Глава 1. Жизнь святителя Димитрия Ростовского и состояние пастырства в его время

Saint Demetrius was born in 1651, and in holy baptism his name was Daniel. He spent his childhood in the town of Makarov, not far from Kyiv. The father of the future saint, Savva Grigorievich Tuitalo, a centurion of the Zaporozhye army, and his mother Maria Mikhailovna were pious and deeply religious people. Savva Grigorievich was always concerned with his duties, took part in the defense of Orthodoxy from Catholic influence, and devoted the last years of his long life to the Church, retiring with the rank of ktitor of the Kyiv St. Cyril Monastery. Saint Demetrius testifies to the good and exemplary life of his mother in his diary: “May the Lord grant her a good answer at His Last Judgment, although I do not doubt God’s mercy and her salvation, knowing her constant virtuous and pious life” 2. Without a doubt, the Christian lifestyle of the parents was imprinted on the heart of their son and planted the seeds of piety in his soul. The shrines of Kyiv, where they moved in 1660, further increased Daniel’s desire and attraction to a life pleasing to God. He continued his literacy training, which began in his parents' house, at the Kiev-Mohyla Collegium, where he was assigned to study in 1662, during the rectorship of Ioannikiy Golyatovsky, a famous rhetorician and preacher. No detailed documentary information has been preserved about the years of study of St. Demetrius. The scholastic direction of education that existed within the walls of this institution could not but influence the students. But this method, according to some researchers, met the urgent needs of that time, providing the necessary knowledge and skills in the struggle for the purity of Orthodoxy against Latinization. And this justified the negative aspects (scholasticism): it is impossible to doubt the ardent love of the school’s students for Orthodoxy, which they witnessed by their zealous struggle for its purity. According to researchers, the saint studied at the college for no more than three years and during this time he had the opportunity to complete the course of study and gain knowledge within the framework of the program 3. It should be noted that these years were very difficult for the Kiev-Mohyla Collegium. The decline of education was due to the uncertainty of political events and the unrest experienced by Kyiv and Ukraine, which were located both politically and territorially between two strong rivals - Catholic Poland and Orthodox Russia, which left its mark on church life. But even with all this, the saint took away from school a rich store of knowledge, had an excellent command of the Latin language and, thanks to his hard work and abilities, received good training under the guidance of such mentors as rector Ioannikiy Golyatovsky, Archimandrite of Pechersk Innocent Gisel, abbot of the Kyiv Cyril Monastery Meletius Dzik and others who took part in his fate. In 1668, Abbot Meletius Dzik tonsured Demetrius to the monastic rank. He lived for almost seven years in the Kirillov Monastery, learning from experienced mentors humility, obedience and brotherly love. In addition to monastic works, Demetrius was also engaged in science: “in his cell he wrote and composed, ordered by the abbot and from other senior leaders, diligent in reading spiritual books” 4. All these circumstances allowed the young monk to enter the circle of the most educated and progressive people of that time, who stood at the center of the socio-cultural, political and religious life of Ukraine. On March 25, 1669, he was ordained a hierodeacon by Metropolitan Joseph of Tukalsky of Kyiv, whom Innocent Gisel characterized as “a saint of the holy faith, an unshakable pillar of the East” 5 . The dedication took place in one of the ancient (12th century) monasteries in the city of Kanev, which was under the patronage of Hetman Doroshenko. In 1675, in the Gustinsky monastery of the city of Priluki, Archbishop of Chernigov Lazar Baranovich ordained Demetrius as a hieromonk. On the recommendation and with the assistance of the Kiev-Pechersk abbot Meletius Dzik, the future saint, already distinguished by his oratory skills, was left by Lazar Baranovich as a preacher in the cathedral and other churches in the city of Chernigov. With the blessing of Lazar Baranovich, who was engaged in literary activities, Demetrius compiled at this time a collection of tales about miracles revealed in the Trinity - Elias Monastery from the miraculous image of the Mother of God, called “The Irrigated Fleece.” In July 1677, Saint Demetrius left for Lithuania, where he lived until 1679. Outside the Moscow state, in the southwestern region, which was under the yoke of lordly Poland, he saw firsthand the difficult situation of the Ukrainian people, who were undergoing double oppression: social - from the gentry, magnates, and spiritual - from the Catholic Church. The consequences of the liberation movement of the Ukrainian people led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky, which