Syria - closeup
Our delegation with Syrian women
A regular flight to the war-torn Syria leaves only once a week. We are flying with a serious overload, we are carrying humanitarian aid, and first of all, medicines, milk and baby food, banned by a number of Western countries for importation as a result of unilateral economic sanctions. At customs problems, do not miss the goods. Valentina Lantseva goes to the first battle. Returns with a victory! “I told them: These are children! Have a conscience! War!"
At the invitation of the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the Women's Union of Syria, a delegation of eight Russian women arrived in Damascus on a peacekeeping mission. The visit was initiated by V. A. Lantsev, the Spiritual Heritage of the Apostle Paul Foundation. Under the prayer cover of the sciarchimandrite Eli (Nozdrin), who blessed the trip, and accompanied by the confessor of the group of archpriest Father Oleg Teor, the famous Pskov priest who feeds the Russian paratroopers, a female landing force descended to the Syrian capital Damascus. The visit coincided with a period of maximum exacerbation of the conflict related to chemical weapons, when the UN commission arrived in Syria.
Our delegation is with the Patriarch of Antioch John X
Our arrival has become sensational! For Syria, on all sides taken in the grip of aggressive-minded countries, the Russians in Damascus are a sign of salvation. Receptions at the highest levels of government and clergy, conferences, round tables, meetings with refugees, visits to hospitals, schools, missions, military units, theater, and finally, a friendly meeting with the country's first lady, beautiful Asma al-Assad, in the presidential residence, in a private office Mrs. Assad. Full bowl! Russia supports Syria, Russia and Syria together, we are allies! On the visit of Russian women told on all local television channels. Already in the first days, we began to recognize us on the streets of Damascus: “Russia, Shukran! Russia Putin! Shukran! ”- the simple Syrians thanked and accepted us into their hot embraces, there was genuine love in their eyes. People came up to us and asked: “How are you not afraid to come to Syria? After all, the hunt is now going to Christians? Damascus on the open front line.
***
The sun rose in the east, it slowly rose from where my homeland, my beloved Russia, remained. It was already light when our plane crossed the border, and we flew over Syria. That most desired Syria, the ancient and wise grandmother of Russia, who has always lived in my heart, is also inseparable from Russia, just as the great City of the Lord Jesus Christ is inseparable from it - Jerusalem! This is all - my spiritual homeland!
Stored in the heart with a special awe and feeling of some deep delight and respect in front of more than six thousand years history this unique in all respects civilization, Syria has always seemed to me to be something extraordinarily familiar and warm.
I looked into the round window of the plane and saw the living, wounded body of the suffering Earth, the one that was chosen by God to take into their arms our forefathers Adam and Eve. The magnificent Euphrates glittered and shimmered in the sun. According to the legend in this region, where Tirg once joined with Euphrates and formed a single river, there was the Garden of Eden! Syria is a sacred land beloved by God Himself. But it is precisely because he loved more than his own life, and therefore plunges into the hearth, cleans it in the fiery furnaces. All this is painfully familiar! This is Russian destiny! Martyrdom is our common Cross!
We flew to Damascus on the day when eleven Christians and refugees from Homs were brutally decapitated by terrorists, and the Orthodox church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus in Al-Saur was seized and ransacked two days earlier, the Bible was defiled and icons were broken.
But, despite the pain and awareness of the global nature of the tragedy, the soul rejoiced, she anticipated meeting with something huge and real. And this meeting took place. God is not mocked. It is here, in the holy land of Syria, drenched in the blood of those who suffered for the Faith and Fatherland, right now, before the real threat of World War III, holiness is born! Muslims say: "If Allah wants to reward a person, he will grant him a trip to Damascus." Allah loved me, who loved Christ, and these two loves were mutual.
