Глава семнадцатая. Триумфальные врата 1832–1835

In his sermons of 1832, it was no coincidence that Moscow Chrysostom spoke a lot about vain, feigned, and vanity. And about the need to be modest, inconspicuous. His anniversary was approaching - on December 26 of that year he turned fifty years old. According to Roman tradition, the word “jubilee” was the name of an anniversary, the number of which was divided by fifty. Dahl’s dictionary says so: “An anniversary is a celebration, a celebration, on the occasion of the past fiftieth anniversary, century, millennium.” Therefore, only those who lived to be a hundred years old could celebrate their anniversary twice, and for the vast majority of people, the fiftieth anniversary was the only anniversary. There is no information in nature about the noisy celebration of the anniversary of Metropolitan Philaret. It can be assumed that he banned the celebration of this date altogether. “Thank you, Father Viceroy, for your kind wishes for me for the sake of the Lord’s Day,” he wrote to Archimandrite Anthony on December 29. “For the sake of the Lord’s day,” but not “for the sake of my birthday.” It turns out that Anthony didn’t even congratulate him on his anniversary, knowing that the bishop didn’t want it. We congratulated the saint on Merry Christmas. Even earlier, he wrote to the same Anthony: “And Fr. Tell Sergius that, while I thank him for his intention to say a kind word to me, I cannot hide that I would like him to study something more monastic and archimandric than Latin poetry.” We are apparently talking about Hieromonk Sergius, who was the spiritual child of Elder Seraphim of Sarov and served as a link between the Sarov monastery and the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Apparently, he wanted to glorify Philaret’s anniversary in Latin verses, but the bishop politely refused him this. There are many memories of how he tried to avoid attention to his person when it was not associated with any necessity. The Monk Ambrose of Optina wrote that Philaret “kept himself so hidden that his cell attendants not only did not know his secret life, but also could not see how he washed himself: “Give me some water and go.” It happened that the cell man stayed and wanted to help the elder with this. He repeated: “It’s been told to you, go!” And he, there was nothing to do, even reluctantly, but left.” Filaret's priestly vestments differed sharply from his everyday clothes. During services, he considered it necessary to dress in beautiful elegant robes, so that it could be seen: behold, the hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church! In normal circumstances, in the cold season, he preferred woolen caftans with turned-up cuffs or simply with wide sleeves, and in the summer he wore either a simple white linen cassock or a black woolen cassock, depending on the weather. As he approached fifty years of age, he began to catch colds often and therefore dressed warmer than in his youth. Instead of the usual monastic belt, he used a sash, and put either a wicker net or a black skufia on his head. On frosty days he could be seen wearing a fox fur coat. He considered the red fox to be the best among fur-bearing animals. Moreover, a fox fur coat was considered the cheapest in Russia. Over the years, he did not lose his love of modesty in the home. He loved inexpensive furniture and was angry when anyone wanted to decorate his life. His metropolitan staff was simple, wooden. He generally loved unpainted wood - walls, floors, ceilings. He ordered Archimandrite Anthony not to paint the floors in his chambers under any circumstances. It's the same with food. Filaret loved to lavishly treat his guests, but he himself was content with a piece of fish, porridge, and most of all, when there was no fasting, he loved wild berries with milk - raspberries, blueberries, strawberries. His appearance might have seemed unprepossessing if not for the sparkling mind sparkling in his lively eyes. The saint’s vicar, Bishop Leonid (Krasnopevkov), once wrote: “Yesterday I looked at him silently for a long time as he looked at the catalogs and stood in front of him. Centuries will pass: his name will grow extraordinary. Thought will look for his great image in the past, and happy is the one who sees his imperfect portrait, and I, unworthy, stand half an arshin from him and look at this wonderfully correct, round head, covered with sparse, soft dark brown hair, at this high convex forehead, this sharply outlined nose and wonderfully regular lips, at these pale, thin, dignified beard covered cheeks. I don’t see his eyes under his perfectly defined eyebrows, but I notice that the tortoiseshell frame of his glasses gives his noble face some special expressiveness.” He was not tall, one might even say small. But it should be noted that scientists who studied this issue claim that at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries a strange phenomenon of short stature was observed. Data on clothing parameters show that people were not large in size. Giants such as Nicholas I were the exception to the rule. But there were many miniature and graceful ones, like Filaret or Pushkin. By the age of fifty, Filaret’s health had deteriorated somewhat, he was often ill, and his eyesight began to weaken. But perhaps this was a consequence of a certain transitional age he was experiencing, which overtakes men in the middle of life. Some people experience it closer to forty, others closer to fifty. Filaret was far from old age; after his fiftieth birthday, the Lord would give him another good thirty-five years of life. A week after this remaining unnoticed anniversary, the schema-monk Seraphim of Sarov reposed in the Lord in his cell in the Diveyevo Monastery. From that time on, mention of the name of Seraphim began to appear in the letters of Philaret, who every year more and more comprehended the significance of the holy elder, and began to care that his life should appear. Just now, in 1832, Mitrofan of Voronezh, a bishop who favored Peter I in creating a fleet and helped the first Russian emperor build a shipyard in Voronezh, was canonized. Metropolitan Philaret especially liked the story about how Mitrofan appeared at the palace to the sovereign, but when he saw images of Greek and Roman gods there, he immediately turned around and left. When Peter was informed about this, the king became furious and demanded that the bishop appear immediately. But Mitrofan was adamant and replied that he would come only when the pagan idols were removed. As a result, the sovereign made a concession; the statues were removed during the visit to Mitrofan’s palace. Philaret not only revered Saint Mitrofan, but also wrote a book for his canonization, “The Tale of the Finding of the Relics of St. Mitrofan, bishop. Voronezhsky", published as a separate publication in St. Petersburg. And in June 1833, in Khotkov, near Moscow, he consecrated a church in the name of St. Mitrofan and preached a sermon about the meaning and structure of Christian churches, about the sacrifice made. Like the first Russian spiritual writer, Metropolitan Hilarion, he spoke about the Old Testament law and New Testament grace: - How wonderful is Christianity! Judaism represented the legal church alone in the whole world, the legal priesthood only in one line of Aaron, sacrifices only material, lifeless or mortified, in blood, fire and smoke... In Christianity, on the contrary, not only are there churches everywhere, not only are there priests from all nations, according to the election of grace, not only is a bloodless sacrifice offered everywhere, containing not the transformation of Christ distant and expected, but the sacrament of Christ who has come, who is present, given to us as food and drink of eternal life... There is a sacrifice of spiritual contrition, which even in the days of Judaism, a more material burnt offering, was recognized by David as pleasing to God: burnt offerings are not pleasing; sacrifice to God the spirit is broken; God will not despise a broken and humble heart (Ps. 50:18–19). He further listed other spiritual sacrifices - praise and prayer, mercy, righteousness and truth, and called martyrdom for the Christian faith the highest sacrifice. The word-maker Filaret deeply believed in the power of words, both good and evil. At the Trinity-Sergius Lavra on July 5, he said in his sermon: – The city is created – what do you think? Wealth? art? power? crowded? - according to Solomon, not by those words, but by the kind words of good people: in blessing the right. And on the contrary, the city is being destroyed - by what? weapons of enemies? fire? water? earthquake? - again, not with that, but with the evil words of evil people: the lips of the wicked will be dug up. How powerful and beneficial, according to Solomon, is the blessing! And how destructive evil words are... The ordinary human mind does not know the spiritual power of the word and is even afraid of guesses about it. When explaining statements from the Bible, Filaret always found simple but very accurate comparisons. Thus, in his Assumption sermon in 1833, interpreting the words of the Apostle Philip, who said that our home is in heaven, the Bishop compared our life with the journey of a city dweller through rural places: - If a city dweller, while traveling in a field or in a village, was asked where he lives, no doubt he would not say: “Here on the road or here in a rural inn,” but would say that he