Saturday, December 8, 2007

A Prayer written by Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Romanov

Give patience, Lord, to us Thy children
In these dark, stormy days to bear
The persecution of our people,
The torture falling to our share.

Give strength, Just God, to us who need it,
The persecutors to forgive,
Our heavy, painful cross to carry
And thy great meekness to achieve.

When we are plundered and insulted
In days of mutinous unrest
We turn for help to thee, Christ-Saviour,
That we may stand the bitter test.

Lord of the world, God of Creation,
Give us Thy blessing through our prayer
Give peace of heart to us, O Master,
This hour of utmost dread to bear.

And on the threshold of the grave
Breathe power divine into our clay
That we, Thy children, may find strength
In meekness for our foes to pray.

A poem found in the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg inserted in one of Olga's books and written in her own hand after her execution on July 18, 1918 by Yakob Yurovsky on orders of Yekaterinburg Soviet Leader Sverdlov, Leon Trotsky and Vladimir Lenin. Found by forces under the command of the Commander of the White Russian Forces under Admiral Kolchak.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

God walks the dark hills
The ways, the by ways
He walks through the billows
Of life's troubled sea
He walks through the cold dark night
The shadows of midnight
God walks the dark hills
Just to guide you and me

Chorus:
God walks the dark hills
To guide my footsteps
He walks everywhere
By night and by day
He walks in the silence
On down the highway
God walks the dark hills
To show me the way.

God walks in the storm
The rain and the sunshine
He walks on the billows
On through glimmering light
Helps us walk up the mountain so high
Cross our rivers through valleys
God walks the dark hills
'Cause he loves you and me

You were very special to me, Olga. I know He guided your footsteps because you listened to His voice.
Shirley

Brian Keith O'Hara said...

I always had a crush on Olga. No longer the child, she was a woman who acted with courage and character. A woman who saw the truth and was not afraid.

Anonymous said...

I have felt the same about Olga. I love this poem.