Umayyad Russian Sun
“Allah sees, I love Russia with all my heart! This is a country that gives the world the sun! It comes to us every day from the East. - The supreme mufti of Syria, Dr. Badr al-Din Hassoun, said when we were at his reception in his office. - Russia and Syria have a long-standing relationship - love itself has wrapped us. This is a priceless gift of heaven! There is one mysterious place in Damascus, the like of which is not in the whole world. Indeed, only the sacred land of Damascus could give birth to the world a true miracle - the great church of Christians, which in its arms adopted a mosque. This is the church of John the Baptist and the Umayyad Mosque. ”
Supreme Mufti of Syria Badr al-Din Hassoun
... Our motorcade was moving along the narrow streets of Damascus. Such a number of parks and shady gardens in the sun-scorched lands can not be found in any other city. Despite two and a half years of war, Damascus is irresistible, amazing! In all it is felt that the people are very proud of him. If there were no checkpoints with armed soldiers every hundred meters, it would have been impossible to believe that the situation in the city is extraordinary. Neat lawns, trimmed with squares, like bushes in the Louvre, almost at every crossroads fountains and fountains beat, which are a special pride of Damascus people, because the water in the desert is a sign of God's special mercy. At every corner there are cafes, shops, shops. Children play on the playgrounds and, what struck us, their parents do not even look after them. In the wartime! But this is not because parents don't care, no, children have a special honor here, for every Muslim, children are sacred. But just such is their faith. They believe in God and trust in him in everything, as they explained to us.
We were getting closer to the “old city”, there were more and more people. Working day, the city lives, on the streets of small traffic jams. Flashing past the window of a bench with sweets, selling real shawarma and felafels (the same, but with frayed fried beans), are very popular shops, which make fresh juice. In the cafe, colorful Arabian bearded men drink traditional coffee with cardamom, emotionally discuss something, smoke a hookah, and when they see us, they gladly wave back and bow. I really wanted to get out of the car and walk along the ancient back streets of Damascus, because every pebble is a tell story here. But you can not ... - safety above all.
If we talk about the age of Damascus, then archaeologists, even today, are guessing. According to some studies, it is 6-8 thousands of years. The 12th-century Arab historian Ibn Asakir claimed that the first wall built after the Flood was precisely the wall of old Damascus.
The city saw the birth, formation and death of ancient Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Persia, met the troops of Alexander of Macedon, the Roman legions and priests of Byzantium, was personally acquainted with the legendary Salah ad-Din. The city heroically resisted Tamerlane, was a silent witness of the great flowering of the Ottoman Empire. He suffered the colonial yoke of France and only in 1946, the last foreign soldier left him. Ancient Damascus was able to defend its freedom, and today it is the permanent capital of Syria. Damascus is definitely a mystical city! In his “vitality” there is something that does not fit into the framework of ordinary human logic. It is an impregnable pillar, a silent witness to the history of civilizations. That is why the people of Damascus are sure that nothing will happen to their city, because it’s not like everyone else, it’s special.
We drove onto the famous Straight Street (Via Rekta). It was according to her that young Saul, the persecutor of Christians and the future apostle, was blinded by the Lord. On one of the adjacent narrow streets show another house associated with the name of the apostle, in which lived one of the disciples of Christ - Ananias, the same one who healed Saul, and then baptized him with the name Paul. On the site of the house of Anania still stands the chapel, which bears his name. It was here that the first followers of the teachings of Christ once gathered, here for the first time they began to be called Christians, and St. Ananias is considered the first bishop of Damascus. The gospel is near - only stretch out your hand.
Interestingly, according to one of the versions, even the name of the city itself from the Hebrew “dannash” is translated as “the one who shed blood”. This toponym appeared in memory of the fact that it was here, on Mount Kasyun, at the foot of which Damascus was spread, that the fratricidal warriors were laid, it was here that the first murder in human history and the first blood was shed - the blood of righteous Abel, the first martyr and first saint in the world. And a hot, embers-like story of great confrontations burned out. The stones of this city were destined to soak up the blood of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Druze, Buddhists ...
And now mercenaries and murderers from more than 80 countries of the world are approaching the great font of civilizations in a dense ring - an unprecedented event in the history of world wars! Damascus is a great fate, tragic and beautiful.
Under the volleys of exploding shells, and on this day the government army just launched an offensive and battles were fought on many fronts, including the nearest suburbs of Damascus, we finally got out of the cars and headed towards the Umayyad Mosque! Before entering the holy of holies, we were dressed in white, holiday chitons and asked to take off our shoes.
Umayyad Mosque
Crossing over, we stepped into the inner courtyard of a magnificent and beautiful temple. I was blinded!
It was an incredible miracle! The huge space of the courtyard was all flooded with the warm glow of the setting sun. It was reflected in the vast vastness of the centuries-old polished marble floor, on which, like angels in the sky, barely noticeable in a blinding glare, then they appeared, hiding under bright rays, small children's figures disappeared somewhere. Oh god Yes, this is the “sea of glass” at the throne of God, about which the apostle-seer John the Theologian testified of in Revelation: “And I saw, as it were, a glass sea mixed with fire” (Rev. 15: 2). It was right in front of us! And it was real!
In the Umayyad Mosque
Someone gently took me by the hand. I turned around and saw a tiny girl with huge olive eyes, she looked up at me and, in a small voice, babbled something in her angelic language, but I could not understand what it was. A moment later, her friends emerged from the light. Having surrounded me from all sides, everyone tried to touch and everyone was babbling something fun ... “They say they like you smiling,” finally, someone translated the words of little angels to me from the bird's language. “They were told that you are Russian, and they came to bring you love.” I looked around and saw that all our women were surrounded by a dense ring of children. But most of all the kids were admired by the orders of the father Oleg Teor and in general, I must say, the father made an indelible impression on them - they had never seen such a warrior. God, it was all incredible!
In the Umayyad Mosque
In a few minutes the whole mosque was ours! A huge, joyful family, all together, walking across the sunny sky of a warm temple, under the incessant thunder of exploding shells, we walked toward the great shrine - the honest head of the prophet and forerunner of the Baptist John ...
So, it means what love the supreme mufti told us! It turns out that you are the Umayyad Russian sun!
Jihad Love
Peering into the distant mountain range of Anti-Lebanon, I certainly hoped to see the mystery of the next century in these enticing borders. After all, somewhere out there, somewhere in these flickering distances, four Angels await their appointed hour, bound by God for a time. And the sixth angel sounded the sound, and one voice would be heard from the four horns of the golden altar standing before God, and these four would rise, "prepared for an hour and a day, and a month and a year, in order to kill the third part of the people."
Under my feet is the sacred land of Armageddon!
“We must not allow the devastation of the Middle East, in terms of the presence of Christianity. It will be a civilizational disaster. Our origins are all there, our faith is from there, ”Patriarch Kirill said at the meeting of Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches, who arrived in Moscow to participate in the celebration of the 1025 anniversary of the Baptism of Russia, with President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin
Having visited Syria, we saw with our own eyes that the situation of Christian communities there is extremely difficult. The region has the goal of destroying Christians, completely ousting them from their ancestral territories. More recently, there were about two million Christians in Syria. Only the Gregorian Armenian in Aleppo, there were about one hundred thousand people.
This tragic situation, which is now taking place in Syria, reflects the sad events that occur in many countries of the Middle East and in a number of other countries.
A year ago, sociologist M. Introvine noted that every year 105.000 Christians die a violent death during inter-religious conflicts, and this number is made up of only Christians killed for their faith, not including the victims of civil wars. And Cardinal Pierre Erdo stated that "there is a real danger of the disappearance of Christians as a religious minority in the Middle East." Now in Syria, in places where militants fought, it is impossible to find an undefiled Christian church.
In Iraq 10 years ago lived a half million Christians. Now there are one hundred and fifty thousand left, that is, the majority of the Christian population was either destroyed or turned out to be forced to leave the country.
We are witnessing a mass exodus of Christians from Egypt, from Libya, where there are almost no Christians left.
In Tunisia, the coming to power of the radicals led to the seizure of Christian churches. Algeria is not allowed to open churches, a law has been passed prohibiting missionary work among Muslims. Pakistan is an example of the complete lack of rights of the Christian population, its position today can be called catastrophic, and it continues to deteriorate. Christians living in Afghanistan are forced to hide their beliefs, have no legal opportunity to open churches, and church services are held on the territory of private houses.
