80 years ago, Hieromartyr Hilarion re-consecrated the church of the Sretensky Monastery, expelling the renovationists from it

On June 27, 1923, Patriarch Tikhon was released from imprisonment in the Lubyanka prison. A new stage of his activity began, aimed, first of all, at eradicating the renovationist schism. One of the closest associates of the Patriarch during this period was Bishop Hilarion (Troitsky). In the world, Vladimir Alekseevich Troitsky was born in 1886. On July 5, 1913, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite, professor of the Moscow Academy of Sciences. In 1919 he was arrested, from March 10 to June 7, 1919 he was in Butyrka prison in Moscow. On May 25, 1920, he was consecrated by Patriarch Tikhon as Bishop of Vereisky, vicar of the Moscow diocese. May 24, 1920 In the Trinity Church of the Patriarchal Metochion in Moscow, during the naming of bishop, which was performed by His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, Archimandrite Hilarion said: “Before I read books, now I must read human hearts, these wisest and often completely incomprehensible letters. Then I wrote with ink on paper, from now on I will have the grace to write the image of God in human souls. Before I taught, from now on I must lead to salvation. Previously, I could remain hidden - now you appoint me to the church candlestick. Previously, I could hide from people and be in pleasant obscurity - from now on I must shine the light of good deeds on people. With all my soul I loved the academic life, detached from the world, elevated above the world, solitary, as if deserted. Now you are taking away the hope of returning to this desert again and completely. A bishop must always be in the circle of human life. He has a daily gathering of people, which can be called an attack all the days (2 Cor. 11:28.), he must be everything to everyone (1 Cor. 9:22.), enslave himself to everyone (1 Cor. 9:19.), to be weak for the weak (1 Cor. 9:22.),. to faint with those who are fainting (2 Cor. 11:29), to console some, to instruct others, and to reprove others (Tim. 1:9). Having become accustomed to my previous ministry and having loved it with all my soul, I was afraid of the bishopric, and always spoke a lot against my bishopric. And now I stand before you, Archpastors, having accepted your title and not a little contrary to the verb, for my hope in the Lord is firm. I see now clearly that there is a great need for workers in God’s field, I now know firmly that the will of God governs the Church and it is not without God’s will that bishops are installed in the Church.” 1 According to these words, Bishop Hilarion firmly and courageously carried out his archpastoral ministry. In 1921, he was involved in the so-called “Glavmuseum” case, but he was not arrested then. The real trials began for Saint Hilarion in 1922. The reason for the persecution of Patriarch Tikhon and his associates, which included Bishop Hilarion, was his alleged calls to resist the seizure of church valuables. In addition, this is connected with the organization of the GPU Renovation Church as an alternative to Patriarch Tikhon. The adopted decree on the confiscation of church valuables practically excluded the Church from participating in the organization of the delivery of valuables, and prohibited the replacement of precious objects for liturgical use with an equivalent amount of gold and silver. The actions of the authorities caused extreme bewilderment of Patriarch Tikhon, in a letter to M.I. Kalinin on February 25, 1922, he called on the authorities to abandon this decision, which was fraught with unpredictable consequences. 2 The authorities understood that it was the Patriarch, as the head of the Church, who was the main obstacle to the destruction of the church organization. Therefore, the main blow was directed against the Patriarch. The GPU closely monitored the activities of the Patriarch and his entourage. Thus, at a meeting in the GPU on March 8, 1922, it was said: “...the apparatus of the clergy, headed by Tikhon, is expanding its work more and more widely.” 3 All actions of the clergy who condemned the seizure were recorded in the information reports of the GPU. They were compiled in the Information Department and in the 6th department of the GPU SO. These could be reports for one or several days. Thus, one of them reported on the sermon of Bishop Hilarion (Troitsky), which, in the opinion of the security officers, was directed against the seizure. The report sent to the head of the SO Samsonov reported on a meeting of the deans of the city of Moscow held on February 28 under the chairmanship of Metropolitan Nikandr (Fenomenov), at which he called for “to be on guard.” 4 All this could not but worry the authorities. At this time, great attention was paid to the Church; in the decisive days of March, the Politburo in its meetings addressed the church issue at almost every meeting 2-3 times a week, and sometimes in between meetings it polled members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b). Here they discussed the strategic developments of V.I. Lenin and L.D. Trotsky, justifying godless practices and repressive tactics, and the personnel of the repressive commissions and committees created to destroy the Church - methods of conspiracy, masking the real goals of their activities, deceiving the public opinion of the West. The main initiator and inspirer of the anti-church campaign was L.D. Trotsky. Already on March 12, 1922, Trotsky actually gave instructions for a split in the Church when he pointed out the need to introduce the “Soviet” part of the clergy into Pomgol. 