Глава двадцать шестая. Белый ангел 1861–1867

The end of the fifties of the 19th century was the time of preparation in Russia for the abolition of serfdom, and all the best minds of the state were involved in this preparation, including Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow. He is one of those with whom it was important to consult, and he was turned to for advice with every new change in the reform project. The tenth Committee on Peasant Affairs, established on January 3, 1857, presented the first official draft of the reform six months later. On November 20, 1857, the emperor issued and sent to all governors a rescript in which he outlined the government program. It was envisaged to eliminate the personal dependence of the peasants while maintaining all the land in the ownership of the landowners, providing the peasants with a certain amount of land for which they would be required to pay quitrents or serve corvee, and, over time, the right to buy out peasant estates consisting of a residential building and outbuildings. Legal dependence was not destroyed immediately, but only after a transitional twelve-year period. In 1858, provincial committees were formed to prepare peasant reforms, and within them a struggle unfolded for measures and forms of concessions between liberal and reactionary landowners. Instead of a secret committee, the Main Committee for Peasant Affairs was created. He developed a new program, approved by the emperor on April 21, 1858, which did not provide for the abolition of serfdom, but only its mitigation. But on December 4, 1858, another program of Peasant Reform was adopted, developed by Adjutant General Yakov Ivanovich Rostovtsev and providing for peasants to receive personal freedom, providing peasants with plots of land for permanent use with the right to buy out loans provided by the government, and establishing a transitional “urgently obligated” state. After Rostovtsev’s death in 1860, Count Viktor Nikitich Panin took the reins of government in preparing the reform. An extremely educated man, he was known as a conservative and a serf owner, and indeed, having headed the drafting commissions for the reform, he achieved a reduction in allotments and an increase in the duties of future freed peasants. In October 1860, the finished reform project was considered by the Main Committee for Peasant Affairs. One of his lists ended up on Metropolitan Philaret’s desk. After reviewing it, he made his comments. In particular, in a letter to St. Anthony dated December 4, 1860, he wrote that he did not like the idea that before the announcement of the rules on the emancipation of peasants, priests should be familiarized with them “to prepare parishioners to understand them,” he complains about the complexity of the presented project, and fears that most priests will not understand much and will poorly explain the essence of the reform to parishioners. “For example, the rules stipulate that peasants should be given self-government. Will the priest understand this with precision? And if he understands, although inaccurately, will the peasant understand this? In addition, he feared that “the priest, having become an intermediary between the authorities and the peasants, would be exposed to danger from both sides.” His fears were not in vain. The reformers wanted to somewhat protect themselves from possible confusion, and if unrest arose among the peasants, they could shift some of the blame onto the priests - they say, they poorly explained the essence of the reform to their parishioners! The final development of the manifesto on the abolition of serfdom was entrusted to Samarin and Milyutin. Yuri Fedorovich Samarin, one of the most talented representatives of Slavophilism, a student of Khomyakov, who argued that in Orthodoxy the unity of freedom, absent in Catholicism, and the unity of community, absent in Protestantism, merge, at the same time, he highly valued the achievements of Western civilization and could find a middle ground, in particular, in the peasant question. His peer Nikolai Alekseevich Milyutin was also his like-minded person. So the choice of these two reform figures as the creators of the manifesto was made by the tsar correctly. Bishop Philaret celebrated the New Year of 1861 again on his sick bed. “A cold hand prevents you from writing, when it is most needed.” Meanwhile, a job of the highest national importance fell upon him - they sent him a manifesto written by Samarin and Milyutin with a demand to edit it at his own discretion. The emperor had complete confidence in the ruler and intended to publish this document only after it had been edited. Panin accompanied the text of the manifesto with his own letter, in which he reverently addressed St. Philaret: “The Emperor relies entirely on the high gift of eloquence of your Eminence and on your zealous zeal for a cause so important for the Fatherland, so close to the heart of the first shepherd of our Church. Guided by these feelings and this trust, the sovereign submits to your eminence to make all those changes or additions that you would recognize as being consistent with the feelings of his majesty and yours, for better success in achieving your goal.” Throughout the end of January, in the Trinity courtyard, Moscow Chrysostom worked on the final version of the manifesto. I re-read and thought about it. I divided it into three parts and within three days I completely rewrote everything. Finally he finished and on February 5 sent the manifesto to the sovereign in St. Petersburg, adding that “loyal obedience, and not the consciousness of satisfying the demand, brought him into execution of the order.” The coming reform frightened him. It is no coincidence that, among other corrections, he crossed out the words “on this joyful day for us and for all our loyal subjects.” He said that “people of theoretical progress rejoice at the expected innovation, but many well-intentioned people expect it with bewilderment, anticipating difficulties.” And three days before the signing of the manifesto, Filaret said with excitement: - Lord, save the king and spare us all. He wrote to Anthony: “Now they are writing from St. Petersburg about fears and, by the way, that the first blow will fall on the higher clergy, monasteries, churches”: On February 19, 1861, in St. Petersburg, Emperor Alexander II signed the manifesto, edited by Philaret, “On the most merciful granting to serfs of the rights of free rural inhabitants” and the Regulations on peasants emerging from serfdom, which consisted of seventeen legislative acts. The earth was full of rumors and worries. “They say that in the State Council,” Filaret wrote in those days, “there was a majority of votes in favor of a small allotment of land to the peasants; but the opinion of the minority was confirmed in favor of a larger allotment. Getting ready for the announcement. Impoverishment, for a long time or for a short time, seems inevitable. May the Lord save us from greater disorder.” It was March 5, 1861, Forgiveness Sunday. After the liturgy was celebrated in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, the manifesto was announced to the people. On the same day - in other cities of the Russian Empire... The reform of 1861, as is known, caused a number of peasant uprisings throughout Russia. It seems, however, that the participation of the best minds of the state, including Metropolitan Philaret, in the development of reform documents nevertheless contributed to a smoother passage of the changes introduced by the state. Filaret himself expressed his attitude to what happened in an exalted speech of welcome to the Tsar on May 18, 1861, addressing Alexander on the eve of the Assumption Cathedral: “Most Pious Sovereign! We welcome you to the seventh year of your reign. Among the ancient people of God, the seventh summer was the summer of legal liberation from slavery (Ex. 21:2). We did not have slavery, in the full meaning of this word: however, there was a strong hereditary dependence of part of the people on private owners. With the onset of your seventh summer, you pronounced absolution. As a rule, the powerful of the land love to seek pleasure and glory in conquering and imposing a yoke. Your desire and consolation is to ease the ancient burdens of your people and increase the measure of freedom protected by law. The class of noble owners sympathized with you; and as a voluntary sacrifice to this sympathy she sacrificed a significant part of her rights. And now more than twenty million souls owe you gratitude for new rights, for a new share of freedom. We pray to God that the good gift will be used wisely; so that zeal for the common good, justice and goodwill are ready everywhere to resolve difficulties that are sometimes inevitable with the news of a case; so that those who received new rights, out of gratitude, would give back to