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Prophecies concerning the end times In General Events which are to occur before end times are described in many places in the Holy Scripture. The book of Apocalypse describes these events as a series of visions, some of which are clear and positive, placing hope in Gods justice and salvation of the chosen. Others are dark and negative, pointing out the illnesses and plagues which will appear on earth due to sins. When the end of this world comes near, the great tribulation will happen, such as was not seen from the beginning of time until today, and such as never will be. And there will be hunger and plagues, earthquakes, wars, false prophets, false christs, and the love of many will grow cold. But at the same time, the Gospel will be preached to all nations, and those who endure until the end with Christs help, will be saved. Evil and false religions will reach their climax during the time of the reign of Antichrist the ruler of the world who, promising to bring peace to the devastated earth and imitating the coming of Christ, will rule the whole world from the restored Temple in Jerusalem. But there will be such whom he will not be able to delude. Among them will be the two prophets of the Old Testament who never saw death and who will come back to earth Elijah, in order to convert the Jews, and Enoch, in order to preach to all the other nations. The short rule of the Antichrist, three and a half years, will end in a war and disorder. And amid all that confusion and trials, Christ will come, preceded by the sign of the Cross. And the whole world will be swallowed in flames, and will be renewed. And the bodies of the dead will rise from the graves and will be reunited with the souls in order to stand at the judgment of God. In the 19th century, there were many known prophets in Russia. They saw the coming of the revolution as the result of faithlessness, vanity of life and only external fulfilling of customs. To some of them, it appeared as a terrible disaster which is to come upon the Russian land. For example, pointing to the lack of true faith in many people, Bishop Theophan the Recluse said, A hundred years from now, what will remain of our Orthodoxy? Others reckoned that this absence of faith will be manifested in a terrible revolution which would ultimately spread all over the world. Saint John of Kronstadt said in his sermon from 1905, Russia, if you apostatize your faith, you will no longer be Russia, or Holy Rus. God will remove the pious Emperor and send a whip in the persons of the impious, fierce, self-proclaimed rulers who will drench the whole land with blood and tears. Optina Elder Alexei, being in the Chudskoi Monastery at the time of the election of the Patriarch heard people crying. And someone cried out loudly, Our Russia is doomed. Holy Rus is doomed! And immediately, he asked, Who says that Russia is doomed, that it has been killed. No! It is not doomed, it has not died, nor will it

die or vanish. But a cleansing from sins through a great tribulation is necessary for the Russian people. Prayer is necessary, and fervent repentance. Not long before the revolution, Elder Barnabas from the Skete of Gethsemane foretold that heavy trials are ahead for Russia and that fierce persecutions will come upon the Orthodox Faith. He said, Persecutions against the Orthodox Faith will be continually growing. Sorrows and darkness, unheard of until now, will come upon all. And churches will be closed. But when the oppression becomes completely unbearable, then the liberation will come, and the time of flourishing will come about. Churches will again be raised. Before the end, there will be a flourishing.

Holy Fathers and ascetics of piety about the future of Russia and the end of the world.

Instructions of Optina Elders to monks and laymen Venerable Anatoli of Optina My child; know that in the last days, as the Apostle says, hard times will come (2 Tim. 3: 1-6). And due to the absence of piety, heresies and schisms will happen in the Church. And as the Holy Fathers foretold, on the seats of the Saints and in the monasteries, there will be no people with experience, or such as are familiar with the spiritual warfare. Because of that, heresies will be spreading everywhere and will deceive many. The enemy of the human race will work cunningly, trying to push into heresy even the chosen. He will not crudely renounce the dogmas about the Holy Trinity, about the Divinity of Jesus Christ, about the Mother of God, but will start unnoticeably twisting the teaching of the Church which was given by the Holy Fathers and which is from the Holy Spirit, and [will be twisting] the very spirit and canons. That contriving of the devil will be noticed only by a few by the most experienced in spiritual life. Heretics will take over the rule of the Church. They will place their servants everywhere, and there will be contempt for piety. But the Lord will not leave His servants unprotected and uninformed. He said, You will know them by their fruits (Matt. 7: 16). So you also, try to distinguish the heretics from the true shepherds by their deeds. Those are the spiritual thieves who plunder the spiritual flocks. And they will enter the sheeps court the Church, entering through the back entrance as the Lord said. That is, they will enter in a lawless way, using violence and trampling down Gods ordinances. The Lord calls them robbers (Jn. 10: 1). Indeed, their first step will be the persecution of true shepherds, their imprisonment, exiles, because without doing so, they wouldnt be able to plunder the sheep. Therefore my son, when you see the destruction of Divine rite in the Church, of Patristic Tradition, and of God-established order, know that heretics have already come, even if at times they hide their impiety and twist the faith unnoticeably in order to succeed even more in deceiving and dragging the inexperienced into the nets. Persecution will not be only of the pastors but of all servants of God, because the demon which governs heresy does not tolerate piety. Recognize these wolves in sheeps clothing by their haughty nature, love of pleasures and authority. They will be slanderers and traitors, sowers of enmity and evil. True servants of God are humble, love brethren, and are obedient to the Church. Great pressure will be exerted by the heretics upon monks too.

