Глава вторая. Семинарист Василий Дроздов 1791–1803

Another favorite place for games and walks for Kolomna children was, without a doubt, the majestic Kremlin, evidence of the fact that in ancient times Kolomna was the second city of the Moscow principality. The names of the towers deliberately emphasized the continuity from the Moscow Kremlin: Sviblova, Tainitskaya, Granovitaya, Spasskaya. But there were names of the towers in their own way: Sandyrevskaya, Zastenochnaya, Pogorelaya, and the most famous of all - Marinkina, named after Marina Mnishek. In the very heart of the Kremlin there was a bishop's house - the residence of the head of the Kolomna diocese, separate from the Moscow one. The diocese dates back to the mid-14th century, and for four centuries it was considered very significant. Then came Catherine’s secularization in 1764. Then all Russian dioceses and monasteries were divided into classes, with their own conditions of detention established for each class. The Kolomna diocese was assigned the third, that is, the lowest class. Previously, the diocesan staff and the lord's court were supported from the income received. Now the state paid a salary of 4,332 rubles, of which the bishop personally was owed 1,800 rubles. The money seemed like a lot, considering that a pound of bread cost from three to ten kopecks, a hundred eggs - sixty kopecks, and a pound of beef - five to six kopecks. But at the same time, the merchant of the first guild, and there were several of them in Kolomna, had a capital of ten thousand rubles, that is, two and a half times more than the annual maintenance of the entire diocese. State money was barely enough for the diocese to make ends meet, and it began to rapidly decline. The life of priests became more and more meager every year. The situation at the theological seminary also worsened, to which on December 20, 1791, at the age of less than nine years, a new seminarian, Vasily Drozdov, entered. The spiritual regulations, drawn up by Bishop Feofan Prokopovich after the abolition of the patriarchate in Rus' in 1703, prescribed that each diocese should have a bishop’s school “for the children of priests or others, in the hope of certain priesthood.” So a seminary appeared in Kolomna in 1723. It was located in a building built right next to the bishop's house. Nowadays, this is the cell building of the Holy Trinity Novo-Golutvin Monastery. At first, only thirty people studied there, but very soon the number increased to seven hundred. However, in the year Vasily Drozdov entered there, only three hundred seminarians were already studying. Life at the seminary was structured like a monastery. The students lived here with their teachers; they were rarely and reluctantly allowed to go home to visit. It was believed that excessive communication with the world distracts from study, while “from such upbringing and teaching one can truly hope for great benefit to humanity.” It’s especially offensive to those who, like Vasily, had parents who lived very close - in five minutes you can run to the house at the Epiphany Church, where grandparents are, and to the house at the Trinity Church, where father and mother are. But what can you do if this is the charter? And there’s no need to think about your family home - there are so many sciences to be mastered! Start with languages, Latin and Greek. If you don’t learn them, it will be very bad in high school, because some subjects are taught in these ancient languages. It’s difficult, but you’re gnawing on it. In addition, my father himself taught a little at the seminary, so I got to see him, albeit occasionally. The rector of the Kolomna Seminary was then abbot of the Serpukhov Vysotsky Monastery Gennady. He taught senior theology. The prefect, that is, the deputy rector, the abbot of the Kolomna Spassky Monastery, Jerome, taught philosophy. Single laymen Ivan Fedulovich Kozlovsky, Ipatiy Ivanovich Sobolev and Artemy Egorovich Zaraisky taught grammar, rhetoric and poetry. In addition to philosophy and theology, the seminary “explained” the Gospel, the catechism, the science “of human positions,” history, geography, physics, arithmetic and computer science. In addition to Greek and Latin, Slavic, German and French should be studied. Kolomna Seminary has its own special pride - Metropolitan Platon. Not so long ago, in 1787, he was elevated to the rank of highest hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. But he began his education here in Kolomna as a local seminarian. – Study hard, Drozdov. Look, you will become a metropolitan! And he studied. On half-starvation rations. In severity. But he didn’t complain, unlike many. I wasn’t too worried about my height either. Many of his classmates are already head and shoulders taller, but he’s not growing very well. So he was destined to remain a small child for the rest of his life. Well, no problem. The little one needs less. The years passed, and the world became more and more alarming. A revolution broke out in France. Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna issued a manifesto of condemnation. French books that were too free in content were thrown away and burned. – And we’re learning French here! – Not only atheists wrote in French. Following France, Poland became excited. They started talking about the Warsaw insurgents, about Tadeusz Kosciuszko. Just recently we signed peace with Turkey; so now we had to fight with the Poles. And again Suvorov - he took Warsaw and put an end to the uprising. As a result, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth disappeared from the theater of history. The Russian Empress, who once corresponded with Voltaire, seriously began to eradicate unnecessary freedom. Spiritual and secular censorship has been introduced in Russia. Books could henceforth be published only after they had been examined by the department of Metropolitan Plato. On November 6, 1796, Catherine II died. The first of five reigns in which Vasily Drozdov was destined to live has ended. The short reign of Emperor Paul began. At first they were indignant - what is he doing?! Why did he free the freethinkers Novikov and Radishchev? Why did he free the Polish rebels? Will this not lead to us having France? But soon they began to praise the new king: he increased the salaries of the clergy, and throughout the country priests and monks were awarded orders, pectoral crosses, and miters. A decree was issued exempting the clergy from duties related to maintaining the police and serving on guard duty. The allocation for theological schools doubled, and soon the Kolomna Seminary began to receive funding. But on October 16, 1799, the Holy Synod presented the Tsar with a report on the state of affairs in the Kolomna diocese, from which it followed that the diocese was in complete decline. The Synod noted shortages and substitutions in the sacristy, the low level of training of clergy, and the poor performance of the consistory and seminary. However, more significant were the changes in the socio-economic situation of the city and the combination of the boundaries of dioceses with the boundaries of provinces. Kolomna did not fit into the accepted norm for a bishop to stay in a provincial city. In addition, the diocese owned parts of several provinces, and this was seen as a great inconvenience. As a result, Paul I decided to liquidate the diocesan center in Kolomna and transfer the last bishop Methodius (Smirnov) to Tula. Simultaneously with the closure of the diocese, the seminary was also abolished, and half-educated seminarians were allowed to enter theological educational institutions of the Moscow diocese, of which the seminary in the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra was most famous. Yes, there was still a Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy in Moscow. It was possible to go there, besides, my grandfather’s brother Archpriest Alexander served in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin and could put in a good word. But by that time Trinity Seminary had become the best, equal in level of education to the Kiev Theological Academy. “You are among the first students and you can dare to enter Trinity,” the father advised Vasily. So fate directed him towards his future friend and patron, an outstanding religious thinker and leader of the Church - Metropolitan Plato. On the way to the Lavra, father and son Drozdov visited Moscow. My grandfather, the recluse Fyodor Ignatievich, ordered a visit to the famous elder Philaret, a native of the Sarov Hermitage, at the Novospassky Monastery. This meeting turned out to be very unusual and significant. Seeing the Kolomna visitors, the elder exclaimed: - My dears! Yes, I've been waiting for you! And when Father Mikhail brought his son to be blessed, the elder blessed, then looked carefully and affectionately into Vasya’s face and said: “And next time you will bless me.” During the Great Lent of 1800, Drozdov successfully passed the test exam at the Trinity-Sergius Theological Seminary and already celebrated Easter as a seminarian in the philosophy class. Metropolitan Platon of Moscow and Kolomna, being at the same time a teacher at the Lavra Seminary, from the very beginning noticed a very gifted seventeen-year-old young man. Drozdov was helped during the exam by the fact that he did not limit himself to what was taught in Kolomna, but read a lot of books from his father’s library. When the rector of the seminary, Archimandrite Augustine, asked him to write an essay on the topic “an dantur ideae innatae” (about innate ideas), he would hardly have been able to write anything sensible if he had not read Winkler’s philosophy textbook, which was in Father Michael’s collection. Having given an exemplary essay, Vasily was immediately enrolled in the philosophy class, while the rest were initially enrolled in the rhetoric class. At first, Vasily was accepted at his own expense. He rented one apartment, then another, a third... It would seem that he rented housing from a priest, okay, but he turned out to be of a very intemperate disposition, his wife ran away from him, and students of dubious behavior were lodging here. They simply stole food for themselves wherever possible. One week one steals and feeds the rest, the next week another, etc. Drozdov did not like this, he came to the prefect and himself persuaded him to accept government support with a contribution of money. The prefect appreciated his persistence and strength of character. Drozdov was accepted without a fee. Life became easier, and most importantly, more time could now be devoted to studying. Good news came from his native Kolomna. Father Mikhail was made archpriest and appointed rector of the main Kolomna church - the Kremlin Assumption Cathedral. Sister Olga married Deacon Herodion of Sergievsky. On June 10, 1800, seminarian Drozdov wrote to his family: “Your High Blessing, most gracious sir, Father Mikhail Fedorovich! I heard that a lot of changes have happened in Kolomna, which are not unpleasant for you, and that the TITLE of championship has been added to the name of your position. Now I don’t want to depict the merits that preceded this and made you worthy of this. I have no intention of praising, not knowing enough to appreciate true merits. I will only say with a feeling of heartfelt joy: “Congratulations!” It would be no better if I could express my thoughts by interweaving many words than with just one.” The writing style is ornate. Speaking about the reluctance to weave many words, the author nevertheless weaves a lot of them. With age, he will write more succinctly and only to the point. In one of the letters from 1831: “The fear that you will write badly is worldly. Letters are by no means