Vasily Vasilyevich Bolotov is an Orthodox scientist and person. To the 150th anniversary of his birth

To the 150th anniversary of his birth 2004 marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of the most prominent Russian church historian, professor of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Vasily Vasilyevich Bolotov. In a retrospective of an entire century of Russian history, filled with tragedy and sometimes hopelessness, in the personality of V.V. Bolotov’s work reveals with particular expressiveness an ideal type of man and scientist that has gone into the past, but, in a certain sense, remains for history. The features of both, as far as they can be restored from the not very extensive, but all the more valuable evidence of contemporaries, will be the subject of our respectful attention. Vasily Vasilyevich Bolotov was born in the village. Kravotyn, Tver province, Ostashkovsky district, on the shore of Lake Seliger. Bolotov himself clarified that although he was recorded on January 1, 1854, he was actually “born during the time when vespers are being served in the Nilsvo Hermitage...December 31, 1853.” As for his last name, Vasily Vasilyevich himself in one of his letters makes an interesting remark, imbued with a bit of his characteristic irony: “Above I wrote my last name twice with an emphasis: Bolotov. In Ostashkov and Tver I was a real Bolotov. But here / in St. Petersburg / almost everyone pronounces my last name in a noble way, distorted: Bolotov. I had to get used to responding to such a nickname.” 1 Bolotov's father is Vasily Timofeevich, deacon of the Trinity Cathedral in the city of Ostashkov, who, after the death of his wife, entered into a second marriage with the daughter of the late priest of the village. Kravotyni Marya Ivanovna Vishnyakova, - even before the birth of Vasily Vasilyevich, on November 16, 1853, at the age of 45, drowned in about. Seliger, driving domestic geese across the weak autumn ice. After the death of her husband, Marya Ivanovna immediately moved from Ostashkov to Kravotyn, to the house of her mother Anna Stefanovna. This is where V.V. was born and raised. Bolotov, being in the care of his mother and grandmother. Already at an early age (4-6 years old) he was not like his peers. “I don’t remember an occasion,” recalls one of Bolotov’s childhood friends, who happened to live with their family for about 2 years, “that he was capricious in some way, annoyed me in some way, did something mischievous, and in general allowed himself such pranks that, although characteristic of childhood, are sometimes not particularly pleasant for those around him. What especially struck me in the Bolotov family was a kind of patriarchal simplicity and an ever-present religious mood. Never in their small house was there any idle, inappropriate talk, no backbiting, gossip, condemnation or ridicule of others. Nevertheless, even the slightest discord in mutual relations could be noticed between them; the spirit of peace and mutual love constantly hovered among them. Both mother and grandmother doted on little Vasya; they protected his every step and carefully monitored his health. But even more remarkable is their good effect on the soul of the beloved boy. Every day, morning and evening, Marya Ivanovna lovingly placed Vasya Bolotov in front of the holy icons and prayed with him for a long time, forcing him to read prayers he had memorized or learn new ones in front of the icons. Prayers before lunch and dinner were also performed very strictly. Omitting church services was considered a great sin, and exceptions were made only due to illness and other unexpected obstacles. The fasts were observed to such an extent that even little Vasya was not allowed to eat before the end of mass if there was a service. For such love and care of his mother and grandmother, Vasya Bolotov repaid them with the most ardent childhood affection. He tried to please them in everything, showed obedience in everything, stayed in most of their company, did not strive to go outside to play with his peers and did not have to see him do anything wrong before his mother or grandmother./.../ After the death of her husband, Marya Ivanovna was left without any means. But it was never noticeable that she became despondent, lost heart, grumbled about her fate, or resorted to begging. In everything she relied on the will of God and her own work. That’s why not a single day, not a single hour passed without work: Marya Ivanovna either prepares and bakes prosphora, then cuts and sews, then darns something for her Vasya, and always without a murmur, evenly, calmly” 2 . It should be noted that Vasya Bolotov also inherited this family trait of commitment to tireless work. Marya Ivanovna was also a rare woman in the sense that already in childhood she independently learned to read and write, had a remarkable memory and, thanks to this, was able to introduce her son to basic literacy at home. In 1863, as a nine-year-old boy, Vasya Bolotov entered the lower class of the Ostashkovsky Theological School. “When it was necessary to send her son to theological school, the mother lit a lamp and, with tears in her eyes, fervently prayed with prostrations to God for the gift of health, strength and wisdom to her son... Not