The Vision of Elder Anthony

8/14/2019 The Vision of Elder Anthony

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The Vision of Elder Anthony

Sometime in the beginning of the 70s, while serving Divine Liturgy, I was granted my first

vision. It was like this. At that time began the general attraction of the people towards the West, and at

the same time, those traits inherent in the Slavs were washed awaymodesty, hospitality, and

unacquisitiveness. Greed, by the way, has become the head of the corner of the new view of the world.

Money and things are more important than morality and spirituality. And what is most horrible, the wayof life of people who call themselves Orthodox, very often strictly keeping the church rituals, has

become the same as the pagans around them! Such immodesty in daily life, such striving for a career,

for a high position in society. For children of believing families, joining the Pioneers, Komsomolsk, or

the Party no longer cause any spiritual torment. And there is the ready justification: How can we live

without this? We dont live in the desert, but among people. Well, its a sin, now youre getting too

fastidiouseverythings a sin. Well go and well repent. Such a light-minded attitude causes great

doubts in the very possibility of salvation. I was reading the Gospel, about the last times, especially the

Book of Revelation, and the topic of the desert, where people must flee, gave me no rest.

And then I see a huge number of people walking, people traveling. Some of them, it seems are

not traveling, some are feasting, others are fornicating, others are playing dirty tricks on their

neighbors, but still, like a river, they are flowing forward. They are all very different; there are laymen,

and clergymen, and soldiers, and politicians, and everyone, everyone. A large part of the people is


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simply bursting forward, but some are going peacefully. In their path is a terrible abyss, the abyss into

hell. It would seem that they should all disappear into it, but no. Many of the people fly down. I see

how they are being pulled down, some by cars, some at the table, some by money, and some by

expensive clothes. And some pass peacefully through the abyss, you could say, over it. Some do not

disappear, but are lowered down into the abyssbut shining men help them to cross and support them.Not only the rich disappear into the abyss, but also people who are obviously poor. But they all have

one idolthe lust of the world.

It was horrible. From the abyss there came the sound, not moaning, but the howling of those

who had fallen, and a stench. This was not just a smell, no. Just as there is no way to describe a sweet

fragrance, the fragrance not from flowers or grasses, but the sweet fragrance that the Lord gives to

relics, and miraculous icons and such things. The stench of hell is not just an awful smell, like the smell

of sulphur. It is the feeling of horror and irrevocability, in a wordhell.

And then you have the desert. Even there the slayer of mankind tempted the hermits, trying to

arouse the passions of greed, lust, and despair. Many fell into the trap, many. At the same time, how

many princes and powerful people of this world were saved, and not only saved, but glorified by the

Church as saints. They had everything, but their heart did not belong to the corruption of this world, but

to the heavenly world.

But our time is terrifying because temptations lie in wait for man everywhere, with every step,

and most of the time they are such that are hard to anticipate. So many people come to me, and it seems

that one question bothers themhow can they be saved, how do they act in this or that situation. But

can you get a blessing for every action, not just in day, but in a month?! That means you must present

the paths of temptation, its basic directions. And they are unchanged since the creation of the world, for

the devil is nom a creator. It

is another matter that over thousands of years he has acquired experience, and now his

suggestion to mankind to go with him to hell has become more refined. Essentially, all of the

contemporary world is entirely his suggestion. Suggestion, because he cannot force someone, its not in

his power, but to wrap the sin in a tempting package, by all means. The servants of darkness are always

ready with their: What can I do for you?


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Another peculiarity of today is the impending arrival of antichrist. Many spiritual people say

that he has already been born. Concerning this it is difficult to judge. The enemy is evil, evil even with

those who serve him. Of these, many considered themselves to be antichrist. They appeared to be such,

from their world view and their actions, but they were not he, about whom the Church speaks. Perhaps

he has been born, perhaps not, but thats not the question. When they asked Bishop Ignaty(Brianchaninov) about the coming of antichrist, he replied that there is not a precise date set. By their

evil, people will determine the coming of antichrist. Now is the time of the final preparations for his

arrival. Now there is a concentration of world power, and he will be the ruler of not just one country,

but of the world, and mankind must become savage. But this is minor. In order to bring all of

mankind to its knees, it is necessary to establish a system of life where the slightest infringement will

cause catastrophic results for peoplefamine, cold, and destruction. And this system is being built.

How this will happen, I saw later, in a few years.

The Second Vision of Elder Anthony

It was difficult to accept this in those days of seeming Soviet prosperity; I didnt think that I

would live to see the fulfillment of what I eventually did see.

And so, as I have already said, the second vision was not a continuation of the first, no. In time,

it was significantly later, and in content, it was much different. The first was one sortedifying,


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instructive. I asked a question and received an answer. The second vision was of a different sort, or

character, you might say. I did not ask anything, but I was granted from on high to see something in

response to what people around me were asking. If I was able to retell the first vision with more or less

exactness, the secondin principle it was impossible to retell. Fr. Alexander, I will attempt for the first

time to express this to you in some kind of sequence, or in the language of worldly science,systematically. But I was granted to see how to express it in one order or in completely different order.

For it was granted to me for the greater good; but for you and your parishioners it is better in a different

sequence. Before this, everything that I was granted to see I used only in answers to the perplexed

questions of the faithful.

A few more words, not about the vision, but about the universe, in order to better understand

what follows. The Lord has created everything living in one, very rigid system. The entire universe is

absolutely tied with every action of its tiniest part, and for rational creatures, man, with what is not

connected to the visible worldhis thoughts. The actions of irrational creatures cannot inflict

casualties on the universethey are limited by internal brakes, so to speak, they kill by their instincts,

and by the self-regulating traits of their nature. Manis a different matter. He was created in the image

and likeness of God. And no matter how we may argue, what is the image, and what is the likeness,

what was washed away, and what wasnt, what man possesses from birth, and what he must acquire

during his lifetime, what is important here is something elsehis actions in the material world, as well

as his invisible traits, affect the surrounding world in which he lives, and the entire universe. God did

not wipe Sodom and Gomorrah from the face of the earth, but the people were wiped away by the

Providence of the Creator. I say this because all the calamities which occur with mankind and nature

are not a result of Gods wrath, for we confess that He is All-good and All-merciful, and we confess

truly and we confess the truth. But, they are the consequence of the all-destructive action of mankind

itself, not through the constraint of the enemy, there is and cannot be any constraint. This constraint is

coercion, but bought by the tricks of the devil. But now, more in particular about the vision, about what

awaits everyone, unfortunately, in the near future, some of which is already happening at the present

time. And so, here is what I saw concerning the future.

First of all, all possible technological catastrophiesthe system of existence (way of life?)

created by man, in essence, is satanic, for it absolutely opposes the Laws of God, and it will begin to

fall apart. Airplanes will fall from the sky, ships will sink, nuclear plants and chemical factories will

explode. And all this will happen against a background of terrible natural disasters, which will occur

throughout the world, but especially in America: hurricanes of unprecedented strength, earthquakes,

severe droughts, and the opposite, torrential floods. The terrible monster, the contemporary Sodom


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New York will be wiped from the face of the earth. And GomorrahLos Angeleswill not remain

without retribution.

It seems that it will be hard to find a place on earth where a person will feel completely safe and

at ease. The tranquility of a person will be only in hoping in God; the earth will give him no protection.

The ravaging of nature threatens cities with more horrible consequences, because they are completelycut off from it. The destruction of one Babylonian tower, a contemporary home, and there are hundreds

buried without repentance and Communion, hundreds of souls perish. These houses, placed on pillars,

are actually arrows penetrating the earth, as if directed down to hell, and they will bring people a

hellish death under the debris. And whoever remains alive will envy those who perished in an instant,

for their lot will be worsedeath from hunger and asphyxiation.