Monastic life will be under abuse: brotherhoods will diminish, number of monastics will decrease, and those who stay will suffer violence. Likewise, the haters of monastic life, having only an appearance of piety, will try to bring the monks on their side, promising them protection and treasures of this life, threatening the unyielding ones with expulsion. Because of these threats, the feeble hearted will then suffer great despondency. But you my son, if you live until that time, rejoice, because at that time the true believers, without showing any virtues, will receive the wreaths only for perseverance in the Faith, according to the words of the Lord, Each one who confesses me before men, I will also confess before my Heavenly Father (Matt. 10: 32, 33). Fear the Lord God, my son. Fear the loss of the prepared wreath. Fear being torn away from Christ and into the utter darkness and eternal torment. Stand boldly in the Orthodox Faith, and if necessary, suffer exile and other sorrows with rejoicing, because the Lord and the holy martyrs and confessors will be with you. They will look upon your struggle with joy. But woe to those monks in those days who will follow treasures and will be willing to submit themselves to the heretics out of love of stillness. They will soothe their conscience saying, If we preserve and save the brotherhood, the Lord will forgive us. The unfortunate and blind ones dont think about how with a heresy, a demon will enter the brotherhood and then there will no longer be a holy brotherhood but simple walls from which grace will depart. But God is mightier than the devil and will never abandon His servants. And true monasteries will exist until the end of time, but they will choose for themselves deserted and desolate places. Fear not the sorrows. Fear the lethal heresy, because it will strip man of grace and separate him from Christ. That is why the Lord commanded that a heretic be considered as a pagan and a publican (Matt. 16: 17). And so my son, strengthen yourself in grace by Jesus Christ, rush to the struggle of confessing, and endure the suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ (2 Tim. 2: 1,2) who said, Be faithful unto death and I will give you the wreath of life (Rev. 2: 10) To Him, with the Father and the Holy Spirit be honor and glory and power unto the ages of ages.

Venerable Seraphim Viricki (+ 1949): Father foretold the Great War for the fatherland (WW2), destruction of the Church and the renewal of faith in Russia. Being asked by his spiritual son about the future of Russia, the elder told him to go up to the window and look. He, the spiritual son, saw the Finnish Bay and many ships sailing in it under different flags. How is this to be interpreted? he asked the elder. The elder answered, The time will come when there will be a spiritual dawn in Russia. Many churches and monasteries will be opened. Even the heathens will come here on such vessels to be baptized. But that wont be for long. For fifteen years. Then the Antichrist will come. Once the East gathers its might, everything will become unstable. The numbers will be on their side. But thats not all. There, the sober and labor-loving people do the work, but here we have such drunkenness. They also said how the elder used to say, The East will be baptized in Russia. The whole Heavenly world and all those on earth who understand this pray for the enlightenment of the East. There will come a time when Russia will be torn into pieces. First they will divide it, and then they will start plundering the resources. The West will contribute to destruction of

Russia in every way, and will give her eastern regions to China for a time. Far East will go into the hands of the Japanese, and Siberia to the Chinese who will start moving into Russia, marrying Russians, and in the end, through their wiliness and craftiness will take all the territory up to the Urals. When China tries to go further, the West will oppose it and will not allow it. Many countries will come down on Russia, but it will remain standing, having lost most of its territory. This war of which it is spoken in the Holy Scripture and by the prophets, will become the reason for the unification of mankind. Jerusalem will become the capitol of Israel, and with time it will have to become the capitol of the world. People will realize that they cannot live like that anymore, otherwise everything living will die, and they will choose one government. This will be the introduction into the reign of Antichrist. Then the persecution of Christians will begin. When the convoys head out of the cities to the deep inland of Russia, one should try to be among the first to leave, because many of those who stay behind will die. The kingdom of lies and evil will come. It will be so hard, so bad and so horrible; God forbid we would live until that time The time will come when not persecutions, but money and delusions of the world will turn people away from God, and more souls will perish then than did in the time of open persecution of the Church. On one side, they will be raising crosses and gilding domes with gold, and on the other, the kingdom of lies and evil will come. The true Church will always be persecuted, and salvation will only be possible through sorrows and illnesses, and the persecutions will assume a most refined, unprecedented character. It will be terrible to live until that time. The elder loved the young very much. At that time, young people almost didnt go to church at all, and he rejoiced greatly when they used to come to him. The elder spoke of the great role of the youth in the future rebirth of the Church. He said how there will come a time, and already is here when the perversion and fall of morals of the youth will reach its outer limits. There will be almost no nerastlennie (uncorrupted, undefiled, virgins). They will think that everything is permissible to them unto the pleasing of their fancies and lusts, because they will see their lack of punishment. They will gather into campaigns, gangs, they will steal and indulge in debauchery. But the time will come when there will be the voice of God, and when the youth will understand that they cannot live that way anymore. And they will come to the faith via different paths. Attraction towards asceticism will grow strong. Those who will have been sinners and drunkards until that time, will fill the churches, will feel the great attraction toward spiritual life. Many of them will become monastics. Monasteries will be opened. Churches will be full of the faithful, and most of them will be the young. And then the young will go on pilgrimages to the holy places. It will be a glorious time. As they sin now, with even more fervor will they repent then. Just like a candle which before it goes out lights up more brightly, shining the last light on everything around itself, so will be the life of the Church. And that time is near. How much grace has God given to Russia! What forests, lakes, rivers. The land is rich. But we live without God. And the land is our mother. She gives bread and life. Our enemies and the godless authorities will not allow people to go back to the land for a long time. It is possible to feed everyone, and to build everything, but it is not pleasing to the enemies. The resurrected Russia is terrifying to them. And all of Russia will live of its own land.

