that we too may be delivered from the injustices of enemies, / becoming the friends of the Sovereign Emperor // and seeing the Resurrection of Holy Rus.