would teach Alix to find meaning later on in the mutterings of Rasputin, and the vague stories about fools’ indecent conduct would become the justification for Rasputin’s debauch. All these magicians were preparing her for the coming of the “Holy Devil.”
The whole pernicious game alarmed Ioann of Kronstadt.
Father Ioann of Kronstadt told them about a true saint and his miracle working, about Serafim of Sarov, whose posthumous glory was already thundering across Russia.
Serafim was a holy man who died in 1833 in the Sarov wilderness. “Fortifying himself in devout thought, in ceaseless incantations of God, and in readings of holy books, Serafim was granted many spiritual visions,” Ioann wrote. “He healed and prophesied.”
At age eighteen, Serafim (at that time he was still Prokhor Moshnin; he became Serafim after he entered the cloister) left his home and went to worship in the great city of Kiev, at the Holy Monastery of the Caves. Afterward he lived for a long time in the Sarov wilderness under a vow of silence. He taught: “The soul must be given the Word of God—the bread of angels. It is this that nourishes the soul.”
The holy man was meek and filled with light and joy.
“The soul replete with despair goes mad; he who conquers passion conquers despair as well.” Sadness and despair are sinful.
Serafim went about surrounded by nuns, those happy brides of Christ.
But there were rumors about Serafim and the nuns. The secular authorities grew concerned and instructed the spiritual authorities to question Serafim—and the mystery of holiness became the object of a police investigation. Soon after, the case was put on hold for lack of evidence, but Serafim apparently said at that point: “Thisevent signifies that the end of my life is near.” He quietly passed away.
This is how, in connection with the investigation, Father Serafim’s prophecies found their way to the Department of Police.
Alix believed immediately: Serafim the holy man, standing by God’s throne, would intercede for them, and Holy Russia would get its heir. Meek Serafim had entered their life.
Alix did everything in her power to get him canonized. She succeeded, and it was decided that the entire family would travel to Sarov for the canonization ceremony. How Alix believed in that trip! She would bow to the powers of the saint and pray for a son, for the continuation of the line.
On July 16, 1903, the imperial train pulled into the Arzamas station, and from there the family set out for the Sarov wilderness and the monastery.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs, under Minister Plehve, had been preparing for this trip for a long time. As usual in Russia, the secret police turned everything into a gigantic farce. Orders were issued to the inhabitants of the settlements along the tsarist family’s route: “Decorate the entrances to the settlement with arches, your houses with flags, line up along both sides of the road to greet … and so on.” Huts were immediately painted, covered with boards and even iron. The strictest security measures were taken. Even the welcome had been carefully conceived. During the formal ceremony at the station, a loaded revolver “accidentally” fell out of Minister Plehve’s coat, which his servant was carrying, and a shot rang out. The scheming Plehve had played it exactly right. The sound of the shot was supposed to evoke terrible memories, so that the tsar would properly appreciate the precautionary measures undertaken by the concerned minister.
The police games went right past the imperial couple, though. They saw only the ecstatic crowds lining the road and the sea of people—150,000—who had gathered at the monastery. These people were not driven away. The people who had come to worship Serafim were inclined to be especially devoted to Nicholas. He saw the enthusiasm of the immense crowd that greeted him.
——
The Sarov trip made an enormous impression on Nicholas and
The whole pernicious game alarmed Ioann of Kronstadt.
Father Ioann of Kronstadt told them about a true saint and his miracle working, about Serafim of Sarov, whose posthumous glory was already thundering across Russia.
Serafim was a holy man who died in 1833 in the Sarov wilderness. “Fortifying himself in devout thought, in ceaseless incantations of God, and in readings of holy books, Serafim was granted many spiritual visions,” Ioann wrote. “He healed and prophesied.”
At age eighteen, Serafim (at that time he was still Prokhor Moshnin; he became Serafim after he entered the cloister) left his home and went to worship in the great city of Kiev, at the Holy Monastery of the Caves. Afterward he lived for a long time in the Sarov wilderness under a vow of silence. He taught: “The soul must be given the Word of God—the bread of angels. It is this that nourishes the soul.”
The holy man was meek and filled with light and joy.
“The soul replete with despair goes mad; he who conquers passion conquers despair as well.” Sadness and despair are sinful.
Serafim went about surrounded by nuns, those happy brides of Christ.
But there were rumors about Serafim and the nuns. The secular authorities grew concerned and instructed the spiritual authorities to question Serafim—and the mystery of holiness became the object of a police investigation. Soon after, the case was put on hold for lack of evidence, but Serafim apparently said at that point: “Thisevent signifies that the end of my life is near.” He quietly passed away.
This is how, in connection with the investigation, Father Serafim’s prophecies found their way to the Department of Police.
Alix believed immediately: Serafim the holy man, standing by God’s throne, would intercede for them, and Holy Russia would get its heir. Meek Serafim had entered their life.
Alix did everything in her power to get him canonized. She succeeded, and it was decided that the entire family would travel to Sarov for the canonization ceremony. How Alix believed in that trip! She would bow to the powers of the saint and pray for a son, for the continuation of the line.
On July 16, 1903, the imperial train pulled into the Arzamas station, and from there the family set out for the Sarov wilderness and the monastery.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs, under Minister Plehve, had been preparing for this trip for a long time. As usual in Russia, the secret police turned everything into a gigantic farce. Orders were issued to the inhabitants of the settlements along the tsarist family’s route: “Decorate the entrances to the settlement with arches, your houses with flags, line up along both sides of the road to greet … and so on.” Huts were immediately painted, covered with boards and even iron. The strictest security measures were taken. Even the welcome had been carefully conceived. During the formal ceremony at the station, a loaded revolver “accidentally” fell out of Minister Plehve’s coat, which his servant was carrying, and a shot rang out. The scheming Plehve had played it exactly right. The sound of the shot was supposed to evoke terrible memories, so that the tsar would properly appreciate the precautionary measures undertaken by the concerned minister.
The police games went right past the imperial couple, though. They saw only the ecstatic crowds lining the road and the sea of people—150,000—who had gathered at the monastery. These people were not driven away. The people who had come to worship Serafim were inclined to be especially devoted to Nicholas. He saw the enthusiasm of the immense crowd that greeted him.
——
The Sarov trip made an enormous impression on Nicholas and
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