О служении святителя Феофана Затворника на Тамбовской и Владимирской кафедрах: влияние архипастыря на умы современников из числа духовенства

Zosima (Shevchuk), archimandrite Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, teacher at St. Theophan's Theological Seminary rector of St. George's Church in Vladimir Responsible for the spiritual care of the youth of the city of Vladimir, Department for Youth Affairs of the Vladimir Diocese For me, as the rector of the St. George Church in the city of Vladimir, founded by the Grand Duke Yuri Dolgoruky in 1129 “in honor of his Angel,” the name of St. Theophan the Recluse is very close and dear. As is known, Saint Theophan was baptized the day after his birth, January 11 (24 BC), 1815. At holy baptism he was named George in honor of the Venerable George Khozevitus (died ca. 625), celebrated on January 8 according to the church calendar, an ascetic and wonderworker who lived in the Khoziva monastery in the Palestinian desert. Providentially, it so happened that at the opening of the first regular services in the St. George's Church, after a more than 50-year break, with the blessing of His Eminence Eulogius, Archbishop of Vladimir and Suzdal, on August 6, 2008, a specially signed and sacred document was placed on the main Altar of the church complex during the evening bishop's service. of this church is the holy antimension with the relics of the holy Chozebite martyrs. And now we are happy to feel the spiritual community between these ancient saints who lived in the Holy Land - incl. and the holy great martyr George, the patron saint of our church, and the holy sovereigns who laid the foundation of statehood in our Fatherland: in the person of the holy noble prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, the holy noble Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky and, of course, glorified relatively recently, but no less great saint Theophan the Recluse, who was at one time the bishop of the Vladimir see, and more than once who liturgized and preached in St. George's Church. The providential connection of the Govorov family with the ancient Vladimir-Suzdal land, where Bishop Theophan was subsequently sent to serve as a hierarch, can also be seen in the fact that the Right Reverend Nikodim (Bystritsky) also visited the house of priest Vasily Govorov, the father of the future saint, and knew the sons of Fr. Vasily, knew Yegor Vasilyevich. Bishop Nikodim himself (1786–1839) was a graduate of the Vladimir Theological Seminary (1908), and in 1825–1827, as an archimandrite, he served as rector of the Bogolyubsky Nativity of the Mother of God Monastery. Our Vladimir Theological Seminary bears the name of St. Theophan, because so much in the history of this educational institution is connected with his name. A researcher of the Vladimir stage of the life and works of Bishop Theophan, Archpriest Alexy Masalov, in his study posted on the seminary website, writes concisely but informatively the following: “In 1859, Saint Theophan became Bishop of Tambov and Shatsk, and at the end of August 1863 he received an appointment to the Vladimir See. By this time, the saint was already a famous writer, an excellent leader, organizer and zealous fighter for the purity of faith and morality. At the Vladimir See, Saint Theophan began his usual vigorous activity. He often serves, preaches, encourages the priesthood to zealously shepherd, organizes a system of catechesis under the control of the Censorship Committee at the Theological Consistory, takes care of religious educational institutions, opens parochial schools, a women's diocesan school, begins to publish the Vladimir Diocesan Gazette, completes the construction of the building of the Vladimir Theological Seminary, rebuilds buildings diocesan administration... Already in his first word, Saint Theophan says: “Christianity, offering us an example of high perfection, provides all the necessary means for this. It is a ladder leading to heaven, a path leading to the stomach, a medicine that heals all our infirmities and imperfections. This ladder has already been established and has led many to heaven. It is not necessary to rebuild it, but to climb along it. This path has already been tested: it is simple, visible and true to everyone. It would be unreasonable to waste time and effort on laying out a new path, or on correcting the one already laid in our own way” 216. It was in the churchliness of society, parents, children, and the entire reality of his time that Saint Theophan believed the solution to all the problems of the formation of man as an individual. From the examples of the Tambov period of the ministry of St. Theophan, I would like to cite one archival document. This is a sermon by priest Theophylact of Standrovsky from the village. Matcherki, pronounced after the Divine Liturgy on October 8, 1861 and published in the 26th issue of the Tambov Diocesan Gazette magazine (this magazine had just begun to be published). We can say with complete confidence that the style and thoughts of the priest Fr. Theophylact were in agreement with the opinion of the Right Reverend Theophan. The author begins his article by offering thanks to God for the fact that since the announcement of the Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom, the zeal of parishioners for the services held in the church of God has increased significantly: “In previous years, our church, on Sundays, was never so full, neither in winter nor in summer; Especially young people rarely gathered in such numbers. And now, thank God! And our church is already becoming crowded... And so you are diligently going to church, as if by doing this wanting to thank the Lord for this great mercy of Him towards you. Neither rain, nor dirt, nor heat, nor cold, nor domestic idleness, nor the long distance from the church - now keep you at home on holidays. And you do great. My heart rejoices to see such zeal in you. God grant that this zeal not only never grows cold in you; but it also grew more and more and passed from you to your children and grandchildren” 217. The priest expresses to the parishioners the will and desire of the Sovereign Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich to spread literacy among the peasants: “This means that we must certainly have a school.” He asks questions: why didn’t they have this school until now? Lack of literacy before this is no longer an excuse at the present stage: “Is our side condemned forever to stagnate in ignorance? Your grandfathers and fathers were illiterate, and you lived in your age without literacy, lived as if gropingly - in the darkness, and rightly call yourself dark... but do you really want the same for your children, don’t you want them to be enlightened?.. Century and sit in the darkness? No, someday you have to go out into the light; and now that time has come. – In other countries, almost everyone has been literate for a long time; there are entire villages, for example in the provinces: Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir, etc., where hardly one out of ten is illiterate; and among us, even out of a hundred people, you can hardly find one literate person. Is it really possible, I say, that this ignorance, this “lack of learning,” this darkness will pass from generation to generation among us - until the end of time?” 218. Based on the will of the Sovereign, the preacher concludes: “So the time has come for you to come out into the light - the time has come to take up books for your children and grandchildren.” Understanding the complexity of the task of convincing his “dark” flock, the true shepherd of Christ calls out: “We, with the blessing of God, will begin to teach them, and teach them for free - without any payment from you. We will teach as long as possible in our homes; and over time, a special home will be built for this and, perhaps, there will be a special teacher. Learning will take place only in autumn and winter; and in the spring, as soon as the plow goes to the field, they will be released to you; Perhaps on Sundays they will gather for a short time (after lunch) to review, so as not to forget what they have learned. At the end of the field work, near Pokrov, they will again begin to study. Tell me, for God’s sake: what is not beneficial for you in this? Your boys will not be distracted from work - they will be with you all summer; and in winter - what should they do? Instead of them running through the streets, they will sit behind books; Isn't this better? 219. Following the exhortation, the loving shepherd lists all the benefits that can be enjoyed when teaching children to read and write: “But listen to what kind of teaching is being prepared for them: they will be taught to read and write, and at the same time the Law of God will be taught to them; when they learn to read properly, then they will memorize what is most important from the Law of God... On holidays in the church they will be stationed near the right choir so that they can sing - at first slowly, and when they become accustomed to church singing, they will be placed in the choir. What's wrong with that? 220. Among the positive aspects, arguments of a practical nature are given: “We will learn them even in brushes... And what benefit literacy brings to a person in everyday affairs, you yourself see and know well” 221. Further, Father Theophylact vividly paints a picture of how internal family life will change at the very foundation of a person - on a spiritual level: “Think now, beloved, what good they wish for your little ones! They themselves will know the Law of God and comfort you. Why do grandmothers and mothers cry when their granddaughter or son reads a book, and even a Divine one..? From true joy, from spiritual benefit. - The holiday has come, and everyone is at home; and even on weekdays, when there is time, for example on a winter evening; your son or grandson takes the book that was given to him from the church; your family does not sit around him - with a case in their hands and he reads. What is he reading? How to obtain eternal bliss - what a Christian should and should not do; or how Jesus Christ came to earth for the sake of our salvation, what he taught, how he suffered and died for us sinners, how he was resurrected and ascended to heaven, and so on. Wouldn’t it be sweet for your soul to hear such a teaching, and, moreover, to hear it from the lips of your son or grandson? Or: he reads you the lives of St. Father, where do you see how and with what people pleased God, how they fasted and prayed and became saints: will not your soul be touched and you will not say to yourself and your family: “Oh, if only God would grant us to live the same way?” – Do you see what light your son or grandson will bring into your home and into your soul when you try to teach him? Isn't this good, isn't it happiness? And this is the good, this is the happiness that is being offered to you now” 222. In conclusion, the priest suggests how to actually accomplish what was mentioned above, at the same time once again reminding that for the parishioners themselves it will not cost anything: “And so, with God, I say, bring it! So we will set a day on weekdays, notify you, call for matins, for mass, and - you go to church with your little ones; Let’s pray to God, serve a prayer service and, with God’s blessing, sit them down to learn the alphabet—we have the alphabet. With God's help, we will teach you them in two; that means we will open their eyes, show them the light and they will no longer be “dark people”, as you remained and as your ancestors were, and we will not ask you for money for this; Just give us your children for God’s sake” 223. “Blessed is the man who studies the law of the Lord day and night” (Ps. 1:1-2), - this is how the sermon concludes. I deliberately, if possible, left the spelling and style unchanged, so that one could clearly agree that many of the expressions of the author, priest Theophylact, directly follow the thoughts of his Eminence, Bishop Theophan. When we read the works of the saint, we can come across similar instructions and admonitions here and there. Years later, Bishop Theophan, in his “Thoughts for Every Day of the Year,” will warn people who have rejected the spiritual way of life offered by the Gospel of Christ: “The Gadarenes saw the wondrous miracle of the Lord shown in the expulsion of a legion of demons and, however, the whole city came out and prayed to the Lord, “so that He would depart from their borders” (Matt. 8:28–9, 1). It is not visible that they are hostile to Him, but there is no visible faith either. They were seized by some kind of vague insurance, according to which they only wished: go past where you know, just don’t touch us. This is a real image of people who live peacefully on their estates. The order of things that has developed around them is not unfavorable: they are accustomed to it, there are no thoughts or needs to change or cancel anything, and they are afraid to take any new step. Feeling, however, that if a command comes from above, then the fear of God and conscience will force them to abandon the old and accept the new, they in every possible way avoid cases that could lead them to such convictions that, hiding behind ignorance, they live calmly in old habits” 224. A person, if he does not turn to Christ and accept Him, remains the same, i.e. “he dies in his sins”... So it was two thousand years ago; It was also in the time of St. Theophan; the same thing is observed now. That is why the works of the great Recluse Vyshensky are so relevant in our time - for the state, for society, for every human soul. And to this day there are many secular and clergy who draw in their practical spiritual cultural and educational activities for the benefit of society, the Church and the state - from the treasury of the spiritual heritage of St. Theophan the Recluse. Masalov Alexy, Rev. Preaching activity of St. Theophan the Recluse at the Vladimir See. URL: http://eparh33.ru Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1861. No. 26. December 24. pp. 616–617. Tambov diocesan bulletin. pp. 618–619. Tambov diocesan bulletin. pp. 619–620. Theophan the Recluse, St. Thoughts for each day of the year according to church readings from the Word of God: short teachings. M.: Rule of Faith, 2007. pp. 177–178. (Gospel Sunday reading. 5th Sunday after Pentecost).