Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Bishop Averky on the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God
Bishop Averky, in his sermon on the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, relates how Russia was saved by the Mother of God in the past. Today the Holy Church celebrate this miraculous occurrence. Vladika Averky continues to teach how we can save ourselves in our current and future troubles:
Russia was saved, many times, over the course of nearly a millenium, in all its difficult moments of history.
And this happened not only once, but many times!
But what do we see today?
Now, when a time even more difficult than the first and second tumultuous time has come upon Russia, there is no other, and cannot be any other salvation, apart from an even more fiery and heartfelt turning of all Russian people to the our true Protectress and Defender, the “quick Helper, ready and warm salvation, the Protection of the Virgin“(Kondak for the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God)And what prevents us from turning to Her in the same way that our ancestors turned to Her?
Only absence of faith and weak faith.
It is time for us to finally become sober, and understand that there is no other reliable path to the salvation of our homeland, Russia, apart from that path which our ancestors followed: It is the path of our universal prayerful appeal to the “calm and good haven - the Protection of the Virgin.
And let us make haste to prayer and speed to repentance. For the all-pure Theotokos poureth forth upon us inexhaustible mercies, She goeth before to help us and delivereth Her good-hearted and God-fearing servants from great misfortunes and evil.”(Kondak for the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God)Bishop Averky (Taushev), 20th century.
(The Contemporary World in the Light of the Word of God: Volume 1, page 420)
Editor’s neote: Vladika Averky is speaking about Russia in the wider sense of the word, beyond the geographical or political sense - not only encompassing the Russian Federation, but also, Ukraine, and all the Russian Orthodox people around the world.
It is important to not confuse this concept with the current “Русский мир”-initiative (”Russian world”) promoted by the Moscow Patriarchate, which unfortunately, is a political, and not a spiritual movement.
