The Commemoration of St. Peter of Krutitsa & Learning from the New Russian Martyrs

The first time Toby and I attended a Russian Orthodox service was the Saturday evening Vigil at our now-home parish of St. Nicholas. (I have written of that experience here.) There are icons all over the walls and on stands to be venerated, as you find in all Orthodox parishes. One caught my attention in particular and I was quite drawn to it. It was this one you see above. We did not know who it was, but I could not stop looking at it. It brought me peace. I noticed initially the birch trees (that look like aspens which I love), the birds, the rabbits, the train, the snowy, wintry environment, and the clergy there. The icon in our church is old and dark. I actually did not initially see the bear! Toby asked our archpriest who it was and it took a bit for him to know which icon we were talking about because neither of us had noticed the bear. We learned that it was St. Peter of Krutitsa, a Metropolitan, who was martyred for not falling in line with the Soviet state. He's huddled up next to that bear for warmth as he was thrown from a train by the Soviets which was a thing they did to kill people even as they were on the trains having been rounded up to be sent to Siberia. You can read more about his life here and here. 

I love this icon and wanted it for our own icon corner at home, but I could not find a replica anywhere for sale. One place we often order religious materials from advertised that they made custom icons so I contacted them to see if they could make this one for me. Toby took a photograph of it and they were able to lighten and color-correct it. The results were fantastic and we have now have it to venerate at home. 

When the nature of our political situation began to be clear to me, I began praying to this Saint to help us all in these times. There are many Saints to choose from as governments over the course of time have martyred thousands of Christians. But somehow I feel a connection to St. Peter both personally because of being drawn to that icon - inexplicably at the time - and because of his strength and martyrdom during a time that is increasingly analogous to our own. 

I said above that looking at this icon brought me peace. At the time I first saw it and felt that, I did not know the story behind it. Now that I do, I find it quite Providential that it brought me peace then even in my ignorance about it and it still brings me peace now knowing what was going on there and what eventually happened to St. Peter. I want to have that peace that he did in the midst of suffering, persecution, and eventually, his martyrdom. We all need to strive to have that in whatever circumstance we are in. Peace is not to be confused with happiness, security, or safety. One can have an internal peace even in the midst of those things and external chaos. The secret is developing the internal spirituality to have that. I am not there. I want to be. 

Today is the commemoration of St. Peter of Krutitsa, September 27 / October 10 (old calendar / new calendar dates) along with many other saints from other periods in world history. He is also celebrated with the other New Russian Martyrs on January 25 / January 12.

It seems to me that many Christians are unaware of the number of Orthodox Christians martyred for their faith during the Soviet control of Russia. I see comments from time to time by those who claim that the Russian Orthodox Church was controlled by the State and all the clergy were only too happy to comply and turn in true believers. I saw it described recently as "when the Soviets came, they ["the Russian Orthodox Church"] saved to temporal authorities with almost eager desire, even spying on the very people they were supposed to shepherd..." This is a misrepresentation of the entirety of that period of history. It also, frankly, displays a not-so-shocking ignorance and prejudice against my church. These, usually Catholics, dismiss the Russian Orthodox Church entirely, even now, with a truly shocking lack of honesty about the ongoing sins and deep spiritual illness within that organization which goes back decades and continues. (For example, this, this, and this.) 

I am not an expert or even very well read about this. But the oversimplified historical truth is that, yes, at some point the atheist Soviets took over the institution of the Russian Orthodox Church with the cooperation of some hierarchs. But that was not the whole story. The Wikipedia entry actually seems pretty fair to me and details how many different periods of persecution there were and the hierarchy's response to each period. You will not find widespread cooperation in many of them by the Church. The historical truth is that you will find very many martyrs in Russia who stood firm in their faith, including clergy.

One list is here with links to their biographies. Those are just some of the ones we know of. Notice how many hierarchs are on the list. I commend all Christians - especially as the totalitarian tyranny in our own country grows and expands - to read up on who we call "The New Russian Martyrs" or "New Martyrs of Russia." This is their icon:

If you go to the link above, you will be able to click on various parts of that icon and learn more about it.

An excellent book, out of print, but one which Toby and I were able to find and purchase is The New Martyrs of Russia and describes what they endured in more depth. Even before the Pandemic, we knew things were headed this way and when one of our priests mentioned this book, Toby especially, felt it was important that we acquire it for our own library and as a spiritual aid. He was right. 

We must be wary of prejudices that cloud intellectual honesty and true spirituality. It is important to know who our friends are and who they are not. And, what was once may not be what is now, especially when it comes to politics and political allies and enemies. Abbot Tryphon wrote of that today on his blog, which I read daily, and in which I find great sustenance and substance. I have only recently learned that part of what helps keep Orthodoxy on track (and I realize it's going off the rails in a lot of ways including in aspects of my own dear ROCOR), is the existence of the monks and their role, as Abbot Tryphon, himself a monk, described today:

I have been in pain of heart over this issue for a very long time. I’ve made it a point of staying away from politics, but, like the Lutheran pastors who spoke out against the Nazis, and paid the price, I must speak out, if for no other reason than to serve in the traditional role of the monk as prophet. We are dangerously close to war with Russia, and as a monk I am driven to speak the truth as I see it, unpopular as it may be. I am not being political, nor am I being unpatriotic or un-American. I am simply a priest monk calling upon his nation to repent, return to our Christian roots, and the basic Christian values we’ve held since the foundation of this great nation.

I am not comparing myself to the martyrs. I am simply saying that as a priest of the Church I must not surrender to the State, but like the Lutheran clergy who stood up to the Nazis, stand in boldness before the civil authorities. The Church must not passively stand by while terrible things happen. Only a few Lutheran clergy stood up for truth, and they paid the price. We clergy of today must not fear the fate of those courageous Lutheran pastors.

My Spiritual Father explained this to me a few months ago and it was a powerful realization to me. I'd never considered it or understood that before. I am still such an Orthodox neophyte. Monasticism does not exist in this manner or for this purpose in Catholicism. But in these past few months I have started reading more from certain monks and they are exceptionally clear in how they see things and have an understanding of the big picture in ways that do seem supernatural at times. What a resource in so many ways! They pray and suffer for the benefit of us all. Given their asceticism and knowledge, they are given clearer insight into many aspects of life. 

These are difficult times that are getting harder, to be certain. We will need to gather strength and learn spiritual strength from whatever resources we can. We need to learn the ways of those who persevered without losing their faith, without giving in to evil, and emulate them. We need to see things for what they are, including politics and things going on within society, without fear. And we cannot be in denial about any of this either. I offer all of this for your consideration. 

Thanks for reading!