Articles on church and public issues

Contents I. Question from the Head of the Caucasian Line and the Bishop's answer about the Caucasian Department in its relationship to the Caucasian Line Cossack Army, the importance of the Bishop and Archpriest in the Orthodox Church hierarchy. II. Archpastoral appeals of Bishop Ignatius Bryanchaninov to the Caucasian clergy on the issue of liberating peasants from serfdom. III. Comments of Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov on the Project for the Transformation of Maritime Educational Institutions IV. On the need for a Council on the current state of the Russian Orthodox Church. Notes of Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov. 1862–1866 V. Literature lessons taught by His Eminence Bishop Ignatius. I. Question from the Head of the Caucasian Line and the Bishop’s answer about the Caucasian Department in its relationship to the Caucasian Line Cossack Army, the importance of the Bishop and Archpriest in the Orthodox Church Eparchy. 1 October 3rd, 1858. Completely confidential Your Eminence Vladyka, Gracious Archpastor! The Viceroy of the Caucasus, Prince Alexander Ivanovich Baryatinsky, in administrative terms, proposed dividing the entire Caucasian region into two regions, 2 Kuban and Terek, introducing all parts of heterogeneous administrations into the management of the regions on a special basis. The Kuban region should include the entire Black Sea Army and part of the Cossack Linear with the Trans-Kuban population, most of the civilian population of the Stavropol province, with their administrations, which, according to the assumption made in civil matters, will form one common whole, since the remaining parts of the region will be included in one common whole of the civil administration of the Terek region. Such a division of the region, changing most of the existing relations and dependencies of places and persons, will naturally require at the same time a change in the very locations of Government institutions. These points must be determined by the centrality of the new areas and possible rapprochement with our current military lines of operations. The inextricability of all these changes requires corresponding changes and devices for Diocesan management. In this conviction, I have the honor to ask Your Eminence to take the trouble to express your opinion and considerations about the structure of the Diocese, which would embrace both areas under one administration. The vastness of the entire region, the difficulty of traveling in it and the need for the Bishop to frequently visit the constantly militant Orthodox population, give rise to the idea of ​​either dividing the Diocese or establishing a Vicariate. I convey this thought of mine to Your Eminence at your discretion, in accordance with the spiritual needs that are more familiar to you. For the management of the Orthodox Church in the populations of the Linear Cossacks, there is now management through the Chief Priest. In relation to that part of this army that should become part of the Kuban region, I recognize the need to unite the administration of the Church in the person of one Shepherd-Chief - the Bishop. This personal conviction of mine is based, among other things, on a close, comparative study of the morals and religious principles of the Black Sea and Linea Cossacks: but, considering the convictions alone to be insufficient, I appeal to Your Eminence with a request to outline the spiritual grounds for the establishment of the Diocesan Administration in the Orthodox populations so that I can support the facts that I noticed in the Linear Cossack army; - these facts constitute the decline of Orthodoxy, the strength and triumph of the schism and general immorality, protected from government measures by the courage and courage of the combat units of the troops. At the same time, I consider it necessary to draw the attention of Your Eminence to the truly sad consequences of the actions towards the schismatic Linear Cossacks of the first Caucasian Eminence Jeremiah - they are blamed as the main reason preventing the restoration of this Church power in the population of the Caucasian Linear Cossack army. I fully understand that the character of an individual may differ greatly from the character and spirit of the Church; - but I find it difficult to imagine spiritual grounds that would support my administrative convictions, and therefore I would ask Your Eminence to tell me your view and your opinion on this circumstance. I instructed State Councilor B., who is with me, to convey to Your Eminence verbally all additional information that you find necessary regarding the above-mentioned proposed formation of regions. Completely confidential September 20, 1858 Stavropol. No. 719th. Your Excellency, Most Gracious Sovereign! To the letter. Your Excellency dated September 20, 1858, No. 719, I have the honor to present the answer in the following lines. 1). Completely sharing the opinion of Your Excellency that the vastness and diversity of the Caucasian region, its rapid development, promising a significant future, its special requirements, especially when dividing it into two regions, each of which should have its own separate military and civil authorities, indicate the need for changes and additions in relation to the Spiritual Department of the region - I believe, in the first case, to be content with delivering to the aid of the Diocesan Bishop Bishop Vicar and strengthening of the Caucasian Consistory. I recognize the establishment of two Dioceses as premature, based on the following facts: a) the Caucasian Diocese, vast in space, is very sparsely populated; in terms of the number of its population and the number of churches, it is equal to 1/4, 1/5, 1/6 and even 1/10 of other Russian Dioceses, if divided into two Dioceses - these Dioceses would become prohibitively small, especially the Terek Diocese, due to their smallness, prohibitively weak in action and influence. 6) With the establishment of two Dioceses, two staffs would be needed, for two Houses of Bishops, two Consistories, two Seminaries: all this would require double expenses for the establishment and double expenses for maintenance. Meanwhile, the essential spiritual need of the region is precisely that which you astutely discerned and which you pointed out; the need for frequent, attentive, not at all hasty and not superficial visits by the Bishop to the vast Land, along paths that are often difficult and not safe. The Vicar can fully satisfy such a need. 2). Since the Region is in a transitional state, and at the present time it is impossible to determine where its main city will be, even where its main cities will be, because the needs of the Region at the present time cannot in any way be its needs in its future: then I find it still impossible to indicate where the location of the Diocesan Archiepe will be. It is obvious that Stavropol must remain an diocesan city for some indefinite time. Events prove that it was only a camp for the main military and civil authorities of the Caucasus: let it be for a time the spiritual camp for the Caucasian Diocesan Department; from this camp it will make its initial orders, and will see its permanent and lasting residence, revealed by time and circumstances. Stavropol is the central point of the country; it already has its own shelter for the Archiepe, it has its own premises for the Consistory with the removal of many government places and persons, many buildings will remain empty and can serve as temporary premises for the Seminary and even for the Bishop Vicar, who, in my opinion, to be significantly useful, must certainly live in the same city with the Diocesan Bishop, following the example of the Vicars of St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kyiv. The direction and activity of the Vicar must merge into one with the direction and activity of the Diocesan Archbishop. As much as a frequent visit to the Diocese by the Vicar is needed, the constant presence of the Diocesan Appointment at the point from which all orders issue is required. Careful observation and experience have convinced me of this last truth, which, I am sure, is obvious to Your Excellency. 3). Dioceses in the Russian Orthodox Church are divided into three categories or classes: 1st class is assigned to Metropolises, 2nd – to Dioceses of especially important importance in the State, especially large or populous, governed by the most General Governors, 3rd class – to Dioceses, least significant in terms of state, governed by governors. It is obvious that the Caucasian Enapxia, which should be under the new administrative division of the Region, combines two Regions, each of which will be governed by a person vested with the rights and power of the Governor-General, should be ranked among the Dioceses of the second class, as has been done with respect to some Dioceses, for example, with respect to the Don, Riga, Warsaw. Nowadays the Caucasian Diocese is in the third class. 4). It is necessary to petition the Caucasian Diocese for the staff and salary given to the Western Dioceses, due to the decisive similarity in the attitude towards means of support that the Caucasian Diocese has with the Western Dioceses, and due to the decisive impossibility of existing on the salary currently assigned to it. Currently, it is provided with a salary on par with the ancient Russian Dioceses. But in the ancient Russian Dioceses, the Apostle's houses are either located at monasteries that have a particularly good income, or monasteries with a good income are assigned to them. Part of this income supplements the insignificant salary, which since ancient times was allocated from the treasury to Apxiepe and his staff. So, for example, the Bishop of Kursk receives in addition to his salary 285 rubles in silver per year, which is the same amount as the annual salary of the Bishop of the Caucasus - 7500 rubles. ser. from monastic income. Accordingly, the Bishop and the persons who make up his staff receive supplements to their salary from income. Similar to the above example, in other ancient Dioceses, the insignificance of the government salary is fully and abundantly replenished by income. The Caucasian Diocese does not and cannot have such an income: for the miraculous icons and holy relics that constitute the reason for the income in the monasteries inside Russia cannot in any way belong to a Land that is completely new in Christian terms. Therefore, the only means of supporting the Bishop and the entire Caucasian Diocesan Office should be a salary paid from the treasury. And since in a similar situation, the Western Dioceses, which also do not have local income, are rewarded with a salary, then this remedy, according to logical consistency, can and should be applied to the Caucasian Diocese. The schedule of salaries for the Western Diocese of the second class is attached (see appendix No. 1). To verify whether the ancient salary existing for internal Russian Dioceses is sufficient for the maintenance of the Caucasian Bishop and his staff, a schedule of his salary is attached. (See Appendix No. 2). A beggarly salary, so one can say with all fairness, served, but one of the main reasons why the Caucasian Diocese, since its establishment (within 15 years), not only did not develop, but, barely established, was almost destroyed. This salary was the cause of significant unrest that invaded the Caucasian Diocesan Administration: it forced many members of the administration to resort to abuse in order to get themselves a piece of daily bread, since beyond the line drawn by the law lies an endless space of evil, some moved from the desire to satisfy the necessary to the desire to enrich themselves. This salary did not allow and does not allow any worthy official to serve in the Consistory Chancellery: only those officials serve there who, due to force of circumstances, cannot serve in another place. Thus, the Caucasian Diocesan Department, left to itself and its poverty, in many cases served not as an edification, but as a temptation for the Caucasian flock. Not with the aim of blaming any order or person, but in order to give an accurate idea of ​​the current situation of the Caucasian Diocese, and thereby provide a reason for correcting what has been done wrongly, for replenishing what has been done insufficiently, I find it necessary to say the following. The Caucasian Diocese was initially established for the entire Caucasian Region, which in geographical and statistical terms constitutes a whole. This character of integrity, recognized as a treasure for every country and department in administrative and economic relations, was violated by the Diocesan Department of Churches of the Cossack Linear Army. The division produced by this deduction is completely different from the division now assumed. Now the country is divided correctly, with administrative and economic meaning; The division of the Diocese made by the expulsion of the Cossack Churches is meaningless; at the same time there is division and confusion. I am writing this with a map of the Caucasian Territory at hand, which shows the Diocesan Department scattered throughout the Territory. It is like a broken vessel, the components of which are all present, but are in a separate state, which for this very reason is unfit for use. On the right flank of the Church of the Line Army they extended deep into the Diocesan Office; on the contrary, starting from the center, the Diocesan Department is scattered across the land of the Linear Army, like islands in the sea. Already Stavropol itself constitutes a fragment; a separate passage is compiled by Geopgievsky, a separate passage by Pyatigorsk; a large separate island by the deaneries of Milovidov and Zamyatin. Then again there are separate islands: Rostovanovka, Mozdok, Kizlyar with Tarumovka and the Black Market. There is no such nonsense in all of Russia. It is in vain that they cover it up with a loud phrase, saying that it was done for administrative purposes. This is wrong: the fruit of administrative considerations should be the most convenient position; The opposite is evident here. The disposition is the opposite of all the rules of modern science, and is proven by experience to be modern unsuitable; carried out with extraordinary haste, it itself recognizes that it is the fruit of a clash of passions. I repeat that I am not saying this to blame anyone; I know that mistakes and hobbies are common to all people, especially convenient for those who do not strictly monitor their minds and hearts in the light of the Gospel; I speak frankly, motivated by love for the benefit of the cause and only in a secret conversation with the Statesman. Concealing the truth before the State Man is a state crime. The same should be said about religious institutions in Stavropol. There is no system visible in choosing a place for them, in their projects themselves. They are all scattered in different parts and extremities of the unpaved city; communication between them is extremely difficult during autumn, winter and spring; meanwhile, the persons belonging to them must most of the time walk. Founders and builders must always keep in mind not only the construction and establishment of something, but also the provision of amenities, the provision of funds for the maintenance and repair of institutions and buildings. For this purpose, our intelligent ancestors, for the most part, united in one place the Cathedral, the House of Bishops, the Consistory, and the Seminary. Imitation of this order for the purpose of administrative and economic benefit is necessary, especially when the Diocesan Department gets the opportunity to leave its temporary camp - Stavropol and settle in that city, which will become the main city of the Region, or, more precisely, the right flank, which has a huge advantage over the left, in accordance with the huge advantage of the Black Sea over the Caspian and in political and trade relations. In order for the actions of the Diocesan Department and its very existence to take proper development, assistance, and not opposition, from the Civil Department is necessary. The real relationship of these two departments is depicted by the following facts: a) The other day I just received a grant for the place occupied by the temporary shelter of the Bishop, despite the fact that the Highest command ordered that this place be transferred to the Military Department even under the Right Reverend Jeremiah, almost following the opening of the Diocese. b) The dacha, which was located at the opening of the Diocese at the end of the city, and now located in one of its best places, partly given by the city society to the Diocesan Department for the construction of a Bishop's House with services on it, partly acquired by purchase, is now in the process. In appearance, this is the process of the official Krupinsky, who has seized the entire middle of the dacha, but in essence it is a process headed by the Manager of the Civil Section; he, hiding behind a certain legal sophism, which intensifies to cover up predation, - as if by the desire for public benefit - strives, by exceeding his power, while trampling on the laws, by arbitrariness, to steal from the Bishop's House the entire central part of the dacha, and transfer it into private hands, which should destroy all the dignity of the dacha; This lengthy and tedious process for the Diocesan Department made it hitherto impossible to build the Apostle's House on the allotted site. c) Until now, the civil authorities have not allocated land, following the law, for the maintenance and maintenance of the Bishop's House with its accessories, which should have been done simultaneously with the establishment of the Diocese; instead of lands, due to the lack of them nearby, the Caucasian Diocesan Administration petitions for a monetary reward. Less significant facts express the same sympathy and affection. I found such relationships formed upon my arrival at the Diocese, and it is difficult for the current Civil Authorities to change the direction they have taken. But my personal relations with the Governor and Lieutenant General Volotsky are the best. 5). In your letter, you indicated the sad consequences perceived by Your Excellency of the present management of the Churches of the Cossack Linear Army, and with logical consistency you turn your observant gaze to the very beginnings from which such consequences flowed and should flow. I extract my answer from the Law of God, from the decrees of the Church, from the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Fathers; I will not tell you my own opinions, but I will expound a teaching recognized by the entire Orthodox Church, recognized by it as Divine, as it is, and not human. The bishop represents the beginning of the Church hierarchy; he is the successor of the Apostles, the representative on earth of the Lord. 3 He ordains the Presbyter and the Deacon, he consecrates the church or the most essential part of the church - the Antimension he consecrates the Holy Chrism; thousands of elders gathered together cannot accomplish this. He is the beginning and source of all Christian sacraments and the Divine service itself: the Christian church cannot exist without him. The Apostles, preaching the Gospel in the universe, brought Bishops to all cities and regions, and the Bishops ordained Presbyters (priests) to fully satisfy the needs of Christians. In the ecclesiastical sense, priests are the instruments of the Bishop: these instruments act as long as the Bishop acts with them; when he ceases to act with them, then they are deprived of all their power, for their powers and reality are not their own, but borrowed. The entire community of Christians in general was called the Ecumenical Church, and the private local Church was and is called the community of Christians in a city or region: the local churches were the Roman, Jerusalem, Corinthian, Carthage, and Athenian churches. The presbyter has never been and could not be the head of the church, for the clear reason that he does not act with his own power, but with the power granted, granted and terminated by his superior, which is the Bishop. When Presbyter Paulinus became the head of a certain part of the Antiochian people, separating from Bishop Meletius, but not at all separating from the unity of faith, the Universal Church took all measures in its power to eliminate this disorder, and called him nothing other than a schismatic. 4 This circumstance is known in Church History under the name of the Eastern Schism, since Antioch, the capital of Syria, with the neighboring countries, Mesopotamia, Armenia and Georgia, was called the East, constituting the Eastern extremity of the Roman Empire; Persia was no longer understood as part of the East. The present administration of the churches of the Linear Army had a character similar to that of the Eastern Schism. It is very natural that the main Russian shepherds, who constitute the Holy Synod, look at this circumstance in an ecclesiastical sense and would like, if possible, to eliminate the violation of church order and regulations, especially since it serves as a cause of sorrow for the true sons of the church, a cause of temptation for very many who do not understand the needs and types of administrative and are beginning to doubt on this basis the very Orthodoxy of our Church; schismatics on this basis; inside and outside Russia, they reproach, accuse and convict our Church of apostasy from Orthodoxy. Because of such temptations, which often invade the Church under the influence, more or less clear, of the West; many are being seduced by the schism that is constantly growing in our fatherland. This is proven in fact: under Emperor Peter the 1st, when the population of Russia extended to 17 million; There were up to 700 thousand schismatics. If they were multiplied in proportion to the population, then with a current population of 70 million, the number of schismatics should not exceed 3 million; but their number extends to 12 million. Since in open reports read by the public almost no seduction into schism is visible, but only one conversion from schism to Orthodoxy is visible; Meanwhile, in fact, the schism is growing rapidly and has already assumed gigantic proportions, this leads to a logical and practical conclusion: the schism is spreading in Russia in the most ways and means unknown to the Government, or becoming known only when they have completed their work and bear abundant fruit. One of the most reliable weapons for limiting and reducing schism is reverence for the most holy decrees of the Holy Church, which are the decrees of God. The decrees of the Holy Spirit in their protection. The archpriest has only the right, according to his church rank and significance, to occupy the first place between his brethren and the priests; 5 he by no means has the ecclesiastical right to govern the churches of an entire region; the assimilation of this right to the priest belongs to the character of Protestantism, and is so understood by all who have thoroughly studied the Christian religion. For every local church, the deprivation of the Bishop is the deprivation of God-established ecclesiastical authority, the deprivation of a religious principle, the deprivation of the source of the sacraments, the source of hierarchical authority and court, the source of church Orthodox doctrine and moral teaching: this is the removal of the head from the body, the removal of parents from children, the expulsion from the Church of the image of Christ, the representative of Christ. The inevitable consequence of such disunity should be the decline of religious teaching, which is why schisms and heresies develop in the country, and the decline of moral teaching, which is why sinful, depraved and unguided by conscience life develops in the country, which is all foreseen by Your Excellency. But just as the Orthodox Church of the country cannot exist without the Bishop, this only source of the Christian sacraments: then for the churches of the Linear Army priests and deacons are ordained, the Antimins and everything else are consecrated, for which the power and rank of the Apostle are needed by the Caucasian Bishops by order of the Holy Synod, which has the character of condescension to the demands of circumstances, but not in accordance with the rules and the spirit of the Orthodox Church. According to church rules, the Bishop must carry out ordinations only within the boundaries of his diocese, not at all outside it. He must prepare the person for ordination with abundant edification and study of the person; after consecration, he must again edify the initiate and supervise him. 6 Ordination is a great sacrament: through it, a person is suddenly reborn, from a verbal sheep into a Shepherd. The performer of this rebirth is the Bishop. Due to spiritual rebirth through consecration, the Bishop enters into a spiritual relationship with the initiate. 7 This kinship is vividly felt by both the performer of the sacrament and the one on whom the sacrament was performed. The Bishop sees in the initiate his spiritual child, the fruit of his ordination, the fruit of the Spirit, and the ordained sees in the Bishop his father, who brought him a new being, sees the image of his Creator, who transformed him from a sheep into a shepherd. The spiritual seal placed on the soul by ordination is indelible, because it is Divine: “if God joins together,” says the Gospel, “let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6). The excommunication of a Bishop from the presbyters ordained by him, the excommunication of a Bishop from the flock for whom he performs all the duties of a Bishop, is similar to the forcible excommunication of parents from the children they have born immediately upon their birth; the use of the Bishop as a machine for ordination and other church needs is similar to the use of parents only for the birth of children: in one case, a violation of the natural law established by God, in the other case, a violation of the spiritual law, also established by God. The separation of Presbyter Paulinus from the Bishop of Antioch, which I mentioned above, lasted a long time because it was supported by the Government, which often, in administrative forms, demanded various concessions from the Church, and, in the meek spirit of the Church, received them when it did not involve a violation of the dogmas themselves. But church history actually testifies that the most faithful and reliable administrative measure consists in carefully guarding Church Decrees; evasion of them in administrative forms, which initially seemed useful, later turned out to be harmful in its results, contributing to the disunity of the people and the weakening of the State. 