Speech given at the funeral of Bishop. Feofana January 12, 1894

What brought together all this multitude of 2 worshipers on this day in this deserted monastery? What prompted His Eminence the Archpastor of the Tambov Church 3 to leave his cathedral city and stand here, in this church, in the sacred rite of prayer, among this numerous host of clergy 4 and these thousands of Orthodox people? – Why, we ask in the word of Christ, did you go out into the desert to see (Matthew 11:7). We were gathered here, everyone answers, by this sacred coffin, which contained within itself the lifeless body of our beloved in God, the deceased Recluse Saint! - Yes! It was not only the greatness of the rank of the Bishop of God who passed away from earthly life that brought here this consecrated cathedral headed by the Archpastor, and this Orthodox world from cities and villages, near and far. - No! that spirit of love for God and neighbor, the spirit of faith and piety, which dwelt in such abundance in the soul of the deceased and manifested itself in such extraordinary works and exploits: this is what brought us all here! The deceased Archpastor bore the priesthood for thirty-four years! - And he expressed the mood of his soul, which controlled him throughout his entire long life, immediately as soon as he was named bishop. Before a host of Archpastors, in the meeting of the Holy Synod, he then said in his speech: “I do not hide the fact that it would not be alien to the secret desires of my heart if such a place fell to my lot where I could freely indulge in activities of my heart.” What and what these “secret desires of the heart” of the newly-christened bishop were, time showed and very soon. All the attention of the saint in the active management of his flock was focused primarily, if not exclusively, not on the conduct of affairs of external administration, but on that spiritual desire to, first of all, bring abundant fruit for the salvation of the people entrusted to him by God. This flock knows the deceased Archpastor in Bose from the first days of his priesthood - the Tambov Church was his first flock. Both here and later the saint was a teaching archpastor during all the days of his shepherd-superiorship, “rightly ruling the word of truth.” At the Vladimir pulpit, just as here (in Tambov), every Sunday and holiday He taught from the height of the church pulpit: both in the churches of the diocesan city and bypassing the cities and villages of his vast million-strong flock. And it was necessary to see the completeness of attention to prayer and the reverent love for the word of the sermon among those who stood at the hour of the Archpastor’s sacred service in order to understand the feelings and thoughts that animated them, that guided the mood of their souls. The church, which could accommodate more than one thousand worshipers, often could not accommodate everyone who wanted to listen to the touching priestly service and the word of teaching of the saint. We vividly remember the first word of His Eminence Vladyka in the Vladimir Cathedral 5. “I take on my conscience,” said the Archpastor, “the cautious word of the Apostle: woe to me if I do not preach the good news and I will try, according to my strength, to tell you the whole will of God, and you try to know this will, and, having learned, fulfill the instructions in all their breadth and with all the strength of your zeal, so that you may be sheep listening to the voice of the shepherd and walking according to him, and I in fact a shepherd who calls his sheep by name and drives them out without laziness into the pastures of the word and grace” 6. At the conclusion of his speech, the saint wished for the exact fulfillment of these sincere intentions. “Lord grant,” he said, “that the praise of diligent obedience may never be taken away from you, as from me continuous teaching and guidance.” 7 And we are living witnesses to the fact that the archpastor fulfilled his holy desires in both word and deed in all their breadth. The saint wanted to pour the same holy zeal for spiritual care into the hearts of the pastors, instilling in each and every one of the priests under his command that “the main thing for a parish priest is to delve into the spiritual needs of his parishioners 8, and publicly “for guidance and immediate implementation” he proclaimed his plans for the vigilant preaching of the word of God throughout all the towns and villages of his vast flock his own, indicating the urgent need to teach the doctrine of faith and piety” 9, in a living word in its many different forms: both “through teaching” and in the form of “conversations” and “interviewing conversations” 10. “On every Sunday and on every church holiday, especially on Holy Pentecost, offering teaching to the people,” the archpastor convinced, “is the indispensable duty of every shepherd” 11 . And he called on both deacons and teachers to this great work 12, suggesting that if it was impossible, due to the complexity of the work or due to old age, to speak one’s word, to pronounce “the teachings of the patrists” 13. But the preaching should not be derogatory 14. And we can, without hesitation, before this sacred tomb for the entire Vladimir flock 15 testify about this Archpastor who died with the word of Scripture: truly “he was a lamp, burning and shining.” (John 5:35) 16. In all these commands of the saint, one can hear the voice of the apostolic instruction and testament to the shepherd of the Church of God: “Preach the word, be present in timely and unseasonable times, reprove, rebuke, entreat with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2). This was not a service to “the letter that kills and not the letter that kills” - no! It was a breath, a breath of spirit that creates the inner man, life-giving. And the flock, looking at the way of life and deeds of the saint’s righteous life and listening to his living and effective word, could boldly say in their hearts the word of the saint. Apostle: Such a bishop is fitting for us (Heb.7:26)! But this sun did not shine for long on the firmament of Vladimir with its blessed rays of light and warmth: only three years did not cease teaching us (Acts 20:31). Soon our light disappeared from us. The saint submitted to the secret desire of his heart. How now we contemplate the touching picture of the Archpastor’s farewell to his beloved and his beloved flock. We hear sorrowful cries, uncontrollable sobs... A