those who ceded ancient rights, so that the pleasant thought of free labor would make work more diligent and productive, to increase private and general prosperity; may your love for your people be crowned with unfading joy under the shadow of Providence, graciously extended, together with you, over your spouse and your blessed children. Almost three months have passed since the manifesto was published. During this time, only one strong disturbance occurred - in the village of Bezdna, Kazan province. There, a young, literate peasant, Anton Petrov, suddenly decided to become the head of the uprising and declared that he had read the original text of the tsar’s manifesto, which spoke of the complete and unlimited will of the peasants and their right not to carry out any orders of the landowners. He argued that landowners and officials hid the original text of the manifesto from the people, replacing it with their own. The peasants began to demand the announcement of the “real will”, became indignant, and the riot, which engulfed several districts of the Kazan province, had to be suppressed by force, and as a result, ninety people were killed and died of wounds, more than three and a half hundred were injured. Anton Petrov himself was among the dead. Herzen in London rang his “Bell”: “Oh, if my words could reach you, toiler and sufferer of the Russian land!.., how I would teach you to despise your spiritual shepherds, placed over you by the St. Petersburg Synod and the German Tsar... You hate the landowner, you hate the clerk, you are afraid of them - and you are absolutely right; but you still believe in the tsar and the bishop... don’t trust them. The king is with them, and they are his. You see him now, you, the father of a murdered young man in the Abyss, you, the son of a murdered father in Penza... Your shepherds are dark like you, poor like you... Such was another Anthony who suffered for you in Kazan (not Bishop Anthony, but Anton of Bezdninsky)... The bodies of your saints will not perform forty-eight miracles, prayer to them will not cure toothache; but the living memory of them can perform one miracle - your liberation.” All Russian liberals prophesied about a new Pugachevism, waited and called for it, but the “all-Russian revolt” did not happen, and now it was possible to talk more calmly about the benefits of the ongoing reform and be less afraid of shocks. On May 21, 1861, Metropolitan Philaret was most mercifully awarded a gold medal, established for his work in the peasant business. The obverse of this award depicts the profile of Alexander II, above it is the inscription “Thank you,” below it is the number “February 19, 1861,” and on the reverse is the inscription “For the labors of liberating the peasants.” It was worn on the Alexander ribbon, two and a half hundred gold medals were minted, one and a half thousand silver medals, but there were fewer awarded than medals. And on June 6, the emperor granted the bishop a pectoral cross decorated with precious stones, thereby further emphasizing the merits of the Moscow Metropolitan in preparing peasant reforms. By the summer, Saint Philaret was much less concerned about the reforms being carried out in the country. Since July, he paid a lot of attention to the upcoming glorification of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, studied many materials prepared for his canonization, edited the life of the saint and the service sent to him, and shortened one of the two troparions. On August 13, the glorification of St. Tikhon took place. Filaret was invited, but he was ill again and was unable to travel anywhere from Moscow. Metropolitan Isidore (Nikolsky) of Novgorod and St. Petersburg was present at this event and, having arrived in Moscow, told Philaret in detail what he in turn wrote to Anthony: “The bishop’s story about the discovery of the relics of St. Tikhon was comforting. When the reliquary was opened at the all-night vigil before the majesty, in the crowded church there was such a silence of reverence that one could hear a fly flying. There were many healings. “May the saint pray for the healing of Russia.” And in another letter: “He said that there were those who received sight, even those blind from birth, who received the word. One, crouched so that his legs were brought to the back of his head, when they applied him to the holy relics, he straightened up and stood on his feet.” The new St. Petersburg bishop Isidore, the same age as Pushkin, was seventeen years younger than Philaret and highly revered him, trying in everything to be like the Moscow Chrysostom. The Lord rewarded for this - Isidore lived a long and happy life, died at the age of ninety-two years and headed the St. Petersburg department for thirty-two years. The summer of 1861 was again dry and unusually hot, and the Metropolitan of Moscow unexpectedly discovered a drink that brought him both increased strength and quenched thirst - beer. He even wrote to his confessor about this and received a blessing from Anthony. “I thank you for the beer, although it’s a shame,” Filaret wrote to the Lavra. – It occurred to me to ask you for a little, because it seemed to suit my taste and nature’s requirement; but I was ashamed to add another whim to my many whims. Now I will use it as if it was received with a blessing.” The end of his life was approaching. He rarely read his sermons himself; more often he sent someone to read what he had written. It’s time to retire, settle in the Gethsemane monastery and wait in solitude and peace for the shameless and peaceful death of your life. But he still had enough strength for a lot, and he remained at his work, still corresponded a lot, delved into all matters, was aware of all foreign political and internal events, read a lot, a lot, saw how everything published in Russia got worse and worse: “If in one year you take all the bad things from secular magazines and combine them, then there will be such a stench against which it is difficult to find enough incense to drown it out. It is necessary to take the unhealthy thing piece by piece and offer healing. I speak about this to my brethren, but the language of the new introducers moves more quickly than the language of the guardians.” The reactionary nature of Filaret and people like him still held together the edifice of world order, love of humanity, chastity, honor and greatness of Russia. He trusted in the censorship that for some time it would hold back the flow of madness, outrage and disorder, which became stronger every year. “In our Fatherland,” wrote Metropolitan Filaret to Chief Prosecutor Tolstoy, “there is censorship, an institution in which there is kindness, which is not found in the unlimited freedom of printing. In the absence of censorship, a harmful book is published and causes harm in society; then its author and publisher suffer from trial. With reasonable and well-intentioned censorship, a harmful book is not allowed to be published and, therefore, harm is not allowed to reach society, and the author is safe from trial and punishment.” Censorship was introduced in Russia with the spread of printing back in 1720 by Peter I. In the 19th century, there was a Main Directorate of Censorship that was part of the Ministry of Public Education. Alexander II, continuing his reforms, abolished it, transferring the functions of censorship to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. There were many innovations under Alexander II. Some upset Filaret, others made him happy. I could not help but be alarmed by the idea of ​​transferring rural schools from the department of spiritual power to the department of secular power, carried out by the new Minister of Education Alexander Vasilyevich Golovnin, the son of the famous naval commander. But he approved the reduction of church services by transferring the entire reigning house. This, in fact, was his idea; he expressed it to previous sovereigns. “In the ancient Greek editions, the great litany only says: about our most pious and God-protected kings. It is not even prescribed to pronounce the name of the king. But there is not even a hint about the royal family.” The weakening of state strictures yielded both good and bad results. Everywhere the atheists raised their heads. In St. Petersburg, a crowd of young mischief-makers burst into a church, stole the sacred vessel for communion and drank champagne from it. The “Land and Freedom” society was formed, which set itself the goal of using all the failures that the Peasant Reform would suffer to propagate the revolution. In Moscow, right next to the walls of the Kremlin, the revolutionaries screamed bitterly about the suffering of the people and that churchmen were getting fat, pointed out the abundance of gold in the churches, and urged people not to go to church, and if they did go, then to beat the priests and take church jewelry for