Глава двадцать пятая. Милости Господни 1856–1860

“Spiritual peace to the viceroy father and brethren. Поздравляю и с миром внешним, который подписан в Париже в прошедшее воскресенье. Услышав о нем, я почувствовал некоторое успокоение от скорби, заботы и опасения, но не радость. Вчера узнав о нем, вчера же прочитал я, что английский министр почитает его не миром, а чем-то похожим на мир. Бог мира да дарует нам истинный и совершенный мир», – писал святитель Филарет преподобному Антонию 21 марта 1856 года. The war period is over. A peace treaty was signed in Paris. Завершилась сорокалетняя эпоха трудного первенства России в Европе, продолжавшаяся после разгрома Наполеона и Венского конгресса с 1815 по 1856 год. We can say that the capital of Europe has returned from St. Petersburg to Paris. It is generally accepted that Russia lost the Crimean War. However, a careful study of the Paris Treaty in no way confirms this. Yes, Russia was prohibited from having a fleet in the Black Sea, but also no other state could have one here, including Turkey, since Article XI states: “The Black Sea is declared neutral: entry into the ports and waters of all nations, open to merchant shipping, is formally and forever prohibited to military vessels of both coastal and all other powers.” Therefore, here we were disadvantaged on an equal basis with others. Article II provided: "In consequence of the happy restoration of peace between their Majesties, the lands conquered and occupied by their troops during the war shall be cleared by them." Russia gave Kare to the Turks, and the French and British, according to Article IV, returned “to the All-Russian Emperor the cities and ports: Sevastopol, Balaklava, Kamysh, Evpatoria, Kerch-Yenikale, Kinburn, as well as all other places occupied by the allied forces.” According to Article IV, all prisoners of war from all sides were returned. Moreover, Article IX satisfied the Russian demand regarding Christian subjects of the Ottoman Empire: “E.i.v. The Sultan, in constant concern for the welfare of his subjects, having granted a firman, by which their lot is improved without distinction of religion or tribe and his magnanimous intentions regarding the Christian population of his empire are confirmed, and wishing to give new proof of his feelings in this regard, he decided to communicate to the contracting powers the said firman, issued at his own prompting.” The Wallachian and Moldavian principalities were assigned to Turkey, but Article XXIII stipulated: “The Sublime Porte undertakes to leave independent and national government in these principalities, as well as complete freedom of religion, legislation, trade and navigation.” The same applied to Serbia. The costs of implementing all articles of the Treaty of Paris were borne equally by all countries. Такого не бывает, если одна какая-то страна проиграла. The assertion of Russia's defeat in the Crimean War was beneficial only to anti-state forces within Russia itself and to Herzen in London as evidence of the failure of the ruling monarchy. In fact, there was no defeat, except for the capture of the southern part of Sevastopol. The Paris Peace Treaty is equal and does not prejudice any side. Moreover, the people of England considered themselves the losers most of all! During the celebrations in London on the occasion of the conclusion of peace, people marched with slogans that the war was lost in disgrace. The British believed that the Russian defense was already bursting at all the seams, but the Heavenly Judge's whistle to end the match sounded a few seconds before the winning goal with the score 1:1. (Football was already developing, and the first written rules appeared in 1848.) In Russia, Moscow Chrysostom was the first to say that Europe had not achieved victory. Ten days after the release of the highest manifesto on the end of the war, Metropolitan Philaret met Alexander II in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin with the following speech: - Most pious sovereign! Our eyes and hearts are to you, as before; whereas we see no more of the same things in your second royal year. You inherited a stubborn war against us and against the world; and gave us peace. Your truth and courage did not give up the war; your love for humanity did not refuse the proposed peace. The enemies did not defeat Russia - you defeated the enmity. You animated the war with Christian thought; Through Christian thought you bring about peace. The Fatherland is grateful to you, and strangers give you justice and will give you more fully when passions subside. We must earnestly pray and pray to God that He may prosper you through art and care to heal the wounds without which there could not be war, so that, according to the word of the prophet, truth and peace will kiss each other in your power and that their fruit will be perfect prosperity. But everywhere they continued to talk about Russia’s defeat in the war. Filaret argued furiously. “It’s not true,” he wrote to his friend Sergei Mikhailovich Golitsyn. - The British have been defeated by us; and for the French there is little triumph when they are repulsed from several fortifications and only take one... They are punished a lot: many of them died from the war itself, many were exterminated by disease and storms at sea. Consequently, justice should not only be expected in the future, but in part it has already appeared.” The new emperor never ceased to please Filaret. For the first time in his life, the saint felt that from a representative of the supreme power there emanated a full-fledged desire to follow church regulations in everything or almost everything. Tsar Nicholas himself fasted, but his table was not fast, because most of the courtiers did not consider fasting necessary, taking their example from Europe. About Alexander Nikolaevich, Filaret wrote with pleasure in those days of Great Lent: “His Majesty’s table is fast, partly exactly according to the rules of this Sunday, partly exactly according to the rules of the Annunciation. It is desirable that this example be used by many who need it.” At the same time, the sovereign announced to Filaret that the ancient character of icon painting would be restored, and asked to make a sufficient number of icons for him and the empress according to the ancient isographic regulations. Every day of the new reign brought joy. While in Moscow, on March 30, Alexander II gave a speech to the Moscow nobility in which he expressed hope for the abolition of serfdom in the foreseeable future. Many did not like this, others sighed: “Finally!” Nesselrode was finally removed from his post. By this time, the activities of Gorchakov, who managed in Vienna to ensure Austria’s non-participation in the war against Russia, received the highest praise from the emperor. Alexander II awarded him the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, and on April 15, 1856, Alexander Mikhailovich was appointed the new Minister of Foreign Affairs. Upon accepting the position, he immediately made it clear that he would make every effort to eliminate the results of the Paris Peace and return Russia to primacy in European diplomacy. Gorchakov henceforth accompanied Alexander II everywhere during his trips to foreign sovereigns. Thanks to his diplomatic genius, Russia for many years had the opportunity to take a break from wars, gain strength, rearm and strengthen itself enough to then conduct a very successful campaign in Turkestan, expand its influence in the Far East and China, and in the late 1870s defeat Turkey in the Balkan War. Leaving Moscow, the sovereign scheduled the coronation for August, and from that time on, Filaret was excitedly preparing for the upcoming important event - after all, this time it would not be the St. Petersburg ruler who would be given the honor of crowning the emperor, but the Moscow one! This also couldn’t help but rejoice. The Emperor made it clear that he wanted to return Moscow to its former ancient significance as the Orthodox capital of the Russian state. Filaret’s friend Sergei Mikhailovich Golitsyn also received a specific appointment - he was appointed supreme marshal of the coronation. That is, in Moscow he became the main person responsible for all preparations for the solemn ceremony. They worked out the ceremony together - Golitsyn and Filaret. Easter that year was filled with special joy. War worries disappeared; a reign lay ahead that promised to be better than the previous ones. On Bright Tuesday, the birthday of Alexander II was celebrated, and in the Miracle Monastery, Moscow Chrysostom addressed his flock: – Once again I appeal to you, current disciples of Christ, children of the Apostolic Church, and to your conscience, so that it may consider with a vigilant eye whether your Sunday day corresponds to the Apostolic Sunday. Is your time, your thoughts, your feelings, your interviews, your activities truly dedicated to Christ? Do you remember the suffering and death of Christ with tenderness and gratitude, as if they suffered for us? Do you remember the resurrection of Christ not only with joy for yourself, but also with the desire for similar joy and salvation for everyone? May love for Christ animate and elevate your joy. Let your love for the world not turn your joy into frivolous joy. However, the spirit of Christ is not the enemy of human lawful joys. Thus, He