Question of the day: should the dead sailors of the Kursk be recognized as saints?
It has been known for a long time that a heroic deed in our country is very often "counted" in the event that a hero died while performing it. The most numerous and illustrative examples of this are the Second World War, when Soviet soldiers and officers, at the risk of their lives, at the cost of incredible efforts, left the encirclement, and immediately fell into the clutches of idle Chekists. At best, the heroes got off with penal battalions, at worst - by shooting.
A striking example of how the "grateful" Russian authorities are happy to appoint as heroes and martyrs citizens who died in incredible circumstances is the history of the nuclear submarine "Kursk", another anniversary of the tragedy of which the country celebrated on 12 August. Here the authorities did not see any reasons not to appoint them as heroes. Simply because, firstly, the “heroes” are already harmless, and secondly, by heroizing their power, thereby absolving themselves of the blame for their death. It should be recalled that while the sailors were still alive and giving distress signals, other states offered their help to the Russian command. Useless. But when they died, they were almost immediately appointed not only heroes, but also saints!!!
Deacon Andrey Kurayev writes about this in his blog after reading a message from the press service of the Northern Fleet about how "four icons with the faces of the dead submariners of the Kursk submarine were also brought to the memorial in Vidyaevo."
“We sailed! - exclaims Kuraev. - Warriors are depicted in underwear white shirts. Not in vests. White shirts in iconography are the clothes of the martyrs for Christ.
Why not the holy ones who died in the recent helicopter crash in Kamchatka?
The sailors were not to blame for that disaster. But I do not see a feat either. Most of the explosion died instantly.
Captain Kolesnikov wrote a letter. This is not a feat, this is normal.
“We're on fire. I love you, ”wrote the people who burned down in the Kemerovo“ Winter Cherry ”. Why is there no icon for them? They weren't wearing a uniform?
The death of the crew of a submarine whose escape hatch is jammed is like the passengers and flight attendants in a plane crash. There was nothing they could do to survive, and they are not to blame for what happened.
"To honor the memory" - you can. To honor as saints is not.
It is necessary to pray for them. Pray to them? ..
Why should any good deed be brought to the point of absurdity?
And after all, none of these would-be iconizers will write an icon of the real feat of people on the K-19 "Leaving Widows" ...
***
In accordance with the decree of the President of the Russian Federation of August 26, 2000 No. 1578, the ship's commander was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.
For what? By that time, nothing was known about what happened on the boat after the explosion. There is a devaluation of "sanctity" both military and ecclesiastical.
And this is only part of the canonization fashion that rose in the 90s, primarily in connection with the glorification of the royal family. Traditionally, a martyr (and a hero) is one who had a choice. Cross or life. (...)
How can you be considered martyrs those who were not even offered a choice between faith in Christ and a life of freedom? To receive baptism, not only water is needed, but also faith in Christ and the desire to receive the baptism of Christ.
Otherwise, all the drowned people could be considered saints ... "
PS
But the Russian authorities did not dare to recognize as heroes those who deserved it, as it turns out, never throughout the entire history of the state. A striking example of this is the striking story told in her blog by publicist Marina Shapovalova :
“Kaluga archer Ivan Semyonov Moshkin in 1634 was captured in a skirmish with the Crimeans and sold to Turkey as a galley slave. After 7 years, the famous Azov Sitting happened - the defense by the Cossacks of the fortress of Azov, which had previously been recaptured from the Turks - where the Sultan sent a hundred large and small ships to help the troops of the Crimean, Ottoman, Circassian and Wallachian. A galley with 250 rowers, among whom was Ivan, approached Azov with a load of gunpowder. What prompted Ivan to get out.
Having persuaded his companions to steal gunpowder in small portions during unloading, Ivan came up with the idea of hiding it in the hold among sacks of breadcrumbs, so that he could set it on fire at a convenient moment to escape to the shore. We managed to accumulate a whole pood of gunpowder. But during the preparation of the escape, the siege of Azov was lifted, Ivan's hard labor went to the Mediterranean Sea, an opportunity presented itself only a year later off the coast of Greece.
A well-prepared explosion immediately killed most of the sleeping Turkish team. The rest of the rebels finished off or, seizing, shackled. The burned and wounded Moshkin with a selected saber hacked to death the captain with his own hand. Taking possession of the galley, the rebels headed for Sicily, capturing another small Ottoman felucca along the way.
The Spaniards, who then ruled Sicily, were impressed by the courage of the rebels: the administration of Messina invited all former rowers to serve the Spanish crown for a good salary. But most of the freed slaves - about two hundred people - were from the Slavic lands and Orthodox. They refused the offer to serve the Catholic monarch. The wounded were given respect and medical care (Moshkin was treated for two months). And they let go in peace on all four sides. Taking away ships, property and all trophies, including 17 cannons, muskets, 60 sacks of wheat and even 200 tons of silver.
Having landed on the other side of the Strait of Messina, a detachment of two hundred completely free people under the leadership of a former archer walked half of the Apennine Peninsula to Rome on foot. Naked, barefoot and hungry. In the Vatican, they were more fortunate: the Pope personally met those who suffered for the faith of Christ, ordered them to heal and fatten them up. The story of their adventures was recorded and a few months later printed in the Grignani printing house.
From Rome, the heroes moved to Venice, from there - to Vienna, to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand. He, too, showed favor to the brave, inviting them to stay in his service (the Thirty Years' War has not ended yet). His persuasions were persistent, generous promises (he even offered Moshkin an estate). But he did not begin to fix any obstacles to the refuseniks, on the contrary, he gave documents that made it possible to cross Austria and Hungary to the lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth without any problems.
In 1643, our wanderers, already in thinner numbers, reached Warsaw. Vladislav Vaza, King of Poland and Prince of Lithuania, received the former captives with extraordinary cordiality. (At that time, he had a peace with Muscovy, but there was no reason to suspect Vladislav of great love for the Russians, and yet.) He also made his lucrative offer to stay in the service, but did not persuade him diligently, having received a refusal, but simply helped to continue way. He gave carts so that they would not go further on foot, gave money - 2 rubles each, and Ivan Moshkin - 10. We got to Vyazma on Polish carts, where the governor Ivan Fedorovich Lvov transplanted those who returned to the carts at the expense of the treasury to Moscow.
In Moscow, they were taken to the Discharge Order for interrogation and writing a petition to the tsar. In which the returnees described in detail their uprising on the gallery and everything they experienced after. Having received the petition, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich granted Ivan Moshkin 2 altyns, the rest of all the boyar children 8 money each, the Cossacks 7 each, the arable peasants 6 each. One ruble was then equal to 200 money or 33 altyns with two money.
And they sent everyone to the patriarch for correction under penance for the fact that "the Pope received the Socratic".
***
East of the Carpathians, centuries change little..."
Now, if all these Russian people, risking their lives in the name of the triumph of Orthodoxy, had perished in Sicily, or in Italy, or in Lithuania, then they would definitely have been canonized as martyrs for the faith. But to their misfortune, they remained alive, and therefore humiliated by those for whom they tried so hard, rejecting the seductive proposals of the "enemies of Russia." As it was rightly said: "Only the dead know how to love in Russia..."