Archbishop Anthony(in the world Dobrynya Yadreykovich; mind. October 8) - Archbishop of Novgorod (1210-1218, 1226-1228, 1228-1229), Bishop of Przemysl (1220-1225), known for his description of the pilgrimage to Constantinople - "The Book of the Pilgrim". Revered by the Russian Orthodox Church in the face of saints, commemoration is celebrated (according to the Julian calendar): October 8 (the day of death), February 10 (Cathedral of Novgorod saints) and on the 2nd Week (Sunday) after Pentecost (Cathedral of Novgorod saints).

Biography

Perhaps he was the son of the Novgorod voivode Yadrei, who died in the campaign to Yugra in the city.

Two bishops were sent to Kiev so that Metropolitan Matthew would choose one of them. In 1219 (1220), the Metropolitan appointed Mitrophon as Archbishop of Novgorod, and elevated Anthony to the Przemysl cathedra. It is assumed that Anthony was the first bishop of Przemysl, and the very appearance of this new see is associated with the influence of Mstislav Mstislavich, who was established in Galich, in whose possession Przemysl was also located.

Archbishop Mitrofan died in 1223. His successor Arseny was not ordained a bishop. According to the Kiev-Pechersk paterikon, the Novgorod cathedra, despite Anthony's stay in Przemysl, was considered the "Anthony place". In 1225, Przemysl was occupied by the Hungarians, and Anthony left his see. According to the news of the Novgorod first chronicle under 1225:

However, the attempt to organize the administration of the Novgorod diocese through these two assistants appointed to Anthony failed. In 1229, Spiridon was chosen as the new archbishop of Novgorod by lot, and Anthony again retired to the Khutynsky monastery to retire.

Pilgrimage to Constantinople

Exaltation Cross of Bishop Anthony, 1212

Anthony twice, even before his monastic tonsure, made a pilgrimage to Constantinople - in 1200 and around 1208/9). Initially, after the death of his father, he decided to visit the Holy Land. Passing through the Galicia-Volyn principality, he met with Prince Roman Mistislavovich and went to Constantinople as part of his embassy. Having lived in the capital of Byzantium for several years, after its capture by the crusaders in 1204, he left Constantinople and returned to Russia, never visiting Jerusalem.

From his pilgrimage, he brought a number of shrines to Novgorod: the robe of Theodore Stratilates, the relics of Blasius of Sevastia, a part of the stone from the tomb of John the Theologian, a particle of the Life-giving Cross, the measure of the "Holy Sepulcher" and the relics of the Great Martyr Barbara. Anthony placed a particle of the Life-Giving Tree in the large revival cross of St. Sophia of Novgorod. It is decorated with the inscription “ Lord, help your servant Anton, arch [bishop] at Novgorodskum, who gave [...] Christ [Holy Sophia]» .

"Book of the Pilgrim"

Based on the impressions of his pilgrimage, Dobrynya Yadreykovich wrote an essay entitled "The Book of the Pilgrim" and related to the genre of "Walking", which was popular in his time. In handwritten collections, the "Book of the Pilgrim" is often adjacent to the famous "Walking" of Daniel Abbot.

The miracle was as follows. In the altar, before the beginning of the liturgy, three golden chandeliers suspended from the ceiling suddenly ascended upward (by the “Holy Spirit,” according to observers), and then slowly descended to the previous level, and the oil burning in them did not die out.

The description of the miracle in the "Book of the Pilgrim" is protocolly accurate, indicating the year, date, month, day of the week, church holiday; they are listed by name and witnesses - the boyars, who headed the embassy of the Grand Duke Roman Mstislavich, which was then in the capital of the empire. Thanks to this news, we can state quite definitely that Dobrynya Yadreykovich was in Constantinople in May 1200. In addition, indirectly, we receive unique information about the foreign policy of Roman Mstislavich and the time of his acceptance of the title of Grand Duke.

The "Book of the Pilgrim" also contains interesting references to the gifts of Princess Olga.

It is especially important for cultural historians that the Russian pilgrim managed to see and describe the shrines of Constantinople before it was plundered by the crusaders in 1204.

The "Book of the Pilgrim" has survived in nine copies of the 16th-17th centuries, which give only a hypothetical idea of ​​the original text. The researchers distinguish two editions. Only the second of them, obviously the later, contains a brief postscript about the seizure and plundering of Constantinople. The largest researcher of the "Book of the Pilgrim" in the 19th century Kh. M. Loparev assumed that the postscript was the author's, and already from this assumption he deduced that there were two visits of Dobrynya Yadreykovich to Constantinople - one before its capture by the crusaders, and the other after. Thanks to Loparev's authority, this assumption (which, strictly speaking, is pure speculation [ ]) was repeatedly reproduced by other researchers. Over time, they got used to this version, and now the "second trip" to Constantinople is included in the biography of Dobrynya Yadreykovich as a reliable fact.