5 However, the main signal for the authorities to take decisive action against the Church was Lenin’s famous letter of March 19, 1922, in which he, in particular, wrote: “we must give the most decisive and merciless battle to the Black Hundred clergy and suppress their resistance with such cruelty that they will not forget this for several decades... the more representatives of the reactionary clergy... we manage to shoot on this occasion, the better.” 6 These terrible threats from a maddened man fell upon Saint Hilarion. The Politburo, having considered this appeal on March 22, at the suggestion of Trotsky, decided, without rejecting these harsh measures, to postpone them for some time: “The arrest of the Synod and the Patriarch is considered necessary, but not now, but in about 10-15 days.” 7 It was proposed to use this time for “rabid” anti-church agitation. However, the GPU begins arresting members of the Synod already on the same day, March 22, 1922. In the case of Patriarch Tikhon there is a “List of persons subject to seizure in the 6th department,” which included the Patriarch’s closest assistants: Metropolitan Nikandr (Fenomenov), Bishop Hilarion (Troitsky), cell attendant of the Patriarch Yakov Polozov, Priest. Ilya Gromoglasov, prot. Alexander Khotovitsky, Protopres. Nikolai Lyubimov. The same document also contains the motives for the arrest. Thus, Metropolitan Nikandr was accused of “organizing illegal meetings of the clergy and stirring up the masses at these meetings in order to speak out against the authorities,” Bishop Hilarion was accused of “organizing disputes on religious topics in order to discredit the Soviet government.” On March 22, 1922, Bishop Hilarion was arrested in his apartment (st. Sretenka no. 9. sq. 1). In the protocol of the interrogation carried out in Lubyanka on March 24, Bishop Hilarion personally indicated the range of his duties at the time of his arrest: “The duties of my service here in Moscow are varied, the most significant of which are presence in the Trinity courtyard on behalf of the highest hierarchs, church service, etc. I had to speak often at debates.” On June 22, 1922, Bishop Hilarion was subjected to administrative exile to Arkhangelsk for a period of one year. He served his exile together with Metropolitan Seraphim (Chichagov). During his exile, the GPU repeatedly searched his apartment in order to discover letters that were handed to him from Moscow by people who came to see him. On June 30, 1923, the Arkhangelsk provincial department of the GPU decided to release Bishop Hilarion from custody. Although the conclusion in the case says: “Troitsky is completely far from recognizing the VCU (renovationist Higher Church Administration - D.S.).” However, the conclusion also states that the facts of “anti-Soviet activity” of Bishop Hilarion have not been fully proven, therefore it was decided “to terminate the public inquiry into this case and to release the involved Troitsky I.A. from custody. The note states that “Troitsky I.A. is being held in the casemate of the GPU Archdistrict Department.” 8 Bishop Hilarion apparently arrived in Moscow on July 5, 1923 and immediately went to the Donskoy Monastery to see Patriarch Tikhon. From now on and until his last arrest in November 1923, Bishop Hilarion became the closest assistant to His Holiness the Patriarch. It is to him that the Patriarch entrusts the main task - the eradication of the renovationist schism. The first step on this path was the reconsecration of the Cathedral of the Sretensky Monastery, where since 1922 there were followers of one of the leaders of the renovationism, “Metropolitan” Antonin (Granovsky). The name Antonina becomes notorious in connection with the campaign carried out by the Soviet authorities in February-May 1922 to confiscate church valuables. On March 23, 1922, that is, the day after the arrest of Bishop Hilarion, Antonin gives an interview to the Izvestia newspaper, in which he declares his disagreement with the position of St. Tikhon on this issue. March 28, 1922 Antonin receives an invitation to take part in the work of the state Central Commission for Famine Relief (Pomgol), as a “loyal priest.” Apr 29 In 1922, as an expert, he took part in the Moscow trial of clergy and laity accused of “resistance” to the seizure of church valuables. Antonin's speech, which demanded the unconditional transfer of all valuables, including Eucharistic vessels, was considered by the church community as a reason for imposing the death sentence on the 11 accused. It is obvious that at the time in question, as later, Antonin took his actions, coordinating them with E. A. Tuchkov, the head of the 6th (anti-church) department of the Secret Department of the GPU. On May 13, 1922, Antonin joined the group of the so-called “progressive clergy,” whose leaders were Rev. A.I. Vvedensky and priest. V. D. Krasnitsky, having signed with them an appeal containing an accusation against Patriarch Tikhon of “church ruin” and demanding the “immediate convening of a Local Council” to try him. This was the beginning of the so-called. renovation schism. On May 19, 1922, Antonin, supported by Tuchkov, stood at the head of the arbitrary High Church Administration (VCU), thereby giving final form to the schism. At the same time, Antonin was invariably in opposition to Krasnitsky and the group of white clergy “Living Church” led by him, which played in June 1922 - April. 