touching image of a meek archpastor speaking his farewell conversation in the cathedral church of the Mother of God is vividly depicted before our eyes. This last word is indelibly imprinted on our hearts. “Don’t blame the Lord for my sake for leaving you,” said the Vladyka. “I’m not leaving so that I’ll be forced to leave you.” No! As a follower, I am led to a time free from worries, looking for the best tea, as akin to our nature. How this could have happened, I cannot explain. One thing I will say is that in addition to the external course of events that determine our affairs, there is an internal change in dispositions that leads to certain decisions. In addition to external necessity, there is an internal necessity, which the conscience heeds and which the heart does not strongly contradict” 17. And from then on, the archpastor-ascetic remained for 27 years incessantly in this deserted holy monastery, the saint-worker humbly labored here for most of the years, in the exploits of a solitary retreat, selflessly devoting himself with all his heart and all his thoughts to unceasing contemplation of God and serving theological science in its various forms, for the common good, for the salvation of others. And if he did not teach the Orthodox world through his living word and sacred prayer, he edified everyone with his numerous writings, filled with spiritual power. And from here, from a secluded monastery cell, the reclusive saint shone for the entire Orthodox Russian Church like a burning lamp (Luke 12:35): he exposed those who were in error, guiding them on the right path with the spirit of meekness, comforted those who grieved in illnesses of soul and body, and gave a helping hand to those who were despondent in troubles; with the word of experience of spiritual life he guided all who want spiritual salvation, may he bestow some spiritual gift (Rom. 1:11). And this is the word of the teaching of the holy mentor, as the word of wisdom and spiritual understanding. ( Col. 1:9 ), through his writings, is proclaimed from the heights of professorial chairs. In our Moscow Theological Academy we hear lectures on pastoral theology and moral theology, presented under the guidance of the Scriptures in the God of the deceased Archpastor; we hear his word in the word of the church sermon in our Academic Church from the lips of our sacred superiors. And we ourselves, her pupils, find in these writings sources, aids, guidance in our works, and edification and consolation in reading them. And so we came here hundreds of miles away to prayerfully bow before your tomb, our saint-teacher! Accept your prostration, and we will pour out our heartfelt prayer for your pure soul here before the Lord. We brought them on behalf of our fellow students and the sacred authorities of our Moscow Theological Academy. Accept and teach us and those from whom we came your archpastoral blessing! You have gone out, our sacred light! A few more minutes and your sacred remains for us will be hidden under the arches of the holy church of this holy monastery. Not your word, your deeds, your life in Christ will always be a lamp for us, as well as for all those who love you, in our thoughts, in our feelings and in word and deed, in all behavior all the days of our lives. Saint of God! Parting with the flock of Vladimir, you, asking for prayers for yourself, “may the Lord not take away your hopes,” you yourself promised your prayers for the flock. “And I will pray for you,” you said, “I will pray that the Lord will always send you every good thing, improve your well-being and avert every misfortune, and above all, that He will arrange your salvation.” Now we fall to you, saying goodbye to you, before this tomb: fulfill, we ask, and there, in heaven, not only over the Vladimir flock, your promise. We believe that you already have some boldness before the Lord - pray for us, Bishop of God! and remember us at the throne of the Lord in heaven, sending us your archpastoral blessing. We will not cease in the days of our life to cry out for you to the God of spirits and all flesh, so that the Lord may rest your pure soul with the saints. Amen. His Grace Bishop Theophan, Master of Theology, completed a course at the Kyiv Theological Academy in 1841. On June 1, 1859, he was consecrated Bishop of Tambov and Shatsk. From July 22, 1863 to June 17, 1866, he was Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal, when, according to the petition, he was dismissed to the Vyshenskaya Hermitage, Tambov diocese, where he died on January 6, 1894. The Kazan Church of the Vyshenskaya Hermitage, where the deceased archpastor was buried, can accommodate up to 6,000 people and it was full of worshipers. Of course, His Eminence Jerome was then Bishop of Tambov and Shatsk, and now Archbishop of Lithuania and Vilna, with whose blessing this speech was said after singing “rest with the saints.” A total of more than 50 priests took part in the burial of the deceased saint, among whom were: Fr. Archimandrite Arkady, rector of the Vyshenskaya monastery; O. Rector of the Tambov Theological Seminary, Archpriest Pavel Ilyich Sokolov; O. Keymaster of the Tambov Cathedral, Archpriest M.G. Ozerov; O. confessor Rev. Feofan, Hieromonk Ambrose and priest-deputies from the Moscow Theological Academy. The author of this speech was then a student of the Vladimir Theological Seminary. It was September 1st, 1863. Word at the entrance to the Vladimir flock: Vladimir Diocesan Gazette. 1865, No. 1st part. unofficial. Instructions from His Eminence Theophan, Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal for preaching the word of God from November 27. 1864: Vlad. Eparch. Ved. 1865 No. 1 § 19. His Eminence Theophan wrote each sermon before delivering it on large format notepaper; put it in a folder covered with dark crimson velvet with a cross on the front side; pronounced without an omophorion or miter, without taking his eyes off the notebook. The author of this speech was ordained a priest by His Eminence Bishop Theophan in 1866 to the Church of the Deposition of the Robe, which is on the Golden Gate in the city of Vladimir, “in the place of the father who served at this gate,” as depicted in the resolution of His Eminence Bishop Theophan. Vlad. Eparch. Ved. 1866 No. 15th. As deputies from the Moscow Theological Academy, two student priests took part in the burial of the saint: Fr. Simeon Iakovlevich Nikolsky and Fr. Sergius Const. Verigin.