Глава шестая. Архимандрит Филарет. Война 1811–1814

Until recently, at the age of thirty, one could only become a monk. Philaret was not twenty-eight years old, and he had already received the first highest monastic rank. Archimandrite means in Greek “chief over the sheepfold” (arch – chief, senior, mandra – corral, sheepfold, fence in the meaning of “monastery”) - This is below the bishop and in the white clergy corresponds to the mitred archpriest and protopresbyter. The rank of archimandrite appeared in the Eastern Church in the 5th century - this was the name given to persons chosen by the bishop from among the abbots to oversee the monasteries of the diocese, as well as honored hieromonks holding official positions in patriarchates and church missions abroad. Later, the name “archimandrite” passed to the heads of the most important monasteries, and then to monastics holding church administrative positions. In the Russian Empire, according to the Manifesto of 1764 on the secularization of monastic lands, Russian monasteries were divided into three classes. The heads of monasteries of the first and second classes began to be called archimandrites. On July 8, 1811, Metropolitan Ambrose elevated Hieromonk Philaret to the rank of archimandrite and, laying his hand on his head, exclaimed: - Axios! And at the end of the liturgy, he handed the staff to the newly appointed archimandrite with the words: “Take this rod, and with it strengthen your flock, so that you may rule and give your word to our God in the days of judgment.” That same summer, upon appointment by the Commission of Theological Schools, Archimandrite Philaret carried out audits of St. Petersburg theological seminaries and schools. On September 15, 1811, the solemn consecration of the majestic Kazan Cathedral took place in St. Petersburg. One of the main characters of the ceremony, of course, was the seventy-eight-year-old Count Alexander Sergeevich Stroganov. He devoted the last ten years of his life to the construction of this new capital’s church, which was erected by the count’s former serf, the architect Voronikhin. Approaching Metropolitan Ambrose for blessing, Stroganov said: “Now you are releasing your servant, sir, in peace.” The words turned out to be prophetic. An icy wind blew that day, the count caught a cold, fell ill and died a couple of weeks later. The death of such a noble man was a great event. Chief Chamberlain, member of the State Council, senator, president of the Imperial Academy of Arts, director of the Public Library, first count of his family, one of the most prominent Russian patrons of the arts. His patronage of the arts was so widespread that by the end of his life Stroganov’s untold wealth had almost dried up. On October 3, Alexander Sergeevich was buried in the Kazan Cathedral. All of St. Petersburg gathered. And so, after the funeral service, Archimandrite Philaret delivered a farewell speech to such a huge number of people. And it became an event. Like Shakespeare, who in the 66th sonnet exclaimed “Tired with all these, for restful death I sgu...” and further listed the imperfections of this world, Filaret lamented: – Envy is hostile to dignity; curiosity tries to suppress merit; selfishness fights with right; security is supported by force, but is overthrown by another overwhelming force; an alliance based on benefits is destroyed by the slightest imbalance; hearts united by compassion are separated by inconstancy... And only death frees a person from painful suffering to see all the injustices of the world below. The deathbed is the testing stone of a past life; a person deposits on it what he seemed to be, and remains what he was... The Emperor demanded that the text be sent to him and he re-read it several times. “You asked me how the faith of Catholics and Orthodox differs, so let this monk explain to you,” Alexander said to his wife Elizaveta Alekseevna. In the past she was Princess Louise Augusta of Baden. As it should be, having married a Russian monarch, she converted to Orthodoxy, but still did not know what were not the external, but the deep differences between the two main European Christian faiths. Much earlier than her husband, she began to be imbued with faith and, in essence, was more Orthodox than the Orthodox Russian Tsar. Amazing woman! It is no coincidence that young Pushkin was secretly in love with her... And so Archimandrite Philaret received an order, and not from anyone, but from the Empress herself. Fulfilling this order, he sat down to write his first theological treatise. Thus, “An Exposition of the Differences Between the Eastern and Western Churches in the Doctrine of the Faith” was written, after receiving which Elizaveta Alekseevna was completely satisfied. – Now I know what the difference is between Orthodoxy and Rome. However, I am also surprised: Prince Golitsyn always seemed to me an empty man, but his protégé is a very intelligent theologian. Thus began a very important knot, from which a strong thread of friendship between this august family and Filaret will stretch into the future. And if the story about the elder Fyodor Kuzmich and the recluse Vera the Silent is not fiction, then it means that it was here that Alexander and Elizabeth first set out on the path that would lead them to the mysterious eldership. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Moreover, the description approached one of the most important milestones in Russian history. The year 1812 was coming. Archimandrite Philaret met him, being already a famous preacher. They spoke of him as an incomparable bearer of the word of God. Archpriest Georgy Florovsky said this about his lucky gift: “Always a living word and a thinking word, inspired thinking out loud. Philaret’s preaching has always been evangelism, never just eloquence.” On Christmas Day, December 25, in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, he read the “Word for the Nativity of Christ.” He rejoiced: – The new Adam comes from the virgin land. The woman, the source of the curse, wears out the dew of blessing. – As long as we live in the world with the carelessness of citizens and enjoy it with the autocracy of the owners, until then Christ cannot be imagined in us. He cried out to God with passionate prayer: - O God, who gave us Your Son!.. Grant only to us to give birth to the spirit of Christ within ourselves and to live His life. Then let Herod and all Jerusalem with him rage against us, as once against Him; let the prince of this age rage, and let the whole world arm itself: You have covered us in the secret of Your habitation; You will raise us on the calm water, and through the Angel of Your covenant you will lead us to Your holy mountain. Amen. Knowing what Russia was destined to experience in 1812, how could one not see a formidable prophecy in these words? “Herod and all of Jerusalem with him” - read: “Napoleon and all of Europe with him.” But the Russians will give birth to the spirit of Christ within themselves, and therefore in vain “the prince of this age is raging and the whole world is arming itself”! Bonaparte is great, but insignificant in comparison with the Son of God. With these words the inspired preacher greeted the dawn and storm of the Twelfth Year. This year began strangely. On January 1, Secretary of State Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky, who managed the affairs of the empire, received the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky as a reward, and already in March he fell into disgrace, received his resignation and was exiled to Nizhny Novgorod. Prussia and Austria entered into agreements with France on providing assistance to the latter in the event of a war with Russia, and Prussia also concluded agreements on the passage of Napoleon’s troops through its lands to Moscow. People who understand politics already understood perfectly well. that war cannot be avoided this year. And wars - on their territories. At the beginning of the year, Filaret fulfilled the order of the Commission of Theological Schools to form a class for students who graduated from St. Petersburg Seminary to read the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Fathers and guide them to clergy positions. Soon a very important assignment awaited him. The rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Sergius (Krylov-Platonov), received the Kostroma see, where he was ordained a bishop. And the twenty-nine-year-old Archimandrite Filaret was appointed the new rector. This meant that he was recognized not only as a wonderful preacher, but also as the best among teachers. During his three years at the academy, he read and processed the full course of theological sciences. The students doted on him. According to their recollections, Filaret “speaked sharply, highly, wisely; freely made explanations of the Holy Scriptures. It was as if everything was pouring out of his mouth. He attracted his students to listen to himself so much that when the hours of teaching were over, there was always great diligence left to listen to him even more without eating or drinking. Everyone seemed truly pleased with his teaching. Everything proved that he studied a lot in the sciences.” Without exaggeration, we can say that with his arrival as rector, the academy began to flourish. First of all, he revised the academic charter, then corrected the charters of theological seminaries, district and parish schools. And all this took Filaret, who had no assistants, six weeks. Many years later, he said that he had never worked so hard, either before or after this position. In addition, having become rector, Filaret was now obliged to attend meetings of the St. Petersburg Ecclesiastical Consistory, an institution designed to govern the diocese and administer spiritual courts. This was time consuming as meetings were held five times a week. Soon after his appointment as rector, on March 27, 1812, Archimandrite Philaret received a monastic monastery under his jurisdiction - he was appointed rector of the Novgorod Yuriev Monastery. This monastery was considered one of the most famous in Holy Rus'. Founded by Yaroslav the Wise, it bore his baptismal name, since Yaroslav was named in baptism in honor of St. George the Victorious. The main church of the monastery - St. George's Cathedral, in which Fyodor Yaroslavich and Feodosia Mstislavna, the brother and mother of Alexander Nevsky, rested, was second only to Sophia of Novgorod in splendor. However, after the secularization of the monastic estates in the 1770s, the Yuryev Monastery lost a significant part of its possessions and fell into disrepair. And in 1810, it also survived a strong fire that destroyed all the wooden buildings. So the new abbot had to solve a huge number of economic issues. The academy, the consistory, the monastery - that’s how many things fell upon the young archimandrite at once! Drowning in worries, he celebrated Easter 1812. Together with everyone else, I peered into the sky at night, in which a terrifying comet hung. She appeared last year, but this year she became brighter, her tail, raised up, fluffed up. It seemed that the luminous maned monster was falling to the ground, although in fact the comet was already moving away from the Earth and the Sun, going into the depths of the Universe. Heavenly harbinger of earthly troubles... On the eve of Easter, on Good Friday, Filaret read a sermon in the court cathedral church in the presence of Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna and Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, as well as the brothers and sister of the sovereign. Good Friday is the most mournful day, the strictest fast. Christ is crucified and buried, and His resurrection will only take place tomorrow. “Let us not, Christians, imagine our Leader as defeated, even for a moment, when we see Him tormented and lifeless,” said Filaret. “Yesterday, at the evening meal, He clearly outlined the events of the present day - and offered His body, now tormented, as food, gave the blood, now shed, to drink. Soon Russia was destined to be crucified, tormented, bloodied, in order to resurrect and shine in glory. - Oh, the cross of glory! From now on, be not a tree of curse and terror, but a tree of blessing and peace; cast down the pagan olives and laurels to your feet; mount the sacred crowns of the sovereign heads; being a witness and instrument of exploits, be also their reward and decoration... On Holy Spirit Day, French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte accused Russia of violating the Peace of Tilsit and essentially declared war on it. And on the night of June 12, the pan-European army led by him crossed the Neman and invaded the borders of our Fatherland. It was the Wednesday of Pentecost, when it is read from the apostolic epistles: “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness...” (Rom. 1:18). In Russia this war was expected, but many believed until the last day that it would not start. In June 1807, a peace treaty was concluded in Tilsit, Napoleon and Alexander I swore eternal friendship and from that time on they always exchanged the most kind letters, addressing each other with the words “My Lord, my brother...”