Apocalypse. Interpretation of the XXI century. Valeriy Sterkh
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will endure to the end of the age”.
Then, the elder said to me, “Watch”. And lo, I see and hear a wondrous sign. The angels sang: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts”. And there was a great multitude of people walking with candles in their hands, having joyful and radiant faces; they were kings, princes, patriarchs, metropolitans, bishops, archimandrites, hegumen, schemamonks, priests, deacons, catechumens, wanderers for Christ’s sake, lay people, lads, young men, babies. The cherubim and seraphim were accompanying them to their heavenly abode. I asked the elder, “Who are these people?” He answered as if he knew my thoughts, “They are the servants of Christ who suffered for the Holy Orthodox Apostolic Church of our Lord”. Again I dared to ask, “May I join them?” The old man replied, “No, it’s too early for you, be patient”. Again I asked, “Tell me, father, what about the babies?” The old man replied, “They are those who have also suffered for Christ at the hand of King Herod, and those babies who received their crowns from the King of Heaven for being exterminated in the wombs of their mothers, unnamed”. I crossed myself, “What a great and terrible sin this mother will bear – unforgivable”.
As we continued on our way, we saw a big temple. Entering inside, I wanted to cross myself but the elder said to me, “This is the abomination of desolation”. I saw a very dark and shadowy temple with a dark and gloomy altar. There was no iconostasis in the midst of it. Instead of icons, there were strange-looking portraits with bestial faces and sharp hoods, and there was no cross on the altar but a big star and a Gospel, marked with a star. There were resin candles burning, crackling like firewood. And there was a cup with a strong stench coming out of it. All kinds of reptiles, toads, scorpions, spiders were crawling out of it, horrible to look at. The prosphora was also marked with a star. There was a priest in front of the altar in a bright red robe, and green toads and spiders are crawling up and down it. His face was terrible to look at and black as coal, his eyes were red, and the smoke comes out of his mouth. His fingers were black as if covered with soot.
Oh Lord, I am terrified at this sight! An ugly-looking, filthy, deformed black woman jumped onto the altar, all in red, with a star on her forehead. She started spinning around the altar, then hooted like a night owl to the whole church in an awful voice, “Freedom!” Then she stopped, and all the people, as if caught up in a frenzy, began to run around the altar, rejoicing, shouting, whistling, and clapping their hands. Then they began singing a song, first quietly, then louder and louder, howling like dogs, and, finally, their voices turned into a beastly growl and then to a roar. A bolt of sudden bright lightning flashed across the temple, and there was a deafening thunderbolt; the earth shook, the temple collapsed, and the earth swallowed it up. The altar, the priest, the red woman all plummeted into the abyss in one great heap. “Have mercy on me, Lord! So scary!” I crossed myself. There was a cold sweat on my forehead. I looked around, and the elder smiled. “Have you seen all that?” he asked me. “Yes, Father. Tell me what it means. It was so scary and terrible”. The man answered, “The temple, the priests, and the people are the heretics, the apostates, the atheists who rejected the faith and the Holy Orthodox Apostolic Church and have accepted the heretical renovationist church which has no grace of God. One should not fast, go to confession, take Communion, or receive anointing in this church”. “Lord, save me, a sinner, and grant me the due repentance – a Christian death”, I whispered, but the elder reassured me by saying, “Do not be troubled, pray to God”.
We went on. Then I saw a multitude of people, terribly exhausted, each with a star on his forehead. When they saw us, they cried, “Pray for us, o holy fathers, for we are in great anguish and cannot pray. Our fathers and mothers did not teach us the law of God, and we haven’t been given a Christian name. We have not received the seal of the Holy Spirit”.
I wept and followed the elder. “Look”, the old man said and pointed with his hand, “Do you see?” “I see mountains”. “No, this is a pile of human corpses soaked in blood”. I crossed myself and asked the man: “What does this mean? What are these corpses?” “They are the monks and nuns, wanderers and pilgrims for the sake of the Holy, Orthodox, and Apostolic Church who were put to death, and yet did not accept the seal of the Antichrist, but would rather suffer martyrdom for Jesus”. I prayed, “Save us, oh Lord, and have mercy on the servants of God and all the Christians”. But suddenly the old man turned to the north and raised his hand, “Look”. I looked and I saw: the royal palace was surrounded by all kinds of animals and beasts of various sizes, reptiles, dragons, all hissing, roaring and crawling inside, and some had already clambered on the throne of the Anointed One, Nicholas II. His face was pale but resolute as he was praying the Jesus prayer. Suddenly the throne shook, and the crown fell off of his brow. The beasts roared and raged as they jumped on the Anointed One. They tore him to pieces, trampled him underfoot like demons of hell, and then the vision disappeared.
Oh Lord, how terrible! Save and guard us against all evil, all enemies, and foes. I wept bitterly. The elder took me by the shoulder, “Do not weep, for this is the Lord’s will”. Then he said, “Look”. I saw what looked like a soft radiance. At first, I could not see very well, but then the vision cleared: the Anointed One, who had suffered death, appeared to me with a crown of green leaves on his head. The face was pale, stained with blood, and he bore a golden cross on his neck. He was quietly repeating the prayer. Then he told me with tears, “Pray for me, Father John, and tell all the Orthodox Christians that I died boldly and courageously as a martyr for the Orthodox faith and the Holy Orthodox and Apostolic Church and suffered for all Christians. And tell all the Orthodox Apostolic priests to serve a common fraternal remembrance service for all the soldiers slain on the battlefield – for those burned by fire, drowned in the sea, and all those who suffered for me, a sinner. Do not look for my grave, for it is hard to find. Again I beg of you: pray for me, Father John, and forgive me, o good shepherd”. Then it all disappeared as if in a fog. I crossed myself, “God rest the soul of the departed servant of God, Nicholas, may he be eternally remembered”. O Lord, how scary. My hands and legs were trembling; I wept.
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