Seventy-fifth anniversary of the spiritual and academic journal "Christian Reading"

Last year marked exactly 75 years since our spiritual and academic journal “Christian Reading” was founded. Three quarters of a century in the existence of the magazine is a very considerable period. Magazines, as periodical publications, are usually short-lived and soon become obsolete. During these three-quarters of a century, dozens, almost hundreds of magazines appeared, some of which at one time enjoyed wide circulation and great fame; but their glory has faded and their dilapidated books, forgotten by subsequent generations, can hardly be found in book depositories. The more remarkable is the fact that our magazine, one of the oldest in the family of its periodical brothers, at the same time is the most durable among them, and this veteran of the 1st spiritual press did not live its life in vain. Standing at the church of the highest spiritual science and serving as its expression, he was sensitive to all movements in the spiritual life of our fatherland, and his history is at the same time the history of our mental development over the past three quarters of a century. Our veteran magazine was first published in January 1821. The honor of starting this matter belongs to the then rector of our academy, Archimandrite Gregory (Postnikov), later Metropolitan of St. Petersburg. The journal of the conference of the theological academy dated October 10, 1820 says the following about this: “The rector of the academy, Archimandrite Gregory, suggested: wouldn’t it be useful to start a time-based Christian publication at the academy next year? - Everyone immediately confirmed the benefit of this, and some decisively declared themselves participants in this publication, and namely: 1) A. Rek. Ar. Gregory; 2) Sem. R.A. Polycarp; 3) A. Insp. Arch. Nathanael;. 4) Professor Ger. Pavsky; 5) Professor M.V. Sebrzhinsky; 6) Professor F.I. Vetrinsky; 7) Bakk. Greek language G. Meglitsky; 8) Tank. German language I. Pevnitsky; 9) Tank. General History V. Orzhevsky.” All students were invited to the meetings of this conference (October 10, 17 and 24), and everyone expressed their sympathy for the publication, but the nine named persons should be considered the founders of the journal, whose memory should therefore be especially dear to the academy and the editors. Eternal memory to them. 2 For us, living at the end of the 19th century, it is even difficult to understand how educated people at the beginning of our century could live without magazines, which now constitute an urgent need for every developed and enlightened person. But what is wrong now was quite natural then - given the limited education that distinguished our fatherland in general and the clergy in particular. Of course, even then we had very educated people who were at the level of the mental demands of their time; but there were very few such people - a small circle that could possess foreign literature, both in general literary Latin, as well as in the latest foreign languages, especially French and German. Distinguished by its esoteric character and having sufficient food in the available world literature to satisfy its spiritual needs, this circle of serious people could easily do without a periodical, for the existence of which, moreover, there was no basis, since outside this circle either mental limitation or complete illiteracy reigned. This was the case before the founding of our academy (1809). But then things begin to change quickly. The very foundation of the Academy was caused by new demands in the mental life of our fatherland, which, under the influence of great world movements, itself came into considerable excitement, which soon reached its apogee in the great upsurge of patriotic spirit on the occasion of Napoleon's invasion in 1812. Such world events have deep cultural and educational significance, since they disperse mental apathy even among narrow-minded and unenlightened people and force them to live by more lofty interests. And indeed, the Patriotic War, which ended with the shameful flight of the world conqueror and our solemn and victorious march through all of Europe to Paris itself, produced a profound revolution in the mental life of our society and people, whose horizons expanded enormously, and at the same time, under the influence of the extraordinary events that had just been experienced, faith in the ways of God’s Providence was revived both in history in general and in the destinies of our fatherland in particular, which immediately occupied leading position in Christendom. Along with the excitement of thought and feeling came a request for. spiritual food for the mind, which was looking for a solution to newly emerging issues in the field of religion and history, and since the circle of those interested in these issues has expanded significantly, a natural need arose for such a body that would, with periodic accuracy, satisfy the needs of the thirsting spirit and, in a publicly accessible form, offer a solution to emerging issues in the field of religious and historical life. Where could the satisfaction of these demands of thought and feeling come from? Of course, from the theological academy, in which and around which all the outstanding mental forces of that time were concentrated. And our theological academy, in founding its body, thereby revealed remarkable sensitivity to the demands of the time and in its body showed that it fully understood its purpose as a higher educational institution, the light of which was supposed to spread to our entire vast fatherland. It is also not difficult to understand why it was our Academy that had the honor of taking the initiative in publishing a spiritual journal. 