lives in the city, where he has a home and family. And further he taught a wise understanding of the words of the apostle and their application in all sorrowful, painful or offensive cases of life: - They offend you, deprive you of property, honor, rewards. Again, tell yourself: our life is in heaven; there are our inestimable treasures, imperishable crowns, eternal rewards. You don't need to care much if you take away your mite along the way; Let us take better care to preserve the priceless inheritance in the house of the Heavenly Father. Philaret’s veneration of the story of Saint Mitrofan and Emperor Peter unexpectedly affected the short-lived darkening of the relationship between Philaret and Nicholas. In 1833, the sovereign traveled through Austria and Prussia, where he concluded new treaties against England and France. And suddenly I noticed that Russia still does not have its own official national anthem. Instead, the music of the British anthem “God save our gracious King” was usually performed. Somehow this did not correspond to the anti-English orientation of the policy and the restoration of the Holy Alliance between Russia, Austria and Prussia. The king expressed a desire to have his own anthem. The court composer Alexey Fedorovich Lvov composed a magnificent melody, in the spirit of the British anthem, but more powerful and solemn. Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky, with the participation of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, composed the words for this melody. Pushkin suggested leaving only the first stanza of the entire poem, consisting of six lines: Reign for glory for our glory! Reign to the fear of your enemies, All seven stanzas were subsequently published in the collected works of Zhukovsky, and the first stanza, with the light hand of Pushkin, became the anthem of the Russian Empire. The Emperor, having listened to the new anthem, was very pleased and ordered a public hearing, which took place on December 11, 1833 in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theater. All the people were delighted. Only Metropolitan Philaret was not at the audition. The name of the anthem was indicated on the poster as “Russian folk song,” but it was not just a song, but a prayer, for it is filled with an appeal to God. The clergy expressed dissatisfaction. Since then, “God Save the Tsar!” They called it this way and that – “Russian folk song”, and “Prayer of the Russian people”. But the main thing is that Philaret was disgusted to go to the building crowned with the image of the pagan god Apollo, to whom, by the way, many Christian martyrs were sacrificed during the time of persecution of Christians. “Take away the idols, and I will come,” he said, becoming like St. Mitrophan of Voronezh. Nikolai was angry, but his greater anger was yet to come. In 1834, Moscow was decorated with the Triumphal Gate, erected on Tverskaya Zastava Square by the chief architect of Moscow, Osip Ivanovich Bove. The building is majestic and worthy of the memory of the heroes of 1812, to whom it was dedicated. One bad thing is that this excellent structure was crowned with a statue of the pagan goddess of Glory, riding on a cart drawn by six fast horses. Having learned about this, Metropolitan Philaret decided in advance that although five years ago he consecrated the foundation of the arch, he would not consecrate the arch itself until the next idol was removed. But in May, Bove died, and his co-authors, his younger brother Mikhail, Ivan Petrovich Vitali and Ivan Timofeevich Timofeev, “out of respect for the death of the chief architect,” refused to change anything. The fact that Philaret would have to consecrate the Triumphal Gate in this and not any other form was informed to the saint by His Serene Highness Prince Pyotr Mikhailovich Volkonsky, Minister of the Imperial Court, Infantry General, Hero of the War of 1812. Saint Philaret fell into confusion. He declared that he could not consecrate a building decorated with a pagan idol, to which everyone around, sighing, just shrugged: – We’ll have to sanctify it, Vladyka! Then Filaret went to the Lavra to his confessor and said directly: - As you say, I will do so. “Don’t sanctify,” replied Anthony. - There will be sorrow. But how can you openly declare your refusal to the king? And Saint Philaret decided to answer Nicholas somehow allegorically. It is difficult to judge whether he did it well or not very well. The time for celebrations came; on September 8, Filaret greeted the sovereign in front of the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin with a speech in which he compared Nikolai Pavlovich with the most pious Israeli king Jehoshaphat: – Thus, across the vast distance of times and places, the