Review of the third volume of “Chronicles of the life and works of St. Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky” (Book 2)

Annotation. The second book of the third volume, “Chronicles of the life and works of St. Theophan, the recluse of Vyshensky,” is dedicated to the service of St. Theophan the Recluse on the Vladimir land from the beginning of January 1865 to the end of July 1866, when Bishop Theophan’s service at the Vladimir see ended and his retirement took place in the Vyshensky monastery. The article provides an overview of the preaching, administrative, and pastoral activities of St. Theophan during the period under review. It speaks of his correspondence with Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) in connection with the discussion of the two saints about the nature of angels, as well as the correspondence of Saint Theophan with other persons on various issues. The second book of the third volume of the “Chronicles...” is dedicated to the service of St. Theophan the Recluse on the Vladimir land from the beginning of January 1865 to the end of July 1866, when Bishop Theophan’s service at the Vladimir See ended and his farewell to the Vladimir flock took place and he was sent to retire to the Vyshensky Monastery he had chosen. The second book of the third volume of the “Chronicles...” includes a name index for both parts of the third volume of the “Chronicles...”, therefore their study should be comprehensive and considered together as one whole study. This is evidenced by the preface common to both volumes at the beginning of the first book of the third volume of “Chronicles...”, which analyzes both parts of the book together, covering the entire period of Bishop Theophan’s service at the Vladimir See. In terms of the number of sources used, the second book of the third volume contains the same bibliography, represented by nine archives and four periodicals, the only difference is one addition to the bibliography for the second book of the third volume in the section individual publications, supplemented by the book by A.V. Popov. "Orthodox Russian Akathists." M., 2013. In terms of the number of pages, the second part of the third volume of “Chronicles...” turned out to be more voluminous than the first, and has 800 pages. At the very beginning of the second book of volume 3 of the “Chronicles...” dated January 1, 1865, there is information that the journal “Vladimir Diocesan Gazette”, under the heading “Order of the Diocesan Authorities,” published “Instructions for preaching the word of God” [1, p. 3–11], which Bishop Theophan approved by resolution on November 27, 1864. Which suggests that Bishop Theophan attached very important importance to preaching among the clergy and took care that preaching everywhere was regular and contained the fundamentals of Orthodox doctrine. This instruction stated that instructions to the flock are taught in two ways: catechetical teachings and ordinary preaching [8, p. 7]. Catechetical teachings should be delivered at the All-Night Vigil in cathedral city churches, where the general program is predominantly the Long Christian Catechism of St. Philaret (Drozdov), and the works of St. John Chrysostom and Tikhon of Zadonsk. Such teachings should be taught in free form in the form of reflections, conversations, stories, etc. When compiling them, first of all, you need to pay attention to the literal meaning of the Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the commandments, so that every word of them is thoroughly explained. If it is not possible to compose your own teachings, then you can read ready-made catechetical teachings [8, p. 8–9]. As for the ordinary sermon, it must be preached every Sunday and on every significant church holiday by every parish priest. If necessary, especially for a rural priest, he can use ready-made printed sermons, expound the history of holidays and the lives of saints according to synaxarions, prologues, and the Four Menaions, explain everyday home prayers and read the daily Gospels to parishioners in Russian with a brief indication of the content and explanation. The main task for a rural parish priest is to delve into the spiritual needs of his parishioners, to eradicate their various vices and bad habits [8, p. 10]. The priest in the work of preaching can also be assisted by deacons and rural teachers who have completed a seminary course, both by composing their own sermons and by reading ready-made teachings with the consent of the priest [8, p. 11]. For successful preaching, a special Censorship Committee was established at the spiritual consistory, whose responsibilities included appointing catechists and reviewing their teachings and sermons, and monitoring their inappropriate utterance. At the end of the year, this committee was supposed to report on the work done and provide a list of the most distinguished preachers to the diocesan authorities [8, p. 12]. On February 11, 1865, a school for girls of clergy was opened in the city of Vladimir and the school church was consecrated by Bishop Feofan in honor of the Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos. In his speech for the consecration of this church, Bishop Theophan, addressing the future pupils, urged them to resort to the Mother of God, to whom this church is dedicated, like children, with love, and She will help in everything [8, p. 76–77]. The head of this school was Alexandra Ilyinichna Berezovskaya, a former lady-in-waiting of Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna, under the cover of her “outward grandeur and courtly bearing hid a simple, loving and kind mother’s heart. This maternal love guided her educational activities” [8, p. 80]. This school was designed for 40 unpaid students from the Vladimir Theological Seminary; professors Nikolai Ivanovich Florinsky and Mikhail Ivanovich Kheraskov took over the training of the girls free of charge [2, p. 288]. On July 12, 1865, Bishop Feofan conducted the first exam at this school, the results of which he was very pleased with [8, p. 319–322]. The “Chronicle...” for 1865 reports on the spread of several types of sects on the territory of the Vladimir diocese, for example, the Khlysty sect in the Penkinsky volost, where the main sectarian of the Khlysty was a resident of the village of Lubenkino, a temporary peasant woman Akulina Timofeeva, called the Mother of God. This sect profited from gullible peasants through various kinds of offerings on their part and preached “carnal love and disrespect for the sacrament of Marriage...” [8, p. 127]. This sect especially spread in the village of Klyushnikov, Kovrov district, and the village of Michurine in Sudogodsky district, where one of the Khlysty was called Apostle Peter by his followers [8, p. 128]. Bishop Theophan, in the fight against this sect, in his resolution decided that since the Khlys belong to the savage sects, their followers spreading this teaching must be taken into custody and removed from their place of residence [8, p. 136]. The “Chronicle” on Easter on April 4, 1865 contains information that the Vladimir Theological Seminary celebrated the 100th anniversary of the death of M.V. Lomonosov. This holiday symbolized “the consciousness of kinship with a great national figure and at the same time a true son of the Holy Church” [8, p. 161]. At this celebration, it was recalled that Lomonosov had a natural deep memory, memorized the first time and thoroughly retold to others the lives of the saints, and knew by heart the psalter in the verses of Simeon of Polotsk [8, p. 161–162]. Referring to the “Order of the diocesan authorities” dated April 15, 1865, published in the “Vladimir Diocesan Gazette”, the “Chronicle” brings to us information about the project for the widespread opening of schools in rural parishes [3, p. 418]. The “Chronicle” also contains correspondence between Saint Theophan the Recluse and Ignatius Brianchaninov, where on May 29, 1865, in a letter to Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov), Bishop Theophan pointed out the fallacy of his teaching about the materiality of the soul, arguing that it is ethereal, and allowed two points of view on this issue, that the soul is either purely spiritual, or has a light shell with which it is not is separated, the angels have the same shell [8, p. 235–236]. In a response letter dated June 7, 1865, Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov), regarding the doctrine of the nature of the soul and angels, wrote that the word “ether” from the point of view of chemistry means the finest indefinite matter, completely different from gases. Its existence is recognized due to the fact that any space, including beyond the earth’s atmosphere, cannot be alien to matter. Only one God can be immaterial, like an unencompassable space. Therefore, the disembodiment of spirits is relative only in relation to us. Here he notes the misconception of the philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes, who taught about the independence of spirits from space and time [8, p. 256–257]. From the magazine “Vladimir Diocesan Gazette” for June 1865 [4, p. 652–654] in the “Chronicle” provides information about the contribution of the Epiphany Orthodox Brotherhood in helping “Orthodox victims of fire and bestial deaths... as well as aid to a public school with a library attached to it and poor widows and orphans, of whom in the past many turned to schismatics, often betraying their faith...” [8, p. 275]. And also from there statistics are given that the total number of members of the Epiphany Brotherhood at that time numbered 63 members, of which 11 members were from the clergy, 12 members from the nobles, the rest from the peasants [8, p. 275–276]. In 1865, the charter of the Mstera Orthodox Brotherhood was published in the journal “Vladimir Provincial Gazette”; the diocesan bishop was included among its honorary trustees as “an observer and leader of the progress of the brotherhood’s affairs, its mover and mediator before the authorities” [5, p. 75] and the head of the province [8. c. 447]. On August 7, 1865, Bishop Theophan transferred to the censorship committee “for guidance” the decree of the Holy Synod of July 29, 1865 on spiritual censorship. As an illustrative example of what is unacceptable for publication, the Chronicle describes how an article entitled “The Spiritual Sword to Defeat the Schismatic Apology, Op. Abbot Parthenius" [9]. In this article there was a text attributed to the Orthodox by schismatics without its refutation, where in particular it was written that in Orthodoxy “the head of the Church is the Emperor of All Russia”, that “bishops are elected not monks, but scholars who do not fulfill monastic vows, and priests are not men known for pious life, but young boys”, contradicting the basic church rules, which could not be left without additional explanation, that these are false judgments [8, p. 361–362]. August 15, 1865 in the Vladimir Diocesan Gazette [6, p. 976–977] a decree of the diocesan authorities was published on the opening of parish libraries with the aim of increasing the level of education of priests in parishes necessary for catechetical teachings and sermons and introducing them to modern spiritual literature [8, p. 415]. On March 12, 1866, the Chronicle reports that Bishop Theophan submitted a petition to the Holy Synod to retire to the Vyshensky Monastery so that he could manage this monastery and have all the support from it, noting that this desire did not leave him throughout his entire 25-year church service [8, p. 611]. On June 22, 1866, the Holy Synod issued an order addressed to Bishop Theophan, which reported an imperial decree allowing him to retire to the Vyshensky Monastery with the right to manage it [8, p. 700]. On this occasion, in his letter to I.G. Bishop Feofan wrote to Pereverzev that he was very pleased that he had finally thrown off a heavy burden and would retire to Vysha, which he had long loved. At the same time, he posed the question whether the abbot of the Vyshensky Monastery, Abbot Arkady (Chestonov), who would now