TRUE TSAROPHILISM
Inok Vsevolod (Filipiev)
Myrrh streaming icon of holy martyr tsar Nicolas, painted in USA.
When the King of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ, came to Earth, He announced the approach of His Kingdom to humanity. "From that time on Jesus began to preach, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.'" (Matthew, 4:17). And He sent His disciples out to preach to the people that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. (Matthew, 10:7). From that time onwards, even to the present day, we Christians pray to the Lord that His Kingdom may come quickly. We repeat "Kingdom come" in The Lord's Prayer every day.
The Christians of the first few centuries A.D. were so focused on the Kingdom of God that their attention almost never wandered to the affairs of earthly governments. They led others with their conscientious biblical precepts, could live in any country, all the while remaining citizens of Heaven. Surrounded on all sides by those of other faiths, the first Christians didn't even dare think about the foundation of a Christian government.
And then, three centuries hence after the start of Christianity, the King of kings and Lord of lords had the goodwill to give the meek and heretofore persecuted Christians the gift of autonomous self-governance. Christians worthily accepted the call of history. From that time on Christianity asserted itself not only as a spiritual force, but as a great organizing social force.
Of course, it is understood that no earthly Christian kingdom can replace the future expected Kingdom of Heaven. Their very natures are irreconcilably different. The Kingdom of Heaven, for the most part, is spiritual; earthly kingdoms, for the most part, are materialistic. But nevertheless Christian kingdoms were always focused on a lofty goal: to be as a reflection of the Heavenly Kingdom on earth. It is not coincidentally that the Orthodox Church worked out the sacrament of anointing a king unto a kingdom. This is reminiscent of when kings were anointed with holy ointment in Old Testament times, which is why, incidentally, they were called the anointed ones, or 'christs' in Greek, where the meaning is the same (Psalms 88, 21; 1 Kings 10:1, 24:7, etc).
The earthly anointed king, perceiving his human impotence, was nevertheless obliged by his actions, words, and thoughts to imitate the King of Glory, the Godly anointed one. It is for this very reason that the role of the Christian king was held in very high consideration by many of the holy fathers throughout history, and was seen in the role of holding back dark forces from having free reign in the world.
And so it was that our last unfortunate tsar-martyr Nicholas Alexandrovich held back the encroachment of the mystery of lawlessness in Russia. But then the tsar was gone - and there was no longer a Russian Orthodox empire. But even now, our holy tsar-martyr Nicholas continues to hold back the assault of the forces of evil and their final victory over the land of Russia: he does this with his prayers, praying before God's throne. In other words, our holy Russian tsar remains the support of Russia! Many of us would have already been physically and spiritually destroyed long ago if it were not for the prayers of the holy tsar-martyr Nicholas on behalf of the Russian people.
Staring out from his holy icons with a kind and piercing gaze, the father-tsar calms us, as if to say that he remains our father and intercessor in the heavens. And he also bears witness to the fact that Kingdom of Heaven is approaching, and that it is infinitely better and more complete than all earthly kingdoms. And it is there, to the Kingdom of Heaven, to Christ the King, that the holy tsar-martyr Nicholas calls us.
This call is especially valuable in our externally-calm times, when many of us fall into the trap of well-being, exchanging faith for lukewarm ritualistic belief. Alas, many Orthodox Christians today continue to believe in a sort of practical chiliasm, following after Western Christians of different beliefs; that is, a faith in the security and eternity of the comfortable kingdom of this world. We construct strong walls in this kingdom, if not on government land, then in our own homes, and if not in our own homes, then in our hearts. We wall ourselves off from Christ with the walls of this worldly kingdom, for his Kingdom is not of this world. And this is why the biblical call of the Lord sounds so fitting and alive even today: ""Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."" (Matthew 4:17).
Standing before the holy icon of the tsar-martyr Nicholas and his royal family, let us repent and change our lives, our goals focuses. Let us reject the kingdoms of this world and choose the Kingdom of Heaven in our hearts.
Kingly martyrs gaze at us from their icons without reprimands, but with pity and grief at our childish foolishness and meaningless obstinacy. For they traveled the road to Calvary, the way of self-denial from all vain and fleeting things, following in the footsteps of the Crucified King of the Christians. They consciously chose the Kingdom of Heaven and were not fooled in their hopes. They are blessed, for they have already reached the most holy Kingdom of Christ. And if we consider ourselves tsarophilistics, the let us love Christ the King with all our hearts, and, following the royal martyrs, strive to become a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven.
2001
(Translated from Russian by Andrew Choufrine @ RussianInok.org)