Aug. 1, 2018 - Brother Nathanael
06:52
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| Time | Text |
|---|---|
| The Church on the Blood draws its name from the bloodshed by Tsar Nicholas II and his holy family. | |
| And its altar is fixed at its sacred shrine in Ekaterinburg, Russia, built at the actual site where the Tsar was murdered. | |
| This past July, pilgrims from all over the world came to this holy site to honor these newly canonized saints, facing in solemn procession to mark the 100th anniversary of the martyrdom of the Tsar and his family. | |
| Now, a controversy recently erupted surrounding the slaughter that ignited a firestorm. | |
| Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Sarina Alexandra and their five children were killed by Bolshevik | |
| firing squad in a basement on July 17, 1918. | |
| For a hundred years, their story has plagued Russia, which canonized the family in 2000. | |
| For us, Nicholas II is a martyr symbolizing the entire Christian history of the Russian people and encompassing all Russia's grief, glory and greatness. | |
| But for others, the story is not so straightforward. | |
| Father Taikon Shevkunov recently reigniting the conspiracy theory that the Romanov's execution was part of a Jewish plot, claiming Jews saw the killings as a special ritual of revenge. | |
| Jewish groups are outraged. | |
| Wait a minute. Bishop Tikhon only stated that members of the commission looking into the assassinations believed the slaying was ritualistic. | |
| He never blamed the Jews. | |
| Perhaps it's a knee-jerk reaction by Jewish groups, since it is widely maintained that the Slayers are purportedly Bolsheviches. | |
| In July 1918, the Ekaterinburg Reds feared that a Czech army and white Russian forces were on their way to rescue the Tsar. | |
| The decision was made to act. | |
| Yakov Yorovsky was the hardliner chosen by the local committee to take over command of the House of Exile. | |
| The guards, known to have become affectionate towards the family, were removed. | |
| Yorovsky brought in new men with a new mission, to execute the prisoners. | |
| Just before midnight on July 17, 1918, the Jew Yurovsky brought the imperial family to the basement. | |
| They were told that they were going to pose for a group picture. | |
| But the Jewish assassins, Yurovsky, Nikulin, Yermakov, Vaganov, were waiting. | |
| Yurovsky then pulled out his revolver and aimed it directly at the Tsar's head and fired. | |
| Tsar Nicholas II died instantly. | |
| Next he shot Tsarina Alexandra as she made the sign of the cross. | |
| Olga, Tatyana, Maria, Anastasia were shot next. | |
| As the room became silent, there was a low groan. | |
| Alexei, the heir to the Tsardom of Russia, was still alive. | |
| The Jew Yurovsky stepped up and fired two shots into the boy's ear. | |
| All the members of the Tsar's family were lying on the floor with many wounds in their bodies. | |
| The blood was running in streams. | |
| The Church on the Blood in Ekaterinburg memorializes the murder. | |
| Now, whether it was a ritual murder or a hate crime, it's a two-way street, you know. | |
| We cannot, I mean, should not erase history. | |
| Those who try will be the ones to repeat it. | |
| We're suffering from an identity crisis here in America. | |
| By tearing down the symbols of our history, especially gutting our redemptive history, like crosses and nativity scenes, we flounder aimlessly toward a bleak future. | |
| He thinks it's otherwise 5,000 miles away. | |
| Choir singing. | |
| Your Holiness, dear participants and guests of the celebrations dedicated to the 1030th anniversary of the | |
| Baptism of Russia. | |
| Ladies and gentlemen, the Baptism of Russia is a key turning point in our history. | |
| An event of a civilizational scale and transforming spiritual power. | |
| It defined Russia's many centuries of history and influenced global development. | |
| We traditionally celebrate this event as a great holiday, with deep reverence for our ancestors who showed wisdom and | |
| great foresight, opening an era that we all owe to. | |
| The Baptism is a starting point for the development and formation of Russian statehood, | |
| the true spiritual birth of our ancestors, defining their identity, self-awareness, | |
| the development of national culture and education. | |
| the development of multilayered relations with other countries. | |
| As the philosopher and thinker Lev Gumilyov noted, baptism gave our ancestors the highest freedom, | |
| the freedom of choice between good and evil. | |
| And the victory of Orthodoxy gave Russia a thousand-year history. | |
| We don't have this in America, where a leader gives a religious speech | |
| that stirs the heart and sways the soul. | |
| We've traded places with Russia. | |
| They go on Christmas break. | |
| We go on winter break. | |
| They go on Easter break, we go on spring break. | |
| And if a thousand years are as one day with God that only a moment ago the slayers of the Tsar became failures. | |
| But those who try to erase history will find easy pickings elsewhere to repeat it. | |
| The murderers of the Tsar are alive and well. |
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