ended with the annexation of Left-Bank Ukraine to Russia, did not humble the pride of the Polish nobility. The government and the gentry pursued the policy of Catholicization even more fiercely, seducing the Orthodox into the union and not disdaining any methods or means. The Polish kings Jan Casimir, Mikhail Wisniewiecki, Jan Sobieski were obedient executors of the will of the magnates and the Catholic clergy. Churches, monasteries, and property were taken away from the Orthodox; the clergy, not excluding hierarchs, were subjected to violence and oppression. The Sejm constantly passed laws directed against the Orthodox brotherhoods, which were the stronghold of Orthodoxy in this struggle. Literary controversy also intensified. For almost two years, the future Saint Demetrius lived in the Polish state, serving as a people's preacher at the Slutsk church brotherhood, in a word establishing Orthodoxy, calling not to weaken in spirit in the struggle. Communication with champions of Orthodoxy, such as Theodosius Vasilevich, Bishop of Belarus, Klimenty Trizna, abbot of the Vilna Holy Spirit Monastery, strengthened his desire to serve the suffering people and his native Church. In Poland, Saint Demetrius studied the Polish language, here he became acquainted with Catholic theology, with the works of secular and religious thinkers of the West, and encountered the machinations of Catholic propaganda. Hetman Samoilovich invited Dmitry to his place several times, and therefore he took advantage of this opportunity and arrived in the city of Baturin, where he settled in the St. Nicholas Monastery. Here he began to write his Diary, a diary. But soon the quiet life ended for him. In 1681, Archbishop Lazar Baranovich promoted Hieromonk Dimitri to hegumen of the Maksakov Monastery. Five months later he was transferred to the abbot of the Baturinsky Monastery. However, Demetrius's leadership did not last long. Having a natural inclination towards a contemplative life and the thought of God, the saint was burdened by his troublesome obedience, so in 1684, leaving his abbess, with the consent of the new Pechersk Archimandrite Varlaam Yasinsky, he moved to the Lavra. In the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Demetrius took upon himself a new obedience, which glorified him for all times: the compilation of the Fourth Menaion. This work was begun by Peter Mogila, who for this purpose ordered the Greek handwritten Lives of the Saints by Simeon Metaphrastus from Athos, but did not have time to complete his plan. Lazar Baranovich also made an attempt to correct the situation, but it ended unsuccessfully and brought only grief to the saint, serving as a reason for ridicule from the Latins. Innocent Gisel was seriously involved in this matter and even asked Patriarch Joachim for his blessing to send Makaryevsky Menaions from Moscow. His request was granted, but the books were rewritten in cursive, and therefore sent back, due to the “difficulty of cursive writing.” Once again, Varlaam Yasinsky and other clergy of the monastery began the difficult work, but Dimitri was appointed editor-in-chief. Compiling lives completely fascinated him and took up so much time that he often went to rest without undressing an hour before Matins. Soon the election of a new Kyiv Metropolitan Gideon (Svyatopolk-Chetvertinsky) took place, who fled from Polish self-will under the protection of Samoilovich, who petitioned the Moscow government for him. And in January 1686, when Dmitry and Yasinsky went to congratulate the new metropolitan, he was again asked to accept the abbess at the Baturinsky monastery, where he continued his work, and the hetman himself assisted him, turning to Moscow to Prince B.V. Golitsyn with a request to send the Great Menaions. With great difficulties arising from disputes between representatives of the metropolitanate and Patriarch Joachim, the first quarter of the Menaion was printed in 1688 at the expense of the Pechersk monastery. The published book was submitted to the council of elders and the metropolitan for consideration, and then sent to the patriarch for approval. By that time, there was a debate in Moscow between Sylvester Medvedev and the Likhud brothers on the issue of the Holy Eucharist and the time of the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts. Aware of the peculiarities and views of the Ukrainian clergy, subject to Western influence in this matter, and also wishing to show their rights in the metropolis and confirm them, the patriarch demanded that the metropolitan send representatives of the clergy to explain and resolve controversial issues: “On behalf of your (Little Russian) spiritual rank, a husband of humble wisdom, sincerely of the Eastern Church, a son who knows the writings of the holy fathers, ancient teachers Saints of Christ’s Eastern Churches, and not merely exercising themselves with syllogisms and arguments... and thus all disagreement will be driven away” 6 . The new hetman Ivan Stepanovich Mazepa at that time also