experience of the same truth is visible, that the paths of pious kings have a similar direction to each other, because they are guided by one invisible hand; because the heart of a king is in the hand of God. Therefore, before this sanctuary of God we greet you, most pious sovereign, not only with a joyful feeling of love, but also with a feeling of reverence with a sacred greeting: blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. A few days later, the adjutant on duty arrived at the Trinity Compound with a question to the Metropolitan: - The Emperor ordered to ask: what time would it please His Eminence to appoint for the consecration of the Triumphal Gate? Filaret's answer turned out to be very strange: The aide-de-camp did not understand and asked again. - I hear! – the lord answered angrily. - So what should I convey to His Majesty? – the royal envoy was amazed. “And convey what you heard,” said Saint Philaret. When Nikolai was informed, he thought for a while in bewilderment, then flared up with anger: – Oh, so... I understand... Prepare the horses, I’m leaving Moscow today! And he left. And Filaret, even more upset, came to the Lavra again. - This is what sorrow has come! “This was clear before,” replied Anthony. - Did I do a good job? Annoyed the sovereign. “I don’t have the virtues of Saint Mitrofan,” Filaret sighed. - Don’t take them upon yourself, but remember that you are a Christian bishop, a shepherd of the Church of Christ, who is afraid of one thing - to diverge from the will of Jesus Christ. The Monk Anthony later wrote about this conversation and about the Metropolitan’s previous visit in his memoirs. Filaret was so worried that he fell ill. The next morning he sent for Anthony. He was frightened, thinking that the saint had become worse. However, when he answered the call, he saw Filaret cheerful and cheerful and began to smile. - What you? – asked Filaret. - Yes, you can see the eagle in flight. - Let's go and thank St. Sergius. He appeared to me in a sensual way. I fell asleep, and it was already five o’clock when I heard a rustling at the door. I am sensitive, woke up, stood up. The door, which I usually lock, quietly opened, and the monk came in - old, gray-haired, thin and of average height, in a robe without an epitrachelium - and, leaning towards the bed, said to me: “Don’t be embarrassed, everything will pass.” And he disappeared. Thank you, Anthony, you spoke to me against everyone. The consoling words of St. Sergius soon came true. The triumphal arch was consecrated by military priests without particularly pompous celebrations. But the sovereign, as it turned out, did not leave for good. He went around the Moscow region, visited the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, then returned to Moscow. When communicating with the Metropolitan, he pretended that nothing had happened and admired the excellent condition the Lavra was in. Filaret tried to show that he remains a loving bishop for God’s anointed one. In April of this year, the heir to the throne, Alexander Nikolaevich, turned sixteen, and in those days this age was considered adulthood. Back in the spring of 1834, Filaret composed a rite of worship in the event of an oath to the heir to the crown prince. You can read about this in Pushkin’s diary: “The coming of age celebration has taken place. I wasn't a witness. It was both a state and family celebration... Always a lot of funny things turn up on the most solemn occasions. Filaret composed a service in case of an oath. He chose for the proverb a chapter from the Book of Kings, where, among other things, it is said that the king gathered together thousands, hundreds, and eunuchs. K. A. Nar. (ishkin) said that this is a skillful application to chamberlains. And in the city they began to say that during the service they would pray for the eunuchs. They were forced to replace the word eunuch with another.” The Emperor was then also angry at first, and then laughed. In October, meeting the Tsar and the heir in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, the Metropolitan of Moscow greeted them: - Most pious sovereign! The capital, rejoicing at the mere thought that it has been granted to be the cradle of your first-born, naturally sees with the liveliest joy in the year of coming of age the one whom it received on its birthday from the very bosom of its blessed mother. This joy is also elevated by the delightful thought that your love is now giving us this unexpected joy. Illnesses plagued Saint Philaret, he asked the sovereign for permission not to come to St. Petersburg for the session of the Synod in the coming winter, and Nicholas allowed him to do this, which testifies to the caring attitude of the tsar towards the