. In May 1809, Russia joined the trade blockade of England, which Bonaparte demanded of all his allies. The tsarist government made many concessions. In the event of a war between France and Austria, the Russian Tsar pledged to fight on the side of Napoleon. Meanwhile, Napoleon was preparing for war against Russia. He attracted Prussia to his side, and then Austria itself, which he defeated at Wagram, by divorcing Empress Josephine and marrying the daughter of the Austrian Emperor Maria Louise. At the same time, Napoleon continued to send very friendly messages to Alexander... In the history of those times, wars were always called “Austro-French”, “Franco-Prussian”, “Russian-Turkish”, etc. And only about the war of 1812 we will never say: “Franco-Russian” or “Russian-French”. Why? Because it was a confrontation between all of Europe and Russia, a new crusade against our Fatherland. Leo Tolstoy accurately and clearly outlined the multinational nature of this war as a war of the West against Russia. These are the words with which the third volume of his immortal novel “War and Peace” begins: “From the end of 1811, the intensified armament and concentration of forces of Western Europe began, and in 1812 these forces - millions of people (counting those who transported and fed the army) moved from West to East, to the borders of Russia, to which, in the same way, since 1811, the forces of Russia were concentrated. On June 12, the forces of Western Europe crossed the borders of Russia, and war began, that is, an event completely contrary to human reason and all human nature.” Tolstoy deliberately emphasizes that it was not the forces of Napoleonic France, but precisely the forces of Europe that invaded the borders of our homeland. And a few pages later again: “Western people moved to the East in order to kill.” And, as always, it was we, the Russians, who did everything possible to avoid war. Even after learning about the invasion and being terribly indignant at Bonaparte’s treachery, Alexander I immediately wrote a letter to Napoleon: “My dear brother, yesterday I learned that, despite the conscientiousness with which I fulfilled my obligations towards Your Majesty, your troops crossed the borders of Russia.” Having discussed all the differences and ways to eliminate them, Alexander ends the letter with these words: “If it is not Your Majesty’s intentions to shed the blood of our peoples (...) and if you agree to withdraw your troops from Russian territory, I will consider that everything that happened did not take place and reaching an agreement between us will still be possible. Otherwise, Your Majesty will force me to see you only as an enemy, whose actions are not caused by anything on my part. It is up to Your Majesty to save humanity from the scourge of a new war.” But Napoleon had nothing to do with the misfortunes of mankind, he was accustomed to shedding blood in abundance, and our king understood this perfectly well. On the day the war began, he was in Vilna (present-day Vilnius), and Napoleon's armies crossed the Neman in the vicinity of Kovno (present-day Kaunas). Between the Russian and French emperors there was a distance of less than 100 miles. The troops that invaded Russia at that time had an unprecedented number and it was not by chance that they were called the “Great Army”. Over six hundred thousand people and about one and a half thousand guns. Actually, less than half of the “Great Army” was French. Over 50 percent of Napoleon's troops were Poles, Italians, Germans, Austrians, Dutch, Swiss, and then little by little - representatives of the most diverse nations of Europe. Thus, without any doubt, this war can be called not only the Patriotic War of 1812, but also the European-Russian one. Having sent a letter to Napoleon, Alexander immediately sent the “Order for the Russian Army” - a document filled with noble indignation and confidence that God will not abandon Russia and victory will be ours. He concluded with the sublime words: “The French emperor opened the first war with an attack on our troops at Kovno. And so, seeing him inflexible to peace by any means, we have no choice but to call upon the help of the Witness and Defender of Truth, the almighty Creator of heaven, to put our forces against the forces of the enemy. I don’t need to remind our leaders, generals and soldiers of their duty and courage. Since ancient times, the blood of the Slavs, resounding with victories, has flowed in them. Warriors! You defend faith, fatherland and freedom. I'm with you. God is for the beginner.” It was necessary for such a terrifying invasion to take place so that the eyes of the Russian Tsar would turn to the Lord. A king who had not yet looked into the Gospel. Truly, thunder will not strike, the man will not cross himself! Much has been written about the fact that Alexander first began to look into the Gospel only in 1812. And, most likely, this is so. From a young age, his confessor was Archpriest Andrei Samborsky, who was said to be more an agronomist than a theologian, and more English than an Orthodox priest. He taught the Word of God not from the Gospel, but from the short catechism compiled for public schools. In his youth, Samborsky lived a lot in England; he was married to an Englishwoman, whom he himself converted to Orthodoxy. By the way, he taught the children of Paul I not only the Law of God, but also the English language. With the special permission of the