October 28, the Church commemorates St. Afanasy (Athanasius) Sakharov, Bishop of Kovrov, confessor of the faith. A theologian and liturgist, an author of Church services, St. Afanasy walked the thorny path of persecutions; and neither prison trials, nor camps and exile could ever undermine his faith. It was prayer that nourished him. Sergei Fudel, a Russian writer, destined to bear an onerous burden, recalled the saint in his books. “Before his death, he told his friends the way out of all difficulties: ‘Prayer will save you all.’ These words were some of his last. In his Commemoration of the Reposed, he wrote (approximately, in 1950s), ‘Everyone should pray for all people.’ So he remained faithful to his nature, to his monastic prayerful spirit, which if genuine is, the spirit of early Christianity.”
This spirit is manifested in both the letters written by St. Afanasy during incarceration, and in his advice. Today we publish certain excerpts from these letters.
More than 170,000 Orthodox clergymen were arrested in 1917–1943; 115,000 were shot. St. Afanasy Sakharov spent over thirty years in prisons and internment camps.
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I would rather have all our churches closed down [than become schismatic], as the Orthodox must not pray with the schismatics.1
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Look, all these “Living Church” people are imbued with a feeling of rage that is not a Christian feeling. They are under full control of the spirit of rage and they do not have serenity. Now I can see bishops and priests, incarcerated for their labor in the name of Christ, and I hear about Orthodox pastors in various prisons. What peace and joy they all possess!
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We should in no way be afraid of prison. Here it is better than it is outside of it. I say this with no exaggeration. Here is the true Orthodox Church.2
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My dear, kind mother,
How happy I was to see you for just a brief moment, to kiss you at least once. It is good that you, as I could see, cheer yourself up. Be of good cheer, do not lose your spirits.
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O Lord, preserve those who are still alive, preserve them safe and sound, let me see them one more time in this world.
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I give myself to the will of God; if I feel distressed sometimes, I do not fall into despondency, though I am exhausted either physically or mentally, I never lose hope and, with God’s help, do not murmur.
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Moses endured, Elisha endured, and Elias endured—so I will also endure.
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I am facing trial soon, but it will not be merciful. Anyway, we should not expect anything from earthly trials and earthly judges. The Lord will be our judge.
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All shackles and calamities are the penance inflicted by the Lord Himself.
On faith
What a great comfort our faith is! We are not despondent in troubles and are radiant when stricken by grief.
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What a great treasure our faith is! It brings us peace, consolation and delight in all circumstances! A faithful Christian will always say with the holy apostle: Being reviled, we bless, being persecuted, we suffer it, being defamed, we entreat. Glory to God for all things!
On love and humility
We should possess two things, love and humility, so that our heart is free of the faintest shade of anger or hostility, even towards our foes. Bear the infirmities of the weak, and do not please yourselves.
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Do not be indolent in prayer, do not forget God, love your father and mother, be submissive and do not upset them; love one another, and do not offend anyone, love everyone, tell only the truth. Then you will be loved, and God will assist you in everything.
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I truly believe that neither death nor distance can limit Christian love.
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Be patient, do not get vexed and, most crucially, do not be angry. You will never fight or banish evil with evil. Evil fears only love, only mercy.
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On losses
I unwaiveringly believe that the privation of what we especially desire, of what is most precious, will be accepted by the Lord as a sacrifice pleasant to Him.
On maladies, suffering and death
It is better to forget our past miseries and not to recall them, not to open the healing wounds. Guided by the word of the apostle, let us turn our gaze to what lies ahead of us, moving forward with hope, forgetting the past.
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Tears alleviate the trial. Cry a little, and you will find consolation.
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The Savior is here, He is beside you, He does not leave you for a single moment. Sometimes He seems to have abandoned us, but it only seems so to us, the weak. He is always with us, He sees us suffer and will give us crowns in Heaven for this.
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We should endure ailments with patience, but we should not ignore medical treatment lest we weaken in our malady, succumb to despondency and begin to murmur.
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The holy fathers associated ailments with martyrdom, and martyrs receive crowns in Heaven and enjoy eternal joy.
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May the will of God be done… Let us glorify God for afflictions, also. Glory to God for all things!
On daily concerns and time
I wholeheartedly co-suffer with all my friends who are embittered and grieve, those who labor and have almost no rest, who are constantly troubled with earning their daily bread, who lament their being separated from their dear and beloved ones, those who cannot spend as much time as they as they would like to spend, even with people living in the same room as them. This is the greatest trouble of our time.
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Today man seeks to make his work easier with the help of various technology, to spend less time on his work. However, God does not bless this. Therefore, instead of gaining more time for his personal life, man has almost none.
On God’s mercy
I believe that the endless number of our sins will fade away in the abyss of God’s mercy.
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God’s judgment is different from the judgment of men. Here they seek out everything as reasons for passing a verdict; there—and I hope it is not a sin to put it like this—they will seek out everything as reasons for exoneration.
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We have many sins, but God’s mercy is boundless.
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Definitely, we ought to remember our sins, our unreadiness to give an answer; we ought to be contrite, but we should not be despondent. With God, there is plenteous mercy.
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Indeed, very few are saved for their deeds. Endless is the number of those who are saved by God’s mercy and His love for humankind.
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The door of the Lord’s mercy is always open. It opens, if we slightly push it. Your push is a humble prayer: “I am Thine, save me.”
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I wholeheartedly thank you all, bless you all and pray for you all.
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State of the Church before and during the Soviet period
1914–1939 reflects the persecution against the Church by the Soviet regime.
| 1914 | 1939 | |
| Orthodox faithful (including the Old Ritualists) | 120,000,000 | 55,000,000 |
| Monasteries and convents | 953 | 0 |
| Churches, chapels | 75,000 | 100 |
| Seminaries | 246 | 0 |
| Bishops | 139 | 4 |
| Parish priests | 68,928 | 200 |
| Monastics (in monasteries and convents) | 94,624 | 0 |
1952–1962 reflects the reopening of churches, monasteries and seminaries during WWII, and the subsequent persecutions under Nikita Khrushchev.
| 1952 | 1965 | |
| Orthodox faithful (including the Old ritualists) | no data | no data |
| Monasteries and convents | 62 | 18 |
| Churches, chapels | 13,786 | 7,873 |
| Seminaries | 10 | 5 |
| Bishops | 65 | 77 |
| Parish priests | 12,254 | 7,347 |
| Monastics (in monasteries and convents) | 4,639 | 1,500 |