Schema Archimandrite Lawrence of Chernigov: Russian people will be repenting for their mortal sins, because they allowed the Jewish impiety to enter Russia, did not protect the Gods anointed Emperor, Orthodox churches and monasteries, the multitude of holy martyrs and confessors, and everything that is of Holy Russia. They despised piety and loved demonic impiety. Receiving the Holy Spirit abundantly, Elder Lawrence would often speak with his spiritual children about the last times. He warned that it is necessary to be watchful and careful because the Antichrist is near. The Elder said, Now we are voting. He who casts the ballot with his left hand (possibly meaning for the wrong candidate) its nothing, because they are still not voting for the one ruler of the whole world. But if they start voting for the one ruler of the world, that is him. Dont vote. The Venerable one said how there will be such a world-wide war that nobody will remain in any part of the world except those in the ravines. They will fight. And only two or three countries will remain. And they will decide let us choose one king for the whole world. And they will choose him. And in the last times, true Christians will be exiled, and the elderly and the infirm, even if by grabbing on to the wheels, will flee along with them. The Elder, being enlightened by the Holy Spirit, spoke such words about the coming Antichrist, There will be a time when they will go around to make lists of names for the one king of the world. And they will make this census in the most strict manner. They will go into a house, and in the house there will be a husband, a wife and children. And the wife will start convincing the husband let us sign it; we have children; you wont be able to buy anything for them. And the husband will say you do as you will; I am ready to die, but I will not sign for the Antichrist. Such is the disturbing image of the future. The time will come when even the non-functioning (closed) churches will be restored, equipped not only on the outside but also on the inside. The domes will be gilded with gold, and so will the churches and the bells. And when they finish everything, then that time will come when the Antichrist will begin his reign. Pray that the Lord would prolong this time for us to gather strength because a terrible time awaits us. And you see how everything is being prepared cunningly? All churches will be of great beauty, such as never before, but one will not be able to go to those churches. Antichrist will be crowned as king in the glorious temple in Jerusalem. Anyone will be able to go in and out of Jerusalem. But be careful not to go then, because everything will be set up there in order to deceive people. Antichrist will be born of a fornicating Jewish girl, after twelve generations of fornication. Even as a child, he will be capable and clever, especially since the time when he, being twelve years old, walking with his mother through a garden, meets Satan, who, coming out of the abyss, will enter into him. The child will flinch from fear, and Satan will say, Dont worry, I will help you. That child will develop into the human form of the Antichrist. The Prophets Enoch and Elijah will come down from Heaven, and they will also be saying to everyone that the Antichrist has come That is the Antichrist, dont believe him. And he will kill the prophets, but they will rise and ascend into the Heaven.

Antichrist will be trained in all Satanic crafts and will produce false signs. The whole world will see him at the same time. The God-pleasing Holy Elder used to say, Blessed, and thrice-blessed is the man who does not desire, and who will not see the abominable face of the Antichrist. He who sees him and hears his blasphemous words, his promises of all earthly treasures, he will be deceived and will go to meet him and bow down to him. He will perish together with him and will burn in the eternal fire. They asked the Elder, How will all this come to pass? The holy Elder said with tears, In the holy place, the abomination of desolation will stand. And it will show the foul seducers of the world. And they will be deceiving the people who have fallen away from God, and will perform false miracles. And after them, the Antichrist will appear. And the whole world will see him at the same time. Then the fathers asked the Elder, Where in the holy place? In the church? The Venerable one answered, Not in the church, but in every house. In the corner, where the holy icons now stand and hang, there will stand captivating devices which will delude the people. Many will say, We need to watch and listen to the news. And behold, in the news the Antichrist will appear. He will mark his people with the seal, and he will hate Christians. The last persecutions of the Christian soul who will refuse to receive the mark of Satan will begin. A Christian will not be able to neither buy nor sell anything. But despair not, the Lord will not abandon His children. There is no need to fear. There will be churches, but an Orthodox Christian should not go to those because the Bloodless Sacrifice will not be offered there. There will only be Satanic assemblies there. Again I say, it is forbidden to go to such churches because there will be no grace there. The Jews will also be driven into one place. Some Jews who sincerely lived by the Law of Moses, will not receive the mark of the Antichrist. They will bide their time and carefully examine his works. They know that their ancestors did not confess Christ as Messiah, and then God will grant it that their eyes be opened and they will not receive the mark of Satan, but will confess Christ and will reign with Christ. But all the weak people will follow Satan, and when the earth does not bear fruit, people will go to him with the request to give them bread, and he will answer, The earth did not produce any bread. There is nothing I can do. There will be no water either. All the lakes and rivers will dry up. This misery will last for three and a half years, but for the sake of His elect, the Lord will shorten those days. In those days, there will still be mighty fighters, pillars of Orthodoxy, who will be under the mighty influence of the Jesus prayer. And the Lord will cover them with His Almighty Grace and they will not see the false signs which will be prepared for all people. Many of you, my children, will live until that terrible time. One sister, listening to this talk asked, How do we live? We dont want to live until that time. The Elder said, You, young one, might see it. How horrible! Then choose one of the two the earthly or heavenly. The Elder went on, There will be a war, and where it happens, there will be no more people there. Before that, the Lord will send illnesses to weak people and they will die. But with the Antichrist there will be no death. And the Third World War will be not for repentance but for extermination.