themselves. Worried about the future of Russia and the Church, Metropolitan Philaret learned about more and more cases of such insanity. In February 1862, Count Alexander Petrovich Tolstoy resigned from the post of Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod. Forty-five-year-old Alexei Petrovich Akhmatov became the new leader of the Russian Orthodox Church. At his request, Filaret wrote a detailed note about the state of church property at the moment. The new chief prosecutor was more like-minded with Philaret, including in relation to Bible translations, and the bishop wrote about him that he “gives good hope that he will care about the good of the Church in its contact with the state.” At the end of May 1862, one of the worst fires in the history of the city occurred in St. Petersburg. The fire consumed one block after another. Tens of thousands of victims, unprecedented damage. Saint Philaret organized a collection of funds from the Moscow diocese in favor of fire victims. More than ten thousand rubles were collected, and for this he received gratitude from the queen. On December 26, 1862, Bishop Philaret turned eighty years old. And again, there is no mention of an anniversary anywhere. What is he writing about on these anniversary days, say, to his constant and almost daily addressee, Anthony? “I approved the idea of ​​​​a water supply system. But I also ask you to look around carefully. I sent to the Sukharev Tower to look at the reservoir there. There is dampness in the corners of the room; and in spring and autumn, they say, all the walls are covered with water. The Red Tower is not as thick with walls as Sukharev: wouldn't there be more cheese? And won’t it freeze and the water in it will freeze?” This is one of the many instructions regarding the economic affairs of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, which he, loving immeasurably, continued and continued to equip together with his FRIEND and confessor. Filaret's letters to Anthony are one-third filled with similar instructions. “You wrote about the stove for the Trinity Cathedral. Under the northern porch, it seems, it is less convenient to arrange it than under the southern corner of the meal, where, it seems, it is now. There is a ready place and an entrance. Maybe we just need to go deeper into the ground.” “Is it not possible now to lay a pipe that would lead water to the Assumption Well, preventing it from spilling towards the cathedral? It would be desirable to destroy as much of the water of another poor pond as possible.” “Houses that are inside the border of Lavra Square must be demolished; or, if their owners want to live in the same place for some time, they must take the land under them from the Lavra under a lease contract for a period.” And so on and so forth. Living in Moscow, the saint always knew what was there and how it was in the monastery of Abba Sergius. He was there in soul and always complained about the impossibility of coming: “I really want to go to the Lavra, but it’s difficult to free myself from the bonds of business. There is barely enough time for the daily ones, but many that have entered before need to be sorted out.” He was generally not indifferent to the entire structure of the world, not only in its main components, but also in various kinds of things that seemed trivial to others. For example, he hated not only the theater itself, but also applause, the theater’s way of expressing pleasure, approval or delight. Applause, known back in Ancient Rome, came into fashion in Russia only at the end of the 18th century. In the time of Filaret, applause was given exclusively in theaters and very rarely in auditoriums - often a speaking scientist or politician could be offended: “I’m not an actor!” Once Filaret allowed the best singers to participate in secular concerts, performing spiritual singing, but having learned that they were applauded, he subsequently prohibited such participation of singers in concerts. He also had to struggle with such “little things” as the image of Christ and the Virgin Mary, as well as angels or the cross of the Lord on snuff boxes. Isn't it blasphemy? Blasphemy. And of course, he was meticulous in matters of church structure, making sure that everything was done impeccably. He gave, for example, instructions that during communion, the one holding the veil (the handkerchief used to wipe the lips of the communicant) should ensure that the communicant swallows the communion before moving away from the veil. Many communicants are familiar with the feeling when they want to hold the shrine in their mouth with reverence for a while before swallowing it. And this is wrong, because communion is not food. In addition, unbelief continued to spread, and there were cases when blasphemers spat out the Holy Gifts as soon as they left the church, or even the chalice! If the sacrament, or even a small portion of it, falls to the floor, Filaret ordered that a stone be removed from the floor and immersed in the bottom of the river, “where no foot will trample it.” He had to participate in an anti-government protest against the intention to introduce a tax on wine in favor of the Church. The Metropolitan ardently argued “that it is indecent to assign such dirty income to the benefit of the Church. And this truly resembles the price of a pesiah, which was forbidden to be brought into the house of God. Moreover, the state itself is so in need that it is already beginning to live at the expense of the Church, as the tax on church houses and lands shows. Let it increase the price of drunkenness for itself.” The Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment was created in Moscow - an organization that subsequently did a lot for the study of Orthodox culture, church art and life. Filaret was elected trustee. Realizing that he would have neither the strength nor the time to engage in this enterprise, he still did not refuse trusteeship: “What will I say in response to this election? – It is no longer time for me to promise you satisfactory activities in relation to your Society; and therefore, perhaps, it would be fair to refuse your election. However, I do not refuse because I cannot in my heart remain alien to you. To the best of our ability and ability, we will take care of the common cause and each other.” Until the end of his life, Saint Philaret carefully followed all the historical events of which he happened to be a contemporary. In January 1863, an uprising broke out again in Poland. Filaret in Moscow eagerly studied all the incoming news: “Bitter, if true, Polish news.” There was no reason for indignation. The beginning of the next recruitment drive and the massive evasion of the Poles from it became not a reason, but a signal for an uprising, which had been prepared for a long time, and for several years the Russians received threatening letters, signs in Russian were torn down, Orthodox cemeteries were monstrously desecrated, and most importantly, a program of armed action was secretly being prepared. The reason remained the same - the reluctance of the majority of Poles to live as part of the Russian Empire and the reluctance of the Russian government to give independence to the country, where they continued to dream of returning the Russian lands that once belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The question arose about support for Russia's policy in Poland from the clergy. Unexpectedly, Filaret spoke out against such official statements, citing the fact that even in those countries where the Church is closer to the state, nothing similar is done. “It is difficult for a church word to enter the political sphere without leaving the spiritual field,” Filaret wrote to Anthony at the very height of the Polish uprising. “But, having once entered this path, there will be some need to continue walking along it, and may even lead you where it is inconvenient to follow. In the war of 1806 or 1807, the Holy Synod, thinking to strongly support the government, called Napoleon the Antichrist; and then they made peace with the Antichrist. The address of the Holy Synod would be out of line, because both the State Council and the Senate do not write addresses.” However, in personal correspondence, Filaret fully supported the emperor on the Polish issue. And on August 8, 1863, meeting Alexander II at the entrance to the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, Filaret addressed him with a speech that any liberal and supporter of Poland has every right to call autocratic reactionary, or even militaristic: - Most pious sovereign! Welcoming you in the presence of the God of peace (Heb. 13:20), out of duty and according to our hearts, we call from above peace to your spirit, concerned with royal concerns, to your home and your kingdom. But the God of peace also calls Himself the God of armies and the God of the people adopted