sovereign, Father Andrei shaved his mustache and beard, which, naturally, made him very different from other Russian priests. But it is hardly worth saying that he was the cause of Alexander’s youthful atheism. On the contrary, one must rather assume that Father Andrei, a kind-hearted and honest man, gently and unobtrusively planted in the soul of his august pupil that seed of faith that would develop later, already under the blessed rays of Philaret. The war with Napoleon became a retreat for us, and this greatly upset the Russian emperor. Success accompanied our armies only in rearguard battles, and “glory to God!” Our generals have so far spoken only in those cases when they managed to retreat safely. On July 7, Emperor Alexander Pavlovich, leaving the army to Barclay, left for Moscow. It was probably during these days, shocked by how powerfully the enemies were advancing, that he picked up the New Testament published in French, offered to him for reading by Chief Prosecutor Golitsyn, an old childhood friend of Sashka. “A freethinker, indifferent to religion, Alexander first read the Gospel in 1812 and was struck by the extraordinary nature of this book. He was not alone then in his fascination with the New Testament. In this book, for him and for many of his contemporaries, some kind of inviting voice sounded, mysterious and impressive. The official church did not inspire Alexander with respect for its activities. He saw in the bishops, decorated with ribbons and orders, zealots of the same magnificent statehood that he inherited as the legacy of Catherine’s empire. Even without the bishops, Alexander was suffocating in this solemn splendor. He didn't notice any other church. He was not interested in how it existed for two thousand years. He heard that there were Christian apologists, martyrs, church fathers... But all these saints were overshadowed by the emperors and patriarchs of the monumental Byzantine Empire. This huge and heavy decoration did not please Alexander, who was tired of world politics, in which he had to play such a responsible role. He failed to fulfill his long-standing dream - to retire as an ordinary citizen somewhere on the banks of the Rhine. But he had not yet lost hope of one day freeing himself from the painful complexity of history. He wanted to replace complexity with depth. And in this book he unexpectedly acquired, Alexander found the desired depth. And yet how simple this book is! Why recite it among the gold and marble of cathedrals? Isn't it better to forget about the official interpreters of the book? Isn't it better to delve into this simple story about the life of the wonderful Galilean and his disciples, these good fishermen who, not at all interested in Caesar, lived on the shores of Lake Tiberias? At the same time, how mysterious and wise are the sayings written in this book.” It is strange that the thirty-five-year-old Alexander was given the Gospel to read not even by Protopresbyter Pavel Krinitsky, who was appointed the emperor’s confessor back in 1808, but by the helipad Golitsyn, about whom they were still gossiping: “He lost his wife at cards, but he’s also watching over the Church!” The ways of the Lord are mysterious. In difficult times, it was this recent reveler and gambler who began to enlighten the Russian sovereign regarding Christ’s commandments, and the monk Philaret, clean and bright from his youth, came to help him. In the Russian State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg in the fund of St. Philaret of Moscow there is one thick folder, it contains records of all kinds of miracles and predictions. And in particular - “Prediction about the war between Russia and France”, where an unknown author writes the following: “In 1812, when French troops were marching on Russia, I was traveling from Mannheim to Karlsruhe with one young Prussian named K..., who in a prophetic spirit predicted to me everything that had happened until now. At first he was very secretive, but, convinced that I love God and trust in Him alone, he called me his friend, and to my question - what does he think, will the French defeat the Russians - he answered the following: “The French will win and go into the interior of Russia, even take possession of Moscow; but when they enter, this ancient city will be burned. Then a limit will be placed on the atrocities of the French, for from that moment happiness will turn away from them for their unbelief and coldness towards religion. The entire French army will be destroyed in a short time, not by Russian weapons, but by the power of God; However, I do not know what means God will use for this." Testimonies of the power of Christ are especially vivid during such formidable invasions. The indestructible Tamerlane could not win victories in his campaigns three times, and each time - when he went against the Christians. His campaigns against Jerusalem, Moscow and Beijing, which briefly became Christian at the beginning of the 15th century, were unsuccessful. The indestructible Napoleon came to Russia, and the Russians remembered: “We are Christians!” And then something incomprehensible happened to the winner who took the capital of Rus'. Some irresistible force threw him out along with the “Grand Army”. The indestructible Hitler, a century and a half later, appeared in the footsteps of Bonaparte, and again the Russians remembered the faith of Alexander Nevsky, Suvorov and Ushakov, so that once again the great and terrible power of God would throw out the fascists, who were already looking through binoculars at the walls of the ancient Kremlin. The Battle of Borodino took place on August 26, the day Russia celebrates the salvation of Moscow from the 1395 invasion of Tamerlane. This time Moscow was saved, but at the terrible cost of fire, the death of many thousands of people, and the looting of valuables. For thirty-five days it was in the hands of the enemy, until Napoleon was forced to flee the burning capital. The expulsion of the adversary began along the old Smolensk road that he had destroyed. In St. Petersburg they waited with painful impatience for good news from Moscow. The king was here. His position was becoming precarious. His sister Ekaterina