Restorations of the churches will go on until the very arrival of the Antichrist. And unprecedented beauty will be everywhere, the Elder said, but as for you, be moderate in the restoration of churches in their appearance. Pray more. Go to church while you can, especially to Liturgy where the Bloodless Sacrifice for the sins of the whole world is offered. Confess and receive the Body and Blood of Christ often, and the Lord will strengthen you. The Elder said openly to one deacon who is old but still alive, You will live until the time of Antichrist. Fear not. Tell everyone that its him, and there is no need to fear. (1948) Hegumeness Domnickaia with two of her cell keepers (born in 1923) came to the Elder for tea, and during lunch he told them, Matushka, you and I will not live until Antichrists time, but these (pointing to the cousins) will. The slander of the evil one and false teachings will disappear from Russia, and there will be the one Church Orthodox, Russian. Venerable Lawrence spoke persistently and sternly, noting that the word of our origin is Rus and Russian, and it is necessary to know, remember and not forget that the baptism was of Rus, not Ukraine. Kiev is the second Jerusalem and the mother of Russian cities. There was a secret Jewish throne in Poland. The Jews were compelling the Poles to conquer Russia. When the Poles took a part of Russia, they gave Orthodox churches and monasteries to the Jews to govern over. Priests and Orthodox people could not perform any services without their permission. They were pressuring and oppressing the Orthodox on all sides, patronizing Poland, Catholicism and unia. The Jews did not like the words Rus and Russian at all, so they changed the name of the lands which were conquered and given to them to govern by the Poles, into Malorossia. Then they remembered that this still contained the word Ros so they changed it into Okraina. The word okraina it is a shameful and humiliating word! What okraina? Why, okraina of what? (the word okraina has the root krai which means the end or the edge meaning that the region called okraina was the final extent, or literally border country of some other region). We know that behind this sham judeo-polish okraina there are other countries and societies. And later, according to their (the Jews) orders, the Poles legalized the terms with which we are so familiar today Ukraine and Ukrainians, so that we would willingly forget our name Russian, forever breaking off from Holy and Orthodox Rus. Veneralbe Theodosi, Hegumen of Kiev Caves wrote that we ought not to praise other faiths, and in no case unite ourselves with the Catholics and abandon the Orthodox Faith. People that were close in spirit the great Archbishops Lazar Baranovich, Saint Theodosi of Chernigov, and Saint John, the Metropolitan of Tobolsk, tried with all their powers to obey the words of the Lord Jesus, which command That all be one, and be with Orthodox Russia in order to comprise the Holy Rus in one accord and thus forever free themselves of Polish rule and Jewish oppression and governance, and to deliver themselves from Catholicism which is foreign to us, and from spiritually lethal unia, which was introduced and established through threats, torture, violence and death. Elder Lawrence also said how just as one cannot divide the Holy Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit One God; so one cannot divide Russia, Ukraine and Belorus. Together they make up Holy Russia. Know, remember and dont forget. Russia, together with all Slavic nations and lands will make a mighty Empire. An Orthodox Emperor will keep it one anointed by God. The Emperor will be from God.

It has to be known that Russia is the lot of the Heavenly Queen, and She will take care of it and will particularly intercede for it. And it has to be known that there is One God, one faith and one baptism. Only those unworthy of Gods grace and great sinners go off into schisms and heresies; those who do not want to know the faith in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, and that the Orthodox Church is the body of Christ. Is it possible to divide the Body of Christ? In the end, the Church is the unstitched robe of the Lord which cannot be torn, as Arius tried to do. They dont remember that there is one God, one Faith and one baptism. The Lord Jesus Christ built one Church, not churches, against which the gates of hell will not prevail. There is only one Church Orthodox, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. Others, calling themselves churches, are not churches but the tares of the devil amid wheat, and devils hordes. After those words, the Elder prayed for those who fell away from the true faith, cried and said, No. The Lord will not call them to repentance (ne prizovet perfective verb in future tense; the actual meaning is more like they wont respond to the call, or He wont manage to call them). They will not be saved. Because they are unworthy of Gods grace. This is revealed to me by the Queen of Heaven and the holy guardian Angel. For them, the lost and the apostates from the true faith, there is no grace of the Holy Spirit, no salvation and no obtaining of the Heavenly Kingdom. We Orthodox dont need anything. Just the Orthodox Faith, salvation of the soul and obtaining the Kingdom of Heaven. And our mother, the Russian Orthodox Church, has all that. Praise be to God! Breaking off from her and walking away from her is a great and unforgivable sin, both in this life and in the life to come it is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. And the Elder was illumined by a non-earthly light, ending his talk with the words, Hearken and see, that is what the Holy Gospel says, and he added, They will be deaf and blind!

Venerable Nil the Myrrh-streaming And so, when the Antichrist will be putting his seal on the people, their hearts will become as dead. And then, that is, in the time of that prophesied calamity, Antichrist will mark his people with the mark to supposedly save them from calamities by that seal, because only to those who will have the seal, bread will be sold, according to the book of Apocalypse (Rev. 13: 17). Many will die on the roads. People will become like birds of prey, throwing themselves upon the carrion, and will devour the bodies of the dead. But what sort of people will be eating the bodies of the dead? Those sealed with the mark of the beast. The Christians, even though bread wont be either given or sold to them on account of their not having the mark of the beast, will not eat the bodies; the sealed ones, even though bread will be accessible to them, will be eating dead bodies. When the cursed glory sees Enoch and Elijah preaching to the people and telling them not to receive the mark of the Antichrist, he will order to have them arrested. But they will be convincing the people not to receive the mark, saying that whoever shows patience and does not receive the seal, that one will be saved and God will receive him straight into the Paradise only for not receiving the seal. And let each one sign himself

with the sign of the honorable Cross, making the sign of the cross at all times because the seal of the cross frees man from the torment of Hades; the seal of the Antichrist, though, brings one into the torments of Hades. If you are hungry and need food, endure for a short time and God, seeing your patience, will send you help from on high; you will be livened again (fed full of life) with the help of the God in the Highest. If you do not show patience, however, you will receive the mark of this unclean king, and will then regret it. He who will be marked with the seal of the Antichrist, will become a demon; even though he reckons that he apparently feels no hunger or thirst, he will be hungering and thirsting all the more, and not just a little more, but seven times more than you. Endure just for a short time. Do you not see that he who receives the seal of Antichrist will not live, that is, he is dead in spirit and eternal torment awaits him? Or do you also want to thus perish with the mark in eternal torments, in order to be with those who will receive the mark where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth? And with many other admonitions Enoch and Elijah will be preaching to the people. The Antichrist will hear about two men preaching, calling him a liar, worker of magic, deceiver and a crafty devil. Having heard that, he will be very angry, will order to have them captured, brought to him, and he will speak to them with sly words. And Elijah will answer, We despise your kingdom, and we curse your glory along with your mark. Upon hearing such a spiteful answer, Antichrist will become as a rabid dog and will kill them with his bare hands.

