The New Martyrs & Confessors by Vladimir Vorobyev

Conference Talk

The New Martyrs & Confessors

A Personal Memoir of Russia's Orthodox Clergy & Elders Under Communism

Today, many nations that recently called themselves Christian are losing their spiritual and moral bearings. Early in the last century, a new stage to de-Christianize culture, science, education, and national identity began in Russia with an attempt to demolish its Orthodox Christian faith.

After the abdication of the Tsar, but before the Bolsheviks took power, the greatest and most important council in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church began on August 15, 1917. The council reinstated the office of Patriarch, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, then elected Tikhon as Patriarch and established church governing institutions. But the major value of the council's acts was to prepare the church for the coming persecution, to encourage the episcopacy, clergy, and laity to steadfastly bear witness to their faith—to prepare for martyrdom.

THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:


Vladimir Vorobyev , Archpriest, Ph.D., president and a founder of St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological University, was born in Moscow in 1941. He serves as the rector of St. Nicholas Church in Kuznetzy, Moscow. Fr. Vladimir heads the research department of the History of the Russian Orthodox Church of the 20th Century at St Tikhon's. He is the chief editor of a 25-volume academic series, Documents and Materials on the History of the Russian Orthodox Church of the 20th Century, which includes numerous memoirs.

• Not a subscriber or wish to renew your subscription? Subscribe to Touchstone today for full online access. Over 30 years of publishing!


personal subscriptions

Purchase Print &
Online Subscription

Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!


RENEW your print/online
subscription

Purchase
Online Subscription

Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives including pdf downloads for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!


RENEW your online subscription

gift subscriptions

GIVE Print &
Online Subscription

Give six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for the reduced rate of $29.95. That's only $2.50 per month!


RENEW your gift subscription

Transactions will be processed on a secure server.

bulk subscriptions

Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.

kindle subscription

OR get a subscription to Touchstone to read on your Kindle for only $1.99 per month! (This option is KINDLE ONLY and does not include either print or online.)

Your subscription goes a long way to ensure that Touchstone is able to continue its mission of publishing quality Christian articles and commentary.


more on history from the online archives

14.6—July/August 2001

The Transformed Relics of the Fall

on the Fulfillment of History in Christ by Patrick Henry Reardon

15.6—July/August 2002

Things Hidden Since the Beginning of the World

The Shape of Divine Providence & Human History by James Hitchcock

28.3—May/June 2015

The Spy Who Turned Witness

Whittaker Chambers's Lonely War Against Godless Collectivism by Hunter Baker


more from the online archives

32.1—January/February 2019

Surprised by Delight

Divine Love & the Love of Man & Woman Surpass Mere Consent by Anthony Esolen

32.4—July/August 2019

To Spread His Glory

Four Theses on Christian Education by Donald T. Williams

32.1—January/February 2019

The Life of Sean

on Down Syndrome & the Lives That Matter by David F. Watson

calling all readers

Please Donate

"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand

"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor

Support Touchstone

00