Stalin Icon in Russian Church

[Michael K.]

http://www.orthodoxchristianbooks.com/downloads/314_A_HISTORY_OF_ROCOR_2000_2007.pdf

Tserkovnie Novosti (Church News), June, 2005:

Matushka Anastasia Shatilova noted: "In the Moscow Patriarchate there can be observed an elemental striving towards the 'glorification' of a series of very dubious personalities, including Ivan the Terrible (seven times married, who killed his own son and sent Maliuta Skuratov to suffocate the holy Hierarch Philip of Moscow for his rebuking of the Tsar's cruelties) and Rasputin (whose 'icons' are even streaming myrrh). The crown of all this is the 'icon' of Stalin, which was put on the "Live Journal" on the internet on June 5. On it this outcast of the human race is portrayed in hierarchical vestments with an omophorion, a Gospel book and a sword in his hands!"

http://russia-ic.com/news/show/7473

Petersburg Communists Multiply Stalin Icon
1.12.2008 11:30


      A scandal flared up due to the incident with an icon portraying Joseph Stalin put up in the Church of Grand Princess St. Olga, Equal-to-the-Apostles, in Strelna, under St. Petersburg.
     
      Following the indignant response of church authorities the 67-year-old Father Superior Evstafy, who had put the icon up, finally had to remove it.
     
      Officially the scandalous icon is dedicated to St. Matrona of Moscow. However, it depicts a legendary incident when the generalissimo supposedly visited the saint to ask her for advice: whether Moscow had to be defended from fascists.
     
      The absurd situation attracted "Communists of St. Petersburg" who took the news of Father Evstafy as a sky-sign and printed about three thousand icons depicting the Kremlin tyrant alone and with a halo above his head [above- MK] and distributed the icons in the city.
     
      Source: kp.ru

http://arturovasquez.wordpress.com/2009/03/22/stalinist-icon/

Christopher Orr (16:40:11) :

"An icon depicting Soviet leader Joseph Stalin has appeared in a church of Leningrad district's city of Strelnya, Novaya Gazeta reported Wednesday.

The church's Beneficiary Evstafy Zhakov said the legend has it that Stalin would often hold discourse with Blessed Matrona of Moscow. And that is the scene depicted on the icon. However, church visitors didn't think it was a good idea and the icon was placed in the church's remote corner.

Beneficiary Zhakov explained that he sees Stalin as one of the nation's fathers, no matter how bad he was. He does not believe Stalin was an atheist."

Zhakov's personal opinions on Stalin's religiosity aside, if it is true there is a tradition that Stalin would meet with St. Matrona, than an icon depicting him with her would simply be a panel of her life. Significantly to those that know something of the language of iconography, Stalin does not have a halo meaning he is not considered a saint. There are many examples of unbelievers and persecutors in icons, so this is not shocking, e.g., icons that depict Arius being slapped by St. Nicholas; Soviet persecutors of New Martyrs, etc.

Of course, the fact that some small group in Russia wants to canonize Stalin should be taken into account when deciding if it is wise to have any image of the man in any church in any context.

[Christopher Marlowe]

Un-flipping-believable. Stalin killed millions in the holdomor, and these whack-jobs want to put him in an icon?  They have some serious double-think going on.

[Michael K.]

NEW ZION IN BABYLON - The Orthodox Church in the Twentieth Century, by Vladimir Moss.

http://www.orthodoxchristianbooks.com/books/downloads.php?book_id=264

(pp.17-20):

Archpriest Lev Lebedev, a convert from the MP to ROCOR, was still more trenchant in his criticism:

