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Saint Theophan the Recluse in the Vyshenskaya Hermitage (1866–1894) Theodosius, Metropolitan of Tambov and Rasskazovsky, rector of Tambov Theological Seminary, During the period of his administration of the Tambov diocese, Saint Theophan the Recluse drew attention to the Vyshenskaya Assumption Hermitage - a men's monastery in the northern reaches of the province, located far from the villages on the banks of the small river Vysha, surrounded by a pine forest. This position of the monastery attracted those seeking a secluded life. The first written mention of the Vyshenskaya Hermitage dates back to 1625. In the allotment of the 1st royal nun Martha Ioannovna it was said: “According to the petition of the Vyshenskaya Hermitage, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Chernova priest Tikhon and his brethren, the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, move the cells and all sorts of mansions, order to build a monastery in a new place.” 2 From this memory it follows that the Vyshenskaya men’s hermitage was founded before 1625, and Hieromonk Tikhon and his brethren received the blessing to begin construction of the monastery in a new place. In the 17th and 18th centuries. the monastery was small and very poor, with a small brethren. A hundred years later, in December 1724, the hermitage in general “was abolished and assigned to the Cherniev Monastery due to its lack of fraternity and poor position.” 3 However, in the second half of the 18th century. the activity of the Assumption Vyshenskaya Hermitage resumed. The development of the monastery began in the 19th century, when Hieromonk Arkady (Chestonov), appointed to this position by Saint Theophan on March 30, 1862, became its rector. Sending him to a new place of service, the saint “as if in anticipation of his future life in the Vyshenskaya hermitage, said: “Go; and then I will come to you; Let's live together again." 4 Describing Father Arkady in one of his letters, Saint Theophan wrote: “It’s so quiet in our monastery that one should be amazed. This is our Abba's business. He is very prayerful... and seems to have accepted the gift of unceasing prayer.” 5 Under Archimandrite Arkady, the hermitage began to be guided by strict communal rules, which was conducive to the development of the monastery and the spiritual exploits of the brethren. Under Archimandrite Arkady, the Vyshenskaya Hermitage became a spiritual and educational center. The work of the rector was facilitated by the Most Holy Theotokos through the main shrine of the monastery - the miraculous Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, called “Vyshenskaya”. About the reasons for Bishop Feofan’s voluntary abandonment of the episcopal see and retirement, and then into seclusion, his biographers express the following judgments. Professor Ivan Korsunsky wrote that Bishop Theophan was one of those archpastors who were inclined to a solitary life and unceasing prayer. “It was impossible to always, unceasingly pray to the archpastor, burdened with many affairs of diocesan administration, who was in the field of bishop’s service in one of the most extensive dioceses, such as, for example, the Vladimir diocese,” says Korsunsky. “It was also impossible to always maintain that calm, elevated mood of spirit, which was appropriate for the Lord to move in and dwell in him, so that such rules of ascetic life in monasticism were fulfilled, such as: pray unceasingly, remain in silence, avoid the noise of the world, embrace meekness and patience.” 6 The confessor of Saint Theophan, Abbot Tikhon (Tsyplyakovsky), testifies that the saint “was greatly burdened by the complexity of his duties, which did not give him the opportunity to concentrate within himself and engage in his favorite activity - the study of the Holy Scriptures and the works of his fathers. He was drawn to the silence of a secluded cell, to a peaceful life away from the world and its bustle.” 7 Tambov biographer and one of the first researchers of the works of Saint Theophan P. A. Smirnov quotes the words of the saint in his letter to Metropolitan Isidore (Nikolsky) of St. Petersburg: “I am looking for peace, so that I can more calmly indulge in the pursuits I desire (spiritual writing), but not for the sake of amateurism, but with the indispensable intention that there will be a fruit of labor - not useless and unnecessary for the Church God's. I have in mind to serve the Church of God, only in a different way of serving.” 8 The Recluse wrote more openly to his relative: “I have been looking for this since my young days and asked for strength so that no one would interfere with my being unceasingly with God.” 9 Thus, the saint himself formulated two main reasons that prompted him to decide to go into seclusion: the desire for solitary, unceasing prayer and spiritual unity with God, as well as the desire to serve the Church of Christ with his theological, spiritual and moral writings and letters. On March 12, 1866, Saint Theophan submitted a petition to the Holy Synod for his retirement. On July 5, 1866, the Highest Decree followed: “On June 17, 1866, Bishop Feofan was dismissed “from the management of the Vladimir diocese and assigned as rector to the Shatsk cenobitic Vyshenskaya hermitage, with the assignment of managing it and granting him the right to use everything according to the title of rector of the hermitage” 10. The saint arrived in the Vyshenskaya hermitage on August 3, 1866 and was greeted with the ringing of bells by the brethren, led by the rector, Archimandrite Arkady, and a small number of pilgrims. The Right Reverend wrote about this to the Holy Synod on September 14, 1866: “I have the most respectful honor to inform the Holy Synod that I arrived safely at the monastery given to me on August 3.” 11 Almost thirty years after this, an eyewitness, presumably abbot Tikhon (Tsyplyakovsky), for some reason named another day as the day of the saint’s arrival in Vysha. In his memoirs he left the following entry: “1866. On the 4th of August, at 6 o’clock in the evening, His Grace Bishop Theophan, who had retired here from the Vladimir bishopric see, arrived in the Vyshenskaya wasteland and was appointed rector of this desert. He came from the city of Shatsk, accompanied only by one cell attendant, Hierodeacon Joseph from the Bogolyubsky Monastery.” 12 In this entry, Abbot Tikhon claims that the bishop arrived accompanied by “only one cell attendant.” 13 Professor I. Korsunsky reports that his nephew A.G. Govorov also arrived with the saint. The nephew himself testifies to this: “The year 1866 finally arrived, when what had been planned much earlier was accomplished... Having abandoned the management of the Vladimir flock, the bishop retired to the Vyshenskaya Hermitage, which he often recalled in Tambov and Vladimir and more than once told me that there is no place better than Vysha. Upon arrival at Vysha, we first settled in the abbot's cells... Soon after the bishop's retirement, he managed to arrange me in Moscow with one of his admirers, Princess P. S. Lukomskaya, who loved me like her own son. Until 1871, every year during the holidays I went to visit the Right Reverend.” 14 From the Vyshenskaya monastery in 1866, Saint Theophan sent his nephew to study first at the Vladimir secular seminary, which can be concluded from the saint’s letter to priest I. I. Govorov, written in September 1866, 15 as well as from his letter to A. P. Pokrovsky, 16 although the nephew does not report in his memoirs about studying in Vladimir. A year later, in 1867, the saint sent his nephew to study at the Moscow Theological Seminary. 17 The saint settled in the abbot's house, but then a two-story outbuilding was prepared for him, located against the wall in the southern part of the monastery. “The Right Reverend occupied the upper floor, made of wood, and the lower stone floor houses the monastic prosphora and two fraternal cells (and previously the Right Reverend’s servants were housed here), in the middle of the second floor there is a small balcony, the cell room of the Right Reverend Theophan was also located on the upper floor.” 18 I. Korsunsky calls the cell attendant of the saint the monk Evlampius, who apparently replaced Hierodeacon Joseph. At first, the Recluse attended all monastic services “along with the brethren. Every day I went to Vespers, Matins and early mass. He always appeared for divine services accompanied by his cell attendant and always at the beginning of the service. On Sundays and holidays, Bishop Theophan always served the late liturgy together with Abbot Arkady and the brethren.” 19 The saint delved into all the current affairs of the monastery, studied the requests of the monks, considered urgent economic issues and made decisions on them. He also did not abandon his writing, for the sake of which he retired to the monastery, often staying up at work until late at night. According to an eyewitness, “at three o’clock in the morning the monks went to matins, and the Vladyka very often had not yet extinguished the lamp he had lit in the evening.” 20 Intending to devote himself entirely to prayer and theological works, “in September 1866, Bishop Theophan sent two petitions to the Holy Synod, one after another, in which he said that “the poverty of content and the troublesome ways of obtaining it will not give him peace in managing the monastery. Therefore, he asked that he be dismissed from the management of the monastery and that he be granted a pension.” 21 This message was left in his memoirs by Abbot Tikhon (Tsyplyakovsky), who was the confessor of Saint Theophan and during the years of his seclusion lived in the Vyshensky Monastery. 