Pavlovna wrote to him: “Discontent has reached its highest point, and your person is far from being spared. If this already reaches me, then judge the rest.” Alexander remained in St. Petersburg. Disappointed in his own leadership abilities, he was afraid of his presence in the war. His war moved into the mystical realm. He repented more than ever for his passive participation in the death of his father. He believed that this was also the cause of the disasters that befell him and the country. On October 1, on the Feast of the Intercession in St. Petersburg, Archimandrite Philaret, at the request of Prince Golitsyn, consecrated his new home church of the Holy Trinity and preached a sermon that the church of God is visible, but it is empty if we do not have an invisible church within us. Thus, he called for spiritual activity, without which the return of the harmony of the world is impossible. On the same day, in the presence of Filaret, the sovereign pronounced his prophetic words. When the conversation came up about the possibility of signing peace with Napoleon, the emperor became excited and exclaimed: “I will grow a beard and would rather agree to eat potatoes in the depths of Siberia than sign the shame of my Fatherland!” He will remember this vow seventeen years later and will understand that he must fulfill it. Unless the myth about the Siberian elder Fyodor Kuzmich is not a myth... A week later, the joyful news of Napoleon's escape from Moscow arrived. Through the prayers of the righteous, such as Metropolitan Platon, Seraphim of Sarov and Filaret, Russian weapons prevailed over the enemy. Napoleon did not possess such spiritual weapons as were forged in their prayers, and therefore was doomed to defeat. On October 22, the icon of the Kazan Mother of God was celebrated, and the liberation of Moscow from the Poles in 1612 was remembered. On this day, the Battle of Vyazma took place, significant in that in it Miloradovich showed the complete breakdown of Napoleon’s army, and then the banner of victory no longer passed from the hands of our soldiers to the enemy. The next day in St. Petersburg, in the Trinity House Church of Prince Golitsyn, Archimandrite Philaret held a conversation about the Lord’s Prayer, following the example of St. Maxim the Confessor, explaining the meaning of the seven petitions sent to the Lord in the main Christian prayer “Our Father”: about the name of the Lord, about the Kingdom of Heaven, about the will of God, about daily bread, about leaving debts, about introduction into temptation and deliverance from the evil one. And the listeners in a new way, as if for the first time, discovered for themselves these meanings contained in the prayer, which everyone had been saying for a long time, almost without thinking. Filaret's word became more and more refined. Here is how Alexander Ivanovich Yakovlev wrote about this formation of his own style in the book “Lamp of the Russian Church”: “Filaret was an eternal worker and an eternal student. Realizing that he had the gift of speech from God, he worked hard on his sermons, defined his themes, and developed his own style. In his first years in St. Petersburg, having read a lot of French preachers Jean Baptiste Massillon and Francois Fenelon, he was fascinated by the intricacy of expressions and wordplay. However, other listeners noted the growing influence on Filaret of the famous French preacher Jacques Bossuet, who began his sermons very simply and then achieved the highest pathos, almost without resorting to rhetorical devices. Of course, Archimandrite Philaret also turns to the experience of Metropolitan Plato and the Holy Fathers of the Church - John Chrysostom and his especially beloved Gregory the Theologian. He does not hesitate to borrow experience from venerable preachers, his sincere passion for the book of Thomas à à Kempis “On the Imitation of Christ” and the passionate treatises of Jacob Boehme are evident, but he creatively reworks all this. Long thought and searching for the exact word brings results. The sincerity and strength of religious conviction, the depth of revelation of the foundations of Christian teaching, subtle psychological analysis and the truthfulness of expressions increase. The language of Philaret’s sermons harmoniously combines the clarity and simplicity of the new style with the majestic solemnity of the Church Slavonic language.” But it was not only through words and prayer that Filaret supported his flock in times of severe trials. Together with other priests and monks, he constantly called on people who had property to donate as much as possible to the cause of saving the Fatherland from the invasion of European barbarians. All these months, when terrible news came to St. Petersburg one after another, he himself donated so much of his salary that only the meager living remained. And how could it be otherwise?.. The difficult year brought with it another sad event - on November 11, the unforgettable Metropolitan Platon died. He died in Sergiev Posad, in the Spaso-Vifansky Monastery he created. He was buried there, in the Transfiguration Church... They remembered the good shepherd with tears. How he loved the “old porridge” - buckwheat, cooked a few days ago and dried out. Sometimes, knowing that he was coming, they cooked it ahead of time. And if it came suddenly, they immediately rushed to look for it; if it wasn’t here, they went to the neighbors. How he corresponded with Emperor Paul, whom he mentored as a child, and how they once gossiped to Paul that Plato was covering his windows with letters for the winter. The angry emperor came to the bishop, checked all the windows and fell to his knees, asking forgiveness for listening to the evil-pagans. How Plato ate the bread that one monk brought him to show what bad bread they were fed in the monastery... Much was remembered with kindness, mourning the unforgettable metropolitan. On November 30, at Golitsyn’s request, Filaret read his conversation on the Lord’s Prayer personally to Emperor Alexander. It's finished! The enemy has been driven out. On the day of the Holy Nativity of Christ, the sovereign’s manifesto was issued on the expulsion of the enemy from the borders of the