by faith. The peace of your people is disturbed by disturbances occurring on one of the borders of your great kingdom, in a small people who have already been condemned more than once for its disturbances, which exists as a kingdom only by the mercy of your predecessors and who repays your multiplied favors with ingratitude, rebellion, and sedition. And, most unexpectedly, from some countries, even those not adjacent to us, a voice is heard as if for their peace of mind this nest of worries needs to be strengthened and expanded. Your truth and goodness are insulted! The dignity of Russia has been insulted! Can love for the Fatherland, loyalty to the throne be indifferent to this? And therefore the spirit of the sons of Russia rises up and calls to you from everywhere, representing the readiness of the entire people to defend the truth. The spirit of the sons of faith rises up and calls out to the God of Orthodox Russia, to the God of truth, so that, like light, he will bring forth your truth and Russia, and your destiny with it... The Polish uprising lasted more than a year, by May 1864 it was suppressed. Contrary to the expectations of the leaders of the rebellion, not a single European state supported them. As a result, Poland lost the main attributes of autonomy; strictness was imposed that was not there even under Nicholas I. Russification began, it was forbidden to speak Polish in public places, the gentry had no right to organize gatherings even on family holidays. Thousands of Poles involved in the uprising were exiled to Siberia, where entire Polish settlements appeared. Dmitry Shostakovich and Alexander Green would come from such families of immigrants. But the Polish peasantry, which for the most part did not support the rebels, received much more rights in accordance with the ongoing reform than the peasantry throughout the rest of the Russian Empire. Filaret received news about the Polish events, one might say, first-hand - from his old friend Andrei Nikolaevich Muravyov, because he was the brother of General Mikhail Nikolaevich Muravyov-Vilensky, who directly supervised the suppression of the rebellion in Poland. The European press called him a cannibal. Surprisingly, the grandson of the great Suvorov, His Serene Highness Prince Alexander Arkadyevich, the then St. Petersburg military governor-general, joined the opinion of the Europeans! He not only called Muravyov-Vilensky a cannibal, but also ordered that no honors be given to Mikhail Nikolaevich upon his arrival in St. Petersburg. Even near the house of the “strangler of Polish freedoms,” police were posted to prevent anyone from entering with gifts and greetings. Nevertheless, as Filaret noted in one of his letters, “Mikhail Nikolaevich came to St. Petersburg sick, and the guards officers, with exclamations of “Hurray!” carried out of the carriage on a chair, contrary to the prohibition of the St. Petersburg governor-general, who also forbade the merchants to bring bread and salt and sent city servants to the house of Mikhail Nikolaevich so that people would not gather to meet him. Wouldn't you say: incredible?" Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev, who wrote a poetic pamphlet to Suvorov’s grandson, remained as fiery a reactionary as Filaret, outraged by this fact: The humane grandson of a warlike grandfather, Forgive us, our handsome prince, That we honor the Russian cannibal, We, Russians, are from Europe without asking!.. How can I excuse this courage from you? How to justify sympathy for someone Who defended and saved Russia's integrity, Sacrificing everything to your calling? Who bears all the responsibility, all the work and burden Took upon himself in a desperate struggle - And the poor, tortured tribe, Raised to life, carried on yourself?.. Who, chosen for all sedition as a target, He stood and stood, calm, unharmed - To spite the enemies - their lies and bitterness, Out of spite - alas - and the vulgarity of the family. So be a shameful evidence for us too A letter to him from us, his friends! But it seems to us, Prince, your great grandfather He would seal it with his signature. It was not in vain, not in vain that Soviet agitprop erased Tyutchev from school textbooks! That one was the defender of autocracy Fyodor Ivanovich! The capture of Shamil and the conquest of the Caucasus, the pacification of Poland... Now Alexander II began the conquest of Central Asia, the troops of General Mikhail Grigorievich Chernyaev opposed the Kokand Khanate. In August 1864, Filaret again greeted the sovereign on the eve of the Assumption Cathedral, and this time as a triumphant: - Most pious sovereign! On your previous visit, welcoming you here, we wished your power peace and victory, if war is required. With the help of God, you maintained peace, and in peace you won victory over strong opponents who waged war, although not with the sword, but with word and writing, calling for the sword. The arrows were sharp and numerous, but they did not pierce your shield, for your shield was steadfastness in righteousness. Then, by the loyalty and courage of your people, you brought down to the ground and on our land the war that arose from people unworthy of the honor of being called enemies, because they fought with sedition and atrocities. Finally, your reign was granted by Providence to victoriously end the age-old war, firmly, but without final success, waged by your predecessors, and you pacified the vast region of the Caucasus, which seemed to be the eternal homeland of war. And so we greet you with peace, not only desired and expected, but also possessed. May the God of peace bless your exploits for the inner world with the desired successes - for the protection and elevation of the pious-moral and moral-civil order of your people. And with this, may the heavenly Father continue and multiply his blessings over your blessed family, so that in family consolations you find relief from royal labors. It was not in vain that he spoke about family consolations, since rumors persisted that the tsar had lost interest in the queen, and the metropolitan wanted with his word to once again unite the disintegrating august family. Alas, he will not succeed. In May 1866, the sovereign would meet again with Ekaterina Dolgorukova, and she would become his lover, and after the death of the empress, his wife. Saint Philaret sadly observed the continuing decline of morals in Russian society, the spread of “faithless and immoral literature” that spilled onto readers’ shelves after censorship was relaxed, and called on the Synod and the sovereign to take protective measures. But the tsar, like our current rulers, did not have enough time to follow literature. After the Peasant Revolution, a grandiose Military reform began; Russia was supposed to rise to the same level of military development as other European states. The year 1865 brought grief to the royal family. On April 12, the heir, Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, died of inflammation of the spinal cord in Nice. Filaret considered it his duty to send a consoling letter to the grieving parent: “Why was a young tree, carefully nurtured, ready to bear fruit, and promising the desired fruits suddenly taken away from the splendid garden? Why did the invisible hand extinguish the bright hopes that were supposed to ensure the continuation of light for the future of Russia? Are the prayers of the most pious parents for their firstborn, the prayers of the faithful people, not heard? Neither a testing thought nor a feeling of grief left to oneself will give its own answer to this. Let the calming resolution of these thoughts be better sought in the sacred word of truth: Who has known the mind of the Lord? How incomprehensible are His destinies and unsearchable His ways (Rom. 11:33-34). But despite this incomprehensibility, it is undoubtedly known that all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth to those who keep His covenant (Ps. 24:10). Therefore, there is no doubt that the Lord is faithful in hearing prayer. He heard it, accepted it and fulfilled it, only not according to the thought of parental and domestic love, which wanted to keep the noble prince for the difficult exploits of the earthly kingdom in difficult times, but fulfilled it according to the understanding of His Divine mind, which foresaw as the best thing to soon call him to the Kingdom of Heaven. The wisdom and love of the Lord were present in this decision.” It is not known what kind of sovereign the eldest son of Alexander II would have been, but it is known that in the person of Alexander III, who became emperor as a result of the death of his brother, Russia found a great sovereign, a true master, who gave her thirteen and a half years of happiness, peace, prosperity, power and tranquility. But in those days everyone sincerely mourned the untimely death of the heir to the throne, a