22 It should be noted that at present only one letter from the saint to the Synod is known with a request to retire him, written on September 14, 1866, 23 and therefore it is not yet possible to confirm or refute the message of Abbot Tikhon that the saint “sent two petitions one after another to the Holy Synod” 24. September 19–28, 1866 The Holy Synod decided: “1) to dismiss His Grace Bishop Theophan from the administration of the Vyshenskaya Hermitage, 2) to grant him the right to serve whenever he wishes, 3) to subordinate to him in the church and liturgical part the brethren of the Vyshenskaya Hermitage so that they would perform church services with him according to his appointment, 4) to place at his disposal the outbuilding he occupied, obliging the hermitage to adapt, repair, heat it and fulfill the bishop’s wishes regarding the meal and 5) assign him a pension of 1000 rubles from the date of his retirement from the administration of the Vladimir diocese, that is, from June 17, 1866.” 25 Now the Vyshensky Recluse could devote more time to prayer, studying the Holy Scriptures and the works of the holy fathers, working on translations and conducting extensive correspondence. In the first years, “on great holidays and Sundays the saint served in cathedral, with Fr. archimandrite and brethren, the Divine Liturgy,” 26 in addition, he “received, talked with those who came, went out for a walk and even, although very rarely, went out.” 27 A graduate of the Tambov Theological Seminary, I. I. Dubasov, who became a famous local historian, tells of a meeting with Saint Theophan in the desert during the initial period of his retreat: “Having completed a course at my academy (around 1867), I had the opportunity to visit him in the Vyshenskaya Hermitage to accept the blessing of my beloved saint. I remember that I arrived in the hermitage for Vespers, defended it and was kindly invited to the rector’s cell by the venerable Fr. Archimandrite Arkady. From here, under the patronage of Fr. Archimandrite, I tremblingly went to the saint. I doubted: would he accept me? But he accepted and talked for a long time with me, his academic protege.” 28 In 1872, the saint began a correspondence with the editor of the Tambov Diocesan Gazette, Archimandrite Dimitri (Sambikin), rector of the Tambov Theological Seminary from 1872 to 1881. The correspondence was carried out for almost two years - from 1872 to 1873 - regarding the works that the saint sent to the diocesan bulletins for printing. In 1872, the “Interpretation of the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to Thessalonians” was published in the journal. Bishop Theophan asked the editor of the newsletter: “Make sure that the mailing is on time: sometimes we receive issues a month and a half and two months later.” 29 In the same letter, he gave Archimandrite Demetrius, as rector, fatherly advice from personal experience: “Your mentors are all good, but they need to be improved. If you go to class for their lectures, then although you won’t notice anything to them, they will keep their ears open.” 30 In a letter dated December 22, 1872, in response to the archimandrite’s complaints about the “Tambov wasteland,” he noted: “You do your job, and don’t pay attention to it. All the speeches going around Tambov have come and gone, and there is no trace of them. The people there are simple, there is no morality. He is definitely rich in idle talk. But this thing is completely harmless.” 31 Being far from the provincial center, Saint Theophan the Recluse remembered the Tambov Diocesan Women's School that he founded and tried in every possible way to provide prayerful assistance and material support to this educational institution and its students. In June 1873, he gave the following order regarding the distribution of copies of his works printed in the city of Tambov: “Send me two hundred reprints. Everything else went to girls' school. In the advertisements, indicate - in favor of the school for girls of the clergy of Tambov. They will be more willing to buy. Also, to get the hang of it, you have to let it go cheaper. I think 50 kopecks is enough. See for yourself... taking compassion for beauties as your allowance.” 32 There are disagreements among researchers about the time when Saint Theophan built a house church in his cell. According to Professor Korsunsky, this is 1872, and the author of the anonymous “Memoirs” wrote about 1878, and in a footnote he indicated that “Prof. Korsunsky incorrectly said that the church was built in 1872” 33. To make this statement convincing, the author reported that “the proper permission for this was sought from the diocesan authorities, an antimension was received, and the church was sprinkled with holy water by His Grace Theophan himself. It was built in the name of the Epiphany of the Lord.” 34 It is currently not possible to name all the circumstances and the exact date of the consecration of the house church in the Recluse’s cell, since it has not yet been possible to find written evidence about this in the archives. A valuable evidence for clarifying the date of consecration of a house church could be an antimension issued, most likely, by one of the managers of the Tambov department. During the Vyshensky period of life, the most important years for the saint were 1873 and 1874, when he went into seclusion. An eyewitness reported that in the first week of Lent, on February 19, 1873, the Right Reverend said to the rector of the desert: “I want to do one more test on myself - I want to separate myself from live communication with people.” This separation continued throughout Great Lent in 1873. On Holy Saturday he announced that he would serve with the brethren on the first day of Holy Easter, and then retire again for a whole year. After a year, that is, in 1874, His Grace Theophan found it possible for himself to completely break off direct relations with the world and retire to the silence of his cell forever.” 35 Contemporaries disagree about the start time of the saint’s retreat. The author of the anonymous “Memoirs”, published in the “Tambov Diocesan Gazette” in 1895, called the beginning of his retreat in 1873. The first biographer of Bishop Feofan, Professor Ivan Korsunsky, regarding the beginning of the retreat, wrote that it began in 1872. 36 Our contemporary agrees with this version, who also refers to the one published in 1894. in “Soulful Reading” an essay by E. Poselyanin “Preparation for the “retreat” and the reclusive life of the Right Reverend Theophan.” 37 It seems that the author of the Memoirs is more accurate regarding the beginning of the shutter. The fact is that in the summer of 1872 the saint wrote to one of his addressees: “This summer is so wonderful. I keep walking and doing nothing. Eat, drink, sleep, hang out. It will come true for me: fatter, thicker, fatter. Only, Lord, deliver the words that follow: and forget God who created it.” 38 Already in 1873, in the first year of the retreat, he wrote about his temptations there: “And the thought began to occur to me to visit Kyiv, and even what? On Athos. But all this temptation is true. There's no reason for me to drive around. And it even seems that the best order of life for me is the one that I now maintain. Why am I starting to blurt it out in prayers... Lord, let me sit longer to sit through it. It’s good, but sometimes the urge to fly somewhere comes. But then it passes and the desire to be alone takes over again.” 39 In October 1873 Saint Theophan wrote the following about his seclusion: “I laugh when someone says that I am in seclusion. This is not the case at all. I have the same life, only there are no ways out or tricks. The seclusion is real - don’t eat, don’t drink, don’t sleep, don’t do anything, just pray. I’m talking to Evdokim, walking around the balcony and seeing everyone, carrying on correspondence. I eat, drink and sleep to my heart's content. I have a simple solitude for a while.” 40 The saint's time in retreat was filled with three main activities: prayer, learned theological works and extensive correspondence, which he began immediately upon his retirement and continued in retreat until his death. Of the brethren of the monastery, the saint communicated only with the abbot, confessor and cell attendant. He resolutely rejected all attempts by readers to meet him personally. A year before his death in February 1893, he wrote to one of them: “You would like to go to the Highest... The gates of our monastery are open to everyone, but my doors are locked to everyone. I can’t accept anyone, and I don’t.” 41 However, there were exceptions. They concerned the Tambov bishops, who, while on a tour of the diocese, stopped by the Vyshenskaya Hermitage. In 1876, Bishop Palladius (Raev), the future Metropolitan of St. Petersburg, visited the Recluse. Bishop Theophan wrote about this in a letter on September 17, 1876: “Your master, now truly a former one, was with us. I was very glad to see him. He gave me the consolation to come up to me and sat for a while. God save him!” 42 The second Tambov bishop who visited the Recluse was Bishop Vitaly (Iosifov). This happened in the fall of 1888. The saint wrote the following about him on October 2, 1888: “Our bishop works a lot while traveling around the diocese. That's why I lost weight. Help him, Lord, in his labors! This time Vladyka was curious to see my church and the workers’ one.” 43 The expression “this time” is noteworthy, which may mean that Bishop Vitaly visited the saint before, visiting monasteries and churches of the diocese. During a meaningful conversation, Bishop Vitaly apparently told the Recluse about the recently acquired farm of Three Hollows, where a monastery was built, in which the miraculous icon of the great martyr and healer Panteleimon was located. This is indirectly evidenced by the fact that when in 1893 Archimandrite Arkady was on his way to Tambov on business, and before the trip he asked permission from St. Theophan, and he, blessing him, among other things, said: “With God, go there to Three Hollows, serve the liturgy for the deceased Bishop Vitaly, and when I die, pray there for me.” 44 Bishop Vitaly died in 1892, being the bishop of Kaluga and Borovsk. Bishop Feofan could most likely have known about the details of the history associated with the Three Hollows farm from him. Communication with Bishop Vitaly in 1888 had another continuation. This is confirmed by a letter from the Recluse to Bishop Vitaly, written on December 15, 1888. It was discovered in the Central Historical Archives of Moscow. 