having the means to rent a boat, she set off on foot to the Nilova Hermitage, 6 versts from the village to the west. In the Nile Desert, she asked the father of the archimandrite or the treasurer to bring his son to the city on a steamship or in a boat, along with the pilgrims” 3. During his stay at the school, V.V. Bolotov studied excellently in all subjects, surprising his mentors with his extraordinary memory, knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and the works of the Holy Fathers. A story has been preserved how, in response to a teacher’s question about what he did during the Easter holidays, Bolotov—then just a 10-year-old boy—answered: “I read a book.” - Which one? - Dispute between Justin the Philosopher and Tryphon the Jew. -What were they arguing about? – the teacher asked in surprise, – to which Bolotov completely calmly and seriously explained to him the contents of the book. At the age of fifteen, Vasily Vasilyevich completed his studies at the Ostashkovsky Theological School and received a “certificate”, which stated that he, Bolotov, “with excellent abilities, excellent diligence, zeal and excellent behavior” was certified “excellently well” in all subjects taken at the school, except for church singing, in which he studied “very well.” With this certificate, in September 1869, Bolotov entered the Tver Theological Seminary and, as an orphan, was accepted into government support at the then, as one of the biographers notes, “not entirely clean and tidy bursa.” The premises for students here “were dilapidated, damp and not warm enough and without warm corridors; the washroom was also cold. The seminary hospital was located in almost the same premises” 4. Thus, poverty was Vasily Vasilyevich’s companion in high school. Bolotov’s comrade at the Tver Seminary, M. Rubtsov, writes: “From our first acquaintance, we all saw in him an “all-knowing” student and immediately felt in him a comrade, with whom it would be very difficult to compete, and after a short time we were convinced that it was completely impossible. /.../ Without arguing or talking, we all unanimously recognized him as our first-born, and soon fell in love with him. In relation to us, his comrades, Vasily Vasilyevich was an irreplaceable and invaluable assistant and leader in all difficult student circumstances. There was no question, there was no task, there was not such a difficult translation from languages ​​that he would not explain, resolve and interpret with incomprehensible ease for us, who often needed his help” 5. Already in these seminary years, the integral, solid and deep character of V.B. is revealed. Bolotov, who, for all his seriousness and inner detachment from more or less ordinary (especially for young people) interests and hobbies, not only maintained evenly friendly relations with everyone, but sometimes also contributed to the resolution of everyday issues that were alien to him. The story of how young Bolotov, who had probably already chosen the path of a kind of asceticism in the world, looks almost curious, but, at the request of a friend, undertakes to choose his bride from three girls completely unfamiliar to him. Struck by the weight and sobriety of Bolotov’s recommendations, his comrade asks him: “Where did you, Vasya, learn the wisdom to communicate with young ladies? “From psychology,” answers Vasily Vasilyevich, from psychological books.” And, it should be noted, the groom, who acted on Bolotov’s advice, had no reason to complain about his friend’s choice. “Always even-tempered, always friendly, always ready to talk and tell something, never smoked or drank either wine or vodka, and at the same time was always among comrades who sometimes allowed themselves disapproving words and actions, dousing him with streams of tobacco smoke, Bolotov unwittingly won everyone over in his favor. He did not shy away from anyone, did not say a word of reproach or condemnation to anyone. Many, however, in his presence were embarrassed to do and say what in his absence they considered completely permissible” 6. It must be said that with many of his school friends V.V. Bolotov, already an eminent scientist, maintained a lively friendly relationship and, despite the enormous busyness and sophistication of his scientific interests, carried on more or less regular correspondence with some long-time acquaintances. With a clear awareness of the seriousness of his work and the weight of its results, Vasily Vasilyevich was absolutely free from vanity and any form of snobbery. Studying the subjects of the seminar course was obviously extremely easy for Vasily Vasilyevich. It was as if he never taught any lessons, although he always had a book with him everywhere, but not a textbook one. He read everything he could get his hands on in Tver. He already read Latin and Greek books fluently at the seminary. German was the first new language that Bolotov thoroughly studied at the seminary. At the seminary he began studying English. He passed French as an external student, without receiving any special lessons in it. At the same time, Vasily Vasilyevich began studying some eastern languages, for example, Syrian and Arabic. He advanced so much in his knowledge of Hebrew that in his fourth year of study he already