Veneration and canonization

Notes (edit)

1. Orthodox encyclopedia - Church Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia", 2000.
2. Now - on the territory of the Novgorod region, Novgorod region, Russia.
3. Old style; on the day of commemoration of Pelagia of Antioch.
4. Anthony (Dobrynya Yadreykovich) // Orthodox Encyclopedia. The only basis for this assumption is the coincidence of the name of the voivode and the patronymic of Dobrynya.
5. The first Novgorod chronicle of the older and younger versions. - M .; L., 1950 .-- S. 46-49.
6. Karpov A. Yu. Anthony, Archbishop of Novgorod
7. The first Novgorod chronicle of the older and younger versions. - M .; L., 1950 .-- S. 59-72.
8. // Russian biographical dictionary: in 25 volumes. - SPb. - M., 1896-1918.
9. E. A. Gordienko Varlaam of Khutynsky and Archbishop Anthony in the Novgorod Written Tradition // Ancient Rus. - 2003. - No. 4 (14) - S. 16-17.
10. A. V. Gorovenko Roman Galitsky's sword. Prince Roman Mstislavich in history, epic and legends. - SPb .: "Dmitry Bulanin", 2011. - S. 75-76, 85.
11. Anthony (Dobrynya Yadreykovich), Archbishop of Novgorod // Dictionary of scribes and bookishness of Ancient Russia.
12. V. G. Putsko Khutynskie works-relics of the first quarter of the XIII century. // Novgorod historical collection. - SPb., 2005. - Issue. 10 (20). - S. 45-65.

Literature

• Prozorovsky D.I. About the genealogy of St. Anthony, Archbishop. Novgorodsky. - B. m., B. G.
• Journey of the Novgorod Archbishop Anthony to Constantinople at the end of the 12th century / With preface. and note. P.I.Savvaitova. - SPb., 1872.
• Maikov L. N. Materials and research on ancient Russian literature. I. Conversation about shrines and other monuments of Constantinople // SORYAS. - 1890. - T. 51, No. 4. - S. 3-11.

Archbishop Anthony Golynsky-Mikhailovsky(1889 - 1976) was a deeply educated theologian and missionary, knew six foreign languages. He firmly defended the purity of Orthodoxy. When he was asked to sign a renewal declaration, according to which it was allowed to baptize children by pouring water, he refused to do so. He was offered a diocese, a car and a driver, but he, as a missionary, exposed their evil plan. After that, in 1927-28, he was arrested and sent to prisons and camps, in which he spent more than 20 years. He was condemned three times to be shot, but there were people who decided to go to be shot instead of him. The Lord kept it for our guidance. One of these martyrs was a former Baptist converted to Orthodoxy by Archbishop Anthony. He told him: "You are a bishop. People need your life more than mine. When your name is pushed to the shooting, I will stand up and go instead of you. But I have a wife and several children left. Promise me that you will go. to them and tell them about me, and if necessary, you will help them. "This is what the former Baptist (according to another version, Armenian) said. He gave him his wife's address. He kept his word and went to the execution instead of Archbishop Anthony. [Archbishop Anthony found this man's wife.] He told her about the death of her husband. She sheltered Archbishop Anthony in her home. He helped her and registered her children on his passport.

Metropolitan E. writes: “In prisons and camps he was terribly tortured: his hands were broken, his teeth were knocked out, his hair was pulled out of his beard, his legs were dragged along concrete steps so that his head beat against them. , where he lost consciousness and was on the verge of death. But, thanks to God, a foreign commission was sent to examine the prisoners. When checking the barracks where Archbishop Anthony was, one of the prisoners said with irony that they had an archbishop under their bunks. The commission was convinced that this was really so. At her request, the dying Archbishop Anthony was sent to the hospital. Thanks to God, the doctor was a believer, she treated him and spoon-fed him until he came to his senses. acquaintances and wrote to them, asking them to bail him. He wrote to the city of Sochi, and his spiritual children took him on bail. So Archbishop Anthony became a free settler. He had to report to the police once a month and to be noted, showing that he is not going anywhere. His spiritual children paid money to the police so that he could travel around visiting believers. When Archbishop Anthony arrived in the city of Kiev, Father Theodore was also smoothed to meet with him. I, as the closest student, accompanied Father Theodore on this trip to Kiev. The meeting was touching. When Father Theodore saw Vla-duka, he knelt with tears to Vladyka and wept like a child in front of him.