gathered in Moscow to express his devotion to Princess Sophia and Golitsyn. On August 10, 1689, representatives of this embassy, ​​together with clergy, including Demetrius, arrived in Moscow. And on August they introduced themselves to Princess Sophia and Ioann Alekseevich, and then to Patriarch Joachim. A month later, Mazepa hurried to the Trinity - Sergius Lavra to convince Tsar Peter of his good intentions, due to rapidly developing events, fearing to remain in Sophia’s camp. And here the clergy also visited the patriarch and discussed issues that worried him. At the monastery, according to the testimony of Saint Demetrius, they often visited the patriarch, who treated this humble worker condescendingly, blessing him to continue the work he had begun and presented him with an image of the Most Holy Theotokos in a frame. The boat of time sailed steadily forward, life and events took their course, about which in 1695 the saint wrote in his diary: “At the very beginning of the month of Januarius, another book of the Lives of the Saints was completed” 7 6, i.e. for December, January, February. Together with Metropolitan Varlaam, Hetman Mazepa also asked for the Makaryevsky Menyas to be sent from Moscow. Simultaneously with the publication of these books, the first collection of the saint, “Irrigated Fleece,” was published in 1696. In 1697, Demetrius was appointed abbot of the Kirillov Monastery, but soon he was transferred again and appointed archimandrite of the Chernigov Yelets Monastery, and then the Novgorod-Seversk arch - mandria was transferred to his jurisdiction. While fulfilling the duties assigned to him, he did not abandon his first obedience: “On the day of 1700 in the month of January, the third book of the Lives of the Saints, compiled through the labors of the inspired husband, Hieromonk Dmitry Savich Tuptalenko, was published and filled the hearts of curious book people with spiritual joy” 7. Soon a new period began in the life of Demetrius, Rostov, and the Lord was pleased to glorify the tireless worker in the field of hierarchical service. After the illness and death of Ignatius Korsakov, Metropolitan of Siberia, a worthy candidate was needed for the vacant department, about which Tsar Peter himself showed concern. In 1700, the tsar sent a decree to Metropolitan Varlaam of Kyiv, who commanded: “For the establishment and increase in the Orthodox faith and the preaching of the Holy Gospel in idolatrous peoples, also for bringing yasak peoples into the Christian faith - the Great Sovereign ordered to look in the Little Russian region, cities and monasteries for archimandrites and abbots or other famous monks of the good, and a scientist, and a good, immaculate life, who would be a metropolitan in Tobolsk” 8. Patriarch Adrian also made a similar request to the Metropolitan. In December 1700, a personal decree followed “for the election to the Siberian metropolitans, and to be a metropolitan in Ignatiev’s place, in Moscow... of the Chernigov region to the Novgorod Archimandrite Dimitri”... 9. On February 10, 1701, he arrived in Moscow and greeted Peter, and on March 23, during the Week of the Cross, in the 51st year of his life, Demetrius was elevated to the rank of bishop. The dedication was performed by Metropolitan Trifilliy of Sarsk and Podolsk, Metropolitan Isaiah of Novgorod and Alatyr, and Metropolitan Stefan of Ryazan and Murom. In the spring, it was not possible for Dimitri to go to Siberia due to the mud. Therefore, he temporarily settled in the Chudov Monastery, where there were the clergy and sacristy, the singers of the Siberian Metropolitan, who arrived with Metropolitan Ignatius for the service. The saint was busy with the affairs of his vast diocese, performed services, preached the gospel, and received visitors. In the summer his departure was prevented by a sudden illness. The Tsar himself inquired about his health and visited him personally. It became clear that for Siberia, with its harsh climate, Dmitry was in poor health. The illness was further aggravated by internal worries about the unfinished great work of compiling the Menaion. Tsar Peter canceled his order and took care of the appointment to Siberia of Filofei Leshchinsky, the future educator of the region, with whom Demetrius was connected by ties of friendship. At that time, the Russian state was going through a difficult period in its history - renewal. It took a colossal effort of the entire people and all classes of society to overcome stagnation - patriarchal Rus' to become one of the leading states in the world, to reach the level of developed powers in Europe. The ongoing war with Sweden absorbed enormous financial and material resources and placed a heavy burden on the shoulders of the working people. Therefore, a number of the highest decrees and commands followed to raise funds in the state budget. Saint Demetrius was a witness to this great era and an accomplice in the people's feat. After the Narva defeat, it was ordered to take a quarter of the bells in all dioceses