3 Although it was the youngest of the three academies that existed at that time, its position in the capital, which constituted, and still constitutes, a window to Europe, necessarily put it in closer contact with those mental movements that were taking place in the Christian world and which had a stimulating effect on the mental life of our society and the clergy. And the movements were large and deeply significant. The West has just experienced a period of enthusiasm for encyclopedic materialism, the preachers of which found a warm welcome in our northern Palmyra and had a lot of fans. Although the horrors of the French Revolution - this brainchild of mental-political unbridledness and religious vacillation - significantly undermined the prestige of the encyclopedists, the ferment continued after, and Voltairianism continued to flourish in St. Petersburg, from where it was spread in mentally idle bars and throughout all the outskirts of Russia. Naturally, there was a need to counteract this harmful influence, and since here the question was no longer about the struggle of one religion with another, but of faith with unbelief, Christianity with materialistic anti-Christianity, it is not surprising that there was more mental excitement precisely where this struggle took place, and therefore our academy greatly moved forward, while others, standing further from this mental movement, retreated back, and the famous Kiev Academy, in its time, during the period of the great religious struggle, which played a great educational role, at this time weakened so much that it was temporarily transformed into a seminary (1816). 4 Obviously, the time of religious struggle has passed and the time has come for the struggle of Christianity as a religious system with anti-Christianity, as a product of the new time. From here the character, direction, purpose and the very name of the newly founded spiritual magazine are explained. As for the name, it came about in the most natural way and represents only the application of the usual term for lovers of edifying Christian reading to the periodical. “From the very beginning of the Orthodox Church,” says the preface to the first book of our magazine for 1821, “pious zeal for Christian reading has never diminished in our fatherland. This is indisputably proven by the many ancient Christian manuscripts that have survived to this day, multiple biographies of saints, as well as multiple translations and editions of various writings of the Holy Fathers and other edifying books. The providence of God from time to time renewed this pious zeal, and through it, with the Christian examples of the princes, kings and emperors of our fatherland, and with the pious instructions of the shepherds of the church, it preserved and preserves in our descendants the right spirit of the faith of our fathers. Therefore, the publishers of the beginning Christian Reading do not at all expect that any of our compatriots will ask why it begins; and therefore they don’t think at all that they need to explain it. Anyone who loves to read Christian books will like our Christian Reading, at least in its name.” 5 Thus, our magazine, by its very name, simply, so to speak, elevated the casual Christian reading of lovers of it into the correct periodical, and therefore this name, alien to any artificiality, was immediately understandable and became dear to all lovers of reading something edifying, useful for the mind and heart of a Christian. 6 If in general nomen est omen, then in this case the omen was extremely striking. The entire program of the new magazine fully corresponded to its name; it was, so to speak, a development of the very concept of Christian reading. The goal of all Christian reading, of course, is Christian enlightenment and Christian life; and therefore the new magazine set its goal to do both together. “Without this goal,” the publishers say in their preface, “it would not produce in the Christian reader any Christian thoughts, no Christian feelings and no Christian dispositions; but it would satisfy only curiosity, only curiosity, and perhaps would give only vain pleasure. And thus, instead of the Christian spirit, it would strengthen the spirit of this world; instead of edification, it would produce destruction, and would not live up to its name at all.” 7 In view of this, the publishers further emphatically warn their readers that “they will find nothing in Christian Reading except what can be read by a Christian man.” Moving then to a more detailed presentation of the magazine's program, the publishers reveal a remarkable breadth of the Christian worldview. One might assume that in the first spiritual journal, which appeared at the theological academy with the blessing of the highest church authority, religious principles of the church would come to the fore, theological thought would timidly adhere to established religious formulas, and Christianity itself would be understood only as a known form formed under the conditions of a given time. 8 In fact, Christian Reading acted as the organ of universal Christianity in all its breadth. Even the very terms of the confessional form of our church - “Orthodoxy” and “Orthodox”, which later became the motto of many of our spiritual magazines, 9 are not found often and instead of them “Christianity” and “Christian” are put forward. One might perhaps say that this was partly due to the lack of religious self-awareness of that time; but it can be said with equal, or even greater right, that then Orthodoxy was conceived more clearly than even in subsequent times as precisely universal Christianity in its independence from the conventional forms and trends of a given time. It would be difficult and unfair to deny that this was partly influenced by the direction that then prevailed in our educated society - right up to the head of state and to which, as the spirit of the times, the bearers of the highest theological knowledge, of course, could not help but pay tribute. 10 We mean that religious mysticism that appeared as a necessary reaction to the crude materialism of the previous period. But it would be even more unfair to accuse the founders of the magazine, as well as the highest church hierarchs who led them, of being carried away by this mysticism. Even if they paid tribute to the spirit of the times, this does not mean at all that they were carried away by it. On the contrary, we see in them deeply devoted and faithful sons of the church, clearly understanding their purpose - to be conductors of the true teachings of the church into the mass of its semi-conscious body; if religious mysticism had any influence on them, it was no more than in the sense of deepening and expanding their Christian worldview and strengthening their Christian disposition, i.e. that influence which is absolutely necessary for the healthy religious and moral life of every Christian and without which all sources of living water in the soul dry up, leaving behind only dry, lifeless forms. Without such mysticism, Christianity itself is unthinkable, and if this kind of mysticism flowed noticeably through the theological academy, then this only contributed to raising the true spirit of life in it, expanding and deepening the Christian worldview in it. This breadth and depth of the Christian worldview is clearly reflected in the definition and explanation of the goal that was set for the oldest spiritual magazine by its founders. Having set the goal of Christian Reading as Christian education and Christian life, publishers naturally turn to sources from which they will draw both material and guidelines for their publication. They place Holy Scripture in the foreground, since “it contains the truths that should constitute Christian enlightenment; in it are found the rules which should be the rules of the Christian life.” They placed Holy Scripture, so to speak, at the forefront of the publication itself. Even the motto for the magazine was chosen to signify that the publishers “established on the foundation of an apostle and a prophet, which is the cornerstone of Jesus Christ Himself” (Eph. 2:20). “So we,” say the publishers, “should not seek for our minds and hearts any other teaching than that contained in our sacred books.” 11 This limitation of the source of Christian enlightenment and edification to Holy Scripture alone can again arouse the thought of being carried away by the spirit of the times, when, under the influence of the widespread worldwide activity of the “British and Foreign Bible Society”, which found the most cordial reception in Russia, the meaning of Holy books threatened to displace from consciousness another source of knowledge of God and Christian life, namely Holy Tradition; but this thought is immediately eliminated in view of what the publishers say next. Holy Scripture, of course, requires an explanation, and the publishers promise to give this explanation, and not limiting themselves to their own understanding of it, they “will pay attention to the various experiences of explanation proposed in modern times by enlightened interpreters of Scripture and theologians in different societies of Christianity; They will compare their understanding with their understanding, weigh the reasons for their explanation with their reasons, and thus settle on what seems true and undoubted to them, or more plausible and worthy of acceptance. For the best modern interpreters of Scripture and theologians know the root languages ​​of Scripture better, and many of them define the meaning of Scripture more accurately, more impartially to their opinions and principles of any philosophy, than most of them in the past and especially in the middle times of Christianity.” These are the golden words that it would do well to remember more often now - words in which exegesis takes a completely scientific basis and seeks truth not in established, current opinions, but in the very root of things. In these golden words one can hear the voice of our famous exegete Prof. Pavsky, and although the article is not signed and we do not have the opportunity to verify our assumption, but for our consciousness the very pen clearly reveals in the modest anonymity of the famous founder of scientific exegesis in our country. But having said that the best newest interpreters of Holy Scripture (mostly foreign, of course) are better and more reliable than the old ones, the author of the introduction does not at all stand on the basis of Western neologism with its critical techniques in unprincipled analysis of the text, which cannot but lead to a dead loop of negation, expelling every spirit of life both from the interpretation and from Holy Scripture itself, which is turned into an anatomical corpse. If he had said nothing more, then perhaps, at a certain stretch, he could be accused of a tendency towards neologism in the field of exegesis. But this is precisely where the breadth of the Orthodox theological worldview of our famous exegete was manifested, that he immediately found a criterion for the theological mind, and this criterion is indicated where St. usually finds it. Orthodox Church, precisely in the immortal works of “the Holy Fathers of the Christian Church, who, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, gave birth to entire societies for the gracious kingdom of our Lord, raised them and strengthened them in the holy faith, brought them into the manhood of Christian life, imparted to them the measure of the Holy Spirit, which they themselves were guided by, and paved the way for them to higher perfection.” 12 Thus, the independently testing mind of a theologian, using all the means of scientific knowledge and finding an immutable criterion for himself in the collective mind of the bearers of Holy Tradition, precisely in the works of the Holy Fathers of the Church - this is the ideal of true exegesis, and the publishers put this ideal on the very first pages of the spiritual magazine they founded. Moreover, they made the works of the holy fathers not only the source of their theology, but set it as their goal to make this inexhaustible source of edification accessible to the direct use of their readers, and “out of special respect for these writings, they even made it a rule. so that every book of Christian Reading begins with their writings.” 