fatherland. All the more joyful were the Christmas sermons read in the days of deliverance from a disaster that had recently seemed insurmountable. - If someone with the wise men has flown into hidden Bethlehem from noisy Jerusalem: let him not return to Herod to boast of his finding; May the mystery of the King of glory not become the weapon of the ruler of the darkness of this age, who seeks the Youth and destroy him. Amen! - Archimandrite Philaret appealed to the Orthodox people, who had regained their faith and therefore won. In 1813, Russia began a “return visit” to Napoleon - the Foreign Campaign. Many people opposed him. Continuing the war with Napoleon required enormous costs, and from Vilna to Moscow the country was heavily plundered by the barbarians of the “twelve languages.” Among the opponents of continuing the war were the main hero of 1812, Field Marshal Kutuzov, and Admiral Shishkov, who was close to the emperor. Shishkov insisted that Napoleon would no longer bother us, and therefore, he should be left alone, and let Europe deal with him itself. To this Alexander I replied: - Mister Bonaparte was pleased to come to us without an invitation, and we were forced to accept him. Now the time has come for us to pay a return visit to Paris. From now on, the Russian emperor no longer holed up in the Northern capital, but arrived to his army. In January 1813, Russian troops crossed the border of the Duchy of Warsaw. The return visit has begun. At the end of January, the valiant General Miloradovich entered Warsaw, in February Chernyshev took Berlin, in March Benckendorff captured Lubeck, and Wintzingerode captured Dresden. Lent was ending, and on Good Friday, April 11, Archimandrite Philaret in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra again amazed listeners with the power of his sermon: - O man, drawn by the grace of your Lord to heaven, but wallowing in the flesh in the world! See your image in a man immersed in the waters and resisting the drowning: he continually renews the image of the cross in his members and thus overcomes the hostile waves. Look at the bird when it wants to ascend from the ground: it extends into the cross and flies away. Seek in the cross a means to escape from the world and ascend to God. Soon after the bright holiday of Easter, the sad news of the death of Kutuzov came. After the end of the 1812 campaign, Mikhail Illarionovich lost a lot. He continued to be considered the commander-in-chief, but his strength was leaving him every day. He was still only sixty-seven years old, but the severe wounds received in the campaigns were taking their toll. The weakening Kutuzov was still against the further advance of troops deeper into Europe: “It’s time to go beyond the Elbe now.” But how do we get back? With a snout covered in blood! Wounded twice in the head, the second time fatally, he managed to survive when the doctors only helplessly shrugged. And in the last year of his life, he became one of the few commanders who could win the war when it seemed to the whole world that the war was lost. For the Battle of Borodino on August 31, 1812, His Serene Highness Prince Golenishchev-Kutuzov was promoted to the rank of field marshal, and in this rank he was destined to live the last eight months of his life. Kutuzov’s Tarutino maneuver became one of the hitherto unseen masterpieces of world military art. While Napoleon, sitting in Moscow, was waiting for surrender from the Russian Tsar, our army rested, perked up and was significantly replenished. The debate about whether the commander-in-chief did the right thing stopped; now everyone saw the genius of his plan and the benefit of the position he had chosen. Kutuzov's further victory over Bonaparte did not consist in a general battle, but in the fact that he did not allow the enemy to leave Russia through the rich lands of the Oryol region and Little Russia, forcing the uninvited guests to retreat along the war-ravaged old Smolensk road. At the same time, Mikhail Illarionovich was forced to defend his plan for the slow extermination of the “Great Army”, to argue with those who demanded that he encircle the remnants of the French troops and take them prisoner. It is also surprising that Napoleon, without losing a single battle to Kutuzov, completely lost his powerful army and crawled away from Russia, content only with the stolen goods. It's funny, but thanks to this, the French still consider the War of 1812 a success! They claim that they won the Battle of Borodino, took Moscow, made a great profit - why not a victorious campaign! But be that as it may, in reality, it was not Napoleon who won a complete victory, but a wiser commander, Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov. A magnificent swan song! In December 1812, 18 thousand pitiful, ragged and frostbitten people, who could no longer be called soldiers, returned from Russia to Europe through the Neman. 130 thousand ended up in Russian captivity, and 350 thousand Europeans from diverse countries remained forever in the vast and beautiful Russian expanses. Being an opponent of the European campaign, feeling how his strength was leaving him more and more every day, Kutuzov did not ask for resignation and continued to command the army that entered Poland, then Silesia and Prussia. Now Emperor Alexander was constantly next to him. When in the border Silesian town of Steinau the residents presented the tsar with a laurel wreath, he ordered it to be given to Kutuzov with the words: “The laurels belong not to me, but to him!” At this time, Kutuzov was already completely weakened, on April 6, when the army moved further, Mikhail Illarionovich finally fell ill and remained in the town of Bunzlau (now the city of Boleslawiec in Western Poland, not far from the border with Germany). Shortly before his death, Alexander visited the dying Russian knight. “Forgive me, dear Mikhailo Illarionovich, that at times I was unfair to you,” the Tsar asked his field marshal. “I forgive, sir...” Kutuzov answered barely audibly. – May God and Russia forgive you! “A painful and great loss not only for you, but for the entire Fatherland,” Alexander informed Princess Kutuzova about the death of her husband. “You’re not the