(FROM) THE PROPHECIES OF STARETS [ =
ELDER ] LAVRENTII OF CHERNIGOV
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + +
YOU WILL LIVE TO SEE ANTICHRIST!
Accompanied
by two keleinitsy [female cell-attendants or "lay-sisters"], the
igumenya [abbess] of the Domnitskaya Convent came to have tea with
batiushka [father (dim. aff.)] Lavrentii. During dinner, he said:
"You and I,
matushka-igumenya [abbess-mother (dim. aff.)], will not
live to see antichrist; but, these – your keleinitsy, – will live
to see him!"
That was in
1948. Both nuns had been born in 1923. Monakhinya [nun]
N. was the one who told the story.
I NEED TO SEE
Whenever Fr.
Lavrentii would sit down at table to dine, while waiting for everyone to
gather together, he would say:
"I am not hungry,
but I need to see you all, and to speak with you a little concerning what
lies ahead for all of you."
Then he would
weep and say:
"If you but
knew what fate awaits men and what lies ahead for you. If you but knew
how people suffer in hell!"
AND HOW HE WILL RECOIL!
Batiushka
Lavrentii would say:
"Do not be astonished
when you hear that people are praying in every which way in the churches.
When those in their golden-caps [archi- and proto-hieratical mitres] forbid
the reading of the Psaltyr' – and, later, of the hours – then will
the Lord endure but a little; and, O how He will then recoil from them!
The Second Coming is now no longer far-distant!"
(Recorded from
the words of Sister M.)
REMEMBER THIS!
"This happened
when my father was yet alive," I. M. would recall, concerning her conversation
with batiushka Lavrentii. "We were extremely poor incapable of
regaining our senses after the destruction of the war. I went to see starets
Lavrentii, in order to ask him to bless me, that I might secretly wear a
podriasnik [an under-cassock]; but he said to me:
"'Not all who
are in the world will perish; nor will everyone in a monastery be saved!
Do you understand? It is not yet time.'
"Again I began
to implore him [to grant me his permission] to enter a women's monastery,
for it is so extremely difficult for one to save oneself in the world, but
batiushka said to me:
"'Monks and
schema-monks in the monasteries will attain unto the seventh Heaven; but
if you only knew what awaits those virgins who live in the world! The Lord
will tell those schema-bearers to make way for these secret ones who did
not live in a monastery. And these latter will exceedingly precede the former!
Do you understand that, before God, the secret ones will be superior to
those in the monasteries? Do you understand?' the starets asked.
"'I understand
nothing,' was my reply.
"'Then remember
this, at least!' batiushka said."
IF ONE LIVES ACCORDING TO THE LAW OF LOVE
A certain pious
widow had a dream:
"I saw, as it
were, batiushka Lavrentii of Chernigov in the Trinity Convent, with
its inhabitants. There were many sisters there, and the choir was chanting:
'Rejoice, O Tsaritsa'. Then, suddenly, the starets rose
up in the air, but there were only a few matushki with him – seven
or eight, all totalled! I ran to ask him: why had so few nuns risen up,
but upon uttering these words, I awoke, without having received an answer.
"When I came
to see Fr. Lavrentii, he said:
"'It is as you
dreamed it! Had they lived in accordance with the Law of Love, then everything
would have been fine. If someone has a piece of bread, it is in order
that he might share it with another, who would then offer up a prayer for
him. Thus, both would receive their largesse, and all would have been saved!
But, with us, it is just the opposite: the one who has the piece of bread
stirs up great rows. That is why there are so few who are lifted up, because
there is no love!'
"Thus did batiushka
explain to me the meaning of my dream."
FEW ARE SAVED
The venerable
Fr. Lavrentii of Chernigov would frequently repeat that souls go to hell
just like people come out of a church on a feastday; but they go to Heaven
like people go to church on a weekday. Batiushka would frequently
sit and weep: he pitied the people who were perishing.
"How many people
there are, who are packed in the inferno like herring in a barrel," starets
Lavrentii would say. His spiritual children would console him, but he
would reply, through his tears:
"You do not
see. If you could but see... How pitiful it is! And in the last days,
hell will be filled with young people."
TWIRL THIS AROUND YOUR MOUSTACHE
"And I say unto
you, and with great regret do I say it, that you will be buying houses, and
killing time by adorning large and lovely monastic buildings. But you
will have no time for prayer, although you made a vow of non-possession!
"It will not
be difficult to be saved during the last days, but wisely so. The one who
overcomes all these temptations, the same will be saved! Such a one will
be among the first. The former will be like unto lamps; the latter will
be like the sun. You have other dwellings prepared for you. So listen,
and twirl this around your moustache!"
Thus did the
venerable starets, gazing into the future with his perspicacious
mind, admonish his many, many spiritual children.
A FRIGHTFUL TIME
"Not long before
antichrist is enthroned, even those churches that have been closed will be
repaired and restored – not only their exteriors, but their interiors, as
well. They will gild the cupolas of bell-towers and cathedrals, alike;
and when they have completed the main one, then will the time have come for
antichrist to be enthroned. Pray that the Lord might lengthen that time,
that we might be encouraged and sustained: it is a frightful time that awaits
us. The restoration of the cathedrals will continue up to the very moment
that antichrist is crowned. We will have unprecedented splendour," starets
Lavrentii of Chernigov would say.