13 No sooner said than done, and with the very first book that active translation work really began to publish the patristic works in a common language, which from that time on, developing more and more, finally in our time has reached its highest stage, namely the enterprise of publishing the “Complete Collection of Works” by one of the greatest church fathers, who has long been the favorite of our pious ancestors and the main source of the patristic section in our magazine. At the same time, it is interesting to note the publishers’ statement that, speaking about the Holy Fathers of the Church, “they did not limit their concept of them to any of the first centuries of Christianity, such as the fourth, sixth or eighth. They, according to the literal statement of the author of the introductory article, do not measure the time of the church fathers by centuries, but by the purity of thoughts, the holiness of feelings, the pure Christian spirit. For the publishers do not agree that the truth and correct understanding of Scripture should be determined by any time. The Word of God and its truth endure forever (1 Pet. 1:25; Ps. 106:2). Even in the 12th and 13th centuries there were truly enlightened and holy men in the East, to whom the glorious name of the Church Fathers should belong, and the publishers hope to subsequently justify their opinion before all sincere and impartial readers.” 14 Having established the main sources of true theology, the publishers then proceed to indicate the need in their time to pay attention to understanding the very foundations of the Christian religion - and precisely in an apologetic interest, which directly constitutes a response to the deeply pressing needs of that time. “There should be no concealment,” say the publishers, “of what was and what is now. The evil spirit of this world never sleeps. He was never left without his followers, the sons of disobedience... So in our time he turned mainly to the foundations (of the Christian faith) in order to destroy them, and in their place to establish the wisdom of a short-sighted, often disagreeing with itself, almost constantly changing, and in the most human things almost constantly sinning mind... The spirit of freethinking and unbelief of the countless crowd in Western Christianity, through the reading of foreign books, has long penetrated to our fatherland; and, wandering through the different classes of the people, penetrates the minds and hearts of some even from the lower classes.” In contrast to this spirit of freethinking, it was proposed to exhibit in the magazine a special section dedicated to the defense of the fundamental truths of Christianity and with the goal of bringing joy to believers to see “that their faith, and beyond the experimental evidence of their hearts, has very strong evidence for its truth and divinity, that even its external foundations cannot be shaken or destroyed by any efforts of the enemy, and that in all respects the word of the Lord is true: on rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not will overcome her." (Matthew 16:18). 15 “Words and Conversations” are also introduced as a special section, as a practical application of the truths of the Christian faith, as well as “short edifying reflections on various subjects and cases, such as some saying of Holy Scripture, some favorite word or rule of the father of the church, some expressions and sayings used in the community, some feeling or fear of people, on different days and years, their different times, etc. Such reflections by their very brevity they are more conveniently understood, act more directly on the heart, more conveniently cleanse and sanctify it.” At the same time, the publishers obviously captured the very depths of everyday life with its hobbies, thoughts and moods, which in itself should have aroused the keenest interest in readers. But the publishers went even further and did not fail to touch the most sensitive chord of their contemporary society; they decided to pay special attention to “the proclamation of the power of the Holy Spirit, acting in many different ways on human hearts both through the Revealed Word of God and directly.” At the same time, one cannot help but pay attention to the breadth of view with which the action of the Holy Spirit on the hearts of people is understood here. In our time, under the influence of the high development of Orthodox self-awareness, many tend to think of the action of the Holy Spirit as limited to a certain religious form, denying or at least ignoring it outside this form. The founders of Christian Reading saw it differently. In their opinion, the action of the Holy Spirit extends to the entire Christian world, so for them the religious trials of some Anger from Saxony or an American black 16 to a certain extent also served as an example to prove the ways of God's Providence for people, as well as the trials of Orthodox people, although, of course, their interest was more focused on the latter than on the former. But this breadth of religious worldview again does not in the least speak against the strict Orthodoxy and churchliness of the founders of our magazine, and it is enough to point out the importance they attached to the lives of the saints for all bewilderment in this regard to be dispelled. They placed the lives of the saints in the foreground as the best monument to the manifold actions of the Holy Spirit on human hearts, as a monument to the loving and wise guidance of God and an inexhaustible source of teaching and imitation. 17 But the above-mentioned feature had that extremely good side that it did not give scope for the development of that religious conceit to which selfishly minded human nature is always prone, and warned against Pharisaic arrogance, boasting of its orthodoxy and self-righteousness in front of despised tax collectors and sinners. Then, the often cited examples of religious revival and the so-called “conversions to God of people who are in Christianity, but do not live according to the spirit of it, contributed to the maintenance in society of that beneficial conviction that it is not enough to be a Christian by name or to be numbered among Christians; you really need to be a Christian and prove your Christianity by your very life and deeds. Unfortunately, this latter is very often forgotten by Christians, and therefore it has always been unnecessary to remind about it, and if the founders of our magazine, by their very persistence in this direction, revealed some influence on them of the above-mentioned