Cities will present a horrible spectacle. Even those that escape complete destruction, losing

water and electricity, heat and the supply of food, will be reminiscent of huge stone graves, so many

people will die. Gangs of robbers will continually commit their crimes, and it will be dangerous to

move about the cities even in the daytime, and at night people will gather in large groups in order to

survive together until morning. Sunrise, unfortunately, will not bring the joy of a new day, but the

sorrow of the necessity of living through that day.

One shouldnt think that peace and prosperity will reign in the village. The fields, poisoned,

disfigured, brought to dust by drought, or inundated by floods, will not give the necessary harvests.

There will be unprecedented plagues of livestock, and, not able to bury the animals, people will leave

them to rot, which will poison the air with a horrible stench. The farmers will suffer from attacks by the

people from the cities, who, in search of food, will spread out among the villages, ready to kill for a

piece of bread! Yes, that piece of bread, which now does not enter their throat without spices and

sauces will then be mixed with blood. Cannibalism will become common. Having accepted the mark of

antichrist, mankind will lose all the restraints of morality. For the villagers also, night will be especially

fearful, for that will be the time for the more brutal robberies. But they must not just survive, but also

keep their property in order to work; otherwise they will be threatened with death from hunger. Also the

people in the city will be hunted. It will seem like the return of the times before the Flood. But no. At

that time the Word of God prevailed over the world: Be fruitful and multiply. Now the very life of

mankind and its essence are directed at the rejection of both Grace and Divine Providence. But this still

is not the end.


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At the beginning of the narration I placed the result which preceded everything, and not

accidentally. Very often, in fact, frequently, we do not see the forest for the trees. In the given narration,

in the little sin we do not see, we do not want to see, the violation of the basic commandments of theLord. The Lord created this world, and as the Creator, He created it in harmony with Himself.

Remember His words about the new creation: It is good! God said this. The All-sufficient and All-

good, the All-mighty and All-perfect, the All-merciful Provider found the creation to be good, i.e., He

found the world to be in harmony with Good, with Love for God is love. Man, the one creature able to

influence the existence of the world, the crown of creation, was likewise created in the image and

likeness of Good and Love. And the laws given to him by the Creator, are nothing else than instructions

for living a peaceful and happy life in the world, in harmony with it. Everything else which opposes

these commandments is destructive for the world and for everything existing in it, depending on it.

Everything begins with the little things, with modern clothes, teaching young boys and girls together,

and not under the guide of a clergyman, but a worldly instructor. And soon that title will be lost, and

there will just beteacher! A teacher of what and to whom? How many of these teachers are there who

are morally degraded, divorced, idle, and neurotic? And the others, perhaps the major part, even if they

at least preserve their human image, they do not know and do not want to know the laws for living with

God in the created world. What do they teach? They teach that the world is not Gods creation; they

teach the laws of life in a world that is the realm belonging to the spirits under the heavens! Here is the

little from which flows something horrible and big.

Moral degradation. How many times Satan has tried to make it general and all-encompassing,

but he always was confronted with the threatening rebuke of the Church. For the spirits of darkness,

what is most terrifying is rebuke. Just as a thief hides in the dark and fears the light, so also diabolic

delusion is more effective and seductive when the light of truth is absent. The darkness of the


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prosperity of ten developed nations has covered the world, the nations which the enemy has chosen as

a buttress in the work of stupefying the whole world. The main weapon in this workthe lozenge of

freedom! How much blood has been shed in all the revolutions and insurrections, socialist and pseudo-

religious experiments, in political and mystical quarrels, on the altar of the demon of freedom! This is

he, who raises up and casts down, a creature trying to take the place of the Creator, he is the main loverof freedom. And his freedom is not that ability given man by God to be perfect in all kinds of virtue.

No, his freedom is the heaviest burdens, whose purpose is to deprive man of the possibility of

choosing between good and evil leaving him only the path to hell. This is the kind of freedom that will

be achieved. It would have been all right with the Protestants, who in their time were fighting against

the dictates of the Catholics, but coming to power, these same Baptists established such terror and

bacchanalia that even Europe shuddered! But where are our people going?! Even though you can say

that we arean Orthodox Power.

The first freedom that the demon needs, without which everything else crumbles, is freedom of

religion, so called religious tolerance. The essence of this movement is to open the wide road, first of

all for the youth, leading to Satan. Notice, Father, that this is a one-way road. Try to go against this

movementand they will immediately silence you. The Orthodox Churchthat is what wont let them

sleep at night! The Catholics are already finished. They are ready for everything; they accept demonic

civilization, progress. In supporting Zionism, in fact they are saying, Yes to the coming of antichrist.

And I saw what attempts worldwide evil is making to defile the Holy Church the pure Body of

Christ! First of all, they will defame Her in all the papers, on the radio, and on the television. Jews with

Slavic last names will put the clergy and the Orthodox to public ridicule in every way, they will mock

the rituals the fasts, the way of life, everything that has always been the basis for the vitality for the

people. Into the very Church, among the clergy, they will dispatch thousands and thousands of

catholicized destroyers of Orthodoxy. Because of their false pietytheir spirit is different, foreignthe

people will abandon their churches. There will be restorations and constructionbut they will be

empty. Here and there will burn the flame of true holiness and faithfulness to the spirit of the faith of

our fathers. He who wants it will find it. No one will be able to justify himself and say, Lord, I

searched but I couldnt find it! Little flames of truth will burn throughout the whole world amid the

darkness of unbelief and atheism. And the righteous clergy will be persecuted and oppressed, subjected

to every kind of abuse, and the servants of the devil will not even stop at murder, if God allows the

righteous one to receive a martyrs crown. There will be many righteous martyrs in the last times!

And those of the foreign spirit will await their ruler, antichrist. But they will still have the

possibility of being saved, i.e., they can recognize who he is, but power and money will close the eyes


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of the majority. A terrible time! And everything begins with little thingsthe clergy ceased to wear the

clothing proper to their calling, and they shaved their beards like the Catholics and Protestantsits no

wonder.

The second freedom which they cultivate in every way possible is the freedom of moral

corruption. Unfortunately, people have already accepted it and it has become an inseparable part ofcontemporary life. Fornicationis not fornication, but sexual freedom (see how the enemy hides his

action behind pretty, at first glance, words: its not fornication, but sex, not robbery, but

expropriation). Debauchery begins in the earliest years in the form of teaching the culture of the

sexes and their mutual relations. They will show the children naked bodies, and this is already being

done in some places, and sexual union, thereby inflaming lust, pretending that this is all normal. Books

and television will be filled with naked people, horrible scenes of fornication. Contemporary clothing is

even very revealingbut this is only the beginning. The aim is the extremely loathsome feasts of

Astarte and Baal, where hundreds and hundreds of pagans would fornicate, stupefied by alcohol and

drugs. There, to the worship of demons, is where the champions of freedom are leading mankind.

Whoever is overcome by someone, is a slave to him. And people are being attracted to this slavery,

wrapped up in freedom.

But for the servants of darkness, natural fornication is not even enough. As a demonstration of

true love of freedom and emancipation of thought, they will yield to the sin of Sodom and bestiality.

Propaganda for this abomination will be unusually strong, almost as much as for normal debauchery.

