“No Rus’ stands without a righteous one” is a rule for all times. Since time immemorial, the Fatherland has been saved not only by state leaders, but also by the nation’s moral leaders. This was true during the Great Time of Troubles and at the decisive moment of liberation from the Tatar-Mongol Yoke. The military feat at the Battle of Kulikovo would have been impossible without the feat of spirit—without the consecration and blessing of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, whose 700th anniversary we mark this year.
“One of the distinguishing features of a great people is its ability to rise up after a fall,” Klyuchevsky said. “The hour will come, and the people will gather its moral strength and embody it in one great man or in several great men who will lead it onto the straight historical path.”
This book is a humble bow to the great saint, the wonderworker, the savior of the Fatherland—Sergius of Radonezh—thanks to whom “the Russian Land stood and will stand.”