Monk Abel of Valaam's accurate prophecies about Russia (d. 1841)

The monk Abel, a Russian mystic and hermit born in 1757, spent a good part of his time in manual labor and prayer. His gift of prophecy enabled him to write three books foretelling various events in Russian history. It also sent him to prison for a total of 25 years of his life. He died in 1841, and his written prophecies remained hidden for a long time in a sealed box kept in a room in the Gatchina palace.

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Reasons to believe:

All the prophecies foretold by the monk Abel came true: he announced the exact day and time of the death of Empress Catherine II, he prophesied the assassination of Emperor Paul I and its date, he predicted the capture of Moscow by Napoleon's armies ten years in advance, etc.

We have documents written by the monk Abel as well as eyewitness accounts (including from General Ermolov) attesting that those prophecies were made before the actual events. Some of the prophecies relate to twentieth-century events, such as the two world wars and the Russian Revolution.

The behavior of successive Tsars towards the monk Abel testifies show that he was not considered a charlatan but taken seriously and regarded with respect or fear.

The monk Abel remained faithful to his faith despite the many persecutions he endured throughout his life.

Summary:

Born Vasily Vasilyev in March 1757 to a modest family in Akulouvo near Tula, Russia, the future monk Abel showed a great interest in spirituality from an early age. At the age of nineteen, he left his family to travel around Russia, without a particular destination in mind. Nine years later, he entered the monastery of Varlaam, where he received the name Abel. He lived as a hermit attached to the monastery and not far from it. After two years of this reclusive life, he wrote in his notes: "It was from above that I was ordered to speak and preach of God's mysteries and His Providence."

Celestial voices told him of future events, in often dark and dire predictions. He wrote down everything he was given to know. His superior, Father Nazzari, asked him to hand over his work and, discovering its "frightening" content, passed it on to the police, who immediately had the monk arrested.

General Makarov, head of security, interrogated Abel in March 1796. The secret police considered that the book "compromised the honor and reputation of the Empress [Catherine II]". The latter opposed the monk's execution, preferring to have him locked up in the Shlisselburg Fortress (or Oreshek Fortress) where he spent the next nine years until the Empress's death, on the exact day and at the exact time that Abel had announced, as General Ermolov would attest.

After meeting Abel, Catherine II's son and successor, Emperor Paul I, pardoned him and transferred him to a monastery where he stayed at the expense of the new Tsar. There, however, the monk wrote a new book in which he announced that Paul I would be assassinated. The Tsar had Abel locked up in the Peter and Paul Fortress in Saint Petersburg and consulted him about the future of the country and his own destiny. On the night of March 11-12, 1801, Paul I was assassinated, again on the exact date Abel had predicted.

Alexander I succeeded Paul I. The new Tsar freed the monk, who wrote a third book of revelations in the space of fourteen months. In 1802, he announced that Napoleon would enter Moscow with his army. Abel was locked up again until his prophecies came true. He was freed in 1813, after eleven years in captivity. He made pilgrimages to Jerusalem, Constantinople and Mount Athos, and travelled around Russia until the new Tsar, Nicholas I, arrested him and sent him to the Saviour Monastery of St. Euthymius, where he spent the last fifteen years of his life. He died at the age of 83 in 1841, but his prophecies had a way of surviving him.

After his coronation, the new Tsar, Nicholas II, went to the small room in Gatchina Palace, near St Petersburg, where the monk's manuscript was stored. Inside, he found a piece of paper on which was written: "Open this box, my descendant, on March 11, 1901. Inside you will find the prophecies of the monk Abel that have already been fulfilled, as well as those yet to be fulfilled. When you have read them, seal the box again so that your descendants can read it in turn."

Nicholas II noted that the prophecies of the monk Abel had indeed been fulfilled with astonishing accuracy. In addition to the announcements of the deaths and Napoleon's invasion, the text contains prophecies about the future of Russia and the world, some of which seem to predict certain events of the 20th century, such as the two world wars and the Russian revolution.

Nicholas II had the box resealed, as Paul I had requested, without ever divulging its contents. The box remained hidden for many years, until it was found in the archives of the Gatchina palace in 1950, much to the delight of historians.

Fabrice-Marie Gagnant

Going further:

Abel The Russian Monk and Seer by Daniel H. Shubin, Publisher Lulu.com; First Edition, February 7, 2019 (August 30, 2018)

More information:

Article "Monk Abel the Prophet of Valaam"
The Romanovs: 1613-1918, by Simon Sebag Montefiore, Vintage; Reprint edition (May 16, 2017)
A Short History of the Romanovs: The Rise and Fall of Russia's Most Famous Family, by Stephen Collins, Independently published (July 19, 2022)