Instances of single sex marriages will be given as much publicity as the discovery of antibiotics was in

its day! Sodomites will appear everywhereartists, mostly, and politicians, and economists. The sin of

Sodom will become the sign of the nearest future. Already in America their wild orgies are organized in


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the form of annual carnivals, and we will have all this as well, in a no less disgusting display. And

whoever will oppose this forced demonic display will appear as one violating anothers freedom, an

ignorant buffoon, an enemy of the state, since all the governments will have as their main concern, not

the protection of morality, but the protection of demonic freedoms.

Precisely, demoniceven now you will not find an Orthodox article, except in the Churchsown publications. And they let the bishops on the television only on great feast days. What rubbish they

write and say, and there are no opposing views, nothing with a world-view character. Freedom is good,

when you can revile holiness! Everything else is taboo.

And this also started from something small, oh so long ago. With us this began with the transfer

of the church-parish schools to the control of the local, worldly authorities. Atheists entered their ranks

in the guise of teachers ready to prepare troops for the revolution of 17!

The youth, falling under the authority of Satan through committing sins, stupefied by alcohol

and drugs, will not be able to withstand the last call to hell by the primordial slayer of mankind, and

they will end their life with suicide. The number of those who take their own life will grow

immeasurably. It will increase so much that it will no longer cause surprise, and will be seen as the

logical conclusion of events. And even more so since the number of those with horrible sicknesses,

connected with lusts and immoderation, and the poisoning of the world, will be so great, and their

sufferings so terrible, society will consider suicide to be like an act of mercy. People will even urge

them to do this, with all kinds of foolish reasoningeverything aimed at the destruction of lost souls.

Another frightful diabolic snare will be the inducement of people to make money, to increase

their personal income. The passion of greed is destructive, like everything without moderation. And

this immoderation leads to the destruction of nature; in whatever sphere this money is earned, it

reverberates on everything in the surrounding world. The second part of this snare is the application, or

use, of this money. Again I repeat, the created system is unusually fragile, extremely fragile. The use of

the money by the people is likewise subject to this fragility.

What does todays money represent? It is a bluff, a phantom, an illusion, like the miracles of

the devil. All of the technology produced is useful only with a multitude of ifs: if there is fuel, if there

are spare parts, if the radiation level is not too highyou can count and count the number of

electronics that are not serviceable. It is impossible to service a contemporary automobile without

trained specialists! That means that if you take away one of the ifs, all you will have is a pile of

useless metal. We have an example before our eyes; what is valuable now for the peasant is a horse and

a cow.

What is more, the greater part of money is kept either in banks or in valuable papers. They will


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fail, these banks will fail, in order to bring people to their knees. And they will fail in one hour;

precedents of this have already been successful. Business will come to a halt as a result of natural

disasters and war. And what is a man left with? With a mass of unneeded and useless things which he

wasted years of his life to obtain, but whose value is directly related to the prosperity of the world.

With the world in a state of catastropheit is dust, nothing.

I remember how some women were torturing me with questions, asking whether it was a sin to

have crystal and carpets in the house. They had gathered it in one house, just in case. But then what?

Now just imagine, the electricity is shut off, and the gas and the heat; for what will a person trade the

crystal and the carpets? For a saw, an axe and a wood stove! And who has these things? Perhaps one

person in two hundred.

I just spoke about things. How rationally the world was organized before the insanity of the

19-20th centuries. Clothing was made sturdy, dependable. Much effort and labor was expended on it so

that it was passed down to the grandchildren. Thats how the people valued their time! And they had

enough time for everything, to work in the field, and to go to church, and on a feast day to sit around

the table with the relatives. But now what? Shoes last one season, clothestwo seasons, and if theyre

good, three! And theres no time for prayer, and going to church?Ill pray at home. And the children

unfortunately, they grow up neglected, because the parents are out earning money. So that they dont


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live worse than others. But is it living? Only a free person lives, but a captive, a servant--exists. God

gave His Only-begotten Son in order to free us from servitude, from the captivity of sin and the

passions, but like the Jews who left the captivity of Egypt, we complain and strain to return to captivity.

Let the children perish and the family be humiliated, but give us the food on time! But this foodis

actually cheese in a mousetrap. When the door closes but the cheese is still there, does the mouserealize that it is caught? Its time has come, but the cheese is there and it chews on it eagerly and

happily, not knowing where the tasty meal came from! But the person who set the trap has already

heard that the trap closed and the sacrifice has been caught. He can come right away and kill the

sacrifice, or he can let it eat its meal. At first it seems crowded to the mouse, but then it gets used to it.

Hungry? At least they didnt kill me. But the end is obvious. I think that the mouse senses it.

Yes, terrible times. Take the last war, why was it unleashed? They say: Hitler, the bellicose

German people, the partitioning of Europe and the world. The communists say: imperialism and

fighting of colonies. There are many versions, but thats not right. In actuality, it was for the possibility

of the centralization of power, power over the world. Any tree is known by its fruit; no matter what the

person said who sold you the sapling at the market, you know and evaluate everything when you get

the fruit. You wait for it. And what were the fruits of the warmillions of Orthodox people were killed

and maimed, both in our Russia and in the Balkans. The main outpost of Orthodoxy in the south-west,

Serbia, falls into the hands of the Croats, the CatholicsJoseph Tito was a Croat and Croatia became

the most developed of the republics. The Orthodox republics of Yugoslavia were not just forgotten, but

Kosovo was settled by Moslems, like Russia and Moscow now.

Another result is Israel. The propaganda is organized so that the ones who suffered the most

losses during the warwere the Jews, but by no means the Slavs, or, lets say, the French. I will return

to the Balkans. The Serbs fought for Tito, the Croats were with the Germans, but in the end, who won?

the Croats. The same thing with the Jews. First, who was killed by the Germans? For the most part,

these Jews were not full-blooded,

some were baptized, some were lukewarm towards their faith, by no means the orthodox, and

especially none of the leaders of Zionism were found within Hitlers wallsthey succeeded in leaving,

for they knew what was going to happen. But persecution, with the special enlightenment of everything

that was taking place, made possible the establishment of the government of Israel. They gave them a

little piece of landif you spit on it, youll cover it. But, as we say, Sit down at the table. They

conquered the land from the Arabs, but again, the Arabs are terroristsbut not the Jews.

The third resultEurope. Nothing could make it unite like a world war. And already one can

consider that it is one nation, from Turkey to Norway. Everything will be onethe government, the


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money, the laws. Everything was agreed to by America, so that there would be no friction when the

union took place.

Which of these results is more important for the Satanists? It is not for us to know. I think, and I

saw, that these are all steps of one ladder, a ladder leading to the kingdom of antichrist. He will come,

and here everything is already prepared, full centralization, all the people are numbered, everyone withtheir own number and card, and on it is everything, including opinions and world-views. And with the

help of this card they will be able to check the movement of a person on top of the ground, under the

ground, and under the water. Everything will be possible.

Of course, he will want people to worship him voluntarily, as the world received Christ. But this

will be the willingness like that of an animal being led to the slaughter. He walks by himself, but along

the sides are the herdsmen with clubs. But mankind is already in the mousetrap, although there is still a

little cheese left, which is why the Saviour said that hardly one believing soul would be found. We have

accepted the conditions of this world, weve already accepted them. People have not just agreed to

them, but they themselves have arranged their own system of dependence on them; and if youve

accepted the rules of the gamethen you will play the game to the end, until the Last Judgment.

Ive told you such frightening stories, that it seems, what more could there be? What is most

frightening though, is not to hear it, but to see itto see it is significantly more horrible and loathsome.

I cant tell you everything, so that the pictures of the future do not cause you to despair now.

