- Miracle of the Icon of the Sovereign in the castle Artstetten
Author – Boris Galenin
June 28, 2014 marks the centenary of the tragic assassination of the Heir to the Throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Louis Maria Habsburg – i – d’Este (1863-1914) and his wife Duchess Sophia von Hohenberg.
Planned by international Masonry and carried out by the hands of Serbian masons, this assassination served as a trigger prepared by the same forces of World War I, which, in turn, was a direct continuation of World War II.
And the first orphans of those wars were the children of Archduke Ferdinand.
The tragic fate of Archduke Ferdinand, his wife and children unwittingly causes association with another, even more terrible drama – in Yekaterinburg, and in some ways anticipates it. Since the life and death of the Archduke, and even more so the fate of his descendants, is little known to domestic readers, let us tell them in brief.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand – Childhood and Youth
Franz Ferdinand was the eldest son of Archduke Charles Ludwig (1833-1896), younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I. The mother of the future heir to the throne, Maria Annunziata of the Neapolitan Bourbon family, Princess of both Sicily, died before she was 30 years old, from tuberculosis – a disease that her eldest son inherited from her.
The boy was lucky to have his stepmother – his father’s third wife, Maria Teresa of Portugal, was only 8 years older than her stepson, and there was a warm friendship between them that lasted until the death of Franz Ferdinand.
Like many other Habsburgs, he was destined for a military career. At the age of 12 he was enrolled in the army, serve properly and gradually promoted. No one suggested that he could become the heir to the throne, because the augustus Rudolph, son of the Emperor was young and healthy.
The first big event in Franz Ferdinand’s life happened in 1875. Suddenly the young archduke, who did not have a large fortune, became very rich. After much debate, he inherited the fairytale legacy of a distant relative, Franz V d’Este, Duke of Modena, who had completed the family of Italian dukes d’Este – in exchange for a commitment to accept the name “d’Este”.
Together with the new family name, Ferdinand gained a fortune that made the future heir the richest member of the Imperial house. Wealth also gave him a certain independence from the monarch’s benefices.
Heir to the throne
14 years later, another event happened. On 30 January 1889, Austria’s favorite Crown Prince Rudolf (1858-1889)* killed himself in Mayerling Castle. Franz Ferdinand’s father was declared heir to the throne, but Archduke Karl Ludwig, almost the same age as his augustus brother, did not aspire to become a Kaiser and almost immediately declared that he did not want to be the heir.
The strict Austrian laws of inheritance did not take Carl Ludwig’s statement into account de jure, but the attitude of the emperor Franz Joseph towards Franz Ferdinand has changed. At the age of 31, Ferdinand was made a major general, and then received the rank of general from the cavalry and, in addition, the Baroque Belvedere Palace in Vienna.
Conservative in view of the sacral importance of the monarchy, a supporter of the Union of Three Emperors, Ferdinand in 1891 visited St. Petersburg, where he was received extremely warm. The Emperor Alexander III himself met the Archduke at the railway station. Ferdinand was awarded the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First Called by the highest decision.
In 1893 Franz Ferdinand made a great journey around the world, visiting Australia, New Zealand, New Hebrides, Solomon Islands, New Guinea, Sarawak, Thailand and Japan on the cruiser “Empress Elizabeth” [“Kaiserin Elizabeth”].
From Yokohama he proceeded to Vancouver on the steamship “Empress of China” and returned to Europe via Canada. In 1895-1896, the Archduke published in Vienna a diary of his circumnavigation of the world (Tagebuch einer Reise um die Erde), which revealed in Ferdinand the gift of an outstanding writer.
On May 19, 1896, Ferdinand’s father died of typhus, having just before drunk a glass of water from the Jordan River. From this day on May 19, Franz Ferdinand becomes the official heir to the throne.
It should be noted that at least the beginning of the 20th century, 19 May coincides with the birthday of the Sovereign Emperor Nicholas II, and hence with the day of Job the Long-Suffering.
In 1898, the Archduke was appointed Deputy Emperor in the Supreme Command of the Army, concentrating in his hands a huge power.
Love for an all life
But after two years he is ready to part with all his privileges and even with the hope for the throne in the name of love, which flared up in the chest of an already quite mature 36-year-old man – in the common opinion – the cold and closed. Love for the Czech Countess Sophia Hotek.