Venerable Ambrosi of Optina The time will come when the faithful children of the Church will be hiding in the caves, and only prayers of the Mother of God will have the power to save the people from persecution and confusion. (Especially important will be the reading of the Archangelic greeting O Theotokos and Virgin rejoice that is the spiritual channel over which the Antichrist will not jump, that is, he will not deceive the soul which is protected by the prayers of the Mother of God.)

Venerable Barsanuphios of Optina Many of the Holy Fathers explain that the abomination of desolation spoken of by the Prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, will be the Jewish Temple, built on the place of the ancient Temple of Jerusalem in which the Savior preached. In that temple, which will be built at the coming of the Antichrist, Antichrist himself will be enthroned. Then the prophecy of the Prophet Daniel will be fulfilled. Then, the Venerable Father spoke about the Jews, about China, and about how everyone will be against Russia, or better said against the Church of Christ, since the Russian people is the God-bearer. In it, the true faith of Christ is preserved. True, today we no longer have living sources of prophecies in the Church, but we do have signs of the times which are given to us exactly so that we can recognize the times, and which are clearly visible to those who have a spiritual reason. For example, look at the Jews and how they are being dealt with. Fifty years ago, the Jews kept quiet, they could not be heard anywhere. In Prussia, not just Austria, anyone could offend or even kill a

Jew without answering for it. I am not saying that such a thing is lawful or good, I am just making a point of how powerless and puny they were But now they have gained glory and might. Is this not a sign of the times? They did not start existing fifty years ago, or yesterday, but have existed for millennia. They were rejected since the time of Christs crucifixion and His Resurrection and why were they not able to regain such strength for tens of centuries since then, as they have now in a short time? Is this not a sign of the times? Decline and disintegration everywhere. Antichrist is openly coming into the world. He who will be reading the Apocalypse at the end times will be truly blessed, because he will be understanding what is happening. And understanding, he will prepare himself. As he reads it, he will see current events happening around him described in the book of Apocalypse.

Venerable Nektari of Optina Russia will revive. And she will be materially poor, but rich in spirit. And there will be seven more light-bearers in Optina, seven pillars. If even a few faithful Orthodox remain in Russia, God will have mercy on her. And we do have such righteous ones. (April 29th, 1928) At the question of whether there will be union of churches, he answered, No. Such a thing could be done only at an Ecumenical Council. But there will be no more Councils. There were seven Councils, like seven Sacraments, seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. For our age, the fullness is in number seven. The number of the future age is eight. Only individuals will be joining our Church. The time of prayer is coming. During work, say the Jesus prayer. First with the mouth, then with the mind, and then it will move into the heart by itself. Prayer written by Elder Nektari: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, who comest to judge the living and the dead, have mercy on us sinners, forgive all the falls into sin during our lives, and hide us from the face of the Antichrist in the hidden desert of Thy salvation, O Thou who knowest destinies. The foreboding of social catastrophes hangs over mankind. They feel this instinctively, like ants But the faithful dont need to fear they will be protected by the Grace. In the last times, the same will be happening with the faithful that was happening with the Apostles at the time of the Dormition of the Mother of God. Each faithful one, regardless of where he is serving, will be transported on a cloud into one place; into the Ark the Church. Only those inside of it will be saved. (27th of January, 1923) Those who remain faithful to the Orthodox Church, no matter where they are scattered, will be collected by the Lord into one place, like the Apostles for the Dormition of the Theotokos.

Saint Ignati Brianchaninov The hypocrisy of antichrist at that time will come to such a measure that in dealing with Christians he will not only not show himself to be their enemy, but will even offer his protection to them. In his outward, visible, side of life, he will try to imitate Christ. Most of the Christians, being governed not by the spiritual reason of the Church, but by carnal wisdom, will not see this deception and will confess antichrist to be Christ in His second

coming to earth Trials of Gods Saints will become horrible: wickedness, hypocrisy and miracles of the persecutor will amplify in order to deceive and seduce them; subtlety, prosecution and constraint devised and hidden by the crafty inventiveness, unlimited power of the torturer will place them in a most difficult position; their small number will appear insignificant before all mankindgeneral scorn, hatred, slander, oppression, violent death will become their lotEnemies of the antichrist will be labeled as agitators, enemies of the public wellbeing and order, will be subjected to open and covert persecution, to torture and punishment. In order not to fall away, we will have to pay uttermost attention to Gods Word which will be justified by the unfolding of the events of the time and by the attitude of animosity towards it. Only to those who govern themselves with the Holy Scripture will the Scripture show that not majority but very few travel on the narrow path, and in the last days of the world, that path will be abandoned to an extreme. In the time of sorrows and dangers, visible and invisible, prayer is especially needed being the expression of the abandoning of hope in oneself, it is an expression of hope in God and attracts Gods help. When the great sorrows begin during the time of antichrist, all the true believers in God will cry out an amplified prayer to God. They will entreat for help, for intercession, for sending down of Gods grace unto their strengthening and for guidance. Peoples own powers, even of the faithful, will be insufficient to stand against the united forces of fallen angels and men which will be acting with caution and despair, sensing their nearing doom. Gods grace, overshadowing His chosen ones, will put to naught the threats and seductions of the seducer, and will put his miracles to scorn; it will grant them courage to confess the Savior who has already accomplished the salvation of mankind, and to expose the false messiah who comes for the sake of peoples perishing; it will bring them onto scaffoldings as if onto royal thrones or to a wedding party. The Lord, even during the very times of antichrist will direct His servants and provide places and means for their salvation, as it is testified to in the Apocalypse Gods mercy is prolonging and delaying the final cut for the sake of the small remnant which will be saved, meanwhile the rotting or the rotten will reach the fullness of decay. Those being saved have to understand this and use the time given for salvation because the time is cut short, and the departure into eternity is close for each one of us. One needs to peacefully accept (mirstvovat) the position of the Church, even while understanding it at the same time. It is allowed from above. Elder Isaiah said, Understand the times. Do not expect order in the general Church structure but be content with the fact that it is granted in particular that those people who wish to be saved can be saved. Let him who is being saved save his soul it is said to the rest of the Christians, it is said by the Holy Spirit. The world, or mankind, will not recognize the Antichrist. It will confess him as Christ and will declare him to be Christ. Consequently, when the rumor of Christs coming starts, spreads and strengthens, that will be a true sign that the Antichrist has appeared and has begun his determined and allowed rule.

