Memories

For the first time, memoirs about the holy martyr Archbishop Hilarion (Troitsky) of Vereya are published by an unknown author, a close acquaintance of the saint, transferred to the publisher E.A. Karmanov in 1997 Having read the above short memoirs, so dear to those who knew Vladyka Hilarion, I consider it my duty to write on my own behalf everything that the memory preserves of this wonderful saint, whose short but bright life was completely given to the service of the Lord and the Holy Church. In the world, Vladimir Alekseevich Troitsky was the first-born of the large family of priest Alexei Petrovich Troitsky 1 in the village of Lipitsa, Tula province, 5–6 km. below Serpukhov along the Oka River, picturesquely located on its bank. The village was large, two-state, and was next door to the village where my parents lived. Our families communicated frequently and very friendly. The Right Reverend’s grandfather, Father Peter 2, was my godfather. Vladyka Hilarion spent his entire childhood and youth in this village. The first grief of this family remained in the memory of its unexpected great sorrow - mother Varvara Vasilievna 3, a very young, blooming, living woman, died tragically, drowning while swimming in the Oka, leaving five orphans: Vladimir, Dimitri 4 (later Bishop Daniel, who graduated from St. Petersburg), daughter Sophia 5, son Alexei 6 (who later took over priestly place in Lipitsa) and the youngest daughter Olga 7 - a little over a year old. The situation of the orphaned family was difficult. Father Alexy bravely bore his cross, he was very loved and honored by his parishioners and was himself an extremely attractive person. Tall, portly, with long brown hair, always lively and eloquent, he often visited my parents even after they moved to Tula. His sons, too, after entering first theological school 8 and then the seminary 9, often visited our family. The elders were good students, but Vladimir was distinguished by particularly brilliant abilities and was an excellent student from year to year. At the theological school I remember an interesting incident. There at that time, in high school, the Russian language teacher was Kirill Fedorovich Troitsky, very strict and demanding. He presented the material on the subject orally, but dictated to the students only sentences, which the called student had to explain and interpret, drawing the appropriate conclusion of the rule. The student was required to present the material clearly, in complete phrases. Students had to remember all this for the exams, but there was no textbook. This is where Volodya Troitsky came to the rescue - he independently compiled a thorough record of the material covered from the words of the teacher, and these records were used by students of all classes. Of course, everyone at the seminary knew Vladimir Troitsky well as a brilliant and talented student, and all the teachers highly valued his qualities and spoke highly of him. His essays and his ability to work with foreign sources were especially notable for their high scores. Volodya Troitsky was an attractive young man. Tall, slender, serious, and at the same time sociable and witty, he made a charming impression, and subsequently, when he came to Tula in the rank of archimandrite to ordain his brother Alexei as a priest, he amazed everyone with his spiritual beauty. He was distinguished by exceptionally strong health, loved to walk to the Trinity, loved physical work and worked enthusiastically with his whole family, harvesting hay in the water meadows of the Oka in his native village, where he loved to return even in the rank of bishop. We heard from eyewitnesses how once, having received notice of the arrival of Vladyka Hilarion in Lipitsa, when he was already the manager of the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate 10, the delighted clergy rushed to harness the cart to meet with honor the dear guest at the Oka station, but, after some delay in getting ready and driving not far away, they saw him rising up the mountain to meet them cheerfully and energetically The Lord, who made the entire journey on foot. Let me return again to the youth of the Lord. After graduating from the seminary, he, as the best student, was sent to the Moscow Theological Academy, from which he graduated brilliantly and was retained as a professor's fellow and then as its teacher. While still a student at the Academy, he, together with other comrades, under the leadership of Bishop Evdokim 11 (who was then rector of the Academy) traveled throughout the East and Western Europe. He described his impressions in the magazine “Christian” 12 under the title “Across the East and West” 13. While an assistant professor, Hilarion Troitsky wrote his candidate's work “Essays on the History of the Dogma of the Church” (Ed. 1912; 544 pp.) 14 . Then, already as an archimandrite, he wrote “The Cornerstone of the Church” (1914) and “The Unity of the Church and the World Conference of Christianity” (1917). In