used it in writing a semester-long essay on Biblical history. M.V. Rubtsov found it necessary to note that an extensive range of reading did not negatively affect the spiritual and moral guidelines of the future scientist: “Nothing bad touched his pure and bright soul. Varied reading only awakened thought, inspired it, sharpened talent, aroused the spirit of analysis and healthy criticism, in which, as it would later affect, Bolotov had almost no equal in Russian theological thought. What emerged from him, however, was not some one-sided denier, but a giant of thought who remained a deeply religious man, who by his very personality left us a covenant of an internal combination of knowledge and faith, a covenant of free scientific research in the field of church history with full attention and obedience to the universal Orthodox Tradition” 7 . One of the seminary teachers, having in mind Bolotov’s extraordinary abilities, used to say that he should be enrolled first, and then, having skipped about seventy numbers, the second student should be appointed. Another teacher, who knew his subject very well, said that when explaining a lesson in class, “no, no, and you’ll see if Bolotov winces.” Such was the intellectual and moral character of Vasily Vasilyevich during his studies at the Tver Seminary. The decision to enter the Theological Academy at the end of the course was made by Bolotov quite independently and responsibly, even contrary to the advice of some comrades to enter one of the universities. The choice of the St. Petersburg Academy was also not accidental, although it would have been more pleasant for the rector and inspector of the seminary, graduates of the Moscow Academy, if he had chosen Moscow. Concentration V.V. Bolotova’s work on certain scientific interests at the Theological Academy received an even more exceptional character than ever before. He hardly read newspapers, he read few thick society magazines - selectively and mostly during the holidays. Having enrolled in the church history department, he chose Latin to study from ancient languages, and English from new ones. Compared to the seminary, his studies in oriental languages ​​were also expanded. Bolotov’s acquaintance with the Armenian, Georgian, Turkish and Magyar languages ​​almost dates back to this time. Metrology also attracted his attention. The breadth of erudition, however, will never become a reason for superficiality, but will always be subordinated to one task, concentrated in one focus. “It was enough,” according to his famous contemporary V.S. Solovyov, - to see Bolotov two or three times and talk with him in order to recognize him as a person who was completely devoted to one service. Church historical science - with all its related fields of knowledge - outside of this, nothing had any interest or significance for him. As a deeply religious man of strictly Christian convictions, he found in church history a real living environment for everything truly important...” 8. The topic of the candidate’s essay, later developed for the master’s thesis, became for Bolotov “Origen’s Doctrine of the Holy Trinity.” Clarifying the place and features of Origen’s subordinationism, both in the context of the pre-Nicene triadology and in the light of the Orthodox Nicene doctrine, was a task that was both extremely important and very difficult. To confirm how successfully this problem was solved by Vasily Vasilyevich, it is enough to point out that prof. I.E. Troitsky recognized his dissertation as a doctoral one. And according to the response of V.S. Solovyov, in it “Bolotov excellently explains and fairly evaluates the features of Origen’s subordinationism.” The consequence of research in this area of ​​Christian gnosis should have been the breadth and at the same time sensitivity of theological intuition that V.V. Bolotov was later revealed both in his lectures on the history of the Ecumenical Councils, and in his concrete participation in the discussion, and sometimes in real agreements on issues of Orthodox Christology and triadology. To the department of ancient church history, which unexpectedly opened with the death of prof. I.V. Cheltsova March 5, 1878, V.V. Bolotov was appointed by the Academy Council almost a year and a half before the end of his academic course. He himself did not at all expect to occupy any department at the academy and assumed that the place of the late I.V. Cheltsov would be taken by either A.I. Sadov or the brother of the deceased, M.V. Cheltsov, who was already writing his master’s thesis. But in a presentation to the Council dated June 10, reported to the Council already on September 1, 1878, the church history department reported that it “has in mind a candidate who is quite worthy of this department, but, unfortunately, can occupy it no earlier than next year” and therefore asked the Council to postpone the replacement of the department in order to then pass into the hands of “a teacher who shows the most gratifying hopes.” A positive response to this petition followed in the decree of the Synod on October 2. Having taken the chair of ancient church history, V.V. Bolotov appeared, according to A.I. Brilliantov, “an ideal representative of his science both as a teacher and as a scientific researcher, fully combining in himself those qualities that are desirable in a church historian.” First of all, as Bolotov himself writes, “when my appointment to the department took place... I gave myself a word that I keep unbreakably... A lot is written about church history, to the point of disgrace. It is physically impossible to read everything written. Some books and articles are not available because they are expensive. But - I decided - it will not be that, in apology to myself, I refer to the fact that both the book, important for science and inaccessible (to me), is written in a language incomprehensible to me. According to this principle, I recognized the languages ​​of the primary sources of ancient church history as obligatory for myself...” 9 . In full accordance with the above principle, to the question: “how many languages ​​does he know,” Bolotov could answer that “he generally knows those languages ​​that are needed when studying ancient church history.” Moreover, the study of languages ​​was always combined for him with a broad knowledge of historical facts and cultural connections, and was always a means of insight into the inner life, culture and history of the people. Extensive linguistic knowledge of V.V. Bolotov were coupled with a remarkable inclination and ability to study mathematics. Thanks to this, in particular, he became an incomparable specialist in the difficult field of chronological research. At the same time, following the highest possible criterion of accuracy in historical research, Bolotov also had the gift of a living, in a certain sense, artistic reproduction of the reality of the historical past. “Extraordinary scholarship in a rare union with eloquence and humor made an irresistible impression” 10. Devoting himself entirely to science, Bolotov wanted to be a research scientist in the strictest sense of the word and completely rejected the tasks of a popularizer. “While I was very young,” he said, “he did not dare to refuse the instructions of his “elders” and wrote several articles in “Christian Reading” and “Church Bulletin”; but then I decided to write from now on no other way than at my own discretion, i.e. in each article give something novum, i.e. or a new position, or a new justification for the old one, and for this purpose: a) either not to write at all about what others wrote, or b) to write against these others, at least correcting and supplementing them” 11. It should be noted that the refusal to popularize was precisely a volitional decision for Bolotov, associated with the high demands on scientific publications; while speaking as a lecturer, he inevitably had to take care of being intelligible to his audience and was brilliant in achieving this. Oriental studies by V.V. Bolotov, which began with articles on the church history of Egypt, extended both in breadth and depth. His studies of Ethiopian theology, “the intricacies of which hardly anyone except Vasily Vasilyevich could handle,” were highly appreciated by B.A. Turaev, one of whose works, “The Book of Hours of the Ethiopian Church,” Bolotov gave his review. In general, according to Turaev, V.V. Bolotov left “major works on the church history of three Eastern Christian peoples: Copts, Abyssinians and Syrians and, thus, worked in three areas of Oriental studies: Hamitic, Semitic and Iranian” 12. The extensive knowledge that made V.V. Bolotov, the only expert on many issues, was called from his office seclusion into the field of church and public activities. In particular, as is widely known, he had to take an active part in our relations with the Syro-Chaldean Church, whose Urmia diocese had long been looking for rapprochement with Orthodoxy, which was finally achieved on the day of the Annunciation in 1898. “V.V. Bolotov, notes Turaev, was a translator, an expert, a scientific secretary, and even a liturgist and choir director in this matter. All the official Syro-Chaldean documents passed through his hands... it was not without his influence that the very order of annexation was drawn up” 13 . In 1898 V.V. Bolotov also spoke in print on the issue of the relationship of Eastern Orthodox theology to the theology of the Catholic West. His work “Theses on the Filioque” was the result of the author’s studies in the Commission to clarify the conditions for the reunification of Old Catholics with the Russian Church. No matter how one treats the conclusions of this work, after it it is no longer possible not to take into account both Bolotov’s distinction between dogma, theologumena and private theological opinion, and his conviction that the true cause of the division of Christianity was the papacy, this, according to Bolotov, “the old hereditary enemy of the Catholic Church, which, however, can only cease to exist when the last enemy is abolished - death.” B.A. Turaev notes that Bolotov’s courtesy and responsiveness to everything related to science and the church was directly abused... Theologians, historians, philologists, orientalists, tourists, and even popularizers turned to him. And he received everyone, talked to everyone, answered everyone’s requests not with a brief certificate, but with long letters, often containing entire studies. Finally, at the very last moment, before his death, V.V. Bolotov had to