As the West continues the march into secularism; shedding its religious identity and insisting upon absolute “separation of church and state”, Russia, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, is experiencing a revival and return to its religious “ roots”.
Prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917, which resulted in the assassination of Czar Nicholas II and his family, Russian Church and State were intimately entwined.
Today, throughout Russia, evidence of a Russian revival of state religion, along with old-world style military expansionism abounds.
In Russia past, the two were inseperaable.Large parcels of land and people were conquered by the Tsars and annexed into the Russian state in a bid to reestablish the long dead Byzantine Empire under the religious tutelage of the Russian Eastern Orthodox Church.
In some Russian circles, this is quietly being encouraged again, although, for obvious reasons’ is not widely publicized, according to Marisa Martin, in a recent WND article.
Following 70 years of Marxist Atheism, some Russians are returning to a “spiritual” veneration of Tsar Nicholas II. He and his family are now all considered religious martyrs, murdered only for their faith.
Also, the Russian Supreme Court exonerated the Romanovs in 2008, and they were canonized along with an assortment of Russian saints and soldiers.
In recent year’s veneration for Tsar Nicholas II has included statements such as the following by Bishop Alexander of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad: “[Nicholas] was an earthly symbol of the Heavenly King, the protector and upholder of the Orthodox Church in Russia, and the heir of Byzantium. … He too was the head of Russia’s Eastern Orthodox Church. Under Nicholas II, Moscow was still seen as the new City of Constantine, the ‘Third Rome’ (since the 15th century).”
Russian Orthodox religious icons are also, making a comeback in popularity after being hidden for decades. The” Kazan Lady”, Russia’s National icon, embodies Russian nationalism and militarism. The “Kazan Mother of God “is a religious icon, used for centuries by Russian generals and Emperors.
The “Kazan” icon is considered imbued with miraculous power to help in military matters. Her aid is attributed to fending off Napoleon and the Turks, Persians, Swedes, Poles and Germans.
Recently recalled to duty, the Kazan Lady, dispatched by President Vladimir Putin, went on a trip to Crimea in February, shortly before Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and military actions in Ukraine.
In 2007, the important icon was also sent on a highly politicized journey around the globe by the Orthodox Church, and endorsed by Vladimir Putin, with the goal of “reconciliation among Russians at home and abroad.”
Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Eastern Orthodox Church, and Vladimir Putin, are both promoting the reunion of Church and State, and seem to ‘be joined at the hip “in this endeavor.
However, the Western press doesn’t seem to notice, as they continue the quest to dismantle all vestiges of Christianity in the West.
Nevertheless, Putin and Kirill are aligning Church and state in a pre-revolutionary union. Could the ultimate goal be a revival of the Russian Empire?