Venerable Kuksha of Odessa (+1964) The last times are starting. Soon, there will be an ecumenical council called holy. But that will be the very Eight Council which will be the assembly of the godless. All faith

will unite into one at that council. Then, all fasts will be cancelled, monasticism will be completely destroyed, bishops will be married. The new calendar will be implemented in the Universal Church. Be vigilant. Make sure to go to Gods churches while they are still ours. Soon, you wont be able to go there. Everything will change. Only the chosen will see this. They will be forcing people to go to church, but we should not go there under any circumstances. I beg you, stand in the Orthodox Faith until the end and you will be saved!

Saint Theophan of Poltava You ask me about the near future and about the coming last times. I do not speak from myself, but I relate to you what was revealed to me by elders. The coming of the antichrist is nearing and it is already very close. The time which separates us from his arrival can be measured in years, in best case in decades. But before his arrival, Russia has to revive, even if shortly. And there will be an Emperor there, chosen by the Lord Himself. And he will be a man of fervent faith, deep mind and iron will. That is what was revealed to us about him. And we will be waiting for the fulfillment of that revelation. Judging by many signs, it is near; unless God changes His promise because of our sins and removes him. According to the testimony of Gods word, that can also happen. I know nothing of the Eight Ecumenical Council. I can only quote the words of Saint Theodore the Studite, Not every gathering of bishops is a council; only the gathering of bishops who stand in truth. True, the Ecumenical Council does not depend on the number of those gathered, but on whether it will [vainly] philosophize or teach in the Orthodox manner. If it steps away from the truth, it will not be ecumenical, even if it calls itself that. The infamous council of thugs (sobor razboinikov) was in its time more numerous than many ecumenical councils, but even so it was not recognized as an Ecumenical Council but got the name council of thugs.

Saint Seraphim of Sarov There will come a time, said father Seraphim, when under the guise of the progress of the church and Christianity, but in order to please the desires of the world, they will be changing and twisting the dogmas and rules of the Holy Church, forgetting that their beginning is with the very Lord Jesus Christ who taught and gave instructions to his disciples the Holy Apostles about the constructing of the Church of Christ and about her rules, commanding them, Go and teach all nations what I have commanded you (Matt. 28: 19). Since then until now the rules and traditions of the Holy Apostles that have reached us have been preserved, being also explained and definitively confirmed once and for all by those who inherited them Holy Fathers who were governed by the Holy Spirit at the Ecumenical Councils. Woe to him who takes away or adds even one word, Saint Seraphim used to say. Our Church does not have any shortcomings. Woe to him who dares introduce any changes in the Services and ordinances of that Church which is the Pillar and the fortress of Truth and of which the Savior Himself said that even the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; which is to say, that she will exist unchanged until the end until the second coming.

Every desire to introduce so-called improvements and changes of rules and teachings of the Holy Church, is a heresy a desire to construct ones own particular church according to human reason, a departing from what was established by the Holy Spirit, and is indeed the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which will not be forgiven unto eternity. Thus have acted, and thus will act those who fell away from the unity with the Holy Apostolic Church, and of such Apostle Paul says, Such apostles, workers of craftiness, assume the appearance of Apostles of Christ, and this is not astonishing since Satan himself assumes the appearance of an angel of light, so it is no great deed that his servants also assume the appearance of the servants of truth, but their end will be according to their deeds (2 Cor. 11: 13-14). In one of his talks with Motovilov, venerable Seraphim, speaking of the spiritual condition of the last Christians who will remain faithful to God before the end of the world, said something very important for the strengthening of Christs confessors And in the days of that great tribulation of which it has been said that no flesh would be saved if the days werent cut short for the sake of the elect in those days, the remnant of the faithful will experience on themselves something similar to what was once experienced by the Lord Himself when He, hanging on the Cross, being perfect God and perfect man, felt like He was so abandoned that he cried out to Him, My God, my God! Why hast Thou forsaken me? (Matt. 28: 46). A similar abandoning of mankind by Gods grace will have to be felt by the last Christians, but only for a short time, after which the Lord will not tarry to reveal Himself in all of His glory, and all the Holy Angels with Him. And then, all that has been predetermined in the Pre-eternal Council will be accomplished in its fullness. + everything that is printed in the Orthodox Word concerning St Seraphim could be added here

Saint John of Shanghai (Maximovich) Antichrist will grant the possibility of life for the Church, will allow the services, promise the building of beautiful churches under the condition of recognizing him as the Supreme Being and bowing down to him. He will have personal hatred for Christ. He will live by that hatred and will rejoice over peoples falling away from Christ and the Church. There will be massive apostasy, and many bishops will change their faith, pointing as their excuse to the blissful condition of the Church. Seeking of compromise will be the characteristic mood of the people. The directness of confession of faith will disappear. People will be cleverly justifying their apostasy, and a flattering evil will support such general mood; among the people there will be a habit of falling away from the truth and the satisfaction of compromise and sin.