45 The saint wrote: “When you wanted to see my workshop supplies, I could not offer you anything from my products and I really regretted it. Then the desire came to me to work something for you. When you were in my church, I reminded you of the icon of St. Mitrofan, drawn from a dream by a certain Voronezh painter. I undertook to draw her as she is. And here she is in front of you! I humbly ask you to accept it, as a prayerful memory of my many sins.” 46 After the death of Bishop Vitaly, the icon of St. Mitrophan of Voronezh, painted by the Vyshensky Recluse, along with his letter, was transferred to the church of the Moscow Theological Academy. 47 On December 17, 1888, Saint Theophan asked one of his admirers: “Please tell me, do you have a photographer in N? If so, ask him if he can make a big photograph out of a small icon? I have a small icon of St. Mitrofan, very good. I would like to have it in a large measure, twice or more than what I have. So if he can do it, I will send my small icon and ask you to instruct him to photograph it in a larger size.” 48 Sometimes receiving people of clergy rank in retreat, Saint Theophan did not make exceptions for worldly admirers. They had only one opportunity to communicate with him - through letters. Even when Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich with his wife Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna and Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich visited the Vyshenskaya hermitage in September 1886, the saint did not break his retreat for their sake. He limited himself to only handing over the Vyshenskaya Icon of the Mother of God and writings as a blessing to the distinguished guests, 49 and “Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich and his wife Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna donated their photographic cabinet portraits” to the saint. 50 While in retirement, even before his complete seclusion, the saint, “although very rarely, left” 4 the monastery. “Sometimes, very rarely, however, in good weather, in spring and summer, His Eminence Theophan went out for a walk in the forest and walked mainly in places where one could least expect to meet people. Walking on foot alternated with even more rare horseback riding in a light carriage, accompanied by a cell attendant.” 51 In 1870, even before his complete seclusion, the saint was in Tambov for examination by a doctor. He wrote to A.D. Tarbeeva on February 9: “The mercy of God be with you! Here I am in Tambov with the Eminence. Thank the Lord! Doctors, having examined the disease carefully, did not find any confirmation either in the heart or in the lungs. The disease is catarrh in the intestines. He is being treated. But this pain will hardly have to be cured in Tambov. They say you need to drink water. Why will there be an attack in May – and above.” 52 It should be said that he always cared about both his health and the health of his loved ones and acquaintances. A contemporary wrote: “Vladika Theophan was always attentive to himself and carefully took care of himself, not neglecting anything that could in one way or another influence the preservation and maintenance of health. So, there was always clean air in his rooms, he dressed cleanly and warmly, his table was simple, but not meager. Mental exercises and physical work were carried out at a certain time.” 53 Saint Theophan also advised readers to strictly adhere to the recommendations of doctors regarding illnesses. August 23, 1892 he wrote to one addressee regarding the cholera epidemic: “We will pray and ask the Lord for mercy. However, it is also true that God protects those who are protected. There are books that tell you what precautions to take, and they wrote in the newspapers. Read and do. Don’t eat raw food, drink boiled water.” 54 He recommended to another recipient about an upcoming eye operation to use a new pain reliever: “There is nothing to be afraid of pain. Now they have found some kind of cocaine that dulls the feeling, and the person being operated on does not feel any pain.” 55 The saint closely followed new discoveries and advances in the field of medicine. He reassured his addressee, whose son fell ill with tuberculosis in 1891: “A certain Koch invented drops that destroy consumption, that he has already opened a hospital in Berlin - he sends drops to those who need them by mail, and with instructions.” 56 In 1871, also before the complete retreat, at the request of Emmanuel Dmitrievich Naryshkin on his estate on Bykova Gora, the Recluse consecrated the house church in honor of the Great Martyr Catherine. The church was built in memory of Naryshkin’s first wife, Ekaterina Nikolaevna, née Novosiltseva, who died in 1869. The saint spoke about this on October 26, 1871 in his sermon after the consecration of the church: “I will also say something closer to my heart. The establishment here is a monument to a departed, beloved person. But no matter what kind of monument you erect, the monument itself is not remembered as soulless, and outsiders will look and marvel, but they won’t even remember who the monument is for. One church is a memorial monument. Let no one else remember, she alone will remember unceasingly, and, moreover, with such a remembering that will always reach the one being remembered.” 57 When one eye began to go blind, the saint left the full shutter for the first time. He was forced to make a trip to Tambov in order to get medical advice. For some reason, Korsunsky believes that the trip took place in 1878, 58 however he refers to the letters of His Grace Theophan to his nephew A.G. Govorov, which were sent in March - April 1879. During the trip, the saint corresponded with his friend at the Kyiv Theological Academy, Archpriest Luka Yakovlevich Voskresensky from Morshansk (died in 1899). On March 25, 1879, he informed him in a letter: “Back and back, I bring you my sincere gratitude for your warm welcome. I thank all of you - mother and children. May the Lord increase joy in your home all the days of its existence. We reached Vysha safely, on Friday morning at 6 o’clock. The first driver is truly a fine fellow, the second one apologizes for the inconvenience of the road.” 59 From the letter it follows that Saint Theophan stayed in the city of Morshansk with Father Luke on his way back from Tambov to Vysha, and this could not have happened earlier than March 1879. Archimandrite Georgy (Tertyshnikov) in his study “Saint Theophan the Recluse and His Teaching on Salvation” reported that “there is also news that Saint Theophan once traveled from Vysha to Tambov, where he served and stayed for a week.” 60 Archimandrite George, however, did not refer to the source of this message and did not name the date when the said trip could take place. In Tambov, Bishop Feofan was examined by doctors who made the diagnosis - cataract in the right eye in the initial stage. For the operation to be successful, it was necessary for the cataract to mature. The idea of ​​going to Moscow did not immediately appear to the Recluse and, most likely, was caused by the fact that upon returning to Vysha his eye began to hurt. The saint began to fear that the Tambov doctors had made the wrong diagnosis. On April 16, 1879, he wrote to Archpriest Luke about his anxiety: “My eye was still calm, and I was calm. But then the ache began to appear from time to time, and on Wednesday evening and throughout the whole of Thursday it was almost non-stop. Although she was not strong, it still cannot be said that the eye was calm. This is what alarmed me. Well, it’s not the cataracts that I have, but the water? If you miss time, your eye will disappear. We must run to Moscow." 61 A trip to Moscow to consult with doctors took place from August 16 to 23, 1879. This was the saint’s second exit from complete seclusion. In a letter to his nephew A.G. Govorov on August 12, 1879, he wrote: “I will leave on the second or third day after the Assumption. Therefore, on the third or fourth day I will be in Moscow. Look - not a gu gu... convey this to the Athos people - and confirm the same, so that not a gu gu..." 62 “We stayed in Moscow for two days,” the saint later wrote, “from 10 o’clock on Saturday morning to 17.30 on Monday evening. On Saturday evening there was a doctoral examination. Sunday morning is a pilgrimage. Evening - with the Bishop. Monday morning – getting ready.” 63 During the trip, the saint took all measures to communicate with people as little as possible, and therefore rode in a closed carriage, and during the trip - in a separate compartment. In Moscow, he stopped at the Athos courtyard, visited the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, where he prayed and venerated the holy relics of the Moscow saints, 64 visited his friend at the Theological Academy and predecessor in the Tambov department, Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov), who in 1879 was appointed to Moscow and elevated to the rank of metropolitan. The Moscow doctor Kryukov examined the eye and came to the conclusion that it was a cataract, but a cataract “of some special kind,” the saint wrote, “for which there is no treatment, for which no operation is performed. So, he says, it will remain... I am very glad that the operation will not be performed, but that it will remain like this should not be joyful. It's like the eye is going to go missing." 65 From a trip to Moscow, Saint Theophan returned to the Vyshenskaya hermitage. Based on the saint’s correspondence, we can conclude that he once again left the seclusion. In a letter to N.V. Elagin, written on December 4, 1881, the saint said: “I’m running to Tambov to show my eyes... One is almost closed. But I’ll ask, is it possible to have an operation and, if so, is it time? Another one so they can see if it has the same power!” 66 In another letter to N.V. Elagin, January 13, 1882, the Vyshensky Recluse wrote: “The result of my trip to Tambov, on the one hand, is sad, on the other, not much comforting. The sad thing is that the second eye has begun to cloud, the comforting thing is that you can have surgery. In Moscow they said it was impossible: the eye would be lost. But the Tambov doctor said it was possible; but that operations for cataracts such as mine are more often unsuccessful than others. That's why I say it's a little comforting. The operation itself, of course, must be done in Moscow or St. Petersburg. But it’s still another year away. The right eye was still only half cloudy; but it needs to be completely filled with turbidity, and then it will be a mature cataract. I went to Tambov only for information about the position of the eyes. That the left one was also starting to get cloudy, I myself suspected due to some accidents.” 67 On August 9, 1892, fearing to go completely blind, the saint wrote: “Will the Lord give me peace of mind when I am blind?! Be merciful to me, Lord! However, my blindness will not be darkness.” 68 For the last ten years of his reclusive life, the saint served daily. As a contemporary points out, only once did he serve together with the monastic brethren: “In 1885, on April 26, His Grace the hermit, with the permission of Tambov Bishop Palladius II, ordained Hierodeacon Paul from the brethren of the desert as a hieromonk and the monk Serapion as a hierodeacon.” 69 During the day, the saint was engaged in scientific works and answered letters. Before going to bed, for an hour or two the saint walked along the balcony and visited the bathhouse, “which he loved very much. He stayed in it for a long time and kept the temperature very high, so that no one could be in the bathhouse with him at the same time.” 70 He devoted part of his time to handicrafts, “was engaged in painting, carving, turning, carpentry, bookbinding and other skills and was quite successful in many of these activities.” 71 During his entire stay at the Vyshenskaya monastery in peace and in complete seclusion, Saint Theophan wrote many essays and a large number of letters to people of different classes, educated and uneducated, having different degrees of church involvement and spiritual experience. He answered all letters, and often quite thoroughly. Most of the letters concerned issues of spiritual life. Even while in seclusion, the saint was well informed about the life of the Church and the empire. The Eminence followed the events of the Russian-Turkish war. When the San Stefano Peace Treaty with the Turks was signed on February 19, 1878, he wrote the next day: “Well, that’s the end of the war! Are the Turks happy or are they hanging their noses? They plucked them in order. I think that the conference will not contradict anything... because there is no strength. We leaned firmly on the Turk... you can’t pull it off... The British are running around like mongrels and yapping to no avail. And shame on them, shame on them!” 72 Responding to the solemn celebration in 1888 of the 900th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', Bishop Theophan suggested: “Here we need to do something that will influence the entire church life. And there is a thing of this very nature, and an extremely necessary thing. I mean, a new, simplified and clear translation of church liturgical books.” 73 There are many examples of the bishop’s lively response to other significant events and historical dates. The learned works of Saint Theophan, written since his retirement and then into seclusion, were published in the Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 74 In 1867, Gazette published the following of his works: “On the perfect conversion to God from the delights of the world and sin. Words of His Grace Theophan", "Some warnings to Orthodox Christians", "The soul and the angel are not the body, but the spirit." In 1868–1869, Home Conversation began publishing perhaps the most famous book of St. Theophan, “The Path to Salvation.” In 1869, “Instructive and explanatory notes on the 33rd Psalm” appeared in the Tambov Gazette. During 1869–1871 “Home Conversation” published “Thoughts for Every Day of the Year,” which was later published as a separate book. In 1869, the saint began to collaborate with the spiritual magazine “The Wanderer,” which published “The Parable of the Unrighteous Monitor.” During 1869–1871 “Tambov Diocesan Gazette” and “Home Conversation” continued to publish short articles by the saint on spiritual topics. Since 1872, his interpretations of the letters of the Apostle Paul began to appear in print. First, the “Interpretation of the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to Thessalonians” appeared in the bulletins. The continuation followed in 1873 in “Soulful Reading.” In the same year, the Recluse began to publish translations of the patristic works. In the “Tambov Diocesan Gazette” in 1873–1874. “A few words about the life and writings of St. Anthony” were published. At the same time, “Soulful Reading” published “Interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians.” In 1874, the magazine “Readings in the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment” published “Interpretations of the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Ephesians.” While in retreat, Saint Theophan worked intensely on translating the Philokalia into Russian. In 1874, the following translations were published: “Theoliptus, Metropolitan of Philadelphia, a word in which the hidden work in Christ is clarified and briefly shows what the main work of the monastic order is” (“Vladimir Diocesan Gazette”), “Brief information about the life of St. John Cassian" and his “Rule of the monastic community”, “Our Holy Father Maxim the Confessor’s ascetic words in questions and answers” (“Tambov Diocesan Gazette”). In 1875, an interpretation of the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Philippians was published in the Tambov Gazette, and in 1876, an interpretation of the Epistle to the Corinthians was published in Soulful Reading. In 1877, the first volume of the Philokalia was published in Russian, translated by St. Theophan. Over the next fifteen years, four more volumes were published. In the period from 1875 to 1879, a large selection from the Philokalia - “Patristic instructions on sobriety and prayer” was published in the Tambov Diocesan Gazette. In 1878, the famous work of the saint, “Letters on what spiritual life is and how to tune in to it,” was published in a separate edition. In the 1870s and 1880s. The publication of interpretations of the letters of the Apostle Paul continued, both in separate publications and in magazines. During these same years, reprinting of the saint’s already published works began; in particular, “Letters on Christian Life” were republished. In 1886, “The Invisible Warfare” was published, translated from Greek; Before this, the work was published in Soulful Reading. From the late 1880s and early 1890s. Saint Theophan revised some of his previous works - “Materikon”, “Letters on Christian Life”, which were published under the new title “Inscriptions of Christian Moral Teaching”, and much more. The saint’s last work, entitled “Ancient Monastic Rules,” was published in 1892. “Everything that came out of print with the name of the Right Reverend Theophan and in general from his pen in 1893 and 1894. (until his death) was only a repetition of what he had written before.” 75 This is not a complete list of the spiritually beneficial written works of St. Theophan the Recluse during his stay in seclusion in the Assumption Vyshensk Hermitage. Saint Theophan died on January 6 (old style) 1894 on the great feast of the Epiphany. In the obituary in connection with his death it is written: “At what hour of the day the ascetic of Christ died is unknown with certainty. After noon on January 6, the cell attendant of the deceased bishop was with him and did not notice any signs of an imminent death, but at 5 o’clock in the evening he found him already lifeless. The deceased was lying on the bed with his arms folded crosswise on his chest and his eyes closed.” 76 The life of Saint Theophan in seclusion is a vivid example of the prayerful and literary feat that he undertook for the salvation of his soul and the benefit of the Church. Getting acquainted with his life in the Vyshenskaya monastery and his edifying spiritual and moral writings and letters, many of our contemporaries find the way to the church and faith in Christ. Spiritual relationship between Vysha and Athos abbot, associate professor, candidate of historical sciences, Head of the Department of Theology of Ryazan State University named after S. A. Yesenin There is a mysterious connection and mystical similarity between peaks of equal size, no matter how far from each other they are located. So Vysha and Athos, the holy personality of the reclusive bishop and Svyatogorsk monasticism, the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery on Athos and the Assumption Vyshenskaya hermitage in the center of Rus' - reveal an obvious spiritual relationship, especially meaningful similarity, deep unity, confirmed by numerous historical facts. It is well known that Saint Theophan, being a hieromonk from 1847 to 1853, became very close to the Hagiorites during his obedience at the first Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem. The six-year stay in Palestine was of great spiritual and moral significance for Hieromonk Theophan. He not only visited the holy places of Palestine, Egypt and Syria, ancient monastic monasteries (the famous Lavra of St. Sava the Sanctified), but also had the opportunity to talk a lot with the elders of Holy Mount Athos and study the writings of the Church Fathers from ancient manuscripts. In 1856–1857 Archimandrite Theophan was again sent to the East as rector of the Embassy Church in Constantinople as one of the best church specialists on the problems of the East. But he never had the opportunity to visit the Holy Mountain himself. When in 1873, having already entered the time of his Vyshensky retreat, he receives persistent invitations from the Athosites to move to the St. Panteleimon Monastery, he can only laugh it off: “How can you go to Athos? the thought comes; But with my laziness, how can I do it? If you fell asleep here and woke up there, that’s fine. Now I would wave. - Oh, oh! y! y! - what a distance!”; 77 “I thank the Panteleimon team for their offer. But the saints must go there, and it’s convenient to sin even on High. So what is the need to move?” 78 Having established for himself in the land of Shatsk his Athos and Jerusalem, one can safely say - his Tabor and Golgotha, Saint Theophan turned out to be a lively and sought-after interlocutor for those who chose as their Highest the Destiny of the Most Holy Theotokos, washed by the Aegean Sea, where She Herself preached the Gospel of Her Son and Her God. Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk in his work “Russian Athos as a factor in the spiritual enlightenment of Russia: on the 1000th anniversary of the Russian presence on Athos (1016–2016)” defines the nature of this closest unity as follows: “With all the diversity of spiritual and cultural ties, at the center of relations between Rus' and the Holy Mountain at all times there were centuries-old ascetic traditions that were embodied in the lives of many holy ascetics." 79 So, it is precisely the common ascetic traditions that make those who are separated by thousands of kilometers so close. Let's consider the main ones: 1. Removal from the world as a condition for salvation. With a significant weakening of piety among the educated class of Russia in the 19th century. departure to the Holy Mountain, as well as voluntary self-imprisonment in a small cell space, was perceived by the majority as inhumane and anti-social. The Word of God says the opposite: “It is good for a man who, when he takes the yoke (of God’s law) in his youth, sits alone and is silent” (Jer. 3:27-28). Only those who, in sincere simplicity of heart, have entrusted themselves to the Lord can confidently follow this advice, without looking back at the fleeting blessings of this world. And subsequently, this terrible cross of withdrawal from the world for many is carried with great spiritual joy. “I am writing to your reverence that I have experienced, and you have the same - it is good to sit in a cell and study in the law of the Lord day and night, for grace teaches the soul how to live, and the mind delights in the Lord. But the people [that] they ask you (to visit?) did not know (that) by the Holy Spirit. They enjoy the world, but we, the spiritual, must study day and night before God in our cells. Whoever calls you, tell him: I love you and I will go to the cell to pray for you, this is better, and I thank you for inviting me. A shepherd is a man of prayer for the whole world; the Lord chose him for this purpose. If you sometimes have to speak with the worldly, speak strongly about God to them, say that the Lord loves us and calls us to Him day and night: “Come to Me, all you who labor, and I will give you rest” [cf.: Matt. 11, 28]. What peace in God! If people knew this peace, then everyone would go to work for God, but the world, not knowing this peace, beckons us: “Come and visit.” But we will say: “We don’t have time, I have a lot to do, and therefore I thank you.” When you do not stay as guests, the people will love you, and great benefits will come from you.” 80 These words belong to the great ascetic of the Holy Mountain, St. Rev. Silouan of Athos. A comparison suggests itself: “I know one person who is always alone, doesn’t go out anywhere and doesn’t accept others to join him. They ask him: aren’t you bored? He answers: I don’t have time, there are so many things that when I open my eyes, I do, I do, and I don’t have time to redo them while I’m finishing them...” 81 The only difference is that the Holy Mountain residents followed a centuries-old tradition and settled together in a place reliably remote from the world, and Saint Theophan was a pioneer and the only ascetic of his kind, whom there was no one to follow. 2. The common activity of the Svyatogorsk residents and the Vyshensky hermit was the Jesus Prayer. The significance of the Jesus Prayer for the life of a Christian is reflected in the practice and writings of the saint and the Athonites. The Athonite elder Archimandrite Kirik said about the Jesus Prayer: “With this prayer (as with any prayer) you must have a goal or intention with which you pronounce this prayer, for God looks at the goal, at the intention, and without this He does not heed your prayer, does not accept it. So, this prayer must be said with a preliminary thought about that passion or disordered thoughts that at the moment of prayer or most often bother you. For this, we need to say a prayer, so that the Lord, in His name, which we call upon, would deliver us from the disordered thoughts and desires that come upon us. And if there are no such disorderly thoughts, then you need to say this prayer only in order to surrender yourself entirely to the will of God. These are the reasons that prompt us to pray to our Lord; but for the prayer itself we must ask God for a blessing, otherwise there will be insolence on our part before God... So, praying unceasingly does not mean standing in front of holy icons and praying all day, although you need to pray at a certain time; but this does not mean unceasing prayer, which is characteristic of those who have dedicated themselves to God, and especially of the monastic rite. For the rest of all the people of God, it is possible and should, for every task, as St. John Chrysostom says, to pray and, sitting at the spinning wheel, raise the mind to God, and for every task. ...When despondency and hardness of heart attack us, preventing us from praying, then, in order to drive away such a state, we must say to ourselves: “Lord, I have neither tenderness, nor zeal, nor contrition to pray to You properly!” After such contrition of the heart, by the grace of God, a godly prayer will appear, since God will not despise a contrite and humble heart - He will not leave it without help. The Kingdom of God does not open to those in whom Christ has not yet entered here on earth. And where Christ is, Who is the never-setting Light, there is no satanic darkness, and therefore you will have neither boredom, nor despondency, nor hardness of heart, but you will have in your soul a quiet joy in the Holy Spirit and Divine reverence and humility of heart, and where there is humility, there is salvation.” 82 The translation itself by the Vyshensky Recluse of “The Invisible War” by St. Nicodemus of the Svyatogorets, which reflected the main provisions of the teaching of St. Theophan on mental doing, became clear evidence of the unity of the Svyatogorsk and Vyshensk approaches to the topic of the Jesus Prayer. 3. Spirituality and written creativity. Communication with the world of Saint Theophan came down to correspondence. The same remained the case of the Svyatogorsk residents. On January 28, 1884, Saint Theophan finished work on the second volume of the translation of the Philokalia. The saint himself said that this book, published by Athonite monks, would be of great importance for the spiritual life of a Christian. In the summer of 1875, Athonite monks arrived in Moscow, and His Eminence Theophan prepared for them the entire first volume of the Philokalia and gave detailed instructions regarding its printing and even the title. 83 The first volume of the “Philokalia” was published in 1877 “at the expense of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos.” The intention to create a printing house on Athos met with difficulties from the Ecumenical Patriarch, so the publishing house of the Panteleimon Monastery flourished in Russia. The Athonite hieromonk Arseny, who worked a lot in Russia in the field of enlightening his compatriots, wrote in 1867: confessor Hieroschemamonk Jerome: “Although there are many spiritual books, when something bears the seal of Holy Athos, it is primarily accepted with greater faith and therefore is more useful for those who read.” In turn, a special merit of the Panteleimon Monastery is the publication of the works of St. Theophan the Recluse: interpretative works on the epistles of the holy Apostle Paul, ascetic works in translation (“Philokalia” in five volumes and others) and own works (“The Path to Salvation”, “Letters on Christian Life”, etc.).” “A righteous heart is a compassionate heart, and it does not quarrel with people for the dust of this world,” said monk Simeon of Athos. Saint Theophan was an absolutely unselfish person and served as an example of Christian non-covetousness. Not only did he not acquire anything for himself, but he gave away everything he had. His works were a great success during his lifetime, but he did not receive anything for them, and at the end of his life he gave all his copyrights to the Athos Panteleimon Monastery. For his literary works he did not take any remuneration, except for a certain number of copies, which were intended for free distribution. He sent all his pension to those in need and spent it on preparing publications. 84 We read exactly the same thing about the activities of the Athonites: “Many Athonite Kelliots exist solely on the alms of the monastery. Every day at the monastery gates there is a huge distribution of bread and money. The external charity of the monastery is also enormous. Due to crop failures in the Athos region, the monastery purchased several full ships of corn and other grains in Odessa for free distribution to the local population.” 85 The Athonite monks also helped a lot in publishing the works of the saint. “I have already collected everything needed for bookbinding,” wrote Bishop Theophan. The people of Athos did it. Now all that remains is to get down to business.” 