religious trend, then in any case, by introducing this section, they thereby touched the most living chord of the society of that time and gave the most lively interest to their magazine. It is not for nothing that special attention was paid to this side of the matter in the very first draft of the publication of the magazine 18, and this section was constantly replenished with stories from the most living sources - from the experience of the storytellers themselves, who felt one or another action of the highest reviving force. Finally, if we also mention the publishers’ proposal to publish reports on missions among the pagans and on newly published books in Russian, as well as in foreign languages, then this exhausts the range of subjects that were proposed to be offered to the attention of readers of the new magazine. And one cannot help but say that the circle was wide enough to embrace all the most important interests that can occupy the Christian mind and Christian heart. It is clear from everything that the founders of the journal were not cold, dry theorists, far removed from life; no, these were living, thinking people who themselves stood in the cycle of public life and were sensitive to its demands and trends, and only thanks to this own vitality they were able to impart to the magazine they founded such a vital force with which it was able to live for three quarters of a century and which, as one can and should hope, will be enough for it for many, many more years. Thus, both the demands of the time itself and the sensitive responsiveness to them on the part of the publishers were the reason that the news of the new magazine quickly spread throughout the vast expanse of our fatherland and aroused keen interest everywhere. “Christian Reading” became the subject of general conversation and was awaited with keen interest not only by clergy, but also by secular people. Sensitive to the demands of social thought, the Imperial Public Library, although it had to receive two legalized copies, did not fail to order five copies for money and precisely for the purpose, as it is said in the attitude of its director to the academic conference, in order to “contribute for its part to the success of such a useful publication and, moreover, to make it convenient for many readers to suddenly use them,” 19 i.e. simultaneously. To suddenly use this same desire, i.e. at the same time, of course, it also explains that orders for two and three copies of “Christian Reading” followed from theological seminaries, and, for example, in relation to the Vladimir Theological Seminary it is directly stated that of the five copies it requested, one was assigned for the seminary library, one for the rector and one for the inspector. 20 Such a demand for a separate copy of the new magazine on the part of persons serving at one institution and, therefore, who could conveniently use one library copy, eloquently testifies to the keen interest that the new magazine aroused among the entire educated society and clergy of that time. This is also evidenced by another, even more eloquent fact. According to the initial agreement with the Medical Printing House (where the magazine was first printed), it was proposed to print Christian Reading in two factories, i.e. 2400 copies But the subscription immediately revealed such favorable symptoms that this quantity turned out to be insufficient, and already in December 1820 an order came from the editors to reprint the first sheets with a second edition and print the remaining sheets in increased quantities, namely in two and a half factories, i.e. in the amount of 3,000 copies, a number of “prenumerants,” as subscribers were then called, which even now, after 3/4 of a century, constitutes an almost unattainable dream for most of our spiritual monthly magazines. The success of the subscription will be even more obvious if you pay attention to the price that was assigned to the magazine. The price for it was set at 20 rubles without postage, 23 rubles with delivery in St. Petersburg and 25 rubles with postage to non-residents. 21 Of course, these were assignat rubles, which were already under threat of devaluation, but this does not change the essence of the matter at all, since at that time, given the extreme high cost of money and the meager salaries of employees in all departments, these 20 or 25 rubles were worth no less, if not more, than now the corresponding amount of current rubles in silver. Suffice it to say that at that time, academy professors received 1,500 rubles, bachelors 700 rubles in banknotes, and in seminaries and theological schools even more meagerly - and in view of this it will be quite clear what kind of sacrifice the rector and inspector of the Vladimir Seminary made when each of them, satisfying their intellectual interest, sent 25 rubles to the editor of the newly founded journal. And so, amid general anticipation and increased subscription, in January 1821 the first book of “Christian Reading” was published. It was released from the Censorship Committee established at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, signed by the rector of the seminary, Archimandrite Polycarp. This first book consisted of 113 pages of rather untidy font, i.e. of 7 or so sheets, in accordance with the declared volume norm. For our widely and quickly reading times, when, to satisfy the greedy curiosity of readers, publishers give out whole heaps of printed material for just five rubles, this book would seem very meager and could be read without difficulty in one evening (with consumption of more than 2 rubles in one sitting!). But at that time they did not read with such speed and impetuosity as now, and therefore one can be sure that the book received by all the “pre-numberers” was read and re-read to the fullness of spiritual satisfaction. In its content, it fully corresponded to the needs of the time and in its five departments it provided a number of diverse articles designed to satisfy the needs of both the mind and the heart. In addition to the introductory article discussed, in the first place in the section “Writings of the Holy Fathers” the