Father Fyodor was already sick, and he performed services only while sitting; but when he served with Vladyka Anthony, he stood the entire service. Vladyka gave him monasticism and made him an abbot, and then an archimandrite. When we returned home, Fr. Theodore was in such spiritual delight that he said: “This is not an earthly person, I am weak and sickly stood the whole service.” This is how the spiritual union of our Fr. Theodore with Archbishop Anthony, in whom he recognized the Vladyka by the grace of God ... I stayed 20 years under the leadership of Archbishop Anthony. I am a sinner, I consider myself unworthy of being led by an elder of such a lofty life. He spent all the nights in prayer, and I was in awe of him, conscious of my unworthiness. Archbishop Anthony was very strict with regard to the service. In services he did not miss anything and always, like a warrior of Christ, was dressed in full uniform. He did not serve a single service or any kind of demand without an omophorion. I am an eyewitness to all this, when he went out to talk with the people, he always wore an epitrachelion. When there were rumors that Archbishop Anthony was an imyaslavite, I, a sinner, asked him about it, and he meekly and humbly replied that he was bringing people from imyaslavl to Orthodoxy, and explained to me what kind of heresy it was. That is why I am a living witness of his actions and his life. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his boots. Let many slander him, but I ask God not to let me fall into madness, say something like that or agree with it. Vladyka Anthony drove out demons during his lifetime, and the eyewitnesses of this are still alive. He was perspicacious, and everything that he predicted to anyone came true. This is only what we have seen, and how many of his deeds we do not know - they are known only to God alone. Therefore, he remains in my soul as a lamp of our Russian land. In this difficult time, he was a good shepherd for Orthodox Christians, he did not leave his sheep, but consoled, fed and taught.

He always told us that we should not be afraid of death if we need to die for our Orthodox faith. His labors knew no bounds, and he served as a model for the Christian life. He gave himself completely to the service of God and the people. When the Archbishop was released from the camps, he did not go to the parishes of the official Church, but chose the catacombs and lived in them with his people until his death. "Archbishop Anthony did not recognize the Soviet Moscow Patriarchate. He excommunicated his nuns for six months if he found out that they During his death 14 hieromonks and several very large parishes were under his omophorion. But he did not quickly ordain people. Once, Lazar (Zhurbenko), the current Archbishop and head of the Free Russian Orthodox Church, came to him. writes: “He solicited three times in order to meet with him and accept the monasticism from him. But Vladyka Anthony refused him three times. Then he went to Vladyka Seraphim (Pozdeev), who received him, treated him to and sent him away with nothing. Then Lazar, knowing all the falsehoods of the news (of the Soviet Moscow Patriarchate), went to the city of Irkutsk, where he received the monasticism from Bishop Benjamin. After that, he served for some time in the Patriarchate, and then went into hiding. When the KGB found him together with the people, he went out and showed the documents, after which the KGB said: "This is our man." But when the KGB found our people and priests, they were put in prisons and camps. "

Archbishop Anthony reposed in the Lord in 1976. (Sources: Metropolitan E., Hegumen E., Priest V., Reader Grigory Mukhortoe)