The Righteous Saint John of Kronstadt: Judging by the things manifest, the day of the second coming of Christ is near, because the falling away from the faith which was prophesied in the Scripture has come to pass, although the man of sin has not yet been revealed, the son of perdition Antichrist. The mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but it will not develop into its fullness until the

one keeping it back, the Emperor, has been removed from our midst, and a certain group is already working on his downfall. And then the lawless one will appear, the one whom the Lord Jesus Christ will kill with the spirit of His mouth, will uproot with the appearance of His coming; the one whose coming, according to the working of Satan will be with every power, signs and false wonders, and with every sort of false beguiling of the ones who are perishing because they did not receive the love of the Truth unto their own salvation. And for this, God will send them the working of illusion so that they may believe a lie, that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth of the Gospel and the Church, but loved a lie. And now, the truth has vanished, and lies are everywhere in the press and in life. What can we expect ahead if such faithlessness continues, such perversion of nature, such anarchy. Should Christ come back to earth again, be crucified again and die for us? No. God is completely mocked, His holy laws are completely trampled down. He is coming soon. But He is coming to judge the world and give to each according to his works. It may be soon that we hear the terrifying news Behold the Bridegroom cometh in the middle of the night and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching. Do not worry and do not fear brethren. Let the seditious Satanists comfort themselves for a moment with their hellish successes. Their judgment from God will not tarry, and their perdition sleeps not. The right hand of the Lord will find all those who hate us, and will avenge us justly. Vengeance is mine saith the Lord, so that we dont give ourselves over to despair, seeing everything that is happening in the world now. I foresee the restoration of a mighty Russia, even more mighty [than at the time of making this statement] and strong, rising on the bones of the martyrs as on a firm foundation. The new Russia will rise, according to its old image strong in its faith in Christ God and the Holy Trinity. And it will be according to the testament of the Holy Prince Vladimir as one Church. Russian people have stopped understanding what is Rus. She is the footstool of the throne of God. A Russian has to understand that, and thank God that he is Russian. Just providences of God are happening in Russia, just as they have been happening in the past centuries of her history, in the time of our ancient Princes and Emperors. Russia is being forged by calamities and pestilences. Not in vain is the One who rules all nations skillfully, most wisely and accurately, putting all those under the rule of His mighty hammer on the anvil. Be strengthened Russia, but repent too. Pray, cry bitter tears before your Heavenly Father whom you have angered immeasurably. We need a general moral cleansing, a deep national repentance, change of the pagan natures to Christian natures. Let us cleanse ourselves, cleanse ourselves with the tears of repentance, make peace with God, and God will make peace with us. Let us turn to God, O Russia who has sinned before Him worse and more heavily than all nations of the world. Turn with crying and tears to faith and virtues. You have sinned more than any other, because you have within you the priceless treasure of life the Orthodox Faith with the Church that saves, and you have trampled on it and spat on it through your haughty sons and daughters who thought themselves educated, but the true education, the one according to Gods image, cannot exist without the Church. Hiero-schema-monk Aristocle of Athos The widow of a writer, Mrs. Rodionova, wrote Surski in 1941, related to me an excerpt from a correspondence of her late husband, containing the details of this prophecy. I am including this correspondence in its entirety.

From the letter of her late husband, Ivan Aleksandrovich Rodionov, from 30th of October, 1939, from Berlin: I dont know if you are familiar with the prophecy of the Athonite elder Aristocle which he told ten days before his death, namely, on the 6th of August, 1918. Elder Aristocle did not provide deadlines, only signs of the salvation of Russia. Here they are, God will remove all rulers, so that the Russian people will only look up to Him. Everyone will abandon Russia. Other countries will distance themselves from her, leaving her alone. This is so that the Russian people would hope upon the help from the Lord. You will hear that disorders will start in other countries, like those happening in Russia. And you will hear of a war. And there will be wars. But wait until the Germans arm themselves. They are chosen by God as His weapon for punishing Russia. But also as the weapon of deliverance. When you hear that the Germans are arming themselves, the time will be near. Further on he said that the Cross of Christ will shine upon all worlds, and our motherland will be magnified, and will be as the lighthouse in the darkness to all.

Hegumen Nikon Vorobiev There will be no special struggles among those seeking the Kingdom of God. They will be saved only by enduring sorrows and illnesses. Why wont there be any struggles. Because there will be no humility among people, and without humility, struggles bring more harm than good. They can even kill a man (spiritually) since they unwillingly produce a high opinion of oneself in those who engage in struggles. And they produce delusion. Only under the guidance of very experienced spiritual people some struggles could be allowed. But there arent any. They cant be found. The governor is then the Lord Himself and the books for those who have them and can understand them. How does the Lord govern? He allows persecutions, sorrows, illnesses, long old age with hardships and weaknesses. It is said they will be saved by faith, by suffering sorrows, illnesses and repentance. We have no deeds. In everything and at every time we transgress Christs commandments. All we have left then is to repent, endure and believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, who came to seek out and save the perishing, will also save us who pray to Him for forgiveness and salvation. We have to believe this firmly. Those who hope in their deeds are building a home on sand. Salvation of men is a matter of Gods mercy; a gift of God to the fallen mankind which believes in Christ, is aware of its doom, and which calls with the publicans voice, God be merciful to me a sinner.

