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Five hundred years ago horrific fires in Moscow signaled the death of the fifteenth-century Russian Reformation -
a Reformation characterized by its emphasis on observing Saturday - the seventh day - as the Sabbath.
Ivan Kuritsin a prominent Russian theologian, and a leader of the religious uprising was arrested and locked in a cage.
The tsar - Ivan the Great - found this movement already well established in Novgorod when he seized control of that city around 1480.
Gennadii, Russian Orthodox archbishop of Novgorod was a zealous, even fanatical, enemy of the Sabbath-keeping reformers.
He calls for extreme measures. In some of his letters addressed to the Russian tsar, Gennadii venerates the methods of Spanish
Inquisition and insisted that the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian state should apply these methods towards the Russian
Sabbath-keeping movement. Russian Orthodox church leaders met at the Council of Moscow and condemned the reformers as heretics.
The Sentence of the Council details the charges: "... some of you said blasphemy against many holy icons, and some of you cut the holy
icons and burned them with fire... And you have all honored the Sabbath more than the Resurrection Day of Christ." Council of Moscow, 1490.
The Council of Moscow was the beginning of the end for the Sabbath-keeping movement in Russia. It eventually died in the flames of Red Square.
Sabbath message is practically unknown in Russia and the rest of the Eastern Europe. The Light of Hope Ministry launched the "Sabbath rally" on
October 15, 2010 with a series of meetings in Moscow. In February of 2011 hundreds of cable TV networks and two satellite channels started airing
11 half-hour shows on the biblical Sabbath. We are praying that this initiative will help millions of physically and spiritually weary Russians
to find the true meaning of the Sabbath rest.
Once again I seek your support in this international outreach for the salvation of millions of souls who went through the dark valley of atheism.
The same Orthodox church that burned Kuritsin 500 years ago for observing the Sabbath Day keeps the Sabbath message away from the dear souls that
live in the countries of Eastern Europe. They need to find true Rest. Whatever your contribution may be it will be used to illimunate the beauty
and the power of the Sabbath Day.
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