According to unconfirmed reports, he was born into a Baptist family. He graduated from a real school in Bryansk. It is possible that in his youth he was a novice in an Orthodox monastery (his photograph has been preserved in a cassock). He worked as a village teacher. Participant of the First World War, St. George's Knight. He was promoted to officer, staff captain. He joined the Party of Socialist Revolutionaries (AKP), after separating the left wing from it, he joined the Party of Left Socialist Revolutionaries (PLCR). In the fall of 1917, he led the peasant congress of the 5th Army of the Northern Front, was a delegate to the Extraordinary All-Russian Congress of Peasant Deputies, at which he was elected to the Presidium and actively supported the Left Socialist-Revolutionary position. He was a member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, participated in the work of its peasant section. He published articles of revolutionary content in the publication Voice of the Working Peasantry. Then he left politics, according to some sources, he joined the Baptists (or returned to them), participated in public disputes between defenders of religion and atheists. In 1922, according to the same data, he converted to Orthodoxy, married in 1922, and was ordained a priest in 1923. Until 1935 he served in the church of the village of Foshnya, Zhukovsky district, Bryansk region. In 1923 he had a daughter, Olga, in 1925, a son, Alexei, in 1929, a daughter, Maria. In 1934 his wife died of tuberculosis, and in 1935 he was tonsured into monasticism with the name Anthony of the Optina elder Archimandrite Isaac (Bobrikov). In the same year, Hieromonk Anthony was arrested and exiled to the Arkhangelsk province, where he lived in the city of Pinega. In 1938 he was arrested in exile and sent to a camp. In 1943 he was released due to disability, until 1946 he was again in exile. There are other versions of the biography of Anthony (Golynsky) - according to one of them, he was consecrated bishop in 1923. However, they are much less reliable (for example, his photograph has been preserved relating to by the 1930s, in monastic attire and with a priestly cross, not a bishop's panagia) According to his own words, in exile in 1936 or 1937 he was secretly ordained bishop by Orthodox bishops. Anthony (Golynsky) himself called these bishops the rulers of Vassian (Pyatnitsky), Juvenaly (Mashkovsky) and Agafangel (Sadkovsky). Was elevated to the rank of archbishop (it is unclear when and by whom). The question of his bishopric remains controversial. In 1946 he returned to Bryansk, had documents in the name of Ivan Ilyich Mikhailovsky - in this regard, in many sources he appears as Anthony (Golynsky-Mikhailovsky). From 1947 he lived in the city of Balashov, Saratov Region, where he headed a secret Orthodox community. In 1950 he was arrested again. According to some information (emanating from a source that had a negative attitude towards Anthony (Golynsky)), during the investigation, he stated that he was only a hieromonk, but pretended to be a bishop. According to other sources, he misled the investigation. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, he was serving his term in the Pot'min camps in Mordovia. He did not like to recall the prison and camp years, but some information about this period of his life was still preserved. His cell attendant, schema-abode Anthony (Sukhikh), from the words of Anthony (Golynsky) himself, reported some details of his imprisonment: In 1956 he was released ahead of schedule, lived in the Verkhne-Khostinsky tea-state farm twenty kilometers from Sochi. Then he lived in Donbass, in the village of Irpen near Kiev, since 1966 - in the village of Buche. Liturgy was celebrated in secret almost every day. He was often visited by spiritual children from Vorkuta, the Far East, Novosibirsk, Moscow and other regions, including representatives of the intelligentsia (scientists, artists). It was also attended by the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church - in particular, hegumen Kirill (Pavlov), who later became known as the elder. Anthony (Golynsky) himself traveled to various regions of the country (Krasnodar Territory, Belarus), where 40-50 people sometimes gathered for his secret services. He compiled for his spiritual children a manuscript "On the Prayer of Jesus and Divine Grace", later published twice. He used the veneration of his flock. Hieromonk Sergius (Akintikov) recalled that Vladyka Anthony, being a "catacomb", loyally treated

I went to the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), in 1971 I blessed the son of my spiritual children to enter the Moscow Theological Seminary. After his death, 14 priests and hieromonks who were under his omophorion were accepted into spiritual communion with the Russian Orthodox Church abroad. By the 1990s, some of the bishop's spiritual children had become clerics and monastics under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Andrei Ilarionovich Shutov, the future Archbishop Anthony, was born in the village. Nastasino Podberezinskaya par. Kolomensky district of Moscow province in a family belonging to the dominant church. His father, Ilarion Terentyevich, was a peasant. In his youth, Andrei Ilarionovich passed into the Fedoseevsky consent. He lived first with the Moscow merchant F. Guchkov, and then at the Preobrazhensky cemetery, taking over as treasurer. After 1845 he accepted monasticism in one of the bespopov monasteries in the Chernigov province. and soon withdrew to East Prussia, where he entered the Voinovsky monastery. The abbot of the monastery received him very unfriendly, so around 1851 he crossed the Austrian border and settled with other Fedoseevsky monks in the village. Klimoutsy, near Belaya Krynitsa.

Soon he met a monk Pavel Belokrinitsky... Often conversing with him, Anthony, as they say, learned firsthand the details of the emergence of the Belokrinitsa hierarchy and became convinced of its legality. In February 1852 he joined the Old Believer Church. At the Belokrinitsky Monastery on February 10, he was tonsured again, on October 1, Metropolitan Kiril was ordained a hierodeacon, on December 6 - a priesthood, and on February 3, 1853, Metropolitan Kiril ordained him Archbishop of Vladimir.

The next day, the newly appointed archbishop set out on a journey. When the government learned about the arrival of Archbishop Anthony in Russia, it appointed a large monetary reward for his capture - 12,000 rubles; many detectives were looking for him, incl. voluntary. However, this did not frighten him. He was out of reach of the government, moved from village to village, spending the night in the hayloft, in the attics, and appointed several dozen priests during this time.

This persecution continued until 1862, when, by decree of the im. Alexander II, the Old Believer priesthood was temporarily freed from persecution. Upon the arrival of the Vladyka in Russia, the rector of the Rogozhsky cemetery, the most authoritative Old Believer priest of that time, Archpriest John Yastrebov, as well as the priest Pavel of Tulsky recognized his authority over themselves, began to mention him in litanies and use the newly consecrated myrrh received from him.