Yes, it seems that everything that exists in this world is very real, like death. But no one wants to

believe in its reality, or more precisely, to compare the reality of death with illusoriness of mankinds

existence. Illusoriness not in the sense that this is all a bluff, no, with God there can be no deception,

God is Truth. The illusoriness of the existence is in its transientness, and the relation to it of man

himself. As they say, all of our troubles are within us. Man relates to his transience as to eternity,

discarding, for the most part, the reality of death. Speak to someone about death, or even about his own

death--and you become an enemy. But what, is he going to live forever, or will I, or someone else? We

simply try to not think about death, we try to avoid it like an ostrichwho hides his head in the sand,

and it seems that there is no danger! Look how many saints put a coffin in their cellwhat for? In

order to remember death, and this, as Holy Tradition says, is the pledge of salvation. What people they

were, real men, sons of God, and they kept before their eyes the constant reminder of deatha coffin!

Both for themselves and for us sinners especially, people of the last times, for everything is pulling us

to eternal life on earth. Weve already managed to deceive ourselves, even if only a little, that we will

procure the elixir of eternal youth.

Just as they hang a carrot in front of a donkey so that it will run after it and not stop along the


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road, so also Satan deceives mankind with the carrot of an eternal, sinful life on earth. He says: why

practice spiritual activity, prayer and fasting, or even loving your neighbor. Either believe that after the

coffin theres only the damp earth in which you will rot, and that the coffin will turn into dust, or that

there are already the means for rejuvenation, for prolonging life and putting off old age, in general,

whatever you want. And if youre too squeamish, but you want to livewell freeze you! When wethaw you out, everything will have been revealed, and you will live forever! They are the ravings of a

mad man, but they believe it, the poor people believe it. Yes, on earth you can unite with eternity, and

with your eyes be convinced of the reality of real eternity, not the satanic mirage. Apostle Paul, St.

Seraphim of Sarov and how many other righteous ones were granted to see the beauty of Paradise!

Also, how many more saints shone with the uncreated light of Mt. Tabor. Just the very appearance of

people of God compared to people of Satan, is this not a pledge of reality?

How then is one saved in this terrible, ruinous time? There are some theoreticians who say that a

person cannot save himself. If God wants to, He will save him; if not, then its impossible. And this is

independent of the labors of the person himself. This is just Calvinism, to say that a person is striving

for salvation but it is impossible for him to be saved. Sin, my brother, as much as your soul wants

whether you like it or not, this doesnt depend on you.

But no, it is not like that at all. Yes, without Gods help no one can be saved. The Saviour

Himself said this to His disciples, so we neednt rack our brains over this. But the help of the Lord is

joined to a persons zeal for labors and strivings. The great Hierarch John Chrysostom said that you


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bring all of what you have, and God will make up for whatever is lacking! And even if there is no zeal,

for we are saved through sorrows and illnesses. And moderation, moderation in everything.

Materialism, and consumerism, this is the terrible diabolic bridle on people. Everything is produced in

order to be acquired, and there is no limit to it.

I began my narration with my first vision, how people were disappearing into hell, and what wasdragging them there. So, is it forbidden to have cars or houses or furniture? A few years ago two

Russian families who fled from Georgia came to me asking for prayers. I was struck by their escape,

and how they accomplished it. It was already impossible to leave, trying to do everything legally. They

complied with all the formalities so that they could take all their belongings with them. They registered

their departure, as was required, and their cars and I dont know what else were at the border, but on

their way there they were robbed and almost killed. My visitors reasoned quite wisely: God gave, God

took away, at least we survived, the rest will come. They fled only with what they had in the cars, their

warm clothes which were in the trunk. So, the Lord provided for them and gave them a home here, and

they were able to register their cars, and everything worked out.

So, in relation to things, one person saves them, not even thinking of his own safetywhat for,

hes been collecting them his whole life. For someone else, they are just the means, not the end itself.

Therefore, a person with such a relation to things will not collect things for prestige. Just as long as heis comfortable. That is the right approach, especially in our times. Do not get them because everyone

else has them. This is not allowed. Only what is absolutely necessary, and not the most expensive, but

simple and reliable. This especially applies to clothes, and warm, winter clothes. There is one principle

good quality, and as natural and as warm as possible.


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You must be very careful with electronics, with electronic devices. From seeming friends, in

an instant they turn into cruel enemies: any receiver can be a transmitter at the same time. I have

conversed with knowledgeable people about this more than once. This especially concerns the

television; there are many battles being waged around this miracle of civilization. I think the question

is not just about the television itself, but about its use.A person in our time has, on one hand, an overabundance of association with people, but

on the other hand, as strange as it may seem, he has a great lack of it. This is whythe

associations that a person makes these days are made in a hurry. The association occurs either at work,

or on the road, when the person is not in a peaceful frame of mindeither hes upset, or hes tired. The

proper conditions are lacking for associations in a peaceful atmosphere.

The person today has an enormous amount of extra time; and I didnt misspeak, calling it extra,

for it is free, and therefore extra. And so it is with everything: with food, with clothes, with living

accommodations. Having extra things everywhere is very dangerous for the soul. But there is particular

danger in extra time, for the very existence of extra time testifies to the absence of spiritual life, which

is a sure castration of ones way of life. But look, at the expense of what is this extra time? No, work

will not be resigned to last place. Of course, I do not want to discuss the completely fallen people

alcoholics, and drug addicts. Although it is a related topic, it is a little different.

For a person in contemporary society, work is most important. What is more, even believers are

busy working in the garden in the springtime, regardless of whether it is Sunday, or Passion Week or

Bright Week-- its all the samea kind of boorishness. That means that hear there is no extra, free

time. Instead, everyone moans that there is not enough of it. But there actually is free time, and theres

a lot of it, but where does it come from?!

It is that time that should be spent on spiritual work, whether it is prayer, or reading spiritual

literature, and also beneficial relationships, soul-profiting. This time is wasted on entertainment, and

thats all. Satan has gotten man to arrange his entire lifestyle so that there is completely no quiet time,

time for contemplating the past day, week, or month. Everything is occupied with entertainment. And

in this system of entertainment, television is given the privileged place of honor. The lions share of

free time is eaten up by it, that idol of contemporary civilization. I would call it a cruel despot and

tyrant, to whom the greater part of mankind is subject, in a servitude never before witnessed in the

world. For slaves feel their lower position because they have been brought to it by force. But here the

servitude is voluntary, even pleasant at first glance. Just the bitter fruits of worldliness, cruelty, and

depravity demonstrate that, as in any kind of slavery, only the master benefits. And the horns of the

master even poke out of the screen. Therefore, in this system of preparing people for the coming of


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antichrist, the television has been given the not just the role of consuming free time, its destructive role

is far greater. A person watches the news, even the Orthodox news, and it seems to him to be something

necessary and useful, at any rate, not harmful. But the actual news occupies only a small portion of the

time. The rest is an analysis of what happened, that is, a view of what happened which must be formed

by those watching. And the view of the customers is that which is given by those who control the giveninformationits not necessary to name them, since everything is clear. From this, from the hypnotic

effect of the television program, a person loses his ability of thinking for himself, of thoughtfully

perceiving the events that are happening, and finally, of forming his own world-view.

We began speaking about the decline in relationships between people today. The root of this

decline lies namely in the absence of individual thought and consideration of what has happened,

corresponding to a personal world-view. And this, by no means, is a justification for the search of

todays individual, no.

