The Anne Frank of Christianity | Antonina's Legacy of Resistance and Faith under Soviet Oppression | CWJS CWP042
Jan 16, 2024Episode 42
Cloud of Witnesses cast and crew
Against the relentless tide of the USSR's state atheism stood Abbas Antonina, a figure whose story of resistance and faith we explore in our latest episode. Her tale begins with the Bolsheviks' desecration of a holy convent, the sorrowful demise of her sisters, and the GPU's ominous bounty on her head. We follow Antonina's journey of narrow escapes, including a betrayal that could have sealed her fate, and the divine twist that left her pursuers grasping at shadows. But the heart of this episode lies in the unbreakable spirit of a woman who, amidst the clandestine existence and messages from the enigmatic Mother Anastasia, remained a pillar of hope for those who dared to believe in Christ.
With her fate intertwined with the destiny of a secret community of nuns hidden away in the Caucasus Mountains, Antonina's story of sacrifice reaches its peak. Under Mother Anastasia's guidance, Antonina's surrender to the GPU is a paradoxical triumph, resulting in her release and the rekindling of a clandestine flame of faith. Yet the somber reality of their sacred mission comes crashing down as GPU agents, disguised as forest rangers, extinguish the lives of the devout. Our episode narrates the tragic yet inspiring end of Antonina's life in exile and the indelible mark she left behind—a beacon of Christian fortitude in an era of darkness and oppression.
Please visit out Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/CloudofWitnessesRadio/posts
Also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cloudofwitnessesradio
Against the relentless tide of the USSR's state atheism stood Abbas Antonina, a figure whose story of resistance and faith we explore in our latest episode. Her tale begins with the Bolsheviks' desecration of a holy convent, the sorrowful demise of her sisters, and the GPU's ominous bounty on her head. We follow Antonina's journey of narrow escapes, including a betrayal that could have sealed her fate, and the divine twist that left her pursuers grasping at shadows. But the heart of this episode lies in the unbreakable spirit of a woman who, amidst the clandestine existence and messages from the enigmatic Mother Anastasia, remained a pillar of hope for those who dared to believe in Christ.
With her fate intertwined with the destiny of a secret community of nuns hidden away in the Caucasus Mountains, Antonina's story of sacrifice reaches its peak. Under Mother Anastasia's guidance, Antonina's surrender to the GPU is a paradoxical triumph, resulting in her release and the rekindling of a clandestine flame of faith. Yet the somber reality of their sacred mission comes crashing down as GPU agents, disguised as forest rangers, extinguish the lives of the devout. Our episode narrates the tragic yet inspiring end of Antonina's life in exile and the indelible mark she left behind—a beacon of Christian fortitude in an era of darkness and oppression.
Please visit out Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/CloudofWitnessesRadio/posts
Also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cloudofwitnessesradio
Thank you for journeying w/ the Saints with us!
Speaker 1:
Man remember. We won't stop overturning this monastery of God until we find this, Antonina.
Speaker 3:
Hello and welcome to Cloud of Witnesses' Journey with the Saints, a dynamic, full-caste retelling of the lives of the saints.
Speaker 4:
Today we tell the unbelievably true story of Abbas Antonina a courageous confessor of the Orthodox faith during the reign of the atheist USSR.
Speaker 5:
Hello Antonina. I have come to your hiding place to bring you dinner. Glory to God in the highest Amen. Mother, do you ever think that the persecutions will cease?
Speaker 3:
I myself have seen how ruthless and godless these communists truly are.
Speaker 5:
I hate to ask, but this is why you have been hiding at our monastery for the past several months, is it not?
Speaker 3:
Yes, this is true, and by the grace of God alone have I been able to survive this long.
Speaker 5:
What do you mean the GPU, the Communist Secret Police?
Speaker 3:
Yes, you see, it all started around a year ago.
Speaker 1:
Where is your God now?
Speaker 3:
The convent that I presided over was plundered and desecrated by a crowd of Bolshevik communists. May God soften your heart and hearts.
Speaker 1:
He saved others, but he cannot save his own people. Can you not see that the whole world is changing? All those that choose to stay in your outdated manner of life shall perish.
Speaker 3:
Some of my fellow sisters were able to escape the ambush in time, but many were rounded up and shot as enemies of the new state.
Speaker 5:
Lord have mercy on us all.
Speaker 4:
People of Kislyar, do not worry, the Godless Bolshevik shall not get away with this Godless act of treason against the Tsar and his holy people.
Speaker 3:
And so, within a matter of time, the White Army, those who were still loyal to our Tsar, were able to find those who mercilessly attacked us, and those rioters, in turn, were ambushed and killed.
Speaker 5:
But then why did you have to flee so far, if they were?
Speaker 3:
brought to justice, an act of pure revenge was placed on me. Within a matter of days, the GPU laid the blame on me, saying it was I who told the White Army of the rioters whereabouts, although in truth I knew nothing of the sort, and so, under the cover of the bitter, cold night, I fled to this holy monastery by which God has protected me ever since.
Speaker 5:
May God continue to protect you, dear mother.
Speaker 3:
Three thousand gold rubles now lay over my head.
