St. Nicholas II and the Royal Martyrs
Tsar Nicholas II (1868-1918), the last Emperor of Russia, abdicated the throne in March 1917 and was held under arrest with his wife Alexandra, their son Alexei, and their daughters Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia, first at Tsarskoye Selo, then in Tobolsk, and finally in Yekaterinburg.
In captivity the family bore humiliation and deprivation with prayer, patience, and forgiveness toward their captors. In the early hours of July 17, 1918, all seven were shot in the basement of the Ipatiev House by Bolshevik guards, together with four faithful servants who had remained with them. The family were glorified as new martyrs by the Russian Church Abroad in 1981 and canonized by the Moscow Patriarchate in 2000 as passion-bearers, saints who faced death in Christ-like meekness without resistance or bitterness.
Father asks to have it told to all who have remained loyal to him, and to those on whom they might have influence, that they should not avenge him, since he has forgiven all and prays for all, and that they should not avenge themselves, and should remember that the evil which is now in the world will become yet more powerful, and that it is not evil that conquers evil, but only love. (the Tsar's words, relayed in a letter of his daughter Grand Duchess Olga from Tobolsk, 1918)
I feel old, oh, so old, but I am still the mother of this country, and I suffer its pains as my own child's pains, and I love it in spite of all its sins and horrors. (Tsaritsa Alexandra, letter to Anna Vyrubova from Tobolsk, December 1917)
All things for us are in the past, and what the future holds I cannot guess, but God knows, and I have given everything into His keeping. (Tsaritsa Alexandra, letter to Anna Vyrubova from Tobolsk, December 1917)
All around me is treason, and cowardice, and deceit! (Tsar Nicholas, diary entry on the day of his abdication, March 2, 1917)
Troparion of the Royal Passion-Bearers (Tone 1)
Most noble and sublime was your life and death, O Sovereigns; wise Nicholas and blest Alexandra, we praise you, acclaiming your piety, meekness, faith, and humility, whereby you attained to crowns of glory in Christ our God, with your five renowned and godly children of blessed fame. O passion-bearers decked in purple, intercede for us.
Kontakion of the Royal Passion-Bearers (Tone 2)
Royalty and martyrdom were joined together, O blessed ones, in your death for righteousness and right belief, O wise Sovereigns, Nicholas and Alexandra, with your five children. Hence, Christ our God counted you worthy of thrones in Heaven; and with twofold crowns of glory, you reign forever, adorned with grace divine.
Saints around July 17
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