I said this, because there was always someone in the kitchen with my mother. In the evening,

after supper, a large samovar was prepared, and everyone, whoever might be spending the night, settled

down to drink tea. A conversation started. It was so interesting! These stories of the simple people were

so edifying. My father laughed at our love of spending the evening in the kitchen, considering that

there was nothing for an educated person to gain from semi-illiterate people. But, having spent a couple

of evenings with us, he changed his opinion. The people who gathered were all Orthodox and they

knew the world, but not by watching television. They spoke about events from life, of which they were

witnesses, or what they had heard from witnesses. In everything they looked for something edifying,

the results of what had occurred, and how Divine Providence had taken part in it, as well as the free

will of the person. In these discussions there appeared a great variety of thoughts and distinct world-

views. People then were able to not just hear, but to listen, and in general, they much preferred to listen

than to speak. Although, I repeat, each of those present had something to say.

I digress, but its interesting that these simple people, at a time of seeming prosperity and

contentment in the empire, already saw the approaching catastrophe. And this was not so much as a

result of their associating with the Elders of Optina or Kiev, or from the sermons of the righteous John

of Kronstadt, as it was a result of their ability to observe what was happening and draw conclusions,

based not on an abundance of material available, but on the preservation of spirituality by society. It

was namely the lack of faith, not simply faith in the existence of God, but faith as the fulfillment of

Christs commandments, which led these people to think that the coming disaster was inevitable. I will

return again to this kitchen gathering, but now, concerning our life.

Yes, contemporary gatherings on that level are simply not possible. The thing is, that even when


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people have gathered together at one table, their relation to the Faith is varied. As the wise David said,

The foolish has said in his heart, there is no God! Just the rejection of the existence of God is both

insanity and a sure path to insanity. And this is not the madness of those pagans that were enlightened

by the Apostles and Holy Fathers of the first centuries of Christianity. Concerning the pagans of today,

the Apostle said: For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but havingitching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away

from listening to the truth and wander into myths. What kind of normal gathering is possible under

these conditions?! People love to talk, but not listen, to teach, but not to learn. What unites all of these

people around one table? Intoxicantsspirits, and plenty of food, that is, what is on the table, not who

is at the table. Nothing soul-profiting can come out of such an environment, for as the saints taught,

you do not speak about God with a full stomachand even more so, with a drunken head!

There is one more terrible evil from the television, but unfortunately, its far from the last. This

evil is the undermining of the authority of the Church. It is planned and diabolically cunning. It is in

everythingin mocking the clergy, the Orthodox rituals, in placing the occult, paganism, in opposition

to Christianity, in everything. Everything is saturated with hatred for the Truth. Not much time will

pass before they will openly mock Christianity and holy things on television. Broadcasts concerning

the Theotokos will be especially permeated with hatred; from everything will flow the poison of

diabolic evil. Only it will be under the veil of humor, comedy. Laughing hell will take the work of

ridiculing everything Divine, and spiritual, all the way to the end. And the end will be in the one who

appears and tries to take the place of God. And he will enter immediately into every home. How can a

person enter every home at the same time?! We say that that is one of the qualities of Godbeing

everywhere presenteven the angels move about and exist in time. But the Church teaches that

antichrist will enter immediately into every home; this seems to be a contradiction.

But no, the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church is the vessel of truth, of Divine truth. In

imitation of being everywhere present, antichrist will enter into every home simultaneously with the

help of the television. Everyone will receive him into his house, and hell receive him voluntarily! And

hell receive him, hell receive him, for he will want to be prepared for this, prepared properly, because

he didnt heed the instructions of the Good Pastor to flee to the desert, it doesnt appeal to himits

boring and dry in the desert!

Fr. Anthony, and where is it now, this desert?!I couldnt restrain myself.

Most esteemed father, you are not slow-witted, but the plastering of your church is taking more

of your time than it should, otherwise you wouldnt have asked that question. But forgive an old man!

You are impressed by the externals, but what is inside doesnt sadden you. One temple not made by


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hands in the human soul is worth ten stone temples! Unfortunately, Catholicism was imported during

the time of the accursed Peter, and especially during the Unia, so that now we judge everything by the

externals, such as crosses and miters. Take and read the writings of the Hieromartyr Archbishop

Hilarion Troitsky, he was a wise hierarch. I have saved excerpts from his speeches.

The main thing in the desert is the monotony, theres nothing to catch your eye, everythings thesame. The devil creates a mirage, as if there is vegetation, water, gold finally; but you must turn to

Christ, as the holy desert-dwellers wrote, pray, cross yourselfand everything disappears. And so

today you must strive for such a state of soul, so that your eye is not caught by anything. So that

everything around you is the desertbut if you see something that is temptingpray, cross yourself,

confess. Condemn yourself that you saw a temptation in the desert, which means you wanted to see it,

more precisely, you were disposed to seeing it.

What, youre surprised? Here, Ill give this example. A person goes to the forest to collect

mushrooms. There are many poisonous mushrooms there but he doesnt even notice them, no. There is

only one good type worth looking forhe sees it from afar, he notices it right away. Hes a good

mushroom collector and his basket will be full. But the bad mushroom collectorhe sees only

poisonous mushrooms, even when he actually notices a huge good one! And in his basket theres

nothing to look at. The good mushroom collector saw the poisonous oneshe saw, but he paid them no

attention, they did not catch his eye. And then he will talk about and remember the good ones, his soul

will glow.

So it is with sin. A person sees only sin and sinners around him, his attention is directed at this.

One way or another he will allow what he sees to pass into his mind, and he becomes a participant in

the sin. But pay no attention to all this lawlessness, burn your own faults into ashes, do battle with them

and be displeased with themand there is no defilement. There is your desert. But, the first time you

noticeyoure displeased, the second timeyou already show an interest in what those people are

doing. But the third timeyou already want to try it! Thats the way it is, and thats why it says to flee

to the desert. But on the other hand, you should understand this literally also, since antichrist will not

be allowed to gain full and absolute control over us, and I saw in the West those hidden from his horned

servantsthe Lord will not permit it. Of course, whoever wants salvation, and for its sake abandons

the comfort and convenience of the city and goes off to a deserted place, will be very safe. But people

will comfort themselves with the possibility of salvation everywhere until the Second Coming. Soon

they will assign everyone a number, in order to give antichrist an account, and then they will introduce

special card-passportsand here it is seriousit will be possible to determine the position of every

person. Can one avoid all of this? Yes, only you cant trade, or buy, or obtain housing, etc. And people


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will go to get these numbers and passports, even those who consider themselves to be Orthodox, and

they will stand in line for them. And what, do Holy Scripture and Tradition speak of anything else?!

There is your desert. The people trusted in God, and they received food from angels, or they were

satisfied with so little that today many people consider it to be a fairy talecontrary to reason!

O that reason! One cuts bread with a knife, while another uses it to deprive a person of his life.

But reason, reason, its a cunning thing. There is no sort of baseness or filthiness that reason cannot

justify, cannot find an excuse why it was impossible to do otherwise. It will justify both personal

numbers and passports and666! They will practically be putting numbers on lifeless bodies. And they

will not bring people to a state of insensitivity, no, absolutely not. Everyone will understand, but reason

will find a justification for it, it must find it, but a person, already inwardly prepared for betrayal, will

comfort himself with arguments of reason. It is hard on me, a hundred-year-old man, it will say, but

there will be such preparation and such readiness that, believe me, there will be no talk about lofty

topics. How can you say, love your Lord! They will betray themselves, their wife and children their

own flesh. The Apostle of Love rebuked those who trusted in their own love for God but hated their

neighbor, saying: for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God, Whom he

has not seen. (I John 4:20) And here, by neighbor we mean not blood relatives, as much as those

people who are near us. But the traitor of the last days is the traitor of his own relatives, ready to gobble

up and destroy everything for the sake of a moment of earthly life, not wanting to come to his senses

and understand that, first of all, he is betraying himself, and not into the hands of worldly despots, but

into eternal torment in the nether regions. He betraysand he hands over. He is born, and baptized, and

for the time being he is in Gods hands. But he has a free will and an understanding of what is good,


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and what is evil, and he consciously hands himself over, and goes from being a son of Love to a slave

to evil! How horrible it is there!