However, not everything went smoothly in the new place. In addition to strict supervision and persecution by the government, Archbishop Anthony was awaited in Russia by a test connected with the fact that Bishop. Simbirsky Sophrony, the first to be set for the Russian Old Believers, did not obey him and began to plan the creation of a special hierarchy. Nevertheless, despite all the difficulties and obstacles, in the first nine years of archpastoral ministry in Russia, Anthony ordained for the Old Believers four deacons, 70 priests, 23 holy monks, six bishops.

In 1863, by the decision of the Consecrated Council of Russian bishops, he was elected to the hierarchical throne of Moscow; this was a recognition that he is the head of all the Old Orthodox Christians of the Belokrinitsa hierarchy in Russia. At the same time, he became the head of the supporters of the District Epistle (although for the sake of restoring fraternal peace, in order to end the neo-circle discord in the Church, he agreed to cancel the "Epistle").

Of the other views inherent in him, it should be noted that he resolutely advocated the canonization of the holy martyrs and confessors of Archpriest Avvakum, the priests Lazarus, Nikita and others who suffered for ancient piety. At that time, the expression of such views was very dangerous, since the listed martyrs were considered enemies of the royal house.

Archbishop Anthony was an outstanding personality. He built temples, consecrated several hundred so-called. marching, or traveling, antimis, the supply of which has not dried up to this day. Taking care of the spiritual food of the flock, he did not leave anyone in material need. Old Believers throughout Russia and abroad knew him as a generous benefactor, a helper in need and misfortune. To support Russian and foreign Old Believer monasteries, Archbishop. Anthony made numerous donations both in money and various church utensils and books.

Having joined the book while still in the famous library of the Laurentian Monastery, he collected his own library all his life. This unique collection included many rare manuscripts and early printed books. After Anthony's death, his library entered the book depository of the Rogozhsky cemetery. At his office, Archbishop Anthony specially kept several scribes in order to distribute various apologetic writings among the Old Believers. For the same purpose, already in his declining years, he took care of the establishment in one of the foreign monasteries of the Old Believer book printing.

Archbishop Anthony's vigorous efforts to strengthen the Old Believers made him the main target for all enemies of the Belokrinitsa hierarchy, both external and internal. Even in weakness, the archbishop did not leave the service. After serving about a hundred liturgies in a row, on the night of November 2 to 3, 1881, Anthony felt "a heart disease, which he had suffered very badly before." Having been ill for several days, having received unction and communion, the bishop died on November 8 (November 21, new style) at 7 o'clock in the morning in Moscow, in his small apartment on Empty Street (now Marksist). On November 10, he was the first of the Old Believer bishops to be buried at the Rogozhskoye cemetery.

“The external image of Vladyka Anthony was of the most reverent appearance: his face was extraordinary whiteness, his brada was rather long, wide and white - like silver. His speech was quiet and pleasant. We can say about him in all fairness that he was in all respects an exact imprint of the former true shepherds of Christ's verbal sheep, ”wrote GA Strakhov about him.

Archbishop Anthony (Mikhailovsky) was born in 1889 in the village of Semyonovka, Karachevsky district, Oryol province. In 1923 he was ordained a priest and served in the village of Foshnya, Bryansk region, in 1934 he was widowed. In 1935 he was tonsured into monasticism by the Optina elder Isaac, soon arrested, and in exile he was sentenced to being sent to a camp. He was finally freed in 1946. According to Anthony himself, he was consecrated bishop in exile by Vassian (Pyatnitsky), Yuvenaly (Mashkovsky) and Agafangel (Sadkovsky). Soon after his release, he lived in Bryansk, and then in Balashov, Saratov Region, where in 1950 he was arrested again. Sentenced to 25 years in prison, he served his term in the Pot'min camps in Mordovia. He died on April 13, 1976 in Bucha, Kiev region. 14 clerics under his omophorion joined the ROCOR.

The following letter from the Catacomb Archbishop Anthony (Mikhailovsky-Golynsky) was kept by his priest Priest Valentine, and was copied around 1979 by one of the catacomb nuns.

Archbishop Anthony Mikhailovsky

LETTER TO THE SERGIAN PRIEST

Christ is Risen!

Beloved in Christ, Father Andronic! Often that unexpected meeting and conversation is recalled, but not without the will of God, it took place, during which oneness of mind was revealed with you, and complete disagreement with others, for the sake of their bitter as a wormwood of insolence.

However, from your common understanding of the life of the Church with us, we draw different practical conclusions for ourselves, this is sorrowful. However, you do not justify yourself, you understand the truth of the path of those who did not bow their knees before the new Baal, headed by the locum tenens of the Most Holy All-Russian Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan. Peter Krutitsky, you understand the pitiful and disastrous role played by the former Metropolitan Sergius, who exchanged the spiritual birthright for lentil stew. O! if only for lentil stew! Metropolitan Peter called the work of his deputy, the work of Judas. And Metropolitan Joseph calls Sergius the murderer of the Church. For this Sergius in 1927 shocked the whole world with his declaration, in which he declared that from now on, the church headed by him merges its goals and objectives together with the godless and theomachous state, becoming an obedient instrument in the hands of anti-Christian rulers: your joys are our joys, your sorrows - our sorrows, - so he declared on behalf of the Church unfortunate Sergius, referring to the ruling fight against God. This is how the betrayal was committed against the Church of Christ. This was the beginning of a faint-hearted opportunism, in the networks of which, despite your personal disagreement, you also found yourself, dear Father.

You, of course, perfectly understand all the glaring falsity, the inadmissibility of the Church's adaptation to the goals of godlessness. Of course, you understand all the falsity of your personal position, but do not know what to do? You ought to break up, end the relationship - leave, but where? And most importantly, what will it be? And that's why you grief, sighing, as before, obviously, you need to sing for many years to those who set the official goal not only to stifle faith in God, but so that even the very Name of God would not be pronounced on earth (Ephraim the Syrian wrote about this). After all, you tell me: I understand all this, I am not in my soul with them, I am with you! I am old, weak, sick ... Again prison, camp, where can I go and go, what should I do? - so, almost crying, you say. But dear father! Do you scare you, where and what is the true path, do you not know how to be and what to do? O! dear and beloved, listen to the wondrous song sung in the Church of Christ since the times of the Apostles: "On a narrow path, a sad one, all in life the cross is like a yoke, and following Me by faith, come and enjoy them, I will also prepare you honors and crowns of heaven."(Blessed art thou, Lord). However, it is gratifying that at least you have testified to the truth without obnoxiousness and are testifying before many, Lord save you and strengthen you, take courage and let your heart be strengthened.

And if they wished to find direct patristic guidance for our days, then many St. Fathers, in particular St. Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian. But especially brightly, clearly and distinctly in St. Great Confessor of the Orthodox Faith, Venerable Theodore the Studite, in his numerous letters to fellow monks and, in general, to his contemporaries. Our Reverend and God-bearing Father Fyodor Studit is a huge granite rock of the God-given Church, about which the powerful Byzantine emperors heretics, emperors persecuting Orthodoxy, crashed the bishops who were obedient to the tyrants of heretics - the bishops adapted to heresy with all the adulterous and iconoclastic all around them. opportunists, priests, monks and laymen. But can the opportunism of our days be compared with the opportunism of the times of Fyodor the Studite? There was cowardice and concession, although the persecutors of Orthodoxy did not renounce God and Christ. Adaptation of our days is adaptation to spiritual barbarians, who are preferred by the apostate crowd to Christ. Crucify, crucify Him. Moreover, one can say in defense and justification of the conciliation of the princes of their church in the person of the metropolitan. Sergius, his followers and successors. After all, this is compromise and cooperation with the obvious and most fierce enemies of the faith and the Church, with the undoubted forerunners of one who has to come soon. Yako is near, at the doors(Matt. 24,33). Such an adaptation to heresy from heresies, such a compromise on the heresy of the Antichrist, the last in time and the most terrible of all heresies, is now a betrayal of the Church of Christ, and a secret apostasy. When it comes to blatant wickedness- says the great ecumenical teacher of the church of St. Gregory the Theologian, - then one must go to the fire and sword, despite the demands of the times and the rulers, and in general everything, rather than partaking of the crafty kvass and touching the infected. Of all, they fear something more terribly than God, and for this fear of a minister of truth to become a traitor of faith and truth. Let us ponder for the Father and accept with faith these words of the great Saint Gregory the Theologian. When it comes, he says, it is about blatant wickedness, Oh! what, what unrighteousness can be more obvious and certain, like the antichrist's unrighteousness; then one should rather go to the fire and sword, not look at the demand of the times and the godless, consciously godless rulers, rather than partake of the crafty kvass in a spirit of opportunism and servility, and be applied to the infected.