participate as a representative from the Church in the calendar reform commission. His views on the Gregorian calendar were consistently negative. He calls him “crippled” and, in one place, dating the proclamation of the dogma of papal infallibility (or inerrancy), ironically remarks: “of course, in the Gregorian style, because this charming calendar is quite worthy of dating a document of such a nature as the constitutio "Pastor aeternus". The audience was stunned by Bolotov’s speech at the Commission. “It was hard to believe,” said an eyewitness, “that human memory is able to preserve such a mass of learning and lay it out with crystal clarity at the first request” 14. Despite all his learning and his enormous scientific merits, Vasily Vasilyevich had a very modest opinion about them: although he did not suffer from self-abasement, rather than pride, he did not seek fame, honors, or academic degrees. “And what could I add,” writes Bolotov’s friend, prof. P.I. Zhukovich, – a doctorate to his academic glory? And without this degree, for a long time now, both for the academy and for all scientific circles, he was like a born doctor! But the doctorate itself seemed to be diminished by the fact that Bolotov did not have it...” And according to the proposal of I.E. Troitsky, “expressing the common opinion and desire of all members of the Council,” the doctorate was awarded to Bolotov in 1896 15. In addition to the colossal load that V.V. bore. Bolotov in the field of scientific teaching, he did not refuse any other (often routine) work when it related to academic life or was entrusted by the highest church authorities, and he was unusually conscientious about the wide range of duties of an academic mentor. Whether the matter concerned the administrative, legal, church-public or educational-pedagogical aspects, Vasily Vasilyevich was an experienced owner everywhere. Moreover, all of Bolotov’s works, whether it was about methods of calculating points or about actual scientific research, were always decorated with the originality of thought and execution characteristic of his extraordinary personality 16 . It is impossible not to say at least a few words separately about some manifestations of the moral and religious character of V.V. Bolotova. It seems that one of the signs that significantly determines this appearance is the living, organic – blood and spiritual at the same time – connection of the great scientist with his small homeland (the village of Kravotyn), about which he even wrote a scientific article. We have already had occasion to draw attention to the fact that Vasily Vasilyevich, as far as possible, maintained contact with many of the comrades of his youth until the end of his life. When meeting with peasants, on his regular summer visits to Kravotyn, he always greeted them warmly, and sometimes stopped and talked, excluding women, with whom he generally avoided communication. He came to his native village to visit his mother, who died ten months before his own death. He regularly exchanged messages with her, informing his mother about his academic affairs and showing cordial concern for her. “With “sweet” and “dear mummy,” recalls one of Bolotov’s friends, who met him during his summer visits to Kravotyn, “Vasily Vasilyevich attended every service, on Sundays and holidays, in his rural church of the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Bolotov himself did not like to sing, and in church he stood either in the altar or on the left choir when there were no singers, or in a distant corner of the church. In addition, he annually participated in the procession of the cross, which took place on July 12 from the village church to the chapel of the Three-Handed One, located 3 versts from the village, halfway to the Nilo-Stolbensk hermitage (up to 5,000 pilgrims gathered here)” 17. Vasily Vasilyevich also had a long-standing custom, before going to school, and then to serve at the academy, to visit the Nilova Hermitage with the Mother of God to venerate the relics of St. Nile, a saint of the 16th century, who himself came from some village of the Zhabensky churchyard, which, among the five, included Bolotovskaya Kravotyn 18. “Here,” says M.V. Rubtsov, - they left the village early in order to be in time for the start of the late liturgy. Despite the length of the service (matins - from 4 to 6 hours, mass - 3, 4 hours, vespers - 2, 3 hours), Vasily Vasilyevich stood through the entire liturgy and listened to the prayer service of St. Neil, after which he went, as a student and then as a professor at the Academy, to the rector, Father Archimandrite Arseny, to receive a blessing and conversation. The spiritual life of Archimandrite Arseny, distinguished by work, patience, prayer, fasting and the distribution of mercy, could not but influence the soul of Vasily Vasilyevich, who knew him from childhood and received his blessing at every meeting” 19. It is interesting to note that Archimandrite Arseny as a child was dismissed from the 1st grade of the Ostashkovsky school due to poor success. However, he entered the Nilov Hermitage as a novice, went through all the obediences and monastic orders, and attracted the attention (with his love of solitude, prayer and worship) of Archbishop Philotheus, who