for casting cannons. The Patriarchal rank was abolished and an inventory of monastic property was ordered, a Monastic Order was established, and it was forbidden to recruit novices. Quit-rent articles in the estates of the patriarchs, bishops and monasteries were farmed out. Control was introduced over monastic incomes, and then the monks were transferred to cash salaries and annual bread allowances, and the remaining income went to the treasury. One of the legends that testifies to his spiritual and pastoral wisdom relates to the short period of St. Demetrius’s stay as Metropolitan of Siberia. The Emperor, wishing to test the saint, invited him to his place and diligently treated him to wine. The saint obeyed the will of the Emperor, but did not answer questions, limiting himself only to blessings. On November 10, 1701, Joasaph Lazarevich, Metropolitan of Rostov, died, and in his place, at the request of Stefan Yavorsky, on January 4, 1702, Saint Demetrius was appointed. On March 1, 1702, the saint arrived in the city of Rostov. He was met by the flock with the icon of the Mother of God of Bogolyubskaya with the wonderworkers of Rostov standing before Her. Having entered the Spaso-Yakovlevsky Monastery, under the shadow of the Church of St. Anna, he prophetically predicted and indicated the place of his burial: “Behold my peace, here I will dwell forever and ever.” After celebrating the Liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral, he delivered a welcoming speech to the flock, in which he defined the purpose and nature of his future life and pastoral activity: “I came not to serve me, but to serve you... not to please myself, but to admonish the disorderly, to console the faint-hearted, to intercede for the weak... to love the good, to show mercy to the evil. punish, seek the benefit of everyone, carefully seek salvation for everyone, pray for everyone” 10. This speech also reflects the problems that the saint had to face in his diocese. About the state in which the flock of St. Demetrius, his contemporaries testify. So, I.T. Pososhkov speaks about the clergy: “The current flock is very faulty... these elders live in the city, and they do not really know what sin is, what salvation is, and for this reason they do not force their parishioners to repentance and do not instruct how to live soul-savingly. Only that presbyter can, in the slightest degree, directly celebrate the Liturgy if he spends enough time in the city at a cathedral or with a reasonable presbyter... but if he hasn’t been there much, he cannot send anything according to the books. Our rural priests are burdened with agriculture and for this reason they are not as concerned about church service as they are about their arable land, and the spiritual flock has already begun to be on the sidelines... rural presbyters are the most simple people: he grows up in the village, and thinks about village affairs. If he doesn’t plow the arable land, then he’ll be alone.” 11 Saint Demetrius asked one of the shepherds: “Why bring you to the priestly rank? Also, in order to save them too? Not at all, but to feed his wife and household... He looked for Jesus, not for Jesus, but for a bite of bread” 12. The moral state of the clergy was unfavorable. Literary works of that time, folk tales, songs, and proverbs told about the tricks of the priesthood and monastics, ridiculing their greed, laziness and drunkenness. The saint, in his writings and messages to his flock, more than once pointed out the vices of the clergy. The flock was no better. “I,” writes Pososhkov, “truly saw such old men even in Moscow that for fifty years they had not gone to confession, not for the sake of schismaticism, but for the sake of presbytery non-coercion.” The Rostov archpastor also confirms such phenomena: “Some have not received communion from ten years of age, others from twenty years old, and others do not even know in their entire lives that it is possible to partake of the Divine Mysteries, unless when the baby was baptized, then he received communion, which he does not remember” 13 . It is enough to get acquainted with the contents of one petition letter to imagine what difficulties the saint encountered in his diocese: “The city of Uglich, Resurrection priest Ivan beats his forehead: the parishioners of that church, and his priest’s spiritual children get drunk, they don’t go to the church of God, and they are disobedient to his priest in no way, and they revile his priest with unheard-of words, because he is the priest of their parish people (allegedly) the father teaches against the rules of the saints, he does not sanctify the well. The parishioners object that the priest does not go to houses, does not give the cross, fights, takes off his vestments, and bruises a parishioner with his fist” 14 . Among the monastery and bishop peasants, things came to bloody battles, in which up to three thousand people took part. In such conditions, Saint Demetrius was forced to take measures to streamline affairs in the diocese. The