The Countess was not a beauty in the conventional sense. “Not a beauty, but elegant and attractive,” wrote Prince Bernhard von Bulow about her.
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* There is a view that there was in fact a political murder disguised as suicide.
“She was very nice and able to charm people,” memoirs are unanimously noted. But most importantly, her husband adored her. They said and wrote that all his life he loved only her.
Just to deserve the happiness of being with her, Archduke Ferdinand withstood the public humiliation, reading the abdication of the throne for his future children from this morganatic marriage. Countess Sophia became Princess and then Duchess of Hohenberg. These titles are now worn by descendants of the Archduke.*
The wedding of Ferdinand and Sofia took place in July 1900 in the Bohemian castle of Zakupi (formerly Reichsstadt) in a family circle without solemn ceremonies. Although the “young woman was not young anymore” – 32 years old at that time was a serious age for the bride – it was impossible to take your eyes off her. She was all glowing with happiness. A white silk dress with a sliding meter long train accentuated the grace of her slender figure, and a diamond tiara crowned her luxurious hair like a crown.
And the symbols of chastity and virginity – the flowers of myrtle and orange that adorned the bride’s attire – said that longstanding love did not tempt the couple before the wedding (both were very devout Catholics).
And when lovers uttered the words of the oath “…until death do us part…”, none of those present at that moment guessed that even death after 14 years could not separate them…
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*As encyclopedias are written: Hohenberg is the senior branch of the Lorraine House, which is not among the Habsburgs because of its morganaticity. These are the descendants of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his unequal-born spouse Sophia Hohenberg, who were murdered in Sarajevo in the summer of 1914. After the marriage of Franz Ferdinand and Sophia Hotek in 1900, Emperor Franz Joseph revived for her the ancient Habsburg title of Her Serene Highness Princess Hohenberg, allowing her to pass this title to future children. These children were three – Maximilian (1902-62), Ernst (1904-54), and Sophia (married – Countess Nostitz; 1901-1990).
Everyone notes that the Archduke’s marriage was exceptionally happy. Daughter Sophia and sons Maximilian and Ernst grew up beautiful and healthy children.
And their father was ready to do everything so that the country in which they still had to occupy a high position would become stable, calm and peaceful.
United States of Great Austria
Ferdinand was well aware that most of the internal problems of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were due to so-called dualism, the division of power between Vienna and Budapest, with a disproportionate power of Magyar nobles, who oppressed the multinational population of Hungary, which at that time occupied almost half of the territory of the Empire.
Around 1906, Ferdinand drew up a plan for the transformation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which, if implemented, could extend the life of the Habsburg Empire for a long time, reducing the degree of ethnic conflict.
The plan was drawn up by the Archduke himself and Aurel Popovich, an Austro-Romanian politician and lawyer. In 1906, Aurel Popovich (originally an Austro-Hungarian Romanian) published the book “The United States of Great Austria”, in which he proposed to reorganize the country, sticked together from medieval kingdoms and duchies, into a federation.
Popovich wrote prophetically: “The great diversity of origin, language, customs, and everyday life of different peoples requires from the Habsburg Empire a form of government that could guarantee that no people would be oppressed, harmed, or oppressed by others in their national politics, self-development and cultural wealth – in a word – in their understanding of life.
There is little time left. All the peoples of the monarchy are waiting for the Emperor’s saving steps.
This is a decisive historical moment: will the Habsburg Empire survive or die?
For now, it is still possible to fix and save.”
Popovich proposed dividing Austria-Hungary into fifteen equal states on the national territorial principle: three German-speaking states (German Austria, German Bohemia and German Moravia), Hungary, czech-speaking Bohemia, Slovakia, Croatia, slovene-speaking Krajna, polish-speaking Western Galicia, romanian-speaking Transylvania, italian-speaking Trieste and Trentino, ukrainian-speaking Eastern Galicia, and finally Vojvodina, with both serbian and croatian languages. In addition, a number of ethnic enclaves (mainly German) in eastern Transylvania, Banat and other parts of Hungary, southern Slovenia, and major cities (such as Prague, Budapest, Lvov, etc.) were granted special autonomy (Map № 1).