"Do you see
how craftily and insidiously all this is being prepared?" batiushka
would continue, tearfully. "All the cathedrals will be exceedingly splendid,
as never before, but you must not attend these cathedrals, for the Bloodless
Sacrifice of Jesus Christ will not be offered there. Remember: there will
be churches, but Orthodox Christians must not attend them, as the
entire 'synagogue of satan' (Apoc. 2.9) will be gathered there! I repeat
yet again that one must not attend those cathedrals: there will be
no grace in them!"
THE VENERABLE ONE CONCERNING ANTICHRIST
"Antichrist
will be crowned king in a splendid rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, with the
clergy and the Patriarch of Russia participating [in his coronation]. There
will be free ingress and egress from Jerusalem for everyone, but do not attempt
to go there then, as everything will have been done so as to "deceive." (Matt.
24.24) He [antichrist] will be exceedingly learned in all satanic wiles
and will show great signs. The entire world will hear and see him. He
will "stamp" his people with satan's seal; he will hate Orthodox Russia,"
the venerable starets Lavrentii of Chernigov would say.
THERE IS NO NEED TO BE AFRAID
To a certain
deacon who is yet alive, but who is now quite aged, batiushka Lavrentii
forthrightly said:
"You will live
to see the time when antichrist comes to power. Do not be afraid, but tell
everyone that this is he – and that there is no need to be afraid! There
will be a war, and where it passes, there will be none left alive! But,
prior to that time, the Lord will send minor ailments to the weak and they
will die, for during antichrist's time there will no longer be any death.
The Third World War will not be for repentance, but for annihilation; but
the Lord will leave the strongest alive, that they might confront him [antichrist].
THE SUPREME "PEACE-MAKER"
The venerable
starets Lavrentii of Chernigov spoke frequently of antichrist, saying:
"There will
come a time when they will fight and fight, and a world war will break out.
And in the very thick of it, they will say:
"'Let us choose
for ourselves a single king over all the inhabited earth.' And they will
elect him! They will elect antichrist as the universal king and supreme
"peace-maker" of the world. It will be necessary to listen carefully; it
will be necessary to exercise caution! As soon as they begin to vote for
one single man in all the world, know that it is none other than himself,
and that it is forbidden [to Orthodox Christians] to vote [for him]."
ALL [MY] WORDS ARE TRUE!
Batiushka
Lavrentii was sitting in the choir-loft, speaking of the last days and of
the end of this world, relating the details of antichrist's enthronement over
those who have fallen away from God... And priests Nikifor, Grigorii and
Vasilii Ganzin objected to Fr. Lavrentii that he had also spoken differently
concerning these things. But he replied to them:
"Fathers and
brothers, there is one thing that you neither know nor understand: I speak
not only of Russia, but of the whole world! All my words concerning future
events are true, because the Holy Spirit has revealed them to me by [His]
grace."
FOR A SHORT WHILE
Schema-archimandrite
Feofan related that Batiushka Lavrentii would joyfully say,
with a smile:
"The Russian
people will repent of deadly sins: that they allowed Jewish impiety [to hold
sway] in Russia; that they did not defend God's Anointed Tsar', the Orthodox
churches and monasteries, and all that is holy and sacred in Russia. They
despised piety and came to love demonic impiety. But there will be a spiritual
upheaval! And Russia, together with all the Slavic nations and lands, will
constitute a mighty Tsardom. She will be governed by an Orthodox Tsar',
by God's Anointed One. Because of him, all schisms and heresies will vanish
away in Russia. There will be no persecution of the Orthodox Church. The
Lord will have mercy on Holy Rus' because the dreadful time preceding that
of antichrist has already taken place in her. Even antichrist himself will
fear the Russian Orthodox Tsar'-Samoderzhets [Tsar'-Autocrat].
But all the other nations, save only Russia and the Slavic lands, will be
ruled by antichrist and will undergo all the horrors and torments written
of in Holy Scripture. In Russia, however, there will be rejoicing and a
blossoming of faith – but only for a short while, for the Dread Judge will
come to try both the living and the dead."
CONCERNING ANTICHRIST'S PERSON IN THE HOLY PLACE
"Blessed and
thrice-blessed is the man who will not desire to do so and, hence, will not
see the God-abominated person of antichrist. Whosoever will see him and
hear his blasphemous words promising all earthly blessings, the same will
be seduced and will go forth to worship him. And they will perish, along
with him, as far as eternal life is concerned; they will burn in eternal fire!"
We asked the
venerable one: "How shall this be?" And he answered us with tears, [saying]:
"The abomination
of desolation will stand in the holy place and will show-forth the foul seducers
of the world who, working false miracles, will deceive all such men as have
fallen away from God. And, after them, antichrist will appear! The entire
world will see him at one and the same time."
To the question:
"Where in the holy place – in church?" venerable Lavrentii said:
"Not in church,
but in the home! Beforetimes, a table used to stand in the corner wherein
the holy icons were. Then, however, that space will be occupied by seductive
instruments for the deception of men. Many who have departed away from
the Truth will say: we need to watch and hear the news. And it is in the
news that antichrist will appear; and they will accept him.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Excerpts
translated into English by G. Spruksts from the Russian text of «Ļšåļīäīįķūé
ńņąšåö» ["Prepodobnyi starets" ("The Venerable Elder")],
originally published in the May 1996 issue of the Russian Orthodox newspaper
«Ęčēķü āå÷ķą˙» ["Zhizn' vechnaya" ("Eternal Life")].
English-language translation copyright © 1998 by The Russian Cultural Heritage
Society, The St. Stefan Of Perm' Guild, and the Translator. All rights reserved.