appointed him abbot of the Nilo-Stolbensky Hermitage from 1871 to 1898. Thus, in the relationship between V.V. Bolotov and Archimandrite Arseny, we see living evidence of the deep understanding of Orthodox learning and Orthodox spirituality - a understanding that lies, of course, in the area of ​​living faith, the faith of the Church, which gathers both the “simple” and the scientist with a single calling: “Forgive Wisdom!” Having organically embraced living church life from childhood, Bolotov remained committed to traditional piety until the end of his life, morally manifested in the fact that (as his comrades close to him say about him) he “has always been an enemy of intrigues, wickedness, deception, quarrels, and all sorts of troubles and a great and strong preacher of peace, love, truth, all goodness and condescension for the shortcomings of others.” Total devotion to V.V. Bolotov’s service, which had a deep religious justification in his mind, could not, however, not affect the physical health of the great scientist. Back in 1897, he wrote: “My body is a leaky sieve, if not a ruin...” Since that time, Vasily Vasilyevich has repeatedly expressed confidence that “he is not a tenant of the 20th century.” After the death of his mother, in May 1899, no human ties no longer connected him with earthly life. “During the winter,” Bolotov wrote in June 1899, “I had to fall ill more than once, and think with horror: what if mother, in her helpless old age, outlives me? Now the Lord has removed this stone from my heart, and when - in years or months - He commands me to go “in the way of all the earth,” His holy will...” 20. From mid-March 1900, Bolotov began to feel weak, and on the 22nd he went to bed, and did not stop working and continued to read the works he had recently received on the church history of Egypt. On the 23rd, he agreed to go to the hospital of the Holy Cross community, nevertheless taking several books with him. Here, after temporary relief, the patient suddenly developed epileptic seizures, which terribly weakened his already broken body. Doctors stated the acute nature of the disease /nephritis/. During his illness, Vasily Vasilyevich received Holy Communion of Christ three times. Three hours before his death, he uttered significant words: “How beautiful are the dying minutes!” And an hour later he said: “I’m dying.” But through the efforts of doctors, it was partly possible to alleviate physical suffering, of which, however, the patient did not complain, enduring with remarkable patience all even the most severe attacks of the disease. He continued to maintain his usual cheerful mood and did not stop pronouncing, although with difficulty, individual words and expressions, the last of which were: “I am going to the cross,” “Christ is coming,” “God is coming.” V.V. Bolotov died on April 5 /old style/ 1900, at about 7 pm, during the all-night vigil on Maundy Thursday. His funeral service took place on Holy Saturday, when the Church prayerfully and liturgically celebrates the great mystery of the life-giving Tomb of the Savior Himself and our God 21 . V.V. Bolotov was by no means, just as this is not imposed on us by the inert inertia of the external facts of his biography, - he was not at all a so-called armchair scientist, alienated from modernity by tomes of ancient sources... The spiritual integrity, the ascetic, without exaggeration, consistency of such people in carrying out their service deprives us of the moral right to impose on them the abstract criterion of “modernity - non-modernity” but, rather, on the contrary, forces the very concept of modernity to be verified in relation to their way, with their way of being and participating in history. I remember the non-random association in this regard with the way V.S. Solovyov begins his lectures on God-manhood, in particular, saying: “What are the interests of modern civilization? These are those who were not there yesterday and will not be tomorrow. It is permissible to prefer what is equally important at all times.” “Yes,” His Eminence Anthony, the then Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, will say about Bolotov, “he was in the full sense a learned hermit, but a hermit free from dry, fruitless bookishness. The interest of his life was not in the letter of the book, but in the life-giving spirit. Therefore, beyond the scientific field, he especially loved to live the life of the Church, this only institution on earth with the living principles of immortality and eternal life. This life, even during the hermitage of the deceased, gave full flowering and wide scope to the sublime qualities of his soul, which made him not only marvel at him and respect him as a scientist, but also love him as a Christian man, always beautiful and highly attractive” 22. It seems that it was precisely religiosity, organic, integral traditional religiosity that allowed V.V. Bolotov to be in history, in modern times, free from fruitless – spiritually and historically – involvement in it. When religiosity is unconditionally primary, then, thereby, a limit is placed on scientific reflection on the mystery of the personal as such; but in view of this limit, science itself acquires its real freedom - freedom within the limits of its very