Map № 1. United States of Greater Austria
That was the plan that Archduke Ferdinand supported. We can see that according to this plan the Empire was turning from Austria-Hungary into Austria-Hungary-Slavia – a triune state, if take the national aspect. But at the same time it became as the United States of Great Austria – twelve or more national autonomies were formed for each major nation living in the Empire.
In this idea of Popovich-Ferdinand is now seen as a prototype of the European Union, already then capable of keeping Europe from war. Indeed, both the Habsburgs and the Slavic peoples benefited from the reform of the Empire from a dualistic to a trialistic and multinational model.
The Czechs, for example, got what they wanted – an autonomous state of their own and might not have fought to overthrow the Habsburg authorities. The same was true for other Slavic autonomies.
Ferdinand saw the official name of the Empire as “Austrian Empire”, without Hungarian additive.
Now, from our far away, it can be said with certainty that the project of the new state structure of the Austrian Empire – if it would be implemented – would spare the peoples of Europe, and above all the Balkans themselves from millions of victims. Already, at least a million Serbs would not have been carved out by Croatian Ustashas by simple knives – the “Serbosekas” – as, alas, it was happened in our history.
The main and the worst opponent of trialism was the Hungarian elite, which gained power over half of the Empire in 1867. Intolerance to the Ferdinand’s plan was expressed by his main political opponent, Hungarian Prime Minister Count Istvan Tissa:
“If the heir to the throne decides to carry out his plan, I will raise the Magyar national revolution against him”*.
But Franz Ferdinand was difficult to frighten – even his enemies noted his absolute fearlessness. Ferdinand was a supporter of a strong army, but he believed that in a multinational and turbulent empire, the army is needed above all as a guarantee of internal peace.
He was well aware that his plans require peace. First of all, with Russia.
Warning Conrad von Götzendorf the chief of the Austrian General Staff rushing into battle, the Archduke directly pointed to those who benefited from the war:
“War with Russia must be avoided, because France is inciting to it, especially French Masons and anti-monarchists who seek to cause a revolution to overthrow the Monarchs from their thrones”.
This is how it happened. The organizers of the assassination knew very well who they decided to eliminate, what the consequences of this murder would be.
By the way, back in 1912 in one of the Western editions the prediction of some Masonic figure appeared in advance: “Archduke condemned and will die on the way to the throne”.
The outer side of the murder of the Archduke and Duchess Sophia is well known. And the inside requires careful consideration.
But it should be noted that back in 1930 the book “Sarajevo Murder” was published by the Soviet scientist N.P. Poletika, who examined the whole set of available sources, came to the most probable and still not refuted conclusion that:
“Serbia only fulfilled the “social order” of the Entente (“Entente Cordiale”) to create a pretext for the most favorable variant of its war with the Triple Union”, and “Sarajevo murder was organized by the Entente by hidden attack on one of the members of the Triple Union – Austria-Hungary, and that the German thesis: “we were attacked” (wir waren angegriffen) is absolutely correct”.
It is true “that they attacked not openly, but secretly, as robbers, but still attacked and attacked first”.*
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* These words of the Prime Minister allow assuming that there is a Hungarian trace in the Sarajevo murder.
The fate of Franz Ferdinand’s children
Let’s say a few words about the fate of the Archduke’s children. In 1909 the title of Franz-Ferdinand’s wife was raised to Duchess, and in 1917 Emperor Charles I allowed the eldest of the orphaned, Maximilian to accept the title of Duke, while Ernst and Sofia remained the princes of von Hohenberg.
The collapse of Austro-Hungarian Empire deprived them of all their property in Bohemia, and of their favorite castles they remained Artstetten. Artstetten is located next to Vienna and was inherited by Franz Ferdinand from his father.
When the Nazis entered Austria, the Hohenberg brothers, who held a firm monarchical anti-Nazi position, were imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp. In order to break and humiliate them, and in their face the entire aristocracy, they were given the most humiliating job in the camp – cleaning the latrines. Leopold Figl – in the future the first post-war Bundeschanzler of Austria – recalled his arrival in Dachau in 1938: “The first people I saw in Dachau were the Hohenberg brothers – with cars filled with the contents of latrines. Deprived of all titles, fortune, freedom and basic human conditions, they still remained unbroken…
Seeing death before their eyes every hour, they endured humiliation with dignity, “as befits the representatives of the great dynasty”
Characteristically, neither Maximilian nor Ernst ever told anyone details about his stay in the concentration camp, as they were taken from a nondisclosure subscription. But numerous memories of eyewitnesses, former concentration camp prisoners, which testify to the discipline, will, and sometimes heroism of the Hohenberg brothers.
