True Strength of Our Military Lies in Our People's Christian Faith - Head of Russian Church (Kirill)

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The head of the Russian church, Patriarch Kirill, continues to be the most compelling voice, after Putin, rallying the Russian people in relation to the conflict with the West, and crucially, explaining how to see events from a spiritual, Christian context, which is so different from a purely materialistic analysis.

Three weeks ago he gave an important sermon connecting Christian faith and national strength and vitality. He chose an occasion rich with historical and Christian significance, the anniversary of one of Russia's greatest underdog military victories, the battle of Kulikovo, in 1380.


St Sergius blessing Russia's army before battle


The nutshell history of Kulikovo is that Russian armies finally rose up after a century of brutal oppression by evil foreigners (the Mongols), and against frightful and hopeless odds, defeated them south of Moscow, marking the true emergence of a Russian state. The once confident Mongols, now shaken and fearful of the Russian God, never returned, despite their military superiority.

The Christian significance is trifold, 1) The battle took place on the church holiday of the Mother of God, something the pagan Mongols were not aware of, 2) before the battle, Russia's greatest saint, the monk Sergius of Radonezh, blessed the Russian prince and armies, foretelling victory, sending warrior monks into battle, and 3) a famous miraculous icon, the Donskoy Madonna, accompanied the troops into battle.



St. Sergius and the Russian prince before battle.


Some historians defend the accuracy of the 2nd and 3rd points, and others dispute them, but this matters little when a narrative has been cemented into the national consciousness.

It is not generally understood in the West the extent to which Russia suffered miserably under the Mongols. This was much more than a regional power struggle. The Mongols were bloody-minded, rapacious extortionists who had a mafia business model - terrorize with rape and pillage in order to extort as much tribute as possible, while kidnapping many for sale into slavery to the Turk Ottoman Empire. Gratuitous brutality encouraged compliance. The Mongols' behavior fit in nicely with their barbaric pagan superstitions, full of black magic and blood rituals to evil deities. This went on for three whole generations, the bewildered Slavs unable to defend themselves against their Asiatic torturers.



A popular contemporary painting of a Russian warrior monk in battle at Kulikovo


This profound suffering was the crucible of an ironclad Christian faith which would last for centuries. In the Christian interpretation, only when the Russians' faith became strong, were they able to rid themselves of this agony.  To the Russian mind, the victory was more than a great military upset, and more than the emergence of Russia in Europe, it was the ultimate embrace of Christianity by the Russian people,  the triumph of Russians over evil foreign oppressors, of good over evil, of Christ over the Devil, and the real influence of God and His saints in human endeavour, military and otherwise.

This history is repeating itself today, as there is a noticeable turn by Russians to Christian faith as their country enters into a time of great struggle. 



Contemporary re-enactment of the Mongols.


We provide this background in order to convey the strong emotions Kirill evokes in his sermon, and their obvious parallels to today's events. (full text below).

Kirill starts by saying that the only reason Russia won at Kulikovo, was because of their faith, and he explains why Christian faith makes a nation strong:


Why did Russia stand so firmly? (at Kulikovo) ... There is only one answer: the Orthodox faith, the Orthodox Church, was the guardian of the spiritual life of the people. People understood that you can deviate from anything, but you can never deviate from faith.

Because if you betray the Lord, nothing else will work and there will be no success. And this loyalty to our Lord and Savior, in the conditions of foreign occupation, was so pleasing to the Almighty that for decades the enemy did not make any effort to invade ...

... all this was connected with the deepest faith of our people. Because faith makes a person very strong, because it transfers his consciousness from everyday life, from material worries to caring for the soul, for eternity.

And when this dimension connected with eternity is strong in a person, then he becomes invincible, because he ceases to be afraid of death. Namely, the fear of death drives a warrior from the battlefield, pushes the weak to betray and even to rebel against his brother.

But true faith destroys the fear of death, and hence all human meanness and treachery ... That is why faith is so important for building up the life of both society and the state. And if people reject this power and rely only on the power of a legal law or on the power of political groups and parties, then this kind of unity is always temporary: popularity of parties and political ideals pass, and everything starts to fall apart.

That is why it is important that faith should be at the heart of our national life, and along with it, a system of Christian values that elevate the soul and lead a person who is a convinced believer to eternal life, and therefore invincible.


Kirill then draws comparisons to Ukraine. He points out that the assault on 'our country' started with an attack on the church by Russia's enemies, which began in earnest about three years ago, because they understand that the church is the ultimate force which holds the Russian nation, and people, together.

It is important to understand here, that when Kirill says 'our country', he means the three Russian ethnic states: Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Like most Russians, he does not see these countries as separate, as in fact they never were, until the artificial borders were established by fiat in 1991.


We must pray today that the Lord will strengthen the fraternal feelings of the peoples of Holy Russia, so that the unity of our Church becomes even stronger and stronger, which is really the key to peace in the vast expanses of Russia, which is why the assault on our country began with attempts to break up the Church, create schisms and divisions. The enemy knew that this point should be hit.