From the interview with the keeper of the Myrrh-streaming icon of the Iveron Mother of God, Joseph Munoz Question: When we talk about the resurrection of Russia, we speak of her as a mighty state in the future, like she was during the reign of Alexander III. But in that case, we are not thinking first of the Kingdom of Heaven, but remembering an earthly glory. Likewise the Jews were expecting not Christ, but an earthly ruler. Answer: Yes, Russia was a great empire. The biggest, the mightiest. She gave the world an incomparable beauty, which even Byzantium couldnt. The simfonia between Church and State in her was genuine, and thats why she was destroyed. I think that the Lord

allowed suffering under Communism partly so that Russians would not perish in horrible materialism. Russia has to rise with a spiritual power, because there in not one spot in Russia which has not been washed with the blood of the martyrs. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christianity. Those seeds will bear fruit. Russia will resurrect and will illuminate the whole world with her light, because there in not one nation which has so suffered for Christ as the Russians. Neither inquisition, nor Hitler with his horrors can be equaled to the Communists. When Russia resurrects, she will rightly assume the name of Holy Rus, the home of the Most Holy Theotokos.

Saint Ephraim the Syrian In the work On the coming of the Lord, the end of the world, and the coming of the Antichrist says, The Jews will rejoice and give honor to the reign of the antichrist more than anyone else. And he, under pretense of preference, and being industrious with them, will designate for them all a place and the temple. Beloved, we need a lot of prayer and tears in order that some of us prove strong through the trials; because the beast will work many illusions. He himself is an enemy of God and wants to destroy everyone. The torturer will use such means so that all will have to have the mark of the beast on themselves, in due time, that is at the fulfillment of time, when the Antichrist comes and deceives all with signs. And only in that case [that they have the mark] will they be able to purchase food and other necessities; and he will set up supervisors to enforce his orders. My brethren, notice the wiliness of the beast which is above all measure, and the contriving of his wickedness how he will start with the stomach, so that man, when brought to an extreme of food deprivation, will be compelled to accept the mark, or rather the wickedly profane symbol, not just on any part of the body but on the right hand and also on the forehead, so that he will be unable afterwards to make the sign of the cross with the right hand or to sign the holy name of the Lord or the glorious and honorable cross of Christ our Savior on the forehead... Therefore my brethren, a terrible trial is ahead for all the Christ-loving people that they not fear or fall into negligence until the hour of death during the time when the serpent will be marking [people] with his sign instead of the sign of the cross of the Savior And if someone will not be marked with the mark of the beast, that person will not be taken captive with his fantastic signs. And likewise the Lord will not abandon such, but will enlighten them and draw them to Himself I beg you brethren, as the smallest among you, let us not be lazy, o lovers of Christ, but let us stand well by the power of the Cross. The inevitable trial is at the doors. Let us all pick up the shield of faith. Be ready as faithful servants, so that you do not receive a stranger Blessed is he who proves himself altogether holy and faithful, whose heart is undoubtedly given to God, because he will reject all the enticing of the serpent without any tribulation, disregarding his tortures and illusions. Many of the saints, the likes of which will be found only at that time when the profane one comes, will be shedding tears in rivers before the Holy God to deliver them from the serpent, with great haste they will run for the deserts, and they will hide with fear in the hills and caves, and

they will cast dust and ashes upon their heads, praying with great humility day and night. And this will be granted to them from the Holy God; His grace will drive them to the places designated for this and they will be saved, hiding in the abysses and caves, not seeing the signs and fearsome things of the antichrist; because to those who have the knowledge, the coming of antichrist will be obvious. But to him whose mind is in the matters of this life and loves the earthly, this will not be clear; because those who are always tied down with the affairs of this life, even if they hear, they will not believe, despising those who will speak. And the saints will be strengthened because they have set aside all cares of this life. Then, all the earth and sea, and hills and valleys, along with the lights in the heavens will cry for mankind, because all will have departed from the Holy God and will have believed a lie, receiving upon themselves the mark of the filthy enemy of God instead of the [sign of the] Life-giving Cross of the Savior. After the fulfillment of three and a half years of the reign and works of the unclean one, and when all the earth will be filled with scandals, the Lord will come in the end, like lightning flashing from the heavens our Holy, Most-pure, Awesome, Glorious God will come with incomparable glory preceded by the ranks of Archangels and Angels coming in His glory. Arise ye sleeping ones, the Bridegroom is here! The graves will be opened and in the blink of an eye all the generations of the earth will wake and behold the divine beauty of the Bridegroom. And tens of thousands times tens of thousands, and thousands times thousands of Archangels and Angels an innumerable host will rejoice with great joy; all the saints and the righteous ones and all who did not receive the mark of the serpent and the profane one, will rejoice. The torturer with his demons, being tied up by the Angels, and likewise all those who did receive the mark, all the profane ones and the sinners will be tied and brought to the judgment place. And the King will sentence them to eternal condemnation into the unquenchable fire. But all those who did not receive the mark of the antichrist, and all those hiding in the caves, will rejoice with the Bridegroom unto the endless ages of ages.

Archbishop Averky. Driving the thought of Antichrists coming from oneself is exactly in his interest. And it is very dangerous. Such a one is already half way in his hands. And naturally, he will bow down to him when he comes, ending up in the midst of his faithful servants. We will not see antichrist himself, but his spirit is publicly established and already reigns in the world. The numerous predecessors of the Antichrist are exerting enormous energy to prepare his arrival, his triumph, his enthronement over mankind.

Prayer for deliverance from antichrist Of the Venerable Anatoli (Potapov) of Optina Deliver me, O Lord, from the delusion of the antichrist who is coming soon and is abominable before God, and remove me from his crafty nets in the hidden desert of Thy

salvation. Grant me, O Lord, the strength and courage of firm confessing of Thy Holy Name so that I do not step away out of the fear of the devil, that I not renounce Thee, my Savior and Redeemer, and Thy Holy Church. But grant me, O Lord, to cry and shed tears day and night for my sins and spare me, O Lord, at the hour of Thy Dread Judgment. Amen.