RUSSIA'S CATACOMB SAINTS

Saint Herman of Alaska Press
Platina, California
1982

Preface


And from the days of John the Baptist until now
the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence and
the violent take it by force. St. Matthew 11:12
He that hath ears to hear,
let him hear. St. Matthew 11:15


   The present book is an offering to the English-speaking reader from the deep experience of Orthodox Russia in the 20th century. This experience is one that has touched in some way almost every Orthodox Russian, whether in the homeland or in exile, but it is something that is almost impossible to communicate fully to those who have not known it at first hand.
    While an attempt has been made in these pages to give also an outward history of the tragic events of Russian Church life in the 1920's and '30's, the main emphasis has been to present as directly as possible the actual testimony of the suffering Christians themselves. This testimony, which often lays bare an intense experience of life in Christ, is the best gift Orthodox Russia has to offer to the West. It will not prevent similar things from happening in the West—one can already feel them coming towards us—but it will help us to face the sufferings of our godless age with strength and true Christian conviction.
    May this testimony serve to wake us up out of our sleep of self-satisfaction and all-too-often pretended (or at least untested) Christianity!
    Although the whole book was inspired by Professor Andreyev, only Part I, strictly speaking, was actually written by him. For the rest the editor bears full responsibility.
    Most of the material has been compiled from articles which have appeared at various times from 1965 to the present in the periodical The Orthodox Word. Therefore, some inconsistencies of style may well be noticed, in particular in the spelling of Christian names: sometimes the Russian form will be given, and sometimes the English equivalent. Here a few of these variant forms are given to alert the reader that they refer to one and the same name (the Russian name is given here first):
Agafangel—Agathangelus;    Alexey—Alexis;    Averky—Abericus (Avericus);    Damaskin—Damascene;    Onouphry—Onuphrius;    Sergy—Sergius;    Vassily—Basil;    Veniamin—Benjamin
    The fact that almost all the material was written or translated before the glorification of the New Martyrs in 1981 also accounts for the fact that these New Martyrs are not called "Saint" in the text of the book—a title which is now given them by the believing Russian Church.
Abbot Herman
St. Herman of Alaska Monastery Pascha, 1982