86 An interesting and noteworthy fact is that, coming to the capital for medical reasons, Saint Theophan passed himself off as a traveling Athonite monk. 5. The afterlife of the library and works. Archimandrite Arkady (Chestonov; 1825–1907), rector of the Vyshenskaya Assumption Hermitage, deeply mourned the loss of the library: he was confident that the library would go to the Moscow Theological Academy, which was starting the purchase process, and thus spiritual treasures would become the property of science and its representatives and would find worthy and widespread use. However, the library was purchased from the heirs of Bishop Feofan by the Moscow merchant Losev and donated to the Moscow St. Nicholas Church in Tolmachi. How did this fund, which apparently accumulated a significant number of manuscripts from the saint’s reclusive cell in the Vyshensky Monastery, end up on Athos? It is known that the saint worked closely with the publishing house of the Panteleimon Monastery, especially in the last years of his life. After his death, his nephew A.G. Govorov received part of the rights to the inheritance, but in 1896 he died, and the inheritance passed to his four children, who, through their guardian Deacon Vasily Sakharov, sold the manuscripts of the works of St. Theophan and the right to publish them to the St. Panteleimon Monastery for 10,000 silver rubles. 87 In addition, “unfortunately, the inventory of the original composition of the archive of St. Theophan transferred to the monastery has not been preserved. By the time of cataloging in 2009–2011. it was kept scattered and mixed with other archival materials. From what they managed to collect into a single fund, the monastery archive staff compiled a modern inventory No. 24, containing 47 storage units, within which 104 documents were combined.” 88 As part of the work of the Scientific Editorial Council, these documents became available in electronic form for the preparation of the Complete Works of St. Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky, and the “Chronicle of the Life and Works of the Vyshensky Ascetic,” which makes a significant contribution to the study of Russian theological thought of the 19th century. Saint Theophan and the Greek Theological School on Fr. Halki Deputy Chairman of the Scientific Editorial Board Council for the publication of the Complete Works Saint Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky, Head of the Department of Russian Classics Professor, Doctor of Philology On October 1, 1844, in the Greek stauropegic monastery of the Holy Trinity, located on the island of Halki (Greek Heybeliada) - one of the nine Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, 20 miles from Constantinople - on the highest hill of the island, in its northern part, Patriarch Herman IV founded a Greek theological school. The history of the island of Halki is extremely rich, especially during the era of the Byzantine Empire. Here in 809–811. The Monk Theodore the Studite, a Byzantine writer and monk, lived in exile. In connection with this historical fact, the Despotic Monastery is mentioned, plundered by the Rus in 860. It is believed that the monastery, restored through the diligence of the Holy Patriarch Photius, mentor of Saints Cyril and Methodius, became known as the Monastery of the Holy Trinity. Here, after ascending to the throne of Emperor Michael II, the Byzantine Empress Theodosia, widow of Emperor Leo V the Armenian, lived in exile. In the monastery, Ksenia Catherine Komnena, the daughter of the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Vladislav and the wife of the Byzantine Emperor Isaac I Komnenos, was tonsured with the name Xenia. In December 1847, the Khalki school was visited by the first employees of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, heading to Jerusalem through Constantinople. 89 The head of the mission, Archimandrite Porfiry (Uspensky), received from the Ecumenical Patriarch Anfim “a letter to the head of the theological school on the island of Halki, Metropolitan Tipaldo.” 90 There is no doubt that the visit took place, and also that Bishop Porfiry was accompanied by his assistant for Mission affairs, Hieromonk Theophan (Govorov), the future saint of the Russian Orthodox Church. The school was conceived and became the main educational institution for the higher and lower clergy in the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Almost all the Patriarchs of Constantinople of the last century and a half, as well as many hierarchs of other Orthodox local Churches, studied there. Over the years of its existence, until its closure in 1971, it issued 930 diplomas for completing the training course. The library of the Halki Theological School eventually became the largest Greek book collection in the Ottoman Empire. Its funds totaled 120 thousand volumes, including the collection of the monastery library, which began in the 16th century. founded by the collection of Patriarch Mitrofan III of Constantinople. In 1856 1857 Feofan (Govorov), already in the rank of archimandrite, superbly educated theologically, with rich experience in church-diplomatic, educational and administrative work, served as rector of the Russian embassy church in Constantinople. His attention was drawn to the general condition of the Orthodox Church in the East and, in particular, to the training of clergy. “As for the Khalkinsky School, its charter gives a complete understanding of it. I see that it is preparing very good shepherds. From him alone can one expect the rebirth of the local clergy,” he wrote on March 9, 1857. 91 On Easter, April 7, Archimandrite Theophan visited the theological school in Khalki and saw with his own eyes “how wonderfully everything is adapted there for the education of persons of clergy. This is a learned and learning monastery!” . 92 The school building was “located in an oblong quadrangle, unbuilt on only one side,” wrote Archimandrite Feofan. “It’s made of wood, but it’s still pretty good.” 93 This building housed everyone: scholars, mentors, forty students. “Completes of the course live alone in a room; others, two or three, but no more (the number of students includes one from Moldova, two Serbs and four Bulgarians).” 94 Letters from Constantinople contain reviews from Archimandrite Theophan about the head and teachers of the Khalkin theological school. “The strongest influence in this school is exerted by: the scholar - Lord Tipaldo - in knowledge, life and management, and the teacher of literature - Tantalidi - a strong rhetorician, although almost blind. All theological sciences were compiled by Bishop Scholar and are taught in part by him.” 95 Konstantin Typaldos (1795 1867), the first rector of the Khalkin Theological School, from 1848 also served as titular metropolitan of Stavropol (the city of Caria in Asia Minor). Ilia Tantalidis, a poet and professor, in 1853 published “Refutation of the Papists” (“Παπιστικών Ελέγχων”) - a collection of the works of Orthodox Greek theologians collected by him from the 8th century. against the Papists, with an analysis of various aspects of the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. These books are still preserved in the library of the theological school (code A/229). It should be noted that the Russian Orthodox Church provided the Khalki school with all possible support. Describing the monastery buildings, Archimandrite Theophan noted in a letter to the director of the Spiritual Educational Administration of the Holy Synod, K. S. Serbinovich on April 29, 1857: “Right opposite the gate - in the middle of the courtyard - is a church, small, but decently decorated inside. Behind the church is a library - stone. It's just a building. Due to lack of funds, the cabinets have not yet been arranged, and the books lie in chests behind the seal of the ephoria. There are no physical tools at all. I consider it my duty to remember that with impatience and confidence we expect not only the continuation of the usual allowance from Russia to this school, but also replenishment for those years in which it was not sent due to the war. In relation to the last sum, it would not be superfluous to express the desire that it be used specifically for the final construction of the library and the acquisition of physical instruments.” 96 And further in the letter: “As far as I could see, in this school there is a strong desire to get acquainted with Russian spiritual literature. “Dogmatic Theology” and “History of the Schism” by the Right Reverend Macarius, as well as “Dogmatic and Pastoral Theology” by Father Archimandrite Anthony, delivered to me for this school, were received with joy. However, the entire Russian-Slavic library consists of books sent previously by the Holy Synod. They are placed in the room of the Slavic language teacher. They don’t know about other books, as well as about our spiritual magazines. I think it would be good to send our spiritual magazines to this school, especially “Creations of St. Fathers in Russian translation" 97 could serve as an excellent tool for learning the Russian language." 98 A letter from Archimandrite Feofan to K. S. Serbinovich indicates that in April 1857 he donated eight books to the library of the Khalka Theological School: Archimandrite Macarius (Bulgakov) five-volume “Orthodox Dogmatic Theology” (St. Petersburg, 1849–1853) and “The History of the Russian Schism, Known as the Old Believers” (SPb., 1855); works of Archbishop Anthony (Amphiteatrov) “Dogmatic theology of the Orthodox Catholic Eastern Church” (Kyiv, 1848) and “Pastoral theology. Part 1" (Kyiv, 1851). 