I agree with the understanding of St. Fathers are a numerous host of unshakable Hierarchs, headed by the most resolute locum tenens of the Most Holy All-Russian Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Peter and others like him in courage, Cyril, Joseph, Agafangel, and earlier Vladimir, Benjamin and Patriarch Tikhon himself and others who were martyred and eternal eternal rest in blissful dormition(everlasting memory). But from the point of view of adapting to heresy from heresies, the path of courageous confession is madness, or, in any case, there is no practical sense in it. Therefore, the beginning, the leader of opportunism, the deputy locum tenens of Peter, the former Metropolitan Sergius, sneering at the unshakable firmness of Peter the locum tenens, wishing, moreover, to justify his action of practical reason, exclaimed: "Well, what clever did Peter do?" And Peter did it cleverly, as if he had fulfilled his duty to the end. He preferred to go rather to fire and sword, as St. Gregory the Theologian, than making a deal with his conscience, to yield to the demands of the times and the rulers. Truly the path of confession and martyrdom, as the word of the cross for those who perish, for there is foolishness, but for those who are being saved, the power of God is... From the point of view of Sergius, Metropolitan Peter acted madly, rejecting any conspiracy with the rulers fighting against God in the spirit of Antichrist, and would have acted wisely if he had followed him, Sergius, for example. But to all the persuasions and temptations from this world, the unshakable Peter answered resolutely - no! Well, you will rot in exile - exclaimed Sergius at the last meeting with Metropolitan Peter. I will burn, but with Christ, and not with you Judas the traitor! - answered the courageous confessor. Indeed, the most terrible thing, as Gregory the Theologian said, is that they are afraid of something more than God, and for this fear of a minister of truth to become a traitor to faith and truth. And this disaster happened to Metropolitan Sergius.

The conspiracy of Sergius with the enemies of faith gave them an official opportunity to turn the Church of God into their obedience, into a clever instrument of tyrannical apostasy and theomachy. This gave them the opportunity to take the leadership of the externally existing church into their own hands, flooding it with a hierarchy in the person of archpastors - ministers of atheism and apostasy. This gave the enemies of the Church of Christ to have horns of a lamb, and to speak like a dragon (Rev. 13.11). Such is the price of conciliation with godlessness and adaptation to the heresy of the Antichrist. Only the outwardly existing church is, as it were, the Church of Christ, but inwardly, secretly, the enemy of Christ sits in it. What St. Theophan the Recluse says that the time will soon come when they will continue to sing and serve in churches, but Orthodoxy will not be there ...

There is no need to look for deviations into this or that dogmatic heresy - no, here heresy is completely different, this is the heresy of the Antichrist. What is the use of someone who calms himself with the words: I am not like that! Let's say you're not like that; you will not say, as one of your so-called bishops said in a small circle at a dinner party, in the presence of a second bishop of the same kind, when one of the laity in conversation at the table several times referred to the authority of St. The Apostle Paul; then this bishop interrupted him with the words: we do not believe these Pauls; he didn’t say - I don’t believe, but we don’t believe; and this time he told the deep truth about himself and those like him. They came to church, put on robes, panagias, omophores, epitracheli, not in the name of faith, but in the name of the struggle against faith. He, that bishop, in a personal conversation with one believer asked in surprise: do you really believe in God? It’s good that you don’t have children, otherwise you would have taught them to believe. And how many not such, but even more amazing examples could be cited. So one of the young priests, in the presence of believers, sacrilegiously sat down on the book of St. Gospels, and when the outraged believers threatened him that they would complain to the bishop, he declared - your song has been sung! We are not afraid of you. This is literally the most accurate sense of the word; oxen are predators, but dressed in lamb's clothes. These are the conscious enemies of Christ, destroyers of faith and the church, but dressed as shepherds and called fathers. These are servants and servants of the Antichrist faith, hiding behind the name of Christ's servants. These are heavy bulls (fierce) who do not spare the herd, but you assure yourself about yourself that I am not like that. That's right, but don't you connect with those? Are you under their command? You have with them not only prayer, but also canonical communication, you are theirs, and they are yours. You recognize them as bishops and priests, you pray for such publicly, as for the Most Reverend and Eminent and even higher, you call them saints, masters, reverend fathers and so on ... and they sneakily laugh at you, because they need you to have they have horns like lambs. They really need you, for deception inside and outside. You know this and are silent, and if you are not silent, then you make it even worse, you say to these cruel wolves: Christ is in our midst! or, in response to these words, blasphemously pronounced by them, you add: there is and will be! Who is deceiving whom at the same time: you or the devil you? The vaults of hell are shaken with the laughter of its ruler! Although you think that you have outwitted and deceived the devil, but in this deception you will be deceived by the devil, for you take his servants for God's servants, and not only this, but most importantly, you deliberately mislead these little ones, teaching take them false for true. Such are the bo,- says the Apostle Paul, - false apostles, flattering, crafty, insidious workers, who are transformed into the Apostles of Christ, and it is no wonder that Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light, even if his servants are transformed into servants of righteousness(Cor. 2 11.13-15). You ought to have the wisdom and courage of the angel of the Church of Ephesus commendable from the Lord: we see your deeds and your labor and your patience, and how can you not bear the wicked ... you who say to be apostles, but they are not like that and found them false(Rev. 2. 2). And you do not only bear them, but you treat them in prayer, in the sacraments performed by them, however, what are their prayers and mysteries, if they believe in godlessness and serve the Antichrist who is coming in his name (John 5:43). The enemy of faith is evil when he pretends to be a believer, because secretly he fiercely hates even the voice that affirms the truth of faith, and you are with them, you cover up their villainy, let them do evil from outside, and you give them the opportunity to destroy the work of faith from the inside, why are you to them do you help? What a sacrament- exclaims the apostle Paul, - truth to lawlessness, or what kind of communication between light and darkness, some agreement of Christ with the veliar, or what part (participation) I will return with the unbelievers- isn't all this clear to you? Of course, it is clear that you know the law of the Church of Christ according to which the heretic himself who has prayed with a heretic, at least once, is already considered.