6) Your Excellency’s remark that the character of a person invested with Church rank must be completely different from the character ordained by the Church for the rank is very valid. Both in human society, and in particular in every person, evil is mixed with good: such a mixture serves as one of the practical, irresistible proofs that humanity is a series of fallen beings; at the same time, it gives repentance and repentance the dignity of human virtues, and makes cleansing from evil, both private and public, an indispensable duty of people. I accept evil and good in the broadest, correct sense, recognizing as evil both a lack of prudence and a lack of self-knowledge. 8 No earthly orders, no higher callings, beginning with the apostle, remained undefiled by the fall of mankind; and therefore the Orthodox Church has never stopped replacing a person who is insufficient or unworthy with another person who is more satisfactory. Patriarchs, Metropolitans and Bishops, in a word, all the ranks of the Church Eparchy, were subjected to this fate, but the order itself, as an institution of God, was always sacredly preserved by the Church. 7). You deigned to mention in your letter about His Grace Jeremiah, the first Caucasian Bishop: I am not familiar with him and have never seen him; Also, in the local Consistory archive there is no file that would depict the nature of his actions regarding the schismatics. In general, it must be said that jealousy and enthusiasm, which are always very pleasant for the masses of the people, are always devoid of a correct view of the Orthodox Christian Faith. The famous Church writer Saint Isaac of Syria called this direction alien to spiritual reason, and pointed to meekness as a sign of spiritual strength that can have a beneficial effect on human infirmities. 9 But people with a superficial understanding of Christianity recognize enthusiasm and zeal as holiness. Such jealousy is the most unreliable weapon against those infected with false teaching. Heresy and schism are sins of the mind. Just as every way of thinking is accompanied and promoted by a spirit or state of the heart that is consistent with it, heresy and schism are always accompanied by hardening of the heart; jealousy can intensify this bitterness. “Whoever wants to successfully fight against heresy,” said some spiritual writer, “must be completely alien to vanity and enmity towards one’s neighbor, so as not to express them with any mockery, with any caustic or harsh word, with any brilliant word that can resonate in the proud soul of the heretic; excite and outrage her passion. Anoint the scab and ulcer of your neighbor, as if with whole oil, with the only words of love and humility, may the merciful Lord look upon your love and your humility, may they be announced to the heart of your neighbor, and may God’s great gift be given to you - the salvation of your neighbor. The pride, insolence, stubbornness, and enthusiasm of the heretic have only the appearance of energy: in essence, he is a weakness in need of prudent condolences. This weakness only multiplies and becomes more ferocious when people act against it with reckless zeal, expressed in harsh reproof.” This, in my opinion, should be the nature of the activity of the Orthodox Archpastor in relation to heresy and schism. I believe that in these lines I have set out the answer to the questions proposed to me by Your Excellency in your letter, an answer as satisfactory as my meager abilities and knowledge allowed. It remains for me to wish that the merciful Lord, the Giver of all blessings and the beginning of their good thoughts, would send down to you wise and reverend thoughts from His spiritual treasury, so that he may lay them as the foundation of the work entrusted to you. With a feeling of great respect and so on. October 3, 1858 No. 205. Stavropol Caucasian II. Archpastoral appeals of Bishop Ignatius Bryanchaninov to the Caucasian clergy on the issue of liberating peasants from serfdom. 10 1) From January 17, 1859 No. 3. To the Caucasian Spiritual Consistory. The nobility of the Stavropol Province petitioned His Imperial Majesty the Sovereign Emperor to form a special Committee from among themselves, which would draw up a draft regulation on the organization and improvement of the life of the landowner peasants in this province. The Sovereign Emperor, having deigned to accept this petition, by his highest rescript ordered the opening of a special Committee on this matter in the city of Stavropol under the chairmanship of G. Provincial Leader of the Nobility. In pursuance of the Highest Will, the Stavropol Committee for the improvement of life of the landowner peasants, after performing a solemn prayer in the City Cathedral Church, was opened by Mr. Civil Governor, Lieutenant General Volotsky on January 15, 1859. It is very natural that in this important matter, in which the beneficial light of Christ’s teaching, emanating from the Gospel and taught by the Holy Church, is especially needed to guide conscience with reason, both landowners and peasants will turn to the Shepherds of the Church for a word of edification, for a word of advice, for a word of consolation and reassurance. For this reason, I consider it my most sacred duty to teach the Church pastors of the Caucasian Diocese in all clarity and certainty the direction that they should acquire and constantly maintain in their conversations with the flock on a subject so important: improving the life of the landowner peasants. This direction has already been taught by our Lord Jesus Christ himself and is stored, as in a treasury, in the Divine Gospel, in which an attentive and reverent reader will find the solution to all perplexities and instructions for the most prudent and generally useful behavior in all various cases of life. The Holy Evangelist Luke narrates (chapter 12, chapters 65 and 66) that one day a certain man came to the Lord Jesus Christ and asked the Lord to enter into the matter of dividing the estate between this unknown man and his brother. The Lord said in response the following remarkable words, filled with deep wisdom and holiness: “Man! Who made Me a judge or a divider over you? Watch and be guarded from covetousness.” Further, the Lord depicted in a parable, understandable to everyone, how dangerous the passion of covetousness is, how deceiving are the seductive dreams depicted by this passion in the imagination, that they never actually come true, but only deprive the addicted person of virtue and the eternal salvation that crowns temporary virtue. The answer of our Savior and His behavior in the above-mentioned case can be, and therefore should be, a completely satisfactory, completely determinative way for the behavior and conversations of the pastors of the church in this domestic issue. It is clearly seen that the Lord’s answer to a man engaged in the division of property with his brother contains two parts of the division. First, the Lord mentioned the material part of the matter. That is, about the division of the estate itself and deigned to renounce any participation in the judgment of the matter from its material, civil side. Secondly, the Lord devoted all his attention and deep edification to the spiritual side of the matter, pointing out that in this matter, and therefore in every similar matter, one must primarily be wary and beware of being carried away by the hidden part of covetousness from which, as from the seed, other passions should undoubtedly be born, more obvious, already obviously disastrous for individuals and for society. These are: envy, suspicion, slander, murmuring, and finally - obvious hatred, enmity, quarrel, with their sad consequences. The beginning of these consequences is the passion of covetousness, and the Lord, as the Omniscient God, shrewdly pointed out to the people who were faced with the division of their property, the hidden beginning of evil, which in such a circumstance serves as the source of all other types of evil - the passion for extortion. We are the imams of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16), said the Holy Apostle Paul on behalf of the entire Christian Church. We Christians must think, we must reason, we must speak as our God incarnate thought, understood, and spoke. Such unity with the Lord must primarily be carefully instilled, carefully cultivated, carefully preserved within themselves by the Pastors of the Church, as those who bear the most sacred responsibility of leading the entire Christian brotherhood towards virtue and salvation. In the upcoming work, let the conversations, advice, and instructions of the shepherds be aimed at avoiding the flock from being carried away by passions: Shepherds! teach both landowners and peasants who turn to you for advice, so that in meekness of spirit, in pious self-sacrifice, they turn with frequent prayers to God, begging His mercy to grant them to wisely conceive, process, and carry out a great domestic work that should raise the state to the highest degree of prosperity. Teach the sheep of Christ so that they constantly graze in the pasture of Christ, that is, constantly feed the soul with the teachings of Christ, which commands to carefully and constantly preserve love, mutual peace, mercy, goodness, which rejects all passions, no matter in what gracious vestment and cover these passions are dressed to deceive people. Wherever heat is revealed, there is certainly a secret motive-passion. True virtue is always accompanied by an undisturbed state of mind, a quiet and strong meekness, which constantly serves as a sign that the heart is under the guidance and authority of a sound mind. Shepherds! Steadfastly and sacredly guard and adhere to the instructions given to you here. Pay all your attention so that in the matter, the spiritual side of it, entrusted to you by the very Law of God, by your very sacred calling, retains its dignity, clearly indicated to it by the Gospel. The pious and pleasing direction of souls that you will nourish and support will undoubtedly have a beneficial effect on the material side of the matter. At the same time, carefully guard yourself not only from interference in civil orders and from any judgment about them, but also from any, even private, seemingly confidential conversations and advice about the material side of the matter. This is forbidden to you both by the law of God and the law of the State. By faithfully fulfilling our sacred duty, taught and entrusted to us by God, we will fulfill our Christian duty, which we owe to the Lord and the duty of our subjects, which we owe to our Most Pious Sovereign, our Emperor. Our King, guided by the angelic kindness of his heart, wants to bring the highest prosperity to all his subjects without exception. The consistory has to send out this appeal to all the deans of the Stavropol province so that they immediately communicate it to all the clergy under their jurisdiction, obliging them to subscribe to accurately and unswervingly adhere to the instructions given here. Report it to the Seminary Board for its steady guidance and timely familiarization with it to the students of the Theological School - future church pastors. Ignatius, Bishop of the Caucasus and Black Sea. No. 31 January 7, 1859. 2) From April 25, 1859 for No. 809 To the Caucasian Spiritual Consistory. Since articles appeared in various magazines on behalf of the Church, but not belonging to the Church, about the life of landowner peasants, I consider it necessary to again confirm to the clergy that they are steadily guided by the direction that I set out in my proposal to the Consistory dated January 17 of this year, No. proposals, which the Consistory has to dispose of as follows: leave 1 copy in the Consistory; forward 2 copies to the House Administration for two churches, 1 copy each. to the Seminary Board, to the Stavropol, Ekaterinodar and Mozdok Theological Schools, to the Ekaterindar Spiritual Board, to all monasteries and to all parish churches of the Caucasian Diocese. Ignatius, Bishop of the Caucasus and Black Sea. No. 809. April 5, 1859. 3) From May 6, 1659 for No. 916 In my proposal to the Spiritual Consistory dated January 17 of this year, No. 3, on the occasion of the opening in the city of Stavropol of the Highest approved Committee on the subject of improving the life of landowner peasants, I outlined the direction that the Caucasian Clergy should follow in this important matter. The direction I proposed is based on the Laws of God and the State. The appearance of articles on this subject in the “Orthodox Interlocutor,” a magazine published by the Kazan Theological Academy, forces me to again turn with my archpastoral word to the pastors of the churches of the Caucasian Diocese entrusted to me by God. The interlocutor in his articles not only sets out a new teaching, unheard of in the Orthodox Church, but even makes an appeal to the rural priests, 11 thus in the Diocese entrusted to the Bishop, to submit their order, leaving, however, the consequences of this order on the responsibility of the Bishop. By such an action, the Interlocutor clearly violates the Church Law, which prohibits any authority or government office from directly entering, bypassing the Holy Synod and the Diocesan Archbishop, into the affairs of the Diocese and allowing themselves to make orders in it (Charter Spirit. Consist. Art. 2). It’s sad and painful to utter an accusatory word, but I see it as absolutely necessary. It is necessary for me to protect the flock entrusted to me, so that any of the clergy does not get carried away by the articles of the Interlocutor to wrong actions, does not violate the Law of God and the State, does not violate public peace and order, is not exposed to disaster, and does not subject the Church and the Clergy to criticism: this is all the more necessary because the article of the Interlocutor is “The Sermon on the Liberation of the Peasants.” reprinted in the St. Petersburg and Moscow Vedomosti, was very publicized among the people and served as a reason for speculation. I am convinced that the Caucasian Clergy will accept with confidence and love my word, pronounced out of inspiration of love, out of duty. The State Law, which defined the responsibilities of the Clergy in relation to the landowner peasants, remains unchanged. In the newest edition of the Code of Laws of the Empire of 1857, sent to the Caucasian Diocesan Authority by the Holy Synod, the above-mentioned duty of the Clergy is stated as follows: “The clergy, especially the Parish Priests, have the duty to warn their parishioners against false and harmful disclosures, to affirm good behavior and obedience to their masters, to try their best to prevent the indignation of the peasants and keep them from doing so (Article 380. Section IV, Volume XIV).” The duties of the landowner peasants are depicted as follows: “All peasants and courtyard people belonging to the landowners must calmly remain in their rank, be obedient to their landowners in quitrents, work and all kinds of peasant duties, and fulfill exactly the duties assigned to them by the laws (Article 378, ibid.).” Volume XV, Section IV, contains the Laws concerning the penalties for disobedience to the Government and the Authorities established by it. Article 300 says: “An uprising against the Authorities established by the Government is considered to be any indignation of peasants or serfs against their landowners, owners or managers and against volost and public administrations.” Order, tranquility, and well-being of the State are based on obedience to the Government and Authorities: for this reason, the punishments to which those who overthrow the good and necessary yoke of obedience, as well as the instigators or teachers of indignation, subject themselves are very severe. Participation in this crime mostly involves the deprivation of all rights of the estate; significant participation carries the heaviest penalties. It is obvious that anyone who is carried away by the articles of the Interlocutor will be judged and punished not according to these articles, but according to the Law. How to understand, they will ask here, the matter of improving the life of the landowner peasants? We must understand it as it is. The matter was not entrusted by the Sovereign Emperor to the clergy; the progress of the case is not known to the clergy; interference in the material side of the matter is prohibited for the clergy. 12 When the matter is completed, then, of course, rules for governing the peasants will be drawn up and promulgated; Until that time, these decisions, as not repealed, retain all their force. In relation to State Laws, the Interlocutor's articles inevitably belong to harmful disclosures. They not only belong to harmful disclosures, but also to false disclosures, as will be explained below. False concepts always lead to disastrous consequences. In literary terms, the articles of the Interlocutor are news in Russian spiritual literature. As news, they may seem especially entertaining. Foreign literature is rich in such works, the composition of which the party of revolution and disorder is tirelessly working on. The method in all such works is the same: by exposing the abuse of power by some individuals, on this basis they rebel against all authority, preach the equality and perfect prosperity of people on earth. Revolutionary works have had and still have many readers and admirers everywhere. This is natural: they are works of a heated imagination, not guided by either prudence or clear knowledge, that inflame, inflame, and captivate inexperienced readers. Often apparently acting against one kind of power, they always act against all powers, by the nature of their method. 13 The incorrectness of conclusions from the particular to the general is vainly reiterated and repeated by sound logic: most people do not pay attention to this rule and do not know it. There can be neither equality, nor perfect freedom, nor prosperity on earth to the extent that enthusiastic false teachers desire and promise. This is announced to us by the Word of God; proven by experience. The unfree state of people, which has many different forms, as every educated person should know and understand, is a consequence of humanity’s descent into sin. 14 The first authority was declared to be that of the husband; The first addiction is the wife’s addiction. From this moment on, power is associated with violence, submission is associated with suffering. They remain like this to this day; They will remain like this until the end of the world. Our Savior gave spiritual freedom to humanity; but He not only did not eliminate any authorities, He Himself, during His earthly wanderings, submitted to the influence of authorities who abused their power, submitting to the burden that humanity brought upon itself through sin. The Lord avoided any interference in the temporary government of the world, announced that His Kingdom is not here (John 18:36), and told His unrighteous judge that he would not have had any power over Him if it had not been given to him from above (John 19:11): The relationship of authority and subordination collapses with the destruction of the world: then authority and power will cease (1 Cor. 15:24); Then fraternity, equality, freedom will be established; then the reason for the unity of power and subordination will not be fear, but love. In such a unity, power and subordination will be absorbed: existing together, they will no longer exist. In contrast to the Word of God, revolutionary writers proclaim the abolition of authorities, equality and brotherhood during the life of the world. In France, dreamers have more than once succeeded in captivating people in efforts to realize this dream, which can exist only in the imagination. What were the consequences? The consequences were streams of blood, shocking the State with internal disorder. To get out of a difficult situation, the people had to restore power and authority. Experience has proven that when order is restored, power is invested with special rights and acts with special energy. “The authorities were created by God. Resist the authorities, you resist God’s command,” said the Apostle (Rom. 13:1:2). It is impossible for a weak person to eliminate the determination and order of God. As long as humanity is subject to the influence of sin and passions, power and subordination are still necessary. They will certainly exist throughout the life of the world: they can only appear, are, will appear in various forms. The Orthodox Interlocutor, in his Voice of the Ancient Russian Church on improving the life of unfree people, hid the progress of education of unfree people in Russia, and exposed only abuses. Thus, the historical side of the article is devoid of historical truth. This should have served as an inevitable source of false conclusions for the article. There were abuses, without which no business, no society, no human class could do, but in comparison with the main fact they turn out to be petty details. Russia, from the very beginning of its existence almost to modern times, has been a vast military camp. Its history is the story of an uninterrupted war. Russia either attacks neighboring peoples or repels their attacks; for two centuries it has been engaged in an incessant internecine war, without stopping the war with its neighbors; then he fights to overthrow the Tatar yoke, fights to restore autocracy, fights to enter the borders in which it was under Equal-to-the-Apostles Vladimir; fights to open communications with Europe, to take a place among its powers; finally, fights against all of Europe to liberate Europe. Given the military nature of the State, it is impossible for the military class not to predominate in the State. Especially in ancient and central Russia, the military element absorbed and overshadowed all other elements. According to the ancient custom of all nations, captives turned into slaves, and this category of unfree people initially received the name serfs and Chaldeans, since the captives belonged to the most Tatar tribe, which the Russians called the Hagaryan tribe, not really dividing the Tatars from the Ishmaelites and Chaldeans, not really pursuing historical truth. Another category of unfree people was made up of outcasts, that is, orphans, beggars and other people, the Slavic tribe, who lost their shelter due to various unfortunate circumstances, so characteristic of times of barbarism. Rich boyar voivodes had vast lands; outcasts worked the boyar lands for hire, and some of them became enslaved, that is, they registered themselves and their families in the hereditary possession of the boyars, finding at this time of state turmoil it was more profitable for themselves to belong to a strong and kind boyar than, using the vain name of freedom, to live in poverty without shelter and remain a defenseless victim of all kinds of violence. With the introduction of Christianity in Russia, military men took care of enlightening their captives with the Faith of Christ and gave them a settled life. Christian farmers, both free and unfree, received the name peasants, an equivalent name for Christians. Much more unfree people were formed when the descendants of Rurik multiplied to the extreme, and their possessions were crushed to the point of improbability. Not only insignificant cities, many volosts had their own separate princes. Monocracy was established in Russia very slowly, over the course of two centuries. The independent princes, gradually becoming subjects of the Grand Duke of Moscow, did not immediately lose all power in their fiefs: first the cities remained under their control, then the estates with the peasants. The need to curb his own common people and the impossibility of having a police force in an unorganized state forced Tsar Boris Godunov to assign peasants to the lands. Then all Russian peasants turned into unfree peasants. What fact does the Russian history of that time represent? During the strengthening of the peasants, less than 1/11 of them belonged to the unfree class; 10/11 were free, that is, for every 100 free people there were not 10 unfree people, 15 despite the above-mentioned course of formation of the unfree class and the abuses by which freedom was taken away from the free and which was so picturesquely exposed by the Interlocutor. Some of the peasants became appanages of the Tsar, others of landowners, and some of the church, since part of the offspring of outcasts occupied church lands. The piety of the tsars and the Russian nobility, which included all the descendants of Rurik, endowed the monasteries with many estates and villages. Due to the simplicity of morals and piety of the people, this order was maintained for about two and a half centuries, without presenting anything strange. By the reign of Empress Catherine II, the number of landowner peasants was already much less than the number of peasants who belonged to monasteries and bishops' houses. Russia, gradually growing, felt many needs that it did not feel in its infancy: for this reason and in the spirit of the times, under Empress Catherine, the monastic peasants were transferred to the department of the State: this is the formation of state-owned peasants. But this Empress also saw the need for landowners due to the insufficient structure of the State, precisely due to the lack of police, as the Empress put it. She distributed many hundreds of thousands of peasants to persons who provided special services to the State. Emperor Paul I continued to favor his dignitaries with peasants. For all this distribution of state-owned peasants to landowners, the number of landowner peasants only became equal to the state-owned ones. Since the time of Alexander the 1st, the view on the subject has changed: the state was finally organized, the police of officials were settled everywhere; the people began to emerge from childhood, received new ideas, felt new needs; the nobility began to be burdened by their state of nurturing under the peasants; the peasants began to feel burdened by the restriction of their freedom, their patriarchal life. All this began to be strongly revealed and expressed in the second half of the reign of Emperor Nicholas I. The now safely reigning Emperor Alexander II found the matter prepared, and found it necessary to change the form of government of the