the last years before the revolution, he held the position of inspector, and in 1917 he was elected by the students to the rector of the Academy 15 instead of the Right Reverend Theodore 16. Vladyka Hilarion was involved in disputes with living churchmen and atheists; Vvedensky 17, Lunacharsky 18 are his opponents. The father-in-law of his brother Alexy, Fr., told us about one such performance. Boris 19 from the village of Dark Fridays, Tula province. Once he was in Moscow and His Eminence Hilarion invited him to go with him to a dispute at a large Moscow factory. The Right Reverend behaved with exceptional courage and daring, so much so that sometimes it was terrible for him. He was an extraordinary speaker. It seemed that he was about to be arrested on the spot for his bold statements, which, however, caused a storm of applause from the workers present. The dispute continued for a long time and it ended with all the present workers of this plant beginning to approach His Eminence Hilarion for blessing, and there were at least 3-4 thousand of them. Long troubled years tore us away from Moscow and His Eminence Hilarion, and only in 1923, with a teacher’s excursion, I came to Moscow for an exhibition. Interested in church life, I went to the Donskoy Monastery. I was struck by the huge crowd of people and clergy standing near the building where His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, who had recently been released from prison, lived and worked. Among those present were venerable, honored archpriests, and priests, and, apparently, in civilian clothes, church elders. It turned out that they were waiting for Vladyka Hilarion, who was called daily to the GPU and from there directly on foot to His Holiness the Patriarch for a working day. At that time, he managed the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate, which is why everyone who came with their church needs turned to him for resolution (clarification) of difficult matters related to the actions of the Living Church members. An authoritative word was needed to guide the affairs of the Church. This is all what His Eminence Hilarion did as the first assistant to His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon. As soon as his tall, slender figure appeared in a velvet black cap on long white-blond hair, everyone was overcome with excitement and excitement, and everyone rushed to him for his blessing and advice. All the way from the monastery gates to the building where His Holiness the Patriarch lived, His Grace Hilarion blessed the petitioners who approached him and talked with them. I stood near the entrance to the building and also approached the Eminence for a blessing. He asked me where I was from, not recognizing, of course, my mature appearance as a young man he had once known, and when he heard that I was from Tula and from what family, he told me to wait and under no circumstances leave. Soon I was called to him, and I went up to the second floor, where Vladyka Hilarion was waiting for me. He sat me down opposite him and began asking me about my family, about my acquaintances, about Tula - everything interested him, and all the time he repeated with the fervor characteristic of him: “Talk, talk about everything!” But, apparently, there were many demanding sanction from His Holiness the Patriarch, and every now and then he had to break away from the conversation and go to His Holiness. This was my last meeting with this mighty body and spirit of the Saint. I didn’t see him again, and subsequently I only had the chance to hear from the lips of people who knew and visited him about his future fate. For his vigorous and active activity for the benefit of the Church during the troubled times of renovationism and the fight against atheists, His Grace Hilarion was arrested and exiled 21. There was information that he was in Solovki, where he was forced to go out to sea alone on a boat, no matter what the weather (and mostly in a storm). His strong, resilient body struggled for a long time with all the hardships of life, steadfastly and courageously, but his illness finally broke him. From Solovki he was sent to a transit prison, on the way he fell ill with typhus (travelling to Leningrad), and his patient was dropped off in the winter cold and transferred to the prison hospital. He somehow managed to let Metropolitan Seraphim of Leningrad 22 know about his situation, and he arranged for him to be admitted to a hospital, where the Right Reverend Hilarion died 23 ; He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Leningrad. Thus passed away this bright, wonderful lamp, whose works must be remembered in our time. Publication, entry. article and notes by N.A. Krivosheeva Troitsky Alexey Petrovich (02/17/1863–02/24/1917), priest. In 1884 he graduated from the Tula Theological Seminary. Before his appointment as a priest, he held the position of teacher at the Odintsovo Zemstvo School until 1885. On January 19, 1886, he was ordained a priest at the Annunciation Church in the village. Lipitsa, Kashira district, Tula diocese, served as a teacher of the law at the Lipetsk one-class school of the Ministry of Public Education, and since 1889, spiritual investigator for the dean's district. Troitsky Pyotr Ioannovich (1821–?), priest, was born into the family of a sexton. In 1842 he graduated from the Tula Theological Seminary in the first category. On December 21, 1846, he was ordained a priest at the Annunciation Church in the village. Lipitsa. Since 1869, confessor of the deanery. In 1885, he was dismissed from the staff, leaving the post of confessor and censor of sermons for the deanery. Died in the early 1900s. Troitskaya Varvara Vasilievna, the daughter of a priest, died in 1898; after her death, her sister, Nadezhda Vasilievna († 1930s), took on great assistance in raising orphaned children. Daniel (Troitsky Dimitri Alekseevich; 10.10.1887–17.03.1934), archbishop. He graduated from the Tula Theological Seminary in 1909, from St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences and the St. Petersburg Archaeological Institute in 1913, candidate of theology. On September 28, 1913, he was tonsured a monk, and on October 1, 1913, he was ordained a hieromonk. Teacher at Kholm Theological Seminary. Since 1914, teacher at the Tula Theological Seminary. 04/12/1918 elevated to the rank of archimandrite, rector of the Bolkhov Trinity Optina Monastery. 04/30/1921 consecrated Bishop of Yeletsk, vicar of the Oryol diocese. Arrested in 1921, released 2 months later. In 1922, temporary manager of the Oryol diocese. Arrested in 1922, exiled to Khiva in Central Asia, then to Kineshma, Kostroma diocese. Since 1928, Bishop of Roslavl, vicar of the Smolensk diocese. Since 1931, Bishop of Oryol, Bishop of Bryansk. Since 1934 archbishop. Died in Bryansk. Troitskaya Sofya Alekseevna (03/17/1889–1916). Troitsky Alexy Alekseevich (03/24/1891–09/23/1937), priest. In 1913–1915 he studied at the Bethany Theological Seminary, during which he lived with his brother Archimandrite Hilarion (Troitsky) in Sergiev Posad at the Moscow Theological Academy. After graduating from the seminary, he was immediately called up for military service, graduated from the Alexander Junker School in 1916, was promoted to the rank of ensign and sent to the front. On May 16, 1918 he was ordained a priest at the Church of the Annunciation in the village. Lipitsa. He was first arrested in 1924 for fighting renovationism, but was released some time later. On January 21, 1930, he was arrested on charges of “counter-revolutionary agitation,” sentenced to 5 years in labor camp, and served his sentence in the village. Ust-Tsilma Komi ASSR. Released at the end of 1934, he worked for some time as a worker in a quarry. In 1935–1937 served as a priest with. Kuzmishchevo, Tarussky district, Kaluga region, where he was arrested on August 28, 1937, and sentenced to capital punishment - execution. Shot at the Butovo training ground in the Moscow region. Troitskaya Olga Alekseevna (05/27/1897–10/25/1967). Since 1919 she lived in Moscow and worked as an accountant. Tula Theological School. Tula Theological Seminary. In 1923, Bishop Hilarion was the temporary administrator of the Moscow diocese. Evdokim (Meshchersky Vasily Ivanovich; 1869–1935), archbishop, renovationist “metropolitan”. Member of the Council 1917–1918 ex officio as Archbishop of Aleutian and North American, since 1918 Archbishop of Nizhny Novgorod. In 1904, he was consecrated Bishop of Volokolamsk, vicar of the Moscow diocese, and rector of the Moscow Theological Academy. Since 1909, Bishop of Kashira, vicar of the Tula diocese. In 1914–1917 Archbishop of Aleutian and North American. In 1922 he joined the Renovationist schism, one of the leaders of Renovationism. In 1922–1924 Renovationist "Metropolitan of Odessa". Since 1922, member of the renovationist Supreme Church Administration. Since 1923, chairman of the renovationist “Holy Synod”. In 1924 he was retired and remained a member of the renovationist “Synod”. He died out of communion with the Orthodox Church. Christian: Journal of church and social life, science and literature. Sergiev Posad, 1907–1915. The editor of the magazine is Bishop Evdokim (Meshchersky). First Vladimir (then Archimandrite Hilarion Troitsky) repeatedly published his articles in the magazine. V. T[roitsky]. Across the East and West (Travel Notes) // Christian. 1909. No. 1–7, 9–10. (Separate reprint: V. T[roitsky]. From the Academy to Athos. Sergiev Posad. 