Mesa Potamos, Cyprus, December 20, 2017
However, the truth of their lives and deaths often remains shrouded in mystery, and their importance and sanctity can be misunderstood even by other Orthodox Christians. A new biography, The Romanov Holy Royal Martyrs: What Silence Could Not Conceal, the first complete biography of the Royal Martyrs to be published in Greek, aims to clear away some of the misconceptions and clearly portray the full scope of the martyric feat of the last Russian Royal Family, demonstrating why they are so greatly loved and venerated in Russia, and beyond.
The book is being published by the Holy Monastery of St. John the Forerunner in Mesa Potamos, Cyprus, jointly with Athos Publications, and features a foreword by Archimandrite Ephraim, the abbot of Vatopedi Monastery on Mt. Athos. It will be available in January 2018.
The monastery writes of the book:
“The Orthodox Church has never claimed infallibility for any of its saints. On the contrary, sanctity, according to Orthodox doctrine is a dynamic procedure, in the course of which those who struggle spiritually do fall repeatedly, only to time and again rise to their feet and continue their journey in repentance and humility, acquired through the realization of their human weaknesses. That then becomes unfailing trust in God’s will, a spiritual property of the most noble spirits, “which is in the sight of God of great price.” This is exactly what the Royal Martyrs Nicholas and Alexandra, together with their children, achieved in their own lives.
“Nevertheless, this unique spiritual virtue they acquired was wrongfully viewed as religious fatalism by those unable to understand the true essence of the Orthodox faith. The Royal Martyrs surrendered themselves and their whole lives to the will of God, even unto death, in the most spiritually perfect degree and thus, regardless of their human errors, unavoidable for all created beings, they reached the level of that kind of faith which overcomes death and renders the bearers of it living vessels of the grace of God in eternity, in a word: saints.
“This book is the first complete biography of the Royal Martyrs to be published in Greek. The book was written based strictly on the primary sources, mainly focusing on the spiritual qualities of the Imperial Family. Thus, it approaches the life of the Royal Martyrs through an Orthodox prism, presenting to the readers a hagiographical work, set in the context of modern writing, while preserving utter respect to true historical facts. It also sheds light on distorted chapters from the life of the Royal Martyrs, such as the events of Bloody Sunday 1905, which have sadly managed to be established as true historical facts in their distorted form. Finally, the book includes an abundance of original writings by the Royal Martyrs, taken from their diaries and correspondences, offering to the readers the experience of an immediate encounter with the Martyrs themselves, and thus, helping them acquire a personal understanding of their spiritual values.”
The book will be published in January 2018, in time for the centenary of the martyrdom of the Royal Martyrs.
Thank you.