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“The first Christian Knight was Jesus Christ,
but the 21st century needs its own knights.
So if we want to be called knights,
it is our duty to promote the true chivalrous spiritof self-sacrifice and humility”
Yrjo von Gronhagen, Honorary Master of the Order
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many
Kainach residents like to go here to chop wood only. The duke has remembered that Russian
tsar Nikolay II liked to split wood too. He also remembered Nikolay’s four daughters who
were shot to death with the tsar in 1918. It turned out that he knew why they were not
destroyed at once (they had brilliants sewed in their corsets on their German mother’s
advice).
The late father of the duke named
Kainach little Moscow. Because one of socialist party members lived here. I would name it
Alpine Byzantium. Indeed, if one sees the environs from the top of a hill, then the sea of
foliage will look like green Bosporus. Here, on the shore of the Alpine Bosporus, I asked
the Master whether he was confused that his Order is not widely known in the world. He
said:
“The Order is not a
football team. These are two different psychologies. The first one is psychology of noisy
crowd; the other one is psychology of a group, which wishes to do its work noiselessly.
There are such things in the world that only may be made noiselessly, without
announcement. In accordance with the Constitution of our Order, one of such works is
disinterested assistance with open heart and pure soul. And our work may not be noisy and
public. We are not peacocks, we are perhaps moles.”
We have talked about many
things for these days. I present here the most important questions only.
I asked him whether he enjoyed
when he became the Master of International Order. |
| “No”, — the duke said, — “this is a burden of
our family. And I would be glad very much if those several officials won who stood against
the principle of inherited positions in the Order. Then I would dodge with a clear
conscience. But since I had to assume this position I would like to become worthy servant
of the Order. The Master’s position is a heavy burden of responsibility at the first
place. It is sometimes necessary to make hard decision as well, for example, about
expulsion of someone from the Order”... |
Household trouble |
“Making links between people irrespective of their faith and nationality.
Uniting people having pure ideals. This is philosophy of a 21st century knight. Just this
philosophy joins our knights. And the chest badge of our Order is not only a common sign.
It would be a destructive mistake for the Order if we transform it into an organization
that only issues a prestige award.“ The Master repeated the one idea several times: if the
Order has no spiritual patronage, then it is illegal and transforms into a club. What a
club of Byzantium admirers may be. Or a club of beer-lovers. In the 20th century, Orthodox
Patriarchy of Alexandria, which is one of the most ancient ones in the globe, became
spiritual patron for the OCM. The power is given from on high, and so the Order must have
touch of the heavens. By the way, it has happened with Constantine himself six years after
he became the Ceasar (see the cover of our magazine).
I noticed that the Master
mentioned Stalin and Hitler more frequently than others in our talks. He said to me: |
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“They missed real chance to create
a single strong Europe”.
“But as a result the OCM got
extra work. Saying about Hitler. Word was first, and word raised the nations.
“Deutschland über alles!” The three words raised millions. Or — “Workers of the
world, united!“
“Please name three words forming the Order’s motto”, — I asked, —
“the words calling people to follow you?”
The Master laughed:
“Marx invented his motto for
the half-life... I propose one word only. Tolerance.”
In the very first time I was
there I asked the duke to give me some little thing as a keepsake. It seemed to me he
forgot. But on the day of my departure he gave me a wooden ball and said:
“You asked a souvenir. Take it.
This is a part of last century peasant’s instrument. A ball is symbol of tolerance.
Maybe it will help you to make right conclusions...”
“How do you treat Russia?”
— I asked.
“I love it”, — he answered.
“Is this a reason for you to
name our country as the place to hold the next meeting of the Order members in August
2000?”
“Yes, it is. But there is one
more reason — good work of the Russian branch of the Order. This work showed us a
possible way to the future”.
“Whether an organization has
any prospects if typical age of its members is 60?”
“This is a very essential
problem”,— the Master said. — “The future of our Order is at young people’s
hands. We need younger people if we wish to survive. There is no other way”. |
| In the last evening, when we
walked on the farmland, the duke asked me what I would change in his farm. I said:
“Nothing, although, not, I would buy two new bicycles”. The Master laughed and said
that he would take my notice into account.
It became time to return to
Moscow. In a car, driving along the road from Kainach, I asked:
“If you needed to make your
flag, labarum, as Emperor Constantine did, which color would you take?” |
Battle between Christianity and Communism.
The Master named it so and won.
This time... |
“White”.
“A sign of capitulation?”
“No, purity — there is not
any drop of coffee on the shirt”.
“May I ask you some intimate
question? How would you put Bible in two words?”
“I believe”, — immediate
answer followed, — “and you?”
“To help a man. Or — to save
a man”.
“If a knight was put into prison, is it a ground for expulsion?”
“It is of matter of thinking.
Maybe, on the contrary, it is required to help him leave the prison”.
And how can the Master describe
the Order’s main target? He said:
The Master proposed:
“To help a man through
tolerance”.
“Too many words”, — I
disagreed. We laughed.
By the way the Master is a good
driver. I would like very much him to rule the Order with the same skill |
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