Metropolitan of Moscow and contradicts the statements of some researchers that at that time the tsar did not greatly favor him. In response, Moscow Chrysostom, in his speech on the emperor’s name day on December 6, spoke about how the kind-hearted tsar takes care of his sick subjects. Starting with the fact that a great sovereign receives the nickname of the conqueror of the people if he defeats peoples, guided by “threefold strength: wisdom, power and love,” he moved on to the topic of caring for the sick: - Let us follow, brothers, the Christian movement of the Tsar’s heart and think about that special kind of love for mankind, which has as its object the sick... When visiting the sick, Christian love should be an inseparable companion... In the winter of 1834/35, Moscow was again attacked by an epidemic. This time, in all likelihood, it was the flu. Filaret wrote that half of Moscow residents were sick and that the disease, like cholera, came from the east, but the terrible deeds of the new epidemic were not mentioned. This means that if someone died, it was in small quantities. The Metropolitan himself was also ill. That is why in his sermons of that time there was a lot about doctors and diseases. And that all diseases are the consequences of sins. Even the Christmas word could not do without this: – Why do we need a sign of joy? - Because we lack joy. Why do we need a Savior, Christ the Lord? - Because we are afraid of death. Why the lack of joy, why the fear of death? Because we are at a distance from the life of God; because we live in sinful corruption. And if so, then isn’t it a good sign that the Savior who was born to us begins to appear where the first punishment of sin turned out to be, according to the saying of the Judge: in sickness give birth to a child! Like a wise Physician, He approaches with His healing, divine power to the very beginning and root of our illness, our sinful corruption; What better sign could there be of the expected healing? From this deep and wise beginning it is not difficult to conclude how perfect He prepares healing. Philaret's sermon on the Feast of the Annunciation in 1835 is revered in philaretics as one of his best. (Philaretika is a collection of materials about the life and work of Metropolitan Philaret; philaretist is a scientist engaged in study). Although it is difficult to distinguish among his preaching heritage what is better and what is worse. In each of his sermons you find pearls of words and thoughts. The Annunciation Word of 1835 is another, but not superfluous, archpastoral testimony that the conception of the Son of God by the Mother of God is the most important event in all world history, splitting the chronicle of mankind into before and after Christ. However, contrary to the evidence, people for the most part did not and do not recognize this truth. “Despite the efforts of the world, the mystery of God in the flesh has turned, as I have already said, into worldwide glory. But even now, how many people are there who either have not learned this secret, or, having known it, have not accepted it! And what is even more regrettable, even among those who received it as an inheritance from their fathers and forefathers, those either remain or appear again who do not know what to do with this incomprehensible secret; they ask, sometimes with curiosity, why such an extraordinary means was used to save the human race - the incarnation of the Divine; then with doubt - is it really impossible to save a person without this? And where curiosity is, there is still no pure knowledge; Where there is doubt, there is still no complete faith. Having passed the zenith of his life, Filaret could not exclude the possibility of living to a ripe old age, when he would have the opportunity to crown a new sovereign. This could have been Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich, who especially impressed the bishop in the year of his majority. On the day when the Tsarevich turned seventeen, Moscow Chrysostom spoke an inspired word in his honor in the cathedral church of the Chudov Monastery: “His life appears to us not only as a beautiful color, shining with graceful hereditary qualities, but also as a color fertilized by an upbringing worthy of high birth and destiny. In the same year, 1835, something happened that could again turn the sovereign, and even the heir himself, away from the Moscow ruler for a long time. Nicholas appointed his son Alexander to attend the Synod. The episcopate of the Russian Orthodox Church, which to this day is still customary to portray in everything as submissive to the will of the kings, opposed this kind of nepotism, and the head of the dissatisfied was St. Philaret. The young man Alexander Nikolaevich