1914). The author is mistaken, it was a master's thesis. The author is mistaken, after Bishop Theodore was removed from the post of rector of the MDA, Archimandrite Hilarion served as rector of the academy, until the election of the rector of the academy not by students, but by the Academy Council of Professor A.P. Orlova, a few days later (10/29/1917) Archimandrite Hilarion was unanimously elected assistant rector. Theodore (in schema Daniel; Pozdeevsky Alexander Vasilyevich; 1876–10/23/1937), archbishop. In 1909 he was consecrated Bishop of Volokolamsk, vicar of the Moscow diocese. In 1909–1917 rector of the Moscow Theological Academy. Since May 1917, abbot of the Moscow Danilov Monastery. In 1920–1925 was arrested. In August 1923 he was elevated to the rank of archbishop. In October 1923 he was appointed administrator of the Petrograd diocese, but refused the appointment. In 1925–1927 in the link. He headed the “Danilov opposition” to Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky). In 1929–1932 imprisoned in Svirlag. In 1933 he was arrested again. Since 1933 in exile. In July 1937, he was arrested in connection with the Danilov Brotherhood case. Shot. Vvedensky Alexander Ivanovich (1889–1946), archpriest, renovationist “metropolitan.” In 1919, the rector of the Church of St. Zechariah and Elizabeth in Petrograd. One of the initiators, leaders and ideologists of the Renovationist split. Lunacharsky Anatoly Vasilyevich (1875–1933), People's Commissar of Education of the RSFSR in 1917–1929. Uspensky Boris Matveevich (1877–1950), archpriest. He graduated from the Tula Theological Seminary, after which he was ordained a priest at the Pyatnitskaya Church, p. Book of the Aleksinsky district of the Tula province, where he served for about 40 years until the 1930s, when the church was closed. After the church closed, Fr. Boris continued to care for his spiritual children. He was arrested several times and spent time in prison. Saint Tikhon was released from prison on June 14, 1923. Vladyka Hilarion was arrested for the last time in November 1923 and remained in custody until his death. Hieromartyr, Metropolitan Seraphim (Chichagov Leonid Mikhailovich; 1856–12/11/1937). In 1905 he was consecrated Bishop of Sukhumi, vicar of the Kharkov diocese. Since 1906, Bishop of Oryol and Sevsky; from 1908 Bishop of Chisinau and Khotyn; since 1912 archbishop. Since 1914, Archbishop of Tver and Kashin; at the end of 1917 he was dismissed from the administration of the diocese. Member of the Holy Council 1917–1918, Chairman of the Department of Monasteries and Monasticism. In 1918 he was appointed to the Warsaw See, but was unable to leave to manage the diocese. In 1921 he was arrested. In 1922–1924 in the link. In 1928–1933 Metropolitan of Leningrad. Shot. Canonized in 1997 The official version of the martyrdom of Bishop Hilarion is death from typhus. But this version raises serious doubts. Archpriest Mikhail (Polish) writes about a letter from Bishop Hilarion, in which he says: “I am seriously ill with typhus... on Saturday, December 15, my fate is being decided (the crisis of the disease) I am unlikely to endure” (Polish Mikhail, Archpriest New Russian Martyrs. Vol. 1, p. 133). In this case, it is unclear in what style the date December 15 is indicated. A letter from Archpriest Vladimir Strakhov, who was present at the funeral, says that the bishop arrived from Solovki seriously ill for the Entry, i.e. On December 4, according to the present day, he also writes that the bishop was placed in a typhoid carriage, where he was also robbed, and he, undressed, was brought to a transit point in severe frost, which in itself was murder (Letter of Archpriest V. Strakhov // Moscow Church Voice. 1993. No. 4). The crisis of the disease as a result of typhus occurs two weeks after the disease, that is, around December 15th. Art. Therefore, we can assume that the archbishop’s powerful body survived the illness crisis. But most memoirists mistakenly believe that the date of December 15, indicated by Archpriest M. Polsky, is indicated according to Art. Art., i.e. December 28, according to the present day, from this they conclude that the cause of death was typhus, i.e. The Bishop did not survive the illness crisis, which is not true. Thus, a prisoner of the archbishop in the Solovetsky camp writes: “Archbishop Hilarion (Troitsky), who died after a double term (3 + 3 years) in Petrograd from typhus, was poisoned - it is thoroughly known (emphasized by the author - Ed.)" (Theodosius (Almazov), archimandrite. My memoirs (notes of a Solovetsky prisoner). M., 1997. P. 85). Other memoirists from Solovki adhere to the same version. What happened in the 13 days until the Lord called the sanctuary of faith to Himself? Complication, poisoning? In any case, not typhus, at least a complication as a result of the disease. The death documents in the investigation file are also interesting. Thus, the medical death certificate states: “the main or primary disease is typhus” and the date of death is December 28, 1929, but the certificate from the prison hospital transferred to the OGPU PP in JIBO states that “Troitsky Illarion Alekseevich died in the hospital on December 27/XII-29. Application: doctor. date about death No. 23" (CA FSB RF. D. R-43791. L. 14:15). The dates of death in the documents do not match. The authorities could not openly pass a death sentence, but they may have tried to do everything to eliminate the archbishop.