Профессор Александр Львович Катанский (1836–1919)

In the well-known time of severe hard times, in the spring of 1919, an old man, who was 83 years old, painfully and mournfully went to the Lord, seemingly no longer needed by the “new Russia”. In a hungry unconsciousness, like a baby, smacking his lips, he plaintively asked his elderly wife: “Mom, I want to eat... Mom, I want to eat...”. But this helpless old man was one of those who throughout his life worked tirelessly for the greatness and glory of the science of Orthodox theology. It was the Honored Professor of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Doctor of Theology Alexander Lvovich Katansky. His fate was similar to that of many of the best representatives of Russian church science of the 19th century. He was born into a poor family of a deacon of the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Nizhny Novgorod. The family huddled in a small and dilapidated house of two rooms, where, in addition to the members of this family, lived three more of the father’s younger brothers, who studied at the seminary and for whom the deacon father became a true father and educator (it can be noted that all the brothers, according to a fairly widespread custom among the clergy at that time, bore different surnames: Lev Gerasimovich Katansky, Ivan Gerasimovich Sadov, Pyotr Gerasimovich Eleonsky and Fyodor Gerasimovich Eleonsky). Only later, when at the age of forty his father was ordained a priest and he received the position of second priest at the St. George Church, did the family’s financial situation improve. But even then he raised his children in strictness: in particular, he kept his son away from comrades of less than good behavior and did not allow him to have pocket money. Alexander Lvovich characterizes his parent as follows: “My father (Lev Gerasimovich Katansky) was far from a rich man, forced due to lack of funds to do a lot of personal work around the house, especially on its repairs, even sometimes major ones, but he was rich in something else - a strong, unshakable faith in God and deep religiosity. He had a very meek, gentle character and a strict life, he struggled intensely with his shortcomings and sinful inclinations, at times and for a long time indulging in purely ascetic deeds (fasting, prayer, etc.), which we all marveled at. At the same time, he was also a zealous preacher, not letting a single holiday pass without preaching his own sermon, which was far from common at that time, even among city priests and archpriests, not to mention deacons.” In general, Father Lev was known in Nizhny Novgorod for his sincere and deep piety, and subsequently, having gained universal respect, he became the confessor of the entire city clergy. It was in this fertile atmosphere of his parents’ home that the future professor grew up. In his own words, “I grew up alone, without friends, spending time playing only with my sisters; I didn’t even have children’s toys, except homemade ones... I wasn’t spoiled, and maybe I didn’t have the means. I developed a concentrated character, and maybe heredity had an impact here - from my father. It is not surprising, therefore, that as soon as I grew up and learned to read and sufficiently understand what I read, I soon became addicted to reading, first the lives of the saints. Demetrius of Rostov - from the church library, and then from secular books.” This is how the personality traits of the future scientist began to form. By the way, the large Katansky family gave Russian church science, in addition to Alexander Lvovich himself, several more famous figures: a fairly prominent biblical scholar F. G. Eleonsky (1836–1906) was his uncle (although only six months older than his nephew), and an excellent expert on Western Christianity and Latinist A. I. Sadov (1850–1930) was F. G. Eleonsky’s cousin (also relatives of A.L. Katansky were master of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and teacher of the Nizhny Novgorod Seminary F. P. Eleonsky and candidate of theology, teacher of the Kharkov Seminary F. I. Sadov). Belonging to the class of clergy determined the external parameters of the life of Alexander Lvovich. In 1847, he entered the second class of the local theological school, which he graduated in 1852. The school gave him a thorough knowledge of ancient languages. Subsequently, such a solid knowledge of ancient languages, expanded and deepened by further training, turned out to be a great help in the scientific studies of A. L. Katansky. The theological school was naturally followed by the Nizhny Novgorod Seminary, where Katansky studied in 1852–1858. This seminary was then in its heyday. “After the entrance exams to the Kazan Academy in 1858, she was recognized as the best in the area... The Academy even expressed special gratitude to the seminary for presenting excellent students. In general, since the late 40s, the seminary has given the Kazan Academy a lot of students outstanding in their abilities” 1 . Alexander Lvovich himself says in this regard: “As for the seminar teachers of that time, among them there were many very talented people. At that time there was not yet an almost complete flight of seminarians to secular higher educational institutions, universities, etc.; For the best students of the seminary, it was a cherished dream to get into the Theological Academy (as we also dreamed, at a relatively later time, at the end of the 50s), and they went to our academies, and from there they were appointed teachers in the