already difficult situation was aggravated by state intervention in the affairs of the Church. Stewards, solicitors, clerks, who were not at all distinguished by decency, were sent to bishops' houses and monasteries. As a result, the peasants left their places and fled to schismatic monasteries, the monasteries became poorer, the clergy became poor and could barely make ends meet. The educational activities of the archpastor, his messages to the priests and flock, numerous sermons, the establishment of a public school in Rostov - all this was aimed at healing social ills and eradicating evil. Realizing that “all the cold was due to the lack of teaching of an infant,” the saint decided to found a school and obtained permission from the Monastery Order: “In the current year 1702, on May 28, we indicated, according to the painting of the Right Reverend Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov... to issue two monks and translators thirty rubles a year;... to issue with signatures to teachers of Greek and Latin language for thirty rubles per person; for a Russian, five Rubles, and bread for the poor, who will learn Russian literacy, one money per day, and those who learn Greek and Latin, then two money per day” 15. This document indicates that not only the children of the clergy, but also ordinary townspeople, and even the poor, studied at the school. An order was sent throughout the diocese to send children to school. In addition to languages, children were taught rhetoric, spelling, singing, and the Law of God. The students spent their vacations and holidays in the bishop's villages: Demyanakh, Shestakovo, Kaptsy, here they rested, swam in the lake, performed plays and comedies. In 1702, a famous play was staged for the Nativity of Christ. For some plays, the bishop himself composed the text. Schoolchildren replaced the saint’s family and friends and consoled him in moments of trials and illness. He invited them to his place and forced them to read the “Our Father” prayer five times in memory of the five wounds of nails on the Most Pure Body of the Savior. The presence of students at the service was mandatory. The Bishop himself gave them communion, urging them to live in purity, chastity, and to pray fervently. He promised to pray for them himself, and did not forget about them later, during times of poverty. Grateful pupils called him “a patron of the arts and the father of all,” remembering “our priest, Metropolitan Demetrius of blessed memory,” 16 . The school did not last long: in 1705, during one of the bishop’s trips to Moscow, it was closed by order of the steward Voeikov, about which the saint complained in a letter to Metropolitan Job of Novgorod: “By God’s permission, poverty was created in the bishop’s house and the teachings were left, which, because of our indignation, feeds us, as if much were coming out.” expenses for teachers and students, and already everything that the bishop’s house receives from us has been taken away, the essence of it, not only the fatherland, but also church tribute, and the coronal memory, and so on, and so on, having become impoverished in everything that is impoverished and in teachings” 17 . “A house is not built all at once, and a book is not written suddenly; and having finished the work, the master repairs it, correcting and completing it,” said Saint Demetrius about his books, research and works 18. Day and night he did not part with his pen: during the day he wrote by the dim mica window, at night - by the flickering of a candle. The saint was more afraid than death of leaving the compilation of lives unfinished. So, in one of his letters, he wrote: “Terrify me with the death of the late Joseph Koldychevsky, the fear of death will attack me, and the extreme fear that we don’t know the day and the hour... but the work of writing books will remain, will anyone be willing to take it up and do it, and there is still a lot of work that needs to be done” 19. And the saint had many different plans and plans for the future. While dealing with the affairs of the diocese, he collected historical information about the Rostov Metropolis, appending it to the Menaions. On February 9, 1705, the great long-term work of the saint was completed, marked by the prayer of St. Simeon the God-Receiver: “Now let Thy servant go, O Master...” 