Priest Viktor Shipovalnikov

 Priest Viktor Shipovalnikov

“They sent the Priest Viktor Shipovalnikov there on charges of conducting “religious propaganda” (he had celebrated vespers for five nurses on Easter's Eve.)

In the stories of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn describing the Gulag Archipelago, we read about righteous individuals that decided to persevere in the worship of GOD Almighty and did not corrupt themselves to idol worship. We learn that there are important stories that help us know that GOD Almighty helps the righteous persevere despite set-backs, opposition, and persecution. While socialism and communism is not an ideal method of governance, we learn about righteous individuals who persevered despite the adversities and envy of the Soviet socialists. We learned about individuals that refused to work for the Soviets, refused to corrupt themselves to practice evil, and kept speaking truth despite the envy and hate of socialists.

This is important knowing that evil attempts to discourage saying that everyone practices sin, when the reality is that not everyone practices sin and there are righteous people who want to know nothing of evil. We learned about priests who kept preaching King Jesus Christ and never renounced their faith despite being envied and falsely accused. There were righteous believers that were women that refused to renounce their belief and were sent to gulag.This allows us to know that throughout history there are righteous individuals that choose to be righteous and have fidelity to GOD Almighty instead of being in the road of perdition in the practice of sin and idol worship.

We learned about Priest Viktor Shipovalnikov that decided to conduct a mass despite persecution and was sent to gulag. We learn that he provided a mass for five nurses and the manner that the Soviet socialists falsely accused him with “religious propaganda”. We learn that despite the censorship and attempts to prevent socialists and communists from hearing Scripture, Priest Viktor Shipovalnikov was able to keep preaching and keep to his ideals and integrity despite the opposition. We learn of woman that were called “nuns” that were women that decided to keep their faith and never gave in to idol worship, envy, and corruption.

“They kept whole barracks of “nuns” there who refused to work for the devil. At the penalty camp for prisoners under convoy at the Pechora State Farm they held them in a penalty block up to their knees in water. In the autumn of 1941 they gave them all 58-14-economic counterrevolution- and shot them.)”

“And how is it that genuine religious believers survived in camps (as we mentioned more than once)? In the course of this book we have already mentioned their self-confident procession through the Archipelago…How some of them were mowed down by machine guns and those next in line continued their march. A steadfastness unheard of in the twentieth century!” (page 317)

We learn in the Gulag Archipelago about individuals that were able to keep preaching and speaking truth regardless of the opposition and hindrances. We learn that even in the gulag system, individuals from all social classes were able to hear about Scripture and the need to accept King Jesus Christ. We learn that while some were martyred, Christianity kept increasing including in the Soviet Union. We learn that while some Christians were persecuted to martyrdom in the gulag, others were able to keep persevering preaching and keeping to their ideals. We learn that righteous individuals held to their faith instead of corrupting themselves to idol worship, iniquity, and greed. We learn that even individuals that were not righteous were able to learn about Christianity in the gulag system. There are multiple stories of individuals who renounced sin for King Jesus Christ. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn details this in great detail because he renounced Lenin socialism for King Jesus Christ.