"Only after... 1990, in a situation and atmosphere of relative civil liberty, and especially after the staged supposed 'putsch' of the dissolution of the CPSU in 1991 and even of Soviet power in 1993 (!), did the following become completely clear. The 'Patriarchate' in the former Sovdepia was not at all an unfree, enslaved 'Church of silence', as it was sometimes called. Its hierarchy had already for a very long time, not at all under coercion, not under pressure, but completely voluntarily and from the soul, been attempting to please the Soviet regime. They were not the 'new martyrs' for the Church that they presented themselves as to their flock, and which is how some observers from outside were inclined to see them. The point is that the episcopate of the 'patriarchate' constructed by Sergius had more and more with every succeeding generation (replenishment) truly fraternised and become friendly with the partocrats, the nomenklatura of the CPSS, to the extent that the nomenklatura degenerated morally and ideologically! So that the bishops of the 'patriarchate', and especially the highest ones, that is, those who held real power in the Church, became one with the partocrats in spirit, in their manner of thinking, even, to a large extent, in their language (the use of stock phrases from the newspapers in their sermons and speeches had been noted long before). If there is anything more despicable in the world than the Soviet 'cultural intelligentsia', then it can only be the episcopate of the Moscow 'patriarchate'!

"The princes (and 'princelets') of the church, exactly like the party boyars, began to be distinguished by an unbelievable haughtiness and arrogance towards those subject to them, and by the basest servility towards those above them, surrounding themselves with houses, dacha-palaces, crowds of toady-lackeys and every kind of luxury. Just like the partocrats, the bloated bishops of the 'patriarchate' became thieves from the public purse and swindlers, and acquired an amazing capacity to look with honest, clear eyes on an interlocutor or at their flock and deliberately deceive them in the most convincing manner. Their mendacity, their infinite mendacity almost in everything became a real second nature of the 'patriarchal' hierarchy. 'Evil communications...' If ecumenism made the Moscow 'patriarchate' one in spirit with all the heretics, and even with non-Christians, with whom it entered into spiritual communion through joint prayers, then sergianism made it one in spirit with the partocracy. Now, when the very partocracy has abandoned even the communist ideology that held it together, and even its own party, so as to become openly private owners of the huge resources stolen from the country and the people, and for that reason has 'rebranded' itself as democracy, while holding power in Russia as before, the 'patriarchate', being as before one with it, serves it on mutually beneficial terms. However, as we have seen, from now on the 'patriarchate' has started more and more openly to orient itself on the real masters of the situation – the Jews.

"Like all smart dealers 'of this world', the bishops of 'the patriarchate' are no longer able to maintain real ecclesiastical brotherhood and friendship in their relationships with each other. Jealousy, envy, enmity, intrigues and denunciations against each other have become the norm of their mutual relations. This has been transmitted to the clergy. If there are several priests in a parish, there can never be true friendship between them; jealousy and envy have become the norm. There is no point even speaking about Christian love among the clergy.

"'The fish begins to rot from the head.' This condition and behaviour of the hierarchy of the Moscow 'patriarchate' has been transferred, not without opposition, to the lower levels – through the middle clergy to the people, the flock, where it received the most powerful and long-lasting resistance. But with time even the flock 'gave in'. In the mass of the Christians of the churches of the 'patriarchate', mutual love has become extremely scarce; more and more its place has been taken by jealousy, envy and the most terrible bitterness against each other (especially on the kliroses and at the money 'desks'), a bitterness such as you will not find in secular establishments! In the last 10 years this has reached the level of pathological fear of each other in connection with suspicions of witchcraft! Many in the churches now fear to receive a prosphora or boiled wheat or a candle from each other... There where faith has withered there have grown up, like poisonous mushrooms, the most varied superstitions! And, you know, they really do practice witchcraft! And not only in the villages, but also in the cities, moreover completely educated people! They learn from each other methods of 'black' and 'white' magic, spells, 'charms' and 'anti-charms'. Sorcerers send their 'patients' to certain priests, and these in their turn – to sorcerers. Healer sorcerers have appeared in the midst of the clergy...  They go to him in droves, not only from the diocese, but also from other regions. The profit from it is very large. Batiushka generously shares it with the bishop, and for that reason the bishop does not touch him, in spite of the outrage of his brethren and some of the believers!... Suffering from spells and the evil eye have become very widespread illnesses amongst parishioners. Medicine in such cases is useless, it cannot even establish a diagnosis. And people suffer terribly! You should see (especially in the countryside) this bewitched, hunched-up, deformed humanity! And all this is from their own people, as a result of envy and revenge....