in this case showed his best side - he heeded the opinion of the clergy and himself refused to participate in the meetings. Meanwhile, the story of how Saint Philaret refused to consecrate the Arc de Triomphe spread throughout Great Rus'. And this incident generally aroused admiration, especially among the priestly community. One of the most revered spiritual mentors among the people, Archimandrite Photius (Spassky) of the Novgorod Yuryev Monastery, who had previously treated Philaret coldly, greatly changed his attitude towards him. Evil tongues brought gossip to Photius that Philaret was telling the St. Petersburg Metropolitan Seraphim about him, and that is why Seraphim was carrying out his intrigues against Photius. As a result, by the beginning of the 1830s, all of Russia had an idea of ​​​​the division of the Church into two directions - Philaret's and Photiev's, just as the Josephites and Nilovites once were in the 15th-16th centuries, that is, supporters of Joseph of Volotsky and Nil of Sorsky. Filaret, beloved by his flock, had the gift of preaching. Photius, no less beloved by the Orthodox people, had the gift of working miracles. The Filaretites did not like the Fotievites, and the Fotievites did not like the Filaretites. Philaret's supporters reproached Photius for disrespect for the king. Supporters of Photius accused Filaret of excessive submission to state power. Fortunately, having passed through his triumphal gates, Philaret reconciled the pious Photius with himself. He reconciled two trends among our people. And soon he began to receive kind, warm, admiring letters from Photius: “I am close to you in a union of love not according to flesh and blood, but in the Lord, for His sake you gave me the drink of the teachings of faith and clothed me in the image of an angel according to the flesh. I seek the student of living water from your mouth... Ah! Holy Master and my benefactor in the Lord, most beloved! Are you not the joy of everyone, and my joy is the only one who will wipe away the tears of everyone and those closest to you! You are needed in the Church of God! May the light of the Lord shine in you to everyone and to me, and among everyone, may the shadow of the sweetness of your light in the work of grace touch the throat of my heart.” From now on, Photius became a Philaretite and remained so until his death, shortly before which he wrote to his spiritual daughter, Countess Anna Alekseevna Orlova-Chesmenskaya, amazing lines dedicated to Moscow Chrysostom: “I consider it a sign of God’s grace that one of the Muscovites who honors their pastor, mentor and teacher, St. Philaret according to God, truly listens. I will say that I have never heard anything else from Metropolitan Philaret that is for the benefit of the soul. I accept as truth what I myself saw and heard from the lips of Filaret, but I do not believe the rumors of the world. I love him for his wisdom and intelligence, and I kiss his firmness of love. If he loves someone, then if the beloved falls into some sin, he corrects it with the spirit of meekness. Whoever judges him, and it is not given by God to judge, I despise. No one accepts honor except those who are called from God. Filaret doesn’t give any advice about the worst. What I didn’t like at first, I later found beautiful. Time has opened the eyes - and will even open the eyes of a saint. The harlot also taught St. Ephraim wisely: the mouth or God, such as Philaret, will not give us, ardent abbots, meaning, reason?.. The city of Moscow will never have such a wise shepherd as Philaret. His life is better than Plato, like silver than tin. His intentions are always philanthropic and excellent. Shepherd, angel of the Lord. There is a certain abbess in his flock and reveres him as a saint; and I consider the only righteous woman to be the one who acts righteously, thus honoring her saint. This soul will not perish, the bishop’s blessing will fulfill in it the measure of perfection for salvation... True, Philaret does not always develop by nature in tender feelings; but there are features dear to the heart in the lordship of his face and hair. I pray to God for one thing more than anything, that he may be among the saints. I am writing to you, my child, always honor the shadow of your shepherd Philaret... I will never forget his exploits for not consecrating the gates and speaking about them as a shepherd who rules the word of Truth. This is the trait of a shepherd and a saint. Eternity will please him for the word of truth in time.” Time will pass, and Photius’ wish will come true - Philaret will be canonized. By refusing to consecrate the arch crowned with a pagan symbol, Moscow Chrysostom consecrated his triumphal gates, crowned with Christian symbols!