Just think, my dear holy father, the Mother of God was afraid of the passage, just the passage(!)

from earthly life to eternal life because of the possible (for Her it was possible, for us it is compulsory!)

meeting with the servants of darkness! But people are rejecting Thee, o God, handing themselves overto Thy enemy for all eternity!!!

The Elder settled back on the pillow and became silent. From his closed eyes flowed large

teardropsone, two, three His lips silently whispered words of prayer.

Do you think, he continued in a few minutes, that it was so simple for the wonderworker of

Sarov, who had been translated to the mansions of Paradise, to be ready himself to go to hell just so that

others might be saved?! No, that is the highest level of love, the uniting of perfections, or if you will,

the vision of God and the knowledge of God. God gave His own Son as a Sacrifice for our sins, for the

sins of all mankind. The Apostle Paul offered himself as a sacrifice for the Jewish people; St. Seraphim

offered himself for the Christians from among the nations. They and thousands of others who traveled

the path of acquiring perfection, the path of imitating God, were ready to sacrifice themselves for the

sake of the lost sheep. They did not just read, but they understood that God so loved the world, that He

gave His Only-begotten Son. (John 3:16)

Fr. Anthony, I asked, will there be a war?

The Elder smiled sorrowfully: O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?!

Remember something like that, batushka? And where am I leading the conversation, Fr. Alexander?

Yes, war has been going on since the creation of the world, and it will last until the Second Coming of

Christ the Redeemer! There will bebut the war will not be waged by people, if that is important, and

more precisely, it will be a result and not a cause. The cause is in spirituality, in the striving of the

spirit. Look at Constantinople, in the siege by the pagans, our forefathers the Slavs. Among the

besieged people, with all their sinfulness, there was preserved the realization, the understanding,

whatever you want to call it, that their sins were the cause of all their misfortunes. God is with us, as

long as we are with Him. The Greeks turned away from sin, they fasted, they prayed, and the Lord

performed such a miracle. When the clothing of the Mother of God was dipped in the sea, a storm arose

and the ships of the pagans were capsized. How wondrous are the works of the Lord. This is confirmed

by the fact that after this miracle the greater part of the Slavs received Baptism. There is your war.

Everyone must wage this war with his own sins. And the successes in earthly life will depend on the

success of that battle on the spiritual front.

The last times. As soon as the Evangelist begins to speak about them, immediately there


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vanishes, I would say, a certain meticulousness of the narration. Look how the Scriptures are full of

little details, such exactness of expression so that it is understandable people wrote them who were

guided by the Holy Spirit. It is much different when they talk about the times before the Second

Coming of Christ. What do the Evangelists write about?they speak about the spiritual

impoverishment of the people. This impoverishment is still difficult to name, this is kind of ademonization of mankind. For they, the fallen spirits, are the carriers of all the passions: pride,

drunkenness, fornication, greed, love of power, and atheismand as a result of these: earthly disasters,

earthquakes, horrible appearances in the sky, unprecedented sicknesses, wars, etc. It is namely the

elimination of spirituality that leads to the destruction of everything earthly. The Saviour Himself said

that no one but the Father knows the day and the hour of the end of time; you must be watchful, so as

not to be caught unaware, like the bad householder with the coming of the thief. There are not even any

hints in Scripture of a number, or an allotted period of time, so that one could count.

But man always tries to penetrate the ways of the Lord. There have been so many attemptsbut

all fruitless! The coming of the end will be unexpected. And here arises what seems to be a

contradictionthe Gospel has been preached to all creatures, and we know that this is one of the signs

of the end of the world, but the sound of the Archangels trumpetwill be unexpected. But theres

nothing here to be amazed at, and theres no contradiction here. The Jews waited thousands of years for

the coming of the Messiah into the world, as they learned in the Testament, in the prophecies; and the

Saviour cameand there was not found a place in the inn for the God-child!

Later, they are the first to hear the Holy Gospel from the mouth of God Himself, and what

there would be Hosanna, but within a few days, Crucify Him, crucify Him! This Gospel was not

convenient for them; it disturbed their peace, their normal way of life. The teaching of man, the

teaching of their elders was simpler and more understandable, and they followed that. According to it

they now continue to await the coming of the messiah as the king of kings, who will make the Jewish

people rulers over all of mankind. They will get him. They will get the antichrist.

Likewise, now, everyone listens to the words of the Gospel, or more precisely, they hear them.

But they dont listen. They do not listen to the teachings of the Church, the Ark of salvation in the last

times, but they will seek after the teachings of man, they will reject the truth, but will revel in myths, as

the Apostle warned. It will be unpleasant for them; it will disturb their way of life, founded on the

gratification of the passions. But the Church, which has given them the Holy Writ, they will mindlessly

revile and abuse. And the sins of unworthy clergymen they will attribute to vices of the Church. It

disturbs them. For the Church is a vessel filled with the Holy Spirit, but Itis a Denouncing Spirit! It

denounces the world to the world. Not that world created by God, the world primordially pure in nature


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and spirit, but a world carried away by sin. A world warped by lust, a dying world trying to make as

many people as possible participants in its destruction, resulting in the destruction of their souls.

Just as a whirlpool, after the destruction of a ship, grabs everything small in its terrible embrace,

so also now the destruction of the world, as the realm of the evil spirits of the air, will drag many, many

lives to destruction. The difference here is an essential differencethese lives were already given overto sin and its father, the devil. I have not seen a person, having the desire to be saved and going on this

path, the path of salvation, who has not been granted, as much as possible, that quiet harbor. But there

is only one harborChrist! As the Apostle said, to him life was Christ and deathChrist. That is it

the quiet harbor. Burdens and sufferings are for the person whose earthly life is the core of his

existence. It is surely a clear illustration of what does not exist, but if it does exist, it is only very

briefly. It seems I was talking about death. Its not worth repeating, but stillthats what exists! Out of

everything earthly, it is the greatest reality!

And again there is the question: how is it that the Lord God, the Existing One, Jehovah,

determines that death is the greatest reality in the created world, i.e. non existence. Death is the

rejection of the Existing One, the rejection of Divine Providence; death is not existing. The Lord did

not create death; it is not possible that Life created death, that Love gave birth to evil. Death is in the

non acceptance of life, in the actions opposing

Love, for God is Love, as the Apostle said. That is why there is death, and hell with its

everlasting torments, and evilthis is not a natural phenomenon, i.e. it is not something proper to the

world created by God. Otherwise one would have to say that the CreatorHe is the Creator of good,

and evil. No, evil is the antivalue of love, the opposite of it. Hellantiparadise, its antipode, and

correspondingly, deathantilife, that is, action against life! What is Satan? The opposer! So any

opposition to the Divine order is Satanism, and correspondingly, death and torment, for grace and life

are only in God.

