Word XV. On the Birthday of Our Most Pious Sovereign Empress Alexandra Feodorovna

“«My fate shall go forth from Your presence» (Ps 16:2).”

Today we have a solemn observance in memory of the birthday of our Most Pious Sovereign, the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, and a nationwide prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord God for Her health and for the fulfillment of the good judgments of God in Her life.

Did She ever think, in the tender youth of a young girl, that She was destined by God to be the consort of the Emperor of All Russia and the mother of Their Imperial Children, and among them the Heir to the throne?

And that which never even entered Her mind came to pass, in its own time, by the all-good will of the Creator and Provider. — But, alongside the joys of childbearing and of gazing upon Her Imperial Children, there have fallen to Her, in recent years, sorrowful days together with Her Sovereign Consort; they continue still, and we do not know when they will end. Russia is in turmoil, suffering and tormented by bloody internal strife, by fearsome high prices in everything, by godlessness, lawlessness, and the utmost decay of morals. A sorrowful fate, leading to gloomy thoughts.

But the all-good Providence will not abandon Russia even in this sorrowful and ruinous state. It righteously chastises her and leads her toward rebirth.

The righteous judgments of God are being carried out upon Russia, as they were carried out in the ages that came before, in the time of our ancient great princes and tsars. Misfortunes and calamities are forging Russia. Not in vain does He who rules all nations, skillfully, wisely, unerringly, lay upon His own anvil all who are subjected to His mighty hammer. Take courage, Russia! But also repent, pray, weep bitter tears before your heavenly Father, whom you have provoked beyond measure.

At the beginning I cited the words of the psalm: my fate shall go forth from Your presence (Ps 16:2). This is an important truth. Our life, the life of kingdoms and of peoples, is governed by the Lord, who created us for eternal being. Earthly life is a preparation, a schooling for the future, endless life. This is the final goal of each one of us, as of each people, each tribe. We are foreordained to eternal citizenship, to an eternal kingdom in communion with God, with the angels, with the best of men, with the chosen of God. We must here be schooled in heavenly manners—in prayer, faith, thanksgiving, love and devotion, purity and blamelessness. And where are these virtues among us? We are defiled with every kind of sin; we need to be washed, cleansed, enlightened, strengthened, made white as snow. And can this be attained without suffering, without tears?

For this the Lord, like a skillful physician, subjects us to various temptations, sorrows, sicknesses, and misfortunes, in order to refine us as gold in the furnace. A soul hardened in every kind of sin does not yield easily to cleansing and healing, but only with great constraint and bitterness, and only through a long experience of patience and suffering does it grow accustomed to virtue and begin to love ardently the God to whom it was once a stranger, having learned every kind of fleshly sin. — This is the purpose of the misfortunes and sorrows sent us by God in this life!

These are needed both for individual persons and for a whole people sunk in impiety and vice. The Russian people, and the other tribes that dwell among them, are deeply corrupted; the furnace of temptations and calamities is necessary for all, and the Lord, who wills that none should perish, is smelting all in this furnace. And rightly so! If we acknowledge our sins, turn to the faith, repent, and change for the better, with God’s help—then the Lord too will turn His bright Face toward us and have mercy on us, and will give us blessing, abundance, and peace. — But if not, then we shall waste away in our misfortunes. Amen.