scientific nature. But religiosity itself, in this regard, reveals freedom from the predominance of the subjective over the real, which so distinguishes the 20th century in general, and, in particular, some Christian thinkers of the “Soloviev version.” In this sense, the spiritual personality of V.S. himself is comparatively revealing. Solovyov, who, like Bolotov, stopped biographically at the threshold of the 20th century, - in many ways, however, preceded it (the 20th century) in his work with the arbitrariness of the subjective (both mystic-psychological and abstract-historical) beginning. In contrast to this, a kind of “religious heterodoxy,” is the primordial, integral traditional piety of the Russian peasantry, which, moreover, has settled in the immediate reach of holy places (Nilo-Stolbenskaya hermitage, in our case), so that “homely” this proximity to the shrine does not profane the saint at all, unless it strengthens its mysterious existence, solidarity with it in the legends and traditions of the local antiquity - this is where V.V. Bolotov comes from not only in the flesh, but also in spirit - a spirit rooted in tradition and therefore free from vibrations of the psychological and aggression of the intellectual principle. The chaste secrecy of personal spiritual life, which goes deeper and flows more fully than the most refined possible reflections on this matter, is the quality of this type of piety, which - whatever you say! - one thing, it was precisely in these qualities of his (fidelity and chastity) that made possible the existence of our Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th century, and only then of Russian theological science. How much would the latter be worth if Fr. G. Florovsky (in the thirties) would not have dared to assert - and would not have had any basis to assert! - that is, there still remain in the expanses of Russia, drowned in the darkness of communist atheism, those who complete the mysterious path of prayerful “feat, the path of secret and silent feat in the acquisition of the Spirit” 23. Death of V.V. Bolotov at the turn of the century, on the threshold of history, in which historically, not philosophically, not even prophetically, but only poetically, the arbitrariness of the Subjective will be opposed to Tradition, first in the muddy swirls of the Silver Age, and then in the bloodshed of the Russian revolution and the false tradition of communist dictatorship, - this death he himself foresaw somehow deeply not by chance. “I am not a resident of the 20th century,” he used to say more than once. But for both the 20th and the coming 21st centuries, the personality of V.V. Bolotova, undoubtedly, remains an example of a rare combination of moral and religious integrity and scientific rigor and depth. In one of the funeral speeches, a hundred years ago, words were spoken that we can repeat today with no less, and perhaps with greater justification for them: “In our time, when inner-spiritual life is so alienated, when life’s ideals are so degraded, and people willingly make peace with external advantages - strength, wealth, nobility, etc. - when a theory openly proclaiming such a system of life is spreading more and more. quite normal and the only possible one - then such ascetics of the spirit as V.V. Bolotov are of especially great importance. They are lights in the surrounding social darkness. By their very existence, they say more convincingly than any speeches that a life given to the service of an idea, for the sake of it leaving and forgetting everything in the world, is possible on earth; they affect the very heart, serving as a living reproach for everyone who lives differently, they awaken the public conscience” 24. Brilliantov A.I. Prof. Vasily Vasilievich Bolotov. Biographical sketch. Christian Reading, 1910, no. 4, p. 421. Lebedev D. A. Memories of V.V. Bolotov. Tver, 1901, pp. 3–4. Rubtsov M.V. Vasily Vasilievich Bolotov. Biographical sketch. Tver, 1900, pp. 15–16. Rubtsov M.B. Decree. cit., pp. 13–14. Rubtsov M.B. Decree. cit., p.21. Quote based on the book: Brilliantov A.I. To characterize the scientific activity of Prof. V.V. Bolotov as a church historian. St. Petersburg, 1901, pp. 8–9. Turaev B.A. Vasily Vasilievich Bolotov. Journal of the Ministry of Public Education, 1900, No. 8, p. 83. Brilliantov A.I. To characterize the scientific activity of Prof. V.V. Bolotova, p.8. Turaev B.A. Decree. cit., p. 95. Turaev B.A. Decree. cit., p. 94. Turaev B.A. Decree. cit., p. 98., Brilliantov A.I. Prof. V.V. Bolotov. KhCh, 1910, No. 5, p. 587. A wreath for the grave in Bose of the late prof. St. Petersburg Theological Academy of Vasily Vasilyevich Bolotov. St. Petersburg, 1900, p. 18. See about this: Ubersky I. In memory of prof. St. Petersburg Theological Academy of Vasily Vasilyevich Bolotov. St. Petersburg, 1903. Rubtsov M.V. Decree. cit., pp. 82–83. See Uspensky V. priest. Life and exploits of Rev. Nile Stolobensky miracle worker. Tver, 1893, pp. 1–2. Rubtsov M.V. Decree. cit., pp. 83–84. Rubtsov M.V. Decree. cit., p. 99. See about this: Wreath on the grave in Bose of the late prof. St. Petersburg Theological Academy V.V. Bolotova, pp. 27–35. Florovsky G. prot. Paths of Russian theology. Paris, 1983, p. 520. A wreath for the grave..., pp. 55–56.