12 March this year, one of the most influential people in the community of radical "Muslims" was made a strategic statement declaring war on Christians. Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, the great mufti of Saudi Arabia, said that "it is necessary to destroy all churches in the region." The statement even embarrassed the Washington Times newspaper, whose correspondent noted: “This is not a petty radical imam who is trying to stir up his followers with a fiery speech full of hatred. This is a deliberate, balanced indication from one of the most famous leaders in the Islamic world. ” The written words come true: “They persecuted me, they will persecute you too” (John 15: 20).
On paid channels reported the danger of Islamization of society. Announced a plan to combat the notorious terrorism. Meanwhile, who are these “terrorists” and what is this “terror”? Another fable scenario faculty of the United States.
In the military unit
Recall that the term “war on terror” was advanced by Benjamin Netanyahu back in the year 1979 at the conference on international terrorism in Jerusalem (JCIT). It was there that the ideological foundations for the so-called "war on terror" were created. Later in September, the 2000 of the year was compiled by an even more damning document, notoriously known as the “Restoration of American Defense”, published by the “Project of the New American Century”, which spoke openly about the “New Pearl Harbor”. Exactly one year later, this coveted “new Pearl Harbor” happened in the form of the September 11 attacks, which launched the war against “Islam” for the sake of Israel. It's simple.
In the framework of the notorious “controlled chaos”, under the hooting anti-Assad propaganda, these terrorists invented by the special services torture and kill Orthodox priests in Syria, pierce their eyes, break bones, cut out organs from them, as was the case with the clerics of the Antioch Orthodox Church, Father Alfredo. Haddad, hieromonk Basil (Nassar). Kidnap priests, bishops, and Christian women. The leaders of the terrorist fighters directly call for the killing of priests and monks, breaking the crosses, and not leaving a stone unturned.
Today, everyone knows the facts of abduction of priests in Syria: the ruler of Aleppo Paul (brother of the Metropolitan of Antioch, John X), the representative of the Greek Orthodox Church Pavel Yaziga, the Jesuit priest Paolo Dal'Oglio.
People suffer, shrines, temples, relics, icons are destroyed. Our delegation visited the Church of the Compound of the Russian Orthodox Church in Damascus, where our confessor Father Oleg Teor managed to serve a public prayer and thus console the parishioners who do not have the opportunity to attend the Church, because worship services do not go to them or are extremely rare. Local Christians told us that Orthodox churches are subject to blasphemous plundering. Many of them are ravaged and burned - the Church of St. George, the temple of the Belt of the Virgin. About eight thousand “freedom fighters” broke into the ancient city of As-Saurd. Set fire to the church of sv. Sergius, where valuable ancient icons were kept, destroyed books, kidnapped a priest. The same was done with the Greek Catholic Church. Even the famous Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos monastery in Seydnaya, founded in the 6th century, where not only Christians but also Muslims traditionally made pilgrimages, came under fire. The most famous act of vandalism was the destruction of the monastery of St. Ilya, whose history goes back one and a half thousand years. As the abbot of the monastery Gadir Ibrahim said, the militants devastated the monastery, carried church utensils, blew up the bell tower, destroyed the altar and font. The fate of the main shrine is unknown - the miraculous icon of St. Elias, which was more than ten centuries old. The father of the monastery replied to such a monstrous action: “The servants of the“ black forces ”are able to destroy the stone, but are unable to break the bonds of fraternity and unity of the Muslims and Christians of Syria.”
Both Russia and Syria are unique countries - they have incomparable centuries-old experience of the peaceful existence of a multi-religious society. More than 20 religions are represented in Syria, and before the conflict that occurred, it was possible to live peacefully for centuries.
True orthodox Muslims today have been tarnished by the godless deeds of those who, acting under the mask of the Muslim brothers, are in fact adherents of totalitarian sects. The same goes for Christians. We see how the leaders of various charismatic sects who call themselves Christian churches provoke people to incite inter-religious conflicts. Recall the pastor from Florida, who has committed blasphemy against the Holy Book of Islam - the Koran. There are also sectarian movements that are engaged in aggressive and disrespectful activities of local Muslims among local traditions. All this, naturally, has nothing to do with either Orthodoxy or Islam.
Today it is not a secret to anyone that on the side of the so-called “Syrian opposition” only 5% of Syrians are fighting, the rest are paid mercenaries and thugs, representatives of 85 countries of the world, drug addicts, criminals, illiterate, who cannot even read people, including those who for the sake of such a case were released from places of detention and high security colonies.
