Легенды и реалии

In the camp itself, the personality of Archimandrite Hilarion was surrounded by legends. They talked about his taking by storm a rebellious Caucasian monastery, about the fantastic meeting of the ruler in Kemi with the papal nuncio, and about the heroic response of the Orthodox hierarch to the proposed “tiara of the cardinal” 365. However, even if these stories were not historical, they were essentially true. Vladyka Hilarion actually said: “I would rather rot in prison, but I will not change my direction.” 366 The real actions of Archbishop Hilarion were sometimes much more significant than the legendary ones. Even in the rich Orthodox hagiography, there are few cases similar to those described by Boris Shiryaev, when the bishop, going, in the opinion of many, to certain death, strengthened by prayer, with the help of God and four brothers, saved from certain death the most cruel atheist and enemy of the prisoners, the camp regimental military commissar Sukhov, stuck on a boat in the icy slush. Shortly before this, Sukhov fired grapeshot at the crucifix. The Lord became like Christ himself, saving one of His executioners, Longinus the centurion, and converting His persecutor Saul. “The Lord saved!” - this is how everyone who saw this miracle perceived it. “The Lord saved!” – the saved God-fighter himself could not help but admit, on Holy Saturday he frantically baptized himself on the Crucified One who had been shot by himself 367 . The ruler also used his gift of persuasion in the camp. Having obtained relief from his superiors for his neighbors, he himself refused lucrative offers, remaining a simple fisherman. “Vladyka Hilarion was always elected to the delegation to the head of the island, Eichmann, when it was necessary to achieve something difficult, and he always achieved his goal. It was he who managed to concentrate the clergy in the 6th company, to obtain for them some weakening of the regime, to transfer the majority of clergy of all ranks to economic work... He also defended the hair and beards of clergy during the general haircut during the typhus epidemic... To cut... old priests would mean subjecting them to new mockeries and insults” 368. According to the memoirs of Boris Shiryaev, it was Archbishop Hilarion who obtained from Eichmanns a festive Easter service in the camp not only for the clergy, but also for other prisoners 369 (with crosses, banners and chalices issued from the museum), when, despite the atheistic authorities, “the jubilant choir of “those in the tombs” glorified and affirmed their future inevitable, insurmountable by the forces of evil resurrection..." 370. Shiryaev B. Unquenchable lamp. – M.: Association of Russian Artists, 1991. P. 323. Quote by: Levitin-Krasnov A., Shavrov V. Essays on the history of Russian church unrest. P. 352. Shiryaev B. Unquenchable lamp. pp. 320, 325–329. The dating of this event requires clarification. According to the memoirs of former Solovetsky prisoners, church services in the Solovetsky camp were available to prisoners only from 1925 to 1929. The most solemn public Easter service on Solovki took place in 1926. But on Easter 1926, Archbishop. Hilarion met Popov Island at the transit point. According to M. M. Rozanov, Archbishop. Hilarion led the Easter service in 1929, but almost exclusively the clergy and monks were allowed to attend it (Rozanov M.M. Solovetsky concentration camp in the monastery: 1922–1939: Facts - speculation - “scraps”: Review of the memories of Solovki by Solovki: In 2 books - USA: Author's publishing house, 1979. Book 1. pp. 249–250). Perhaps the festive service described in the book “The Unquenchable Lamp”, headed by Archbishop. Hilarion, was committed in 1928, when in the Solovetsky camp “Easter was openly celebrated for the last time” (Soshina Antonina. Our path is humble devotion to the Heavenly Father: Fulfilling pastoral duty in the conditions of the camp // Solovetsky Sea: almanac. 2006. No. 5). It is also possible that the events described date back to 1925, when the head of SLON, Eichmans, made church services available to the clergy and believers.