DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post

**arerrurrY** · 07-07-2009, 04:06 AM

Obviously, I would not want at all to put in any plea of mitigation for Stalin but there was a softer line towards the Church from 1945 until his death in 1953. Khrushchev revived severe persecution.

But I am assured that the scale of oppression reduced after the early '50s and the camps were closed from the '60s on.

These are two contradictory things that are told to you at the same time, Andreas.

It is also to be noted that in the book about Father Arseny, we can see people who were Russians behaving very badly towards other Russians during the WWII and during Communism. For instance when the Germans were going towards Moscow and people were trying to evacuate from Moscow, in the story "Mother of God help us" where a lady with her 4 year daughter went through so much from her own country-people, and the suffering ignited in her the need to pray to the Theotokos (formerly she did not beleive much and made fun of the church), and then the Theotokos directed her to two God-fearing ladies (spiritual children of Father Arseny) who helped the poor soul who was so ill that would have died if she did not receive immediate medical care.

Or in another story where 3 girls from Moscow had to go find food in the countryside because of starvation during communism and Russian soldiers almost started raping them while on the train. But their spiritual father had given them blessings and icons for the trip and was praying for them while they were on the road. He also said that 'may the Mother of God and St. George help you' before they left. And really a man called Yuri (which is Russian for George) protected them since several of the soldiers had already started raping other women there. These women were so scared because they had heard how the Russian army raped women everywhere in Russia at that time and they kept praying to the Theotokos for help and deliverance.

It is all just so sad. But I highly recommend the book because in addition to depicting history as seen by pious people that lived in those times of war, unrest and totalitarianism, the book underlines the power of prayer and faith in God, even in the darkest abyss we humans may find ourselves at times.

07-07-2009, 04:06 AM	#11
arerrurrY Join Date Nov 2005 Posts 411 Senior Member	Obviously, I would not want at all to put in any plea of mitigation for Stalin but there was a softer line towards the Church from 1945 until his death in 1953. Khrushchev revived severe persecution. But I am assured that the scale of oppression reduced after the early '50s and the camps were closed from the '60s on. These are two contradictory things that are told to you at the same time, Andreas. It is also to be noted that in the book about Father Arseny, we can see people who were Russians behaving very badly towards other Russians during the WWII and during Communism. For instance when the Germans were going towards Moscow and people were trying to evacuate from Moscow, in the story "Mother of God help us" where a lady with her 4 year daughter went through so much from her own country-people, and the suffering ignited in her the need to pray to the Theotokos (formerly she did not beleive much and made fun of the church), and then the Theotokos directed her to two God-fearing ladies (spiritual children of Father Arseny) who helped the poor soul who was so ill that would have died if she did not receive immediate medical care. Or in another story where 3 girls from Moscow had to go find food in the countryside because of starvation during communism and Russian soldiers almost started raping them while on the train. But their spiritual father had given them blessings and icons for the trip and was praying for them while they were on the road. He also said that 'may the Mother of God and St. George help you' before they left. And really a man called Yuri (which is Russian for George) protected them since several of the soldiers had already started raping other women there. These women were so scared because they had heard how the Russian army raped women everywhere in Russia at that time and they kept praying to the Theotokos for help and deliverance. It is all just so sad. But I highly recommend the book because in addition to depicting history as seen by pious people that lived in those times of war, unrest and totalitarianism, the book underlines the power of prayer and faith in God, even in the darkest abyss we humans may find ourselves at times.
	Quote