[Rec. on:] Works of Peter Smirnov, archpriest, rector of St. Petersburg St. Isaac's Cathedral.

Known for his fruitful work in the field of church teaching, both from the church department and from the department of a secular school, mainly a gymnasium, the Rector of St. Isaac's Cathedral, Peter Alekseevich Smirnov, last year undertook a complete publication of his works, the first edition of which has already been published. One cannot help but rejoice and welcome the start of this enterprise with all our hearts! In this first issue, the author appears not as a teacher of Orthodox youth, as he has long been known to Russian society, but as a shepherd-teacher of fathers and mothers. The issue under review includes small in volume, but highly interesting in content and tone, individual treatises, at one time delivered by the author, either in the form of public lectures or speeches at ceremonial meetings. These treatises bear the following titles: 1) About the Church; 2) Consideration of God as the Highest Spirit; 3) Truths spoken by the Lord with an oath; 4) Miracles in former and modern times; 5) True and false miracles of our time; 6) Aspirations that are contrary to faith in modern society, 7) Reflection of aspirations that are contrary to faith in school; 8) About Orthodoxy in general and in particular in relation to the Slavic peoples; 9) About cosmopolitanism and the isolation of peoples; 10) About teaching in the Orthodox Church; 11) The fear of God is the basis of a good life and truly useful education; 12) Love of subjects for the Orthodox Tsar; 13) Sacred coronation of Orthodox kings; 14) Holy Day of Russia (pp. 5–288). Most of these very titles make it clear that the treatises are closely related to modern times: the Orthodox pastor expresses his views in them, judging various serious phenomena of modern Russian life. At a superficial glance, the initial treatises seem too abstract: about the Church, about God as the Highest Spirit, about the truths spoken by the Lord with an oath, and placing them at the beginning of the book seems to be impractical, so to speak, throwing off the reader with its abstraction. But whoever takes the trouble to read the entire book cannot help but point out the methodological and tactful nature of the author in this particular and not any other arrangement of his individual treatises. The book begins with a treatise on the Church. The subject is apparently abstractly dogmatic. But look at how the pastor brings his contemporaries to him in order to understand to them the vital importance of this subject: “One feels,” he says, “that life is hard when its (the church’s) maternal power has weakened. I want to return under her wing. And the wise of this world begin to bow their proud brows before her. And the simple ones, who believe that salvation lies in the letter, feel that their main question is not whether they have two fingers and not walking with salt, but whether they have fallen away from the Church. What is the church and why is it so hard, so scary to be outside of it?“ (1 page). Having given this formulation of the question directly personal for every Christian, who is attentive to the needs and requirements of his spiritual life, its importance, the pastor then introduces the reader into the purest and “great area of Theology” by presenting to his attention “the great mysteries more revealed: - the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, the creation of the world, the fall and redemption of the human race, grace and the eternal life after death” - according to the close connection of these mysteries with the doctrine of Churches. Having, so to speak, placed the reader on this elevated point of Theological contemplation, already with this first treatise, the shepherd then does not take the reader away from it during the reading of the entire book. As a result of this, it turns out that the reader feels equally highly tuned, seriously focused, both directing his mind into the assimilation of the revealed teaching about the properties of God, and contemplating the phenomena of life of modern humanity. For “The Church is a council of Angels and men,” and a Christian, while still living on earth, should not obscure in himself the consciousness of his membership in this council of rationally free beings, and should not reduce himself to humiliation in the sphere of irrational animal life. The size of the bibliographic note does not allow us to reveal in more detail examples of the application of this sublime theological and pastoral point of view to the phenomena and issues of modern life. On the other hand, we cannot anticipate the author’s direct impact on the reader by presenting extracts from his book 2 . Let’s say in general that a pastor will find in the author’s book deeply edifying material both for preaching from the church pulpit and for a pastorally edifying private conversation with his flock of any class of society, any degree of social status and development. The external merits of the book should include its serious, clear, precise theological language, calm, strict and, in places, sublime style; then - careful processing of the publication, even a clear and beautiful font. With all my heart I wish the venerable author to successfully and easily overcome the inevitable difficulties in the serious undertaking he has undertaken. Salting is a movement performed clockwise Quite often this 1. tale, a peculiar coverage of the phenomena of modern life is both thoughtful and, so to speak, impressive - life-like. For example. at the end of his treatise. The author says, true and false miracles of our time: “Until now, the city of St. Petersburg was and is still looked at as if it were not yet a Russian city, although all the government units of Russia are collected in it, and this entire outskirts is looked at as far from being Russified. Who knows? Perhaps we are present at a process, significant in our history and with abundant great consequences for the future of Russia, of the internal, deepest, indissoluble growth of this entire Ingrian outskirts into the mighty body of Russia? Perhaps now only the brilliant thought of Peter, who cut a window to Europe here, is given from above true and complete fulfillment in fulfilling the great calling of Russia not only in relation to itself, but also to other peoples! Anyone who has been to Kronstadt or to the chapel near the glass factory has seen the movement of the people, the same influx of people from all over Russia, as we are still accustomed to seeing in Kyiv and Moscow. St. Petersburg is becoming not only a state and government center, but also a prayer center in Russia. And it is known that there are no stronger bonds for the people and the state than religious bonds.” (Pages 126–127). You might be interested in: