Thus begins a new translation project for myself. My goal is to translate piecemeal the book Православные христиане в СССР: голоса свидетелей published in 2018 and to my knowledge never translated into English. As we Orthodox attempt to live and practice our faith in an unchristian society I think we can find solace and advice from our counterparts in last century’s Russia who were living in much a similar, perhaps worse, circumstance. Bear with me as I am slow to translate. Thus follows the foreword which I have just translated.

–YaBoyKen

Forword

The people whose voices are heard in the pages of this book lived a long, wonderful life. The seminarians of the Sretensky Theological Seminary, with the blessing of the abbot of the Sretensky Monastery and bishop of Yegoryevsk Tikhon (Shevkunova), carried out a great and unique task: to interview dozens of people who were born in the first and second halves of the 20th century. Those who remember the Great Patriotic War, the famine and devastation. Those who remember our victories and our defeats, the repression of the Church, the revival of post-war Russia, the feats of the new martyrs and confessors of the Orthodox faith, and also the revival of Orthodoxy at the tail-end of the 80s and beginning of the 90’s.
In these reminisces everything is interesting: the daily life, spiritual life, and liturgical life of ordinary people along with the clergy of that time. People spoke about that which was forbidden to read about in the history books, and which can only be found out from the lives of still-living witnesses to the past. Interesting also are the descriptions of certain situations throughout their lives, through which shine the best human qualities: kindness, sacrifice, patience, humility, and love.
In the pages of this book the past is revived and the hidden and miraculous providence of God working in people’s fates is revealed to us.