Russian translation of the Epistle to the Ephesians by St. Ignatius the God-Bearer with a small explanatory note to it. Having been satisfied with reading the famous patristic work, the reader moved on to the second section: “Research and reasoning regarding the Christian religion,” which offered two treatises: a philosophical and theological discussion “On Religion,” which reveals close familiarity with the philosophical views of that time on the essence of religion, and a natural apologetic treatise: “The Word of God about Nature,” in which the author expounds in a living and poetic language the meaning of nature as a witness about the wisdom and greatness of God, and striking examples are given of the influence of the forces of nature on the mental state of man, borrowed from various German and English sources, and the whole discussion ends with an enthusiastic appeal to the Creator of nature, so that He, through the messengers of His omnipotence, awakens the dormant soul of man and puts in his heart love for the infinitely High. Further, in the section “Christian Teaching”, a discussion is proposed, which is sufficiently characterized by its very title: “Some rules of life for Christian youth”, and in the last section “Edifying Thoughts” there is an article: “Edifying Thoughts and Feelings” (where in an aphoristic form an explanation is offered of various outstanding texts of Holy Scripture from the Old and New Testaments, given, moreover, in Russian translation) and “Useful thoughts for every day of the month,” namely 31 aphoristic sayings, each of which was capable of keeping those who liked to delve into the secrets of moral truths occupied for a whole day. An example of this kind of thoughts can be given as follows: “A person who has the fear of God in his heart is like the sun, which shines and warms, although he does not speak”; “Don’t say everything you know, but be sure to know everything you say”; “Wisdom is the sun, friendship is the salt, moderation is the reserve, patience is the medicine, a good conscience is the life of life”; “Do not tie your heart to an inn on your journey: no prudent man builds a house on the way,” etc. That this kind of tributary thoughts occupied readers at that time can be seen even from the fact that in the copy we have at hand, these thoughts are dotted with notes and icons, obviously made by modern readers; and in general this form of wisdom has always retained its interest for religiously thoughtful people, as evidenced by, for example, the book of the late Minister Valuev “Collection of short reverent readings for all days of the year.” In conclusion there are also letters - for Christmas and New Year, which have the appearance of edifying correspondence between friends; - which again represented one of the favorite literary forms of that time. 22 This short sketch can give a sufficient idea of the nature of the books of the newly founded magazine. Following this model and in the same spirit, the following books were compiled, which were folded into parts by three with a general table of contents, so that the year consisted of four volumes - approximately 350 pages each, and the entire annual publication contained about 1,500 pages. And thus, in the correct sequence, book after book was published, which formed the basis of the private libraries of the “pre-numerators.” As the editors became more familiar with the matter, the books became more diverse in content and more confident in tone, and a new department was introduced and little by little grew and expanded: “Spiritual History,” which was later to develop into a department of church history. In the 4th part, extracts from the works of St. appear for the first time. John Chrysostom (with a rather lengthy biography of him), - that saint who has long been the favorite of our pious ancestors and who, without leaving the pages of our magazine since that time, contributed no little to the popularity of “Christian Reading” in wide circles of lovers of deeply edifying reading. That our magazine, from the very first years, penetrated into the environment of the then educated society and had a beneficial effect on it, interesting evidence of this can be found in the fact that in the fourth part for 1823 there appeared a rather extensive “letter to the publishers” from one nobleman, who brings sincere gratitude to the publishers for the benefits they provide and tells the instructive story of his conversion to faith. From his youth he was a slave to all sorts of passions and infected with encyclopedic freethinking: “piety, in his own words, he considered hypocrisy; he considered the establishment of our Orthodox Church a political invention of people; but what is worst of all and which is extreme madness and the bitterness of unbelief, he considered the word of eternal truths not the word of God, but the word of man,” and instead he read and reread the works of Voltaire, Helvetius and Rousseau. Then he tells in detail the story of his conversion - completely in the spirit of those stories that were placed in almost every book of "Christian Reading", exactly how he, stricken by a serious illness, saw in this a formidable visit from God, began to read edifying spiritual works and came to the conclusion that he renounced his former idols, burned the works of encyclopedists and became, apparently, a constant and diligent reader of "Christian Reading". And our magazine had many such devoted readers, and according to this many readers, the religious and moral benefits it brought were great. The popularity of the magazine can also be evidenced by the fact that some years, such as 1826 and 1827, all sold out until the last book, and since the demands for them continued, the editors were forced to reprint them in a second edition (in 1838 and 1839). And when, in 1828, the famous “The Last Days of the Earthly Life of Jesus Christ” by Innocent appeared on the pages of the magazine, then, as a young inspector of the academy, he first flapped the eagle wing of his theological genius, the success of the magazine was strengthened for a long time. But this did not in the least lull the rest of the workers; but