Muslims of Syria, as well as Christians, became victims of monstrous aggression. The minaret of the oldest mosque in Aleppo (715 year!), One of the most important Muslim shrines of Syria, was destroyed. A casket was stolen in which a lock of Prophet Mohammed's hair was kept. Severe damage was also caused to the old quarter of Salaheddin. The world's oldest covered market, Al-Madin, has been almost completely destroyed. Another unique monument of the Middle Ages - the mosque of Mehmendar, dating back to the XIII century, was badly damaged.
Ruthless reprisals against prominent Muslim theologians are being perpetrated. Executed Sheikh Hassan Safieddin, whose severed head insurgents have been placed on the minaret. “What freedom do these people call for? They are doing unprecedented atrocities in Syrian land and serve not Allah, but Shaitan, ”the Muslim imams say, denouncing the villains.
On March 21, a dozen people were killed by a suicide bomber in the Al-Iman mosque in the north of Damascus, including the outstanding 84-year-old Muslim scholar Sheikh Muhammad Said Ramadan al-Buti. Together with the sheikh, the grandson of the theologian died from the explosion. According to Sharia law, to kill people in a mosque is an indelible sin! This once again proves that behind such crimes are not Muslims, but sectarian ministers of Shaitan. The martyr al-Buti is by no means the only major Sunni scholar who understands the essence of the ongoing conflict. Such views are shared in Syria by many theologians, politicians, military, and ordinary citizens. The supreme mufti of Syria, Ahmad Badr al-Din Hassoun, stands in the same positions, who was not even forced to change his own son’s death by the legitimate government of the country.
Syrian High Mufti Badr al-Dinh Hassun and Father Oleg Teor
At a meeting with our delegation, Badr al-Din Hassun said that today we live in an era of religious wars and, in order not to be a victim of their own incompetence, everyone should be educated in this particular area. He spoke of the paramount importance of preaching. Syria is severely wounded and its wounds should make our family unite, otherwise, Syria will be torn apart and they will come to Russia.
Badr al-Din Hassoun believes that today terrorist preparations are already being conducted against Russia. Al-Jazeera opens up broadcasting to the country, with the main message "Russia has oppressed Muslims for so many years, occupied them, occupied their lands, now it is necessary to take revenge on it and make it pay like for the Holocaust." In order to warn Russia against a strike approaching it, the supreme mufti expressed his readiness to come and tell the Russians about what is actually happening in Syria. He is ready to perform at any venues: in Orthodox churches, mosques, in universities, in stadiums. “I’m ready to go around 15 regions of Russia,” says the mufti, “I’m ready to work 24 seven days a week, 24 hours a day, to talk with each individual imam and warn everyone personally about the threat that awaits Russia in connection with the events in Syria. I will also be happy to meet Orthodox priests in order to talk and find a way to resist the evil that threatens Russia now, because we, Muslims and Christians, are serving the idea of the Lord alone and for the sake of man, ”said Badr al-Din Hassun.
Umayyad Sun
And then Dr. Hassun shared with us the most intimate: “They killed my beloved son. He didn't have weapons in his hands, he was defenseless before them, in his hands he had only books. That grief of loss, which I experienced and experience, cannot be described in words. But then I clearly knew that I must do what my conscience tells me. I delivered a message on television. I called on the terrorists to stop the massacre. Live, I said that I forgive the killers of my beloved son, I forgive for the sake of Love, which may never leave our hearts. Religion is the way to live, not to kill. Any religion calling for murder is created by human thought, but not by God. Those wars that you are now witnessing in the world, hiding behind religious slogans - this is a political struggle for the redistribution of economic resources! Return God to your hearts! I pray for you who killed my son, I ask God for a miracle, I ask you to return love to your hearts! Tomorrow the sun will rise over Syria and we will say to our enemies: you wished us evil, and we answered good. You wanted to humiliate us, and we wished you to be worthy. You wanted to kill us, and we wished you life. ”
I looked at the mufti and, willy-nilly, I thought how many millions of dollars they would give for his priceless head ... But the brightly burning prayer heart is not afraid of anything. We saw that it was very hard to talk about Dr. Hassun’s son. With great difficulty, he chose words with effort, overcoming pain. It was clear that at that moment he was not just telling us about his grief, no ... it was a real prayer. His face was beautiful! The mufti's eyes filled with tears. And he cried.