seminary. That is why most of the seminary teachers of my time were very good teachers, conscientiously and skillfully fulfilling their difficult duties, despite the extremely meager salaries” 2. Of course, in this teaching corporation there were not entirely gifted people, as well as those who sometimes succumbed to ordinary human weaknesses (for example, an addiction to drinking wine), but this was the exception, not the rule... The greatness and wealth of Russian Orthodox culture was created mainly by these humble ascetics cultivating the field of spiritual enlightenment. The names of most of them have been erased from human memory, but they have remained forever imprinted in the memory of God... Naturally, there were often students who matched the teachers, among whom there were quite a lot of gifted young men. Of course, not all of them were able not only to preserve God’s talent, but also to increase it. There were also those who “gave this talent for growth” to the evil one, sowing God’s field with thorns and thistles with his help. Among them was the notorious N.A. Dobrolyubov, with whom A.L. Katansky studied at the Nizhny Novgorod Seminary. As Alexander Lvovich again testifies, “at that time Dobrolyubov amazed us with his appearance as a very well-bred young man, modest, graceful, always well dressed, with a gentle, handsome face. He looked like a red-haired girl, and in no way could it have occurred to me that he would turn out to be such a literary figure, and of a well-known style at that. There were then rumors in the seminary about his great talent and extraordinary diligence; they said that he wrote huge essays on assigned topics, sat whole nights on them, that his parents even took away his candles to stop his nightly studies.”3 However, such “fallen angels” did not yet introduce serious dissonance into the then structure of Russian culture and Russian life. Only later did they begin to gain more and more strength. The years spent in the seminary completed the formation of the main personality traits of A. L. Katansky. The amazing beauty and kindness of Russian nature played a significant role in this formation (the unusually reverent, emotional lines of the old professor’s “Memoirs” are dedicated to the beauty of his beloved city and region). As a representative of Russian theological science of the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, A. L. Katansky reflected in his work many of its strengths and weaknesses. As for the former, the first thing that stands out is their brilliant knowledge, like that of most other Russian Orthodox scholars of that era, of sources, which is unthinkable without the most solid philological training and culture, which was provided by the theological schools and seminaries of that time. This highest philological culture allowed A.L. Katansky to be not only a serious dogmatist, but also a profound patrolologist. Such excellent knowledge of the patristic works and no less solid knowledge of the Holy Scriptures allowed Alexander Lvovich to pave the way to the historical revelation of dogmas. According to Fr. Georgy Florovsky, “Katansky openly raised the question of the historical side of the dogma. History has a “form” or “external scheme” of dogma, and while dogma is unchangeable as revealed truth, there is growth on the formal side - initially this form or formula was too narrow for the truth revealed in it and therefore inevitably expanded. This was the growth or development of a more perfect language and word usage, “dogmatic-philological work” 4. It’s true, as Fr. George, there was little actual “historical” in the works of A.L. Katansky, and the value of these works “is that with great attention individual paternal texts are reviewed and compared by author - such a “dogmatic-philological” analysis, in any case, facilitates the subsequent synthesis, even if the analyst himself was limited to a “collection” of his data” 5. However, this judgment seems to us not entirely correct, because Fr. George understands too broadly, in our opinion, the “historical” in relation to dogmas, where such a “dogmatic-philological” method is probably the only possible one. Works by A.L. Katansky paved the way for the famous works of Bishop Sylvester (Malevansky). And the “Sylvester spirit” sharpened many facets of the entire Russian theological science of the pre-revolutionary period. As for the weaknesses of this science, in our opinion, they are the other side of the coin of the strengths. The extreme concentration of Orthodox scientists on purely scientific issues, their selfless cultivation and complete devotion to them made Orthodox science, as it were, not only Ding an sich, but also für sich, acquiring self-sufficient value. Sometimes it was forgotten that this science, like all human earthly life, is only a path to salvation and a means of salvation, and the means are far from the only and not the main thing. And forgetting this violated (albeit with a weak dissonance) the subtlest consonance of the universe of Orthodoxy. The terrible but cleansing thunderstorm of the revolution reminded of this... V. D. Yudin, A. I. Sidorov Tikhov A. Brief memorial historical note of the Nizhny Novgorod Theological Seminary. Nizhny Novgorod, 1905. pp. 56–57. Katansky A.L. Memoirs of an old professor. Vol. I. Pg., 1914. P. 46. Katansky A.L. Memoirs of an old professor. Issue 1. Pg., 1914. P. 44. Florovsky Georgy, prot. Paths of Russian theology. Vilnius, 1991. P. 379. 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