For example, Max did not tell anyone how he saved the life of one gypsy in a concentration camp. This only became known after the war, when a noisy group of gypsies with a pair of geese under their arms arrived in Artstetten, looking for Max to thank him for saving their fellow gypsy at Dachau. According to witnesses, at least two such cases of helping brothers to Jewish prisoners are known.
Communists, monarchists and “schutzbundists” did not share each other’s beliefs, but in the concentration camp they were divided equally the last cigarette, the last piece of bread… All those who survived kept contact after the war and remained with each other on “YOU” for the rest of their lives.
While the brothers were in a concentration camp, the Nazi authorities confiscated all their property in favor of the Reich. It was the largest private confiscation in the Third Reich.
The arrest of the Hohenberg brothers caused numerous waves of protest abroad. Max was released from the camp a year and a half later, but until the end of the war he was under house arrest under Gestapo surveillance. And Ernst was transferred to another concentration camp, Sachsenhausen, from where he left in 1943, having spent a total of more than five years in concentration camps.
Ernst, the youngest of Franz Ferdinand’s three children, died before his brother and sister at the age of 49 in 1954. Years in concentration camps have irrevocably undermined his health.
Sister Sophie, the married Countess of Nostitz-Rynek, too have known sorrow: she suffered the loss of her two eldest sons. After the war, when the Communists came to power in Czechoslovakia, Sophie once again had everything confiscated, and her family hastily leaved the country in a truck with a minimum of belongings.
But Max was appointed as Mayor of Artstetten by the Soviet authorities, who was at that time in the zone liberated by the Soviet army. This seems to be the only time in the world history when the Communists appointed a Duke as Mayor of the city.
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Poletika N. P. the Sarajevo murder. – L.: Krasnaya Gazeta publishing House, 1930. Pp. 411-412.
Duke Maximilian von Hohenberg
Duke Maximilian died in 1962 in Vienna and was buried next to his parents and younger brother in the family tomb in Artstetten. His funeral turned into a crowded procession – as it did half a century ago at his parents’ funeral. The church in Artstetten could not accommodate everyone.
Maximilian’s eldest son Duke Franz Ferdinand (grandson of Archduke Ferdinand) married Princess Elizabeth of Luxembourg (sister of Grand Duke John).
Their eldest daughter Princess Anita von Hohenberg (granddaughter of Maximilian and Ferdinand’s great-granddaughter) still owns the castle of Artstetten, where Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sofia were buried.
Since Franz Ferdinand had only two daughters Anita and Sophia, the title of duke passed to his second son of Maximilian, George (Georg Hohenberg; 25.04.1929 – 25.07.2019). Today, the eldest of the Hohenberg family is George’s eldest son, Duke Nicholas von Hohenberg (born 3 July 1961).
Together with Anita von Hohenberg in Artstetten lives her nephew Prince Leo Johannes von Hohenberg (28.09.1964), son of Prince Albrecht (04.02.1931, the third son of Duke Maximilian) with his wife Rosalinda (Rosalinda Roque Allkoforado) and children Genevieve (08.03.1998) and Adrienne (29.10.2003).
Taking into account the hereditary sympathies to Russia of the Hohenberg family, it will not be surprising that from 9 to 11 May 2014, at the invitation of the great-grandsons of Archduke Franz Ferdinand – Princess Anita von Hohenberg and Prince Leo von Hohenberg, and Austrian monarchical circles, passed the visit to Austria of the Advisor to the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Head of the Military Orthodox Mission Mr. Igor Evgenievich Smykov. Within the framework of the centenary of the tragic death of Archduke Ferdinand and the beginning of the Great War, the miracle-working image of Tsar Nicholas II was brought from Moscow to the Austrian capital by the Head of the Orthodox Military mission. This visit was once widely covered by the mass media.
But the extraordinary phenomenon, or rather the miracle that happened during this visit, did not get proper publicity.
Arrival of the Icon in Artstetten
On Friday 9 May 2014, the Icon of the Sovereign arrived in Vienna and was displayed for worship in the refectory church in Ober Waltersdorf. The akathist to the Martyr Tsar Nicholas was also read here. And on May 10 His image was visited by the already familiar to us castle Artstetten, located near the Wachau Valley in Lower Austria, the residence of the Hohenberg family.
Castle Artstetten was first mentioned in chronicles of the thirteenth century, but even now retains its beauty and power. The elegant, light building of the castle, with its towers crowned with onion-shaped domes and red tiled roofs, rises above the Danube and is a true decoration of the surrounding landscape. It is no wonder that Artstetten was chosen to be depicted on collector’s coins worth 10 Euros.
Artstetten became one of the favorite residences of the heir to the Vienna throne. Franz Ferdinand himself chose Artstetten as his resting place. The Artstetten Castle houses a museum, which carefully preserves all documents that were somehow related to the life and death of the Archduke.
Archduke Ferdinand and his beloved wife Sophia were buried in the castle’s family tomb after their murder in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 by world Masonry mercenaries.
How was it
In memory of the approaching centenary of this tragic date, the descendants of Archduke Ferdinand – Her Serene Highness Princess Anita von Hohenberg, His Serene Highness Prince Leo Johannes von Hohenberg and his wife Her Serene Highness Princess Rosalind von Hohenberg – gathered on 9 May 2014 in Artstetten tomb in the presence of the myrrh-streaming image of the Holy Tsar Martyr.
Baron Alexander Dolzer, Head of the Orthodox Military Mission Igor Smykov, lieutenant colonel of the Great Don Army Pavel Mamaev and the famous Austrian Slavic writer and biographer of the family of Emperor Nicholas II Dr. Elisabeth Heresh were also present.
Igor Smykov read an akathist in front of a myrrh-streaming icon of the Emperor Nicholas II.
After reading the akathist, a miracle happened.
Her Serene Highness Princess Rosalinda von Hohenberg testifies:
“After Mr. Smykov read the prayer, it became quite clear that the background of the icon experienced a change and the emanation around the head of the Emperor Nicholas began to take a golden glow.
It looked like as rays were radiating around his head and the blue dots of his outfit also began to shine azure and his face became plastic, and its proportions were corrected in relation to the iconography.
His lips were opened in movement, and His beard was clearly marked, and it became clear that His lips were moving, saying something, but I could not understand what He was saying.
His left hand (with Power) made a blessing cross, and then a particularly strong smell of the fragrance of the Icon was heard, and it seemed as if the whole of His figure had been freed from the background, and all this time a golden rays emanated from His head.
After the blessing, this radiation was still going on, the mouths of the King closed, and the phenomenon gradually receded back.
The expression of His face radiated serenity and gave [to me] the impression that He was pleased, that He was satisfied”.
(May 10, 2014, Castle Artstetten, written in hand by Her Serene Highness Princess Rosalind von Hohenberg, translated into Russian by Dr. Elisabeth Heresh). The grammar in the above entry has been slightly corrected.
The miracle made a strong impression on all those present. The descendants of one of the oldest and most significant dynasties in Europe felt that the Holy Emperor Nicholas was giving them his fatherly blessing.
Testimony of Pavel Mamaev – September 2019
Until now, the reader was offered a text written back in May 2014, so to speak, “on the hot trails” of what has happened. But in September this year, 2019, it was able to get another witness testimony, adding new colors to the painting “miracle in Artstetten”.
Additional details of the miracle in Artstetten, I managed to get September 15, 2019 from the direct witness to the miracle – lieutenant colonel of the Great Don Army Pavel Pavlovich Mamaev. Word to the eyewitness:
– “Alexander Dolzer and I had the honor of standing in the “Guard of Honor” at the Icon placed on a silk imperial standard (it’s clearly visible in the photo), so I was especially careful not to let the icon slip off it.
Then, before the reading of the akathist, we stood together with the rest of those present before the Icon, but at some distance from it, and Mr. Smykov began reading the akathist. And suddenly a wonderful fragrance was spilled in the air – the Icon was myrrh streamed.
The myrrh was so intense that it seemed that the whole air of the tomb was filled with this delicious smell of the myrrh. (It should be noted that the area of the crypt is about 70 square meters; the height of the ceilings can be seen from the photo).
Alexander Dolzer and Pavel Mamaev in the “Guard of Honor” at the icon of the Sovereign.
All those present stood amazed by this miracle, and after the end of the akathist, they began to examine the Icon carefully.
During the reading of the Akathist – Prince Leo von Hohenberg and Princess Anita von Hohenberg
It was first examined at the standard, and then brought to the window to get a better view, and then put back on the standard. It was for about seven to eight minutes”.
(Artstetten Castle stands on a mountain slope and therefore, despite the fact that the crypt is generally underground, on one side there is a small window, and beside this window there is a small – 30-35 cm high – Crucifixion – actually opposite the sarcophagus).
At this time, the second, most important miracle happened.
Pavel Mamaev continues:
“The whole time the Icon was on the Imperial Standard, I stood by to pick her up in case she slipped. When those present, stepping away from the Icon, began to discuss the miracle of myrrh-streaming, I went to Alexander Dolzer, who was talking to Princess Rosalind, to ask for help to take away the Icon and roll up the standard. He, extremely excited, as soon as I approached them, said; “Listen to what happened, what Rosalind saw.”
The princess, completely stunned, began to tell:
Princess Rosalyn von Hohenberg – after the Miracle
“A miracle has happened. When I leaned over the Icon to get a better look at it, I saw that the background of the Icon first became deeper and the color more intense, the halo around the head of Nicholas II sparkled with gold, the blue adornments of his attire shone with azure, then his eyes, face came alive, a small beard became clearly visible, came to life and stretched out in the smile of his lips, and suddenly I heard his voice.
The King began to tell me something, but I was so confused that I did not understand what he was saying to me, in what language. However, it seems to be in Russian. The Tsar looked very happy and friendly.
And then I saw that He began to come out of the plane of the Icon, the head, shoulders, hands came out. And He suddenly crossed me”.
“Madam, I asked. Did He cross you with two or three fingers?” and showed her the corresponding finger arrangements.
She answered hesitatingly for a moment:
“No. He crossed me with His whole hand, in which He has the Power”. (The Emperor crossed – blessed – Princess Rosalinda with His left hand, because He had a “Scepter” in His right hand). “He still has told me something, smiling and obviously, very happy, and then began to leave slowly back into the Icon.
At the same time, He still smiled, very kindly and with a satisfied view”.
The story of Princess Rosalind is over.
– “I insist”, confirmed Pavel Mamaev, “that I accurately convey the words of Princess Rosalinda, told me personally. – The story of Princess Gogenberg about the miracle was recorded 20-25 minutes after my conversation with her by Dr. Elizabeth Heresh* and translated by her into Russian.”
Perhaps in her story Rosalind could involuntarily change the introductory part, combining in time the miracle of myrrh-streaming and the miracle of revival. Perhaps it is not a “momentary” translation, but in the words: “while Mr. Smykov read the prayer”, the emphasis should be placed on the word “read”, which indicates the completion of reading the akathist.
But the main thing, of course, is not in these, of course, priceless details, but in the most miraculous phenomenon of the living appearance of Tsar Nicholas to the Princess Gogenberg.
And one more important testimony of Pavel Mamaev:
“I was shocked by what I heard and I immediately called to my good acquaintance, the spiritual daughter of Father Vlasius (Peregontsev) from the St. Paphnutius Borovsky Monastery. With all details has transferred to her what has happened, and asked, as soon as possible to inform Father Vlasius. In two hours she has called me back and has told that Father Vlasius has blessed to communicate me the following:
The Miracle – a living phenomenon of the Sovereign to Princess Rosalinda really took place.”
It also seems certain that the cross blessing by the Power of the representative of the Hohenberg house, and in their person the Habsburg house, by the Holy Emperor Nicholas is a direct indication of the good relations between the houses of the Romanovs and the Habsburgs in “eternity”, and indirectly that the war between empires, who destroyed them was at least a tragic mistake.
That is, “There” the Emperors’ Union, which the enemies managed to break “Here”, exists. And we all must make efforts to ensure that this alliance is renewed now and on the earth. Such miracle will delay the arrival of the Antichrist for a long time.
On World War and its preparation
In order to realize how far the significance of what was happened goes beyond the framework of the “family miracle” in the tomb of the castle Artstetten, we should recall the events preceding so disastrous for the last Christian monarchies in Europe during the First World War.