Mufti of Syria Badr al-Din Hassoun
Here is such a jihad of love ...
Life for Damascus!
As long as the evening breathes cool and the shadows run away, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense, to finally see you, beautiful Damascus. I will look at the bright flowers of bougainvillea, at oleander and hibiscus, I will listen to what your sparkling water flows to the wind, and I will tell you my word. Your very name is close to us, like your own name: Damascus - Moscow ... God save you, Damascus!
... I stood on the observation deck of Mount Kasyun and, climbing onto the anti-tank barrier, looked at night Damascus. Great and unassailable, comfortably seated in my palms, he kindly glowed with warm lights and was glad that he was allowed to live another of the millions of days God had given him.
Yes, to you, the magnificent Damascus, not only merchants rushed - everyone wanted to conquer you: the Pharaohs, the Babylonians, Alexander the Great, called Iskander, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans - even the Crusaders and the Mongols stood at your door. Now only stones remind of them. But you, Damascus, did not bend, you became a place of true power. The solemn feeling of belonging to the great story enveloped the heart ...
As a little tomboy, the south wind played defiantly: tore a scarf from its shoulders, unraveling hair. It was so good! So free! And the soul flew over the shining city and sang a greeting song to him: “We admire you, sister! May the Lord save you, Damascus! Thousands of angels to help you and the host of heavenly forces to overcome the enemy. " We have a common destiny, and today Syria is the Stalingrad front of the war for Russia!
- Masha, you are in white and you can be seen very well from possible points of fire. Get down to the ground better, ”warned our dear companion. I had to obey and get down.
- See, in-it there ... flashes flash periodically? - I looked closer ... Indeed, Damascus exactly sparkled around the perimeter, and fires blazed in some places. - It is fighting, but we will not surrender the city.
Of course, I believed the speaker, but for reliability, Damascus was sealed with a huge cross ... This will be in Russian! So it is safer!
O. Oleg Teor with Syrian General
Eh, I’ll always think about Russia, after I’m ashamed to walk on it, it becomes ... holy ... And now, just think, - under my feet, the holy land of Aram-Damesek. So yes! Bending down, I collected a handful of pebbles so that, when I arrived in Russia, I would like to please the Motherland with a hotel from her beloved sister. Imagine how they miss each other! After all, only God can bestow such a spiritual connection. We must appreciate and take care! I brought the stones to my lips and kissed. Yes ... fragrant Eden ... backgammon and saffron, sweet flag and cinnamon with all sorts of fragrant trees, myrrh and aloe with all sorts of best flavors ... The land of Syria smelled of fuel, fuel, gas, word, anything, but not itself in my palms ... War.
Syrian soldiers appeared on the road. When they learned that the Russians were there, they hurried to greet us. Sounds of rhythmically chirping cicadas, periodically interrupted by distant explosions of shells, merged with cheers of cheers. Sounded a pleasant tie from the Russian-Arabic speech.
Warrior from Mount Kasyun - Life for Damascus!
And I still stood chained to Damascus surrounded by fire and could not tear my eyes away from it. One of the soldiers approached me himself. It was a very young boy, about seventeen. Quickly matured and matured in the fire of the obscurantist war, he immediately appeared before me in an ideal way a warrior of Syria. Seeing that I was completely in love with his city, with a feeling of pride overwhelming his soul for his Fatherland, he very seriously said:
"This is my homeland! Life is for Damascus! ”
Special operation, or how we took out secret weapons from Syria
When Israel came out of Egypt, the Amalekites rebelled against him at Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua: "Choose us strong men, and go, fight with the Amalekites." And now the day of the great battle has come. And the soldiers of Israel stood up against the Amalekites. Moses went up to the top of the hill, and the rod of God was in his hand. And the battle began. When Moses raised his hands, offering a fiery prayer to God, he overcame Israel, and when he lowered his hands, he overcame Amalek. When the prayer of Moses was heavy, the faithful Aaron and Hur supported his hands. And Joshua laid down by the edge of the sword Amalek and his people. And Israel raised up an altar to God as a sign of victory, and called the altar "the Lord is my banner" (Ex. 17: 8-15).
