His Eminence Innocent Archbishop of Kherson and Tauride

December 15 marked the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the famous Archpastor of the Russian Church, His Grace Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson and Tauride, whose name was especially popular in Russian society, but has not lost it to this day. Let us reproduce, at least in general terms, his spiritual image. His Grace Innokenty (in the holy rank Ivan Alekseevich Borisov) is the son of the priest of the city of Yelets, Oryol province, Alexy Borisov. He spent his childhood years in the house of his parents, who were distinguished by their deep religiosity and good life. But despite the weakness of his physique and health, he was distinguished by his liveliness. Early under the guidance of his father he learned to read and write and greedily began to read books that he found in his father’s modest library; they were predominantly Church Slavonic - Chetya-Minea, prologues, patericons, sermons of St. Demetrius of Rostov, etc. Undoubtedly, in the house of his parents, that love for preaching arose in him, which later constituted his distinctive feature, since his father was first a clergyman, then a deacon and, finally, at the request of the parishioners, a priest of the Assumption Church, although he did not receive a school education, he was by nature an intelligent person and every holiday he taught the entire flock, delivering other people’s sermons that he liked, which he had previously memorized. And his son, returning from church, often stood on a chest or tub and began waving his arms, imitating his preacher father. When the boy grew up, his father took him to Voronezh and enrolled him in the second grade of a religious school - this was in January 1810. Thanks to good home preparation and outstanding abilities, Ivan Borisov quickly moved from class to class: in September 1810 he was transferred to the third class, and in January 1811 to the fourth. That same year, Ivan Borisov had to endure two misfortunes: at the beginning of the year he fell ill with smallpox, and at the end he lost his father. In 1812, Ivan Borisov entered the Oryol Theological Seminary, which at that time was located in the city of Sevsk. While studying at the seminary, he attracted attention with his brilliant abilities and excellent successes. “His writings - in the rhetoric class, reasoning - in the philosophical and sermons - in the theology, which he wrote very quickly and with the greatest ease, according to the Reverend Macarius, often amazed with their merits not only his fellow students, but also his mentors.” During these childhood and youth years of Ivan Borisov, the priest of Yelets, Vasily Klimentov, a man of extraordinary kindness, a lover of science, possessed of diverse knowledge, had a tremendous influence on him, whom Reverend Innocent always remembered with love and deep respect. In 1819, Ivan Borisov perfectly completed the seminary course and entered the Kyiv Theological Academy, where, with all the enthusiasm of his youth, greedy for acquiring knowledge, he devoted himself to studies and reading books, which he sometimes sat through whole nights. He changed his mind about what he read, gave extracts from it, wrote out the best passages, and often passed it on to his comrades in a lively, exciting form. Thanks to his brilliant abilities and diligence, Ivan Borisov occupied an exceptional position among his comrades. Both the academy professors and his comrades gave him the palm of honor. One of them, Stavrov, an outstanding student, a former competitor of Borisov, later a bachelor of the Kyiv Academy, at the end of the course, said that Borisov should be put in first place on the list, then leave several places unoccupied, and then write him down in sixth or seventh place - Stavrov. Having graduated from the academy's course as the first master in 1824, Borisov initially failed: for some reason he was not retained as a bachelor at the academy, despite six empty places occupied by his comrades, but was assigned to the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary as an inspector and professor of church history and Greek. However, from this same time his rapid rise up the hierarchical ladder began: three months later he was appointed rector of the Alexander Nevsky Theological School, retaining his previous positions, after which he soon became a monk; in 1824 – bachelor of theological sciences at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy; in 1825 - inspector of the academy; in 1826 he was elevated to the rank of extraordinary professor and to the rank of archimandrite; in 1829, for his scientific works, he was awarded the highest academic degree - Doctor of Theology and was awarded the Order of Anna, 2nd degree with the Imperial Crown. In 1839, Archimandrite Innocent was appointed rector of the Kyiv Theological Academy, professor of theological sciences and abbot of the Kiev Brotherhood Monastery; in 1835, “for excellent services in the field of Russian literature,” he was elected a full member of the Imperial Russian Academy. In 1836, the Highest decree was issued on the existence of Archimandrite Innocent as Bishop of Chigirinsky, vicar of the Kyiv Metropolis. Due to complications in his studies, the Right Reverend Innocent left his position as professor of theological sciences in 1837, and in 1839, the position of rector of the academy; in 1840 he received an appointment to an independent episcopal see in Vologda; in 1841 he was transferred to Kharkov, and then to Odessa. In 1857, the Right Reverend Innocent, while in Sevastopol, on the battlefield between the Russians and the enemy, fell ill and on the way back to Odessa died in Kherson on May 26. At all levels of his public activity, the Right Reverend Innocent displayed extraordinary energy and left a noticeable mark on himself. The Reverend Innocent is especially known to Russian society as a preacher, whom many called the Russian Chrysostom. His oratorical talent was already visible in his seminary student sermons; appeared with greater clarity in the sermons written during his studies at the academy. When the Right Reverend Innocent was a bachelor and professor at the St. Petersburg Academy, his sermons delivered in different churches already attracted entire masses of listeners. During his rectorship at the Kyiv Academy, his fame as an outstanding preacher spread throughout Rus' and reached the Royal Throne. Not only Orthodox Christians, but also Catholics come to listen to his sermons. The main reason for their success was that the preacher was able to present the highest truths in a simple, fascinating form, accessible to both an intelligent person and a commoner. Since the Right Reverend delivered many of his sermons impromptu, some of the listeners came to church with a pencil and paper and wrote them down, fearing that they would be lost for publication. The impression that listeners received from the sermons of the Most Reverend Innocent increased thanks to the techniques that he used when delivering them. He always went out to the pulpit with a staff in his hand; the deacon carried the Bible or Gospel before him. Having read the required text from the book, the preacher gave it to the deacon, and he himself, looking around with his gaze, which was especially enlightened at this time, at those ahead, took a step forward and began his sermon. Once, speaking a sermon before the shroud on Great Friday, he began it like this: “When children gather to the tomb of their father, or subjects to the tomb of a ruler, then after tears and lamentation, their first thing is to find out the last will of the deceased... It is impossible that the Savior departed from us to the Father without leaving us some kind of testament. But behold, the book of the covenant is on His feet! Let us dare, brothers, let us dare this sacred book, so that we may see and hear what the Lord says about us.” Having said this, he approached the shroud, bowed to the ground, took the Gospel that was lying on the Savior’s chest, opened it and said: “Oh, brothers, He speaks against His people (Ps. 84:9),” and read from the Gospel the words: Peace I will leave you... etc., after which he began his spiritual speech. Another example. Odessa is bombarded by the enemy. The cannonballs continuously fly over the city, cutting through the air and causing damage to buildings. Holy Saturday has arrived. The Right Reverend Innocent orders the bell to ring for the service at the appointed time and performs it with the usual solemnity. Suddenly, during the singing of the sacramental verse at the liturgy, a terrible crash is heard from the explosion of a powder box on one of the batteries; the walls of the church shook; it seemed as if its vaults were collapsing; the people fell to the floor in horror, only the Lord retained his presence of mind. The royal doors immediately dissolved; The Reverend, having given time for the people to come to their senses, left the altar and began a conversation with his characteristic eloquence with these words: “You were afraid of this abusive sound made by the enemy’s hand, and, standing in prayer in this sanctuary, you were not ashamed to fall to the ground out of cowardice... but what fear and horror will seize the sinful soul when the Archangel’s voice of the trumpet roars to call you to universal judgment...” etc. The image of the Most Reverend Innocent would not be complete if we did not mention his deep religiosity, which distinguished him from his youth. In addition to prayer at ordinary times, he often devoted entire hours to it. During his journey across the Crimea with the aim of restoring monasteries, he usually left his companions at the foot of the mountains, and he himself climbed to the top of them to pray, in which he sometimes spent whole nights at home. The high moral qualities of the Right Reverend Innocent, his services to the Church and science were the reason for the celebration of his memory that took place in Rus' on the centenary of his birth.