only one shedding tears for him: I’m crying with you and all of Russia is crying!” The Emperor ordered the body of the deceased to be embalmed and sent to St. Petersburg, where Mikhail Illarionovich was born on a blessed September day in 1745 (According to other sources - 1747): “It seems decent to me to place it in the Kazan Cathedral, decorated with his trophies.” For a whole month and a half, the coffin with Kutuzov’s body moved towards St. Petersburg, because everywhere they wanted to show him worthy honors. Five miles from the Northern capital, the coffin was removed from the cart and then carried on the shoulders all the way to the Kazan Cathedral. Alexander was right - all of Russia mourned its hero, who saved her from one of the most terrible enemy invasions. The burial of His Serene Highness Prince Kutuzov-Smolensky took place on June 13. The floor was given to Archimandrite Philaret. And this word flew into the very hearts of the listeners: - Upsetting enemies, he was our joy... This zealous champion of the battles of the Fatherland, struggling for its safety, does not want to notice his own dangers; and death passes through his head twice... What contradictory signs! Those who saw these ulcers, still open, thought that they were seeing this ulcerous one for the last time... Finally, this dark time of the Fatherland was approaching, for which Michael was observed, like a lamp for the night... What power of the tongue will represent the strength of spirit with which the old leader, forced to sacrifice his ancient capital for the salvation of the Fatherland, accepts on his own shoulders all the misfortunes and complaints of her inhabitants, all the sorrow of the warriors who fought for it, all the compassion and fears of the Fatherland, and finally the heavy ruins of devastated Moscow?.. Like a crowned Victorious, he will land among the continuous victorious exclamations of the army he leads; as the blessed defender of the Church, he is accompanied in his departure by its most majestic triumph, and passes the gloomy door of death among the bright days of the Resurrection... Russians! You all unanimously wish that the spirit given to Smolensky would not cease to walk in our regiments and rest on our leaders. There is no better praise for one who has departed; there is no better instruction for the remaining sons of the Fatherland. Filaret was destined to become the first who dared to comprehend the meaning of great and amazing events. At the very beginning of 1813, the President of the Russian Academy of Arts, Alexei Nikolaevich Olenin, asked him to write an argument about why Russia managed to crush the indestructible muscle of Napoleon. Olenin lost in the war his nineteen-year-old son Nikolai, an ensign of the Semenovsky Life Guards Regiment, who died in the Battle of Borodino. In a letter to Filaret, he wrote: “Who, if not the servant of the holy altar, should prove by the events of the current war that the incredible feats of the Russian people have their beginning and foundation in boundless faith in God, in loyalty to the Tsar and in love for the Fatherland.” Archimandrite Philaret responded to Olenin’s request and wrote a treatise “Discourse on the moral reasons for our incredible successes in the real war.” According to his admission, he himself was timid to write about events “which speak about themselves more expressively than all human languages ​​and in which, according to the confession of all pious and virtuous people, even according to the confession of some atheists, the Lord himself spoke.” He believed that “to talk about such incidents of kingdoms, which, obviously walking under the Finger of the King of the Kings, are presented as a shame and instruction to the world... only those with whom He Himself sharpened and expanded their gaze have the authority, so that they could penetrate into the secret laws of His world power, and partly embrace the immeasurable considerations of His judgments.” In May 1813, the treatise was read in the collection “Conversations of Lovers of the Russian Word”, to which Philaret was elected in 1812 for his sermons, and on the first anniversary of the Battle of Borodino, the magazine “Son of the Fatherland” published “Discourse” in two issues. “The bloodiest battle known in our times was fought, in which the more victory fluctuated between superiority of strength and perfection of art, between audacity and fearlessness, between despair and courage, between the greed of robbery and love for the Fatherland, the more solemnly the right side was crowned,” wrote Filaret in his “Discourse.” Addressing Napoleon, he warned him about the Lord’s punishment: “You did not step on the heart of Russia, but, having stumbled, leaned on her chest, and soon you will be repulsed and overthrown. Russia will not be humiliated, but will rise to unprecedented glory. The war, based on deceit and malice, has reached its limit: the War of the Lord begins.” Speaking about the fate of states, he emphasized that it “is determined by the eternal law of truth, which is placed on the basis of their existence and which, as they establish themselves on it or deviate from it, pronounces judgment on them, which is then carried out under the comprehensive jurisdiction of Providence.” And further: “Having left God, it (the state) can be left to itself, according to the law of long-suffering, or in anticipation of its correction, or as an instrument of punishment for others, or until the measure of its iniquities is fulfilled; but is soon struck by justice as an outrageous region of God’s power.” On June 29, 1813, on the feast of Peter and Paul, Filaret was awarded a rare award for an archimandrite - the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd degree of the Grand Cross with a star, with the highest rescript, which stated that he “is included in this order for tireless work with the rank of rector and professor of theological sciences at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, activities in education, worthy ministers altar of the Lord." And Russian troops continued to crush Napoleon. Near Leipzig on October 4–6, the most powerful battle of all Bonaparte’s wars took place - the Battle of the Nations, in