on the contrary, it seemed to give them a special liveliness, introducing a new incentive - noble competition, and thus gradually more and more filled up the rich intellectual capital that we, the distant descendants of the first publishers, inherited. In a short essay there is no way to take stock of this rich inheritance, to survey the entire enormous mass of intellectual capital that has accumulated over the course of three quarters of a century in 200 volumes of our magazine, 23 constituting no less than one hundred and fifty thousand pages. This review will be made in a special article, and now we will limit ourselves to only the most cursory glance at this monument of scientific and literary works of our academy. And conscience demands that we say that this monument is worthy of the highest church of spiritual science. Reviewing this huge mass of volumes, I was filled with reverence for those humble workers of science and education who took upon themselves the great and noble task of spreading and establishing the kingdom of truth, goodness and light throughout the vast expanse of our fatherland, which was then especially in need of spiritual enlightenment. They worked with complete selflessness - with the deepest Christian humility, sacrificing their personalities to the common cause. With the regularity of the moon’s cycles, book after book was released from the mysterious laboratory of the mind and delivered exquisite spiritual comfort to thousands of those hungry and thirsty for truth and light; but who these nameless benefactors were was known to only one editor, since until the end of the 60s all articles were anonymous. 24 “What is in your name”? - these modest workers said to the questions of the curious, and, offering the best fruits of their minds for general use. and hearts themselves were forever hidden from external gaze under the cover of anonymity, so that now the authorship of many articles can already form the subject of literary-critical dispute - of course, for people, and not for God, for whom nothing is hidden and before whose throne most of them have already appeared. But what is invisible to contemporaries is visible to the eye of history. And now, looking through these hundreds of volumes, you can’t help but feel the breath of life even on the dilapidated pages, many of whose authors could not hide from view even under the cover of anonymity. And this is especially applicable to those luminaries of our spiritual science who left the radiant light of their passage precisely on the pages of our magazine. And there is nothing more instructive than to observe how these luminaries - the Innocents, Macarii, Johns, Karpovs and many others right up to modern times - modestly ascended, throwing the first, still pale rays of their passage onto the pages of our magazine, how the rays from them gradually flared up more and more, and how, having reached the zenith of their glory, these luminaries slowly bowed to the west, and new luminaries appeared in their place to complete the same circle being. And in this way, a whole series of workers - both great and small - selflessly created this two-hundred-volume monument, on which all the best treasures of their thoughts and feelings were indelibly inscribed. Let us crown this monument with a wreath of gratitude to its ever-memorable creators and, reverently before their memory, let us imitate their selfless service to truth, goodness and light. Our vast fatherland, both then and now, still feels a deep need for enlightenment and again, even more than ever, turns its gaze to the churches of higher spiritual science. Let us not be stingier than our predecessors and spiritual fathers. Being deep specialists in the close confines of their offices and academic classrooms, they looked at their journal as an all-Russian department, so to speak, of a national academy - a department from which lectures were given not to dozens, but to whole thousands of those hungry and thirsty for truth and light. So, looking at the exploits of our predecessors, we will imitate them in their noblest aspirations for the widest possible dissemination of the truths of scientific knowledge among the Russian people and thus we will continue that monumental structure that is called “Christian Reading”, and our literary veteran will live with unflagging cheerfulness and strength until his centenary, which we wish him with all our hearts, in full confidence that this is precisely the wish of all of him numerous, now readers - not only in Russia, but also abroad. Of the magazines that now exist, the earliest was “Christ. Readings" were founded only by "Bulletin of Europe" (1802), "Russian Bulletin" (1808), if we consider it the ancestor of the current "Russian Bulletin", and "Son of the Fatherland" (1812), published first weekly, then twice a month, and in some years (1838, 1839, 1842–1844 and 1847–1852) and monthly. But the “Bulletin of Europe” of the old edition existed only until 1830, when every thread of tradition was broken for decades, so that its current co-author has nothing in common with its ancestor except the name; The "Russian Messenger" of the old edition, with interruptions, reached 1824 and also has nothing in common with the current "Russian Messenger", and "Son of the Fatherland", as it now exists in the form of a newspaper, cannot be counted at all in this case. Thus, “Christian Reading,” which existed continuously for 75 years, is the most durable Russian magazine in the full sense of the word, and since it was never a state-owned magazine, i.e. relying for the sources of its content on ready-made sums, and was supported by the energy of its publishers, who carried it on their own shoulders, then its longevity does all the more honor to the corporation of the institution under which it was founded and continues to exist now. We provide brief information about the life of each of them. Archim. Grigory Plotnikov – 3rd year master of the first year in St. Petersburg. academy, since 1816 inspector of the academy, since 1819. successor to Rev. Filaret Drozdova as rector of the academy; May 7, 1822 - Bishop of Revel, vicar of the