St. Paisios the Athonite
1Already from the early 1980s the Elder spoke about the dissolution of the Soviet Union and also the collapse of the communist regimes in all the countries of the Eastern Bloc. When we spoke about the martyrdoms of Christians in the then‑communist Soviet Union, the Elder said it was a good opportunity for the Martyrology of Russia to be filled with new martyrs. He saw that communism, unintentionally, became a means of sanctification for Russia, because he said that the blood of the martyrs would be watering blood, which would spiritually regenerate Russia.
2They asked the Elder whether the Russians would have allies or whether they would fight the West alone, and the Elder said: “Of course they will have allies. Now they are not visible, but soon everyone will see them, and they will be as many as the grains of sand.”
3One morning many years ago, as the Elder was sitting in the courtyard of his cell with five or six visitors–pilgrims, he suddenly said: “Woe to the countries of the North.”
One of those present asked with curiosity: “Will poverty fall there, Elder?,” because they were discussing the world’s economic situation.
“Fire will fall from the sky,” the Elder answered.
Since it was still the era of the Cold War between NATO and the USSR, another asked: “Will there be a world war? Will NATO strike the Poles, the Czechoslovaks, and the Belarusians, and will the Russians strike the Germans?”
The Elder shook his head and said: “They will all abandon the Russians and go with the Jews of America. The Russians will burn them.”
4“They will not make a village in the EEC, because they are nations with different traditions.”
All these excerpts were translated by The Holy Wisdom. Below you will find all the relevant sources of the words of St. Paisios the Athonite.
Testimonies of Pilgrims: Elder Paisios the Athonite 1924–1994, Volume. 1, page 140.
Paisios the Monk, Prophecies & Teachings, page 438.
Paisios the Monk, Prophecies & Teachings, page 443.
Elder Paisios, page 183.