- What first comes to mind when you think of Emperor Nicholas II?
Faithfulness to Christ, love of country, love of family and hard work.
- How would you describe his personal faith and relationship with the Orthodox Church?
His desire was to see the Russian Church return to the Orthodox Tradition from its long period of decadence that had already lasted over 200 years. His model was the Pre-Imperial, Pre-Petrine Church of the 17th century, not the Italianate, theatrical, ritualistic, pharisaical, clerical, bureaucratic and superficial mentality, which helped to exclude the people from participation in spiritual life and so in moral life.
- Is there a particular quality or moment from his life and martyrdom that has left a lasting impression upon you?
His Gethsemane-like resignation when he was betrayed and arrested because of the ‘treason, cowardice and deceit all around’, in the hope that no-one would die because of him, in the self-sacrificing Christian tradition of Sts Boris and Gleb.
- How important are faith and Orthodox tradition in your own life, and has the example of Emperor Nicholas II and his family influenced you personally?
Speaking as an Orthodox clergyman of 45 years, we have always been on the same wavelength, with exactly parallel words, thoughts and actions.
- Are there any common myths or misunderstandings about Emperor Nicholas II that you believe deserve to be corrected?
He was weak, badly-educated, stupid, unprepared and reactionary.
- How would you hope future generations remember Emperor Nicholas II?
As he who could have stopped the disastrous events of the last 110 years throughout Europe and throughout the world. Thus, the tragic course of modern history with its continual world wars and regional wars would have been transformed, if he had not been betrayed by jealous and faithless international elites and traitors.