99 In June 1894, the Trinity Monastery and the building of the theological school were destroyed by an earthquake. Only the 17th century church has survived. The restoration was led by the architect Petriklos Fotiadis. The wooden structure was replaced with a stone one - the same layout, but with shortened side wings; so that the altar part of the church, once located “in the middle of the courtyard,” protrudes beyond the boundaries of the rectangular space. In front of it is a spacious lawn on the site of an old stone library, of which only the foundation under a layer of turf remains. At the altar are graves; On one of the slabs the name of Elijah Tantalidis is carved. The library moved to the main building of the theological school. In the book collections of the Khalki school, we identified an edition of 1847 in Russian. Unbound, tied with twine, it is stored in an A4 paper envelope. At the top of the title page is a translation of the title into Greek written in ink. This is “Introduction to Orthodox Theology. The work of Archimandrite Macarius, inspector and professor of theological sciences at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy" (St. Petersburg: In the printing house of E. Fisher, 1847). For it, the author was awarded the degree of Doctor of Theology. The doctoral dissertation of the Right Reverend Macarius (Bulgakov) was rightly recognized as the best and most complete presentation of Orthodox dogmatic theology and, soon after its publication, was translated into foreign languages. Archimandrite Theophan’s obvious concern for the theological school on the island of Halki was dictated by his interest in the fate of its graduates, among whom “there are those who want greater improvement.” 100 It is known that Archimandrite Theophan had a list of those who completed the course at the Khalkin Theological School “with an indication of where they are now.” 101 “Those who have the means go even to Leipzig... And what will they hear there? Of the two Jerusalemites completing the course this year, the Patriarch of Jerusalem will ask to be accepted into our academies. I myself heard from those who did not graduate that they would like to go to Russia after graduation. Is it not possible to propose to the Ecumenical Patriarch, on behalf of the All-Russian Synod, that upon completion of the course at the theological school, everyone, or their choice, should be sent to Russia, without special petitions or correspondence? This is all the more convenient since there are only a few graduates. Only with the obligation that from Russian academies they go directly to the Patriarch at his disposal, and not wander around Russia with nothing to do. Such an announcement of the will of the Holy Synod will maintain the favor of the Greeks towards us.” 102 The fruits of the energetic, although short-lived, activity of Archimandrite Theophan as rector of the Russian embassy church in Constantinople were clearly felt in subsequent years. It is no coincidence that in 1860, on behalf of the Synod, K. K. Zederholm, the future hieromonk of Optina Pustyn, visited Turkey and Greece to get acquainted with the Khalkin and Athens theological schools. “In our embassy in Constantinople, he heard talk that Russia is powerless, because it has no money, and “if there is no money, other powers will only laugh at our threats.” Zederholm wrote in his travel book that it is not lack of money, but lack of faith that is destroying Russia, but did not express his objections to the diplomat.” 103 At a meeting with the famous elder Patriarch Gregory VI, Zederholm raised the issue of the Khalkin theological school in the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity; To this, the patriarch noted that “care is needed so that sending Russian students does not harm the institution and the local Christians in general. 104 “But then Father Clement meets the Greek theologian, His Eminence Typaldos, rector of the Khalkin Academy and Metropolitan of Stavropol. Here Zederholm speaks, and speaks with fervor, speaks more spiritually, more Orthodox than the Metropolitan Rector; and the rector, who tried to “put the question on a more realistic basis,” hastens to agree with our German... The conversation was about whether or not it is necessary to use Protestant and Latin works on some branches of theological sciences that have been well developed in the West. Zederholm regretted this necessity. The Reverend Typaldos said that one can only use the method from the West, and not the spirit, and that people, even young people who are already established in the faith, should not be constrained in reading even philosophical reading. Zederholm, without rejecting this freedom, complained about “the poverty of manuals and the lack of completeness in the presentation of a complete Orthodox system, which could embrace all the sciences (he here meant only theological sciences, of course) and would save us from the need to turn to Western writers.” Tipaldos approved it and added that the solution to this problem is expected from Russia, where there are both funds and people.” 105 Let us add that Professor Ilia Tantalidis was also present at the conversation. In 1861, the Christian Reading magazine published a travel essay “From the East.” 106 Its author, Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin), during these years served as rector of the Russian embassy church in Constantinople. “The Christian population of Constantinople was informed that on the 1st of July the exam at the Khalki Theological School would begin,” wrote Archimandrite Antonin. “Wanting to take advantage of the favorable opportunity to see so many Greek hierarchs together and at the same time to look at the school at the most interesting time for it, I, following many others, decided to go to the island, which has long been famous as a patriarchal refuge.” This was followed by a panorama of Constantinople and the Asian coast that opened from the sea, picturesque pictures of the island itself, the forest road to the building of the theological school, bright portraits of Greek hierarchs who arrived for final exams, a description of the structure of the school, its curriculum, a detailed analysis of Greek worship, singing, church vestments in comparison with those accepted in Russia. The reader had the opportunity to become so closely and deeply acquainted with the Khalkin School that the publication in Christian Reading, without exaggeration, was able to successfully replace personal presence at the festive ceremony. In 1864, the Kherson Diocesan Gazette published on its pages an article by Archpriest Seraphim Serafimov, “A few words about the teaching of the Slavic language at the Chalki Theological School in Constantinople.” 107 As a professor of Greek at the Kherson Theological Seminary, the author knew all the strengths and weaknesses of the educational process and was able to objectively assess the possibilities and prospects for teaching the Slavic language at the theological school in Khalki. This analytical review was in line with the attention of the Russian Orthodox Church to the state of affairs in the Greek theological school on the island of Halki. That attitude, which was supported and strengthened in every possible way by Saint Theophan, raised the authority of the Khalkin school in the orthodox world as a unique theological school, which throughout its history remained the most important center for training the clergy of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Turkey. Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin) from the East (“Christian Reading.” 1861. Part 2. November. P. 270–306) The Christian population of Constantinople was informed that on the 1st of July the exam would begin at the Khalkin Theological School. Two days before, His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Joachim went there. 108 He was accompanied by the Synod of the Great Church and two other patriarchs (Alexandria 109 and Jerusalem 110). The Theological School is supported by an annual contribution of a certain monetary allowance from all the bishops of the Patriarchate of Constantinople; and his disciples are almost all boarders of one of the bishops. Because custom, as well as their own desire, prompted the rulers living in the capital to be present during the exam in Chalki, where some of them (like, for example, Nicomedia) 111 even have their own houses. Wanting to take advantage of the favorable opportunity to see so many Greek hierarchs together and at the same time to look at the school at the most interesting time for it, I decided, following many others, to go to the island, which has long been famous as a patriarchal refuge. He belongs to the other seven called Princes, 112 although in fact only one of them, the largest, bears the name of a prince. There is a fast and cheap steamship service between Constantinople and its environs, a true benefit of the capital and one of its many incomparable advantages. With the help of this message you can go to the island every day and return from the island every day. But, unfortunately, the arrival there must be in the evening, and the departure from there in the morning, and, consequently, a night must pass between both, completely useless and not entirely convenient for the lay traveler. At 5 o'clock in the evening, a scheduled steamer under the Greek flag sailed from the New Bridge 113 (connecting Peru with the Old City) 114 to the islands. It was packed to overcrowding with passengers, mostly Greeks. About five minutes earlier, another similar steamer under the English flag, also full of people, set off for the same place. The free trade competition of so many nationalities colliding in Constantinople gladdens the soul. The Asian, willy-nilly or not, wipes out all the moral corners of his closed life, having found himself in this oceanic current of peoples, and, although reluctantly, prepares for the inevitable rebirth. The European, also driven by some invisible force and constantly rushing into this whirlpool, not without benefit for himself, becomes acquainted with an unprecedented system of family and social life, and in turn, although reluctantly, prepares to be the recipient of what is being revived. It is enough to travel along the Bosphorus once on one of the ships of the Shiket-i-Gerye society to meet the Babylonian mixture of languages, tribes, physiognomies, costumes, beliefs and concepts, rubbing against each other and leveling the path for the future. Constantinople's task is great. Its creator, Constantine, 115 was born in Slavic Nissava, 116 was a Roman and spoke Greek... What tribe of Europe did not later sit on his throne? And what people did not strive to destroy, as if accidentally and aimlessly, this erected throne, desired by everyone and disturbing everyone? Byzantium fell under efforts to defend its Greek character. If Ottomanism still holds on, it is only by