landowner peasants. What is the actual significance of improving the life of peasants? This is a change in the form of managing them. They are granted freedom, but not self-will: they leave the department of the landowners, as if from under the supervision of educators and guardians, into an official, personal relationship with the State, through the authority that will be established over them by the Government. The Sovereign's command was marked by the happiest beginning, a magnificent execution that astounded Europe. Europe is accustomed to seeing coups d'etat accompanied by popular confusion and terrible bloodshed: in Russia, on the contrary, the coup is carried out with undisturbed calm. The words of the Sovereign that “the beginning of a revolution by command from Above prevents its beginning from below” should be inscribed in golden letters on the tablets of history: the Interlocutor should pay attention to these words and not begin the action that the Sovereign wants to prevent. The nobility contributes, with the possible exception of some backward individuals, with all their zeal for the successful completion of the revolution, beneficial for both classes, both noble and peasant. Both had a patriarchal relationship with each other: by this relationship they were embarrassed and bound. They are now moving to a civil attitude: farmers will remain farmers with the exception of several thousand rich people who can move into the merchant class; A vast field of new activity opens up before the nobility in a country abundant in material resources. These conditions are the guarantee of the well-being awaiting the noble class, well-being in a completely different form, more durable and extensive. The brief historical summary presented here shows the one-sidedness and incorrectness of the view of the matter, delivered by the interlocutor to his readers through pointing out some private abuses that accompanied the acquisition of unfree people and their possession. Judging by these particulars and not knowing the method to which the Interlocutor submitted, one can easily think that the unfree class was formed solely through violence, that the period of landowners' ownership of peasants in Russia was a period of continuous widespread tyranny, and the noble class always consisted of the most inhuman and godless persons. According to an accurate study of statistics, it turns out to be completely contrary, the life of the landowner peasants, despite private abuses, is far superior in its overall composition the life of peasants in all other European States; many landowner peasants are equal in wealth to the leading merchants; but this way of life is outdated in moral and political terms. The piety and zeal for the Church of the ancient Russian princes and boyars is sufficiently proven by the fact that they transferred half of their peasants to monasteries. The unquestioning and welcoming acceptance of peasants into their possession by monasteries is the actual voice of the ancient Russian Church, both about life itself and about improving the life of unfree people. Having determined the meaning of the Interlocutor’s articles in relation to State Legislation, to spiritual literature, and to national history, it remains to determine their meaning in relation to the Divine Revealed Christian Teaching, to the teaching of the Orthodox Eastern Church, although this meaning is already quite evident from the above. The Lord commanded: “Take heed from lying prophets (i.e., from false teachers and false teachings), who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves; by their fruit you will know them (Matthew 7:15: 16). The fruit of the Spirit, said the Apostle, is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control” (Gal.5:22): True teaching, pleasing to God, certainly has as its consequence the spiritual fruit depicted by the Apostle; if the teaching is not evidenced by this fruit, then it is false, even if the one pronouncing it bore the name of a prophet, that is, some important and loud name associated with the concept of excellent knowledge and learning. This commandment of God requires special consideration, and at the beginning of it, the Lord placed a significant word, “take heed.” Exactly: to execute it, it requires the most careful attention and reasoning! False teaching is often presented brilliantly and entertainingly. Not everyone can give false teaching its proper value based on the analysis of the thoughts contained in it; but by its fruits it is immediately recognized, exposed, and evaluated. The Great Saint Barsanuphius said to a certain monk: “Know, my brother, that every thought that is not preceded by the silence of humility does not come from God, but clearly from the left side. Our Lord comes with quietness; nevertheless, the enemy happens with confusion and rebellion. Although demons appear clothed in sheep’s clothing, being inwardly ravenous wolves, they are revealed through the confusion they cause, as it is said: by their fruit you will know them (Matthew 7:15,16). May the Lord admonish us all, so as not to be carried away by their truth.” 16 The Venerable Macarius the Great says: “A person who loves virtue should try very hard to distinguish between things, so that he is completely aware of the difference between good and evil, and the various demonic machinations, with which, under the guise of good-minded ideas, he can learn to corrupt, test and understand many: for in all cases it is useful to be careful in order to avoid the dangerous consequences of being. Due to the weakness of your mind, do not soon give in to the promptings of the spirits to deceive you; you can be built, even if there were angels in heaven: but stand unshakable to the most diligent, committing everything to investigation, and then, if you see the good of being, accept it, and if the evil that exists appears, reject it. Not because the essence of the actions of grace is not known, but their sin, even if it were a good deed, has taken on the appearance of itself, and cannot pay any tax. For although according to the Apostle the message is that Satan will be transformed into a bright angel (2 Cor. 11:14), so as to deceive a person: but even if he presented bright visions; In any case, a good action, as it is said to be, is by no means possible to pay a tax: through which a certain sign of his deeds occurs. For neither love, such as for God or neighbor, nor meekness, nor humility, nor joy, nor peace, nor curbing thoughts, nor hatred of the world, nor spiritual peace, nor desire for heavenly actions can be given, lower than passion and lust to tame, even the essence of the action of grace is clear: the fruit of the spiritual is love, joy, peace, etc. (Gal.5:22); It is convenient to put pride and arrogance into a person, perhaps, as he is strongly inclined and strong towards this. From your actions you will know whether the intelligent light that has arisen in your soul is from God or from Satan.” 17 This is the true and deep teaching of God, the teaching of the Holy Orthodox Church about the principles of good and evil, about the most subtle, inexplicable thoughts, explained by their fruits and actions. What is the fruit of the Interlocutor’s articles? They inflate the mind, inflame the imagination and blood, give incorrect concepts about objects, constantly drawing conclusions from the particular to the whole, disrupt the peace between classes, and attract them to mutual hostility and conflict. These consequences are already very sad; but behind them, in the future, lie the darkest consequences. This effect of the articles is a true testimony to their quality in relation to God and the Church; and about their beginnings. The beginning of every good thing is the right thought; The beginning of every disaster is a false thought; according to the testimony of the Gospel, which shows the inextricable connection of lies with the destruction of humanity (John 8:44). The interlocutor called his first article Voices of the Ancient Russian Church about improving the life of unfree people; They did not, however, present this voice in the promised meaning, in which it is necessary to present the Teaching of the Church, both Ecumenical and Russian, about whether the ownership of slaves is allowed in Christianity or whether it is prohibited. The interlocutor represented only the voice of the Church against abuses; The Fathers of the Russian Church he cited rebel with holy zeal against abuses of power, and not against the power itself, not against its rights; in this they followed the shepherds of the Ecumenical and Church and the Great Ecumenical Teacher, John Chrysostom, especially revered by the ancient Russian Church, who sealed his denunciations of untruth and violence with his martyrdom. The Church’s teaching on slavery and civil freedom, a teaching whose exact explanation was so necessary for an article written by a clergyman and on behalf of the entire Church, is set out by the Interlocutor in his “Sermon on the Liberation of the Peasants.” In this Word, in order to support his own teaching and pass it off as the Teaching of the Church, the Interlocutor resorts to: 1) changing the text in the epistle of St. Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, which reads in the Slavic translation as follows: “Even if you can be free, enslave yourself the more” (1 Cor. 7:21). 2) to explain this text in the opposite way to how the Church explains it. This behavior of the Interlocutor requires that the exact teaching of the Orthodox Church on slavery and slave ownership be set forth here. Civil slavery is a consequence of sin - sin in a broad sense, or that eternal death with which the human race was infected at its root, in the forefathers. 18 The interlocutor finds the beginning of slavery in the curse pronounced by Noah on Canaan, the son of Ham, which came true over the distant descendants of Canaan; but having said this, the Kazan Journal further says that the beginning of slavery is sins. " ABOUT! he exclaims, “if there were no sin on earth, there would be no slavery.” 19 Sin, which declared, gripped humanity and the earth, like a poison, like an infection; acting with the speed of electricity, having accomplished a monstrous transformation in the nature of man and in the nature of the earth, successively after the fall of Adam, successively, after pronouncing a curse on man and earth by God, and not in the time of Noah. From the biblical stories we see that the greatest Righteous The Old Testament Church, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, had slaves and passed them on as an inheritance to their children. This is not enough: “Taking Abimelech” (King of Gerar), the Book of Genesis says, “a thousand ten drachms of silver, and sheep, and bulls, and male servants, and female servants, and gave to Abraham” (Gen. 20:14). Abimelech gives slaves; Righteous Abraham receives slaves as a gift. The Great Abraham received the same gift from the King of Egypt (Gen. 12:16). Saint Sarah, the wife of Abraham, due to her barrenness, erects in her place on the bed of the Holy husband a slave - Agar, an Egyptian. Hagar conceived from Abraham, and became proud because of this. Sarah complained to her husband about the behavior of her concubine. Abraham answered her: “Behold your handmaid in your hand: do to her as you please.” And Sarah became embittered: and she fled from her presence" (Gen. 16:1-6). When Hagar ran away from Sarah and wandered in the desert, an angel appeared to her and said: “Return to your mistress and submit under her hand” (9). These events are explained by the fall of man; according to them, a true Christian can explore the full depth of human fall, since the events concern the greatest Old Testament Righteous Ones. It is worthy of note that the Angel of God commands the slave to submit to the mistress who has upset the slave. The behavior of the Old Testament Righteous Ones regarding their slaves was different from the fall of the pagan slave owners, who did and are now doing to their Arabs incomparably worse than to livestock: The inhabitants of the Caucasus know the treatment of their mountaineer neighbors with slaves! Due to the peculiarity of the relationship of the Old Testament Righteous Ones to slaves, their slaves are called household members in the Holy Scriptures. The law of Moses allowed for temporary slavery for an Israelite from an Israelite, and in certain cases it also allowed for an indefinite period (Ex. 21:2-6). The Interlocutor kept silent about indefinite slavery - but in general he demanded humane treatment of slaves of the same tribe; the same Law says: “And the male and female servant, whoever is of your tongue, who is around you, from them shall you draw male and female servants.” And from the sons of the servants, who are among you, draw from these, and from their relatives, if there are any in your land, let them be yours. And let me divide your children according to you, and let them be yours forever” (Lev.25:44:45). This decree of the Mosaic Law was kept silent by the Interlocutor, but it follows immediately after the words that the Interlocutor quoted from the Book of Leviticus, and complements the concept of slavery among the Israelites. Further, Moses says: “O your brethren, the sons of Israel, let each one of his brothers not burden him with labor” (46). From these words and the entire decree regarding slaves, it is quite clear that the Israeli Lawgiver was concerned to place the Israeli people, as the chosen ones, above all other nations, and to humiliate other nations before him. For this purpose, Moses sets a six-year term for the slavery of a Jew to a Jew, and allows the Jew to acquire slaves from other nations for perpetual and hereditary ownership. If you look from a height, spiritual contemplation at slavery, especially at the past and modern slavery among the pagans, at all the other diverse, countless disasters to which humanity is subjected on earth, then one cannot help but admit that through the fall it became a category of beings rejected by God, whose eternal suffering begins with a short earthly wandering, and receives full development with the entry into eternity. The Savior accomplished the redemption of the human race, accomplished it for all people, but together accomplished it only for those who want to accept it arbitrarily. The Savior left the sorrows of man's earthly wandering, including slavery, inviolable, demanding from people who believe in Him not only a heartfelt and verbal, but also an active confession of their fall, an active confession of the fact that a Redeemer is necessary for people - a confession consisting in the recognition of earthly sorrows as a just consequence of the fall and in obedient submission to them. The God-Man Himself submitted to these sorrows so that we and Him would submit to them. He demands that His true Christians conduct their earthly pilgrimage as He did: it is impossible for them to be in a different state from the Body and Head, from the Church and Christ. For this reason, St. Apostle Peter said that Christians are called during their earthly pilgrimage to good deeds and suffering, “for this reason,” says the Apostle, “and Christ suffered for us, leaving us an image, so that we may follow His footsteps: if you do not commit sin, deceit will not be found in His mouth,” (I Pet. 2:21:22). For what reason did the Apostle say this? - said, addressing Christians who belonged in civil terms to the class of slaves. “Rabbi,” he says, “obey in every way the rulers, not only the good and meek, but also the obstinate” (18). “It is not your business that your master is inhuman: God will judge him for this, you carry your cross, given to you by God for your salvation, carry it without complaint, thanking and glorifying God from your cross: because God will also require an account from you of how you carried your God-given cross.” The Savior of the world established His Kingdom on earth, but a spiritual Kingdom that can reside in any human society, no matter how this society, by its civil structure, is called a monarchy or a republic, or something else, because the Kingdom of Christ, being not of this world (John 18:36), has nothing to do with the civil form of states, however, providing each state with the most virtuous and therefore the most useful members. In exactly the same way, the Lord granted spiritual freedom without destroying any civil power; for the spiritually free, with all his civil subordination, is not subject to sin and passions, is not subject to the most diverse circumstances and vicissitudes of earthly life, is not subject to fear, having become with the power of faith in Christ and pleasure in Christ above human fear and above all earthly disasters. The influence of both human fear and earthly disasters serves as a sign of a hypocritical, superficial, incomprehensible Christianity. If they say to this that many Christians submit to the influence of misfortunes and fall under their burden, then the Savior himself already has a ready answer to this: “Enter through the narrow gate; like a wide gate and a wide path, you lead earthly prosperity into destruction, and the many who enter through it are. What a narrow gate and a strait path you bring into the belly, and there are few of them who find it (Matthew 7:13:14). He who does not accept his cross and comes after Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:38). Hearing these decisive words of Christ, it is better to cry before Him about your weakness, rather than to wade through earthly, carnal wisdom and tortuousness against the Cross of Christ and against the narrow path, the only path that leads to salvation. What is the significant reason for such ranting? Rejection of the narrow path, desire for the broad path - rejection of the Cross of Christ - “Let us not boast, brethren, except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ: but to us, peace has been crucified to us, and we to the world” (Gal.6:12:14). This is what the Apostle teaches us. He who is alive for the world, enters into its affairs with fervor and passion, proves and shows his deadness to Christ. Church New Testament History presents many saints and righteous people. Christians who had slaves and passed them on as inheritance to their children, that they bought and sold slaves, as for example the Father of St. John of Damascus bought St. Cosmas. A certain Lover of Christ asked Barsanuphous, the Great One in the Saints: “My Father, I want to acquire servants for myself, but I doubt whether they will be useful to me. Tell me should I take them? and what should I do?” “The Great One answered: “Let us remember that we also have a Lord. If we obey our Master, He will make sure that our servants also obey us. Now you hear, go and take them in the name of the Lord.” 20 From this it is clear, firstly, that the First Christian Church did not forbid Christians from having slaves, and secondly, that the decree of the Mosaic Law on the slavery of the Jews by the Jews was not binding on Christians. Those Christians who strived for Christian perfection gave their slaves freedom, and sold their property and distributed it to the poor, fulfilling the all-holy advice of the Lord: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your property and give to the poor, and have treasure in heaven, and follow Me” (Matthew 19:21). The Holy Great Martyr George, before going on to the feats of martyrdom, freed all his slaves. Almost all the martyrs did this; This is what everyone who entered into spiritual martyrdom and monasticism did. Saint Peter the Publican not only freed all his slaves, but also sold himself into slavery; Saint Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, sold himself into slavery to redeem the son of a widow. This behavior of many of God’s Chosen Ones, perfect Christians, was by no means a general rule for all Christians. The general Christian rule was and is love for one's neighbors; therefore to slaves. Christian slaves were primarily household members: they were not slaves. That Christian who allowed himself to be cruel towards slaves was rebuked and taught by the Church. There were cruel, inhuman, depraved gentlemen among the Christian gentlemen, but is it not the trampling of God’s commandments in all other classes? Didn’t cruelty and debauchery appear in all classes, among the Shepherds and Archpastors themselves? Such is fallen man! The closest relations with God incarnate, the very office of the Apostle, the highest of all human orders, did not evade the greatest of human crimes from the man who arbitrarily chose evil for himself. The divine New Testament teaching about masters and servants is set forth with all accuracy and satisfaction in the epistles of the Holy Apostle Paul. We offer here this teaching, according to the interpretation of it (the Holy Apostle. Paul) by Saint John Chrysostom, generally accepted by the Holy Church and especially respected by the ancient Russian Church. Saint John Chrysostom, starting to explain the 13th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, which says that the Principalities and authorities are God's institution, draws the reader's attention to the previous chapter, in which it is faithfully and holyly and picturesquely depicted morality of a true Christian. “Notice,” says Chrysostom, “how opportunely the Apostle started talking about this subject. After he offered his listeners the various demands of Christian philosophy, set them up to live in play with friends and enemies, taught them to be useful both for the happy and the unfortunate and for the needy, in short, for everyone, instilled rules of community decent for the Angels, exhausted anger, deposed arrogance; and completely softened their hearts, after all this he offers his admonitions about obedience to the authorities.” It is obvious that only that Christian in whose soul the rules of Christian morality are deeply implanted, in whose soul faith predominates, who tries to mortify himself for the world, who looks at earthly human relationships and earthly human situations with the eye of a wanderer from the mind of Christ, who spends life on earth as a threshold to eternity, can bear the yoke of subordination in a godly and soulful manner, while earthly power is almost always associated with greater or lesser abuses, according to the nature of fallen man, according to his sinfulness, according to his limitations. It would not be superfluous to note here that St. John Chrysostom explains the relations between authorities and subordinates established by the Holy Spirit at the end of centuries of martyrdom, when the authorities almost continuously for three centuries revealed such monstrous brutality and inhumanity, which the annals of the world have not represented either before or since. This is the same Chrysostom who uttered the strongest denunciations against the abuse of wealth and power, and became a victim of revenge for his denunciations. Chrysostom says: “(The Apostle) wanting to convey that his commandment about (subordination) extends not only to worldly people, but to everyone, both priests and monks, announces this in advance, saying this: Let every soul obey the powers that be. Even if you were an Apostle, even an Evangelist, even a Prophet, even someone else, obey. Submission to authority does not undermine godliness. The apostle here does not mean simple obedience, but submission. The first basis for such an establishment, which satisfies the minds of the faithful, is that the authorities were established by God.” Chrysostom claims that the Apostle speaks in this chapter about the subordination of both servants to masters and subordinates to superiors. Calculating the God-established types of superiority and subordination, Chrysostom mentions the relationships “between husband and wife, between son and father, between an old man and a young man, between a slave and a free man, between a superior and a subordinate, between a teacher and a student.” The interlocutor, settling down, speaks on behalf of the Church about improving the life of unfree people, whether he has remained faithful to the moral Christian principle set out in the 12th chapter of the letter to To the Romans, from which there is only one, it is possible to reason about the proposed subject, in the character of the Holy Orthodox Church? Unfortunately, no! The interlocutor rejected the edification of the Apostle, rejected the moral principle proposed by the Apostle; on the contrary, he exposed to everyone his obvious victory with evil. In vain does the Apostle say to him: “Bless those who persecute.” you bless, and do not curse, repaying no one evil for evil. Do not take revenge on yourself, but give place to anger: for it is written: Vengeance is mine: I will repay, says the Lord" (Rom. 12; The interlocutor, instead of briefly admonishing those who err, entered into an altercation with secular writers, responds to barbs with barbs. The interlocutor humiliated the holy and important character of the Church, distorted her holy voice, before which everyone reveres and falls silent. The interlocutor, rejecting the dignity accorded to him by the Church gave the right to secular writers for sharp answers. And for answers, the method used by the Interlocutor, the method of picturesque and beautiful publication of private abuses, and conclusions about the whole from the particular, can serve as an abundant source. Having lost the mood of peace and love, in which only the mind can remain faithful to the Divine Truth - Christ and unity with the All-Holy Truth, the Interlocutor could not help but go into all the ways of false reasoning. He allowed himself, in his heat and enthusiasm, to change the words of the Holy Scripture and give them an arbitrary interpretation, consistent with his purpose, rejecting the generally accepted interpretation by the Church, while the Orthodox Church precisely rejects the arbitrary contradictory interpretation of Scripture, and accepts the interpretation of it by the Holy Fathers: the word spoken by the Holy Spirit can only be explained by the Holy Spirit. “Here,” says the Interlocutor, “is the direct teaching of Christianity on slavery: Everyone be faithful, says the Word of God, to the calling to which he is called (by God). Whether anyone is called a slave, do not be embarrassed; but if you can become free, so much the better, know how to take advantage of it. For he who is called a slave in the Lord (i.e. in Christianity) is a freeman (man) of the Lord; and he who is called free is the servant of the Lord. You were redeemed with a price: do not become slaves of men (1 Cor. 7:20-23).” 