Издательская деятельность Русского Пантелеймонова монастыря на Афоне во второй половине XIX в. и духовное наследие святителя Феофана Затворника

1st year master's student of the biblical department Moscow Theological Academy 1. Holy Mount Athos and its significance for Russia This year 2016 has become an anniversary date for Russian monasticism on Holy Mount Athos - a millennium of life in this place blessed by God. However, this date is important not only for Russian monks on Mount Athos, but also for the entire Orthodox world. Looking only at some people in Russian history, we will see what significance Holy Mount Athos had for the Russian Orthodox Church, for the Russian people. Many lights of Rus': St. Anthony of Pechersk, students of St. Sergius - St. Epiphanius the Wise and St. Sergiy Nuromsky; St. Cyprian of Moscow, St. Nil Sorsky, St. Maxim Grek, teacher Paisiy (Velichkovsky), Rev. Aristocles of Moscow and Silouan of Athos, having a direct connection with Athos, shone in the history of the Russian Church; some - in church administration, others - in the foundation of the eldership, others became an example of holiness for him, etc. We will consider the spiritual and educational activities of the Holy Mountain, in particular publishing, which was especially evident in the second half of the 19th century. 2. Publishing activity of Holy Mount Athos in the second half of the 19th century. In the life of Russian society in the second half of the 19th century. many problems were noticeable in the field of spiritual and moral relations, as the zealot of enlightenment and piety in Russia, the Athonite elder of the Panteleimon Monastery Arseny (Minin) (+1879), wrote about this: “As much as the human race succeeds in inventions, discoveries and other affairs of this century, it becomes so stupid in its concepts of spiritual life. Man has entangled himself with various whimsical desires, like nets, and he will not free himself from them until the grave.”858 The Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos played an important role in the matter of spiritual enlightenment. Why? We read the answer from the author of the book “Russians on Athos” A.A. Dmitrievsky: “Not a single major phenomenon in our internal political or religious life has gone unnoticed by our Athonite monks, who listen sensitively, even to the point of pain, to everything that happens inside their, although abandoned, but still dear fatherland close to their hearts... Through the Athos publications, over the entire relatively short period of their educational and publishing activities, many good seeds have been sown in the still uncultivated vast field of our people’s religious and moral education” 859. Spiritual and educational activities, in particular publishing, on Holy Mount Athos were widespread in the second half of the 19th century. At that time, the Panteleimon Monastery became one of the largest publishers of church spiritual and moral literature for Russia. Publishing activities had several main goals: firstly, the dissemination of highly moral spiritual literature in Russian society; secondly, dissemination of information about the publishing activities of the Russian monastery on Athos; thirdly, providing information about the monastery in order to attract pilgrims and donors from Russia. “In favor of the spiritual enlightenment of Russia,” writes Abbot Nikon (Smirnov), the rector of the Moscow metochion of the Athos St. Panteleimon Monastery, “subject to the influx of sects, the spread of freethinking and nihilism, as well as the Old Believer schism, our Athos monastery, monasteries and cells strengthened their publishing activities, and their books could be purchased at the cheapest prices, and brochures and leaflets were distributed in the thousands, sometimes free of charge” 860. Among the numerous publications of the Panteleimon Monastery, the main place belongs to the works of the greatest spiritual writer of the Russian Church - St. Theophan the Recluse, whose anniversary - the 200th anniversary of his birth, we celebrated in the summer of 2015. Here are just some reference data on the editions of the works of St. Theophan: “The ascetic works of the saint were published in the largest editions: “The Path to Salvation” (six editions 5000 copies each), “Thoughts for every day of the year according to church readings from the Word of God” (two editions of 5000 copies each), “Characters of active piety” (four editions of 5000 copies each), “The Psalter or the divine reflections of St. Ephraim the Syrian" (five editions of 5,000 copies each), "Works of Hesychius, Presbyter of Jerusalem" (six editions of 10,000 copies each), "Philokalia", five volumes of which were published in a circulation of 3,000 copies. each, as well as “The Invisible Warfare of Nicodemus the Holy Mountain” (5000 copies), “Words of Simeon the New Theologian” (two editions of two issues of 2500 copies each)” 861, etc. Saint Theophan is the most prolific Russian church writer. His spiritual works, numbering 40 volumes, can be compared with the works of the great universal teachers of the Church. Thus, in the second half of the 19th century. the largest publisher of spiritual literature, the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos, and the great spiritual writer, St. Theophan the Recluse in Russia, united. 