The point here is not at all an abundance of knowledge, but only a lack of courage and determination. However, for a believer who wants to be faithful to Christ, there is only one way out, this is going away by a path and a lamp, and may the Divine word serve this determination: "The same, come out from among them and be separated, saith the Lord, and do not touch uncleanness, and I will receive you"(Cor. 2. 6,17). All these things are said by us in general to you personally, Father, for you both know and completely agree.

Remember the last time our conversation with you was cut short by the words of the Monk Barsanuphius the Great, which we then could not indicate exactly from the book, these are the words: "If only Yellin(i.e. not a Christian, but a pagan) he has been entrusted with power, and he is an opponent of the (Christian) faith and would do something (insidious plotting against the faith), then nothing else could we have done, unless we shut up the churches, until they were opened from the Christian kings "(Answer 848, 850, 531). This is already a direct patristic answer to your question: what to do under the current circumstances in the life of the church. The only essential difference is that now the power is in the hands not of the pagans, but of those apostates who act in the spirit and purposes of the Antichrist. And if 1500 years ago, under the conditions of pagan malice against the Church, such a decision was given in the Holy Spirit, then all the more so now, when the collective Antichrist is acting, about any adaptation to the spirit of Antichrist, about any compromise with him and with his God-fighting goals. be out of the question. For the Christian believer, the book of answers of the Monk Barsanuphius the Great is a special book, and he directly certifies (in answer 1) that everything in it is written by the Holy Spirit. However, she herself, the book testifies to the same “Having ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.”

However, how sad the father is to hear the words of cowardly adaptation (to the Spirit of Antichrist), spoken in defense of the Church of the crafty. Deceiving themselves and others, they say that at the cost of a deal with the Christian conscience, at the cost of their cooperation with the enemies of Christ, they supposedly will preserve the Church. But the Church of Christ is not preserved when bricks and stones are preserved, but when the spirit of faith is preserved in the human body, and not in bricks. However, they cannot boast of the preservation of the church walls, for they are almost gone, all are destroyed. In these times, but the quality is undoubtedly the last, there is no other way, beloved father in Christ, for the Church the path is like the path of confession, and the last days of the true Church of Christ on earth will be similar to the first days, its end will be similar to the beginning, so the circle of the history of the Church will be closed. on earth, where both ends meet in the end in likeness, so divine revelation from above foreshadowed. The Lord Jesus Christ founded the Church on a stone, on what stone? - courageous confession. Referring to faith, he said: You (Peter) are a stone, and on this stone I will build My Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.(Matthew 16:18). Here you need to understand: He did not point to the brick building of the church, but pointed to Peter himself, said that You are Peter - a stone, this means faith of stone, no torments overcame Him, but his faith gained the kingdom. On a stone, friend, on a stone, and not on sand, or the sticky clay of cowardly adaptation to militant theomachy and obsequious compromise with it, which in our conditions are equal to the apostasy of the deeds of God's faith.

The Monk Theodore the Studite repeatedly told his fellow monks that the monks, as they renounced the world for Christ's sake, from carnality, and even temporary life itself, lay before God and people a direct responsibility to defend the truth of faith, regardless of any personal consequences.

Do not be afraid of the small flock(Luke 12, 32 ) Do not be afraid of anything worse and suffer. Be faithful to death and I will give you the crown of life(Rev. 2:10), especially since the revelation of God about these times says: those who act wickedly against the covenant, the adversary of Christ will attract to himself with flattery, but people who honor their God will strengthen themselves and will act(Dan. 11.32).

Amen.