The life and works of Hieromartyr Hilarion

"To what extent should a Christian realize your sins and grieve over them, he should be so happy God's endless mercy and grace and never doubt or despair in his life's feat." The book by candidate of theology A. A. Gorbachev is dedicated to the hieromartyr Hilarion (Trinity). Saint Hilarion is a bright personality, a talented theologian, the youngest archimandrite in his time and professor of the Moscow Academy of Arts, whose name was listed at the Local Council of 1917/1918. among the candidates for the patriarchate, an associate of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, an active fighter against the renovationist schism. The Church is an area of ​​special interest for Bishop Hilarion. The understanding of the Church that he came to, based on the carefully studied writings of the holy fathers and teachers of the Church, the hieromartyr carried unchanged throughout his life. The theme of the book is the disclosure of the connection between the doctrine of the Church, which the Bishop adhered to, and his spiritual appearance and confessional feat. "Some people's sins are obvious and lead directly to condemnation, and some are opened later. Likewise, good deeds are evident) The feat of martyrdom expresses the extreme degree of readiness to follow Christ even to death and death on the cross (Phil. 2:8), when for a martyr, according to the words of St. Gregory the Theologian, “to suffer with Christ and for Christ is more desirable than to enjoy with others” 1. But the inner path that a martyr takes to his Golgotha ​​is different for everyone, and the connection between the saint’s previous life and his feat is not always obvious. Thus, the Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer, who bore “Christ in his heart” 2, who spent his whole life striving for martyrdom, this “wheat of God”, wanting to become the “pure bread of Christ” 3, fervently urged Roman Christians not only not to interfere, but also to assist his martyrdom: “Better caress these beasts so that they become my tomb... I pray, so that they greedily rush at me. I will lure them so that they will immediately devour me... If they do not want to voluntarily, I will force them” 4. If we turn to the personality of the Hieromartyr Veniamin (Kazansky), then, at first glance, it may seem that this kind of sentiment was not close to him. Not very noticeable among other hierarchs of his time, the Petrograd Metropolitan loved to perform services in churches on the outskirts of the Russian capital, preach and read Sunday lectures to the common people, was “probably the most apolitical in the entire Russian episcopate,” 5 and it was difficult to notice in him a desire for martyrdom. But after the Petrograd ruler was sentenced to death on false charges, it was discovered that even “in childhood and adolescence... he read the lives of the saints and admired their heroism... he regretted with his soul that the times were not the same and that he would not have to worry about what they experienced”... And so, when it fell to his lot to die for Christ, he turned out to be fully ready to fulfill his childhood desires and at the same time “joyful and calm, as always,” professing martyrdom as the norm of Christian life: “Should we, Christians, and even priests, not show such courage even to death, if we have any faith in Christ, in the life of the next century!” 6 There are also martyrs whose virtues seem completely hidden before their feat. The most famous example is the holy martyr Boniface. Addicted to wine drinking, living with his mistress “in an unholy relationship,” Boniface, seeing the innocent suffering of Christians, was kindled with the fire of love and faith in Christ, confessed himself to be a Christian and at the cost of his life received not only remission of sins, but also a martyr’s crown. But, despite the external surprise of such a conversion, we can firmly say that the prerequisites for it existed earlier, and the virtues of the martyr Boniface, which made the former sinner capable of accepting the crown of martyrdom, existed before their manifestation. Thus, from the life of the saint we know that he “was merciful to the poor and willingly received strangers.” In addition, “conscious of himself as a slave of sin, Boniface prayed to God to deliver him from the devil’s snares and make him a winner over his lusts and passions” 7 . In this regard (that is, in preparing for martyrdom with virtues), the Hieromartyr Hilarion (Troitsky) is no exception. Of course, the high moral qualities of Bishop Hilarion, acquired by God’s grace in his previous life, helped him worthily endure the feat of confession until his martyrdom. But the connection between this feat and the previous life of the Hieromartyr Hilarion has its own characteristics. As a theologian, Archbishop Hilarion was busy developing mainly one of the areas of theological science - the doctrine of the Church. The Church is the sphere of special interest of Bishop Hilarion “from his youth,” and the understanding of the Church that he came to, based on the carefully studied writings of the holy fathers and teachers of the Church, the Hieromartyr carried unchanged throughout his life. Therefore, the purpose of our modest work will be not only to review the main works and events in the life of Archbishop Hilarion (Troitsky), but also, as far as possible, to reveal the connection between the doctrine of the Church, which the holy martyr adhered to, with his spiritual appearance and confessional feat. Gregory the Theologian, St. Collection of works: In 2 volumes. Rep. ed. – [B.M.]: Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, 1994. T. 1. P. 677. Filaret (Gumilevsky), archbishop. Historical teaching about the Fathers of the Church: in 3 volumes. Rep. ed. – M.: Pilgrim, 1996. Part 1. P. 20. Ignatius of Antioch, St. To the Romans // Early Church Fathers: An Anthology. – Brussels: Life with God, 1998. P. 124. Tsypin Vladislav, prot. History of the Russian Church: In 9 books. – M.: Publishing House of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery, 1997. Book. 9:1917–1997. P. 85. Quote by: Shchelkachev A.V. New and recent history of the Orthodox Church: Continued. – M.: PSTBI, 1997. pp. 53–55. Menaea: December: In 2 hours - M.: Publishing house. Moscow Patriarchate, 1982. Part 2. P. 81.