The power of Israel is in God. Pray, High Israel, fight, great Russia!
A lot of foreign institutes of the decade have been working to solve the mystery of the “Russian soul”. It takes billions of dollars from the state budget. The goal is to find the heart of the recalcitrant "heartland" ("the heart of the world", according to Halford Mackinder) and plunge the spelled needle into the innermost body. Defended dissertations on Dostoevsky and Gogol; consider, calculate and count the "Russian soul" foreign pseudo-sociologists; predict, analyze, smell out pseudo-analysts; the occult gurus are shamanizing, gritting their teeth ... And holy barefoot Russia as it slapped its way to the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, commanded by her God, so the royal eternal bride will enter it. Not of this world, glorious in its saints, and will conquer the victor, he will bow down to God in his feet. All in white, sweetheart, and at the head of the crowns, the crowns! And the throne of the soul is light, the soul is bright! Russia!
No, they will understand nothing in us. As long as they do not believe in Christ, they will not understand until then. Wandering in darkness, the Russian soul is darkness. Look at our history: it is paradoxical, illogical: the real “explosion of the brain” for an inquiring mind. Of course, because the history of Russia is something else, it is more than just a chronicle of events - it is a living. Full of miracles and things that defy rational explanation, the history of Russia seems to us to be a life of a special, spiritualized space, located between heaven and earth.
Mother Alexander
Rayner Maria Rilke, who visited Russia in 1899, wrote about her as a whole individual world, incomparable and unique. The poet shared with relatives that after meeting with Russian people he “managed to feel his fraternal connection with all of humanity”. What a precise observation of the heart, because what he felt was directly related to the Russian “all-man” that Dostoevsky wrote about! Only through the Christian soul does the world open in its fullness. “All states border each other,” exclaimed R.-M. Rilke - but only Russia borders on God. ” It's true.
How are we? Russian Moses sits in a cave, his beard, darling, knee-deep, paramanushka on him like a shield, his cross like a sword, beads like a machine-gun ribbon. As he lifts his little ruts to God, oh, the history of mankind is bursting at the seams ... you know, hold on tight only, guys, the devils' grandfather drove right behind the Suez Canal, and there somewhere in the Gaza Strip and covered the tailed ones. Or what kind of Vaska-oborvashka will go to the Tsar-father and knock on the forehead of the royal king: why, they say, you are not praying, Tsar? And then it would gently and purr: "Do not boil, Ivanushka ...", but in the ear after all that is necessary and prophesies. On his own hands, Ivan Vasilyevich carried the coffin with the relics of the saints of St. Basil the Blessed, Christ for the holy fool. These ecclesiastical temples are all over Russia, saints of God and still alive.
Yes, the path to the Russian soul lies only through God the Trinity. And nothing can be done about it. But as curious people will believe in our account, here it’s all the cards and hands to them, here they will have both the “Russian soul” and poppy gingerbread, and all the riddles of the clue. But only then, the truth, no one wants to destroy us, they will love in Christ ...
***
Our trip has been blessed by the unforgettable and beloved father Eli, the strongest prayer book for peace, schehiarchimandrite, the confessor of the Patriarch. And this fact alone has identified a lot. The father prayed, and we were all like instruments of his prayers.
Our mission was considered spiritual. We, Russian women, went to Syria to support ordinary people, talk to local women, wanted to embrace them, tell them kind words about their belief in a quick victory. We brought special banners embroidered on this occasion to Syria, carried the August icon of the Most Holy Theotokos blessing the warriors to victory, carried several thousand belts “Living in Help”, icons of John the Russian for the Anti-Antioch Patriarchate and thousands of icons of the Savior, the Mother of God, John the Baptist, Optina elders, angels and archangels for the people of Syria. Through the prayer of Father Eli and Oleg's father, we managed to distribute all this to people for the benefit of saving their body and soul. Especially belts with a prayer to the soldiers! Snapped up the air. Orthodox shrines in Syria are very revered, despite the fact that 90% Muslims live there.