The final enticer of human souls to destruction does not have his own name, for such evil it is

simply not possible. Therefore heantichrist, anti Christ, the opposer of Christall of his actions, on

one hand, are aimed at imitating Christ. First of all, the people will be enticed to him voluntarily, not by

force, although the anti will be present there. On the other hand, his actions will be in complete

opposition to the way of Christ. The way of Christ on earth is the way of the cross, but it is sweet and

rewarding in heaven, in the dwellings of the King of Glory. The stinking way of antichrist is not even

sweet on earth, and its endis in hell! This says it all, but everyone will choose what he wants. But

many will want to be enticed by the deception of his false miracles. It is not antichrist, but the people

themselves who agreed to accept on themselves the mark of Satan, the mark of opposition to God, who


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food for maintaining his strength, a piece of bread and a swallow of plain water is completely

sufficient.

And strong drinks which dull the feeling of satiety? All this is a repetition of pagan orgies. But

we forget that, by being subject to death, we are betrothed to it and become its hostages. Right now the

fattening up of mankind is taking place, precisely the fattening up. Just as the farmer fattens up thelivestock or the bird for death, for slaughter, so also mankind is being prepared for death, mainly,

spiritual. The only difference is that the animal does not have a free will and reasoning, but man is

destroying the natural limits by choosing to do those things which transgress them. Man has a free will

and reasoning; no one can force him, and everything happens voluntarily. Here is Life, and here

death. Here is the Churchthe Truth, for it is the Body of Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, and here

the feast of death, the all-evil laws and temptations of the world. Each person will voluntarily choose

between them.

Many will remember the present days at the Last Judgment with terrible bitterness and

repentance, because they did not use them for acquiring the Holy Spirit. They did not hearken to the

calls of the Church to drink from the rivers of living water, of Divine Grace. They did not want to

acquire the habit of fasting and prayer, good deeds and spiritual activity. They sought death, and death

they received. Thats why it is said: No man living shall be justified. But it will not be a trial

according to human understandingwith a prosecutor and a defense, with the last word given to the

accused. The works and thoughts of man himself will either condemn or justify him. Whatever a person

has chosen in this vale of sorrow and wandering, whatever he sought after and desired, that he will

receive. Whoever has chosen Lifewill receive eternal life and blessedness; but to whomever death is

sweeterhell with its eternal torments. And as the Holy Fathers teach, the chief torment will be not a

frying pan, but the absence of God! Now, whether we want it or not, we are supported by the action of

His Providence, and one way or the other, we are filled with His Grace, even if through the Word

spoken at the creation of the world to the plants and animals, to man himself and to the world itself.

Without Divine Providence the world could not exist for an instant. The last times are the last times

because the actions of mankind, captivated by the mirages of the devil, will be directed at rejecting the

Divine Providence for the world. And here it becomes understandable how important it is to acquire the

Holy Spirit now, for only in this is the pledge of salvation. Scripture precisely names the length of the

reign of antichristthree and a half years. It appears that these three years will be enough so that

hardly one believing soul will remain, the battle will be so terrible, and people will be so poorly

prepared for it. We are not watchful, we are weak, everything is put off until later. Laterfasting, later

prayer, laterzeal for receiving the Holy Mysteries, laterhumility, latergood deeds. But on the


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other hand, food, yes and a lot of itright now, a housethis minute, a carvery much desired. But

the world is crashing down and this illusion of dust will disappear and be proven to be poor as a church

mouse.

Antichrist will come as a redeemer from socialist disasters, although it was namely for this that

they were introduced. This offspring of hell will have immeasurable power and authority. The people

preparing for his arrival already now hold in their hands the principle riches of the earth. The mirage of

todays prosperity will go faster than spring waters. Lets recall one of the trial runs conducted with

people in the Soviet Unionone day and everything was gone. Whoever trusted the banks became

impoverished. They saved up for years, one at the expense of his life, another at the expense of his

health; it seemed to be their whole life. But it turned out to be a mirage.

Now it will be worse, the whole world will be under attack. Everything will be carried out

through the government, and therefore one must have as little contact with it as possible. No banking or

credit accounts; all this will be controlled by one hand and one head. At closer inspection it turns out

that the hand is not a hand, but a sharp-clawed paw, and the head is not just a head, but it has horns.

Instead of a face it has the snout of a wild animal, with horrible bared teeth. That is why they are now

getting everyone accustomed to banksfor wages, go to the bank, for the pensionto the bank. Soon

they will drive everyone together into one stall. It will be a great surprise for people when it turns out

that the last penny in their purse has vanished, as it is already happening in the West.

Unfortunately, this will not be the last surprise. That whole framework of well-being,

constructed by contemporary man will turn out to be a steel trap for himself. But not just a trap in a

trap theres a spring, and if you press ithes free. Even trapped animals manage to do it sometimes.

This will not be like that. And a demon will urge people with little or no faith to take their own lives. It


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is horrible how they will perform funerals for them and place them in the ground(the priest) writes

that at the moment of suicide the person was out of his mind, so its alright to do it. What kind of

judgment will there be of such a one, when any sort of service for forgiveness or punishment can be

performed on earth?! This is something like Catholic indulgenceshe paid for it, so hes forgiven. And

then for another it seems less frighteningFor the previous one they sang: With the saints give rest,and he was forgiven. Whats stopping me?! Many, many people will go to hell accompanied by such

singing, ending their life by suicide depriving themselves of the slightest chance to struggle for eternal

life, for life in Life. I saw a row of graves. On earth the people weep and mourn, and they sing for their

repose, but around them the demons dance, satisfiedthey destroyed as many souls as they could!

And the living will envy the dead. Yes, the horror of sickness and war, the death of dear ones;

one must have great faith and trust in God in order to endure all of this. How will the proud or the

greedy person endure humiliation? Only yesterday he himself cried out: If youre so smart, why arent

you rich? Only yesterday his self-satisfaction was overflowing, but todayhes nobody. But hell go

for everything, the codes, the 666, and hell sign an agreement with Satan in blood. But for him that

isnt even necessary! He will be pulled up, and hell hop about, and there hell look, and theres a noose

around his neckhes ours! Bearing humiliation with humility during the days of imagined prosperity

will be the bridge leading through the three and a half years of the reign of antichrist. Against whom

will be aimed the entire sting of the enemys temptations?against believers. Not having been able to

tempt them with comfort and gold, with fine foods and cars, as we are experiencing now, under the

threat of death by hunger, he will tempt them with a piece of bread. Difficult, it will be oh so difficult to

preserve your soul when your dear ones, your children havent tasted of food for so long. Only one who

believes in God, and believes God, will manage to refrain from the irreversible. Will antichrist give

anything to the people? Of course not, there will be nothing for him to give! What will he have besides

the riches he gathered, but those riches were valued in that world which was organized by the devil;

now he himself has destroyed it for the sake of facilitating the reign of the false messiah! These

notorious dollars will be worthless. Gold will obtain its true valuenothing, like metaluseless. You

cant eat it and it wont protect you from the cold. Only things that are functional will have worth,

things that a person cannot live withoutaxes, saws, any instrument, and cast iron stoves.

The Elder closed his eyes, and again tears rolled down his face. It seemed that he was sleeping,

but his lips as usual were moving in prayer. I didnt know what to do: it would be a sin to interrupt the

prayer, but on his face was clearly the weariness of a righteous person.

Batushka, I began hesitantly, perhaps it would be better for me to come tomorrow?

My dear Fr. Alexander, do you know what will happen the next second, much less the next


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day?! Ach, youth, youth, scheduling everything, deciding everything now. Less of your own, less

vanity, but listen more to God. Ask not for the fulfillment of your own desires, but for the revealing of

His Holy will. And you wont come tomorrow and theres no need to try. It is better for you to come in

two days, but dont put it off any longer. God be with you, Father!