21 In the Russian translation of the New Testament, published with the blessing of the Holy Synod, verse 21 reads like this: “If you are called to be a slave, do not worry: but if you can become free, take advantage of it.” Silencing the word will give a different meaning! In the Slavic text we read: “but even if you can be free, enslave yourself more.” So! In the Slavic text we discover a thought completely opposite to that which the Interlocutor wants to see and express. In the interpretation of St. John Chrysostom on the 14 Epistles of the St. Apostle Paul, published with the blessing of the Holy Synod in 1765, the mentioned text reads as follows: But “if you can be free to be, use this especially.” This is the most literal translation from the Greek; On the edge there is also a very accurate translation, more understandable, more revealing of the Apostle’s thought: “enslave yourself more.” There is the following interpretation of this text by Chrysostom: “This means: the more enslave yourself. And why command the able to remain a slave; free yourself? To show that slavery does not bring any harm, on the contrary, slavery brings benefits. We do not know that some people think more strongly about what has been said about freedom, saying: if you can free yourself, free yourself. This saying would be contrary to Paul's purpose if it had such a meaning. “He could not order a slave to seek freedom while he was comforting the slave and explaining to him that he was not in the least damaged (by slavery).” Use this means: use slavery through humility as a powerful means of salvation. The words of the Apostle were bought at a price, of course: do not become a slave. Chrysostom explains this way: “this is said not only to slaves, but also to free people. A slave may not be a slave while being a slave, but one who is free can also be a slave. How can one not be a slave while being a slave? Doing everything for the sake of God, without pretense, working not so much before the eyes (of the masters): this means working as a person and (together) being free. Again: how can anyone, being free, become a slave? (This happens) when someone serves among people craftily, or for the sake of gluttony, or for the sake of passion for money, or for the purpose of lust for power. “Whoever is like this is more enslaved than any slave.” 22 That the explanation of the thought of the Holy Apostle Paul is understood and taught by Chrysostom with perfect correctness, this is evident from the Apostle’s instructions to slaves and masters in his letter to the Ephesians: “Rabbits,” he says, “listen to your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the simplicity of your heart, just as Christ did: not working before your very eyes as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the soul, serving with prudence as the Lord, and not as a man: knowing that whoever does good will receive from the Lord, even if he is a slave, and if he is free, do the same for them; and he has no accusation” (Eph. 6:5–9). From the letter of the Apostle Paul to Philemon, one can see nothing more than the Apostle’s respect for the rights of the master and the intercession of such a Person who could command for a slave who had become a vessel of God from a vessel of unrighteousness. It is not clear why the Interlocutor brings this message to support his idea, which the message clearly contradicts! 23 perhaps in the hope of hiding the exact meaning of the message from an inexperienced reader and presenting his view on the subject with the view of the Holy Apostle Paul. It is also unclear why the Interlocutor cites the Lord’s teaching about spiritual freedom, between which there is no relationship and civil freedom. 24 He who has spiritual freedom has no need at all for civil freedom: he is free in slavery, in prison, in chains, in the hands of the executioner. On the contrary, someone deprived of spiritual freedom, even if he enjoys civil freedom, even if he enjoys complete civil prosperity, is a slave of sin and passions, a prisoner and an eternal slave. Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria rightly notes that the Lord’s teaching about spiritual freedom did not satisfy His disciples who were disciples only in name and position, and, not properly accepting the Word of the Lord, which is Spirit and Life (John 6:63), they wanted to adapt this word to their earthly well-being, that is, to give the Word of God a carnal meaning and action. The sign of Christ is the Cross; The Word of Christ is the Word of the Cross: it was and is for the Jews a temptation, for the Greeks it was madness (1 Cop. 1:23). The teaching of the Church presented here, in all its brevity, shows: 1) that both the Word of God and the Church, both Ecumenical and Russian in the person of the Holy Fathers, never said anything about the abolition of civil slavery; that there is nothing in common between spiritual and civil freedom, that both slaves and masters were constantly taught by the Church in the most precise, most conscientious fulfillment of their duties, that violators of Christ’s testament of love were subjected to reproof and admonition; 2) That the liberation of slaves has always been recognized by the Church as a good deed, a deed of mercy, a deed of brotherly Christian love. From this teaching of the Church, the view of the present national event, of the matter of improving the life of the landowner peasants by granting them civil freedom, is majestic and magnificent. The most pious Russian Autocrat showed the noble class the accomplishment of a great Christian deed, a deed of love. The Church calls upon God's blessing for the great domestic cause with its warmest prayers! Its shepherds invite the nobility to noble selflessness, to sacrifice, to the urgent sacrifice of material benefits for moral benefits, and the peasants are instructed to accept the gift of the Tsar, with due reverence and humility - these sure guarantees that the gift will be used wisely and usefully. It should not be thought that civil freedom can only elevate the peasants morally: the class of nobles must certainly enter into a high degree of moral success by abandoning slavery. This is the property of selflessness and sacrificing material benefits to spiritual benefits: it elevates, changes, and improves a person. It is impossible to ignore some particulars that help the Interlocutor come to a conclusion about the whole. For this purpose, the Interlocutor presented the cry of Daniil Zatochnik, an exiled slave. 25 The sharpener is presented as an innocent sufferer; his cry is heard throughout ancient Russia, repeated with sympathy by all the ancient Russian people, the ancient Russian Church responds to his voice; however, not a single Church Writer has an opinion about the cry of the prisoner. No matter how touching this description is, so many important facts require satisfactory proof. The interlocutor says that in the prisoner’s voice one can hear some kind of bitter mockery, something like satirical bitterness.” 26 Really, none of the contemporary pastors understood that the correct Christian mood does not allow feelings of bitter mockery or satirical bitterness into the soul? Wouldn’t it be more likely to recognize as slander against the Church the immediate response attributed to it to the voice of murmuring and slander, similar to that heard from the lips of one of the thieves crucified with the Lord? The Church says about this thief, he was brought down to hell by the weight of blasphemy. 27 She teaches her children, from the midst of earthly misadventures, to pronounce and repeat the words of another thief: “I accept what is worthy according to my deeds: remember me, Lord, in Thy Kingdom.” One way to alleviate one’s difficult situation, to attract peace of mind into the soul, to give it spiritual consolation and pleasure: this is to recognize oneself as worthy of a difficult situation, and a difficult situation is God’s allowance. “There is nothing stronger than humility,” said the Rev. Abba, Dorotheus, nothing defeats him. If something sad happens with humility, he immediately turns to himself, immediately condemns himself that he is worthy of it - he will not reproach anyone, will not lay the blame on anyone else, and thus endure what happened without embarrassment, without grief, with perfect calm.” 28 Everyone must correctly recognize himself as worthy of sorrow and punishment: everyone was conceived in iniquities and born in sin, has within himself living and active sinful passions, this sinful infection that never ceases to give birth to sin, if not in deeds, then in thoughts and sensations. The Savior of the world said: “He who does not accept his cross, and comes after Me, is not worthy of Me" (Matthew 10:38). The cross, according to the explanation of the Holy Fathers, is the name for those sorrows that God is pleased to allow us during our earthly journey. Sorrows are varied; each person has his own sorrows; sorrows most correspond to the passions of each; for this reason, everyone has his own cross. This cross is commanded to everyone of us to accept, that is, everyone is commanded to recognize himself as worthy of the sorrow sent to him, to endure it complacently, following Christ, borrowing from Him the humility through which sorrow is endured; In the above words of the Lord, there is a terrible sentence on those who do not endure sorrow patiently: the Lord rejects them. They, uttering murmuring and slander in the midst of sorrows, thereby make a confession that their minds and hearts are not illuminated by Divine grace, that the Lord is alien to them; for no one else, namely the Lord, teaches humility to His true servants. “He teaches not from an Angel,” He says, “not from man, not from a book, but from Me, that is, from My assimilation to you; illumination of you, action on you, for I am meek and humble in heart, and in thought, and in the way of thinking: and you will find peace of defense (inner), and relief for your souls from thoughts “(Matthew 11:29). 29 Tribulation is called a temptation or test because it reveals the innermost structure of the soul. 30 Saint Isaac of Syria says: “Every difficult situation and every sorrow, not accompanied by patience, produces extreme torment. A person's patience resists his misadventures, and cowardice is the mother of torment. It gives birth in a person to a force of despondency that overcomes him, from which one feels a spiritual constriction - this is a foretaste of Gehenna. This induces a spirit of frenzy on a person, from which the darkness of temptations is exhausted: embarrassment, rage, blasphemy, complaint about fate, perverse thoughts... “What is the cure for all this? - humility of heart. In proportion to your humility, you are given patience in your misadventures. As you endure, the weight of your sorrows becomes easier for you, and you accept consolation. As you receive consolation, your love for God increases. According to your love, your joy, delivered by the Holy Spirit, increases. Our merciful Father, when He deigns to remove His true sons from temptation, does not take the temptation itself from them, but gives them patience in temptation, and they accept with the hand of patience all the (above-mentioned) blessings to strengthen their souls. May Christ God, by His grace, make us worthy, out of love for Him, to endure with thanksgiving from our hearts all that is cruel.” 31 This is the teaching of the Church! This is the voice of the Church! Here is her review of the voice of Daniil Zatochnik. At the end of the last century, a certain clergyman, in the rank of Bishop, was imprisoned. The shutter was long and so strict that the prisoner was forbidden to use ink and paper. The prisoner died in captivity. In his room they found a scrawled inscription on the wall: “It is good for me, O Lord, that thou hast humbled me, that I may learn by Thy justification” (Ps. 119:71); Here is the voice of the Imprisoner, which can and should be recognized as a voice that completely belongs to the Church! This is the voice to which the Church must respond with a withdrawal of approval! All earthly disasters mean nothing before spiritual disaster: before the alienation of the mind and heart from the humility given to us by God. The Church can only respond to the voice of Daniel the Imprisoner with the voice of painful lamentation for this lost and darkened soul, which may the mercy of God cover. May this mercy of God deliver from imitating Daniel all those who are now and will continue to be subjected to imprisonment, exile and other earthly, temporary disasters! May the grace of God instruct them in humility. And man, as long as he exists on earth in the state of his fall, will make prison, exile, and other countless disasters inevitable - the consequences of the fall. He will be subjected to them rightly and wrongly: such is man, such is earthly life! An incredible, horrifying scene appeared on the pages of the Interlocutor. 32 This is a judgment over the soul of a long-dead master, a judgment forbidden by God, like the theft of the dignity of God, a judgment over a soul that has long stood before the judgment of God and heard God’s saying about itself. The spiritual testament, regarding which the Interlocutor conducts a trial and in which the deceased confessed and counted his sins, already turns out to be pale and weak before the form of the judgment pronounced by the Interlocutor. Judgment and form, by their nature of irritation, come to the fore, are themselves a crime, leading to horror and shudder, especially since the court is pronounced from the church pulpit, in the name of the Church, with a clear violation of the Law of God and the Law of the Church, of which the first prohibits judging and condemning, the second forbids the publication of a sinner’s confession. Even if the confession was preserved on paper, it does not follow that the rule of the Church regarding it was eliminated. The judgment is expressed with extraordinary cruelty. The writer is dissatisfied with the sinner’s repentance, rejects, destroys this repentance; however, it is not clear that the writer was briefly aware of all the circumstances of the sinner’s death, that the sinner’s fate after death was known. And this information is necessary to accurately determine what was the merit of the repentance brought by the sinner. The writer is dissatisfied with the fact that freedom was given to half of the slaves, and the other half was given to the remaining family of the master, considering it already proven and decided that all hitherto former slave owners are criminals and violators of the Law of God! We believe that with repentance, the Almighty Grace of God blots out all sins equally; both small and great; human exploits during repentance are accepted solely as evidence of sincerity in repentance: for this reason we see that those who came to the helicopter city of repentance, already at the tenth hour of their lives, received the same penalty for salvation as those who worked in the helicopter city from their tender youth received. (Matthew 20:1-16). The dignity of repentance can be assessed by only one Knower of the Heart - God. His judgment is completely different from human judgment: “man does not see as God sees: as man sees on the face, but God sees on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16–17). From the Gospel we see that the Pharisees were constantly mistaken in their judgments about sinners who brought repentance. The Pharisee Simon sinned in his judgment of a harlot woman, known to the whole city for her depraved life: while he was tempted and condemned not only the woman, but the God-Man himself, the Lord pronounced a saying about the sinner that her sins were forgiven, that she loved God more than the Pharisee, who recognized himself as righteous, that is, who did not see his sins (Luke 8. Jews They grumbled at the Lord because He visited the famous sinner, Zacchaeus the Publican. Zacchaeus, having accepted the Lord, immediately decided to change his lifestyle and presented evidence of the sincerity of repentance almost in the same way as can be seen in the will, at which Zacchaeus is indignant, saying: “Lord, I will give half of my property to the poor, and I will return to anyone else I have offended in fourfold. To this the Lord answered: “Today salvation has come to this house, for this son Abraham also is.” The Son of Man has come to seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:8,9:10). The Word of God reveals to us that Zacchaeus was definitely a sinner, already lost, but that his repentance was accepted by God, and the lost sinner was suddenly counted among the ranks; saved. It is obvious that people could not know the reality of this repentance and, breaking the commandment of God prohibiting condemnation, they sinned both before God and before their neighbor. The scribes and Pharisees brought before the Lord a woman caught in adultery. They, demanding judgment from the Lord, referred to the Law of Moses, which commanded the stoning of adulterers. The Lord said to the Pharisees; "Whoever is without sin in you, first cast a stone on her." They, being convicted by their conscience, came out one after another and left the unfortunate woman alone before the Lord. The Lord pronounced forgiveness on her in the following most humble form: “Woman, where are the essence, who is the enemy of you? Will no one judge you?... I do not condemn you: go, and from now on do not sin to anyone."( John 8:3–11). From this it is clear that the reason for the excessively strict judgment of neighbors is one’s own sinfulness, which is not paid attention to. Saint John Climacus tells that a robber came to a monastery to a certain Great Father to repent and become a monk. This robber made a public confession of his sins, the most serious ones, and the Great Father saw a certain luminous man appear, holding the charter in his hands and erasing the terrible sins of the robber written on it as he discovered them through confession. 33 Such is the power of confession: it is based on the infinity of the price by which we are redeemed. The interlocutor demands the strictest repentance from the soul of the deceased, despite the confession of the deceased, not only pronounced before the confessor, but also set out in writing for the benefit of everyone; The interlocutor tortures the soul of the deceased, as it may not have been tortured on its path beyond the grave: only the Omniscient God can give a satisfactory answer to the Interlocutor. But that servant of the New Testament Altar who is carried away by irritability and anger cannot be an infallible preacher of repentance, which is the manifestation of God’s love and mercy for fallen man, defiled by sins. The Lord more than once told the Pharisees: “Go ahead, learn what to eat; I want mercy, not sacrifice.” For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 19:13). The Interlocutor's method in this department is expressed with particular clarity. Having made an extract from the mentioned spiritual will, he exclaims: “Is it possible to hear this indifferently? Is it possible to forgive without judgment this dying Dominion? and so on." Exactly the same exclamations are made by the famous French writer Lamenais, who belonged to the revolutionary party, in his interpretation of the 14th chapter of Matthew; the same sends out eloquence in order to attract the reader to a conclusion from the particular about the whole. Revolutionary writers in France, with the help of their method, the absurdity of which in its basis and conclusions is incomprehensible to the masses, picturesquely exposed the errors of the authorities, thereby shocked the authorities, picturesquely exposed the errors of the clergy, thereby shocked the Faith of the people, created unrest in the State, and subjected it to terrible revolutions. The interlocutor really counts on the effect of the scene he has presented, because he repeats it twice both in the Voice and in the Word. He was not mistaken in this calculation. May God's mercy cover Orthodox Russia. It is impossible to ignore the Interlocutor’s insistent desire that the noble committees pay attention to the law of Moses in relation to slaves; at the same time, as noted above, the Interlocutor deprives the legislation he cites of character. The Orthodox Clergy cannot take part in such a demand, because the Council of the Apostles definitively determined that for pagan Christians neither the ritual nor the civil decrees of the Jews are at all obligatory (Acts 15). The Jewish Law on Slaves is not only not obligatory, but also inapplicable either in Russia or in any other Christian State, like the ritual Jewish Law. The concept on which the Mosaic Slave Law is based is that one nation of Israel is the people of God, and other nations are rejected by God, as if excluded from humanity. For this reason, the Law of Moses established temporary slavery among the Jews only for the Jews, providing for the acquisition of slaves for perpetual and hereditary possession from neighboring nations. The behavior of the Jews in such acquisition of slaves from neighboring nations, their treatment of captives, their general treatment of other peoples and their disposition towards them is terrible: they are explained by the above concept. Let us present a few examples out of many. The Israelites turned the entire Gibeonite people into hereditary slaves. “Curse you naturally,” the victorious leader of Israel said to them: “and from you a servant, a woodcutter, a water-bearer, will not be lacking, for me and for my God.” (Isa. 9:23) After taking the land of Midian, the Israelites destroyed with the edge of the sword all the captives from infants to old men, killed all the women, leaving only maidens alive, among 32 thousand for slavery ( Numbers 31, this was done at the command of Moses. When the Holy King David took possession of the capital of the Ammonites, Rabbath, the people “who were in it came out and laid them on saws, and on tridents of iron, and on iron axes, and led them through the cave to the Plinthians: and so made the sons of Ammonich the whole city.”( 2 Samuel 12:31). It is very clear that with the redemption of the human race by the Lord, primarily the people of Israel over other nations were destroyed: at the price of every Christian the Lord became; and therefore Christians of all nations became spiritually brethren, equal to each other; “There is Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, Barbarian and Scythian, slave and free, but Christ is all and in all” (Col. 3:11). For this reason, the Civil Law of Moses not only could not take place among pagan Christians, but also the Jews who accepted Christianity were required to abandon this civil law, which separated them from all nations by the advantage of the flesh. Do not begin to say within yourself: father imami Abraham,” Saint John the Baptist already told the Pharisees at the very beginning of the Gospel sermon (Matthew 8:9). The Jews were extremely busy and pompous with their carnal advantage, given for a time; they did not want to part with this advantage, and for its sake they rejected Christianity; They expected and sought from the Lord Jesus the brilliant fulfillment of the fleshly advantage provided by the Law of Moses, and, having heard the Word of the Cross, the demand for renunciation of the fleshly advantage, they rejected the Lord. And now the Jews expect that they will be satisfied precisely with the advantage of the flesh; if they constituted an independent State, then even now they would act with other peoples according to the instructions of their Old Law. The Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church never refer to the Mosaic Law in its literal sense, but cite it and the images of its fulfillment in a representative and mysterious sense: in relation to Christianity, it has the property of being like a shadow, which does not depict an object with complete accuracy, but an unclear likeness of an object. Thus, the hatred and disgust that the Jews had for foreigners depicts the hatred and disgust that our inner man should have for various types of sin. The merciless extermination of pagan peoples, commanded to the Israelites by the Mosaic Law, is an image of the New Testament Commandment, commanding the Christian to decisively kill in himself all sinful thoughts and sensations (Matthew 5. The indefinite and hereditary ownership of slaves from other nations is an image of the constant possession of passions and teaching a way to control them to the Christian Tribe. Under the name of the daughter of Babylon, of course a sinful infection in a person, from which various active sins are constantly born; that person is called blessed who kills sins in their infant state, before they mature and become stronger in a person; under the name of the stone on which such infants are killed, of course, the Gospel Teaching, on the basis of which sinful thoughts are refuted (Matthew 15:19 and so on); The interlocutor was carried away in his articles by the Jewish direction: he wants the Teaching of Christ to interfere in civil affairs, to present its opinion on civil slavery and in a civil sense, and not in a spiritual sense, to give an advantage according to the flesh, and to become an instrument of an earthly goal - in short, so that this All-Holy and Heavenly Teaching would cease to be what it is - the Word of the Cross. For this reason, the Interlocutor turned to Jewish decrees that were optional for Christianity and inapplicable to Christianity, rightly hoping in them to find support for his carnal wisdom and unjustly imposing them on Christian society. Quite unnecessary worries! The command and will of the Sovereign is always sacred for the Russians, and the Teaching of Christ bequeaths to all Christians unwavering and decisive obedience to the Supreme Authority in all its civil orders - the Holy Apostles, having rejected at their Holy Council the demand of some Judaizing Christians, wrote a letter to pagan Christians. This letter begins like this: “Nezia came from us, disturbing you with words, corrupting your souls, saying to circumcise and to keep the law (of Moses), we have not made a commandment to them.” (Acts 15:24). If in the primacy of the Church, by members of the Church, in the name of the Church, but spontaneously, a demand was made that confused the Society: then one should not be surprised at a similar event in our time, spontaneous, but in the name of the Church and by a member of the Church. The apostles further say in the letter that they free Gentile Christians from observing the Mosaic Law by the will of the Holy Spirit (15:28). I urge the clergy to holy contemplation in the Lord of the picture that human slavery represents in the Old Testament. Let us go up the mountain with Moses and look from this mountain at the promised land; Let's look at the New Testament Sacraments from the Mosaic Law. The picture that opens before us is amazing. The Holy Scripture, as we saw above, when counting the objects that constituted the gift of both the King of Gerar and the Pharaoh to the Old Testament Righteous Abraham, puts slaves and female slaves in the same category as sheep and calves; that's not enough! a person stands on a par with soulless matter, with didrachms, that is, with money, with coin. What does this mean?.. Moses, on whose Law the Interlocutor refers and relies, commands on the occasion of the above-mentioned extermination of the Midianites, the conversion of their maidens into slavery and taking possession of their property; “Take away the tribute of the Lord from the men of war who went to war, one soul from five hundred, from men and from cattle, and from oxen, and from sheep, and from donkeys” (Num. 31:28). Next, the objects of self-interest received by the Israelites are calculated: “Sheep are six hundred and seventy-five thousand, and oxen are seventy-two thousand, and donkeys are sixty and one thousand, and the souls of men from women who have not known the bed of men, all souls are thirty-two thousand” (31.33-35). Again, man is in the same category as beasts! What does this mean? And this must certainly have its own meaning: the lines in which man is placed in the same category with beasts and soulless matter were included in the Holy Scriptures at the behest of the Holy Spirit. These are those picturesque, tactile, true features that depict the depth of human fall. As the fallen Angel, because of his fall, was numbered among the beasts of the earth (Gen. 8: so the fallen man, because of his fall, “was likened to foolish cattle and became like them.” (Ps. 48:31). The God-man descended into this moral abyss to extract man from it! He is “Lamb of God, take away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). – He not only took on the form of a slave, but also deigned to liken himself to cattle prepared for the slaughter: this is how the Holy Scripture expressed itself about the Lord who became man (Ps. 49:21, translated from Hebrew). The first state of mind and heart produced by the overshadowing of grace, the first state of mind and heart, signifying their departure from carnal wisdom, is poverty of spirit. This is how the Lord defined: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for these are the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Poverty of spirit is the first of the bliss, the foundation of all bliss, their initial condition. When a person considers his fallen nature from the blissful, gracious poverty of the spirit: then he sees that this nature, through the fall, has lost all its dignity and has become completely indecent; With such a look at oneself, the need for a Redeemer becomes clear. Exactly! for the poor in spirit is the Kingdom of Heaven, that is, for the poor in spirit alone, true knowledge and acceptance of the Redeemer is available, who already constitutes the entire dignity of the person renewed by Him: “I impute all the skills of being that I may gain Christ,” says the Apostle, “and I will be found in Him, not having lost my righteousness which is from the Law, but through faith Jesus Christ, the righteousness which is from God in faith.” (1Phil.3:8:9). Rationalists are alien to poverty of spirit; They reason and conclude about human nature, rejecting or omitting the concept of its fall; they see in this nature all possible virtues, without noticing that in it good is mixed with evil, and therefore its very good has become evil, just as fine food mixed with poison becomes poison. 34 For this reason, Christianity is humiliated and distorted by them. The Word of the Cross was rejected by them; they seek and demand for fallen nature such advantages as could only have been presented to nature if it had not fallen. From false ideas came the most monstrous actions and consequences; Having presented to people their nature not in the form in which it really is, by delivering to people the position of this, sometimes the rationalists achieved for a very short time, which humanity cannot bring out in the state of its fall, the rationalists created the most terrible disorders wherever their teaching was accepted, and in order to return to order, the noble, sublime being - fallen man - felt the inevitable need of prison, and chains, and on the scaffold and on the gallows. “Carnal wisdom,” says the Apostle, “death is, but spiritual wisdom is life and peace.” Because of the wisdom of the flesh there is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the Law of God, for it can do less” (Rom. 8:6:7). On this basis, the Apostle turns on behalf of God to all believers with the following testament: “I say by the grace that was given to me, that everyone who is in you should not philosophize any more than it is fitting to philosophize: but to philosophize in chastity, which God has divided into everyone, is the measure of faith, not high in wisdom, but in the humble” (Rom. 12:3: 16). Appeal of the Interlocutor to the rural clergy, 35 past the Diocesan Archpastors with obvious elimination; Archpastors are a clear and most impermissible violation of the hierarchical order. The Holy Synod, the Holy Synod alone, has the right to such an appeal, to which both Archpastors and Pastors owe attention and obedience. The Academy has its purpose: it must instruct the youth entrusted to it, under the main supervision of the local Bishop. The appeal of a member of the Academy with an appeal and instruction to Shepherds who are by no means subordinate to him in any respect is an abuse of right, an abuse of power. Such behavior is already enough; the spiritual dignity of the appeal is also assessed. The dream that the landowner peasants “from the sovereign hands of the masters,” as the Interlocutor puts it, “will pass into the pastoral hands of the rural Priests, that the power of the masters will be replaced by spiritual power,” 36 is a completely false dream. The landowner peasants will pass in civil relations from the hands of the landowners to the hands of officials, just as state-owned and appanage peasants are under the control of officials. When establishing a new management of the landowner peasants, the influence of officials on them should be very strong for two reasons: firstly, by necessity, to accustom the peasants to the correct understanding and use of freedom; secondly, by the necessity of fulfilling those conditions before the state and remunerating those costs that will be made when granting freedom. Experienced persons from the rural clergy, practically familiar with the life of peasants of all departments, very much understand the situation that awaits them in relation to the landowner peasants upon the granting of freedom: let them guide the young clergy with their advice, who can be carried away by the articles of the Interlocutor - the Lord said: “Every kingdom divided into all will be desolate: and every city or house divided into all will not exist” (Matthew 12:25 ): such should be the inevitable fruit of the clash of classes, the clash to which the Interlocutor is drawn. The Apostle foreshadows the same thing: “If you mock and devour one another,” he says, “take heed that you are not destroyed from one another.” (Gal.5:15). The apostle also shows the reason why a clash can and should occur: it lies in envy of earthly advantages, and the reason for envy is vanity, that is, the desire for earthly advantages (5:26). These are the motivating reasons for Jacobinism in general. The interlocutor sees in the present event the fall of the nobility, sees in the rise of the nobility, which followed in the past century, the humiliation of the clergy: both of them are completely false. Hostile against the church; and therefore, European teachings acted against the spiritual and material well-being of the Clergy: they had an influence on all classes. The effect of European teachings on Russia is constantly intensifying: the consequences of this action must also intensify: A momentary opposite action is unreliable: it must be destroyed, carried away by an all-destroying stream. The real event is by no means the fall of the nobility. The nobility in Russia cannot be destroyed for a very clear reason: because in the vast Russian State, between the Autocrat and the large population there must certainly be a serving class. Old noble families may fall; new personalities may appear and join the nobility; but all these are facts that have already been repeated and repeated, but have not destroyed the class necessary in the state. When Russia was immersed in ignorance, torn apart by civil strife, oppressed by the yoke of the Tatars, it was natural that the Clergy occupied the most important place in it, connected the individual parts with each other, and entered into state affairs: The Clergy was the nurturer and educator of the infant Russia. It is equally natural that, after the establishment of autocracy, it was gradually removed from interference in state affairs, limiting itself to the management of affairs that were strictly spiritual: In the past century, Russia has unusually expanded its limits, joined the ranks of the top European states, and was formed in the image of these states. Again, it is natural that along with the importance of the state, the importance of government people and the entire serving class has risen; Naturally, in the spirit of European civilization, the Orthodox clergy became even more constrained in the circle of their actions. What does the future hold for us? We see the extraordinary material development of Europe: Russia, in order to harmonize with Europe and maintain its importance in it, must, by state and political necessity, introduce European material development. Material development cools people towards the Christian faith, allowing for the most superficial engagement with it. With the strengthening of relations with Europe, a fact is inevitable: an increased invasion of various religious teachings into our fatherland. All these teachings, from papism to deism and atheism, are equally hostile to the Orthodox Faith. Meanwhile, the greatness of Russia must increase. Let us assume that it will remain within its present boundaries for a whole century, but during this time its own population should increase, according to the laws of statistics, to 200 million. Russia does not need to send its surplus population, like other European states, overseas; it can accommodate hundreds of millions freely and widely in its vast space. According to the increasing population and material development, the importance of the state rises. As the importance of the state rises, the importance of the service class rises. Already now we see dignitaries with significance that did not exist at the beginning of this century. These are: Governor of the Caucasus, Governor of the Kingdom of Poland, Governor-General of Povorossiysk and Eastern Siberia; their regions are entire kingdoms; they cannot stand on the same level as the governors Dimitry Donskoy, Mikhail Teodorovich, Alexei Mikhailovich. With such development of the state, with such material development, with the invasion of European teachings into Russia, there is no hope that the clergy could return to the importance, both in moral and material terms, that it had in virgin Russia. They will say here: it is necessary to improve the material position of the Orthodox Church for the very welfare of the state. So! But the path to achieving this goal is not the one indicated by the Interlocutor. The strength and essential importance of the clergy lies in its character. “You are the light of the world, you are the salt of the earth,” the Savior tells us, the Shepherds of the Church (Matthew 5:14:13). Let us show obedience to Christ with our lives, let us acquire Christ within ourselves; He will make us light for the world, salt for the earth; Our brethren of all classes, having seen the light shining from us, having felt the effect of the blessed salt with which we must be saturated, will give us everything we deserve and provide us with everything we need for temporary life. The Lord himself promised us this. He said: “Do not worry about what we eat, or what we drink, or what we wear... Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33) On the contrary, if we lose our character, then our brethren will feel distrust of us, will turn away from us, and will show us every kind of disdain. And this was foretold to us. Lord: “If the salt wears away,” He said, “what will become of salt?” (Alas, brethren!) if we notice that people despise and trample on us, then wouldn’t it be more accurate, wouldn’t it be fairer when, instead of blaming other classes, we turn our eyes to ourselves and try to correct our earthly situation by correcting ourselves in spirit? The moral sign of Christianity is love. “All understand this,” said the Savior, “as my disciples are, if you have love for one another” (John 18:35). This holy sign must be primarily the sign of the clergy. Let us acquire love within ourselves, we will show it abundantly to all classes: then all classes will involuntarily be imbued with reverence for us and satisfy all our needs. A person cannot help but pay homage to love when he sees it in his neighbor, especially when he sees it in the Shepherd: because love is God, before whom every creature of His humbles itself (1 John 4:16). To him be glory forever and ever Amen. With this proposal, 170 copies of it are forwarded for the same distribution of these copies, which was prescribed by my proposal of April 25, No. 809. Ignatius, Bishop of the Caucasus and Black Sea. No. 916. May 6th day, 1859. III. Comments of Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov on the Project for the Transformation of Maritime Educational Institutions (Response to Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich. 37) Your Imperial Highness! Fulfilling your will, I have the honor to present my notes on the Project for the Transformation of Maritime Educational Institutions. The project was compiled with such an abundance of theoretical knowledge, gained by experience and observation, that it appears to those who read it carefully to be elegant, harmonious, whole, pleasing to the eye of the mind with its strength and definiteness and size. Sound criticism should, in my opinion, not make futile efforts to correct shortcomings, but evaluate the work and express to the public full sympathy for it, as one of the guarantees of state welfare. It may very well happen that when implementing a project, some insignificant details will require changes, which can be noticed when applying the project to business. The project can be likened to a ship carefully built on the shore and secured in good time against the difficulties of navigation, against storms and winds: such is the project both in relation to its execution and in relation to objections if they arose against it. I could limit myself to this brief review: they fully and with all sincerity express the consciousness that formed in me from reading the project. But I cannot forbid myself from the following indications of some particulars of the project, which aroused in me especially comforting sympathy. The instructions will serve as factual evidence before Your Imperial Highness that I am carrying out your will: I speak with all frankness. These instructions are few in number: show the most merciful leniency to the non-specialist! Thirty-three years have already separated me from worldly life and its activities, even scientists. 1) The project eliminates the previous procedure for admitting students, and presents it to those who consider themselves capable of taking, so to speak, the placement in the building by storm in a public competitive examination. One cannot help but rejoice at this measure, the results of which should be filled with abundant public and private benefits. Only those capable of naval service, only lovers of the sea, will appear for the exam. If someone comes to the exam who has a false concept of himself, recognizing himself as capable and being incapable, such a person will have a correct concept of himself. This is a great blessing for a young man. The previous admission procedure is completely unfounded. They were accepted for the merits of their father, uncle, under the patronage: many children ended up in a special school without any vocation, without any ability for the sciences taught at the school. What were the consequences? Of the approximately forty students in the class, ten studied properly. Others did not study or studied superficially due to a lack of ability, or being carried away by a calling to other subjects: The deadness of those incapable and unwilling to study has a very harmful effect on the capable and lovers of science. Upon graduation from a special school, all those who did not feel a calling to a branch of service and were not capable of it, hastened at the first opportunity to move to another branch of service for which they felt inclined and capable, especially since those who are not capable of a suitable category of science are often very capable of another. The government was wasted, laboring in vain for the special education of many young people who were incapable of it, and for these young people the precious years spent in school were irretrievably lost. The new method of admission eliminates adversity, official and private. A group of young people with a one-sided, exclusive direction and abilities corresponding to the direction enter the Maritime Schools. This will bring unity to the society of students: it, as a like-minded society of living members, should have incomparably better success in science than a society with a diverse direction and many dead members. In order to preserve energy in the society of students, it is necessary, without any thoughtfulness, to exclude from it those members in whom deadness begins to be noticed. 2) Equally important in relation to official and private benefits is a thorough medical examination of those entering an educational institution. Parents, relatives and protectors send their child to school just to place him somewhere, for the most part not knowing the state of the child’s health, the amount of his bodily strength and what kind of strength and what kind of health the type of service intended for the child requires. For this reason, it happens that children of weak strength and health, but capable and diligent, learn well, show good progress, are supported by their superiors, but gradually, in an inconspicuous way, become exhausted, completely lose their health, and become useless for themselves and for society for the rest of their lives. 3) One cannot help but rejoice from the heart at the proposed combination of theoretical teaching with abundant practical teaching in the Maritime Schools. This assumption of the Project should be accepted by all special military educational institutions: it is so true! such abundant fruit is clearly seen in its results by anyone who is experienced in the shortcomings of previous teaching! In ancient times, an engineering officer first saw the fortress when he came to it for active service. What was briefly known to him from science and from drawings was made completely new when he first saw it, briefly known in nature. This is the property of a person’s ability to perceive impressions. Getting impressions from drawings is not at all the same as getting impressions from the objects themselves. He who has acquired impressions from drawings has only impressions of drawings: he must acquire impressions from objects again, because an object and a drawing of an object are two objects that differ from each other, and are by no means the same thing. This applies to all material... and fortification and artillery and naval art. Even the study of active Theology is completely different in its results when one is not content with the theoretical study of Christian virtues alone, but adds practical things to the theoretical. Drawings are very helpful for the most accurate study of an object when it is known in kind. For this reason, when examining objects, it is especially useful to photograph them by hand, as experience itself has decisively proven. Such photography does not take much time, but it unusually enhances the impression made by objects, develops the concept of objects, and sharpens abilities. For example: whoever has become acquainted with artillery pieces from science and examined them from the drawings has a theoretical complete knowledge of them; who, moreover, had the opportunity to examine the weapon in kind, has a more distinct and independent knowledge of them. Whoever bothered to take photographs of the guns by hand, it can only be said with certainty, studied them completely and quite satisfactorily. Proper shooting takes a lot of time for one particular subject, and prevents familiarization with other subjects that are just as necessary; it must be known to officers not assigned to the drawing room, to a certain extent; but freehand photography needs to be developed. The ability to obey impressions is so important in a person that even in the study of mathematics, those students who study it solely from a book have much less success than those who take the trouble to practice mathematical deductions with their own hands on paper or on a slate board. Those who practiced using this method admitted and assured that the analysis of any theorem, carefully written by them on paper or on the board, was imprinted like a picture in their imagination and contributed to the clearest understanding of the truth contained in the theorem. The ability to receive impressions is especially strong in children and young people. This ability, although greater, is limited by the limitations of all human properties, must be used very prudently and carefully, not wasting it in vain, not allowing it to be entertained on a variety of subjects, but focusing it on what is essential for the person’s purpose. We must expect the greatest benefit if the walls of the rooms in the Naval Schools are dotted with correct drawings of the most famous European ships, harbors, seaside fortresses; a child, in moments of freedom, looking at the drawings to satisfy his curiosity, is unnoticed by the most useful impression. Drawings must be correct: looking at drawings, in the composition of which the artist’s imagination is allowed freedom, is as harmful to the correctness of concepts about objects as reading historical novels for acquiring and maintaining correct knowledge of history. The very parade ground or yard where children play should be filled with models of cannons, batteries, and other objects, the impressions of which should fill the children’s imagination. If possible, these items should be in their natural form for the correct impression and should be so easy to work with and cheap in price that they can be easily repaired and replaced with new ones in case of damage. At that time, the Engineering School had very expensive, intricate models of some European fortresses; even the houses located in the fortresses were in models, and the houses had furniture. These expensive models were carefully shown to visitors to the school, but the students hardly saw them, being not allowed to see them for the purpose of letting anyone know. none of them through negligence damaged a table or chair in any house of a precious model. 4) The number of sciences laid down by the Project for Maritime Educational Institutions and the distribution of their teaching deserves full approval. Until now, due attention has not been paid to the fact that excess knowledge takes away its quality. The human mind, if it is given a vast field of activity in length and breadth, or on the surface, cannot in any way act in depth, or: the mind, acquiring a variety of knowledge, cannot acquire solid knowledge. With such, one might say, magnificent improvement that awaits the Naval Educational Institutions, one cannot help but wish that in due time, educational manuals would appear in printed books, and not in just lithographed notes. Printed textbooks will be compiled, according to the natural course of human affairs, incomparably more clearly than notes unknown to the public. Teaching will gain greater certainty and positivity. 5) The project shrewdly discerned an important condition in the human soul, its natural logic, abolishing corporal punishment, giving other punishments the noble character of the necessary consequences of justice and the purpose of correction, which is respect and love for humanity, prohibiting the action of inciting passions, which is contempt and hatred for humanity. Those who are carried away by passion and thoughtlessness when reprimanding or punishing, firstly, humiliate and trample upon humanity in themselves, then in the person subjected to punishment, confusing vice with man, while the essential goal of any correction is to separate vice from man. It has been noted that a reprimand has the most salutary effect when the person giving it energetically exposes the black side of vice and its harmful consequences to the person who has fallen into vice, expressing at the same time a sincere feeling of regret and goodwill towards the person who has fallen into vice. The action of punishment is just as salutary when, when assigning and executing it, the action flows from the above-mentioned view and feeling. One who acts in this way can be likened to pulling out someone mired in a swamp, cleansing him of the dirt and mud in which he has fallen. But the one who, when reprimanding and punishing, confuses vice with a person, and attributes what belongs to vice to a person, in all fairness can be likened to someone who found his neighbor mired in a swamp, became indignant with his neighbor for this and then trampled him even deeper into the harmful mud and mud, in which one can even drown. 