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| St. Andrew, Archbishop of Ufa |
The Martyric death of St. Andrew of Ufa:
"Before the shooting the archbishop asked for permission to pray. The executioners gave the
condemned man a few minutes. Vladyka fell on his knees. And it was as if a cloud covered him and he disappeared from view. The executioners were so upset that they had absolutely no idea what to do. He hadn't had the opportunity to flee, and at the same time he was not there...
It was only about an hour later that the hierarch appeared on his knees in fiery prayer in the same
place, as if covered by a radiant cloud which quickly dispersed. The murderers were glad that their victim was again in front of them, and that they did not have to answer for his disappearance. They hurried to carry out the sentence..."
And thus the earthly life of Bishop Andrew was ended, his voice silenced, his grave - a hole together
with hundreds of other such victims - buried beneath the nightmare dungeons of the dark world of Soviet atheism. But the memory of him remains vivid, fresh, and fragrant with the spiritual beauty of a true Christian martyr. The image of a Tatar prince who became a monk in order to preach spiritual freedom with Christ even in the catacombs is indeed inspiring and alive today more than ever. On the back of a portrait, given in 1912, to some person afflicted with grief, his hand inscribed three short words of encouragement, which come down to us today, as full of meaning as if from the better world
where he is now: ‘‘I weep, love, and pray.”
"Before the shooting the archbishop asked for permission to pray. The executioners gave the
condemned man a few minutes. Vladyka fell on his knees. And it was as if a cloud covered him and he disappeared from view. The executioners were so upset that they had absolutely no idea what to do. He hadn't had the opportunity to flee, and at the same time he was not there...
It was only about an hour later that the hierarch appeared on his knees in fiery prayer in the same
place, as if covered by a radiant cloud which quickly dispersed. The murderers were glad that their victim was again in front of them, and that they did not have to answer for his disappearance. They hurried to carry out the sentence..."
And thus the earthly life of Bishop Andrew was ended, his voice silenced, his grave - a hole together
with hundreds of other such victims - buried beneath the nightmare dungeons of the dark world of Soviet atheism. But the memory of him remains vivid, fresh, and fragrant with the spiritual beauty of a true Christian martyr. The image of a Tatar prince who became a monk in order to preach spiritual freedom with Christ even in the catacombs is indeed inspiring and alive today more than ever. On the back of a portrait, given in 1912, to some person afflicted with grief, his hand inscribed three short words of encouragement, which come down to us today, as full of meaning as if from the better world
where he is now: ‘‘I weep, love, and pray.”
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| St. Andrew, Archbishop of Ufa (left) with St. John of Kronstadt (right) |
Regarding Sergianism the holy hierarch proclaimed:
"In general the sins of Sergius and his dishonorable Synod are evident and all in all can be called ‘the dishonorable heresy of the slanderers of Christianity’ (The Seventh Ecumenical Council, canon 7). This heresy is more evil that the heresy of slandering the holy icons (iconoclasm). It is a new union with unbelief, bound up with the establishment of completely anti-ecclesiastical kataskopoi (i.e. the emperor’s spies). It is a hidden form of Arianism – a political… In view of the aforesaid, from July, 1927 I was forced (forced precisely by Metropolitan Sergius and his unrighteousnesses) to depart completely from these hierarchs..."
"Yes, we are all living through a fearful, terrible time, when lies and deceit rule and celebrate their triumph on the earth. The breath of the Antichrist can be felt in every corner of our life. Even Metropolitan Peter did not escape this breath of the Antichrist. But later he repented and now he is in a distant exile. As for the renovationists and Metropolitan Sergius, they have completely bowed down to that beast of which the holy book of the Revelation of John the Theologian speaks. Read the thirteenth chapter. Both the renovationists and Metropolitan Sergius are carrying out only the will of the atheists. And they do not hide this from anyone, but even write about it in their 'Declarations'. That is why every true son of the Church must flee from these betrayers of Christ without looking back; and all true children of the Church must give their parish communities foundations that are free and independent of the hierarch betrayers of Christ. There is no doubt that the hierarchs who have submitted to Metropolitan Sergius have all renounced the people of the Church and are serving the atheists and are only corrupting the believing people. That is why it is necessary to carry out the command from the Revelation of John the Theologian: 'Come out from her, My people, so that you may not participate in her sins and not be subjected to her plagues' (Rev. 18.4). It is necessary that all parish priests should be elected and not appointed. It is necessary that all priests should give their signatures to the parish councils that they will do nothing without the knowledge of the parish council. It is necessary that bishops, too, should be elected by the people for their pious life, and not drunkards or betrayers of Christ whom the renovationists have appointed."
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| St. Andrew, Archbishop of Ufa |
After Metropolitan Sergius gave his notorious interview for TASS on February 15, 1930, in which he denied that there was persecution against religion in the USSR and equated the Church confessors with common criminals, St. Andrew wrote:
"Such is the opinion of the false head of the false patriarchal church Metropolitan Sergius. Who, after all this, can recognize him as their head? For whom will this false head remain as such, in spite of his betrayal of Christ? Imagine, readers - they recognize him, many recognize him!… They curse him, but recognize him as their 'canonical' head. As if it were better to sit in hell with such a canonical head than without any head at all... But tell me, reader, is it possible to consider this company of hierarchs, these universal deceivers, as followers of Christ? - It goes without saying: no and no! All the followers of the lying Metropolitan Sergius are themselves filled to overflowing with lies and cunning and have fallen away from the truth of Christ - they have fallen away from the Church of Christ. The Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church is in some other place, but not with Metropolitan Sergius and not with his 'Synod'. Let the reader himself search where she is... It is not so difficult to find her. But one can firmly say that Metropolitan Sergius has convincingly demonstrated that the Synodal government of the Church did not give, and could not give her anything but harm. Sergius has dug a deep grave for this kind of Church government. The Holy Church will recall the sins of Sergius and his co-strugglers with horror, placing his name next to the names of the ecumenical false-patriarchs - Nestorius, Dioscurus and the other terrible traitors against Orthodoxy. When the hierarch Athanasius of Alexandria was expelled from his see by an heretical emperor, then, of course, hierarchs were found who readily carried out all the unlawful commands of the tsar. These hierarchs were called by St. Athanasius, not episkopoi [bishops], but kataskopoi (i.e. the emperor’s spies) deprived of all the gifts of grace. Such are our contemporary kataskopoi; they are destroyers of the churches of God and of Church life in general. Such is Metropolitan Sergius."
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| St. Andrew, Archbishop of Ufa |
St. Andrew of Ufa, who was canonized by the ROCOR Synod of 1981, received a blessing from
St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow in 1922, to secretly ordain bishops. According to a letter written by
the hand of St. Andrew, he participated in the consecration of 42 secret bishops by 1932!
the hand of St. Andrew, he participated in the consecration of 42 secret bishops by 1932!
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| St. Andrew, Archbishop of Ufa (left) with St. Habbakuk, Bishop of Old Ufa (right) |
May we have his holy prayers!