Master's Colloquium

See also: Chetiy-Minea of ​​St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov, as a church-historical and literary monument of Archpriest. Alexander Derzhavin To the defense of the master's thesis of Archpriest A.M. Derzhavin "Cheti-Minea St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov, as a church-historical and literary monument" At a meeting of the Council of the Moscow Theological Academy on March 4 of this year, a colloquium was held, at which, in the presence of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy and His Eminence Nicholas, Metropolitan of Krutitsky and Kolomna, Rev. A.M. Derzhavin defended his master's thesis. His work: “Cheti-Minea” of St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov, as a church-historical and literary monument” represents the work of many years of research in the field of domestic hagiographic literature. After the academy inspector prof. N.P. Doktusov reported biographical information about the dissertation candidate to Archpriest Λ. M. Derzhavin was given an opening speech. In his introductory speech, the dissertation author said that St. Dimitry Rostovsky satisfied our need for domestic “Chetiykh-Mineas”. He completed the grandiose work that Peter Mogila had already cared about, and considered the compilation of the Chetiy-Menaion as an obedience handed to him by the Church. In the struggle for the preservation of Orthodoxy and their nationality, Ukrainians and Russians had glorious spiritual weapons in the creation of Demetrius of Rostov. At present, when the Soviet people are preparing to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the reunification of Ukraine with Russia, it is necessary to remember the services to the Motherland of St. Demetrius of Rostov, as one of the figures deeply devoted to the idea of ​​fraternal unity of two great nations. With love, the Saint describes the feats of piety of Ukrainian and Russian ascetics and thereby teaches us to look at Russians and Ukrainians as members of a single family that has common heavenly patrons. The dissertation author's scientific work is divided into two parts. The first part provides information from the history of the composition of St. Demetrius “Chetikh-Minei”, the second is devoted to the consideration of the work of the Saint as a literary monument of the end of the 17th century. The author carefully researched and independently resolved the issue of sources for the compilation of “Cheti-Minea”. Polish scientists Franko and Pachowski tried to prove that St. Demetrius in most of the “Chetiykh-Menai” used the “belly of the saints” of the Catholic Peter Skarga. The dissertation author refuted the arguments of the mentioned scientists with a number of obvious facts. He says that in his work the Saint made extensive use of Western European and Slavic, mainly South Russian, hagiographic literature. However, in his characteristics, in his coverage of facts and in his ideological orientation, he remained an original Russian Orthodox writer. That is why the “Cheti-Minea” of St. Demetrius became the favorite book of the Russian Orthodox people, meeting their church, religious and national needs, nurturing in them a deep patriotic consciousness. In the last chapter of the work, the author characterizes St. Demetrius of Rostov, as a hagiographer, clarifies the basic idea of ​​the entire creation and points to the personal qualities of the Saint. Reviewers – prof. I.N. Shabatin and Assoc. N.I. Muravyov - at the conclusion of a detailed analysis of the dissertation, recognized it as a major contribution to Russian hagiographic literature. By closed vote, the Academy Council unanimously awarded Archpriest A.M. Derzhavin's master's degree in theology. His Holiness the Patriarch congratulated Archpriest L.M. Derzhavin, conferring a high academic degree and, presenting him with a master's badge, said that the dissertation candidate's many years of work on studying the creations, personality and exploits of St. Demetrius of Rostov can serve as an example of how one can combine pastoral activity with theological studies, and wished the dissertation author many years of life to continue pastoral and theological works. In the last word, Rev. A.M. Derzhavin expressed his deepest gratitude to His Holiness the Patriarch and the Council of the Moscow Theological Academy for their condescending attitude towards his modest work.