go from abbot to subordinate again, would be happy with his arrival, and that if Abbot Arkady wanted to be given another monastery in the Tambov or another diocese as abbot, then St. Theophan would bother about it [8, p. 699–700]. Since Bishop Theophan was entitled to support from this monastery, the Synod initially did not assign him a pension, and on July 6, 1866, he again appealed to the Synod to grant him a pension, citing the fact that the monastery he had chosen, due to its meager means, would not be able to provide him with sufficient support [8, p. 710, 717]. On January 23, 1866, Bishop Feofan took part in the opening of a 2nd class girls’ school in Vladimir, which enrolled 12 girls. After the exam on January 24, 9 of them were accepted into the preparatory class, in which the subjects taught were the Law of God, reading, writing, arithmetic, and handicrafts. The remaining three students were accepted into the first grade, in which the subjects taught included: the Law of God, the Russian language, calligraphy and handicrafts [8, p. 558–559]. On February 2, 1866, Bishop Theophan consecrated the Cross Church of the Nativity Church at the bishop's house, and the next day - February 3, 1866 after the consecration of the Nativity Church at the bishop's house, its boundary was consecrated in honor of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God [8, p. 563–566]. Interesting in the Chronicle is the correspondence between Bishop Theophan and the educated peasant of the village of Nepotyagovo, Suzdal district, Job Ivanovich Shumov, to whom Saint Theophan, in response to the excuses of those peasants who do not want to teach their children to read and write, replied that literacy is needed in any case, so that everyone has the opportunity to read the Gospel, the lives of saints and other edifying literature, so that in their free time they do not be idle and read both themselves and their young children, therefore literacy is needed both for upbringing and education, for life, regardless of marital status, discarding various popular superstitions [8, p. 535–537]. Job Ivanovich Shumov was known not only as a correspondent of Bishop Theophan, who taught peasant children to read and write, but also as the compiler of an akathist to the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessaloniki, whose manuscript was handed over to Bishop Theophan on April 11, 1866 for consideration, which he approved, correcting some errors in the text made by the copyist. However, subsequently this edition of the akathist was not approved by the censorship of the Holy Synod [10, p. 251]. The choice of why Job Ivanovich Shumov decided to compose an akathist for the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessaloniki was due to the fact that from an early age he sang in the choir of the church in honor of this saint [7, p. 201]. On July 4, 1866, the Chronicle contains information about the approval by Bishop Feofan of the decision of the seminary board, according to which a pedagogy class was opened at the Vladimir Theological Seminary from the new 1866/1867 academic year and the teaching of medicine, agriculture and natural history was abolished. A professor of church history, priest Mikhail Kheraskov, was appointed teacher of pedagogy, and in order for him to better understand and study the new subject, he was relieved of teaching general and Russian church history [8, p. 713–714]. In order to practically familiarize students with pedagogical techniques, on September 1, 1866, it was decided to open a Sunday school at the Vladimir Theological Seminary, so that the students of the seminary, under the guidance of a pedagogical mentor, could teach the children coming there. Due to the lack of a specially designated room for this purpose, the first class of the lower department of the Vladimir Theological Seminary was chosen as the place for such classes [8, p. 714–715]. As a result of the assassination attempt on Emperor Alexander II on April 4, 1866, the Chronicle reports the establishment of a scholarship, named April 4, at the expense of the Vladimir clergy for the education of an orphan of maidens of clergy rank in gratitude for deliverance from the death of the emperor [8, p. 630–632]. On July 24, 1866, the “Chronicle” describes Bishop Feofan’s farewell to the Vladimir flock during his service in the Assumption Cathedral, where they delivered a farewell sermon [8, p. 733]. Although after this, at the request of the cathedral clergy, Bishop Theophan served another Liturgy on July 27 in the Assumption Cathedral, after that the Vladimir clergy came to say goodbye to him in his chambers, and on his behalf Archpriest delivered a farewell speech. Fedor Mikhailovich Nadezhdin [8, p. 737–739]. On July 28, after Bishop Theophan performed a prayer service in the Church of the Nativity of Christ in the bishop's house, having given his last blessing to the praying people, he left Vladimir for his chosen monastery to retire in the Vyshensky Monastery [8, p. 739–740]. 1. Vladimir Diocesan Gazette. 1865. No. 1. January 1. Unofficial 2. Vladimir Diocesan Gazette. 1865. No. 5. March 1. Unofficial 3. Vladimir Diocesan Gazette. 1865. No. 8. April 15. Official 4. Vladimir Diocesan Gazette. 1865. No. 12. June 15. Official 5. Vladimir Provincial Gazette. 1865. No. 13. March 27. Unofficial 6. Vladimir Diocesan Gazette. 1865. No. 18. 15 September. Official 96 7. Chronicle of the life and works of St. Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky. 1815–1894: In 6 vols. T. III: 1863–1866. Book 1:1863–1864. M.: Publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2021. 8. Chronicle of the life and works of St. Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky. 1815–1894: In 6 vols. T. III: 1863–1866. Book 2:1865–1866. M. Publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2022. 9. The spiritual sword to defeat the schismatic apology / Op. Spaso-Preobrazhensky Guslitsky Monastery of Abbot Parthenius. M.: Type. Glushkova, 1864. 10. Popov A.V. Orthodox Russian akathists. M. 2013.