Patriarch Aleksii I spoke at Stalin’s funeral on this day in 1953. On March 5, Joseph Stalin passed away. Patriarch Aleksii I gave the following tribute at his funeral: “The great Leader of our people, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, is gone. A great, moral, social force has ceased to exist: a force in which our people felt their own strength, in which they were guided in their creative labors and enterprises, in which they were comforted for many years. There is no field that has not been penetrated by the deep gaze of the great Leader. Men of science marveled at his profound scientific knowledge in the most varied fields, his brilliant scientific generalizations; the military at his military genius; men of various professions invariably received from him mighty support and valuable instructions. As a man of genius, he discovered in every case what was invisible and inaccessible to the ordinary mind. “His intense care and exploits during the Great Patriotic War, his genius in leading the military operations that granted us victory over a strong enemy and over fascism in general; his multifaceted immense daily work in governance, in guiding the affairs of state – his closest associates spoke about this in length and convincingly both in the press and, especially, at his last farewell today, on the day of his funeral. His name, as a champion of world peace, and his glorious deeds will live on through the ages. “As we gather to pray for him, we cannot remain silent about his always benevolent, caring attitude toward the needs of our church. Not a single matter that we raised with him was turned down; he granted all our requests. And many good and useful things, thanks to his high authority, have been done for our Church by our Government… Prayer filled with Christian love reaches God. We believe that our prayer for the deceased will also be heard by the Lord. And to our beloved and unforgettable Joseph Vissarionovich we prayerfully, with deep, fervent love, proclaim eternal remembrance” (Zhurnal Moskovskoi Patriarkhii, [Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate] 1953, No. 4, p. 3.). |