3. Collaboration between the monks of the Panteleimon Monastery on Athos and St. Theophan the Recluse Saint Theophan, having openly served for 25 years in the church field, secludes himself from the outside world physically and secludes himself in a cramped cell of the modest Vyshensky monastery. The main value of this retreat and the merit of the saint was expressed in this way by the Russian theologian and historian, Professor A.A. Bronzov: “The retreat gave the Vyshensky Recluse the opportunity to become a profound Christian psychologist and a famous Christian theologian. He gave him the opportunity to share the fruits of his wisdom, his knowledge with others, leaving behind him a rich scientific and literary heritage, thanks to which his name will never die in Russian society” 862. For 28 years, the saint continues to serve the Church, but in a different way - with his writings: “Is writing a service to the Church or not?! - asked Saint Theophan and answered, “If the service is at hand, and yet necessary for the Church, then why should we look for or desire another?” 863. The saint was published in the largest periodical publications of that time: the magazines “Tambov Diocesan Gazette”, “Vladimir Diocesan Gazette”, “Home Conversation”, “Wanderer”, “Soulful Interlocutor”, etc. The last magazine was published monthly in Moscow (1888–1918) by the Athos courtyard of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery with the blessing of the elders Jerome and Macarius. The organizer and editor of this magazine was the Athonite elder, Hieromonk Arseny. Having close contacts with Saint Theophan the Recluse, Hieromonk Arseny published his theological, ascetic and epistolary creations in almost every magazine. Over time, the magazine became widely known in all layers of Russian society and, despite its extreme cheapness, was accessible to many. Saint Theophan, in one of his letters, advised to subscribe to an Athonite magazine: “And here’s what else - the Athonite monks in Moscow publish under the title “Soulful Interlocutor”, 12 issues a year, each with two pages... Write it out... there will be something to keep society busy there” 864. The circulation of the publication was 15–20 thousand copies: “The publication was distributed free of charge and sent to all monasteries, as a gracious gift from the Athos people to the Russian people. Through this magazine, information about the publishing activities of the Athos Russian Monastery was also disseminated, and communication with readers was maintained. At the end of the year, the magazines were bound into one book and sold in annual issues” 865. Saint Theophan also published his works in separate books and brochures. The main publishers of St. Theophan's books were the nephew of St. A.G. Govorov and the same Athos Russian Panteleimon Monastery. This is how the saint speaks about his publishers: “The good people of Athos have printed,” he wrote on November 29, 1878 to Kyiv, meaning the publication of letters “What is spiritual life.” – What great fellows they are at distributing books! I don’t publish myself, precisely because the books weigh on my shoulders. But they are at odds with each other” 866. Although the saint himself did not publish, his concern for the publication of his creations extended to everything: font, paper, format, title, etc. He gave detailed explanations to the publishers about this: “Askonchensky suggested that you publish “Thoughts for Every Day,” the saint wrote on July 3, 1875 to the Athonite monks. - Why not print it? You need a small book. - In the 12th beat. - There is no need to add anything to that. It should be printed as it is” 867. Nephew of Saint Theophan A.G. Govorov published up to 15 scientific and literary works of his uncle, but on his advice in 1888. He transferred the right to sell and publish to the Panteleimon Monastery: “The Reverend wished to make it easier for me to publish books,” writes A.G. Govorov. “He found it possible for me, for the agreed amount of money paid to me, to transfer the publication and sale of his works to the Russian Athos Panteleimon Monastery, with which I made a special written agreement on this subject on August 25, 1888” 868. Saint Theophan in one of his letters described this agreement with the Athos people as follows: “The books are now finally assigned to Athos. They can publish it until the end of time, only with payment each time to the nephew, and then to his descendants” 869. The saint’s works were a great success during his lifetime, some went through several editions and could bring him considerable capital, but this was not his goal: “I don’t need money at all,” wrote Saint Theophan N.V. Elagin, - if only the publication was cheaper - and therefore more common, that is, so that it would be distributed more widely" 870. The only thing he asked from the publishers was copies of his works, which the saint later distributed: “Hurry (to print); - he wrote