necessary for good writing. The fear of writing too much or too little is often of the same kind. One must be careful not to write more than what the truth says, or less than THAT.” Here you can see how the young man revels in his talent for weaving words. Let us also note how the address “you,” introduced under Peter, took root by the beginning of the 19th century. Children, even when addressing their parents, write “You.” Moreover, the children are priestly. Although in the Bible this is never found when addressing one person. And to the Savior himself we pray to “You.” At Trinity, Drozdov saw how mediocre education was in Kolomna. Much of what was lost had to be made up as quickly as possible, overcoming the blocks of philosophy, general history, ancient Greek and Hebrew. But here, as in Kolomna, he passionately wanted to excel among seminarians; he liked to overcome mountains of science. I wanted to prove myself in the poetic field. A seventeen-year-old young man writes greeting poems in ancient Greek to Bishop Plato, whom he sincerely admires. Metropolitan Platon turned sixty-three that year. He was born in 1737 in the Moscow region, in the world he was called Pyotr Georgievich Levshin, he studied at the Kolomna Seminary, at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, and developed rapidly: at the age of twenty-four he became the rector of the Trinity Seminary, a court preacher and teacher of the law to the future Emperor Paul. He was considered an enlightened hierarch; he loved not only the Russian school of icon painting, but was known as an expert on Western art, and had paintings from the Bolognese and Roman schools. He was generally considered one of the refined aesthetes of his time; he collected oriental figurines, Chinese porcelain, screens, and curtains. He introduced laurel wreaths for singers in the choir, and when important government officials came to the monastery, fireworks began to flare up in the sky above the monastery of St. Sergius for the first time. This irritated adherents of severity, but many noted that Plato extended his hand to secular society and was slowly pulling this society back, returning it to the Church. He became Archbishop of Moscow before he was even forty years old. And on the day of his fiftieth birthday, Plato ascended to the highest level in the Russian church hierarchy. At the same time, he remained the director of the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy and archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, a permanent trustee of the Trinity Seminary, which he considered his favorite brainchild. Under him, it was transformed, becoming the most advanced Orthodox educational institution in those days. The main thing that Plato introduced here was the combination of the Orthodox faith with the study of the vital phenomena of modern life; this combination tore the seminary away from previous scholasticism. And this was very consistent with what Vasily Drozdov felt and expected from his future life. He saw how the separation of the Church from the concerns of society leads to the fact that society moves away from the Church. Vladyka Plato loved the Trinity so much that he rarely lived in the Moscow courtyard, mainly here, in the monastery of St. Sergius of Radonezh and the new Bethany monastery. Vasily idolized his mentor, admired the first Russian church history he wrote, and ardently wished to continue what Plato had begun. And he rejoiced when he received signs of recognition from the rector of the seminary. As in the case of the Greek poem that attracted praise. They started talking about Vasily as a poet. There are people who do everything well only under pressure; when people criticize them, they scold them. A truly talented person is most often good when he is noticed, when he is praised, and when his shortcomings are subtly hinted at. And then it becomes even better. Drozdov is one of those. He is singled out from the rest, and he is happy to try harder than before! Having surpassed everyone in linguistics, philosophy, history, he strives to conquer other sciences - rhetoric, psychology, medicine. He does not just fulfill his obedience in supervising the seminary hospital, but tries to master all the new discoveries in the field of treating patients. A priest must be not only a minister in the church, but also a minister outside the church, among people, know their life, be able to come to the rescue not only in the spiritual sense. After all, Christ lived among people and His whole being breathed with the desire to help others. And we must strive to be the same as the Savior. Fishing, mushroom hunting, mowing grass, caring for the sick? Oh no, I’m a priest, a person of clergy! He resolutely rejected this. And he fished in the surrounding ponds, cared for the sick, knowing how to treat this or that, what medicine and how to formulate it, understood economics, wrote POEMS. I even played chess with my seminary friends. They were five friends - Vasya Drozdov, Grisha Ponomarev, Vanya Pylaev, Vasya Rozanov and Andrey Saksin. Always inseparable. Son-in-law Herodion, knowing Vasya’s ability to play the gusli, gave him the same ones as grandfather Nikita’s, and now Drozdov entertained his classmates, playing them whatever they wanted. One of the severe shocks during his studies at the seminary was, of course, the April storm of 1801 for Vasya Drozdov. Then the laurel was covered with snow so that the Trinity Cathedral stood in a huge snowdrift up to the waist, and there were deaths - six seminarians were beaten by the wind and covered with snow, they froze to death. Soon after the storm, the weather suddenly became warmer, the snow quickly melted, and the bodies of the dead were discovered. It was hard to bury my young classmates. Among the victims was Andrei Saksin, he was already sick, always coughing, but then he became seriously ill and ended up in the hospital. At this time, training in medicine was introduced, and Drozdov, who had mastered the basics of science better than others, applied the acquired knowledge: according to Bukhanov’s book, he himself made up ointments and rubbed them into the stunted chest of his comrade. Other seminarians copied lectures for the patient. The doctors declared the poor man hopeless, but Drozdov did not resign himself, continued to treat his friend and became so interested in medicine that he settled here in the hospital and willingly cared for other patients. “I live in a hospital, but I am not sick, or, to more accurately answer your questions, I am sick from the supervision of the hospital,” Vasily wrote to his family, “I take advantage of the tranquility of solitude and the amusements of the garden. I often see His Eminence, who sometimes only leaves Bethany to go through the local monastery and visit the sick.” Shepherding and healing are very close. Loving people, pitying them, a kind shepherd heals their souls, but often becomes an excellent physician. Let us remember the great martyr healer Panteleimon, Cosmas and Damian, let us remember Saint Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky), very close to us in time, Archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea, the creator of a whole trend in medicine - purulent surgery, a great anesthesiologist, canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. The hospital where Drozdov labored was often visited by Bishop Platon. Seeing the efforts of his favorite in the local field, he became even more attached to him and soon made Vasily his subdeacon, that is, from now on, during the Metropolitan’s services in the Lavra, Drozdov helped him put on his vestments and carried the Metropolitan’s staff behind him. In 1802, Archimandrite Augustine was transferred to the position of rector of the Moscow Academy, and the thirty-year-old Archimandrite Evgraf (Muzalevsky-Platonov) became the new rector of the seminary. From his nickname it is clear that he is a chick of Plato’s nest, for Metropolitan Plato, encouraging his best pupils, assigned them his name, and they became Plato’s through a dash. Quite a remarkable feature! No one, it seems, except Plato, did this. Although not quite a scientist himself, Archimandrite Evgraf nevertheless loved those striving for learning and therefore especially noted Drozdov: “Excellently sharp, diligent and successful.” According to the recollections of Saint Philaret himself, Evgraf taught according to Protestant manuals - “he asked me to copy the noted articles from Gollazius.” Class lessons consisted of translating and explaining these copied articles. “The treatises we have in common with Protestants, such as: on the Holy Trinity, on the Redemption, etc., were covered fairly; and others, for example, about the Church, were not read at all. Evgraf did not have a good education, although he saw the need to study his fathers and studied them.” Evgraf loved and was fascinated by the mystical interpretation of the Holy Scriptures - “The Kingdom of God lies not in words, but in power.” When teaching, he tried to switch to Russian. In 1802, having been transferred to the theological class, where the course was taught by Archimandrite Evgraf, Vasily Drozdov received a blessing to wear a surplice for service in the Refectory Church. The surplice is a vestment for both priests and laity serving in the church. Clothing that personifies the purity of soul and thoughts, and therefore comes only in light colors. From the Greek word “OTIYOC” - line, verse, straight line, since it really is cut with straight lines. For every believer, putting on the surplice for the first time is a very exciting event! From now on you are not the same as before, you are marked in lordship and integrity and must correspond to your new vestment. Don't have dark thoughts. Don't lie. After this, how could Drozdov be able to lie even at the request of the kindest Evgraf, when he encouraged him and other seminarians to act out a scene: “Vladyka Plato will arrive, and you will come out of the alley to meet him, as if not noticing him, carried away by the conversation about him, about his virtues... - This is some kind of theatrical performance! “I don’t want to be an actor,” Vasily flatly refused. Honest, correct, at the same time he remained in all respects a perky and cheerful guy, who was adored for this combination of gaiety, playfulness, and correctness. He continued to write poetry. And not only religious and sublime, but also light, funny, playful. And I also send it to Whom - aha! Viva to whom! Let them share among themselves... They began to notice the gift of insight in him. For some, this caused distrust mixed with discontent. One day, several seminarians conspired, grabbed Drozdov, covered him with a blanket, began to beat him in the back, and at the same time one of the mischief-makers, deliberately changing his voice, asked mockingly in Old Church Slavonic: - Prophets, Vasily, who hit you?! In the same 1802, he was appointed senior manager of the seminary hospital, this made it possible to avoid the repetition of such massacres, he cared for the sick, sometimes saw how they died, this gave reason to reflect on the precarious nature of man, on the inevitability of death, on the temporary nature of our earthly existence. Childhood flew by, adolescence flashed by... My studies at the seminary ended. The rector, who had been offended by Drozdov for a short time because he refused to participate in the performance he had invented, now, summing up his teaching, reported to Metropolitan Plato about him and Matthew of Znamensky: “Both in diligence and in mental acuity, both in other sciences and mainly in poetry, they are, without a doubt, the best. They are distinguished by their special modesty.”