In 1887, Friedrich Engels, in his article “Introduction to the Booklet of Borckheim…” outlined with absolute precision the scenario to come almost thirty years after, the World War, and predicted its results. The main of these results is the death of all the major Christian monarchies in Europe, including Russian and German.
Since 1888, a map of the future appearance of Europe after World War has been circulating in English Masonic and occult circles.
The Austrian monarchy on this map is divided into several republics. The German Federal Republic preserves less than half of the territory of the German Empire. The Russian Empire has been transformed into a Slavic confederation. All Western European exits to the seas on this map are shaded as zones of influence of England – in the classic geopolitics – the “Ocean” power warring against the “Continent”.
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*In parentheses, we note – born Baroness von Rothe, and Princess Yablonovska by husband. But since, to put it mildly, “it is not fashionable” to be an aristocrat in “democratic” Austria, Elizabeth’s husband, who has Hungarian and Italian roots among others, chose the least noble sounding of his generic names.
Finally, in the London weekly “Pravda”, in the New Year’s Eve edition of 1890 – 24 years before the First World War – a certain Henry Laboucher, a Member of Parliament and publisher of the abovementioned weekly, placed a map of the future Europe, very much reminiscent of the contours of this Europe late 20th century (Map № 2).
Naturally, there are no monarchies; the last monarchs in the upper left corner go under escort bent into a workhouse or prison, and in place of Russia – a huge purple stain with black letters “Russian Desert”.
It is believed that Laboucher belonged to certain circles in London and the Vatican, which created the program of future wars, revolutions and destruction of Christian monarchies.
At the same time, a certain task was formulated. The formulation of this task was as follows:
The destruction of the three strongest monarchies in the world – Russia, Germany and Japan – by pitting them against each other in wars.
At the same time, it was clearly explained how each of these powers is dangerous to achieve the plans of the world community:
Russia-strong in faith,
Germany-strong in state order,
Japan is invincible in its national spirit.
If the monarchical power in any of these countries cannot be destroyed immediately, it must be brought to a state of actual powerlessness.
Map № 2. The result of “Russian Desert” operation
The possibility of an alliance between the three powers, or at least any two of them, was considered particularly dangerous.
In geopolitical terms, the Berlin – Moscow (St. Petersburg) – Tokyo axis would have been so reinforced the “Continent”, or the “World Island”, in the terminology of British geopolitical classic Halford McKinder, and would have made it so indestructible, that all waves of the world’s “Ocean” would have crashed against it.
About this axis dreamed of German Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, and General Karl Haushofer, Japanese Count Goto Simpei – “patriot of Japan and friend of Russia”, and many – many of their supporters. Apparently, there were adherents of this axis in our country, too – just remember the geopolitics of General Aleksey Vandam and the author of the famous “Note” Peter Durnovo.
But it is also clear that the policy of the Anglo-Saxon countries and their “clèvrettes” was based on the desire to prevent the creation of such axis, but on the contrary, to plunge our countries into a suicidal battle. Above all, Germany – as the Middle Europe (MittelEuropa) and Russia – as Earth’s core (Heartland).
This policy has been and is being pursued both through traditional means and by influencing the policies of the countries of interest through agents of influence and figures of manipulation. And also, and above all, through the correction of the worldview of the population – above all, its elite – of the country that should have been destroyed, or at least sharply weakened.
It is obvious that such correction of the worldview in the last two-three centuries was carried out in a significant part of the Russian educated society. Of course, the same work was done with the German (and Austrian) elite.
Admiral Tirpitz was amazed at the German intelligentsia’s gravitation toward Western, i.e. Anglo-Saxon “utilitarian-capitalist mass culture”, less capable of “fertilizing the German spirit than the stubborn idealism of the Russians and the East”.
Keeping in mind the above, much clearer becomes a lot of incomprehensible and mysterious in the Reign of Nikolai Aleksandrovich, that overkills of “misfortunes”, that doesn’t fit into any theory of probability, let alone simple common sense.
It becomes clear that the Russian-Japanese and World Wars, our catastrophe of 1917 and the ones that followed, as well as the deaths of the German and Austro-Hungarian monarchies, were not the result of an accidental confluence of difficult circumstances, but the result of:
– serious and systematic activity, for decades and centuries, by very different forces in Russia and in the West;
– from the Leninist RSDLP, Marx, Engels, English, French and Prussian Masons, up to the Vatican, the English Royal Court, the American White House, not only revolutionaries, but also well-meaning intellectuals, clerics and liberals.
The actions of so different forces, externally disparate and having no external relation to each other are in essence obviously subordinated to one plan, which has an equally obvious religious purpose: the crushing of Christianity by the world’s anti-Christian forces, primarily in the face of Orthodoxy and its earthly stronghold – the Russian Empire.
The Orthodox view of world history clearly shows that its axis after the incarnation of Christ is an ongoing war of world evil with the “Deterrent”, standing in the way of Antichrist coming. It can be considered common knowledge that in this era, the task of deterring this evil lay with the whole burden on the Orthodox Tsar.
But, – let it sound unusual- a certain part of the “deterring” of world evil fell on Christian monarchs such as the most powerful Catholic monarch – the Emperor of Austria-Hungary and the most powerful of Protestants – the German Emperor.
In their own way, they also “held on to the Beginnings of Christianity,” thereby causing irrational self-hatred by the forces of the “new world order”.
Let us emphasize – the emperors of the East and West did not want war, but were dragged into war primarily by internal enemies under the direction enemies of external.
And how masterly this was done in the summer of 1914, that’s not what the authors of coolest detectives ever dreamed of. This is the research book I am currently working on, hoping to be published in 2020. Its conditional title: “The Emperors did not want war. And they did not abdicate from the thrones.”
Archduke Ferdinand kept to the “Principles of Christianity”…
The heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, also kept to the “Principles of Christianity”.
Moreover, unlike many upper circles of the Vienna court, he considered himself a friend of Russia. Archduke Ferdinand was a categorical opponent of war “Europe vs. Europe” and wanted to find common ground with Russian Emperor Nicholas II and to restore the Union of the Three Emperors that united Russia, Germany and Austria.
The Archduke said: “I will never wage war against Russia. I will sacrifice everything to avoid it, because the war between Austria and Russia would end either with the overthrow of the Romanovs or the Habsburgs, or perhaps with the overthrow of both dynasties …”
In 1907, Ferdinand personally instructed a diplomat who was on a mission to St. Petersburg:
“Tell everyone in Russia with whom you have the opportunity to talk that I am a friend of Russia and his Sovereign. Never has an Austrian soldier stood against a Russian soldier with a gun in his hand…
We must be good neighbors. I approve of the old Union of “Three Emperors”.
In 1913, a year before the disaster, the Archduke wrote prophetic words:
“The war with Russia is our end…
Should the Austrian Emperor and the Russian Tsar overthrow each other from the thrones and open the way to revolution?”
It was this firm Christian monarchical position that made Archduke Ferdinand the first victim of an international provocation that went down in history under the name of the Great War.
Days go by, no difference from darkness.
And looks away, like a musician into water.
Holy water. Fear doesn’t know me…
Long lives Archduke Ferdinand!*
And the “transformation” of the face of the Sovereign Martyr on his Miracle-working Icon, which took place on May 10, 2014, in the presence of the Archduke’s descendants, clearly testifies that the Lord’s efforts have been made not only to deterrent this evil, but also to those who have helped Him to deterring this world evil.
What happened raises the veil over the mysteries of the past, and thus gives hope in the present and future to those who are faithful to the covenants of Christian monarchical European statehood.
Now only the blind cannot see that only she really prevented the European mankind from becoming on the way of ancient Sodom.
The miracle of the Icon of Tsar-Martyr Nicholas in the tomb of the castle Artstetten also speaks, in my opinion, that in desirable by us revival of Sacred Russia, possible ours allies in today’s opposition to world evil can become descendants of those who hundred years ago till the death hour opposed this evil.
On a remarkable day, May 10, 2014, His Serene Highness Prince Leo Johannes von Hohenberg was rewarded the Order of Holy Passion-Bearer Tsar Nicholas for his many years of work to strengthen the friendly ties between the monarchical circles of Austria and Russia.
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*The lines from the poem of my university friend Valery Shlenov, dedicated to the memory of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, were reproduced from memory
The Rewarding of His Serene Highness Prince Leo Johannes von Hohenberg the Order of the Holy Martyr Tsar Nicholas II
*Chapter from the book by Boris Galenin “Military Orthodox Mission and its service to Russia”
May 10, 2014
© Translated by Pavel Sabinov