pure, decent, handsome young man, a good Christian, whom Metropolitan Philaret saw in the future as a truly Orthodox king. In the summer of that year the saint himself was almost dying. He arrived at the Lavra, became very ill there, and lived on his sick bed from June to mid-October in the Gethsemane monastery, which he built in order to spend the quiet and peaceful days of his decline here. For the first time, he did not meet the august family during his next visit to Moscow, but only sent his greetings in writing: “...by the grace of God, I still have the consolation left to me - from the depths of the desert to extend to You a word of reverent sympathy and from the depths of my heart to lift up a prayer voice to the Almighty.” Venerable Sergius. And on the day of the autumn celebration of the memory of Alexander Nevsky from the Gethsemane monastery, Philaret wrote to the sovereign: “The name of Saint Alexander contains the memory of the blessed prince, who, in the face of an unfaithful ruler, under the threat of death, did not hesitate to confess his faith, who with wisdom repelled the attempts of the non-Orthodox from Orthodoxy, who with the Neva victory from the distance of centuries predicted your Neva capital.” “These memories will occupy the attention of the one named after you, your faithful heir: and the name of Alexander II, the Liberator, will be auspiciously added to them.” With the light hand of Moscow Chrysostom, the nickname “Liberator” will forever be attached to the name of Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich. In the fall, having recovered, the saint returned to Moscow, and for the first time he did not scold the railway, but highly praised it, admired the calm movement of the train and admitted that it was right that “I did not decide to travel along an earthen road”: “I could not have endured the painful feeling in which I began the journey for so long, and I would not have had the means to alleviate it. On the contrary, in the moving house of the railway, I put aside my warm clothes, stood up and remained in this position almost the entire journey, gradually feeling relief.” The last years have arrived; the sun of St. Philaret’s earthly life has already touched the horizon and began to quietly sink behind the window, giving the world its last beautiful rays, warm and gentle. And in these life-giving rays two babies were born, who in the coming 20th century were destined to become the first two patriarchs of the revived Russian patriarchate - on January 19, 1865, Vasily Ivanovich Belavin was born in the vicinity of Toropets, and in the very year of Philaret’s death, on January 11, 1867, Ivan Nikolaevich Stragorodsky was born in Arzamas. The first in 1917 will become Patriarch Tikhon, and the second in 1943 - Patriarch Sergius. Meanwhile, the real hunt for the sovereign began. It is noteworthy that most recently, in April 1865, the liberator of American slaves, Abraham Lincoln, was assassinated. Now attempts have begun on the life of the liberator of Russian serfs. But if Lincoln was killed by the southerner-supporting actor Booth, then the persecution of Alexander the Liberator was launched by those who proclaimed themselves champions of the liberation of the people! On April 4, 1866, revolutionary Dmitry Karakozov in St. Petersburg at the gates of the Summer Garden shot at the emperor, missed, was captured by the peasant Osip Komissarov, imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress, and an investigation began. The commission to investigate the crime was headed by the same “cannibal” Mikhail Nikolaevich Muravyov-Vilensky, nicknamed by his enemies “The Hangman” because once, when someone asked him if he was a relative of the hanged Decembrist Muravyov, he replied: - I am not one of those who are hanged, but one of those who hang. Having learned about the St. Petersburg atrocity, Metropolitan Philaret sent a loyal letter to the Tsar: “As much as criminal, as much insane insolence has raised a hand against you; but it was invisibly reflected by an angel (although visibly through a person), and your life and health were preserved, and the crime was allowed to do only what it exposed itself and brought to shame and justice. Blessed be God, who has spoken upon you, most pious sovereign, His ancient word: do not touch My anointed! The horror of the loyal subjects and the sorrow that such a person was found in Russia is softened only by the liveliest joy for your preservation and a prayer of gratitude to the Lord...” In honor of the king's deliverance from death, religious processions were held everywhere. In other places, at the end of the moves, a treat was arranged for the people. Metropolitan Philaret spoke out against such treats, because it turned out that people themselves were not expressing their commitment to the monarch, but were being lured with food and drink. The investigative commission found Karakozov completely guilty and sentenced him to death. Muravyov-Vilensky did not live long enough to see this event and his seventieth birthday, dying on August 31, 1866. A hero of the war with Napoleon, who bravely fought on the Borodino field and then throughout his life did not spare himself for the good of Russia, he remained in the memory of his ungrateful descendants as “Muravyov-Hangman”, thanks to the efforts of liberals of the 19th century and Soviet historians of the 20th century. Saint Philaret especially honored him for his exploits, for the fact that Mikhail Nikolaevich returned a huge number of Belarusian Uniates and Catholics to the fold of Orthodoxy. On October 28, 1866, the marriage of the heir Alexander Alexandrovich took place with the Danish princess Dagmara, who became Maria Feodorovna. Filaret sent a congratulatory letter. At that wedding, the end of the Caucasian War took place in a unique way - the captive Imam Shamil was invited from Kaluga to the celebration. By that time, he was also captivated by the special kind treatment that the Russians showed him. Appearing at the wedding, he uttered his famous words: - Old Shamil, in his declining years, regrets that he cannot be born again in order to devote his life to serving the white king, whose benefits he now enjoys. In the same 1866, an uprising of Orthodox Greeks broke out on the island of Crete against oppression by the Turks who owned the island. The Turks responded by massacring the Candiots, as it was customary to call the Cretans after the Venetian name for Crete - Candia. Metropolitan Filaret became the inspiration for collecting funds in favor of the “suffering Christians of the East”, issued an appeal to the new Chief Prosecutor of the Synod, Dmitry Andreevich Tolstoy, and thereby drew the government’s attention to the need to support the Cretans. It was in these worries that he met the last year of his life. Feeling his impending departure, Moscow Chrysostom again turned to poetry and made a poetic translation of the “Song of Exhortation” by St. Gregory the Theologian: The last work of life is near, I am finishing my evil voyage. And I already see in the distance the executions of bitter evil: Wrathful Tartarus, flame of fire, depth of eternal night, Now hidden in darkness, manifest there in shame. But, O Blessed One, have mercy, and, although it is late, grant me The rest of my life is good according to Your will. To you who are to come, this is my sacred word: there is no benefit to you. To love earthly life. Life is reduced to dust. And life was still knocking and knocking on this door that was beginning to close! Suddenly an indignant letter arrived from his best friend Andrei Nikolaevich Muravyov, who was angry with the saint for not intervening and preventing the sale of Alaska to the Americans. These are the times! But he himself found out about this sale after the transaction was completed. “American district of the Irkutsk province” - Alaska, together with the adjacent islands, was under the control of the Russian-American Company from July 9, 1799. Discussions that this was too remote an area and unprofitable to maintain continued throughout the first half of the 19th century. Finally there was a good reason to sell. To pay compensation to landowners in accordance with the Peasant Reform in 1862, Alexander II was forced to borrow 15 million pounds sterling from the Rothschilds at five percent per annum. The debt must be repaid, but there is no money. It was then that the sovereign’s younger brother, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, offered to sell Alaska. In addition, during the Crimean War it became clear that there was a possibility of completely losing this territory, which was not officially assigned to Russia, for nothing. And no great incomes from Alaska were yet expected. On December 16, 1866, a meeting was held in St. Petersburg between Alexander II and Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich with the ministers of finance and maritime, as well as the Russian envoy in Washington, Baron Eduard Andreevich Stekl. The fate of Alaska was decided and on March 18, 1867, an agreement was signed, according to which a territory of one and a half million square kilometers was sold to the Americans for 7 million 200 thousand dollars. In today's money, this is about eight and a half billion dollars. It is sad that just five years after the sale of Alaska, colossal reserves of gold were discovered in it, and in the first fifty years of ownership of the huge peninsula, America received an income a hundred times more than it spent on the purchase of the “golden pie.” The fate of the money received from America for the sold Alaska is also unknown. There is a legend that they were converted into gold bars and transported on the ship Orkney, which sank without a trace in the Baltic Sea. According to other sources, the money was sent to England, where it was used to purchase steam locomotives for the rapidly developing Russian railways. This whole story is relevant to Metropolitan Philaret only in the sense in which it was applied to Saint Andrei Nikolaevich Muravyov, that he did not intervene and did not prevent the sale. In a letter to Anthony, the Metropolitan complained about Muravyov: “The sale of Russian possessions in America, it seems, has finally been completed. Andrei Nikolaevich exclaims: what a heavy answer lies on the guards of Israel! “Perhaps we are slumbering guards, but what could be done?” I recently heard that they were selling; it was hard to believe; suddenly they say that the job is done. Was it possible for the guards of Israel to break into a state decision that had been taken and executed?” On April 16, 1867, Filaret celebrated Easter on earth for the last time - “in the name of the risen Lord, a kiss of joy and love.” On Bright Week, I addressed the emperor with greetings for the last time, again not verbally, but in writing. In May, an ethnographic exhibition was held in Moscow; representatives of all European Slavic peoples came. Eighty people, mostly of non-Orthodox faith. After the reception given to them by the emperor, the Slavs came under the blessing of Metropolitan Philaret. He addressed them with a word that became the last official speech and sermon of Moscow Chrysostom. And how significant that this speech is addressed to all the Slavs! “I have an unexpected consolation to greet the longed-for guests and brothers whom I see here and whom Moscow now sees beyond expectation. Blessed be our God and Lord Jesus Christ, who has visited and is visiting miserably divided humanity and directing it to one salvation and salvific unity. Slavs and Slavic-Russians are one race. But its beginning is obscured by time. Its branches are divided by the movement of human affairs. This division was unfavorable to the unity of his language. God raised up two holy brothers in the flesh and in the spirit, who became our fathers in the spirit, giving birth to us with the gospel of Christ, and renewed and exalted our natural brotherhood with spiritual brotherhood. There is no doubt that kindred love is perfected and strengthened by Christian love. The unity of spirit and language is protected by the fact that the Slavic language has become the language of faith and church. We Russians have inherited this gift of God from our oldest brothers in Christianity and never cease to be grateful. Let us sympathize with sorrows, rejoice in the hopes of our brothers, and through division we look towards unity. And now an unexpected incident from various, from distant countries raises up zealots of Slavic brotherhood and unites them in the center of Russian unity, in order to pour out brotherly feeling directly from heart to heart and, despite external divisions, to be found in living inner unity. Having seen the signs of Providence in our past, let us dare to see a sign for good in the present. In the spirit of Christianity, may our common unity grow, and in such unity the power capable of victoriously creating and spreading common and private good. We greet you with sincere love and good hope, based on faith in the all-good Providence of God. From Moscow the Slavs went to visit the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where, by order of Philaret, they were given the best reception. Returning to Moscow, they again visited Filaret and warmly thanked him. My strength was running out. In June, the saint again went to the monastery and locked himself in the Gethsemane monastery for the whole summer. He wrote a will with a request to bury him here, but received a strong objection from the governor, Anthony. Its meaning was that the Gethsemane monastery was closed to female visitors except on August 17. Anthony foresaw that a large number of women would want to visit the saint’s grave, and in this case, every year on August 17 there would be an unimaginable pandemonium of women. Anthony persuaded Philaret to agree to have his tomb built in a special chapel on the south side of the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit. Meanwhile, the anniversary was approaching, which Saint Philaret, with all his dislike for anniversaries, could not avoid. Fifty years ago, on August 5, 1817, in the Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Archimandrite Philaret was consecrated Bishop of Revel. On the day of the anniversary, the shepherd was in his favorite place - in the Gethsemane monastery. His strength was fading. And with the permission of the Synod, seven diocesan bishops came to the Lavra, a hitherto unheard of gathering. Chief Prosecutor Tolstoy also appeared. He conveyed the decision of the Synod on the solemn celebration of the anniversary and that no church matters should be discussed at this meeting of bishops. Dmitry Andreevich also presented the bishop with a state document: “The highest rescript for many years of educational, charitable and pastoral activities granted Metropolitan Philaret the right, according to Kyiv custom, to present a cross in the priesthood, to wear a cross on a miter and two panagias on the chest. At the same time, a panagia decorated with precious stones on a diamond chain was most mercifully granted with the image on the reverse side of the monograms of His Majesty and his two predecessors, under whom he served, and with the inscription around it: “To the Most Reverend Metropolitan Philaret, in memory of fifty years of service to the Church and the Fatherland, August 5, 1817 - August 5, 1867, during the reign of Alexander I, Nicholas I and Alexander II"; and in reward for the merits of the state itself, portraits of Emperor Alexander II and his two predecessors were granted, united together, showered with diamonds and decorated with a large imperial crown.” The solemn act of honoring the hero of the day took place in the metropolitan chambers. Moscow Chrysostom himself was not able to read the welcoming speech, he was only present and quietly looked at what was happening, while Vicar Leonid read out the last appeal of St. Philaret in his life to the Fathers of the Church and to the monks, to the entire flock: - Venerable fathers and brothers! Honorable gentlemen and brothers! This day presents such surprises to me that it is difficult for me to define and explain my thoughts and feelings, and I would remain in silent bewilderment if respect and gratitude for the attention now being shown to me from so many sides did not oblige me to speak... First of all, I am surprised at what I see today. My meager strength in my early years, coupled with the considerable difficulties of my career, did not promise me later years. By the inscrutable will of God, the gift of fifty years of service to the highest structure of the mysteries of God was sent down to me. I only know that this is not a gift of retribution, but of ineffable mercy and patience. It can be seen that although my soul is sojourning a lot (Ps. 119:6), it has not yet prepared itself and still requires preparation in order to move from sojourn to the Fatherland, to which the Heavenly Father calls us all. Be patient! Glory to Thee, All-Merciful! Do not take away Your mercy! I also attribute to the inscrutable will of God the fact that at the present end of the completed fiftieth anniversary of my hierarchical service, favorable glances are turned, even from the highest throne, even from the supreme hierarchy of the Russian Church, also from the bishops, and from the authorities and classes of leaders of philanthropy and science, and from public institutions, and, what is less unexpected, from the clergy and in general brethren of the Moscow Church. Perhaps it would please the Providence of God, through this particular phenomenon in church life, to create a sign for the good (Ps. 85:17) in general to encourage ascetics of the faith and the Church, especially beneficial in