"There where hatred has taken the place of love, you can say what you like, only it is not the Church of Christ, and especially not the Russian Orthodox Church.

"The quality of faith has changed to an unrecognisable extent. To put it more bluntly, among people of that social milieu where to this day they sincerely suppose that an abandoned church is very suitable for a lavatory, among people of this milieu faith has long ago been turned into some church-like paganism, where everything comes down to 'sacrifices' to God, so that He may not punish them, or give them something they are asking for. Among people of a higher cultural level, alongside this a thirst for 'spiritual experiences' is also noticeable. But if there is no grace of the Holy Spirit and the lofty feelings produced by it, then they are trying to imagine them, that is, artificially create them. The result is 'spiritual deception' in the form of various levels of exaltation, leading right to psychological and mental illness of one or another level. So that now among believing intelligenty the most zealous are always – without fail and necessarily – psychologically sick people. On this soil especially luxuriant blooms that have flowered in the 'patriarchate' have been the manifestations of false 'eldership' and the 'deification' of young archimandrites by demonised hysterics. In contrast to St. John of Kronstadt, the archimandrites (igumens, hieromonks and other 'grace-filled batiushkas') do not drive such people away from themselves, but in every way encourage them, sometimes creating out of these female worshippers veritable bands that morally (and sometimes even physically!) terrorize the other believers. This terrible phenomenon already has a marked antichristian character. One of the female worshippers of one such archimandrite very precisely said: 'Batiushka is our God!' What stands behind this is the thirst to have a 'living god', a man-god, whom one can make an idol of in one's life. The epoch of the 'cult of personality' did not pass in vain.

"How many hundred and thousands of souls throughout Russia have been hopelessly spoiled by this newly appeared 'elders', 'grace-filled' instructors and 'wonder-workers'! True eldership ceased long ago. Some widely venerated monastics from the Trinity – St. Sergius Lavra, the Pskov Caves monastery, the Riga desert and other places, however one may respect them, cannot be called elders. If only because they were silent through all the years of Khruschev's mockery of the Church, and are silent now, after the speech of the 'patriarch' before the rabbis. Moreover, they do not bless others to speak.  Why? Because the 'patriarchate' has constantly instilled and instils in its flock that in the Church 'obedience is higher than fasting and prayer', having forgotten to explain that this refers to the real Church, and not to the false one! These are undoubtedly sincere and assiduous monastics; they also take the 'patriarchate' for the Russian Orthodox Church, that is, they also believe in the lie, encouraging those who trust them to believe in it, too...

[Timothy_Fitzpatrick]

Totally blasphemous!

Good find.

[mgt23]

a bitterness such as you will not find in secular establishments! In the last 10 years this has reached the level of pathological fear of each other in connection with suspicions of witchcraft! Many in the churches now fear to receive a prosphora or boiled wheat or a candle from each other... There where faith has withered there have grown up, like poisonous mushrooms, the most varied superstitions! And, you know, they really do practice witchcraft! And not only in the villages, but also in the cities, moreover completely educated people! They learn from each other methods of 'black' and 'white' magic, spells, 'charms' and 'anti-charms'. Sorcerers send their 'patients' to certain priests, and these in their turn – to sorcerers. Healer sorcerers have appeared in the midst of the clergy... They go to him in droves, not only from the diocese, but also from other regions. The profit from it is very large. Batiushka generously shares it with the bishop, and for that reason the bishop does not touch him, in spite of the outrage of his brethren and some of the believers!... Suffering from spells and the evil eye have become very widespread illnesses amongst parishioners. Medicine in such cases is useless, it cannot even establish a diagnosis. And people suffer terribly! You should see (especially in the countryside) this bewitched, hunched-up, deformed humanity! And all this is from their own people, as a result of envy and revenge...

......a masonic signature and probably why the jews see the subjugation and eventual sacrifice of the christian church as legitimate. Forgiveness is the antidote to bitterness within the church community.