Память святого Филиппа, митрополита Московского

Saint Metropolitan Philip was born 348 in the reigning city of Moscow from pious and noble parents, from a glorious family of boyars, the Kolychevs. His father, named Stefan, was one of the close boyars of Grand Duke Vasily Ioannovich; His pious mother, named Varvara, ended her days as a nun with the name Barsanuphia. For their pious life, as a testimony to their virtues, God blessed them with good fruit: from them was born blessed Philip, who was named Theodore in holy baptism. His parents raised him in all piety. When he grew up a little, he was sent to book education, in which he excelled with special zeal, while at the same time shunning the games and amusements typical of childhood. Thus, Theodore soon comprehended all the book wisdom and skill in spiritual reading. His parents, seeing his kind behavior, were happy about it. After some time, “youths” 349 were assigned to Theodore to teach him horse riding; but he was not at all diligent in this, preferring to horse riding reading books in which he found the lives of saints and venerable men and through this learned to improve in virtues. Then they began to teach him the art of war; but this did not change the pious mood of his soul; he avoided his peers and their distracted lives, so that many were amazed at his piety. After the death of Grand Duke Vasily Ioanovich 350, the scepter of the kingdom was accepted by his son, Grand Duke of All Russia John Vasilyevich 351. At this time, Theodore, who had already reached adulthood, was taken to the court for royal service and managed to earn the love and favor of the young prince John Vasilyevich. But Theodore did not serve at court for long. When he reached the age of thirty, it happened to him, by a special providence of God who had looked upon him, to enter the church during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. Here he heard the words of the Gospel: “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). Struck by these words, he reflected to himself that these words also applied to him, and decided to leave worldly life. Remembering the Solovetsky Monastery 352 that the monks labored well there, he intended to retire there. Having said a prayer before the shrines, falling with tears at the miraculous crayfish of the saints and venerating the holy relics, Theodore went on the road with prayer, secretly leaving the royal court, fatherland and relatives from everyone, taking with him only the most necessary clothes 353. First he came to the boundaries of Veliky Novgorod, to Lake Onega 354, and there he settled in the village of Khizhakh with a peasant. The owner, seeing his good disposition and humility, entrusted him with tending his sheep: this is how God ordained for him, so that before the verbal sheep, he would kindly shepherd the dumb ones. Meanwhile, his parents looked for him everywhere in the cities and, not finding him anywhere, cried a lot about him. The pious young man, having lived many days in the above-mentioned village, retired from there to Solovetsky Island and was received by the abbot of the Solovetsky monastery, who ordered him to work in monastic services. He, protected by the fear of God, with zeal and humility, in simplicity of heart, did everything that he was commanded to do. He chopped wood, dug earth in the garden, carried stones, sometimes carried slops on his shoulders and performed other, even more difficult work. Many times he had to accept insults and even beatings from some of the monks, but he never got angry and endured everything with joy and humility, and no one knew who he was or where he came from. Having thus experienced patience, Theodore asked the abbot to tonsure him into monasticism. He was tonsured a monk with the name Philip. He was given into obedience to one experienced monk named Ion, by whom he was instructed in every virtue. Then the abbot sent him to the cookhouse, and there he humbly worked for the brethren, lighting the fire and chopping wood. Having spent quite some time in that service, Philip moved from there to the monastery forge, where he worked tirelessly, carrying firewood and water. And he was praised by everyone who worked at the forge for his labors. Then, avoiding fame, he withdrew from the monastery into the desert and there, fixing his mind on God, he incessantly practiced prayers alone. Saint Philip labored for so long in the desert, in the forests of Solovetsky, and then returned to the monastery again to his labors. Hegumen Alexy, seeing him so zealous in monastic deeds and adorned with deep humility, was greatly consoled by him and kept him with him as his assistant, entrusting him with the supervision of the initial novices. Philip performed all this with zeal and spent nine years in these labors, assisted by the prayers and blessings of his abbot. Then Abbot Alexy, having refused due to old age's infirmity to manage the monastery, with the advice of the brethren, appointed Saint Philip to the hegumenship 355. But although the saint accepted leadership, he did not change his previous life at all. On the contrary, he intensified his exploits even more and indulged in even greater physical labor, and when he saw himself praised and revered for this, he considered it futile, for from his youth he was adorned with humility. Therefore, he left his abbess and again withdrew into the desert, coming to the monastery only to receive communion of the honorable Body and Blood of Christ our God. The monastery was managed by the former abbot Alexy, who died a year and a half later. Then, at the request of the brethren, Saint Philip again accepted the abbess. He indulged in even greater deeds and achieved even higher perfection in virtues. The Solovetsky monastery flourished and became beautiful during his reign 356. Meanwhile, the fame of Saint Philip reached the noble Tsar and Prince John Vasilyevich. At that time, Metropolitan of All Russia Athanasius left the throne 357. The Tsar wished that Saint Philip be elevated to the throne of the Russian Metropolis, and so he summons the saint to Moscow for “spiritual advice” 358. The Orthodox people then were at first in peace and love; the enemy (the devil), seeing this and hating the truth from time immemorial, raised a multi-rebellious storm, arousing hatred of each other in Orthodox Christians instead of love. At court, quarrels, bitter enmity and all kinds of malicious intent against each other began among the boyars. With their treachery and civil strife, they aroused intense anger and rage in the king himself. From those evil slander of the boyars, he began to fear even his faithful servants, close relatives and friends and was in indomitable anger at the boyars, seeing in them his enemies and seditionists. And so he divided the state into two parts, arranging for himself special bodyguards, under the name of oprichniki, who were attached to the king’s person and formed a special administration 359. The guardsmen abused the power given to them, oppressed the people, took away property, accompanying their robberies with murders and torture. The king believed in their loyalty and devotion, and therefore justice could not be found against them. At this time, the king summoned Philip from the Solovetsky monastery. Having received him with honor, the king announced to him his desire to see him on the metropolitan throne. Philip, in his humility, refused this high rank; but then he had to yield to the adamant desire of the king and was elevated to the metropolitan see 360. At first everything was calm; the tsar respected the saint and favored him. But then, when the atrocities of the guardsmen reached their extreme limit, Blessed Philip began to beg the Tsar to stop the rampages of the guardsmen and to denounce the Tsar himself for his executions. Then the king became very angry with the saint and threatened him with torture and exile. He, remaining unshakable, like adamant, neglected the royal threats and did not cease to express the truth 361. Unfortunately, there were also traitors among the clergy who tried only to please the king. Pimen, Archbishop of Novgorod, and some others with him 362, together with the royal advisers Malyuta Skuratov 363 and Vasily Gryazny 364 with their like-minded people, concocting various intrigues against the saint, tried to overthrow him from the throne and persuaded the king not to abandon his intention. The king did not want to simply overthrow Philip from the metropolitan throne. Shortly after that, based on the denunciation of false witnesses, he sent the Suzdal Bishop Paphnutius and Prince Vasily Temkin to Solovki to investigate what Philip’s former life was like. Having reached the Solovetsky Monastery, the messengers began to try to act in such a way as to please the king. Some of the monks were persuaded by affection and bribery, others by the promise of the highest spiritual honors, and still others by threats to make a complaint against the saint. The honest elders who spoke the truth about Philip were given severe beatings, commanding them to speak obscenely about the saint. They, filled with piety, accepted all these insults with joy and with one mouth continued to speak the truth about Philip, that his life in the monastery was immaculate, according to God. But the royal envoys did not want to listen to this, but, having done what they needed, returned to Moscow. At the same time, they took with them Abbot Paisius of Solovetsky, to whom they promised the episcopal rank, and other slanderers who bore false witness against Saint Philip. A council was immediately convened to try the saint. The slanderers who arrived from Solovki presented the king with scrolls in which their false testimonies were written. The king, having heard about the written evidence against Philip, which was pleasing to him, ordered them to be read publicly, after which the false witnesses began to verbally slander the saint. The saint did not make excuses and began to remove all the signs of his rank, 365 but the king ordered to wait for the court verdict. The next day, when the holy Metropolitan Philip officiated at the Assumption Cathedral 366, the tsar sent his boyar Alexei Basmanov there with a large number of guardsmen. Entering the cathedral, Basmanov ordered the court verdict on the deposition of the metropolitan to be read in the ears of all the people. Then the oprichniki rushed at the saint like wild animals, stripped him of his holy vestments, dressed him in simple, torn monastic clothes, kicked him out of the church in disgrace and, putting him on a log, took him to the Epiphany Monastery, showering him with abuse and beatings 367 . Then, by the will of the king, Philip was exiled to the Tver Otroch Monastery 368, and the saint suffered a lot of evil from his guards. About a year passed since the saint was in captivity, depressed by various kinds of sorrows from his guards. At