20. Concerned about raising the educational level of the clergy, he began to compile a new book, “The Chronicler,” as a guide to Sacred history from the creation of the world to the sixth century of the fourth thousand years. The history of the century fit into one chapter, and if there were no important events in it, then the saint filled the chapter with a moral teaching or a sermon, which, in fact, was the focus of the work: “On the chronicle writing that we have begun, with God’s help, let those who want to know know that our intention is not only to delve into stories, but also to learn from moral teachings and interpretations of the Holy Scriptures” 21 . In the summer of 1705, Saint Demetrius visited Yaroslavl, a large trading city that had become the center of the schismatic movement. Archpastoral concern for the Church of God was expressed not only in taking practical measures against schismatics, but also forced the bishop to again take up the tried weapon, the pen, to expose their errors in the essay “Discourse on the Image of God and the Likeness in Man,” sermons, and then in the treatise “Search for the schismatic Bryn faith.” In his sermons to the “simple people,” Saint Demetrius mercilessly castigated such vices of schismatics as ignorance, lies and immorality. He points out the reasons that forced the saint to use such strong means, characterizing what was happening: “The Holy Church is severely oppressed, diminished, both from external persecutors and from internal schismatics... almost in every city, some kind of special faith is being invented, and about faith, both simple men and women... dogmatize and teach, like the addition of three fingers, saying not right and new cross to be" 22. The struggle of Saint Demetrius against the schism, his polemics, according to the testimony of the schism teachers themselves, was a success, as the tsar knew about. In need of statesmen and capable people to carry out reforms, Peter I, taking into account the authority of the Metropolitan of Rostov, his literary talent and the effectiveness of his words, had the intention of publishing his book with an appendix to the Trebnik. In August 1705, in accordance with the sovereign's decree and the permission of Metropolitan Stefan Yavorsky, the saint of Rostov arrived in Moscow as the next bishop for priestly service and obedience “with the sacristy, and with the choristers, and with the house people, and with the reserves” 23. He spent almost a whole year in labor, performing sacred acts, preaching the gospel in various churches on topical issues, and teaching the people. It was to this period of his activity that the most significant number of sermons dated back. Their main theme is the achievement of Christian perfection, a moral ideal. The affairs of managing the diocese, relationships with secular authorities, trips to Moscow, worries about the bishop's house, and scientific works took a lot of strength and health from the saint. Along with ordinary labors, he also performed an ascetic feat. He exhausted his body like a repentant sinner. He often spread himself with a cross on the ground, in the summer he gave his body over to be eaten by mosquitoes, he limited himself in food, eating once during the first week of Great Lent - on Thursday, and also on Holy Week. Often, despite his rank, he traveled on foot from Rostov to Yaroslavl and back. This blond, gray-haired, thin, seemingly inconspicuous man, short in stature, hunched over, with a small wedge-shaped beard, wearing glasses, usually wearing a woolen duckweed of his favorite dark green color, hid within himself an amazingly powerful spirit. Writing on spiritual topics for the benefit of Christians was his urgent need. His pen includes: “Spiritual Medicine for Confused Thoughts”; “Mirror of the Orthodox confession, dogmatic content”; “12 articles on the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ”; “On the Communion of the Holy Mysteries”; “Grateful remembrance of the Passion of Christ and prayerful reflection and lamentation at the burial of the God-bearing body” and other works. The saint suffered a lot, seeing the decline of church life and splendor, the ruin of the bishop's house, the poverty of the clergy and people, and he himself endured poverty with them, being forced to limit himself even in small things. This is evident from his letters, when he asks benefactors to send him “some tea,” because “in Rostov there is nowhere to get it, but like time,” when he invites them to his “cell for mushrooms,” when he reports: “I’m almost wandering around on foot, neither horse nor rider. The sheep are depleted of food and there are no horses” 24. Back in 1707, the saint left a will in case of death. He felt the approach of death, often called the poor and beggars to his Cross Chamber, served them a meal, showed mercy, redeemed debtors from their rights, relieving them from punishment. The year 1709 for the Rostov diocese was marked by a number of important events and visits. And the saint was forced to overcome weaknesses and illnesses. In the summer, Rostov was visited by princesses Natalya, Maria and Feodosia Alekseevna, who were present at the consecration of the Church of St. Artemy in the Epiphany Monastery. At the beginning of July, news arrived of the victory of Russian troops “over the adversary, over the Swedes near Poltava.” The saint himself performed a solemn prayer service and noted this event in his diary. In the fall, news came of the arrival of Tsarina Praskovy Feodorovna in Rostov to venerate the miraculous icon of the Mother of God in the Tolga Monastery. In order not to bother the distinguished guest with a tiring journey, it was ordered to bring the icon to Rostov. The saint became so weak in health that he did not hope to live to see that time: “Here come two guests,” he said to the treasurer Philaret, “the Queen of Heaven and the Queen of Earth. Only I won’t be able to see them anymore, but you, treasurer, must be ready to accept them” 25. On October 26, the day of his Angel, he was exhausted from coughing attacks, but he himself performed the Liturgy in the cathedral. The choir read the lesson for him, and the saint sat at the royal gates. October 27 was the last day of his life. On the morning of October 28, 1709, he was found in his cell on the floor, resting in a kneeling position of prayer. The body of Saint Demetrius was buried according to his will in the Spaso-Yakovlevsky Monastery. The funeral service was performed by Metropolitan Stefan Yavorsky, a friend of the saint, who repeated in the funeral homily: “Holy Demetrius, holy!” The discovery of the relics of the Rostov archpastor took place 43 years later, and on April 22, 1757, he was canonized, to the great council of the saints of God, whose glory he captured in his works. According to researchers, the creative heritage of St. Demetrius amounts to up to 20 volumes of essays and works, testifying to him as a tireless worker, an ascetic of science, and a church encyclopedist. His personal library consisted of over 300 volumes, and he constantly replenished it with books received from booksellers in the West and Russia, as well as those sent by friends, to whom he always reminded of the need to send rare copies needed for work. A scientist and theologian with a large store of knowledge and experience, the saint, examining the monuments of church writing of Eastern and Latin origin, the works of the Fathers of the Church, like a bee, extracted the nectar of wisdom from everywhere. He mentions more than 60 names of church and secular writers, historians, teachers of the Church and theologians in his works. Among the used St. Demetrius's list of monuments of church writing included ancient patericons, Prologues, chronicles, and chronologies. The most important place in the writings of Saint Demetrius is given to the fathers of the Holy Church, theologians, teachers, preachers, whose pastoral experience he was guided in his ministry and activities. He himself brings their names before the eyes of listeners and readers. These are the Monk Macarius of Egypt, Saints Athanasius the Great, John Climacus, John of Damascus, John Chrysostom, Gregory the Theologian, Ephraim the Syrian, Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory the Dvoeslov, blessed Jerome, Theodoret, Augustine, Hieromartyr Cyprian and many others. Of the literary monuments of the Russian Orthodox Church that he used, mention should be made, first of all, of the Great Chetia - the Menaion of Metropolitan Macarius, which were of fundamental importance in the creation of his Lives of the Saints, the works of St. Maxim the Greek, Lazar Baranovich and a number of others, which he used in clarifying religious and dogmatic issues. Analyzing and carefully studying the enormous literary material, noting the errors and disagreements that have crept in, Saint Demetrius approaches it critically and at the same time expands his horizons and knowledge. Often, when encountering contradictions, he pays tribute to the authority of the fathers, and sometimes he submits them to pious Christian reasoning and faith, trusting the conciliar reason of the Holy Church, possessing the fullness of Divine grace and knowledge. At the beginning of the saint’s creative activity, the influence of Western scholasticism is noticeable in his writings and sermons: its inherent methods, sophisms and allegorical devices are used, but in the second half of his life the works acquire greater simplicity and clarity of thought. All the works of Saint Demetrius can be divided into four types 26: Dogmatic. These include “Search for the schismatic Bryn faith” and “Mirror of the Orthodox Confession.” Spiritual and moral. These include the teachings of the saint, such as “The inner man in the cage of his heart is solitary, studying and praying in secret,” “Apology for the consolation of sorrow,” “General confession of sins,” “Adoration of our Lord Jesus Christ,” “Spiritual Alphabet,” 120 sermons that have come down to us. Historical. These are, first of all, 12 volumes of the Lives of the Saints, “Chronicle”, “Irrigated Fleece”, “Diary”. Poetic. Spiritual dramas “The Nativity of Christ”, “The Repentant Sinner”, “Esther and Ahasfer”, poems (or cants) - “My Most Lovable Jesus” and others. St. Demetrius of Rostov. Essays. T. 2. P. 37. Shlyapkin I.A. St. Demetrius of Rostov and his time. St. Petersburg, 1891. P. 6. St. Demetrius of Rostov. Essays. P. 995. Shlyapkin I.A. Decree. op. P. 293. Popov M.S., priest Saint Demetrius of Rostov and his works. St. Petersburg, 1910. P. 223. Shlyapkin I.A. Decree. op. pp. 423–424. Nechaev V. Saint Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov. M., 1849. P. 174. Shlyapkin I.A. Quote op. P. 378. Popov M.S., priest Decree. op. P. 273.