Today marks 108 years since the brutal assassination of Saint Tsar Nicholas II and his family by the satanic Bolsheviks.
After midnight on July 4/17, 1918, the entire family, with their doctor and two faithful servants, was brought to the basement of the house of their confinement under the pretext of moving them once again. There they were brutally and mercilessly murdered, the children as well as the adults, under the cover of darkness - for "men loved the darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3.19). The Tsar was shot as he stood forward to defend his family. Tsaritsa Alexandra was able to make the sign of the Cross before she, too, fell. The first bullets did not bring death to the youngest ones, and they were savagely clubbed, bayoneted and shot at point-blank range.
Those killed were: the Tsar (born 1868), the Tsaritsa (1872), Olga (both 1895), Tatiana (1897), Maria (born 1899), Anastasia (born 1901), Alexis (born 1904), the Tsar's physician Eugene Botkin, the Tsaritsa's chamber-maid Anna Demidova, the cook Kharitonov and the servant Trupp. The sailor Clement Nagorny, who had looked after the Tsarevich since early childhood, and Sergius Sednev, the servant to the Grand Duchesses, both of whom had defended the Royal Family from robbery and insults in Ekaterinburg, were taken away to prison and shot there. Those who were refused permission to stay with the Royal Family at Ekaterinburg, and who were also shot in prison were General Elias Tatishchev and Prince Basil Dolgorukov. The maid-of-honour, Countess Anastasia Hendrikova, and the court teacher, Ekaterina Schneider, were taken to Perm and shot there.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The virtues of Saint Tsar Nicholas II
Tsar Nicholas II was the creator of the 1889 Hague Peace Convention:
The Peace Conference was convened in The Hague on May 18, 1889, and proclaimed the general principle of the peaceful resolution of international conflicts. Subsequently, the League of Nations, and now the United Nations, became the direct successors of the Hague International Tribunal. When the Washington Naval Armament Conference convened in November 1921, American President Harding declared in his opening address: "The proposal to limit armaments by agreement between powers is not new. On this occasion, it is perhaps appropriate to recall the noble aspirations expressed 23 years ago in the imperial rescript of His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias." Having quoted almost in full the “clear and expressive” words of the Russian note, Harding added: “With such a consciousness of his duty, His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias proposed the convening of a conference which was to deal with this important problem.”
Thus, the Tsar launched an initiative of global significance. His idea was revived again and again and is now being implemented with even greater zeal. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God." But the tragic thing was that the first conference he convened rejected the Tsar's main proposal.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tsar Nicholas II contribution to Orthodoxy:
During the reign of Nicholas II, the Church reached her fullest development and power. The number of churches increased by more than 10,000. There were 57,000 churches by the end of the period. The number of monasteries increased by 250, bringing their total up to 1025. Ancient churches were renovated. The Emperor himself took part in the laying of the first cornerstones and the consecration of many churches. He visited churches and monasteries in all parts of the country, venerating their saints. The
Emperor stressed the importance of educating the peasant children within the framework of church and parish and, as a result, the number of parish schools grew to 37,000.
Christian literature flourished at this time. Excellent journals were published, such as Soul-Profiting Reading, Soul-Profiting Converser, The Wanderer, The Rudder, The Russian Monk, and the ever-popular The Russian Pilgrim. The Russian people were surrounded by spiritual nourishment as never before.
There was no tsar in whose reign more saints were glorified (canonized) than than of Nicholas. His love of Orthodoxy and the Church's holy ones knew no bounds; and he himself often pressured the Holy Synod to speedily accord fitting reverence to many of God's saints. Among those glorified during his reign were: St. Theodosius of Chernigov (glorified in 1896), St. Isidore of Yuriev (1897), St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk (1909), St. Anna of Kashin (1910), St. Joasaph of Belgorod (1911), St. Hermogenes of Moscow (1913), St. Pitirim of Tambov (1914), St. John (Maximovich) of Tobolsk (1916) and St. Paul of Tobolsk (1917).
In addition, one of the most revered of Russia's saints, Seraphim of Sarov, was glorified by the Church during the reign of this pious Tsar in 1903, at his insistence. At this time, Nicholas was made aware of the future apostasy and downfall of the Russian nation and Church through a prophetic letter written by St. Seraphim himself. The saint had, shortly before his death in 1833, written this letter, sealed it with five wax seals and addressed it "to the Tsar in whose reign I shall be glorified". He then gave it to Elena Motovilov, the young wife of N.I. Motovilov, who is now well-known for recording his conversation with the saint about the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. She kept that letter for seventy years and gave it to the Tsar at the glorification ceremony. While the exact contents are today unknown, it is nevertheless certain that St. Seraphim prepared Nicholas for the coming tribulations. Furthermore, on the return trip from Sarov, the Royal Family visited St. Seraphim's Diveyevo Convent where Blessed Pasha (Parasceva) the Fool-for-Christ spoke to them several hours; it is said that she foretold to them their own martyrdom as well as that of Holy Russia.
It is said that the Empress was near to fainting and said:
"I don't believe you, it cannot be!"
Now this was one year before the birth of the heir to the throne and
they very much wanted an heir. So Blessed Pasha got up from her bed with a piece of red material and said:
"This is for some little trousers for your son, and when he is born,you will believe what I have been telling you."
They left her cell pale and shaken but resolute - they would accept with faith whatever God had prepared for them, esteeming the incorruptible crown of martyrdom higher than corruptible earthly crowns; electing to accept the cup of suffering offered to them by God Almighty, that by drinking of it they might offer themselves up as a sacrifice for their people.
During his reign the Tsar sought the advice of Blessed Pasha on all serious questions. He used to send the Great Princes to her, and according to her cell-attendant, Eudocia Ivanovna, one would no sooner depart than another arrived. After the death of Blessed Pasha's cell-attendant, Matushka Seraphima (Bulgakova), they would put all their questions to her through Eudocia Ivanovna, who relates that she once said:
"Your Majesty, come down from the throne yourself!"
Not long before her death in August, 1915, Blessed Pasha was continually making prostrations to the ground in front of the portrait of the Tsar. When she was worn out, her cell-attendants lifted her up.
"Mamashenka, why are you praying to the Tsar?"
"Stupid, he will be higher than all the tsars."
There were two portraits of the Tsar: one of him with the Tsaritsa and the other of him alone. But she kept prostrating to the one of him alone.
Again she said about him:
"I don't know, a monk saint, perhaps a martyr!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The Tsar supported the restoration of canonical order and the patriarchate in the Russian Church. Once, at the pre-conciliar assembly convened in 1906, when the bishops were discussing these issues, he asked them whether they had a candidate for the patriarchate. When they said no, he offered himself as a candidate. The bishops were shocked and refused his offer. The Tsar, being a humble man, never brought this subject up again.
The full life can be read here:
https://www.orthodox.net/russiannm/nicholas-ii-tsar-martyr-and-his-family.html