days in which the more and more self-darkening Western spirit incessantly intensifies to spread darkness and raise storms in the bright, holy East... Lord, who created this day for me! Let your word come, good and effective! Bless and bless the holy love of our most pious autocrat for the holy Church; and may she always be a protective force for the well-being of his kingdom and people... May, Lord, glory be to You in the Russian Church forever! On September 17, Archimandrite Anthony appeared with a daily report on the state of the monastery. Filaret listened to him carefully and then said: “I just had a dream, and I was told: “Take care of the nineteenth.” - Holy Lord! Is it possible to trust dreams and look for some meaning in them? How can one pay attention to such a vague indication? There are twelve 19ths in every year. After a pause, Filaret objected: – I didn’t see a dream. My parent appeared to me and told me those words. I think from now on, every nineteenth day I will receive Holy Communion. “This is a good desire,” replied Anthony. Two days later it was September 19, and Saint Philaret took communion as before his death. But a new surge of strength came, and he went to Moscow. “My journey was completed comfortably, although not difficult. For two miles or so I rode along the railway while sitting; then I felt the need to get up and reached Moscow by rail on foot, that is, walking and standing in the carriage. The fatigue was great, but it seemed harmless. On Monday I was in the Kremlin and visited the Prince Governor-General, who met me at the railway on Saturday.” On October 5, Philaret wrote to Anthony: “May the silence of the Gethsemane monastery remain, and may there be no reason for me to disturb it. May our venerable father Sergius look upon mercifully and bless my final rest in his monastery, under the shelter of the prayers of him and others who labored here in a godly manner for him. I ask this and bequeath this.” This meant that he fully agreed with Anthony's proposal regarding the future burial. On October 19, the saint took communion again, this time in his home church. He felt better than he had recently, and again threw himself into the bottomless abyss of affairs. He had one month left to live on earth, and during this month the holy fool Philippuska, with whom for many, many years the saint developed, to put it mildly, a very difficult relationship, did not cease to pester him. Philip Andreevich Khoreyev was twenty years younger than Saint Philaret, initially his path was worldly, an ordinary peasant, he started a family, but after the birth of his fourth child, his wife died, and, according to his fellow villagers, he became somewhat damaged in mind, became withdrawn, went to church more and more often, and stopped doing household chores and housekeeping. His parents forced him to marry again, and he even had a daughter in his second marriage, but suddenly he ran away from his native village and wandered around the world for ten years, turning into a real holy fool - barefoot in winter and summer, with his head bare, in chains and with a staff in his hands. The staff is iron, heavy, and has a dove cast from copper attached to it. “The Holy Spirit loves the bird, he has accepted its appearance,” cooed Philippushka. - The dove has a small head, but it’s smart, its toes are up, it’s good. But our head is big and stupid, and our nose is stupid as hell and sniffs the path. He walked with the staff, slept with the staff, hugging it, did not even let anyone touch it, speaking about the staff: - This is the weight of my sins! Why torture someone else’s sinful burden?! The holy fool Filippushka Golub, as the people called him, was often arrested as a passportless tramp, kept in prison, sent under escort to a prison camp, but he endured everything and somehow managed to be free again and roam the world. The first mention of him by Philaret dates back to May 23, 1847: “God bless his servant Philip and do good to his soul.” This was written after Philipushka visited the saint and received his blessing to live in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Further, Filaret’s letters and notes are replete with constant references to the holy fool. Obviously, this man was both a thorn in his side and very interesting. Like a mischievous, but unusual and beloved child in the family. It is worthy of note that the holy fools, who did not spare anyone and easily exposed the highest-ranking figures of both the state and the Church, never said anything bad about Metropolitan Philaret. On the contrary, they gave him the most excellent nicknames. Thus, the famous holy fool Ivan Yakovlevich Koreysha, famous in Moscow, who lived in the Preobrazhenskaya hospital on two square arshins, which he outlined for himself with chalk, addressing Filaret, called him: “A ray of great light!” The holy fool Philippushka called Saint Philaret the White Angel, and the corpulent Archimandrite Anthony - the Broad. Having settled in the monastery, Dove became a prominent figure in the monastery of St. Sergius. The people adored him. Devotees decorated the heavy staff with ribbons, and with such decorations on his main regalia, the holy fool appeared in the church, and everyone stared at him, and this interfered with the service. “It seems that it is necessary to advise Philip to refrain from such actions, with which he seems to be making a spectacle of himself,” the Metropolitan wrote sternly to the vicar of the Lavra in 1848. – We must endure temptation when it comes, and not lead ourselves into temptation and at the same time others, when we are commanded to pray: do not lead us into temptation. Therefore, I would advise him to postpone his proposed trip to New Jerusalem until his discretion. If my foolish wisdom does not understand the wisdom of foolishness, then I apologize.” The last note is quite important. Filaret understands that God sends holy fools like Philippushka from time to time for a reason. After all, such was St. Basil, who, not with his staff, but with his complete nakedness, also tempted those praying in churches and on the streets, and nevertheless, there is a certain mysterious meaning in the appearance of such bizarre characters. The holy fools in an extraordinary way enlivened Christian life, turned the foundations of the mortal world upside down, showing the fragility of everything that is on earth. And this was to the heart of Filaret, who spent his whole life preaching our strangeness in this world. What was Filippushka’s favorite pastime worth, for example, when he could go up to a kalach seller, take a tray from him and start distributing it to everyone, especially the poor and hungry! And the merchants did not dare to interfere with this. And besides, Philippushka could immediately find a rich onlooker in the crowd and order him: - Pay for the rolls, my dear! And the rich man, blushing with displeasure, nevertheless laughingly paid the merchant for the damage. Merchants invited the holy fool to their stores, and if Filippushka chose something for himself, the crowd that saw it immediately snapped up this product. In a word, Filippushka became a popular favorite in the late 1840s. It happened that he bothered the police about something and was arrested again, but was soon released under pressure from the angry masses. “God will bless Philip to make the journey,” Filaret wrote to Anthony on this occasion. “But tell him not to try to be taken into custody; and if he liked it, he would tell us, and we would arrest him with love, and not with anger, like the police.” Living in the Lavra, Filippushka continued to travel from time to time, surrounded by people, detained by the police, whom he especially liked to tease. “Will Philip be able to determine by decree reliably? - Philaret thought in 1850, meaning whether the holy fool should be prohibited from traveling from the Lavra and whether he should be designated as a novice. – Will he stop wanting to travel? After his trip to Moscow, I hear that he still went somewhere else. In the current situation, even if they take him with his copper or iron bird and put him in a cage, he is happy with it, and there is no harm for us. If we can, we will remove it from the cage; but we are not responsible for that, not having it officially as ours. And we will have to answer for a certain novice...” However, this artist was also tired of fame; Filippushka began to seek solitude. Archimandrite Anthony settled him not just anywhere, but in the Gethsemane monastery, which would have been impossible without Philaret’s permission and testifies to the fact that, while outwardly expressing severity towards the holy fool, the saint loved him. Philippushka settled not in the monastery itself, but nearby - in a dilapidated gatehouse, lost in a dense thicket behind a pond. In September 1850 he became very ill and was near death. Anthony, having visited him, invited Dove to take monastic vows, and he agreed: – And if possible, then under the name Filaret. I want to be like our White Angel! So the tonsure took place, and the holy fool Philippushka the Dove turned into the monk Philaret. He soon recovered and appeared to the archimandrite: - Wide, bless me to dig a cellar. He allowed it, and soon monk Philaret, together with other monks, began to dig caves under the Gethsemane monastery. Anthony turned to Saint Philaret with the question of whether to ban it, but the White Angel allowed the caves, and so, thanks to the efforts of his new namesake, cave life also began in the monastery. Soon Lavra diggers, carpenters, and masons were already working here. However, nature took its toll. He was again drawn to the people. Here the Metropolitan had to be strict: “Tell Brother Philaret that while he was the wandering Philip, he was responsible for himself, and now we must answer for him. Then desire controlled him; Let us assume that it was according to the spiritual man, but now it is necessary to control it by obedience. He made a sacred vow to this and pledged to fulfill it. Therefore, if it is possible to bless him with a trip to Moscow, then not for a long time and so that he does not make himself an object of curiosity and does not attract the attention of the police, that is, he would not force us to answer for him... It is not very in order that his cave monasticism was made public in Moscow.” Philip-Filaret appeared at the Trinity courtyard and demanded permission to spend twenty days in Moscow in order to again be, as before, among crowds of people and again play the fool. The Metropolitan admonished him, saying that from now on he was a monk, and not just a holy fool. He was even ready to renounce monasticism, so attracted was he to his old way of life. The Bishop did not tire of fighting his tyranny, and besides, the Synod issued a decree not to leave any of the monasteries without a special permit. Again and again he inspired “that he is no longer a bird without a nest, flying wherever he wants, as he was before.” And Philip-Filaret abandoned his thoughts, among which was to go somewhere far away and live in the unknown. And then he again strove for foolishness; visitors came to him in the caves of the Gethsemane monastery, and he “performed” before them. The Metropolitan reprimanded the Archimandrite for this: “You say that he received many, and even without written forms or with dubious ones. But why was this allowed to him? Where is obedience? He is not the abbot." In 1852, Philip-Filaret went to Kyiv, and from somewhere he had a lot of money, which confused many. The irritated Metropolitan was even inclined to not accept him back into the monastery. But he had mercy and accepted. Still, he favored him, no matter what. Philip-Philaret hated shoes, and all the brethren of the Holy Trinity Lavra were obliged to wear boots. The Bishop allowed him to wear loose boots instead of boots. The children of the holy fool monk grew up, two sons Ignatius and Vasily at the end of 1851 came to their father and settled in the Gethsemane monastery as novices, a year later the eldest son Porfiry came from Optina Hermitage, the children dug caves for themselves. The Metropolitan doubted whether this was good: “But even here I want to ask: are there children? Are they following the same path as their father?” However, with children, Philip-Filaret unexpectedly settled down and no longer strived for wanderings and foolishness. From that time on, he began to cause less concern to the ruler. However, the people continued to go to their favorite in large numbers, so that the monastery brethren rebelled against the disturbed peace, and then the governor ordered the monk Philaret and his sons to leave the caves and settled him two and a half miles from Gethsemane near a pond. Anthony ordered a cell to be built for Philaret and his sons. In the attic of the cell they performed their usual rule and church services. In September 1855, during a visit to the Lavra, Tsar Alexander Nikolaevich wished to see the monk Philaret, who was already called the elder. Seeing him in monastic robes, the king asked: He answered, as befits an old man and holy fool: “I don’t know if he’s a monk, but I’d like to be a monk for at least one hour.” One of the wealthy admirers, Moscow merchant Loginova, donated money for the church, and on September 27, 1859, Metropolitan Philaret consecrated the upper church in honor of the Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God. Brotherhood cells were built at the church, and a new monastery was formed, later known as the God-loving monastery. It was then that all three sons of the elder accepted monasticism. Porfiry is named Procopius, Ignatius is Galaktion, and Vasily is Lazarus. In the last year of Saint Philaret’s life, Schemamonk Philip received a denunciation that counterfeit credit notes were being printed in his cell. A search was carried out, the denunciation was not confirmed, but the rumor spread throughout Rus'. “The case of Schemamonk Philip,” Filaret wrote to Anthony, “after the troubles that have emerged, threatens others. It’s a pity that too much was allowed to him, out of excess of condescension.” What this meant was that visitors brought Philip money, which he always had in abundance, and he gave it to those in need. This is the light from which came the stinking smoke of slander about fake credit notes. They again began to demand his eviction from the Lavra, and the schemamonk received the bishop’s blessing to go with his sons to wander around Russian monasteries. And now, just ten days before the death of the saint, Philip appeared to him with a note, which contained the names of people whose debts needed to be paid. The amount is huge - more than two thousand rubles. The holy fool borrowed this money and gave it to people in need. Now it was necessary to repay the debts, and Philip decided that the metropolitan should do this. Filaret ordered to tell him that if he himself incurred debts, then he should pay it himself, but the next day the creditors began to appear at the Trinity Compound, saying that Philip said that debts could be collected here. “Philip begins to send his creditors to us. One has already submitted a petition to the chamber that difficulty and trouble will result from this,” Filaret wrote with alarm and indignation on November 10 to the Lavra. The Bishop’s special pride was that, having become a bishop, he gained the opportunity not to touch money with his own hands, and if necessary, he could always order his cell attendants to give so and so to such and such. But at the same time, he did not neglect money so much that he did not keep track of it, and always carefully watched so that he would not be defrauded. And here is such unheard of impudence on the part of Philip! I, they say, made debts, and you pay them off! But he couldn’t help but understand that there was some special meaning hidden here; the holy fool just doesn’t do anything. Saying to everyone: “Go to Vladyka Philaret, he is now paying off all his debts,” the holy fool schemamonk hinted at some kind of settlement of the highest order. In his last days, a person pays his last debts to the world... Is it a coincidence that in the sunset rays of Filaret’s life the restless and eccentric shadow of the holy fool flashes? Is it a coincidence that even the very last lines written by Filaret are dedicated to Philip? “Please pay attention that the resolution at the request of the creditor Filippov is drawn up firmly and carefully. There may be difficulties in this matter; and the like may come for this.” Nothing happens by chance. It was during these last days that the photographer captured Filaret, and the photograph, which cannot but cause delight, was taken on the eve of his departure to another world! In his last letter to Archimandrite Anthony, the bishop also expressed delight: “The portrait, as I said before, with an excess of decorations, seems proud to me.” Apparently this is praise, because he then adds: “How can I thank the photographer?” Meanwhile, the next nineteenth, which fell on Sunday, was already approaching. One of the admirers who came to visit the bishop this last week conveyed to him the request of one lady to allow her to come to him for a blessing. “Let him come,” said Filaret, “only before the nineteenth.” It was Saturday, November 18th. On that day, the bishop said to his cell hierodeacon Parthenius: – Tomorrow I will serve the liturgy in my home church, prepare everything for the service. The old cell attendant decided to object: “In that case, Vladyka, you will be tired and will probably not be able to serve on Tuesday, but there will be a holiday, the Entry of the Virgin Mary.” “It’s none of your business,” Filaret answered angrily. - Go and tell everyone that I’m serving tomorrow...