38 And they drown their neighbors, not suspecting this property in their actions, many who think to correct them. With a thorough, long-term practical study of punishments for young people, it must be recognized that only two punishments should be allowed as essentially necessary and useful: reprimand and arrest. The arrest must certainly be accompanied by a diet and withdrawal from any shortest possible communication with comrades and with any person who could harm with reckless condolences and advice, the way of thinking that should be formed in the arrested person during his arrest. The diet is necessary for the reason that with it only the mind of the guilty can prevail over his emotional agitation and bitterness. Removal from communication with comrades and with all strangers is necessary because it is extremely harmful for a person who is reasonably punished when he hears that he was punished too severely, that he suffers innocently, that those who subjected him to punishment are such and such. Reckless condolences destroy the purpose of the arrest, which is for the young man to come to his senses, realize his wrongdoing and repent of it. To help him in this, his mentor must visit him, who is obliged to instill in him with meekness the incongruity and baseness of his offense and advise him to bring sincere repentance, because only with sincere repentance is a lasting correction possible; in relation to someone who has been arrested, it is necessary to observe meekness combined with firmness. Meekness has a saving effect on the punished, actually confirming to him that there is no hostile feeling towards him, and firmness is necessary for the punishment to bear fruit. Otherwise it can only be harmful. The length of arrest must be determined by the repentance of the arrested person. When he brings repentance, this serves as a sign that the healing - the punishment - has produced a saving effect; further use of the medicine would be completely illogical. On the contrary, release from arrest before the arrested person has repented can have a very harmful effect on his morality. In a certain monastic monastery, the rector was engaged, according to the tradition of the Orthodox Church, in the moral education of young people who entered this monastery. His assistant was the Hieromonk, a very pious life, who sympathized with him in his occupation. The punishments were reprimand in the above spirit and arrest. The hieromonk visited the arrested person three times a day, providing him with everything he needed, ensuring that the prescribed diet was maintained exactly, so that exclusion from communication with everyone who did not understand the mysteries of the correctional system was observed with all severity, admonishing the arrested person with the most meek and observant conversation so that he realized that he was guilty, and that the punishment was fair and repented. After each visit, the Hieromonk came to the Superior and told him about the condition of the arrested person, calling him immature or ripe. The one who admitted that he was right, who was punished too severely, who condemned his superiors was called immature; The one who came to the consciousness of his guilt and repentance was called mature. Having matured, according to the report of the Hieromonk to the Superior, he undertook to write a letter to the Superior, outlining the view acquired by the arrested person during his arrest on his offense, repentance and the promise of correction. After this, the Hieromonk took the prisoner out of his solitude and introduced him to the Superior, who, with all love and sympathy, gave him instructions about the advantages of a virtuous life and about the means to help the young man acquire good morals. After severe punishment, a manifestation of love is necessary, albeit in a very serious form, just as after an operation emollient and healing plaster and ointment are needed: This is the advice of St. John Climacus. 39 To release an immature person from arrest means to cause him and his comrades the greatest harm, as all experiments have unanimously proven. Those who emerge from solitude with feelings of conceit and bitterness internalize these feelings. The assimilation of these feelings puts a stamp on his character and further behavior. He receives dislike from his superiors; he communicates the mood of his spirit to his comrades. “He took something!” - this is how an immature person usually expresses himself after being released from arrest in front of his comrades, “they starved for a whole day or two under arrest, godless ones! They themselves would have tried to live on cabbage soup and bread and water! daily bread, and the loophole will be tightly sealed: here it all disappears. A strange and stupid demand of people who are dying out, from a young man, that he should never have fun in the spaciousness of his soul. Without space, there is no fun. I told them: hold on for a week, but I don’t know anything: you thought that I was drunk about me, I don’t know why, meanwhile I received a letter that my uncle, who was in my place! father, died, and I became not myself out of sadness... At these words I burst into tears, but I was laughing in my heart! They believed me, they let me out! Sin has its own breaking point, its own truth, its own power of speech! Such poison quickly spreads in the society of youth: and therefore one condition for release from arrest is true repentance, which is actually proven by immediate correction. Anyone incapable of repentance must be immediately excluded from society, as having made it known that he is incorrigible, and as a sure guarantee of social damage. Young people are smart. If she sees that the power of the boss and educator, despite its meekness, is filled with firmness and determination, that it is not shaken by either tenderness or flattery, forcing the boss to deviate from the demands of prudence and true love: then she receives respect and trust in the authority and accepts a relatively harmonious, respectful position. The meek, polite request of the boss is recognized as an order that must be followed and fulfilled. It is natural for a person to think about his neighbor the way they thought about him or are thinking about doing to his neighbor the way they did or are doing to him. In particular, the child almost always looks at his educators and teachers without analysis, with gullibility, and assimilates their concepts and rules for the rest of his life. For this reason, the Head of the Educational Institution and his assistants have an important duty to acquire Christian moral rules and to carefully observe themselves, firstly, restraining themselves from being carried away by passions, especially restraining themselves from any action at the moment of being carried away by passion. A person cannot help but have passions: one must learn to control them. The manner in which educators treat and act towards their pupils will subsequently serve as a guide for pupils in their treatment and conduct towards humanity. You must have the conviction, and this is very quickly acquired by observing yourself and others, that when carried away by anger a person says and does nothing but stupid things - that at a time when he is carried away by vanity, then he becomes ridiculous and very capable of seduction. Bosses who indulge in these two passions in front of their subordinates lose their respect and destroy sincerity in their relationships with themselves. Corporal punishment, severe reprimands, the manifestation of passions in the teacher, the manifestation of his egoism, have a devastating effect on the morality of the pupils. The wrong view of man saw in such treatment a necessary condition for subordination: experience shows the completely opposite. There is nothing more harmful to subordination and to a person’s morality in general than the deprivation of his rights that belong to him, which may not be clearly understood by him, but are certainly felt in the spirit. A person whose rights are violated loses respect for the rights of others. A pupil, a child and a youth, has his rights as a person and a citizen. He must be given a correct understanding of these rights, introduced to the correct knowledge of the rights belonging to his neighbors, and learn respect for rights. For him to respect the rights of others, his rights must be respected. As a civil society, it must recognize as truly free that which has been granted all the rights that human society can enjoy on earth, harmlessly to itself, whose members have received the correct understanding of their rights, and sacredly preserve these rights in all their mutual relations. Society cannot achieve such a state except through the correct moral education of youth. A young man brought up in this direction will become the best subordinate: understanding and respecting the rights of civil society, including his own, he will understand and respect the rights of his superior, he will inviolably preserve them, carry out his orders equally both before his eyes and outside his eyes. This type of education creates noble characters, with sincerity and directness, incapable of flattery. The educator has the necessary need to learn to distinguish between sincere and direct words and daring words, to distinguish between respect and politeness from affection, which is certainly combined with ill-intention. All this can be taught by observing oneself in the light of the Gospel Teaching. He who has undertaken the study of a high science in himself - Christian Psychology, no matter how much he improves himself, will always find even greater improvement necessary, and will use all the methods that provide him with perfect knowledge. One of the most important means to study a person in himself is the sincerity of our loved ones with us. One should never be offended by a direct word, as long as it is not at the same time impudent. He who rejects the sincerity and directness of his neighbor rejects his own moral improvement, and, just as morality cannot exist without movement, he is subject to moral decline. When, during upbringing, with the teacher’s incorrect concept of subordination, all the rights of the pupil are trampled upon, the respect that he should have for himself as a person, as the image of God is trampled into the dirt: then the sense of honor in the pupil is destroyed. This is not about vanity and love of honor, but about consciousness and a sense of one’s purpose and dignity, one’s rights. With the loss of a sense of honor, with the loss of consciousness of one’s rights, the consciousness of the rights of all humanity is destroyed in a young man. Conscientiousness, good intentions, and the desire for the public good are replaced by humiliating petty selfishness. Subordination is replaced by mere people-pleasing, so much condemned in the Holy Scriptures, 40 consisting of pleasing the passions of the Chief with complete contempt for him, for all his plans, orders and orders. People-pleasing grovels before his superiors in his eyes, flatters him, is hypocritical and pretends; behind her eyes she mocks him, boasts of her ability to deceive, fools him with her violations of his will, her skillful distortion and destruction of his plans. The well-being and property of neighbors, the well-being and property of the state do not constitute an inviolable shrine for someone who has lost honor and conscience, for someone who has lost the concept of rights. He laughs at everything, as if he has lost respect for everything, and considers it stupid not to sacrifice, when the opportunity and opportunity presents itself, the public benefit to his selfish, vile in their baseness and malignancy. The whole concern of the one who has lost his honor is to maintain some plausibility with the help of lies, hypocrisy, deception, slander and all other baseness. The education that the Project intends to provide to young people in Maritime Educational Institutions guarantees that these Institutions will provide the State with officials who highly value the good of their neighbors and the public. It has been noticed that those who do not study science are usually naughty. A saving measure for a society of young people is to immediately exclude from this society members who turn out to be unreliable in abilities and behavior, and not waste time and effort on correcting the incorrigible, poisoning the entire society. They will say: such exclusion from society can make society too small, and those who want to join it can be frightened and turned away from joining. Experience shows the opposite. We repeat: young people are smart. We can guarantee, based on experience, that the exclusion of a few members will lead those remaining to extraordinary vigilance over themselves, will make punishments almost unnecessary and extremely rare, and through this will elevate society morally, instill respect and trust in it in the public, and attract many of the most useful members to it. This is where I limit my comments. It remains for me to express my utmost gratitude to Your Imperial Highness for giving me true heartfelt consolation by introducing me to the Project for the Transformation of Maritime Educational Institutions. In him I found support for many of my thoughts; I found clearly stated what I was unconsciously aware of; I found many instructions that will be useful to me, if God’s favor follows, in my ministry. It remains for me to wish that Your Highness’s destiny will be crowned with the most prosperous success, according to the testament of the Holy Scripture, which says: He who began in you will accomplish a good work (Phil. 1:6). Invoking God's abundant blessing on this matter with feelings of deepest respect and complete devotion, I have the happiness of being a member of Your Imperial Highness. IV. On the need for a Council on the current state of the Russian Orthodox Church. Notes of Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov. 1862–1866 Actions that are essential for the Russian Church. The spirit of the times is such and the apostasy from the Orthodox Christian faith began to spread to such a strong extent, immorality is so universal and so entrenched that a return to Christianity seems impossible: for it is the will of those who sin for us, after receiving the mind of truth, for those for whom there is no sacrifice for sins (Heb. 10:26), the Apostle said to the Jews who accepted Christianity and from Christianity turned back to Judaism, who wanted to unite Christianity with Judaism. Christ became invisible to the Jews, and, invisible to them, withdrew from their midst when they wanted to kill Him (John 8:59): Christianity becomes invisible to us, moves away from us when we try to kill it with a dissolute life, by accepting various false teachings, when we try to mix Christianity with serving the world. The Lord said: As the evil one does, he hates the Light and does not come to the Light. (John 3:20). 41 Now everyone, with all their souls, has rushed towards debauchery, calling it “enjoyment of life,” and remaining in Christianity, returning to Christianity have become impossible for humanity. For both, complete abandonment of debauchery, complete submission of oneself to strict Christian morality is necessary. It prohibits not only fornication, but also everything that leads to fornication, by which voluptuousness is introduced into the soul, such as theaters, dancing, cards and other satanic games, pagan literature: it requires complete renunciation of the old nature (Luke 14:26). Let's not introduce anything new! let us follow with precision the teachings taught by the Holy Church, the teachings handed down by the Holy Apostles and Holy Fathers! This is the cry repeated for almost all Ecumenical and local Councils by the holy Saints and Holy Fathers present at these Councils. With all the difficult questions that arose in the Church, starting from the times of the Apostles, the Church, in order to resolve them, constantly formed Councils: at the Councils, perplexities were considered and the state of the Church was verified. 42 Due to the present difficult situation of the All-Russian Church, the convening of the Council became a decisive necessity. At the same time, convening a Council in accordance with the spirit of the times is impossible without a certain preparation for such a holy undertaking. A correct Council is needed, with all the rights of the previous Councils, and an arbitrary Council, at the own discretion of a person or persons guided not by the rules of the Church, but by their own selfishness, will only harm the cause, will further shake the All-Russian Church, and will make its situation even more confused. According to the rules and character of the Orthodox Church, the last Russian Council should be recognized as the Council that met in Moscow under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich; At this Council, Patriarch Nikon was deposed. This Council has not only all the properties of a proper Council, but also an Ecumenical Council: All Russian Bishops and plenipotentiary representatives of the Orthodox East, two patriarchs were present at it. The Council Fathers had the right to freely express their opinions. We can say: at this Council the entire Orthodox Eastern Church expressed its understanding of faith and its spirit in the hearing of the universe. For two centuries, the position of the Russian Church was not considered or verified by the Council. Since the last years of the 17th century, the Western wind has brought a lot of dirty dust into the bowels of the Church and into the bowels of the State to the detriment of faith, morality and the people. Ignorance of the Orthodox faith, views of it and the Church from ideas brought by debauchery, Protestantism and atheism, were the reason that extraneous, alien and hostile to the spirit of the Church decrees, contrary to the rules and teachings of the Orthodox Church, crept in and were forcibly introduced into the Orthodox Church. As a result of this, accusations are being made against the All-Russian Church; accusations are heard that are so strong that the denials against them are too weak. 43 Accusations are heard not only from among the Old Believers, not only from among dissenting confessions, but also from the mouths of the first hierarchs of the Orthodox East; Among the children of the Orthodox Russian Church, familiar with the teachings and traditions of Orthodoxy, murmurs are heard, displeasure is expressed at the present position of the Church, distrust; to him. The Russian Church has remained isolated for so long, cut off from the rest of the Orthodox East, that the immediate convening of a Council, at which there must certainly be authorized representatives of the Eastern Patriarchs, does not even seem safe, and in the sense that the Eastern ones will inevitably demand a significant return from deviations, a return necessary for the restoration in the All-Russian Church of the spirit, the Universal Church, from which it deviated mainly in its Synod, vainly called the Most Holy and in their theological schools, producing almost the most Protestants and atheists. 44 The following preparatory actions are recognized as necessary, extremely necessary: 1). It is necessary to compile a complete collection of all the decrees that the All-Russian Church adopted and established for itself, since the reign of Emperor Peter I, or from the time that elapsed after the mentioned Council, which has the character of an Ecumenical Council. These decrees have not yet been controlled by the Universal Church, which is required by the spirit of the true Church of Christ: for the holy Supreme Apostle Paul went purposely to Jerusalem, there to offer for investigation and verification to the other Apostles the gospel that had been preached to the pagans (Galatians 22). 2). Must receive complete information on all subjects of Church teaching and administration from the Eastern Patriarchs. We must also receive from them a complete collection of those decrees that have been made since the alienation of the Russian Church from the Eastern Church, and which are most unknown in the Russian Church. 3). To invite from the Patriarch of Constantinople, with the consent of the other Patriarchs, one person or two persons who would be both very knowledgeable in the Faith and very pious, who would enjoy the full power of attorney of the Patriarchs and, together with these persons, prepare everything that should be considered at the Council. Preliminary consideration and agreement should facilitate the Council’s action and eliminate sharp clashes. The Council must have the character of an Ecumenical Council. He must enjoy complete freedom. There should be representatives of all Eastern Patriarchs and all Russian Archpriests, either personally or through their attorneys. There should be deputies at the Council: 1) From the Russian monastic monasticism, by the election of this monasticism, 2) from the white Russian clergy, by the election of this clergy, 3) from the Orthodox laity, by the election of the laity. Approximately each diocese must elect two deputies from each category, for a total of six deputies. The government must dispatch several dignitaries from those most familiar with the faith to observe - just as it was at the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon - so that the Council can be carried out freely and correctly. If the Council is held under the influence of intrigue and deviates from the goal of pleasing God to the goal of pleasing mankind, it is better not to be: it will bring so much harm, having carried out a decisive and public separation! On the contrary, if God’s mercy grants the Council to be accomplished with the desired success, as the Ecumenical and Local Councils of the Orthodox Church were accomplished, then the beneficial fruits of the Council, both in spiritual and civil terms, will be amazingly majestic and great. In spiritual terms, triumph will be brought to the true teaching of Christ, which we almost did not dare to talk about until now. When Christ’s teaching is explained with all frankness, then all heretical teachings will fall, or at least greatly weaken, the Orthodox people will be established in Orthodoxy, and many people of other faiths will flock under the roof of Orthodoxy. Orthodoxy must be accepted in its entirety and completeness, without allowing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit on any subject. In civil terms, such a Council will unite the Orthodox believing people into one people, even if these people were in different States and under different civil governance. In Russia, such a Council should have a strong impact on the schism, which currently has much support for itself in the rules and regulations of the Universal Church. The Americans and the British will be forced, not by violence, but by common sense, to accept the Orthodox faith as it is, without any changes or exceptions. Russia, since the time of Peter I, has often made many donations to the detriment of faith, to the detriment of Truth and Spirit, for empty and false political considerations, with which a corrupt heart covered up hatred and contempt for the rules of the Church and the law of God. All these considerations, having shaken the terribly Orthodox Faith, turned out to be decidedly harmful for the State and the administration. With the awareness of the mistake, with self-sacrifice, one must renounce all man-pleasing deviations that are criminal in relation to God. Otherwise, without this determination, it is better not to convene the Council. 45 The main subjects of the Council's studies should be the following: 1) Consideration of the decrees that currently guide the Russian Church, followed by the destruction of decrees that do not agree with the decrees of the Orthodox Eastern Church. 2) The destruction of caste, the so-called spiritual rank, as an irregularity that crept in by itself, contrary to the rules of the Apostles. 46 Restore the most ancient custom of the church: let the diocese elect for itself a bishop, and a parish priest, a deacon and a cleric, testifying to their piety. In order to enable pious people of all classes to prepare themselves for hierarchical degrees, it is necessary to compile: a) Theology, not in a school character, but in a generally understandable character, in full agreement with the Divine service of the Orthodox Church, so that the knowledge announced publicly by the Divine service is also proclaimed by Theology, c) the most detailed Sacred and Church History, which will acquaint the first in detail with the teachings of the Orthodox Church. This teaching is understood the more clearly the more detailed the struggle of the Church with the numerous heresies that rebelled against it is expounded. Secondly, a detailed Church history will introduce the characters and actions of the Holy Men. It is known that “the reader’s character and rules are formed according to those models that history presents to him in detail and picturesquely. 3) Renunciation for all altar servers from the honors and occupations of this world, and for monks, no matter what their ecclesiastical hierarchical degrees, from any unnecessary property, even money. The remaining money and property after the monks should be the property of the monasteries, and not relatives according to the flesh. The people of this world are enmity with God: whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God (James 4:4), the Holy Scripture teaches us. In the Jewish Church, the Pharisees, in the Latin Church in general, the entire clergy of this church, and most of all the Jesuits, experimentally proved all the truth of the words of Scripture. Therefore, the rules of the Holy Apostles command: A bishop or a presbyter, or a deacon, must not accept worldly cares. Otherwise, let him be cast out. 47 “It is not proper for a bishop or presbyter to go into public administration, but it is not improper to be involved in church affairs. Either he will be convinced not to do this, or he will be cast out. For no one can work for two masters, according to the Lord’s Commandment.” 48 A bishop or presbyter, or a deacon who trains in military affairs and wants to retain both, that is, the Riga authorities (cavalry) and the ministry of the priesthood: let him be expelled from the sacred rank. For Caesar is Caesar's and God's God. 49 For all servants of God in general, love of peace is destructive and cannot in any way be combined with serving God: Do not love the world, nor those in the world. If anyone loves the world, there is no loving Father in it. 50 It is necessary for the entire clergy to eliminate speculation and all intrigues for enrichment, it is necessary to renounce all vain honors, it is necessary to remove itself from luxury, modesty is necessary, and for monks it is necessary to be non-covetous. 4) Restoration in the monasteries of the statutes and rules of the Holy Fathers, who set out the statutes and rules for monasticism according to the revelation of God, according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and not according to any human consideration, and it is necessary to eliminate from the monasteries everything introduced by carnal wisdom, introduced by the spirit of self-rule, conceit, the spirit of contempt and hatred for monasticism, the spirit of contempt and hatred for the Holy Spirit, for the true Christianity. The monasteries are spoiled by the pride and ignorance of various thinkers who thought and acted according to the elements of Western Protestantism and atheism. Monasticism is necessary for the Orthodox Church: the church cannot exist without it. Monks achieve the Christian perfection of dispassion, the tangible action of the Holy Spirit within themselves, and therefore acquire a living concept of Christianity. And no human science can teach a shadow of such knowledge; all professors, masters and doctors of Theology produced by universities and academies are ignoramuses in comparison with a monk renewed by the grace of God: for following Christ by fulfilling His Commandments. Our monasteries are perverted; Everything about them is distorted, their very meaning is distorted. Theological schools are so alien to the spirit of the Orthodox faith that the entry into a monastery of someone who has completed a Seminary course is the greatest rarity and there has not been an example in the 50 years since the establishment of theological Academies in Russia where anyone, even one person, having completed a course at the Academy, entered a monastery, while in ancient times the great Saints: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Gregory of Neocaesarea , John Chrysostom, after completing the course of study, entered into monasticism, into desert monasteries, there they cultivated themselves through monastic deeds. In Russia there seems to be a strange phenomenon: people from universities and other higher secular schools entered and still occasionally do enter monasteries, but no one has entered from the theological Academies, unless someone who has fallen into the incurable passion of drunkenness has been exiled. This has its meaning. Our monasteries are in extreme decline. We repeat: they are perverted. Individuals who enter them are almost exclusively from the rabble; they engage exclusively in physical feats, almost always fruitlessly or with false fruits, mistaking the means and benefits for the goal and essence. But physical feats have now become a rarity: now monasteries have turned into havens of debauchery, in some places open, in others covered by hypocrisy, in places of exile, in places of extortion and other various abuses. The caste made them this way, looking at them as their tenants, hating and despising them, defecating in them with only their fiends, intolerant in the environment of the world due to the unbridled depravity of these fiends. 5) The opinions presented at the Council must be written down, as was the case at the Ecumenical Councils, verified after each meeting, and, at the end of the Council, announced in print for all to see. 6) A draft Code or Laws and Rules must be drawn up that could guide the Russian Church in its present situation. These rules are needed, of course, only for those particulars for which there are no rules in the decrees of the Universal Church. 7) Revise the Catechisms and Theology and supplement them, giving them an Orthodox Eastern character, similar to the character of the Divine Service of the Orthodox Church, so that the knowledge announced publicly by the Divine Service is also proclaimed by the Catechisms. These catechisms and theologies, some of which should be briefer, others more extensive, others the most complete and extensive, should be translated into the main European languages, which will serve as the strongest means of attracting people to the Orthodox Faith. 8) Draw up a charter for theological educational institutions, in relation to the regulations of monasteries, so that the life of the students is practically and strictly Christian, so that they acquire solid skills in piety, 51 so that they become well acquainted with the Divine service, get a taste for church prayers and standing. For these educational institutions, he will compile his own textbooks, such as a course in Literature, etc., removing from them everything pagan, everything, even indirectly, leading to freethinking, immorality, costicism, irony, jokes, playfulness, which is all so contrary to the spirit of Christianity and has such an infectious effect on the corrupted human nature. Pay special attention to philosophy, from which logic should be taught with amazing completeness, however, avoiding refinements, abstractions and scholasticism, which have a harmful effect on the natural ability, on the mind. The history of philosophy should be taught briefly, explained to students. that the foundations on which philosophers of all times have created their systems are arbitrary, for this reason have no strength and contradict one another, that human philosophy should be recognized as nothing other than a play of the imagination, and a collection of opinions alien to truth. Anyone who accepts this play of the imagination, these arbitrary opinions, as the teaching of truth, philosophy naturally leads, of necessity, into error and mental damage. And this happens in a row. What do the teachings of the atheists mean? These are hypotheses accepted as axioms. Saint John of the Climacus said: foreign-minded, before spiritual strength, do not pass through words: for we speak in darkness, darkening the weak. This rule must be preserved in relation to youth. Christianity alone leads to true philosophy: only through it can one be an infallible psychologist and metaphysician. Mature men who have studied the positive sciences, and philosophy and the writings of the Fathers of the Church, who have experienced the meaning of Christianity, can and should compile a detailed exposition of philosophy, very useful and scientific in a certain respect; it must be examined and approved by the highest clergy, and serves as the subject of attention of husbands, and not of young people only capable of one-sided infatuation. In theological higher schools it is necessary to teach positive sciences. Plato quite rightly recognized the impossibility of teaching philosophy without knowledge of mathematics. Knowledge of the natural sciences is especially necessary: ​​because in our time nihilists affirm their teaching supposedly on the natural sciences. You need to know that they establish the edifice of nihilism not on the natural sciences, but on arbitrary, absurd hypotheses, that is, assumptions or inventions that cannot be proven with the kind of evidence in which only science recognizes knowledge as correct, and without which all brilliant hypotheses remain with the dignity of a play of the imagination, with the dignity of delirium. Nature proclaims God according to the testimony of Holy Scripture 52 and science, which explains the laws of nature, the more powerfully they proclaim God. All the great scientists, mathematicians and natural scientists, such as Newton, Leibniz, Necker, were not only deists, but also recognized Christianity. Almost all the sophists were atheists, they did not know the positive sciences and indulged in unbridled reasoning and daydreaming. 9). Collect and print the Tradition of the Universal Church (cursus completes Patrologiae) in Greek, Latin, Slavic and Russian. And the Tradition of the Universal Eastern Church, clarified with all fidelity, according to the most reliable documents, should act in favor of the Orthodox Church. 10). Give the Synod proper organization and abolish slavery in the clergy, according to the thoughts and instructions of the Holy Apostles (1 Pet. 5:2:3). To achieve this, it is necessary to destroy the caste, and prepare those elected by the parish to become parish priests, and to become bishops by the diocese, according to the ancient custom of the Church and according to Apostolic tradition. 11). To destroy the punishments newly invented for the clergy, which in their nature belong to tyranny, so alien to the spirit of the Church, and which, one can decisively say, always serve to the final moral disorder of those who are subjected to them. On the contrary, introduce the punishment established by the Apostles, and still read in their rules; introduce excommunications and expulsions, that is, defrocking and exclusion from the clergy, which is now so avoided, under the pretext of popular temptation. But the eruption is necessary to cleanse the Church of unworthy servants. On the contrary, the current measures, consisting most of the barbaric custom introduced during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, and consisting in preserving rotten members in the bowels of the Church, placing them in monasteries, have corrupted the monasteries, turned them into moral latrines, and instill decisive fearlessness in the white clergy. According to the ancient custom of the Church, those deprived of the clergy must be left free to dispose of themselves, if no crime has been committed against civil laws. This measure will very soon elevate the clergy in moral and spiritual terms, without harming the members removed from it. Conclusion. The main reason for the disorganization of the Church is that the rules of the Holy Apostles, Councils and Fathers were ignored, even forgotten, and they were replaced by inventions alien to the spirit of the Church, borrowed from a spirit hostile to the Orthodox Church, destroying the very spirit of the Church while leaving only outward decency in some degree and form. Note. Here it is necessary to mention the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod, although its institution is purely civil. The spirit of the times and experiences prove the complete and decisive need for a secular person for the Church, who would care about its benefits, protect them, bring them into harmony with the benefits of the state, communicate with ministers and all higher authorities, and have a direct report to the Sovereign. This person should stand on a par with the highest dignitaries of the state. It has already been placed in this place by the irresistible force of circumstances and the spirit of the time! The position of the Chief Prosecutor, in which he is placed by modern requirements, does not in any way converge with the position given to the Chief Prosecutor by the original state institution of this position. For this reason, every Chief Prosecutor, of necessity, strives to get out of the position in which his original institution puts him, as from a false position that constrains the requirements of his activity to the greatest detriment to the cause of the Church. This brings him into conflict and struggle with the Synod, with the clergy, with the Church, which has its own Hierarchical statutes, given to it by the Apostles, according to the will of the God-Man. No authority can cancel these statutes; any cancellation is recognized as lawlessness and violence. Silence in the face of the violence of power is in no way an expression of consent: a split can be not only visible, but also invisible; this invisible schism has on its side the Church truth, which no Christian can change in his soul as long as he remains a true Christian. When Prince Golitsyn and Count Protasov achieved the position that they needed: then they became the most useful people for the Church in material terms, the most zealous defenders of its rights, strong defenders, stronger than the Synod itself. They were strong for the reason that they were equal to the first nobles; they were strong, like those close to the Tsar, who did not need to give in or please others close to them. Then Count Protasov reconciled with those individuals from the clergy with whom at the beginning of his exploit he was on hostile terms. The Church needs a Trustee, a Ktitor, a Church Warden. Under the Trustee, to whom the Comrade and the Office of the current Chief Prosecutor should pass, a special Chief Prosecutor at the Holy Synod may remain in the position given to him by the original institution. In this position, the Chief Prosecutor is not required to be a Courtier; it is required that he be a jurist, a lawyer, an office and clerical businessman. Since all reports and all administrative communications must be carried out through a trustee, the Prosecutor will always be controlled by the Trustee, the Members of the Synod, and the Members by the Prosecutor. The desire of the Chief Prosecutor to move to the position of Minister will no longer have either place or basis. The trustee to a certain extent, without agreement and certain rights, was Prince Golitsyn under the Chief Prosecutors Prince Meshchersky and Nechaev, and how important knowledge of clerical activities is for the Chief Prosecutor was proved by Nechaev and Karasevsky, under whom office work had a special character of clarity and order. The establishment of a Trustee will in no way be an innovation in the Church, being in accordance with the spirit of the Church, having already been implemented in all parish Churches, but it is urgently required by the modern situation and the spirit of society. Saint John Chrysostom wanted the material care of the Church to be entrusted to lay people known for their piety and devotion to the Church; many Byzantine nobles had the character of Trustees, and now the Synod, in relation to other departments, is the stronger the stronger its Chief Prosecutor; Actually, they are beginning to pay little attention to the Synod. The Synod will be significantly strengthened under the Trustee, for the greatest good of the State, a good that is cursed by the terrible decline of religion and its rights in all classes. The internal struggle in the Synod, shocking and destroying it, the struggle between secular and spiritual authorities; the ongoing struggle, although not always obvious, will be destroyed: the Trustee, having the importance and rights of the highest dignitary (being a member of the State Council and the Committee of Ministers), being a Trustee and not a Minister, will not encounter reasons for the struggle that arises from the desire for elevation, a desire caused by necessity. To tell the truth: the establishment of a Trustee is already in place. The Chief Prosecutors have moved significantly towards this position. But this situation is an accident; it is the fruit of connections, court influence, and does not have a solid foundation: all Orthodox people look at it incredulously. It can't be otherwise! The ministry is something like the Patriarchate, for this reason every Chief Prosecutor, having achieved the status of a minister, remains in a false, uncertain position and puts the entire Church in the same position. The Chief Prosecutor can very conveniently be renamed into the Trustee, and the Ruler of the Synod Chancellery into the Chief Prosecutor. In this case, the false position of everyone will disappear by itself: everyone will enter into correct relationships, indicated by Church and civil law. A well-intentioned and prudent Trustee, more than anyone else, will have the means to carry it out. The convening of the Council should be very pleasant for the Trustee: because the Council, for its own strength and freedom, will try to elevate the importance of the Trustee and have in it a reliable instrument for acting in favor of the Church and for its defense against individuals hostile to the Church. On the contrary, the Council will certainly take care of limiting the ministerial power of the Chief Prosecutor precisely because of its similarity to the power of the Patriarch. This will lead to clashes and intrigues, and will make the meeting of the Council fruitless. The Trustee of the Orthodox Church must certainly be the Minister of all other faiths: this will put other faiths in the correct relationship to the dominant religion, which in its present situation often takes on the character of being exclusively oppressed and persecuted. It happened that even Mohammedanism was given preference and the Orthodox faith in Orthodox Russia was humiliated, dishonored, and trampled over Mohammedanism. V. Literature lessons taught by His Eminence Bishop Ignatius. 53 Lesson 1. Concept of Literature Literature is a rational ability of the human soul. This ability is expressed in a variety of ways, for example, in various arts, crafts and works; It is predominantly expressed in words. From its predominant or main expression, the rational ability received its name. Other abilities of the human soul include imagination and memory. Animals are also gifted with these two abilities. Through the imagination, objects of the visible world are imprinted on the soul through memory, impressions are preserved in the soul. The mind can, from impressions delivered by the imagination, compose different pictures at will; the mind can even invent non-existent objects and compose corresponding pictures from them, giving them, through the imagination, a kind of existence. The composition of these pictures and the pictures themselves are called dreaming and fantasy. Animals do not have dreams, as they are deprived of the mind, the originator of dreams. The mind operates in a similar way through memory. Memory, depending on the mind, accumulates impressions not only from the material world, but also from the spiritual world, from the mental realm. The sum of impressions accumulated by memory constitutes a person’s knowledge. Mind is the ability to think. The mind, clothed in the thoughts or knowledge it has acquired, is called reason. Thoughts assimilated by the mind are capable of changing, and therefore the mind comes in various modifications. It can be childish, mature, true, false, carnal, spiritual. The mind, as a natural ability, can be bright, sharp, extensive, deep, dull, meager. A thought is an expression of the mind about something, or: a thought is an expression of any one knowledge. For example: a candle burns, a child learns, love is the highest among virtues. Although thought is naturally born from the mind, but since the human mind always has an acquired image of thoughts, and produces new thoughts in accordance with this image, otherwise it cannot produce them, then certain human thoughts, made by us, are the most accurate. The same must be said about the thoughts of all rational creatures; but in the all-perfect being - God - thought is an expression of the mind. The sensation of virtues and grace, as well as vice and evil, belongs to human literature and is dependent on the mind, because this sensation cannot exist and does not exist in animals that do not have a mind, having other sensations similar to humans. This sensation, the very ability of this sensation is called the human spirit. The spirit is in harmony with the mind; sensations can be true, false, carnal, spiritual, good, sinful. When, through the bodily senses and the ability to imagine, the soul has assimilated an impression from the visible world, then this impression is called a concept. Concepts acquired by man have different degrees. They may be: 1. Clear, when we distinguish an object from other objects, although we do not have complete information about it. Such are generally the concepts of people about the sky, about water, about earth, about grass, about trees and other similar objects. Without knowing exactly what these objects mean, people distinguish them from one another. 2. Detailed concepts are similar to clear ones, but not so superficial. They presuppose knowledge of many characteristics of an object that distinguish it from other objects. Having such a concept can describe an object. Complete or perfect concepts, when we know so many characteristics of an object that we can point out its complete difference from all other objects, separate it from all other objects, or define it differently. In concepts about objects, we notice connection and gradualness. Some objects make up a whole, others have the meaning of parts. According to objects, concepts about objects have their own gradualism and their own relationships. A whole is something that is made up of parts. A part is something that, together with other similar objects, forms a whole. An object can have the meaning of a whole in relation to its parts, and at the same time be a part in relation to another object. For example: A province in relation to its districts is a whole, but in relation to the State it is a part. The state is a whole in relation to its regions; it is a part in relation to the part of the world in which it is located. Another similar relationship has been observed between objects. It is depicted by the names: inseparable, species and genus. The indivisible has a similar meaning to the meaning of the part: the indivisible is that which has its own, separate existence. For example: Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Vologda, Tula, Vyatka. Each of these cities has its own separate existence, and in relation to itself constitutes an inseparable existence. When many inseparables have one common property, then this common property is called species. So: Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Vologda, Tula, Vyatka have the common property that they are provincial cities. When many species have one property in common, this common property is called a genus. So: Capitals, provincial cities, district, provincial, villages, suburbs, hamlets, have the general property of a human settlement. This division is necessary when drawing up definitions. A definition is a complete and perfect concept expressed in a word. In order to define an object that has the meaning of inseparable, one looks for its type and the difference by which the object is decisively different from all other objects of the same type. For example: Simferopol is a provincial city of the Tauride province; Vyatka is a provincial city in the Vyatka province. In order to more accurately define the inseparable, we must put together several of the most distinctive features of this inseparable. Thus, the definition will be more accurate: Simferopol is a provincial city of the Tauride province, in the Russian State, at such and such degrees of longitude and latitude. To determine a species, one looks for its genus and the difference by which it differs from all other objects of the same genus. For example: A provincial city is that city in each province of the Russian State in which the main administration of the province is concentrated. Description approaches the definition as calculating many characteristics of an object; but it is not required to provide that decisive difference to the object from all other objects, as is required from the definition. The more features of an object are counted, the more complete the description is; The more significant these signs are, the more definite it is. What has been said about concepts delivered by objects of the material world also applies to concepts received from the mental realm and from the spiritual world. Concepts of the first kind, as acquired through bodily senses, are called sensual, concepts of the second kind are called abstract. Abstract concepts are impressions made on us by our mind and our sensations. These are the concepts of good, evil, faith, learning, etc. Abstract concepts can also be clear, detailed and complete. Abstract objects can also be divided into wholes and parts, and can have the character of an inseparable type and kind. For example: Virtue is a gender; humility, love, patience are types; humility in relation to humility is part and inseparable; humility in relation to humility is a whole and a species. Humility can be defined as follows: Humility is humility of mind. A concept expressed by voice or writing is called a word or speech, and vice versa: every word is the expression of some concept, with the exception of the verb, which is the expression of thought and which for this reason is called a word (verbum), a verb, before other words. But in the non-final mood it also expresses a concept. Examples of concepts expressed in words: Person, pleasant, he, who, loves, very because, where, ah! Expressing one thought in a word or words is called a logical sentence. For example I love - there is a logical sentence that completely expresses one thought; on the contrary: Educated; an intelligent, pleasant, dexterous person is only a concept. Expressing thoughts in general in words is called speech. The science of using words correctly is called Grammar. The art of producing speech correctly and gracefully is called Rhetoric. The study of grammar is supposed to be based on the textbook by G. Vostokov: why here from the concepts of the human ability, called literature, we move on to the art of correctly and pleasantly reproducing speech - to Rhetoric. Lesson 2. About turning sentences into periods Speech in its initial form, there is a proposal. Or: A sentence is the expression of one kind of knowledge, one kind of thought related to a clear concept. A sentence consists of two parts: subject and predicate. The subject is what is being said. The predicate is what is said about the subject. 54 Due to this property, a sentence should be expressed only by the most necessary words, so that they can depict a simple thought in its initial appearance. A sentence reproduced in this way will be reproduced in the most correct way. The presentation, because of its correctness, must also be pleasant: because in all types of speech, essential dignity and grace are given to it by correctness. A sentence cannot always be depicted with just the necessary words for one clear concept: often a thought requires many words to satisfactorily explain it, to present a detailed and complete concept of both the subject and the predicate. A sentence expressed in many words is called a period. Based on this relationship of a sentence to a period, it is possible to compose a period from any sentence, and from any period to extract a sentence containing the main, main idea. The period is the same sentence, depicted in a large number of words for completeness. The purpose for which we resort to a larger number of words is to give a concept, as precise and complete as possible, to a thought about which only a clear concept is given in the sentence. In accordance with this goal, we point out the ways in which a sentence is transformed into a period. This is accomplished by adding sentences to words. 