this time, the king, traveling to Novgorod 369 and approaching Tver, remembered Saint Philip and sent the aforementioned Malyuta Skuratov to him. The latter suddenly entered the saint’s cell. Meanwhile, three days before, the saint said to those who were with him: “The end of my feat is approaching,” and he took communion of the honest and life-giving Mysteries of Christ our God. Entering the cell of Saint Philip, Malyuta Skuratov fell with feigned reverence at the feet of the saint and said: - Holy Lord, give your blessing to the Tsar to go to Veliky Novgorod. But the Saint answered Malyuta: – Do what you want, but the gift of God is not obtained by deception. Then the heartless villain strangled the righteous man with a pillow 370. Meanwhile, the enemies of Saint Philip, who rebelled against him, soon suffered God's punishment. The king, realizing his injustice against the holy man and the cunning of his enemies, ordered them to be sent to prison in various monasteries, and put others to death 371. After the death of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, the throne of the Russian kingdom was taken by his son, the pious Tsar and Grand Duke Theodore Ioannovich 372. In the seventh year of his reign, in the 21st year after the repose of Saint Philip, the abbot of the Solovetsky Monastery, Jacob and the brethren, turned with prayer to the pious king, so that he would order the body of the saint to be transferred from the Otroch Monastery to the Solovetsky Monastery. The king gave them permission to do this, and they found the saint’s body intact and undamaged, so that decay did not even touch his clothes, and myrrh flowed from the relics of the saint and filled the air with incense. With honor, the monks carried the body of Saint Philip to their monastery and buried it in the very place that he himself had prepared for this 373. During the reign of the most pious Tsar Alexy Mikhailovich 374, the incorruptible relics of the holy Metropolitan Philip were honorably transported by Metropolitan Nikon of Novgorod 375 from the Solovetsky Monastery to the Mother See of Moscow and placed in a new shrine in the Assumption Cathedral, where they rest openly to this day 376. Glory to our God, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. In ancient Rus', “youths” were the name given to the younger members of the princely squad, then generally trusted servants under the prince, experienced, for the most part, in the art of war and carrying out various orders of their master. The boyars also had their own youths. Vasily IV Ioannovich - Grand Duke of Moscow from 1505–1533. Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible - from 1533 - Grand Duke of Moscow, in 1547 he took the royal title and reigned until 1584. The Solovetsky first-class stauropegic monastery is located in the far north, on the Solovetsky Island of the White Sea, 306 versts from Arkhangelsk; has existed since the 15th century and from the very first time of its existence became famous for the strict ascetic life of its monks. This was halfway through 1537. Lake Onega is located in the north of Russia, in the Olonets province; after Ladoga, the first largest lake in Europe. In continuation of his eighteen-year management of the Solovetsky monastery, Abbot Philip completely renovated it; built two stone churches in it - the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Transfiguration of the Lord, installed bells instead of bells and rivets (metal boards used to call the brethren to worship), erected two- and three-story cells and a hospital for the brethren; he multiplied and improved the salt pans - the main source of maintenance for the monastery, built water mills, started a farmyard and deer, connected lakes with canals and drained swamps, made clearings in the forests and laid roads. In the rank of abbot, Philip again became known to Grand Duke John Vasilyevich and earned his favor. The tsar granted him letters of honor for various volosts, villages and other possessions, gave him rich vestments embroidered with pearls and two covers for the shrines of the Solovetsky saints Zosima and Savvaty, and subsequently sent him a thousand rubles for the construction of the Transfiguration Church, two bells, two gold crosses with precious stones and pearls and new letters of grant to confirm various benefits of the monastery. Athanasius – Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia, occupied the metropolitan see from 1564–1566. This meant that Philip would be invested with the rank of high priest, that such was the desire and will of the king. The guardsmen were elected from princes, nobles and boyar children. They had their own estates in special volosts allocated for the oprichnina; Even special cities were appointed to support them; The guardsmen had their rights and advantages. Another part of Russia received the name “Zemshchina” and was placed under the control of the Zemstvo boyars to manage the general affairs of the state and the people. Refusing to accept the high priestly rank, Philip said: “I can’t take on a task that exceeds my strength, let me go, for the Lord’s sake, why entrust a great burden to a small boat?” When the tsar continued to insist, Philip announced that he would fulfill the will of the tsar, but so that the oprichnina, from which the Russian land was suffering, would be destroyed. John replied that the oprichnina was necessary for the king and the kingdom, since they were plotting against him. Saint Philip was persuaded not to interfere in the affairs of the court and oprichnina and not to leave the metropolis because the tsar did not destroy the oprichnina, but to consult with the tsar, as previous metropolitans consulted. Thus, Saint Philip left behind his conscience the freedom and duty to grieve for the innocently persecuted and to speak about the truth of the Gospel, which has long been the advantage of Russian saints. Hostility against Saint Philip was especially jealously aroused in the Tsar by the guardsmen, who slandered the saint and supported the Tsar in the belief that the Metropolitan was on the side of the boyars he hated and was serving as their tool. When the frenzy of the guardsmen began to intensify, and the tsar did not correct himself at all and committed atrocities and cruel executions, the saint, experiencing the inadequacy of secret admonitions to the tsar, came out with open, nationwide denunciations against him and the guardsmen. These were Paphnutius, Bishop of Suzdal, Philotheus, Bishop of Ryazan, and, especially, Archpriest of the Annunciation Cathedral Eustathius, the royal confessor, whom Philip subjected to ban for some offenses and who constantly reported to the Tsar, secretly and openly, blasphemous speeches against the Metropolitan. Malyuta Skuratov-Belsky is a Duma nobleman, the favorite guardsman of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, distinguished by his cruelty and participating in almost all of Grozny’s atrocities. The memory of Malyuta Skuratov and his atrocities was preserved in folk songs, and even his very name became a common name for the villain. Vasily Gryazny is the beloved and trusted guardsman of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible. In response to Paisius’s impudent slander, the high priest only meekly remarked to him: “child, what you sow is what you reap.” Then, turning to the tsar and the entire council, he announced that he was not at all afraid of death and preferred to die as an innocent martyr rather than silently endure the horrors and lawlessness of the present time in the rank of metropolitan, after which he began to take off his white hood and robe. It was November 8, 1568. Here St. Metropolitan Philip spent a whole week in a stinking prison, weighed down by heavy shackles and tormented by hunger. Then he was transported to the monastery of St. Wonderworker Nicholas, the so-called Old One. Not content with what Saint Philip suffered, the tsar tortured and executed the boyar children who served him; Ten of his Kolychev relatives were killed one after another. The head of one of them, Ivan Kolychev, especially beloved by the saint, was sent to the latter in prison by the tsar. The saint bowed before her to the ground, blessed her, kissed her with love and gave her to the person who brought her. Otroch Assumption second-class monastery is located in Tver, founded before the 13th century. The place of imprisonment and martyrdom of the saint is a damp, gloomy basement, where dampness, darkness and mustiness always prevail. When in the 17th century they wanted to build a throne in memory of the passion-bearer and saint, they built it on the second floor, and only in 1833–34. They found it possible to build a chapel downstairs in the name of St. Great Martyr Barbara; The altar of this side church is located where, under the floor, there was a place of imprisonment for the saint. Near the cathedral church in the North-West corner, on the site of the grave of St. Philip, a chapel was built. In the cathedral church there is a shrine of St. Philip with his image and a particle of St. relics. It was rather a devastating raid by Grozny on Novgorod, the inhabitants of which were reported to the tsar that they were ready to be handed over to the Polish king. For six weeks, the tsar carried out terrible executions in Novgorod, from which several thousand Novgorodians and surrounding villagers died; Not only the homes of citizens, especially the rich, were robbed, but also all monasteries and churches. It was December 23, 1569. Archbishop Pimen of Novgorod was removed from the see only two weeks after the death of Saint Philip and was subjected to extreme abuse, after which he was imprisoned in the Venevsky Monastery, where he soon died. The tsar's favorite Malyuta Skuratov, soon after his crime, was killed near the city of Torzhok by captured Crimeans, and the tsar himself barely escaped death. Hegumen Paisius was imprisoned on the island of Valaam and died there; the monk Zosima and ten other monks, who also slandered Saint Philip, were sent to different monasteries. The same punishment of God befell some other enemies of the saint. Theodore Ioannovich reigned from 1584–1598. This was in 1591. The body of Saint Philip was first placed under the porch of the church he created, where, when he was abbot of Solovetsky, he himself dug a grave for himself next to the grave of his mentor, Elder Jonah, and in 1646 it was transferred to the church itself. Tsar Alexy Mikhailovich reigned from 1645–1676. Subsequently, the famous All-Russian Patriarch, corrector of liturgical books and rituals. Transfer of the relics of St. Metropolitan Philip was committed in 1652. The memory of the transfer is set to be celebrated on July 3. In addition, the memory of Saint Philip is celebrated on October 5 together with the memory of the Moscow saints: Peter, Alexy and Jonah. You might be interested in: