Rasputin--saint or sinner?

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Greetings, everyone!

I’ve not posted in the Eastern Catholic section before, so I hope my post is acceptable.

Because we are “sheltering in place” and I’m “furloughing” to save my hospital some money, I’ve had lots of time (finally) to watch some TV.

For the past two days, I’ve watched a beautifully filmed 8 episode series (on Amazon Prime) called “Rasputin.”

I’ve known about Rasputin since high school, when he was labelled “the mad monk” by my history teacher. I also have a “comic book” biography of Rasputin, which definitely presents him as a heretic.

But this 8 episode series presented a very different view of Rasputin–a more sympathetic view of a man with healing gifts and visions that he claimed were from God alone. Many of the “sins” were presented as “rumors by his enemies,” although he did ask the aristocratic ladies to “bathe him” in order to learn humility–as a woman, i can certainly see how bathing a filthy, stinky man would humble me!

Anyway, I’m curious to know what my Eastern Catholic brothers and sisters think of this series, if they have seen it. I was filmed in Russia and has English subtitles, and the cinematography was beautiful.

And what is the current view of Rasputin–saint or sinner?

Thanks!

Peeps
 
Rasputin wasn’t actually a monk.

He was married and had seven children. I can’t imagine abandoning a wife and children would be permissible for monastic life.

I sort of think he was a bit of a charlatan, and was trusted because the royal family was vulnerable because of their son.
 
An article about him has been floating around Orthodox pages recently. It concludes:
It is no secret that Gregory Rasputin had a gift of healing that medical science could only jealously acknowledge without understanding—it is a fact of history. That he had the ability to heal the Tsarevich Alexei, who could have become the greatest, most merciful and wisest of all Russian Tsars, is a fact of history. That he was a devout man of prayer and pilgrim to Jerusalem and the holy places of Russia who very well knew the Holy Scriptures, the Lives of the Saints and Orthodox services is a fact of history. That he made several prophecies about the future of Russia, the Tsardom, his own murder and the future of the world, all of which came true in detail, is a fact of history.
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Helen Rappaport has written a number of good books about the last days of the Russian Empire. Based on her writings, I’d say Rasputin is neither.
 
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Sinner, a really corrupt individual who was never a vowed religious. He had no gift of healing and conned many, a con man of yesteryear.
 
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For some reason my two younger kids know this song, and sing it often. “Rah rah ras poutine” is how it sounds when my 11 year old sings it.
 
I thought it was a general consensus that he was possessed. The details surrounding his death seem to point to that even if nothing else.
 
I always just assumed the man had some kind of “charismatic” mental illness, similar to the David Koresh and Jim Jones types we have running around today.
 
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After watching that series, I bought a book about Rasputen. Promptly forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder
 
While there are a few people in Russia who think he was a misunderstood “Fool for Christ” and a Saint, from everything I have read he seems to have been an actual magician with links to the occult, which would point towards the possibility of him being possessed as @Socrates92 has pointed out. Plus, just going from gut feeling here, there is something very unsettling about the man in photographs–his eyes have a terrible darkness within them that makes me want to get my crucifix, holy water and Rituale Romanum. 😬
 
Is it not confirmed that he was in a sex cult that intentionally engaged in hedonism because of a warped theology that only by sinning can we receive grace (by being forgiven)? Or is that just urban legend?
 
Just one little technicality - the Romanov family are considered passion-bearers, not martyrs. Unlike a martyr (who has died for the faith), a passion-bearer is a person who has faced his or her death in a Christ-like manner.
 
According to an article from Smithsonian, Rasputin gained influence in the imperial court because he was able to ease Tsarevich Alexei’s pain and stop his bleeding (caused by hemophilia).

Helen Rappaport, whom I mentioned earlier, wrote that when the Tsar Nicholas went to lead the troops during World War I, the Tsarina Alexandra was left in charge of the government. Alexandra was already despised for being German. Rasputin became a close adviser. That alliance created enough social chaos to allow the Bolsheviks to take power.

So the saint/sinner dichotomy not applicable. He was a complicated figure.
 
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The 8 hours series was definitely sympathetic to Rasputin, and presented him as a man who believed in God and prayed almost constantly. But he was also confused about why he, of all people, had been given healing gifts and the ability to see the future. It sounds like most, if not all, of his predictions came true, and that is the Biblical test of a true prophet of God–no mistakes in the predictions.

It also presented him as a loving father, and a man with very few close friends, but those he had loved him fiercely (no sexual attraction) and defended him as a “holy man.”

The whole series is based on the “investigation” of a highly-regarded policeman whose name I never did understand! His conclusions were that Rasputin was murdered, and that he really did do the things that everyone said he did. Not sure if this is a true story–if there really was an investigation–or a fiction. In the end, the policeman ended up sacrificing himself for Rasputin’s daughter (whom he loved, but never told her), and Rasputin’s best friend, a lady named Anna something (Russian name!). He helped both of them get out of Russia to Finland, but stayed in Russia, and the implication is that he knew he would be executed.

One thing the series did was give me an appreciation for the horrors that the Russian people experienced as their monarchy of several hundred years ended and the Bolsheviks took over the country and suppressed their freedom.
 
At the very least he allowed both a cult of personality and a bad reputation to build around him to the extent that it pretty much ruined himself and everyone associated with him. And for what?

If a tree is to be judged by it’s fruits, the ftiots of his life don’t seem to speak of sanctity.
 
I have never heard that before, but it would explain a great deal about him actually.
 
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