1) Definitive and additional words. 55 Example: Man was created by God: this is a sentence. The first man, Adam, was miraculously created out of nothing by the all-powerful and all-good God. Definitions and additions are highlighted here. 2) Words and expressions that are similar, but not identical. Example: The most excellent of all earthly creatures, man, was miraculously created from nothing by the omnipotent and all-good God, the Creator of all visible and invisible creatures. 3) Subordinate clauses. Example: The most excellent of all earthly creatures, man, was wonderfully created out of nothing by the omnipotent and all-good God, who concluded the entire work of creation with the creation of man. or: The most excellent of all earthly creatures, man, was wonderfully created by the omnipotent and all-good God, who, as if placing a sacred seal on the work of creation, created man after all creatures. In the first example there is one subordinate clause; the second contains two subordinate clauses. 4) Words and expressions that mean the opposite. Example: The most excellent of all earthly creatures, man, in contrast to the gross masses of insensible matter that appeared at the beginning of the Creator’s work, was created after all creatures by the omnipotent and all-good God, who, as if placing a sacred seal on the work of creation, finally created man. 5) When we count, they serve to explain the thoughts in a sentence based on the questions: who? What? Where? with what help? For what? How? When? .These questions are depicted in Latin verse: guis? guid? ubi? guibus? avxilus? cur? guomode? Guando? What? and where? - this is the most excellent of all earthly creatures, wonderfully created by God, With what help? - solely by the will and goodness of the Creator for what? - to enjoy eternal bliss, how? - into the seal of the whole work of creation, when? - after all the creatures. When transforming a sentence into a period, in accordance with the purpose of this transformation, one should strive solely to ensure that the thought is expressed as fully and accurately as possible. To do this, care must not only be taken to ensure that all expressions and words are found that provide definiteness to thoughts, but also to ensure that unnecessary words and expressions are not inserted into the speech, darkening the speech and taking away clarity and definiteness from the speech. Russian speech does not need long periods. A Russian speaks abruptly, one of our best writers noted. And therefore, if there are many concepts and thoughts, which are all very necessary to explain the main idea, and cannot be missed: then the speech should be divided into two periods. Example: The most excellent of all visible creatures, man, was created after all creatures by the almighty and all-good God. God, as if placing a sacred seal on the great work of creation, created man. When transforming sentences into periods, one must look at the means for transformation solely as means, as aids. Indicating them does not in any way impose an obligation on the writer to use all means when compiling each period. But dealing with them is not superfluous: it will prevent you from making important omissions. We repeat: the writer must be extremely careful of excess and idle talk. Excess is for the most part more harmful than deficiency itself, especially when the latter is unimportant. Every speech consists of sentences and periods: and therefore the correct and elegant composition of sentences and periods serves as the basis for correctness and elegance in any speech of large volume. Every speech is written in periods and sentences. When a speech contains several sentences in a row, then such a passage of speech is called intermittent speech. Example: The sun was hidden behind thick clouds; at midday it became gloomy; black, menacing clouds covered the sky; a strong wind roared: a terrible storm was preparing; At this time, a lonely traveler was walking along a vast steppe like the sea. Transitions from periods to intermittent speech, also the appropriate placement in a series of periods of brief thought, the most general, gives speech variety, liveliness and entertainment. Example: Vladimir the Great united in a short time all the individual regions of vast Russia under the beneficial scepter of autocracy. But we do not value as much as we should what comes to us easily. Vladimir, who formed a majestic whole, formed a huge strong State from separate regions, often hostile to each other, destroying one another, he himself destroyed his work: he destroyed the State he formed, dividing Russia, like dividing a fiefdom, into principalities according to the number of his twelve sons. The consequences of this act were long-term disasters: civil strife, the conquest of a strong Russia, weakened by the division of the Tatar horde, the disintegration of Russia into two parts, eastern and western. Autonomy came to save the perishing fatherland, but it could not help but act slowly, rebuilding what was destroyed, reuniting the divided and fragmented. The unconsciously inflicted wound is not yet completely healed! Russia came into possession of some countries that were already subordinate to Vladimir, such as the Western Caucasus, quite recently, and Galicia, subject to Vladimir, Galicia - natural Russia, still suffers under an alien yoke. Brief thoughts inserted between periods are underlined (italicized). Based on the above and for further development of concepts, we give the period, in addition to the definition given to it, the following definition: A period is speech that expresses complete and perfect meaning, that is, speech that expresses one thought in detail and definitely, in accordance with the requirements of need. Obviously, this definition is identical to the definition given above: A period is also a sentence, but expressed in many words to provide the thought with satisfactory completeness and certainty. The period in which one main idea is expressed is called simple. After it, like after such a speech that has its own separate meaning, a period (.) is placed. A period is also placed after a sentence that has this property. It often happens that the main thought from which a simple period is composed is in some relation, in some dependence on another thought, which must also be presented separately, giving it its full meaning, but also combined with the main thought: then a complex period is formed. This means: they constitute a simple period for the main thought, also for a thought associated with the main one in some way; another simple period; these two simple periods are no longer called periods, but terms, and a colon is placed between them not a dot (.), but a colon). Then the whole speech, i.e., both terms together are called a period, and the period (.) is placed at the end of such a period. Example: One must endure sorrows complacently, placing oneself on God: God educates through sorrows and prepares for a blessed eternity every person who devotes himself to serving God. The member of the complex period in which the main idea is stated is called lowering, because when pronouncing it the voice usually lowers. An added thought is called a rise: because when it is pronounced, the voice rises. The relationship of an additional or added thought to the main thought varies. Based on this difference, the difficult period has different names. 1) When the surplus thought contains the reason (in Slavic - wine) of the main one: then the period is called winemaking. Example: A true Christian endures sorrows complacently; (because) he finds consolation in faith. 2) When a thought containing a cause is stated before the main one, and the main one comes after it, in the form of a consequence flowing from it: then the period is called final, Example: Faith teaches us that everything that happens to us does not happen without the providence of God: (and therefore) a true Christian endures all the sorrows of earthly life complacently. 3) Sometimes the surplus thought is connected to the main relation of the condition: then the period is called conditional. Example: | If | everything that happens to us happens according to the will of God: | then | The very sorrows and misfortunes must be endured complacently, in trust in God and in devotion to His holy will. 4) Sometimes the additional thought is in relation to the opposite of the main one and contains some limitation of it: then the period is called adversative. Example: | Although | sorrows are painful for the human heart: | but | they must be endured generously, as God’s permission. 5) Sometimes the additional thought depicts something similar to the main one: then the period is called comparative. Example: | How | a tree that has taken root deep into the earth comfortably endures whirlwinds and storms: so a heart, strengthened by faith, courageously and complacently withstands all the sorrows and misfortunes of earthly life. 6) Sometimes some circumstance preceding the circumstance that is stated in the main thought is attached to an additional thought; then the period is called successive. Example: When we think that everything that happens to us is done according to the will of the all-good and all-wise God: then our heart, outraged by the storm of sorrows, calms down. 7) When the additional thought in relation to the main one expresses some proportionality and conformity: then the period is called relative. Example: He who constantly submits his heart to the will of God: he generously endures the most painful sorrows. Or: To the extent that our heart is devoted to the will of God, to the extent it is capable of enduring sorrows and adversity. Or: The more we succeed in living faith, learning from the experiences of life that God’s providence is vigilantly vigilant over us and disposes of our fate: the more conveniently we endure with complacency all the vicissitudes and sorrows of earthly life. In the following periods there is no colon between the decrease and increase. These are the essence of the periods: 8) Connecting. This is the name of the period when the main thought is somewhat dependent on the surplus thought, as if it follows from it, but together it has a separate meaning and a separate meaning. In the connecting period, after an additional thought, a thought-separation sign (,-) is placed. Example: Faith in God teaches us that everything that happens to us happens according to the providence or permission of God - and the believer courageously endures every attack, every temptation. 9) Dividing - when the subordinate thought is opposite to the main one, and the reader himself is given the choice and preference of one of the two opposing thoughts. The terms of the separating period are separated by a comma. Example: Either it is necessary to reject the providence of God and His management of the participation of every person, or we are obliged to generously endure all the vicissitudes of earthly life. 10) Opposite, when the content of the additional thought is opposite to the main one. In the opposite period, members are separated from one another by conjunctions a, but, on the contrary, by a comma, or a comma with a dash. A dash is placed instead of a conjunction. Example: A believer in God generously endures everything, even the most severe sorrows, while an unbeliever falls into despondency and relaxation from the most insignificant trouble. Or: A believer in God generously endures everything, even the most severe sorrows; an unbeliever falls into despondency and relaxation from the most insignificant trouble. 11) Explanatory, when an additional thought contains some explanation of the main one. The terms in this period are separated from each other by a comma. Example: Faith in God and devotion to His holy will so strengthens a person’s weak heart that it becomes capable of generously enduring the greatest disasters. 12) Connective, when the subordinate thought is similar to the main one, and is attached to it to strengthen it. Members are separated by a comma. Example: He who believes in God and places all his trust in Him not only endures the vicissitudes of earthly life with firmness of spirit, but also meets with joy every temptation, every sorrow allowed by God’s providence for the edification of man. 13) Gradual, when the subordinate thought contains the preceding one. the circumstance that is expressed in the main one. In this period, members are separated by a semicolon (;). Example: At first, sorrows are endured very difficult by the heart, untrained in humility and patience; then the sorrows themselves teach a way to endure them, striking with deadly blows the pride that lives in the heart and prevents the generous patience of sorrows. Complex periods consisting of two terms are called binomial. Usually, for a clearer division of members, proper conjunctions are used during the period. 56 In other periods, such as connecting, dividing, explanatory, unions are necessary; but, according to the nature of the Russian language, it is better to avoid them if possible, content with a punctuation mark. In the above examples, the possibility of avoiding conjunctions is indicated: for this purpose, those conjunctions that can be dispensed with are placed in parentheses. Sometimes there is a need to supplement two thoughts of a complex period with a third, giving it its full meaning, giving it the form of a member: then the period is called trinomial, and the third member is attached to one of the first two, judging by the need, separated from it by a dot with a occupied (;). Example: A true Christian endures sorrows complacently: because he finds consolation in faith; Without faith we fall under the blows of sorrows. Sometimes there is a need to present several additional thoughts of the same property: then each thought is given the shape of a member, and these members are separated from one another by a dot, and from the main thought by a colon. Example: A tree that has taken root deep into the ground can easily withstand storms; black clouds have no influence on the sun beyond their reach; The strongest winds do not affect the water that rests in the abysses of the sea: so a heart filled with faith is not afraid of earthly sorrows. Thus, complex periods can be two-term, three-term, four-term, five-term. Let us repeat here what was said above: The Russian language does not like long periods. When a gradual period has many members, which it is capable of, and the last member, containing the main idea, has the nature of a consequence arising from the circumstances set forth in the preceding members: then the last member can be separated from the others by a colon. Example: At first, sorrows are endured very difficult by the heart, untrained in patience and humility; then, little by little, the sorrows themselves teach a mysterious way to endure them, striking with deadly blows the pride that lives in the heart, preventing the generous patience of sorrows: finally, an incomprehensible consolation pours out of the sorrows into the soul of a true servant of Christ, and the sorrows themselves serve as a source of spiritual joy for him. 57 The document printed below under the above title, in our opinion, has a threefold meaning: a) it characterizes the state of the Caucasian flock in religious-moral and ecclesiastical-administrative terms, as observed by secular and ecclesiastical authorities; b) introduces us to the views of Bishop Ignatius regarding measures to elevate Church life in the Caucasus and c) clarifies the church-administrative views of Bishop Ignatius, which are fundamentally applicable to subsequent times. When printing, the spelling of the originals is preserved. The difference between Bishop and Presbyter is excellently expounded in the book The True Ancient and True Orthodox Church of Christ. (Page 81). This presentation is especially important because it points to the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church and, together, to schismatic books that speak about the same subject. In this department of doctrine, most schismatics agree with the Orthodox Church. A schism is the actual separation from the Universal Church, without a violation of unity in dogma. Violation of unity in dogmas is already heresy. On this basis, almost all Russian schismatics are actually not only schismatics, but also heretics. The Western Church calls Eastern Christians schismatics, as it cannot convict them of changing any dogma of the Primitive Ecumenical Church; and the Eastern recognizes the papists as heretics, as having allowed innovations in their very dogmas. When a priest is promoted to archpriest, the only prayer for this rite reads as follows: “Clothe our brother with Thy grace, and adorn him with honesty, at the beginning stand the presbyters of Thy people.” This is the whole church meaning of the archpriest: he, during divine services, has the right to take first place among other priests (See the rite of ordination). This is how the Holy Apostles commanded and acted. "Three summers, says St. The Apostle Paul taught the elders of Ephesus night and day without ceasing, with tears, to one of you.” Acts 20, 31. The Bishop, ordaining the Presbyter, in his prayer reads, among other things, the following: “This is the one whom You have deigned to guaranty from me, in an immaculate life towards an unyielding faith, deign to raise up this great grace of Your Holy Spirit...”, clearly expressing with these words the spiritual origin of the Presbyter from the Bishop, through ordination (See, 4 ordination). The great evil is ignorance, said John Chrysostom. Ignorance does not know its own ignorance, thinking to do good, it does evil. Word 89th. Here, of course, there is material, spiritual jealousy: She humiliates herself in materiality by the heating of the blood she produces. Spiritual zeal is always faithful to the Law of God and is alien to heat. The appeals of the Most Reverend Ignatius Brianchaninov to the Caucasian clergy, dated January 17, 1859, No. 3, April 25, 1859, No. 809, and May 6 of the same year, No. 916, printed here, are related to the preparation and introduction into the life of the Caucasian Territory of the great liberation reform of the Sovereign Emperor Alexander II and express the views Bishop Ignatius on the issue of civil reforms from the Church-Christian point of view and on the teaching of the clergy in worldly affairs. Under him, the great work of Russian history began and was completed, for which Emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I were preparing and which fell to the lot of Emperor Alexander II to implement - the liberation of peasants from serfdom. During this era, His Grace Ignatius was the Diocesan Bishop in the Caucasus. Immediately, after the establishment of the Special Committee of the Nobility of the Stavropol Province to draw up a draft regulation on improving the life of peasants, His Eminence Ignatius made a proposal to the Caucasian Spiritual Consistory dated January 17, 1859, No. 3, to which the pastors of the Caucasian Church are given instructions and determined the direction they should follow in their conversations with parishioners, both with landowners and peasants. Bishop Ignatius invites pastors to bring words of edification, advice and consolation everywhere, guided by the answer of Christ the Savior to a man who turned to Him for advice on dividing property with his brother (Luke 12). The Right Reverend Ignatius identifies two provisions in the answer of Christ the Savior: 1) that the Lord removed himself from the question of the division of property or from the civil side of the matter; 2) gave instructions only on the spiritual side of the matter - not to allow yourself covetousness, envy and those arising from them, as from the seed of enmity and quarrel with their sad consequences. Therefore, Bishop Ignatius suggested that the priests give advice to parishioners to pray and do new great work, without getting carried away by passions and not to interfere in civil relations, considering this aspect not to be within the competence of the clergy. In March 1859, in the magazine “Orthodox Interlocutor”, published by the Kazan Theological Academy, an article appeared in the form of a sermon on the day of the accession to the throne of the Sovereign Emperor, entitled: “A word on the liberation of the peasants on the Day of February 19, 1859". According to some information, this article belongs to the pen of the bachelor of the Theological Academy Shchapov. Even earlier than this, in the month of January, in that The same magazine published an article about the “Word of Daniel the Prisoner, known under the name “Lamentation.” These articles made an unfavorable impression on the Most Reverend Ignatius and, in order to eliminate the harmful influence of these articles on the clergy of the Caucasian diocese, he submitted the second proposal to the Caucasian Consistory dated May 6, 1859, No. 916, in which he subjected a detailed and thorough analysis to the “Word of liberation of the peasants,” and an article about “The Prayer of Daniil Zatochnik.” Proposal No. 916, as can be seen from the printed original, is a whole treatise on slavery and the attitude of Christianity towards it, on serfdom and on the peculiarities of Russian life. Proposal dated May 6, 1859. No. 916 is written with remarkable theological erudition and the pastoral-ascetic direction of the Most Reverend Ignatius is fully expressed, defining his view on the attitude of the clergy to civil affairs and on their participation in the secular life of the flock. That the Right Reverend Ignatius fully sympathized with the liberation of the peasants is proven by many facts of his life. Not without significance is the fact that long before the liberation of the peasants, he did not want to use his property rights and became a monk; At the first step in his new life, he obediently obeyed his former slave, the cook at the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery. Having become the rector of the Sergius Hermitage, he gave the peasants all the monastery land, which they had long used, albeit incorrectly. And in the conditions of archpastoral life, his imperious spirit valued not slavish, but rationally conscious obedience. Interlocutor, p. 354, month of March. See Proposal of the Caucasian Bishop to the Consistory of January 17, No. 3. The interlocutor submitted to this violence, the method he adopted. Recognizing the unfree state, the state of a serf, as humiliating and unnatural for humanity, through the mouth of Daniil Zatochnik he calls the nobles and boyars of the Tsar serfs. The silent thought here is very clear, very strong: it is a necessary consequence of what has been said. (January, p. 48). St. John Chrysostom on Interpretation, on the Epistle to the Ephesians, Ratrologiae Curcuc Completus. Chrisostomi in Epist. od Ephes. Homilla XXII. Russian Conversation, 1859, book 14, Peasants in Russia, p. 94. Word IV in Moscow published in 1833. March, pp. 335, 336, 337. The Great Barsanuphius answer 656. Interlocutor, March, p. 337. Interlocutor, March, pp. 347, 348. Interlocutor, January, pp. 46–48. Interlocutor, January, p. 47. Second Lesson on Humility. Ave. John Climacus Word 25. Ave. Callista and Ignatius, chapter 16, about how patience with temptation is more valiant. Dobrotol. Part 2. January, pp. 69, 71. March, pp. 342–345. Great Barsanuphius answer 59th. As a deeply educated man, His Grace Ignatius was always on the side of everything reasonable and sympathized with every progressive movement. In 1860, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich addressed him with a letter dated October 7. 1860 for No. 2263, in which, transmitting to His Eminence Ignatius a copy of the project drawn up by Admiral Count Putyatin for the transformation of Naval Educational Institutions with the establishment of a new gymnasium in St. Petersburg, he asked Bishop Ignatius to “take upon himself the work, as a special personal favor to Me, to communicate to Me quite frankly your comments on this project.” As a result of this letter, the one we are printing appeared reply to the Grand Duke. This idea belongs to St. Anthony the Great. Memorable tales of the Fathers, ch. 29. Ladder, word to the Shepherd. Ps.52:6; Galatians 1:10; Eph.17:6; Colossians 3:22. The Lord called Himself Light. Thus, at the 6th Ecumenical Council, some customs of the Roman Church were subjected to verification. Christian Reading, December 1864, article by Ig. Nilsky, pages 484,485,486.. Orthodox white and black clergy in Russia, Leipzig 1866; book attributed to exprofessor P.S.-P-Spirit. Ak. Roslavlev. A prediction is passed on among the most venerable men of the Greek clergy that in recent times an effort will appear to convene a Council, but that the spirit of the times will not allow the Council to meet. In England this character is given. There, the character of the schools puts a strong stamp on the students. Our students of theological schools are imprinted with the impressions of the world, the spirit of the world, and to the greatest surprise they harbor a Protestant aversion to monasticism and speak against it no weaker than Luther. Of those who complete a course in seminaries, very rarely enter monasticism. Among the most important subjects that, according to Bishop Ignatius, the Cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church he is designing should deal with is the transformation of theological educational institutions with their adaptation to the tasks of spiritual education and theological education. In paragraph 8, Bishop Ignatius plans to compile textbooks for religious educational institutions, removing from them everything pagan and immoral. “Literature Lessons,” which we are printing for the first time, we believe, illustrates the thought of Bishop Ignatius about the proper direction of teaching this subject. For a detailed teaching about the sentence, about the subject, predicate and connection, see Vostokov’s Grammar on Word Composition. Look about them in Vostokov’s grammar, about word composition. For conjunctions, see Grammar. Vostokova, about word writing. Printed in the first section of these “Appendices”, Bishop Ignatius’s articles on church and public issues were borrowed by us from the Family Archives of the nephew of the Most Reverend Ignatius, Senator Nikolai Semenovich Bryanchaninov and from the archives of the Caucasian Spiritual Consistory.