He continues:

And although we have suffered losses and a dangerous, sinful, graceless schism has emerged in Ukraine, at the same time the Orthodox faith remains there, and our brothers and sisters, and pastors are united and, I believe, continue to pray with us around the throne of the Lord both for the cessation of internecine strife and for the restoration of peace in the vast expanses of historical Russia.


He concludes by stating that it is the spiritual reality which is in fact more important than the material one, and the national unity and strength that comes from the faith of a people, and he laments the fact that spiritual issues are not considered in historical analysis:


This point of view is not present in secular historical science, but in vain, because it is this approach to history that highlights the most important thing — the spiritual dimension in the life of people and the state, without which victories, in the conditions of fading faith and spirit, become impossible. 


Full text of the sermon, machine translated:


In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!

Today in the history of our Fatherland has been marked by many events, but probably the most striking and significant is the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. Of course, the enemy did not know that on this day Russia glorifies the Most Holy Mother of God, that prayers are especially offered to Her. He had started this battle in the full confidence that victory would be won. But we know that didn't happen. The invincible enemy was stopped, and after a hundred years, the enemy left, realizing that it was impossible to defeat this people and this power.

Here are some wonderful events related to the holiday that we are celebrating today. Why did Russia stand so firmly? Because Russia has preserved its language, its faith, its culture, and even under foreign rule, our national life has continued to develop.

Now let's ask: why is this so? There is only one answer: the Orthodox faith, the Orthodox Church, was the guardian of the spiritual life of the people. People understood that you can deviate from anything, but you can never deviate from faith. Because if you betray the Lord in this, nothing else will work and there will be no success. And this loyalty to our Lord and Savior, in the conditions of foreign power, was so pleasing to the Almighty that for decades the enemy did not make any effort to attack the capital. The enemy was standing on the Ugra River, our army was standing opposite, and this standing, without any visible battle, was our quiet victory over the enemy.

Of course, all this was connected with the deepest faith of our people. Because faith makes a person very strong, because it transfers his consciousness from everyday life, from material worries to caring for the soul, for eternity. And when this dimension connected with eternity is strong in a person, then he becomes invincible, because he ceases to be afraid of death. Namely, the fear of death drives a warrior from the battlefield, pushes the weak to betray and even to rebel against his brother.

But true faith destroys the fear of death, and hence all human meanness and treachery, and is the great support of people in building up their common life. That is why faith is so important for building up the life of both society and the state. And if people reject this power and rely only on the power of a legal law or on the power of political groups and parties, then this kind of unity is always temporary: the taste for parties and political ideals passes, and everything starts to fall apart. That is why it is important that faith, as a great priority, should be at the heart of our national life, and along with it, a system of Christian values that elevate the soul and lead a person who is a convinced believer to eternal life, and therefore invincible.

Today, our Fatherland, Russia, historical Russia is going through severe trials. We know what is happening in Ukraine. We know the danger hanging over the Ukrainian people, which they are trying to reformat, make a state that is against Russia, hostile to Russia. It is very important that our hearts do not feel that there is an enemy there. We must pray today that the Lord will strengthen the fraternal feelings of the peoples of Holy Russia, so that the unity of our Church becomes even stronger and stronger, which is really the key to peace in the vast expanses of Russia, which is why the attempt to destroy our country began with attempts to break up the Church, create schisms and divisions. The enemy knew that this point should be hit. And although we have suffered losses and a dangerous, sinful, graceless schism has emerged in Ukraine, at the same time the Orthodox faith remains there, and our brothers and sisters, archpastors and pastors are united and, I believe, continue to pray with us around the throne of the Lord both for the cessation of internecine strife and for the restoration of peace in the vast expanses of historical Russia.

Today is connected with the memory of the great victory of our people, their spiritual feat, with the memory of how spiritual authority influenced the formation of courage and heroism. I mean, first of all, the blessing of St. Sergius of Radonezh, given to Dmitry Donskoy. How all this formed the true spiritual strength of our army, which won a victory in a historic battle.

This is an excursion into history from our church point of view. This point of view is not present in secular historical science, but in vain, because it is this approach to history that highlights the most important thing — the spiritual dimension in the life of people and the state, without which victories, in the conditions of fading faith and spirit, become impossible. Therefore, today we pray to the Lord again and again that He will pacify Russia, stop internecine wars, and reunite Holy Russia — in the sense that no discord and division will torment the heirs of that one Holy Russia. And today, when we remember the victory of our people in the Battle of Kulikovo, we ask that without special battles and bloodshed, a real victory will come, which would restore us to spiritual unity, peace, prosperity and mutual love.

Let the protection of the Queen of Heaven extend over Her inheritance — over Holy Russia. Let the holy saints of God, equally glorified and revered in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other parts of historical Russia, pray today for us, the unworthy ones, and equip us with the right thoughts, the right words, but, most importantly, with righteous deeds, through which peace and prosperity could come to the land of Holy Russia.

Amen.

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