“It is our duty to announce the truth to kings, and that which I have already spoken in the ear of your majesty I now write, to inspire you with new courage and energy.  When, influenced by the prayers and the councils of your bishop, you left Moscow for the army, with the firm intention of attacking the enemy of the Christians, we prostrated ourselves day and night before God, pleading with him to grant the victory to our armies.  Nevertheless, we learn that at the approach of Akhmet, of that ferocious warrior who has already caused thousands of Christians to perish, and who menaces your throne and your country, you tremble before him—­you implore peace of him, and send to him embassadors, while that impious warrior breathes only vengeance and despises your prayer.

“Ah, grand prince, to what counselors have you lent your ear?  What men, unworthy of the name of Christian, have given you such advice?  Will you throw away your arms and shamefully take to flight?  But reflect from what a height of grandeur your majesty will descend; to what a depth of humiliation you will fall!  Are you willing, oh prince, to surrender Russia to fire and blood, your churches to pillage, your subjects to the sword of the enemy?  What heart is so insensible as not to be overwhelmed by the thought even of such a calamity?

“No; we will trust in the all-powerful God!  No; you will not abandon us!  You will blush at the name of a fugitive, of being the betrayer of your country.  Lay aside all fear.  Redouble your confidence in God.  Then one shall chase a thousand, and two shall put ten thousand to flight.  There is no God like ours.  Do you say that the oath, taken by your ancestors, binds you not to raise your arms against the khan?  But we, your metropolitan bishop, and all the other bishops, representatives of Jesus Christ, absolve you from that oath, extorted by force; we all give you our benediction, and conjure you to march against Akhmet, who is but a brigand and an enemy of God.

“God is a Father full of tenderness for his children.  He knows when to punish and when to pardon.  And if formerly he submerged Pharaoh to save the children of Israel, he will, in the same manner, save you and your people, if you purify your heart by penitence, for you are a man and a sinner.  The penitence of a monarch is his sacred obligation to obey the laws of justice, to cherish his people, to renounce every act of violence, and grant pardon even to the guilty.  It is thus that God will elevate you among us, as formerly he elevated Moses, Joshua and the other liberators of Israel, that Russia, a new Israel, may be delivered by you from the impious Akhmet, that other Pharaoh.

“I pray you, grand prince, do not censure me for my feeble words, for it is written, ’Give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser.’[5] So may it be.  Receive our benediction, you and your children, all the nobles and chieftains, and all your brave warriors, children of Jesus Christ.  Amen.”