Only when I stepped out onto the street did I realize that the day was almost gone. And like inone second! Only the good-bye wasnt in the same tone as the rest of the meetingwhy couldnt we

meet tomorrow? The Elder is probably tired, I thought. What a surprise it was when I returned home

and learned that the bishop was arriving the next day. In general the matter was ordinary, but what a

coincidence!

How to be Saved.

The assignment of Vladika required me to leave the city. I was not able to leave until the second

day, and then I went to Vladika to give an account of the affair. In short, by the third day I did not feel

like sitting behind the wheel and driving somewhere, even to Fr. Anthony. I was even thinking of

excuses in justifying myself before him, but I couldnt get the words out of my head: Dont put it off

any longer! Okay, Ill go.

The woman who met me was obviously anxious about something. To my silent question with

my eyes she answered: Batushka has fallen ill, but hes waiting for you. O Lord, and how could I

have doubtedto go or not to go!

The Elder was barely able to raise himself up a little. However his face was amazingly peaceful

and pleasant

Listen, holy father, to what I will say. Without fail you will write something about me, a sinner.

That is why I am having this conversation with you. This will happen either now or later; change the

name and not a word about the place of my burial. I have already given orders where to dig the grave.

Batushka, isnt it a little early to talk about that

Fr. Alexander, dont waste time to no purpose. I havent much time left. Listen and remember,

maybe something will be helpful for salvation.

The arrival of antichrist is at the door.there is chaos in the life of almost all nations. They

will flourish who are in power in the main religions, who await a false messiah. Mainly, this is the

Jews and the Moslems. After them are the protestants, who, rejecting the divinity of our Lord Jesus

Christ, preach a kingdom of God on earth. The strengthening of their influence is already visible

now, later it will be trivial. The main thing for them nowis to rule the world. Everything will

secretly be bought upthe forests, the fields, and the rivers. Siberia will fall to the Chinese, and

maybe theyll tear away more.


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So, then, where is the best place to be saved? I interrupted the Elder.

Wherever the Lord will indicate. What is importantis to be saved, but not to have

conversations about salvation. The essence of the miracles of antichrist will be in their seductiveness.

That is, these false miracles will be attractive, bewitching. Therefore to even look at them is a sin, and

mortally dangerous. You must hide and cover your eyes. But thats not all. The point of his coming isabsolute justice. The Saviour came not in His Own Name, but in the Name of the Fatherand they did

not accept Him, but even crucified Him. And even now they revile Him and crucify Him, denying His

Divinity and distorting His teaching. This other one will comeas God, not God, but as God, and him

they will accept, and they will acknowledge as God because of his false miracles, his deceptive actions.

That is, because they will be pleasing and attractive to people. That is why it is said that no man living

will be justifiedfor this there will be no justification. Now it seems like the verbosity of a pseudo-

teacher. Then, when their actions and words are compared to the truth, all of their falsity will be

evident.

But they will accept antichrist in every church on earth, and they will worship him as God.

Think of it, honorable father, he will not present himself as God, but with his false miracles he will get

them to worship him as God! That is what is so horrible. That is why there is not the tiniest cause for

justification! And who will be the ones who receive him?people for whom the Gospel now ends with

the Mystical Supper. Concerning Golgotha they are deaf. The sufferings on the Crossthey were for

Him, that was all therein Jerusalem, 2000 years ago.

You know, when the Cheka rounded us up, we were like sheep, I dont want to say lambs so as

not to compare us to the Saviour. We quietly went to the slaughter; it was simply difficult to imagine

that such lawlessness was possible. But if we had known who they were. How much the elders had

prophesied about those times, about the authority of the servants of darkness. But we sat and waited

whos next? Many people fell into those snares of flattery. How great and brilliant were Archbishop

Hilarion, my teacher, and Metropolitan Sergei, and many others, but they were mistaken in thinking

that you can converse with demons and their servants. They thought that by preserving the externals,

the contents would automatically remain. Ah, no, but this only became evident much later. It is the

same thing now, but it will increase in time.


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Forgive me, Fr. Anthony, but what about the words of the Apostle concerning the authorities,

and being in subjection to them?again I interrupted him.

Eeekh, my dear, the Elder wheezed, But didnt the Apostle Peter flee from Rome, When the

Saviour met him? And the same Apostle Paul, didnt they save him by lowering him down the wall in a

basket? Isnt this the acceptance of reality and opposition to Satanism? To give you examplestake the

Great-martyr Catherine, or the Great-martyr George. Subjection is possible only in matters of worldly

authorityfulfill your duties, but dont create an armed rebellion.The Maccabeen brothers are a good

example of the use of force against those who offend God and what is Gods. Go the path of blind

humility and you will start raising questions about the glorification of Alexander Nevsky the victorious,or Dimitry, who conquered the impious Tatars on the field of Kulikova. Questions and more questions,

butthe Lord glorified them! When I hear such questions about blessedness [a lower rank of

sanctity], I remember the life of St. Basil the Great and St. Job, the Wonder-worker of Pochaev. What

horrible times the Lord gave them to live in, but didnt St. Basil pray for the death of Emperor Julian?!

Yes, I see that you want to say that Julian was an apostate, but he also was the emperor, and the lawful

emperor, mind you! Do not our prayers for the satanic authorities stem from our desire to be

comfortable?! And you see, the Lord confirmed the correctness of St.

Basils actionJulian was killed not by an earthly weapon, but he was pierced by a spear of a

heavenly warrior. And St. Job, did he enter into discussions with the Poles? No, he fought with them

and their lackeys in every way. The righteous man did not even avoid courts of law! And you

authorities!

The work of God must be done with intelligence. If in the relations with the authorities, between

the head and the subordinate, there was only the absolute power of the one, and the profound humility


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of the other, there would be no need of the Catholicity (Sobornost) of the Church. But if there were no

Catholicity, the Church would no longer be Orthodoxhow many times the guardians of the truth

turned out to be alone, while the higher Church authoritieswere heretics?! But why speak of worldly

authoritiesMetropolitan Phillip and Patriarch Nikon are shining examples. And these righteous men

were glorified with the saints: St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, St. Maximus theConfessor, St. Joseph of Volotsk, just to name some. But here one must remember that the Holy

Fathers, while fighting for the purity of the faith, were themselves zealous in fulfilling the

commandments of God.

Humble (blind) subjection to any authority is convenient for someone who does not want to live

according to the Word. For on the path of confessing the faith, even if it is somewhere lined with roses,

after Hosanna, they will invariably cry out, Crucify him, crucify him. This discomfort will be a

cause for self-justification and acceptance of antichristthe knowledge is there, but the reasoning is

wiped away by sins. He will say that every authority is from God, we will submit to antichrist, what

else can we do? And he will also addGods will is in everything. Therefore it is said that the impious

one will sit in every church; there will no mention of who conducted the services before. Remember the

example of the great elder, the wonder-worker of Sarov, how many icons he hadone, and books

tens of them, and he attained great glory, and not from people but from God. Now, everyone has

iconostases in their homes and shelves full of books, but they do not occupy themselves intelligently!

Everyone listens, but hardly anyone pays attention, father.

Yes, I thought, Im also guilty; what joy my library of 1500 books gives me!

Again I say to you, now you need to be working for your salvation, not talking about it, then

will be too late. Time to justify oneself has passed, if it ever existed. Only salvationeverything must

be subordinate to it. The Lord has granted a peaceful time for acquiring understanding, and for hearing

the word of God, and most importantly, for the possibility of acquiring Divine Grace before those

terrible years. One person will use this for good, while another for indulging his passions. The former

will find what he seeks, while the latter will squander what he has! As it is said, to him who has will be

added, but from him who has notit will be taken away.Be watchful!

The Vision of Elder Anthony

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