St. Petersburg Metropolis; in 1826 transferred to the episcopal see in Kaluga and subsequently Metropolitan of St. Petersburg. Archim. Polycarp - in the world of Goitannikov, 17th master of the first year, rector of St. Petersburg. spirit. seminary, later rector of the Moscow Theological Academy. Archim. Nathanael - in the world Vasily Pavlovsky - 8th master of the second year, from May 7, 1819, inspector of the academy, from June 26, 1821. Rector of the Yaroslavl Seminary, died as Archbishop of Pskov. Archpriest Gerasim P. Pavsky – 1st Master of the 1st year, and then Doctor of Theology, from 1814–1835. bachelor and then professor of Jewish language, from 1816 teacher of law at the Lyceum, from 1819. university law teacher, member of the academic conference and censor (1818–1827); in 1826 teacher of the law to His Imperial Highness the Heir Tsarevich, later Emperor Alexander II, and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. Herodion Y. Vetrinsky - 6th master of the first year, - bachelor from August 13, 1814, professor of philosophy from September 10, 1818; 4 Aug. 1826 censor of the main censorship committee, from May 21, 1834 - director of the Mogilev gymnasium. Gabriel Meglitsky - 2nd master of the third year - bachelor since 1819, then professor of Greek, and subsequently archpriest - rector of the Russian Embassy Church in Vienna. Ivan M. Pevnitsky – 1st master of the 3rd year – since 1821. Bachelor of Philosophy; 1823, rector of the Orthodox Church in Stuttgart, later archpriest of the Winter Palace. Vasily Orzhevsky - 6th third-year master - bachelor since 1819, and then professor of general civil history; subsequently Director of the Executive Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. There have been attempts to publish spiritual magazines under the influence of this need before. So, not to mention the purely mystical publication of Novikov under the title “Conversations with God or reflections in the morning hours, for every day of the year”, a periodic, monthly publication edited by the archpriest of the Moscow Intercession Cathedral I.G. Kharlamov (1787), “Zionsky Messenger” Labzin (1806, 1817 and 1818), we can note a curious the fact that back in 1816, a spiritual magazine began to be published twice a month alternately in Moscow and St. Petersburg under the title “The Spiritual Year of the Life of a Christian; moral-Christian magazine; publication of the Society of Lovers of Christianity,” edited by Ya. Utkin. But this magazine lasted no more than a year. See Chistovich, Leading figures of spiritual enlightenment p.170. "Christian Reading" 1821. I, pp. 3 and 4. It is remarkable that even to this day the very name of “Christian Reading” is close to the hearts of lovers of edifying reading, even among our common people, and when humble simpletons are asked by the editors to choose between its two editions, “Church Messenger” and “Christian Reading,” they are always inclined in favor of “Christian Reading,” despite the strictly scholarly form adopted by it. "Christian Reading" 1821. I, p.6. We mean that weakness often noticed in people who are insufficiently educated in the church-historical and theological sense, due to which they are inclined to attach unconditional significance to purely conventional and temporary forms, elevating them to the real content of Christianity. As an example, we can cite our schismatics, who, having accepted the distorted form of a certain time as an unconditional expression of Orthodoxy, even fell away from the church when the highest church authority found it timely to correct these distortions. “Orthodox Interlocutor”, “Orthodox Review”, “Orthodox Blagovestnik”. See Chistovich, “Leading Figures,” chapters VI and VIII. "Christian Reading" 1821. I, p. 9. Introductory article, page 11. Introductory article, page 12. Introductory article, page 17. Introductory article, pp. 19 and 20. It is interesting to note that the publishers of “Christian Reading” boldly took on completely new ground in relation to Holy Scripture and cite the texts mainly in Russian translation - for that time a completely new thing, although it was caused by the living demands of the religious spirit. See Christian Reading 1821. II, pp. 314 and 186. It is remarkable that even then the publishers, intending to include the lives of saints, justified this by citing, among other things, the fact that the language of these lives in the Chet-Minea “in your time ceases to be intelligible.” They suggested giving them in Russian translation, under the influence of the obviously prevailing trend at that time. Paragraph 11 of the project says: “In our fatherland, the special grace-filled actions of the Holy Spirit on human hearts are very rarely known. Therefore, when announcing this publication, invite all lovers of Christianity and especially people of clergy, to notify the publishers about such actions, in order to make them obvious to the glory of God. See Case of 1820. No. 262. The announcement was valid and was made a response in the magazine subsequently. See SPB case. Spirit. Academician 1820 for No. 146. The remaining two are for the local bishop and the superintendent of theological schools. See SPB case. Spirit. Academician 1820 for No. 136. According to the original project, the price was supposed to be 25 rubles without postage and 30 rubles with postage; but the commission of theological schools, “so that this publication, as useful and edifying for lovers of spiritual enlightenment, could be more conveniently used among people of insufficient wealth,” ordered the price to be lowered to the indicated norm. See Case of 1820. for No. 262. Compare “Letters of a Russian Traveler” by Karamzin. From 1821 to 1847 101 volumes were published (four per year) and from 1848 to 189S 96 volumes (two per year), which will amount to 200 volumes. For the first time, articles with signatures of the authors began to appear in 1859, and the initiative in this regard seems to belong to the late prof. I.T. Osinin, who signed his article “A Look at the Newest German Rationalism” was probably influenced by foreign customs, which he borrowed during his business trip abroad.