1923 leading role in the split. On August 6, 1922, Antonin was appointed by the VCU to the Moscow See with the title of “Archbishop of Krutitsky,” and already on August 20, 1922 he accepted the title of “Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia.” On August 24, 1922, he became the head of the “Union of Church Revival,” a renovationist group, in contrast to the estate-clerical Life Center, which sought to find support in the laity. On September 22, 1922, Antonin announced his break with the Living Church members and leaving the VCU, but in October 1922 he again returned to the post of its chairman, when the latter was reorganized on a coalition basis, including representatives of the Life Church, the SCV and the newly formed group “Union of Communities of the Ancient Apostolic Church” (SODATS), headed by A. I. Vvedensky. At the renovationist “Second Local Council of the Orthodox Russian Church” (Moscow, April 29 – May 9, 1923), A. was elected its honorary chairman. At the same time, the actual leadership of the “Cathedral” was carried out by Vvedensky and Krasnitsky. On May 8, 1923, he became a member of the Supreme Church Council (SCC) elected by the “Council” as its chairman. But already on June 24, 1923, as a result of a sharp conflict with members of the WCC, and, above all, with Krasnitsky, he was relieved of all his posts and retired. This was preceded by the publication in Izvestia on May 17, 1923 of Antonin’s declaration “The ABC of Church Reform,” which became the program document of the Central Church. It is interesting to note the fact that even a month before the schism among the Renovationists, it was predicted by Bishop Hilarion, who knew very well the true face of the Renovationists, this is stated in the conclusion of the case dated June 30, 1923, Bishop Hilarion said this in a conversation with one layman who was serving a sentence with him, from whom the GPU learned this. On June 29, 1923, the period of “autocephalous” existence of the SCV, headed by Antonin, begins. This schismatic group was small, numbering only a few hundred followers. Its center was the Cathedral of the Zaikonospassky Monastery in Moscow; in addition, there were supporters of the Central Orthodox Church in Leningrad, the Kharkov and Vladimir dioceses. A feature of this group was the implementation of radical liturgical reform. In addition to the transition to the Russian language in worship and the Gregorian calendar introduced earlier by the Renovationists, Antonin moved the throne from the altar to the middle of the church. He began to celebrate the Liturgy according to a special rite he compiled and published, “reviewed according to the rites of ancient liturgies.” Being a supporter of the “diversity of the liturgical life of the Church,” he actively “improvised” in this area, for example, introducing poems by modern poets into the liturgical sequences. Such “divine services” were performed by Antonin and his minions in the Sretensky Monastery; even such figures of the renovationist movement as Vvedensky and Krasnitsky did not reach such a distortion of worship. Therefore, Bishop Hilarion began to eradicate the Renovationist infection from the Sretensky Monastery captured by Antonin’s followers; in addition, this ancient monastery in the center of Moscow was especially loved by the saint’s heart. This is where 9 begins On the eve of the holiday in honor of the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God, Bishop Hilarion consecrated the Cathedral of the Sretensky Monastery with a great ceremony. Such consecration is performed in the event of desecration of the church; the saint considered renovationist “divine services” to be such desecration. To appreciate the significance of this event, one must remember that at that moment the Renovationists owned the majority of churches, about half of the episcopate, and tens of thousands of priests. Saint Hilarion showed with all clarity that renovationism is not just a schism in the Church, it is defilement before God. This sobered up many, after which hundreds of renovationist bishops and priests flocked to the Donskoy Monastery to Patriarch Tikhon and Archbishop Hilarion to repent in order to return to the Church of Christ. Already by the autumn of 1923, a huge number of former renovationist bishops and priests repented and returned to the Church, and the influence of renovationist centers was significantly weakened. At each service of St. Hilarion, one or more agents of the GPU were present, who then drew up reports to their superiors. Several similar documents were preserved in the investigative file of Patriarch Tikhon. Thanks to these documents, we know some details of the saint’s services in the Sretensky Monastery. One of the reports says that Bishop Hilarion “delivered a sermon in which he appealed to the priesthood who had joined the renovation groups to repent publicly in the church, otherwise he would not allow them to serve at the altar. The clergy present publicly repented, and Hilarion sanctified the church from the desecration of heretics.” 10 The author of the report characterizes the saint himself as follows: “a most famous preacher, surpassing in his abilities the famous preacher Khrapovitsky (Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) - D.S.). Hilarion enjoys enormous popularity among believers and is loved for his sermons, imbued with the purest Tikhonovism.” Another GPU agent reports that, according to his estimates, more than 1,000 people were present at the service, so that people filled not only the church, but also the monastery courtyard. 11 On July 6, the saint took part in a divine service in the same monastery together with Patriarch Tikhon and delivered a bright speech directed against the Renovationists, which quite excited the latter. Thus, Krasnitsky, in his letter to the GPU dated July 9, wrote: “I earnestly ask you to pay attention to the extremely provocative, counter-revolutionary activities of Tikhonov’s essence (as in the text - D.S.) Hilarion, on 6/VII, preaching in the Sretensky Monastery, he delivered such a pogrom speech... in the crowd, in the fence and on the street, physical interpretations were made and the matter ended with arrests. Over the past 10 days, Tikhon’s followers have become extremely insolent, they behave defiantly and are ready to move on to beatings - and this mood, definitely pogrom and clearly anti-Soviet, is created by him, Bishop Hilarion. If a limit is not put on his clearly counter-revolutionary activities, then social unrest and the beating of renovationist churchmen will be inevitable.” 12 According to information from the reports of the same GPU agents, the service on July 6 was performed according to the Easter rite; it began at 10.00 and ended only at 18.00. The service was performed not only in the church, but also in the courtyard, because the church could not accommodate everyone who came. Filming was carried out during the service. During his sermon, Saint Tikhon called the former “owners” of the Antoninov monastery “impostors.” The Patriarch asked the people what Church they were for. “For the old one! Down with the Antonov impostors!” - was the answer. It is also reported that during the service some “comrades” in hats tried to enter the church, “but then the public began to whisper: “communist,” and there were cases that the hats were thrown off the heads of those passing by.” The reports say that men, women and teenagers were present during the service; many could not enter the church, “due to this, crowds stood in the monastery garden near the church. Another priest was officiating in the garden.” During the Liturgy, the deacon remembered Patriarch Tikhon and sang many years to him. Before Communion of the laity, Saint Hilarion delivered a sermon, which was dedicated to the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God and the schism in the Church. The saint spoke about the gracelessness of the schism and called the schismatics to repentance. During the saint’s sermon there were shouts from the crowd “we stand for the old Church!” Many were crying. After the Liturgy, Patriarch Tikhon delivered a sermon, but, according to eyewitnesses, he spoke about the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. After this, the Patriarch left the church and began to bless the people, this happened for three hours in a row. 13 After this, “almost in their arms the crowd carried him to Lubyanka, where he got into a cab waiting for him and drove towards Lubyanka Square.” It was on July 6, 1923 that the Patriarch announced the elevation of Bishop Hilarion to the rank of archbishop. It is also necessary to point out the erroneous opinion of Rev. V.P. Vinogradov, 14 who, in his memoirs about Patriarch Tikhon, points out that Saint Hilarion was only a bishop and was never consecrated archbishop: “At the time of his last arrest, in the fall of 1923, His Grace Hilarion was undoubtedly only a bishop.” 15 This opinion is refuted by many sources, primarily the materials of the investigative case of Archbishop Hilarion, where during interrogations and arrest in the fall of 1923 he was named archbishop in the arrestee’s questionnaire, the decision to bring him to justice, the arrest warrant, in addition, he was named archbishop in his joint with Archbishop Seraphim (Alexandrov) and Archbishop Tikhon (Obolensky) letter to the renovationist Evdokim (Meshcheryakov), in Tuchkov’s reports, and in the petition for his release, which was written by Patriarch Tikhon, as well as in a number of other documents. In all documents before July 6, 1923, the saint is called a bishop. Also on this day, Patriarch Tikhon announced that Archbishop Hilarion was appointed vicar of the Sretensky Monastery, in which the Lord destined for his holy relics to reside. And today each of us can, just like 80 years ago, on July 5, 1923, during the consecration of the church of the Sretensky Monastery by the saint, receive consecration from St. Hilarion. Therefore, hundreds and thousands of believers come to the Sretensky monastery every day to venerate and venerate the holy relics of the hieromartyr. CA FSB D. R-43193 T.1. L.9. GARF F.1235. Op.97. D.54a. L.38–39. Published: Domestic archives. 1993. No. 6. pp.53–54. Kremlin archives. In 2 books. / Book 1. Politburo and the Church 1922–1925 M.-Novosibirsk, ROSSPEN, Siberian Chronograph, 1997 T.1. pp. 115–116. (Hereinafter referred to as the Kremlin Archives). RGASPI. F.5. Op.2. D.48. L.10. Published: Kremlin Archives. T.2. P.51. RGASPI F.2. Op.1. D.22947. L.1–4. Published: Kremlin Archives. T.1. pp. 142–143. Kremlin Archives T.1. pp. 151–152. CA FSB D. R-43193 T.1. L. 76ob. CA FSB D. R-43193. T.2. L.114. Vinogradov Vasily Petrovich, protopresbyter. (03.23.1885–10.24.1968) Professor of the MDA, in 1922 he was ordained a priest by Patriarch Tikhon, 1918–1924 - member and chairman of the Diocesan Council in Moscow. Vinogradov V.P. prot. About some of the most important moments of the last period of the life and work of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon // Church Historical Bulletin. 1998. No. 1. P.10.