Tsar-Martyr Nicholas Ii And His Family 5 of 5

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The following vision was seen in 1971 by a certain Basil, a spiritual son of Archbishop Leontius of Chile of blessed memory, who had reposed that same year, at the same time when the Church was discussing the glorification of the New Martyrs of Russia: "At the beginning of this dream I saw myself in a huge temple not built by human hands. On the right kliros for quite a distance was a huge crowd of people dressed in white; I could not make out their faces. Around me there was a quiet, heartrending singing, although I couldn't see anyone there. Then both sides of the altar swung open and from them began to come out holy hierarchs and monks, fully vested in gentle blue vestments: among them I could recognise only St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra in Lycia. From the door near me, among the passing bishops, Vladyka Leontius passed by and stopped near me, saying:

"'You, brother Basil, were called and you did come. You know we havea great celebration here today!'

"'What kind of celebration, Vladyka?' I asked.

"And he continued: 'The heavenly glorification of the Tsar-Martyr!'

"And having bowed to me slightly, he continued on his way to the kathedra (in the centre of the church). Finally, the holy doors of the altar opened, and out of them came the Tsar-Martyr, looking just as he appears on his official portraits during the first years of his reign - that is, very young. He was dressed in the Tsar's royal mantle, as during his coronation, and he wore the emperor's crown on his head. In his hands he held a large

cross, and on his pale face I noticed a slight wound, either from a bullet or some blow. He passed by me at an even pace, descended the step of the ambo, and went into the centre of the church. As he neared the kathedra, the singing increased in volume, and when his foot touched the step of the kathedra, it became so loud that it seemed that a whole world of people had gathered and were singing with one breath."

Again, there not a few living witnesses of the miracle that took place in the Ipatiev house in Ekaterinburg=E2=80=A6 The miracle took place in that same cellar in which his Majesty, in the likeness of the Divine Redeemer of the world, voluntarily offered himself in sacrifice for the sins of his people.

The wall riddled with holes from the bullets of the regicides oozed blood for many years. The authorities plastered up and painted over the wall, but drops of fresh blood continued to appear through the holes made by the bullets.

A janitor who worked in the house, and was apparently a believer, used to say that on the eve of feasts such as the Nativity of Christ, Pascha and Pentecost, when she had to stay in the house during the night, she heard a sound as if of angelic chanting coming from the cellar.

The house was destroyed during the time that Boris Yeltsin was head of the party organization in Ekaterinburg. Now a cross with an icon of the Tsar-Martyr stands in its place.

Again, in 1988, Claude Lopez, an Orthodox Christian from Switzerland, wrote that one day he, having great veneration for the New Martyrs, had placed a commemorative coin of the Tsar in his icon corner, along with an icon of the Royal Martyr with a halo. One day he noticed moisture on the coin and discovered that it was exuding a quantity of fragrant myrrh, which had flowed into the box in which it was kept. This obvious miracle continued until October of 1988, and resumed briefly during Autumn of 1989.

Finally, there is this testimony of a man from Spain: "I am 48 years old. I am Spanish-born from Barcelona. My name is Mateo Gratacos Vendrell. When the things I am going to mention happened, I was not a member of the

Orthodox Church. Now, through God's mercy, I've become a member (August, 1989). During four years I had had a pain in the loins and in the belly on the right side. I consulted various doctors and went through the usual routine (x-rays, ecography, etc., and analyses). All the results were negative. It was deduced that my pain was psychosomatic (psychological). To calm me down, I was treated through acupuncture and laser, but in vain; my pain was still there. I was desperate. One night I was experiencing again

acute pain, I started reading. To mark my page I had put a portrait of Tsar Nicholas (his icon, in fact). I looked at the icon and he (the Tsar) looked at me. I started asking him to pray to Christ our Lord; for having suffered during the last days of his life, he would have compassion. I accepted the pain that I had but I could not accept the fact that I was 'mad', becauseI knew that my pains were real. On the next day, after that very night, as I was on my way to a job, a client who is also a friend of mind asked how Iwas and upon knowing that I was still suffering, he asked whether I had consulted Dr. P. I answered no. He told me to go and see him on his behalf. I went there on the next day. When he examined me he said that there was nothing psychosomatic; I had an invisible (on the radio) kidney stone. I underwent a 'natural treatment' and the stone went out naturally after one month. During this period of time I prayed to the Lord to remember me because of my love for the Tsar. I promised to Tsar Nicholas that I would distribute and make known his icon as a 'moleben' for the mercy he showed to the poor man who suffered for four years and saw his problem solved in less than a month through his intercession. Thank you, Saint Nicholas II, I am very thankful."

(Sources: Metropolitan Anastasius, "Homily on the Seventh Anniversary of the Martyric End of Emperor Nicholas II and the Entire Royal Family", Orthodox Life, vol. 31, no. 4, July-August, 1981; An Orthodox Priest, "The Sovereign Passion-bearer Nicholas Alexandrovich", Orthodox Life, vol. 31,no. 4, July-August, 1981; Ludmilla Koehler, Saint Elisabeth the New Martyr, New York: The Orthodox Palestine Society, U.S.A., 1988; R. Monk Zachariah (Liebmann), "The Life of Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II", The Orthodox Word, vol. 26, no. 4 (153), July-August, 1990; Schema-Monk Epiphany Chernov, Tserkov' Katakombnaya na Zemlye Rossijskoj (MS); Ogonek, N 22 (3280), May 26 - June 2, 1990; I.M. Kontsevich, Optina Pustyn' e yeyo vremya, Jordanville: Holy Trinity Monastery, 1970, pp. 498-99; Fr. Nikita Chakirov, Tsarskiye Koronatsii na Rusi, Russian Orthodox Youth Committee, 1971; Nikolai Kozlov, Krestnij Put', Moscow, 1993; Enel, "Zhertva", Kolokol', Moscow, 1990, N 5, pp. 17-37, and Michael Orlov, "Ekaterinburgskaya Golgofa", Kolokol', 1990, N 5, pp. 37-55; A. Shiropayev, "Pobyeda Imperatora Nikolaya II", Kolokol', N 1, 1990, pp. 43-53; "Starets Varnava Gefsimanskij", Pravoslavnij Put', 1990,pp. 130-31; A.D. Khmelevksy, "Tainstvennoye v zhizni gosudarya Imperatora Nikolaya II-go", Pravoslavnaya Rus', no. 13 (1442), 1/14 July, 1991, p. 9; "Rasskazy monakhini Varvary (Sukhanovoj)", Pravoslavnaya zhizn', no. 7 (498), July, 1991, p. 18; Sergius Fomin, Rossiya pered vtorym prishestviyem, Holy Trinity Monastery, Sergiev Posad, 1993, pp. 129, 132, 143, 155, 157, 158, 160, 169; Dominic Lieven, Nicholas II, London: Pimlico, 1993, pp. 34-35, 47,162-163; Robert Massie, The Romanovs: The Last Chapter, Jonathan Cape, 1995; Protopriest Alexander Shargunov, Chudesa Tsarstvennykh Muchenikov, Moscow: "Novaya Kniga", St. Petersburg: "Tsarskoye Delo", 1995; Orthodox America, January, 1997, pp. 11-12; Nikolaj II: Venets zemnoj i nebesnoj, Moscow, 1997, pp. 116-120).

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End of part 5
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