The second Sunday after the day of the
Holy Trinity—is the Church Feast of the Russian
Land. On this day, the Orthodox
Church glorifies the great multitudes of God’s servants who completed their
toils on Russian land.
No other country gave the world so many saints.
All of them, and those, whom since ancient times the Russian nation reveres,
asking for their help and intercession, and those, whose names we will never
know, — are tied to the Russian land with indestructible bonds of prayer.
Let us glorify also this day the baptizer of Rus
— the great Equal-to-the-Apostles prince Vladimir, the Equal-to-the-Apostles
Princess Olga, revealing the light of true faith to our Homeland. Let us bow to
the faithful saints Princes Boris and Gleb, Alexander Nevsky and Dmitri
Donskoi, sacrificing their lives for others. Let us praise the holy hierarchs
and confessors — from the first Metropolitan of Kiev Michael to St. Tikhon, the
Patriarch of Moscow, for protecting their Russian flock from schisms and sects,
heresies and temptations. Let us pray to the spiritual fathers of the Russian
land — from Anthony of the Kievo-Pechersk monastery to John of Kronstadt.
Countless new Russian martyrs joined them, including the Tsar’s Family. Let us
reverently bow our heads before the hundreds of thousands of new Russian
martyrs, who did not abandon the faith and the Church in the last terrible
years.
Princes and monarchs, bishops and
fools-for-Christ, soldiers and holy women since the millenium protect our
country in the fiercest times. Once, through the prayers of the ven. Sergei of Radonezh, Russia
defeated the Tatars on the Kulikov field. Through the feat of confession St.
Ermogen saved Russia
from the Polish impostors to the throne. When all of Europe
bowed down to Napoleon, Seraphim of Sarov saved our Homeland by prayer.
And now, when many think that the end has come
for Holy Rus — it holds on, in spite of evil, by the prayers of its saints.
Bishop Vassian (Piatnitsky) in his word on the Week of the Russian Saints said:
"What if the crushing poleax of the Lord is
raised above us, and God’s anger with consuming fire
is ready to fall on the Russian land? What then? Then… we believe! — all the Russian saints will stand up for us before the
Terrible Righteous Judge. O, how many omophorions of the Saint Hierarch is
Heaven will be spread above our Russian land! How many princely battle shields
will be raised in her defense! How many poor mantles of the holy monks, how
many uncovered bodies of the fools-for-Christ will stand up for her! Can we
even think, that our holy relations and countrymen
will forget their native land and their Church?"
All the saints of our land, pray God for us!
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