blesses our present joy in remembering the blessed birth of our most pious autocrat. In those days, the death of a man whom Filaret had become his first opponent a quarter of a century ago went almost unnoticed. A few hours before the Easter holiday, Pyotr Yakovlevich Chaadaev died on Novo-Basmannaya. Under the influence of Filaret, his life changed for the better, he increasingly discovered the Christian in himself, and said that the future of humanity would be united precisely in Christianity. His death was somewhat reminiscent of Gogol’s. Chaadaev lost his appetite, ate almost nothing and was rapidly aging every day. At sixty-two years old, he looked like a ninety-year-old man. Before his death, Pyotr Yakovlevich called a priest, confessed, wanted to go somewhere, changed his mind and died. They say: if you die on Easter, this is a sign that you have been forgiven by the Lord... And Moscow, from Easter to Dormition, lived with one thing - the anticipation of the coronation celebrations. The event itself was scheduled for a special day - Sunday August 26, the day of the holy martyrs Adrian and Natalia, the feast of the Presentation of the Icon of the Vladimir Mother of God in memory of the deliverance of Moscow from Tamerlane. And this is the day of the Battle of Borodino. As agreed in advance, on August 14, on the eve of the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, the sovereign arrived in Moscow and, according to the custom established by Paul I, settled in the Petrovsky Travel Palace. For the first time, the Tsar arrived by rail and without much fanfare. And the Great and Small crowns, the scepter, the orb, porphyry, the crown insignia of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, the state seal, the sword and the banner were delivered to the Kremlin. Having celebrated the Dormition and broken the fast after a two-week fast, on Friday, August 17, Alexander Nikolaevich, accompanied by his family and retinue, moved from the Petrovsky Palace to the Kremlin. This time his procession along Tverskaya Street was distinguished by splendor, all of Moscow was ringing bells, gun salvos thundered. The Emperor and his entourage rode on horseback, the Empress in a carriage. At the chapel of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, the Tsar dismounted, the Tsarina left the carriage, everyone venerated the icon and entered the Kremlin. Preparations were made for more than a week, the entire complex ceremony was practiced. Finally the long-awaited day has arrived. A platoon of cavalry guards went to Cathedral Square and lined up on both sides of the porch of the Assumption Cathedral. Twenty-four chamber-pages and the same number of pages followed, entered the cathedral, and then awaited the end of the ceremony in the Synodal Chamber. Sixteen adjutant generals carried out the canopy under which the emperor and empress walked, and thus they approached the Assumption Cathedral. Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow and Kolomna was already standing here, waiting. All summer he tried not to catch a cold, and in his letters there is almost nothing about illnesses, but a few days before the coronation he still caught a cold, and when now Moscow Chrysostom made a welcoming speech, one can imagine that he spoke the same way as the unforgettable Patriarch Alexy II in the last years of his life, with difficulty overcoming his hoarseness: - Most pious great sovereign! Great is your present coming. May his meeting be worthy. Russia accompanies you. The Church meets you. Russia sends you a prayer of love and hope. The Church receives you with a prayer of love and hope. Will so many prayers not penetrate into heaven? But who is worthy here to bless your entrance? – May the First See of this church, who for five centuries until now has predicted the glory of kings in this place, Saint Peter, stand before us, and, through his heavenly blessing, may a heavenly blessing descend on you, and with you on Russia. Everyone entered the cathedral. Alexander Nikolaevich sat on the throne of Ivan III the Great, Maria Alexandrovna - on the throne of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov. The sacrament of anointing from the carnelian crab of the Roman Emperor Augustus was performed, the sovereign kissed the cross of Peter I, which saved him from a bullet during the Battle of Poltava, and proceeded to the coronation. Saint Philaret placed the Great Crown of the Russian Empire on the head of the emperor, and the scepter and orb in his hands. During the coronation, an incident occurred - before passing into the left hand of the emperor, the orb was on the floor. The fact is that General Pyotr Dmitrievich Gorchakov, who was carrying her on a pillow, felt dizzy from the excitement and heat that reigned in Moscow in those days and fell. The heavy power rolled across the floor. Gorchakov was the hero of all wars of this century, from Napoleonic to Crimean, where he did not spare himself. Fifteen years before that he served as Governor-General of Western Siberia. He had a lot of stamina. And you had to be so embarrassed! And what a bad omen!.. Alexander Nikolaevich discharged the tension and, while they were raising the power, said cheerfully: - It doesn’t matter that he fell. The main thing is that he stood firm on the battlefields! Everyone smiled and the coronation continued. Having performed the sacrament, Filaret again made a speech: - God crowned you, for His Providence led you to this by the law of succession to the throne, which He laid down and sanctified when, having accepted the king as an instrument of His Divine rule, He uttered His decree about him: from the fruit of your womb I will plant on your throne (Ps. 131:11). God has crowned you: for He gives according to your heart (Ps. 19:5), and your heart desired not only the solemn appearance of your Majesty, but especially the mysterious overshadowing from the Lord of the Sovereign Spirit, the spirit of wisdom and knowledge, the spirit of counsel and strength. We have heard your prayer about this now: The Knower of the Heart heeded it earlier; and when you were slow to accept your crown, because you continued to defend and pacify your kingdom, He hastened to calm the storm of battle, so that you could fulfill your royal prayer in peace and so that the crown of inheritance would be for you the crown of achievement. So, you rejoice in the Lord with might, O divinely crowned king, and rejoice greatly in His salvation (Ps. 20:1). Rejoice in the same way, most pious empress, in the glory of your most illustrious husband, illuminated and sanctified from above and illuminating you with a sacred ray. Be comforted and rejoice, most pious mother of the king. The fruit of your womb has already ripened and is sweet for Russia. Rejoice brightly, Orthodox Church, and let your collective prayer of faith, love and gratitude ascend to the throne of the Most High, when He places the sacred seal of His election on the one chosen from His people, as on the longed-for firstborn of your sons, on your faithful and strong defender, on the successive executor of the ancient word of destinies about you: kings will be your feeders (Is. 49:23). Glow with joy, Russia. God's favor has shone upon you in the sacred glory of your king... From the Assumption Cathedral, the newly crowned Emperor and Empress, accompanied by Metropolitan Philaret, went to the Archangel Cathedral, where they bowed to all the Moscow sovereigns. And from there - to a gala dinner in the Faceted Chamber. Unfortunately, the governor of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Anthony, was personally present at all coronation celebrations. Why unfortunately? If he had not been there, Filaret would have described to him in great detail everything that happened. But no. After the coronation, the sovereign was in no hurry to leave Moscow, carefully examined the Mother See, and the celebrations continued. August 30 is the day of Alexander Nevsky, and the tsar celebrated his name day, celebrating the liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral and receiving communion from the hands of the Moscow First Hierarch, and then held a feast again in the Faceted Chamber. On September 10, a meeting of the Holy Synod took place in Moscow, at which all its members were present, except for Metropolitan Nikanor (Klimentyevsky) of Novgorod and St. Petersburg. He was in Moscow all this time and even participated in divine services, read the Gospel in the cathedral on Alexander’s Day, but he felt ill and could not come to the meeting of the Synod, he went to St. Petersburg and died there on September 17. And on this day, September 10, a long-awaited joy awaited Saint Philaret - all those present unanimously decided to resume work on translating the books of Holy Scripture into Russian! Taking advantage of the emperor's strong favor towards him, Filaret deliberately composed and submitted a note on the need to continue the translation work, proving that the Russian language was not inferior in expressiveness to the Old Church Slavonic. And now the note had an effect! The Moscow Metropolitan was instructed to immediately submit to the Synod the decision of the meeting, which he, of course, immediately fulfilled. Alexander Ivanovich Karasevsky, due to illness, asked to be relieved of his duties, and on September 20, Filaret learned the good news - who had become the new chief prosecutor of the Synod. A wonderful person, the same one from whom Gogol had shelter and affection in the last part of his life. Count Alexander Petrovich Tolstoy. He was fifty-four, in his youth he went on campaigns to survey the Caspian and Azov seas and exterminate sea robbers, took part in all military actions of the detachment and was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th degree with a bow. Having left military service, he entered the College of Foreign Affairs, was assigned to the embassy in Paris, traveled on diplomatic missions to Constantinople, from where he traveled, as his service record says, “to surrounding countries for military-topographical descriptions and on secret missions.” After war was declared on Turkey in 1828, Alexander Petrovich again entered military service and fought under the command of General Dibich. For his distinction in the capture of the Turkish fortresses of Aidas and Burgas, he was awarded the Order of St. Anne, 3rd degree with a bow and 2nd degree and a golden sword with the inscription “For bravery,” and was appointed aide-de-camp to Emperor Nicholas I, but after the end of the war he decided to continue serving in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and retired. In 1830, he received the court title of chamberlain and appointment as first secretary of the Russian mission in Greece. This appointment did not suit him, and he moved to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the 1830s he was first the Tver civil governor, and then the Odessa military governor, and in September 1837 he was renamed major general. In the 1840s, he retired from public service and lived either abroad or in Moscow, where he often communicated on friendly terms with Metropolitan Philaret. When the Crimean War broke out, Tolstoy accepted the post of chief of the Nizhny Novgorod militia and in 1856 received the rank of lieutenant general. Terty Ivanovich Filippov, the future state controller, served under Tolstoy as an official on special assignments on issues of the Eastern Orthodox churches and left the following memories: “The appointment of gr. Alexander Petrovich became Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod (September 20, 1856) during the sovereign’s stay in Moscow on the occasion of his royal wedding and, despite all its surprise, it did not surprise anyone; on the contrary, it seemed completely natural to everyone: this is how his moral image, which was completely consistent with this appointment, had already taken shape and was imprinted in the general idea. He himself accepted this appointment, suddenly and against his will, as a calling to which he was obliged to obey, and in this thought he found peace from those internal anxieties that he could not help but experience with a vivid representation of the diverse and difficult tasks associated with his election, with his refined conscientiousness and with a clear awareness of the incorrectness of the established relations of the Chief Prosecutor with the Holy Synod.” According to Filippov, “he diligently followed all the decrees of the Church and was especially precise in observing fasting, which he brought to such strictness that for some weeks of Lent he avoided even consuming vegetable oil. To the comments that he often heard about the uselessness of such strictness in analyzing food, he usually replied that he was unable to fulfill other, higher demands of the Christian law, such as, for example, complete victory over subtle, deeply rooted passions from habit, and therefore he chose at least such a simple and even accessible means to express his submission to the dictates of the Church...” The famous Slavophile, philosopher and publicist Ivan Vasilyevich Kireevsky said about Tolstoy: “It becomes easier to live after meeting such a person as Count Alexander Petrovich.” The new chief prosecutor first decided to take on such an important topic as translations of the Holy Scriptures. In order to further gain support, he sent the draft protocol of the Synodal Assembly to another Filaret (Amphiteatrov) - the Metropolitan of Kyiv. And he suddenly responded with a sharp refusal. And in October, Filaret of Moscow wrote to the governor of Trinity-Sergius sadly: “And the matter of translating the Holy Scriptures, it seems, will be subject to objections from the new synodal chief prosecutor. The Bishop of Kiev announced to him his decisive opinion that he should not translate, so that this would not lead to the oblivion of the Slavic language, which is the liturgical language. - The will of the Lord be done. “May the Lord arrange what is useful for His Church, which is infallibly known to Him alone.” What can I say? Of course, one can understand the concerns of those who opposed the transfer. But, in the end, the translation was completed, and soon we have been living for a century and a half, having the Bible both in Old Church Slavonic and in Russian, and this has not in any way led to the oblivion of the Old Church Slavonic language! Be that as it may, at the end of 1856, which brought more joys than sorrows, Filaret was somewhat perplexed whether it was good that the sick Alexander Ivanovich was replaced as chief prosecutor by the living and active Alexander Petrovich. He probably thought about this at the burial of Karasevsky, who died on the eve of the Nativity of Christ. I also thought about my own death, which was just around the corner. How long can you be sick and suffer? A non-believer cannot understand how one can think about death with love. And even if you believe, you are still amazed at how Filaret talks about death. How about birth. Of course, not in the same understanding as the spiritualists, not in the sense of the transmigration of the soul into another body, but about birth - into the invisible world: “Yesterday we sang a funeral service over Alexander Ivanovich Karasevsky. He well-intentionedly administered the sacraments to himself, ended about 24 hours, and was born into the invisible world on the day and close to the hour at which Christ the Savior was born into the visible world.” Let us not forget to name the chapter about the death of Metropolitan Philaret himself – “Birth”. Throughout 1857 there was a struggle for permission to translate the Bible. Two Filarets collided. It was not enemies who clashed, but sincere friends and like-minded people in everything except this issue. Philaret of Kiev, not without reason, feared that the same thing would happen in Europe, that the translation might serve as a starting point for the emergence of some semblance of Lutheranism in our country. Filaret of Moscow never showed concern on this score, which means he was sure that the emergence of Lutheranism in Russia was impossible. He had no doubt about the need for translation. This necessity arose from missionary needs in the vast expanses of the vast empire. Chief Prosecutor Tolstoy, loving both Filarets, nevertheless bowed to Kievsky’s opinion. Metropolitan Filaret of Kiev, in the world Fyodor Grigorievich Amfitheatrov, was three and a half years older than Filaret of Moscow and at that time stood on a par with him in terms of respect. When Filaret (Drozdov) received the Moscow See, Filaret (Amphiteatrov) was still only the Bishop of Kaluga and Borovsk, then became Bishop of Ryazan, elevated to the rank of Archbishop, transferred to Kazan, and on April 18, 1837 he was appointed Metropolitan of Kyiv, decisively fought against Uniatism and contributed to the mass transition of Uniates to the fold Russian Orthodox Church. Under him, the Kyiv Theological Academy flourished magnificently. Having settled in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Philaret began organizing the internal life of the Lavra monastery according to the rules of monastic life established by the founders of the Lavra - the Monks Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk. Filaret (Amphiteatrov) highly respected his Moscow namesake, but in the matter of translating the Bible he initially stood against him and maintained his position until the end of his days. After 1855 he became very ill and liked to say that his days were numbered. Indeed, he had little time to live and his struggle against the translation of the Holy Scriptures in 1857 can be called dying. He raised seven objections. First: despite the fact that the Hebrew language was constantly changing, the scribes left the text of the Old Testament unchanged, limiting themselves to interpreting it for the people, and therefore, we should do the same. Second: due to possible damage to the Hebrew text, the Lord preserved it in the form of a Greek translation, the Septuagint, and this translation was made “under the undoubted guidance of the Spirit of God.” Third: The Eastern Greek Church, having accepted the Septuagint, did not translate it into Modern Greek, but interpreted the Bible to the people according to the old translation. Fourth: the translation of the Russian Bible Society “was made not only not with the blessing of the Greek hierarchs, but decidedly without their knowledge and against their will.” Fifth: the Slavic translation carried out by Saints Cyril and Methodius is based on the Septuagint. Sixth: other Slavic churches do not make translations in the languages ​​of their peoples. And seventh: the idea of ​​a Russian translation was not born among the hierarchy or among the people, but came from England, “the nest of all heresies, sects and revolutions.” The latter was unfair, it turned out that she came from England, but Philaret (Amphiteatrov) also drove her away, and then she went straight to Saint Philaret (Drozdov), who either did not know what England was like, or, even worse, knew and became a supporter of the thought that came from “the nest of all heresies, sects and revolutions.” So, two truths clashed - the cautious truth and the brave truth. And that's good. If there had not been a first one, liberties would have been possible. Without the second one, missionary work in the vast expanses of the empire would have become impossible. The polemic of the two Philaret is similar to the polemic in the 15th-16th centuries between Joseph of Volotsky and Nil Sorsky about monastic acquisitiveness and non-covetousness and about the attitude towards heretics - to have mercy or to burn, where both are right and in a dispute they do not destroy each other, and in this dispute they hold the Truth with powerful supports on both sides. “Being obliged to give a review on this matter, I call on God, the Creator of Holy Scripture, who in the person of the holy apostles of His Church gave the gift of languages ​​and dialects, so that all peoples would first hear what was preached, and then read His written word, each in an understandable language and dialect; I call on God so that He will not allow my thoughts and words to deviate from the fact that it is prosperous and useful for Him for His Church in general and for Christian souls separately,” wrote Filaret of Moscow, entering into polemics with Filaret of Kyiv on each of the seven objections. The emperor himself asked him to give answers to the objections of the Kyiv ruler, and these answers were obvious: the Jews did not translate the ancient texts, but a translation was made into Greek; The Greeks did not translate from ancient Greek, but a translation was made into Slavic by Cyril and Methodius, and now Old Church Slavonic has become so far from Russian, and especially in the last half century, that not only the flock, but also the clergy does not understand everything that is in the Holy Scriptures. There are languages ​​that slow down in their development for a long time, and there are those that develop rapidly. French of the 18th century is not much different from today. Russian has changed a lot. Our contemporary understands the prose of the 19th century without difficulty, but that written in the 18th century is no longer so easy, not to mention the one that is five or six centuries away from us. Shakespeare's language is generally understandable to an Englishman, but the language of Shakespeare's Russian contemporaries seems strange to today's Russians. To the objection based on the fact that other Eastern Orthodox churches do not strive for new translations, Filaret of Moscow rightly responded that, being under the yoke of Muslims, they do not have translators, which is why they do not translate. Now all that remained was to wait patiently to see whose point of view the tsar would take, followed by the chief prosecutor. Meanwhile, the sovereign was already absorbed in thoughts about the Peasant Reform, and on January 3, 1857, a special secret committee began work under the personal chairmanship of Alexander II. There was an addition to the royal family - a son, Sergei, was born, the future Moscow governor-general and chairman of the Imperial Palestinian Orthodox Society, the same one who would be blown up in the Kremlin by the Socialist-Revolutionary terrorist Kalyaev. Metropolitan Philaret ordered that a large image of St. Sergius be sent to the newborn, so that it could be placed in his room, and another small one, which would be at his cradle and, “maybe, in time, on his chest.” The saint experienced troubling days at the beginning of 1857. His best Moscow friend, Prince Sergei Mikhailovich Golitsyn, became seriously ill. He was already over eighty, but he tried to stay cheerful, took long walks around Moscow every day, received many guests and remained that Moscow gentleman who no longer remained. The last Moscow gentleman - that’s what Muscovites called him. What was meant by this concept was explained in his notes by Moscow postal director Alexander Yakovlevich Bulgakov: “The ceremonial receptions of the Moscow boyars are over, there are no longer open houses, because the palaces have all been sold, and the boyars have also disappeared. We often hear a saying, repeated by everyone, that with the death of Prince Sergius Mich. Golitsyn, the last Russian gentleman will disappear.” “He gives holidays, balls to the Sovereign and the Royal family, when the court makes Moscow happy with its presence. He treats foreign princes and famous travelers visiting the ancient Russian capital. He supports useful establishments. He generously helps the poor, etc. We have completely lost the bar, the nobles, this selected, special class of people who combine in themselves: nobility, wealth, merit; people whose very name reminded them of famous ancestors, people distinguished by their cordial hospitality, with affection, always accompanied by some kind of not proud, but majestic posture that inspired respect. Such were the Razumovskys, Orlovs, Potemkins, Rumyantsevs, Vorontsovs, Chernyshevs, Repnins and many others during the reign of Catherine II, but from that time the fortunes, with gradual fragmentation from passing into different hands, began to collapse without being replaced by new ones.” In March, Sergei Mikhailovich celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his impeccable service as an honorary guardian of the Moscow Board of Trustees. Moscow Chrysostom made a speech in his honor: – Men of honorable ranks, chosen servants of the Tsar’s love for mankind, counted fifty years of activity as their collaborator and elder; with the gaze of respect and sympathy we measured an unusually long series of feats in one exalted field... But if you expect me to enter into your work and also weave a crown of words for the one crowned by you, I will not fulfill your expectation: for I know that with the fulfillment of this I am not satisfied, and the one who, in his deeds, always had in mind and has in mind not praise and glory from people, but duty, truth, benefit, love for mankind, faithful fulfillment of the Sovereign will, and finally, Christ Himself set the goal for human activity - glory, even from the one God (John 5:44). I do not hesitate to say that the celebration you arranged would not have been very sublime if it contained only the desire to do something pleasant for one venerable person. The highest dignity of your triumph lies in the fact that through it you express public opinion, which reveres time-tested and mature virtue; and thus speak a powerful lesson to yourself and others. And after the celebrations he fell ill. On other days he was on the threshold of death. This time God did not want the birth of Sergei Mikhailovich into the invisible world, the prince recovered and now Filaret was sick again instead of him. In addition to colds, headaches and toothaches, frequent nosebleeds were now added. Spring and summer passed, autumn came, and there was still no decision regarding the translation of the Bible. The saint was sad, angry... On May 31, the Holy Synod expressed gratitude to him for his special, constant care for the improvement of the Moscow Theological Academy, but it would have been better instead of gratitude - the long-awaited permission! When Filaret learned about the decision to erect a monument to the “Millennium of Russia” in Novgorod, he did not really approve, writing to Anthony that this “undertaking did not come from lofty wisdom,” and allocated a very modest donation from the diocese for this monument. In his own way, he was right. Now we are already accustomed to the fact that there is a Mikeshin masterpiece in Novgorod, but then the idea of ​​​​creating a monument with many figures from ten centuries of Russian history could well be intimidating: about many characters there was no unanimous opinion - to include this or that figure in the Russian pantheon or not. Take, for example, Ivan the Terrible, who, as you know, is not on the monument at all - our society is still split into two polar camps: some curse the first Russian Tsar, inventing new atrocities of his, others are ready even now to proclaim Ivan Vasilyevich a saint. So the idea was good, but not perfect... But the continuation of the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior did not cease to please, which the saint could observe both from the windows of Sergei Mikhailovich’s house and while personally visiting the construction site. Konstantin Andreevich Ton consulted with Filaret in everything, made changes to the project as the work progressed, surrounded the drum windows of the large dome dome with an arcade, made the domes themselves, both small and large, ribbed, shells appeared, similar to those on the mosquito bars of the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin. Regarding the shape of the altar windows, Filaret personally gave a written explanation to the Governor-General: “In ancient cathedral churches, for example, in the Assumption Cathedral, there are three windows on the eastern wall, of course, with the thought of the trinitarian light of the Holy Trinity, and in the newly built Cathedral of Christ the Savior on the eastern side there are three windows. Consequently, this is in accordance with ancient church custom and there is no need to close up these windows. And they are useful for light in the altar. Inserting colored glass with images of saints or a holy cross in the middle window will also be in accordance with the location and splendor of the altar.” In 1851, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was finished in rough form, but stood in the scaffolding for several more years - finishing of its exterior continued, the famous high reliefs were installed, which were initially supposed to be made of bronze by electroplating, since Carrara marble would be destroyed in the Moscow climate, but before that they tried to use Protopopov’s marble in the basement, bases, pilasters, columns, cornices and facade arches marble, it lived up to expectations, so we decided to use it when making high reliefs. The church, almost ready from the outside, remained in the forests. And the matter of translating the Bible remained “in the woods,” although the cup was already tipping in Philaret’s favor. The opinion of the sovereign inclined this cup. And after the tsar, the chief prosecutor was ready to reconcile. At the end of October, he met with Filaret and said that he would not support the point of view of the Kiev ruler. “Only I think that this will lead to the decline of the Slavic dialect, and I regret that,” Alexander Petrovich nevertheless sighed. That autumn, the Bishop of Kiev approached his birth into the invisible world; on November 26, 1857, his Moscow namesake received a farewell letter, in which Filaret (Amphiteatrov) hurried to testify to his love, which disagreements could not interfere with. “The Bishop of Kiev wrote to me for the last time on November 26 and told my unworthiness that he loves me with the love of Christ,” the Moscow bishop told his confessor. On December 21, Metropolitan of Kiev Filaret (Amphiteatrov) passed away into another world, the approach of which he had been rejoicing all the time. In Sergei Mikhailovich’s house there was more than once talk about the upcoming Peasant Reform. Neither Golitsyn himself nor his Eminence guest shared enthusiasm for the Tsar’s plans to abolish serfdom. Both were inveterate retrogrades on this issue. “One thing that consoles me about my imminent death,” Sergei Mikhailovich used to say, “is that I will not see the impending emancipation of the peasants, this revolution, which, in my opinion, will not pass peacefully.” “Those coming from St. Petersburg say that there is strong talk about changing the situation of the peasants,” Filaret wrote to the Lavra. - And they told me twice, but I don’t know from what source they got the information, that the Monk Sergius appeared to the Emperor and gave instructions not to do this. May the Lord keep the king’s heart in His hand and may He arrange what is good and useful.” Before starting the reform, the tsarist government carried out the next, tenth audit. The first nine revisions took place in the period from 1747 to 1837, and all of them showed a stable figure - 45 percent of the Russian population were serfs. The audit of 1857–1858 showed a new figure - 37 percent, that is, there were already fewer serfs than free ones. By this time, the remnants of serfdom had already been exterminated in Germany, Poland, and Austria-Hungary. The United States was a slave-owning country, where in the fifteen states that did not abandon slavery, there were four million black slaves per twelve million population, that is, out of three people, one was a slave. It must be remembered that the situation of blacks in America was much worse than the situation of serfs in Russia in the mid-19th century. In 1857–1859, a population census was held in Russia. It turned out that the subjects of Alexander II were seventy-four million people, of which twenty million were serfs, two million were appanage peasants, that is, living on lands belonging to the imperial family, and eighteen million state peasants, that is, attached to the land, but having personal freedom. In Estland, Courland, Livonia, in the Land of the Black Sea Army, in Primorye, in the Semipalatinsk region, in the region of the Siberian Kirghiz, in the Derbent region and the Caspian region, in the Erivan, Arkhangelsk and Shemakha provinces, in Transbaikalia and Yakutia there were no serfs at all. In other places, the smallest percentage was in Bessarabia - one, and the largest - sixty-nine - in the Smolensk region. Be that as it may, the problem remained. Among those who opposed it were mainly not opponents of the reform as such, but opponents of the proposed measures to resolve the issue. Three years before the manifesto on the abolition of serfdom, Filaret wrote: “In Austria, the new dispensation of the peasants, to which ours wants to be similar, did not turn out to be successful. Some lands, which were cultivated under the authority of the landowners, remain uncultivated due to the freedom of the peasants. Estates taken over by peasants are sold at auction for non-payment of taxes; Consequently, beggary increases. But here, it seems, things could have been better if the good landowners had explained the matter well to the peasants and reached thoughtful agreements with them. One landowner called the elders of his peasants and gave them to read what was proposed from the government; and although their first word was: better the old way, but, seeing the need, they began to talk about an agreement. The landowner offered them the estates not with a ransom, but as a gift; then he appointed how much land he would give them for cultivation, with what payment for the tithe, and he volunteered to hire the landowner’s arable land to cultivate, and they, agreeing on the rest, said about the last article: no, master, you’ll go broke; hiring free people will be dear to you; and tell us to process this share for you as before; It's not hard for us. So, continuing the agreement, they drew up rules in which they took precautions against frustration from self-will. If the best had entered into the matter in this way, even the worst could have succeeded with less fear of harm. But how many will understand and try?” Rumors came from somewhere that Filaret was also called upon to participate in the development of the reform. He resolutely denied: “I didn’t even think about touching the peasants’ affairs. And it’s none of my business, and it’s hard to imagine what could be done reliably, when the matter got underway, it’s inconvenient to return, the called-up actors don’t see what to do, and there’s no unity between them. We must pray that the Lord will guide them to what is true and useful.” Yes, at this time Filaret had not yet participated in any way in matters of reform. He was busy with many of his other usual affairs - the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, troubles about translating the Bible, the struggle for the conversion of schismatics and much, much more. He did not forget from time to time to give his heartfelt sermons, teaching his flock first of all to think about the divine and heavenly, and only then about the earthly, temporary. He taught that the main role models are Christian saints: – They say that in modern times it is no longer convenient to strive in imitation of the saints. What times are these? When did they start? Is there a solid answer to this? And could any times change the duty laid upon us by God for our salvation? If there are inconveniences for sanctifying feats in present times, weren’t there them in ancient times as well? Was it more convenient than now in the first centuries of Christianity to strive in Christian piety, in virtue, in holiness, among temptations from an idolatrous, faithless, and extremely depraved world, among persecutions from authorities hostile to Christianity? We admit with sorrow that the current world, called Christian, is too replete with examples of vanity, luxury, carnality, untruth, and partly even unbelief; and that its temptations are strong: but is the world, which tempts us to evil, stronger than God, who gives us all His Divine powers, including life and piety? God has and gives strength; the world has and gives weaknesses: who tells us to accept not strength from God, but weaknesses from the world? Our arbitrary lack of faith does not rise to God in order to receive from Him the powers that are good and victorious over evil; our cowardice humiliates itself before the world and borrows from it weaknesses that pave the way for vice and evil. The temptations of the world are strong not by themselves, but by our arbitrary weakness. 1858 was the year of liberation from forests. In Moscow, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior shone in all its external grandeur, the first most important stage of its construction was completed, and the scaffolding was removed from it. The interior decoration was still pending, and many years remained before the consecration of the cathedral, but the majestic church from now on became an integral part of the general appearance of Moscow, it could be freely looked at from everywhere, and from everywhere it amazed with its sovereign beauty. And in St. Petersburg they “took the scaffolding” from the decision to translate the Bible. On March 20, the Holy Synod finally decided to publish the Russian Bible. Joy about this event cannot be found in Filaret’s letters and statements, and the reason for this, I think, is that he did not believe in finality, he was afraid that someone would again decisively speak out against it and the Synod would reconsider the decision. How many times has this happened! But nevertheless, the work of translating the Holy Scriptures got underway, and now it was necessary to do this work “slowly, hastily.” If in Moscow the main church still had to be completed from the inside, then in the Northern capital St. Isaac's Cathedral was ready for consecration. After Metropolitan Nikanor, who died in 1856, Philaret’s favorite student Grigory (Postnikov) became bishop in St. Petersburg while studying at the Theological Academy. To this day, he deeply revered his teacher, consulted him in everything and ardently supported the desire to translate the Bible into Russian and other languages ​​of the empire. Being the Archbishop of Kazan and Sviyazhsk, he was an active missionary and personally translated the Holy Scriptures into the Tatar language. There was constant correspondence between the Moscow and St. Petersburg metropolitans. In particular, the letter dated July 30, 1857 is very famous, in which, answering Gregory’s question, Filaret writes that the name commemoration of all members of the royal family at the liturgy could well have been shortened: “With the blessing of God, the imperial family has increased to 23 persons. This series of names on the royal day, during the service of the bishop, at one liturgy with a prayer service (except for Vespers and Matins or the All-Night Vigil) is proclaimed 12 times and is remembered 2 more times in prayers secretly. Even before the present time, some persons of the highest family have noticed that the frequent repetition of the same names unnecessarily prolongs the service and is not conducive to the attention of prayer. There is an urgent need to think about some reduction, and this requires not innovation in worship, but a return to the simpler order of the ancient liturgical books.” In this regard, one cannot help but mention the anecdote about how the emperor, apparently it was still Alexander the Blessed, asked Philaret: – Is it possible to shorten the tediously long service? “It’s possible,” answered the saint. – It can be shortened by fifteen minutes if we reduce the commemoration of the entire imperial family. Another bright message from Filaret to Gregory concerns the translation of the Bible: “Thank you for your attention to what I wrote about the prayer book and the translation of the Holy Scriptures. Count A.P. roughly does not share our opinion on the last subject; and this is the first fault of the late ruler of Kyiv. But if the work pleases God, people will not stop it. Is it better that a Russian translation of the Bible, announced in London by a printed advertisement, be distributed throughout Russia, in which they promise, for the sake of clarity, to destroy characteristic expressions and words, such as, for example, apostle, testament, in which direction, of course, dogmas will not be spared? This is reminiscent of the opinion of some current Orthodox writers that people who believe in Christ and are in the bosom of the Church, but do not have a spiritual title, do not have the right to write anything on an Orthodox theme, touch on the personalities of Orthodox saints, write books about spiritual ascetics... Should we really expect this to be done without hesitation by authors who are generally alien to Orthodoxy, but who clearly grasp the market conditions and are ready to write about any topic?! And in May 1858, Bishop Gregory sent Bishop Philaret a draft of the ceremony for the consecration of St. Isaac's Cathedral, received corrections from him and took everything into account with reverence. How joyful it was for Moscow Chrysostom that the symphony between Moscow and St. Petersburg had finally arrived! The dispute that arose in 1858 between Filaret and his confessor is also worthy of attention. Reverend Anthony suddenly - and quite rightly! - he rebelled against the fact that some visitors to the monastery receive one treatment, others another, others - even the highest level. In general, he was right, a monastery is a monastery, people leave the world here, escape from the bustle of the world, and what is the gradation of receiving guests if not the bustle of the world? And the Orthodox kings themselves must understand that the clergy and monks, although they remain subjects of their empire, are to a much greater extent subjects of the empire of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. And appearing in all their splendor in quiet abodes, they break the silence. Filaret, somewhat slyly, but one cannot help but admit that he was brilliant, answered his confessor: “Reverend Sergius did not care about receiving guests, even high-ranking ones, you say. Is it true. He was not like us; and the guests were differently disposed; and these were not customs that could not be completely neglected. We will take care, as best we can, of goodwill towards good guests. As for silence, I hope that you are not deprived of it either and that external rumor does not penetrate much into the inner cage. To bear the burdens of the brethren is a matter of patience; and in patience, I think, there is a grain of silence.” And Anthony should have understood that now was not the time to teach the emperor and his family how they should come to the monasteries and what kind of reception they should expect, because Philaret had reason to fear the royal disfavor and a new ban on the translation of the Holy Scriptures. Another controversy arose that year over the "Oblivans" and "Pogruzhentsevs." Christian tradition requires that during the baptismal ceremony the person being baptized be immersed three times and completely in the font. This symbolizes the Savior’s three-day stay in the tomb on the eve of the great miracle of His resurrection. And the Greek word itself “ßàπτισμα” means precisely “immersion.” But in the Western Church, a custom began to simplify the form of the sacrament, and instead of immersion, they began to pour it with blessed water. In the middle of the 19th century it spread to us. Many unscrupulous priests, trying to make their pastoral tasks easier, also began to pour instead of immersion. There was confusion. The Patriarchate of Constantinople came out with a strong condemnation of dousing and even demanded that dousing be considered invalid baptism. The Orthodox, who stood firm on preserving the foundations, invented the contemptuous word “Oblivanets.” On the one hand, they were completely right - any simplification leads to further simplifications, today they pour water instead of immersion, tomorrow they will generally say that it is enough to read a prayer, the day after tomorrow they will reduce the order of the sacrament, etc., it will come to the point that they will baptize in absentia, and then they will stop baptizing altogether, they will declare that the Lord will figure out who is a believer and who is not. On the other hand, the “immersions” went so far as to demand that the “Oblivants” be recognized as unbaptized, and, therefore, in need of repeated, correct baptism. Saint Philaret, agreeing that it was necessary to observe the custom of complete immersion, defended the point of view that the “Olivans” were also baptized, only in violation of the form of the sacrament. There is no need to rebaptize them, but you need to trust in the will of the Lord. Unfortunately, this dispute has not yet been eliminated, and in many modern Orthodox churches the priests allow a dishonest attitude towards this issue, they baptize not by full immersion, but by simplified dousing, which, according to custom, is allowed only in cases where immersion is impossible - for example, a person decided to be baptized before death and is lying on a sick bed or is sick with something that does not allow him to be immersed. Priests who allow dousing lead people into temptation, sow discord between the “immersed” and the “doused,” instead of simply giving themselves the trouble to fully fulfill the custom in all its provisions. By the way, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II constantly advocated for complete immersion in the 20th century. The imperial family made a habit of visiting Moscow and the Trinity-Sergius Lavra at the end of summer. Meeting Alexander Nikolaevich and Maria Fedorovna in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin on August 26, 1858, Moscow Chrysostom said: - Most pious sovereign! Two years before this, we saw you with joy on this day in your royal glory: with joy we still see you in the midst of your royal activities. From the outside, you continue to protect the world; and in particular you renew the world in the Far East; you open a peaceful path for the truth of Christ to people sitting in the darkness of paganism; You set a new, solid, wide border for your kingdom on the banks and waters of the Amur, and, to the surprise, what other powers sought with weapons, your peaceful word achieves, anticipating them. Inside, you strive to enhance the improvement and prosperity of your kingdom. What do these travels mean through the regions of your Kingdom, extending to the deep North? “We understand that you want to know your kingdom not only from information going back to your throne, but also from direct personal observations, and in this we see the royal truth that in order to rule reliably, you need to know exactly what is being governed. On November 16, 1858, Bishop Philaret for the first time allowed himself to celebrate his own anniversary - the fiftieth anniversary of his monastic tonsure. Half a century has passed since Vasily became Filaret. He accepted congratulations and responded to them: “Thank you, Father Viceroy, for brotherly and lovingly paying attention to my chronology, and, moreover, basing it on written evidence that I didn’t know existed. The Lord is long-suffering. Many years..." In winter, Filaret’s eldest best friend, Prince Sergei Mikhailovich Golitsyn, became mortally ill; two months before his death he suffered greatly from tumors. Vladyka visited him often, sat next to him, talked, and with these conversations he was able to distract the sufferer from unbearable pain. On February 13, 1859, Sergei Mikhailovich was buried. His soul was born into the invisible world. Saint Philaret saw off his friend on his last journey and felt so bad that he did not go to St. Petersburg, where the fiftieth anniversary of the Theological Academy was celebrated. And he didn’t like anniversaries! “I’m glad I couldn’t go. And the thought of an anniversary is unattractive to me,” he admitted in a letter to Anthony. – For the Jews, the jubilee was an important law both in relation to the Church and in relation to the civil order. He freed those who fell into slavery and returned the mortgaged lands. Popes in the Middle Ages introduced it into the Roman Church in order to receive income from those visiting Rome and from indulgences. Why and why did the anniversary come to the Theological Academy? And the example of one Academy will probably lead another along the same path.” Now he won’t go to visit his dear friend Sergei Mikhailovich, won’t sit with a cup of tea at the windows from which a view of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior opens... How many years has this majestic structure been built and built, and in the foreseeable future there is no day in sight when it will be possible to consecrate the cathedral. He never dreamed of living to see that joy. From the outside, the church was already completely ready. From all over the Mother See, its domes shone from afar, were reflected in the smooth flow of the Moscow River, and inside they still had not begun to properly decorate the interior. It seems that they decided to abandon the decoration in the classicist style, heeded the voice of Church leaders, including Philaret, preferred the Byzantine style, but have not yet finally approved the painting project. Filaret spent many years fighting the original plan, according to which it was proposed to cover the lower part of the interior with marble and paint the upper part with images of saints and scenes of biblical events. This again was a tribute to classicism. The Moscow Metropolitan resolutely opposed this. Back in 1855, he wrote to Governor-General Zakrevsky: “The viewer, only by raising his head, can see the wall images, but he cannot remain in this position for long. Standing in his usual position, he will have only marble before his eyes. An Orthodox Christian, usually looking at an icon, makes the sign of the cross and prays, but if instead of icons there is only marble before his eyes, then he will be in an unusual and unpleasant position. In addition to the wall sacred images, in addition to the royal, northern and southern doors, places are visible only for two icons of the Savior and the Mother of God near the royal doors. There is not even a place for the church icon of the Nativity of Christ. Such a paucity of icons is unsatisfactory for such a huge church. It may be considered not only decent, but also necessary, that in marble, especially on the eastern side, frames should be arranged in places and icons should be placed in them at such a height that they would be conveniently accessible to the gaze of those present...” The idea of ​​​​installing not an ordinary iconostasis, but an Edicule in the future main church of Moscow, was born to Philaret when the thunderstorm of 1812 had just died down, they were just starting to talk about creating such a church. Edicule is the chapel of the Holy Sepulcher in the Jerusalem Church of the Resurrection, it contains the deathbed of the Savior and the chapel of the Angel. The idea of ​​​​creating an iconostasis in the form of a chapel brought Moscow closer to Jerusalem. And Filaret expressed it to Chief Prosecutor Golitsyn back in 1813. At the same time, he wrote to his parents in Kolomna that he had revealed to Alexander Nikolaevich “his thoughts about the imperfection of iconostases according to the newest form of construction, which, being small and meager, contradict the idea of ​​greatness that the altar should convey. But since I don’t see a single iconostasis here in which correctness and beauty would be combined with enormity, corresponding to the taste of the present time, and which could explain and justify my thought, I would like to have a drawing of the iconostasis of the Kolomna Cathedral.” He meant the Church of the Ascension in Kolomna. From the end of the 18th century, it became fashionable to consider the iconostasis as an architectural structure, and the icon, the main reason for which the iconostasis was erected, began to be squeezed out of it in favor of architectural details. Filaret resolutely fought against this; by his decree, one of Bazhenov’s iconostases was destroyed, in which there was almost no place left for the icon at all. This is what he meant when he spoke about the “imperfection of iconostases according to the newest way of construction.” Philaret’s plan to create an iconostasis-chapel, the Edicule, found many supporters, and when the construction of the interior in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior began, other projects, it seems, were not considered. This is how this unique structure appeared in the main Moscow cathedral, its height exceeding the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin by three and a half meters. Truly a church within a church! And he came up with this - Filaret. He also carried out the work of choosing subjects for the paintings of the central part of the cathedral, from which the decoration of the entire interior was to begin. The author of the fundamental book “The Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow,” Evgenia Ivanovna Kirichenko, calls Filaret one of the “ideological creators of the program of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.” Speaking in Russian, Moscow Chrysostom is the godfather of this majestic monument, the educator of its designers and builders, architects and artists. As this church is, so is the inner church of Philaret’s soul. Bishop Filaret from the depths of his soul breathed soul into both the appearance and the interior of the church. Another spiritual brainchild of Philaret was the Cathedral of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God in the Spaso-Borodinsky Monastery. He also closely monitored its construction and gave instructions on what and how to do. Alas, neither the shepherd nor Margarita was present at the consecration of the church. The soul of Abbess Maria had already flown to the Lord, having tasted a fair amount of earthly suffering, and Filaret, no matter how much he dreamed of consecrating the cathedral, was unable to do this, since throughout the summer and autumn of 1859 he was very ill, about which he constantly pitifully notified his confessor Anthony in letters. My teeth, eyes, ears, joints, fingers and toes ached, I was constantly thirsty and had a dry mouth. The doctor of the theological seminary, Vladimir Ivanovich Rakhmanov, visited Vladyka every day, and he spoke of him with great warmth. It was possible to postpone the consecration of the church on the Borodino field until he recovered, but, apparently, the bishop felt very bad: “What is the use of postponing the consecration of the Savior Borodino Church until spring? How can I say: I will put off dying until spring? As a result, he sent vicar Leonid (Krasnopevkov), and on September 5 he consecrated the cathedral. But despite his illness, the Moscow Metropolitan could not refuse himself a meeting with the sovereign. On August 22, 1859, a significant event took place in Moscow - the opening of the House of the Romanov Boyars museum. According to legend, the founder of the Romanov dynasty, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, was born in this house in Zaryadye. Since the middle of the 19th century, the interest of Russian people in antiquity, in ancient architecture, has increasingly increased, and an understanding has emerged that it is necessary to preserve and restore ancient architectural monuments. Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich bought from the Znamensky Monastery the buildings that had once belonged to the Romanov family, and under the leadership of the court architect Fyodor Fedorovich Richter, they were thoroughly restored and turned into one of the first Moscow museums. The completely lost upper wooden floor was completed in the form of a mansion with a high roof, the porch was restored, rich tiled stoves were installed in the rooms, parquet was laid, the walls were covered with expensive brocade with royal monograms. The rooms were filled with silver and enamel-painted dishes, sewing, women's jewelry, chests, antique furniture, and the walls were decorated with beautiful paintings. Moscow Chrysostom used the opening of this museum to once again announce to his flock the need to remember and preserve the glory of Russian history: “Here is a modest ancient house that can count magnificent palaces as its descendants, and this is because piety, truth, and love for the Fatherland lived in it. Here are low churches from which lofty souls emerged. The Romanovs acted valiantly for the Fatherland, suffered generously for the Fatherland, and the all-righteous Father, from Him every fatherland in heaven and on earth is named, arranged by His destinies that the Romanov family was grafted onto the ancient family of kings and produced the Fathers of the Fatherland. Every son of Russia will greet these memories when looking at the Romanov House, and his heart will tell him: honor and glory to the Tsar, who honors his valiant ancestors! Let us also learn from him to honor and preserve ancient valor, which can be decorated, but not replaced by new splendor. By winter the disease only intensified. Probably, the saint might not live to see his next birthday, but the crisis passed, the illness subsided, and in the spring, as he himself put it, an “instinctive desire” prompted him to eat sour cabbage soup; Rakhmanov gave permission, but without consuming the cabbage itself, and a miracle happened: “Sour cabbage soup turned out to be a real cure for me.” The senses of taste, completely lost during the illness, returned, and my strength returned. Illnesses only prevented him from leaving his home, but he still worked a lot and kept up an extensive correspondence; Every day, several long letters, with detailed answers to all questions, he considered it necessary to express his opinion on political and church events, continued to monitor how the Holy Scripture was translated, and argued with Muravyov about this. In the midst of his illness, he found the strength to write to Andrei Nikolaevich a lengthy answer to the question of how to understand the prayer for the unification of the Churches, proving that the Orthodox are obliged to dream of the day when Catholics will come to them and also become Orthodox: “Do not embarrass the Christian love of the Orthodox Church, do not claim that it does not pray for the unification of the Roman Church.” At seventy-seven, he retained extraordinary clarity of mind, and although rarely, he composed and delivered his beautiful sermons. Resigned himself to the achievements of progress. He came to terms with the railways, although he called them “an invention of human impatience.” He allowed the railway line to be built to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. He also came to terms with photographs, accepted photographic images of icons, churches and some shrines, and shortly before his death he even finally allowed him to be photographed in full bishop’s vestments. And this photograph of wondrous beauty has reached us. The year 1860 brought great joy - the Russian translation of the Four Gospels was published. Under the supervision of Philaret, translations of the remaining books of the Bible continued. The struggle was not in vain, and in the end both opposing sides emerged victorious. Translations were published with parallel texts in Old Church Slavonic. That's what had to be done. This is the best solution. The Old Church Slavonic text is indescribably poetic, but half incomprehensible to anyone who has not studied the ancient language of the Russians. The translation is clear, but no matter how hard you try, something elusive, tremulous, profound is still lost in it... In the summer of 1860, the bishop was back on his feet, again traveling around his diocese, consecrating the Assumption Church in the village of Gorbunovo, going to the Ugreshsky Monastery, where he consecrated the hospital church... Then there was a terrible drought - he performed a prayer service for rain, and rain fell on Moscow after seventeen days of sizzling heat. That same summer in Syria, Muslim Arabs carried out a monstrous massacre of Christian Arabs. Filaret immediately organized a fundraiser and within a month collected eighteen thousand rubles, which were sent to help the victims. The Synod allocated five thousand for the same purpose. On the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, the Metropolitan of Moscow again greeted the sovereign emperor, whom he crowned king: “Blessed be your favor towards your ancient capital.” Blessed be your reverence for her ancient shrine. The unity of the king and the people in the true faith is the life-giving source of their state unity and strength. May He who raised you up from the blessed root of kings, anointed you from above and made you the defender of His Church, always prosper you, both in preserving her peace in our fatherland, and in restoring her destroyed world outside it, and may all your royal affairs be well directed towards the true and unshakable prosperity of all loyal subjects. This time, under Alexander II, there was an heir, Tsarevich Nicholas, who had come of age. After the liturgy, the tsar received the metropolitan in his office in the Grand Kremlin Palace, and then, during the festive dinner, he seated him at the table between himself and his eldest son, pleasing and treating him in every possible way. “I lived yesterday not without difficulty, but with pleasure,” Filaret wrote to Anthony. And the next day the heir visited him at the Trinity Compound. In September, the Bishop visited the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where the solemn consecration of the Church of the Holy Righteous Philaret the Merciful in the Gethsemane Skete took place. Having completed it, Moscow Chrysostom made a sincere and colorful speech: – I have known the place where we are now for sixty years as an eyewitness: and moreover, when I came here in the first year of the current century, I met here clear traces and memories of the past century. Let it not seem like an idle word if I now resume some of these memories. This will not be past the current holiday. Here was a house of elegant architecture, which by its design showed that it was not intended for permanent residence, but only for summer pleasure visits. Here was a garden in which plant nature suffered too much from art, which contrived to give it images alien to it. Why did the monastic monastery do this? How did St. Sergius, a lover of simplicity, and not a lover of luxury and sensual pleasures, look at this? How did he allow this to happen in his area, so close to him? Firstly, I think he looked at the matter condescendingly because he had in mind the intention that either justified or excused the matter. This tract was decorated for royal visits. While the height of the king was humbled before the humility of the saint; while the reverence of the younger sons of St. Sergius was united with the reverence of the sovereigns, in prayer for the salvation of their souls and for the good of their kingdom; loyal love also wanted to manifest itself in presenting to the royal gaze certain features of their usual splendor and splendor. Secondly, Saint Sergius allowed certain types of worldly splendor to appear in his area without rebuke, I think because he looked at them as a passing shadow; and, as a secret place of God’s providence, he allowed himself in the course of time to discover here other species peculiar to his spirit. The external circumstances of the Sergius Lavra are changing. Her ancient heritage will be taken from her, and through this many worldly responsibilities and worries will be removed from her. The former splendor becomes unnecessary, as well as impossible. The local royal house and garden become a place of modest rest for the teachers and students of the theological school, which the Lavra founded within its walls, at its own expense, in the days of its abundance. Over time, the pleasure house disappeared: the garden, ceded by art to nature, turned into a forest. Thus, the Monk Sergius achieved that the worldly things that had been allowed for a while were abolished here; and, as if wishing to reward himself for this admission, he deigned that the spiritual should be established here. The idea was born, in the solitude of this tract, to build a small church, in which several brethren would settle, especially disposed to silence and to a stricter renunciation of their desires and property, and in which, in addition to the usual prayers and sacraments, the Psalter of David would emit its holy and sanctifying sounds day and night, accompanied by prayer for the peace and good of the Church, the Tsar, the Fatherland, the great monastery and those who do good to her... Finally, shouldn’t I especially take into account the fact that you chose the righteous Philaret, my patron, as the patron of this church? Without a doubt it should. Having given him this church, and his this church, of course your love wanted him to multiply his prayers for me, which were of great benefit to me: I thank your love.