which Napoleon lost 80 thousand people, and the allies - 50 thousand. Moreover, of the 300 thousand Allied troops, 127 thousand were Russian troops, almost half. The battle of Leipzig was the main blow to Napoleon, his disaster. Germany was quickly liberated, and five months after the Battle of the Nations, Russian troops would enter Paris and celebrate Easter of 1814 in the capital of France. The Russian emperor was burning with a thirst for revenge for the burning of Moscow. But he was going to take revenge in a completely different way from the way European vandals would have taken revenge. He decided to punish the French with the full manifestation of true Orthodox generosity. “Tell the Parisians,” he told the deputation, “that I do not enter their walls as an enemy and that it is up to them to have me as a friend.” He really made every effort to prevent the victors from committing violence against the vanquished. Napoleon found himself surrounded near his own conquered capital. Alexander did not enter into any negotiations with him, demanding one thing - unquestioning surrender. On March 19 (April 1), 1814, Russian and Prussian guards infantry, cavalry and artillery, battalions of Austrian grenadiers and a Nuremberg regiment entered Paris, with a total number of 35 thousand people. The Russian emperor opened the solemn procession. The winners entered the dirty and smelly Faubourg Saint-Martin. Only on Northern Boulevard began to come across luxurious and rich houses and streets paved with stone. White sheets and tablecloths hung from the windows, replacing banners of surrender. Excellent command of the French language led to the fact that Parisians initially perceived Russian officers as their royalist compatriots, who had until now been in exile. Parisian women jumped into the saddles of the handsome Russian officers, but even after learning that they were Russians, they were in no hurry to jump off. Alexander tried in no way to show his arrogance over the vanquished. Even the French historian Thiers wrote: “No one wanted to please him as much as these French, who defeated him so many times, whom he finally defeated in turn, and whose approval he sought with such passion. To conquer this people with generosity is what he strived for at that moment most of all.” As proof of his generosity, he released all the prisoners. Hating Napoleon, Alexander ordered the immediate suppression of all unrest and reprisals against the Bonapartists. A curious case is the Vendôme Column, on top of which was a copper figure of Bonaparte. They wanted to overthrow her, they threw ropes, but the Semyonovites sent by Alexander prevented this, as they would now say, “act of vandalism.” When the king saw the Vendôme Column, he grinned: “If they put me so high, then my head would spin!” At this time, Lent was underway, and Alexander sought to show godless Europe that he was an Orthodox sovereign. He fasted both in food and in feelings, not allowing hatred for the defeated enemy to manifest itself in at least anything. Napoleon gathered his last strength in Fontainebleau. Ten years ago, here he snatched the imperial crown from the hands of Pope Pius VII and placed it on his own forehead. Here he was destined to utter the words of abdication from the throne. He had 60 thousand loyal bayonets left, but the marshals and generals led by Ney, Caulaincourt and MacDonald convinced Bonaparte of the futility of further resistance. The act of Napoleon's abdication came to Alexander during Holy Week, when the Russian monarch fasted especially strictly, preparing to receive the Holy Mysteries. The entire army kept a strict fast with him. Easter came on April 10th. There was not a single Orthodox church in Paris. On the Place de la Concorde, where Louis XVI was executed, an altar was erected, around which the entire Russian army gathered. Seven priests in rich vestments performed the service. A flock of thousands, consisting of Russian soldiers who had come here from all over Europe, burst out: “Christ is risen! Truly risen!” The French, stunned and delighted, looked with bulging eyes at the greatest religious event. “Everything was silent, everyone was listening! – Alexander later recalled. – It was a solemn moment for my heart; This moment was touching and terrible for me. Here, I thought, by the inscrutable will of Providence, I brought my Orthodox Russian army from the cold homeland of the North in order to offer a collective, cleansing and at the same time solemn prayer to the Lord in the land of foreigners who so recently brazenly advanced into Russia, in their famous capital, in the very place where the royal sacrifice fell from the riot of the people.” All this testifies to what a dramatic change took place in Alexander towards the Christian faith. And considerable credit for this belongs to Archimandrite Philaret, who was next to the sovereign during the difficult time of 1812. At the end of the war, Filaret wrote “A prayer song for the deliverance of the Church and the Russian state from the invasion of the Gauls and with them twenty languages.” From now on, it was supposed to sound during the Christmas holidays. This was the first liturgical work of Archimandrite Philaret accepted for use by the Russian Church. On August 14, 1814, Emperor Alexander’s manifesto “On the establishment of bronze crosses for the clergy” was published, which stated: “In commemoration of those mutual feelings, based on love, gratitude and well-being, which We experience today, and in preserving the memory of unparalleled unanimity and jealousy, crowned by the hand of the Almighty with famous incidents, We wished to establish and decree the following. Our Most Holy Clergy, who called before the Altar of the Most High with their warm prayers God's blessing on the All-Russian weapons and army, and with examples of piety encouraged the people to unanimity and firmness, as a sign of reverence for faith and love for the Fatherland, let them wear on their chests, starting from the Supreme Shepherd inclusively to the Priest, a cross specially established for this purpose with the signature 1812 year." One of the first to be awarded a bronze cross with the numbers “1812” was Archimandrite Filaret.