Speaker 2:
Huh, Господi Pumiloi Alexei, who is at our door at 1 AM.
Speaker 1:
Huh, I pray to God, it is not a GPU. Pray, natalia. Pray.
Speaker 5:
Slava Bogo. Glory to God. We have made it what?
Speaker 3:
Hello, dear ones. We must talk inside. It's not safe out here.
Speaker 1:
Dear sisters, we are relieved to know it is you and not the GPU to visit us at this hour of the night.
Speaker 2:
Please come in An informer.
Speaker 3:
What? At first it was my beloved convent, and now here, what do?
Speaker 5:
you mean it all started, but a couple of days ago, you see, we were visited by someone who claimed to be in need.
Speaker 3:
Help, help me please Somebody help me.
Speaker 5:
What, what, what is this? What's wrong?
Speaker 1:
I'm Anna Trubetskoy.
Speaker 3:
My family has been killed and our state plundered by the people of the Bolsheviks. Don't worry, we shall help you.
Speaker 5:
You see, this girl played the part so well that we soon received her with open arms, and soon we even told her that we housed our blessed mother, antoinina Little. Did we know that she was an agent of the GPU? What do not?
Speaker 3:
worry, dear sister. God is with us. We wouldn't have been able to make it even this far without his help.
Speaker 1:
Man remember. We won't stop overturning this monastery of God Until we find this, antonina.
Speaker 3:
This monastery is being destroyed because of me. It is not right for me to hide, he said. Another holy convent is destroyed.
Speaker 5:
What? What do you mean?
Speaker 3:
We can hide you, dear mother if it is pleasing to the Lord that they find me, let it be so, but if it is not his will, he will close their eyes so that they seeing will not see. Come, let us go.
Speaker 4:
I wish they would give us better.
Speaker 3:
It exists. It's a fairy tale this nun. Let us walk to the gate and be on our way.
Speaker 5:
Slava bogey. It worked. We are out and free hold.
Speaker 1:
Hold. I said hold, who goes there? Come at what. What do you mean you team with? Who just went out that gate a moment ago? We didn't see anybody. Officer, do you take me to be a fool?
Speaker 4:
Officer, you were a ways off.
Speaker 2:
Maybe you imagined something a Miracle of God, I mean.
Speaker 4:
And so for two weeks the confessor for Christ, the blessed Antonina, stayed in the house of Natalia with her family. Natalia's children loved her presence, and even her husband enjoyed spiritual discourse with Antonina.
Speaker 3:
Save us, son of God, who are prisoner from the dead.
Speaker 4:
We now find Antonina in deep prayer, kneeling before an icon corner in the middle of the night.
Speaker 2:
Mother Antonina, what is wrong? I have noticed you haven't slept all night. I.
Speaker 3:
Cannot tell you. I only asked that you visit Mother Anastasia and, without saying anything else, tell her what to show. Antonina is asking for your blessing.
Speaker 4:
And so the following day, natalia faithfully followed the request of Mother Antonina and visited the fool for Christ Anastasia, yet another blessed Christian ascetic in the region who was famous for her spiritual clairvoyance.
Speaker 3:
Yes, tell her she has nothing to fear. What she has decided and braid she should fulfill.
Speaker 2:
Mother Antonina. What does her blessing mean?
Speaker 3:
With the blessing of Mother Anastasia, I have decided To turn myself into the GPU what. Please do not try and stop me. I suffer terribly because if I'm found here, you all will have to suffer for me as well, and this is something I cannot keep on my conscience. And now, with the blessing of mother anesthesia, I have no doubts I Will turn myself in. I told you, I Refused to be registered into your godless regime. I will only give my identity and name to the chief of this headquarters.
Speaker 3:
Uh-uh tell the chief that I wish to see him and that I will not submit to anyone else.
Speaker 2:
Okay.
Speaker 1:
Come in.
Speaker 3:
What do you want?
Speaker 1:
What do you mean? What do I want? You come in here dressed like a nun and you ask me what I want.
Speaker 3:
You are offering 30,000 rubles for me. So here I am. I've brought myself Wait.
Speaker 1:
You, you are the infamous abes, antonina. You, you wait right here. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I must let you go. What? For now, you are free to go glory be to God. Just remember Antonina. In a year's time, according to this same law, I will be obliged to punish you to the fullest extent.
Speaker 4:
Having yet again miraculously passed through the jaws of the godless regime. A small community of 12 nuns soon gathered around Antonina, hidden high within the caucus mountains, with many other monastics. After a year, the GPU, under the pretext of justice, resumed its persecution of the righteous Antonina. Many of these Christians, who were indeed persecuted for righteousness sake, dug out small caves under the roots of large trees. But even this community, hidden in that windswept, craggy wasteland, way up high and far removed from the world, did not last long. The mines of the GPU were sly. They placed secret agents disguised as forest rangers all over the mountains and, one by one, they discovered all the secret dwellings of these monastics, almost all of whom were shot on the spot. Here ends the known record of the astounding and miracle laden life of Abbas Antonina. It is believed that she died in exile, perhaps many years later, still shining as a beacon of light to all those she encountered. Holy Mother Antonina and all the new martyrs of Russia, pray to God for us.