to the people of Athos on December 8, 1877, when they agreed to print “Letters”, “so that (a book) would come out in time for the post.” There is a preaching part here. And quickly send me my usual 200 copies” 871. In another letter the saint writes: “Sometimes they ask me: the path to salvation that the Athos people published in editions. I have no. Will Korablev, Siryakov, for example, undertake to print one book? He will give me copies - not money” 872. Saint Theophan shunned not only covetousness, but also glory, which was sometimes expressed in concealing the authorship of his creations: “If you want to print, take “Letters about what spiritual life is and how to tune in to it?” - the bishop reported to the Athonite hieromonk Arseny. “They were recently finished, and now I’m deciding whether to give them to a magazine or print them separately.” If you take it. I'll give it to you. And that’s the end of the thoughts. There are only 80 letters. A decent book will come out. Print without the name of the author" 873. Thus, the main collaborators of St. Theophan in the publication of his works were the monks of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Athos. To do this, he transferred all powers to them. The saint's works were published both in periodicals and as separate books and brochures. In publishing his works, Saint Theophan wished that the spiritual treasures that came from his pen would become available to many of his contemporaries who were thirsty for spiritual food. The good people of Athos fully agreed with the author’s wishes and tried to make the publications as accessible as possible for the Russian reader. 4. The fruits of cooperation between the monks of the Russian monastery on Athos and St. Theophan the Recluse One of the main fruits of the joint activity of the monks of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery and St. Theophan is translated spiritual literature. The saint had an excellent command of ancient languages. His translated works are striking in their enormity. First of all, this is a wonderful five-volume work, “The Philokalia,” which took 25 years to prepare. The main subject of this work is a collection of writings about the spiritual life of the great teachers of ancient asceticism: Anthony the Great, Macarius the Great, Ephraim the Syrian, John Climacus, Theodore the Studite, Maximus the Confessor and many others. etc. “Although this work is generally a translation from the Greek “Philokalia,” writes the famous biography of St. Theophan P. A. Smirnov, “it contains a lot of independent work of the translator and it is much more complete than the Greek. It included the writings of many fathers who are not at all in the original” 874. A century ago, a similar translation work, and also for 25 years, was done by the Monk Paisius (Velichkovsky). However, unlike the work of St. Theophan, it was difficult for readers of the second half of the 19th century to understand, and even more so for our contemporaries, for a number of reasons. Firstly, Rev. Paisiy made a translation into Slavic; secondly, its translation is made as a tracing paper, and therefore suffers from literalism, which in some cases leads to insurmountable obstacles in understanding the text. Saint Theophan made a translation into Russian, accessible to contemporary readers. And his translation principle was different. He reworked the text, complex passages that are difficult to translate into Russian, he paraphrased so that they were understandable, using modern theological apparatus, even if this translation “would not be very similar to the language of some 7th century Abba. Even if it doesn’t look like it, he’ll talk about it. As a rule, it is quite accurate” 875, writes leading researcher at the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Historical Sciences N.N. Lisova. The main differences between the Greek and St. Philokalia. Paisius Velichkovsky from St. Theophan the Recluse N.N. Lisovoy outlined it this way: “He makes a completely different “Philokalia”, not only in comparison with Paisius’s, but in comparison with the Greek. His “Philokalia” is different in composition, his “Philokalia” is different in logic. This is a real Russian theological contribution, this is Russian patristic theology” 876. Thanks to the translation of the Greek “Philokalia” into Russian with simultaneous Russian patristic processing, it became more accessible to readers of the second half of the 19th century. and all future generations. The first volume of the “Philokalia” was published in 1877 “at the expense of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Athos” 877, and then the second, third (1888), fourth (1889) and fifth volumes: “My books are all accepted by the people of Athos,” wrote Saint Theophan. – They will continue to print with a small fee. Now they have 3 tons of the Philokalia. A little more and 4 tons will be ready. Everything is the teachings of St. Theodora Studite. I'm re-reading it. I’ll finish and take on 5 tons. This will include everything that is in the Greek Philokalia” 878. In addition to the Philokalia, other translated works of the saint were published by Athonite monks. In the second half of 1892 - “Ancient monastic rules of St. Pachomius, St. Basil the Great, St. Cassian and Benedict.” Saint Theophan made translations from modern Greek: “The Words of St. Simeon, the New Theologian: in 2 editions”, “Our Holy Father Maximus the Confessor “The Ascetic Word in Questions and Answers”, etc. The Athonite elders not only published and distributed translated works of the saint, but also supplied him with texts for translations. The book “Invisible Warfare” by the elder Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain was sent by the monks of Athos to the saint for translation: “And from Athos the elders sent “The Invisible Warfare” by Nicodemus Agiorite, offering to translate. He ran and goes. You can translate..." 879. In another letter, the saint asked the Athonites for the original of St. Abba Isaiah: “At the beginning of this year it occurred to me to ask them [the elders of the Athos Panteleiomon Monastery] if there was Abba Isaiah in the original on Athos, and they willingly sent it to me for translation.” 880. In another letter he writes: “...The people of Athos sent me Greek words of praise to St. Panteleimon. I'm translating." 881. Thanks to the Athos people and the translation of Saint Theophan, the collection “Psalms, or Divine Reflections of our holy father Ephraim the Syrian” was compiled: “Athos cannot provide a better gift to all its readers,” the bishop wrote to the monk of the Athos monastery. “No one knows how to stir up a sleeping soul like Saint Ephraim.” But who has his works? “This little collection will serve instead of all this” 882. Along with translated works, the Athos Panteleimon Monastery published many other spiritual works of St. Theophan. Let us present only some statistical data that give an idea of ​​the magnitude of cooperation between the Russian monastery on Athos and St. Theophan. From the pre-revolutionary publications of St. Theophan the Recluse, there are 135 titles, the list of which is presented by Doctor of Philology V.V. Kashirina, 50 belong to the Athos Russian Panteleimon Monastery, 38 were published during the author’s lifetime, and 12 after the death of the saint 883. Thus, we can attribute more than a third of all pre-revolutionary publications, from which reprints of the works of St. Theophan were subsequently made, to the publishing activities of the Athos Monastery. Nikon (Smirnov), abbot. The influence of Russian Athos on the spiritual life and enlightenment of Russia in the 19th century. URL: http://afonit.info/index.php Vakh K.A. Publishing activity of the Panteleimon Monastery in the 19th – early 20th centuries. URL: http://afonit.info/index.php Georgy (Tertyshnikov), archimandrite. Saint Theophan the Recluse and his teaching on salvation. M.: Rule of Faith, 1999. pp. 97–98. Smirnov P.A. The life and teaching of St. Theophan the Recluse. Yasenevo: Orthodox parish of the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, 2002. P. 120 Saint Theophan and books / ROUNB im. Gorky; Ryazan diocesan library; Assumption Vyshensky Monastery; auto-comp. : V.V. Kashirina [and others]. Assumption Vyshensky Monastery, 2014. P. 90. Smirnov P.A. The life and teaching of St. Theophan the Recluse. Yasenevo: Orthodox parish of the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, 2002. P. 133. Georgy (Tertyshnikov), archimandrite. Life for God and for people: the life and work of St. Theophan (Govorov) the Recluse. Kyiv: Publishing house named after. St. Leo, Pope of Rome, 2002. P. 130. Saint Theophan and books / ROUNB im. Gorky; Ryazan diocesan library; Assumption Vyshensky Monastery; auto-comp. : V.V. Kashirina [and others]. Assumption Vyshensky Monastery, 2014. P. 86. Smirnov P.A. The life and teaching of St. Theophan the Recluse. Yasenevo: Orthodox parish of the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, 2002. P. 134 Georgy (Tertyshnikov), archimandrite. Saint Theophan the Recluse and his teaching on salvation. M.: Rule of Faith, 1999. P. 112 Smirnov P.A. The life and teaching of St. Theophan the Recluse. Yasenevo: Orthodox parish of the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, 2002. P. 353 Lisova N.N. Two eras - two “Philokalia”: St. Paisius (Velichkovsky) and St. Theophan the Recluse. URL: http://svtheofan.ru/item/1436-lisovoy-nikolay-nikolaevich-dve-epohi-.html Georgy (Tertyshnikov), archimandrite. Saint Theophan the Recluse and his teaching on salvation. M.: Rule of Faith, 1999. P. 110. Smirnov P.A. The life and teaching of St. Theophan the Recluse. Yasenevo: Orthodox parish of the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, 2002. pp. 145–146. Smirnov P.A. The life and teaching of St. Theophan the Recluse. Yasenevo: Orthodox parish of the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, 2002. P. 137. Georgy (Tertyshnikov), archimandrite. Saint Theophan the Recluse and his teaching on salvation. M.: Rule of Faith, 1999. P. 109. Saint Theophan and books / ROUNB im. Gorky; Ryazan diocesan library; Assumption Vyshensky Monastery; auto-comp. : V.V. Kashirina [and others]. Assumption Vyshensky Monastery, 2014. pp. 170–183.