Введение

It pleased God's providence to call Saint Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov, to serve the Church in difficult times for the Russian state. The era of Peter's reforms was accompanied by the destruction of ancient foundations, the destruction of the centuries-old way of life to which the Russian people were accustomed. Piety, spiritual ideals, monastic feats - all this ceased to be valued at the top of Russian society, and at the bottom it caused an increase in drunkenness, debauchery, and ignorance. It was difficult in such conditions to lead the flock, directing it to the narrow gates of the Kingdom of Heaven. It was necessary to truly be a lamp, burning and shining, in order in the darkness of moral savagery and spiritual sleep to show people the path to the Truth, to awaken in them a craving for eternal life. And the Lord, by His ineffable mercy, raised up such true shepherds who rightly ruled the Word of truth. One of them, and, moreover, probably the most outstanding, was St. Demetrius. An educated theologian, a talented preacher, a historian, an experienced ascetic who knew how to heal human souls - St. Demetrius was just the shepherd who was so needed in the spiritual field at that time. His life and numerous works entered the treasury of the Orthodox Church. And in this precious heritage of the saint, an important place is occupied by the experience of his counseling and pastoral activity, the study of which is the main task of this work. The chosen topic is undoubtedly useful for modern shepherding, since the study of the pastoral experience of St. Demetrius brings us closer to the patristic heritage, provides an example of genuine pastoral selflessness and pastoral wisdom, savingly guiding the sheep of Christ’s flock in the most unfavorable conditions. What sources and aids did the author use when working on the chosen topic? First of all, these are, of course, the creations of St. Demetrius himself. They are cited in the work from the five-volume edition of 1839–1840 (in this case indicated: “Works”, volume and page number) and from the one-volume edition of Tuzov of 1888 (in this case marked simply “Works”, without indicating the volume). In addition, sometimes individual works of the saint are quoted - “Chronicle” according to the edition of Soykin, B.G., and “Search for the Bryn faith...” according to the Kiev edition of 1903. From the research on the life and work of St. Demetrius, the work primarily used the following: Shlyapkin I.A. Saint Demetrius of Rostov and his time. St. Petersburg, 1891. Popov M., priest. Saint Demetrius of Rostov and his works. St. Petersburg, 1910. Nechaev V. Saint Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov. M., 1849. Issues of the pastoral activity of St. Demetrius are discussed in the works: Maccabees N. Saint Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov, as a shepherd and pastorologist. Kyiv, 1910. Pitirim (Starinsky), hierodiac. Saint Demetrius of Rostov, his theological works and pastoral activities. Zagorsk, 1972. The last source is a course work completed at the Moscow Theological Academy. In addition to it, the author used two more works of the Moscow Theological Academy: Derzhavin A., prot. Chetiy - Menaion of St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov, as an ecclesiastical, historical and literary monument. Zagorsk, 1954 (master's thesis). Nedosekin V., prot. Saint Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov, and his homiletical heritage. Zagorsk, 1970 (candidate's essay). A list of all sources and literature used in this work is given, as usual, at the end of the work.