But the most amazing story ...
As soon as we set foot on the land of Syria, I told God that I should take my rosaries away from here, so that later, in Russia, to pray for our common salvation. And God heard me. A miracle happened.
In hospital
That day we visited the military hospital. The door of the chamber opens, and in the bright sunlight I see a warrior. He is lying in a hospital bed, smiling and waving happily, greeting us with his hand ... And in his hand is a rosary! I was stupefied. And he takes and stretches them to me. At that very moment I take off my Jerusalem rosary from my hand and give it to him. We exchange prayer arms and swear to one another in the face of the Most High to pray to God for the overcoming of the legions that destroy Syria. Christians and Muslims. God be resurrected!
On the same day, we get an appointment with the patriarch of Antioch, John X. I tell him about the miracle that happened in the hospital and ask for blessings to pray on these rosaries to overcome the forces of evil. His Holiness was so glad that he even had glasses with excitement sweating. Blessed very hard! God be resurrected!
Patriarch of Antoichi John X, blesses the rosary
On the same day, the reception at the Supreme Mufti of Syria, Ahmed Badr al-Din Hassoun. His rosary bears his blessing. God be resurrected!
On the same day, they brought us to the military unit, where, on the parade ground in the face of a thousand soldiers, holding a cherished prayer weapon in my hands, I told the soldiers about the miracle with the rosary. When I said that I urge to strengthen prayer and that it is prayer that today is our most powerful weapon, the soldiers, in a gesture of agreement, began to chant: "Surya! Rusia! ”,“ Serving Syria with blood and blood! ”,“ Serving Russia with blood and blood! ” It was a terrific sight! Batiushka Oleg made his way into the very depths of the warriors who were flushed with chanting and gave everyone an icon of the Mother of God. A forest of hands! And at that time, with Mother Alexandra and Sister Lyudmila, we all hoped and hoped for the people of Syria: “Save, Lord, Your people, and bless Your wealth, victories to the people of Syria to resist, and with Your Cross to live!”. Then they sang "Katyusha", "Get up, great camps", danced the Syrian dabka. Valentina Alekseevna Lantseva, the general, presented her cap, and to father Oleg - combat orders, which he took off from his own chest. Syrian warriors - brave guys! Everything is loaded like a cannonball with a lit wick. And most importantly - they are lively, kind and very sincere. God be resurrected!
Since then, I have not let the cherished rosary out of my hands. My priceless trophy! After a while, already in Russia, my spiritual father also blessed me to pray to them.
And so, the day of our meeting with Father Eli has come. We had to tell the elder about our successes, about people, about meetings, pass him obeisances, requests for prayer, hotels. Batyushka saw us from afar. He looked very happy and was extremely pleased. Viper we started to tell him about the trip, everyone wanted to share with his beloved father a piece of love brought from the holy land of Syria. And then I remembered that I have a rosary! And she decided to bless the elder to pray. I just opened my mouth and said: “Father, dear, I gave a warrior to me ...” and handed him a show of my treasure: “Bless.” But before I could finish speaking, the elder, with lightning speed, snatched my priceless trophy out of my hands ... and started off from us ... started almost at a run! I was stupefied. My little white beads flew away from me in front of my own eyes! “Batyushka,” I shouted after him, “it's from a warrior! Father, the patriarch blessed! Batyushka, and Mufti blessed! Father, all the warriors promised to pray with us! ” The old man stopped at the steps of the temple: his face sparkled with grace. He was unspeakably happy. “You pray, pray, and I will help you!” - and disappeared ...
“That's the story! - said mother Alexandra. - It turns out that the Lord sent us to Syria. It was necessary to get a weapon for a great battle for the priest. Well, now things will be! ".
A few days later, Schiarchimandrite Eli was already praying on Athos.
***
“Now we are fighting with the devil. Therefore, try to become more akin to each other, to become even more brothers to each other. So together we will go along the path we have chosen, together we will climb the steep path to the sweet Golgotha, ”said the elder of Athos, Paisius the Holyon, about our times.
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