renouncing its Arab character. Isn't this worthy of remark? There was no place for exceptionalism either in Byzantium or in Constantinople. In Constantinople 117 there is even less room for them. Those who decide the great question of the East, of course, know that in the eastern capital, from year to year, the diverse populations are becoming more and more equalized, each growing to a huge number. When the hour comes to resolve the issue, difficulties will arise that no human power can cope with. For a lover of Byzantium, it is bitter, but it seems inevitable to be convinced that the past that attracts it is irrevocable and unique... The ancient coat of arms of the once modest settlement of Athens - a large crescent with a small star - a memory of the erroneous idea of ​​the ancients about the sky, continues to be the banner of the power that, by mistake, established itself and stands in Byzantium. Until now, small, but for the sake of proximity, striking in brilliance, the idea of ​​​​a private, exclusive nationality obscures the great, but distant thought of the national significance of the Tsar-Grads. However, the imaginary and apparent will someday have to give way to the true and real. The king must reign. But at the same time, the already aged New Rome must avoid the mistake of the (apparently) renewed Old Rome, which has so far struggled with Latinism to the detriment of Catholicism, and refuse to push aside the full-fledged Orthodoxy, for which there is no better, better adapted center than Constantinople, with the damage of Greece. This, I think, is the spiritual task of the former capital of the world, brought about by the needs of Christianity as an empire. What will come out of it (as well as from Rome) in a worldly sense is a mystery of the future, into which it is useless to penetrate. There was great scope for such reflections - in view of the incomparable panorama of the huge settlement, bordered by dense masses of houses and gardens on the bright waters of the Sea of ​​Marmara, the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus. The cities of Scutari 118 and Pera with their endless extensions along the banks of the Bosphorus looked magnificent at each other, delighted by the vivid imagination of the ancients with the names of gold and silver (Chrysopolis and Argyropolis). Little by little the seductive panorama disappeared. We went out to sea. Having nothing in front of me to observe, I turned my attention to what was around me. Among the passengers was a person of very significant importance, for whose sake the ship was decorated with flags: the Patriarch (actually, the Archbishop) of Armenia. 119 The venerable saint, having entered the ship, was received with signs of deep respect. He was dressed in a purple cassock and a kamilavka of the same color, 120 differing from the Greek one only in its boron top. On his chest hung an encolpion (in our language: panagia) 121; there was a cane in his hands. He blessed the audience, caring little whether his blessing applied to all of them canonically. A chair was prepared for him in the most honorable place of the ship, which was supposed to serve as the center of all other seats. After sitting on it for a minute, face to face with the public, he could not stand his shy position and went down to the lower part of the ship. It was pleasant for me to be convinced by experience that the stories about the deep dislike of the Greeks towards the Armenians apparently have no basis. The Bishop was given all due honors. One Greek even invited me to stand when he appeared on the bridge, believing, out of excessive zeal, that I would not do this. During the journey, something happened that further confirmed me in the inaccuracy of the stories. While descending into the lower part of the ship, I saw a young Greek man. He stood with his hands stuck in his pockets and a dissatisfied expression. I was not the only one who was struck by its placelessness. To the credit of our time, it must be said that in general, at such public crossings, excellent modesty and politeness of all heterogeneous people and people of different faiths, with which Constantinople is so rich, prevails. The young man therefore seemed no small exception to the general rule. He blocked the special entrance with his body and stood with his back to everyone inside the ship, apparently not thinking or caring at all about anyone or anything. The scythe soon, however, found its way onto the stone. Someone managed to keep him away properly, and someone else informed everyone that the gentleman with his hands in his pockets had the fantasy of settling down there in a too homely manner, and that the Armenian ruler considered this offensive to himself. At this news, reproaches for disrespect for the holy order rained down on the poor eccentric from all sides. When he coldly and casually replied that he had paid for a place on the ship just like anyone else, and that there was freedom for everyone, then a whole choir took him up on this word and sang to him everything that was in their hearts. They sarcastically threw around him the word: έλενϑερια, and brought him to the point of having to hide somewhere far away. The fact speaks for itself. At the pier of the island of Proti (the first, that is, from Constantinople), the patriarch went ashore. The accessories of his dignity and tomorrow's service were handed over to him, including even the chair itself! On the slope, not far away, a small new church was seen (St. Gregory of Armen, if I’m not mistaken), 122 from which came the faint sound of a bell. Closer to the sea there was a tent, surrounded by people who, seeing the ruler, rushed to the pier. In front of everyone was a priest in a black short cloak (mantle) and kamilavka. Behind him was another, similar to the first in everything, except that instead of a kamilavka he had a red cap on his head... Poor and simple, and for the sake of simply you - touching. The Patriarch has been invited to serve tomorrow “for the sake of the Feast of the Apostles,” I was told. After his departure, my neighbors were busy with what they saw for a long time. The priest is wearing a fez! They exclaimed partly with surprise, partly with regret. What would they say if they saw another priest in a hat? The Patriarchal Panagia was also the subject of long-term questioning. Some thought that this was a Βασιλιχον παράσημον (order), others insisted that it must be a Russian cross. “Whatever it is, why hang it up? Is there a church here? 123 This was the last conclusion of the simple-minded conversation. We arrived at the Khalki pier at about seven o'clock. From stories I already knew that on the island, in addition to a Christian village with a Turkish naval school, there were three monasteries: St. George (monastery of the Patriarch of Jerusalem), Holy Trinity (Theological School) and Mother of God (Commerce School). All, therefore, are monasteries only in name and according to legend. The most important of them was once the Mother of God, built by Emperor John Palaiologos 124 in the 15th century, restored by the great dragoman of Porta Panagio, Tom Nicosius 125 at the end of the 17th century, and restored by the surname Ypsilanti 126 in 1796. 127 But older than it, of course, is the Trinity Monastery, with which the legend of the famous Photios. 128 The name given to it as patriarchal and stauropegic and its prominent position, elevated above the entire island, currently gives it first importance, even regardless of the Higher Theological School located in it for the entire Orthodox East. This monastery was restored from ruins, or rather, rebuilt by Patriarch Herman IV 129 in 1844. It forms a square of walls or two-story wooden buildings, except on the eastern side, where the stone library building stands alone in the middle of the wall. In one line with this latter, to the west of it, rises in the middle of the monastery courtyard the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity, which has the appearance of a basilica with two rows of columns, without a dome and without a bell tower. In its vestibule there is a chapel in the name of St. Herman the Patriarch. At the eastern end of the northern wall, on the top floor, there is a room for the patriarch; in the western one - the same wall - for the head of the school. The entrance to the monastery is in the middle of the western wall, directly opposite the church doors. Above it on the top floor is the meeting hall. The school occupies the top of a conical hill, descending from the western, northern and part of the eastern side directly into the sea, and from the south - to other parts of the island, where the village itself has the same name as the island. The entire hill is the property of a monastery or school. Its entire northwestern side is covered with pine forest. In front of the entrance to the monastery there is a flat area, planted with large trees, with ponds built under it. This is a favorite vacation spot for students and mentors. From here you can see the distant view of Constantinople. The blessed ktitor of the 130th monastery school apparently did not have a broad understanding of the institution he was establishing, or was deprived of the opportunity to see more suitable examples of this kind of construction. The Khalki Seminary is cramped, inconveniently located, and poorly built. In addition, its high location, so pleasant in the summer, makes the winter season barely bearable. The internal organization of the school is not well known to me. It seems to bear little resemblance to the procedures of our seminaries. At the head of the school is its chief (σχολάρχης), who is currently also a professor. Under his supervision are a secretary, a housekeeper and seven mentors (together with him and the secretary there are only nine people). The head of the school from the very foundation has been the same to this day - Metropolitan Constantine Tipaldo, 131 once a professor at the Kerkyra Guildford Academy, 132 a decrepit but cheerful old man, an example of those sincere, patient and humble workers in the name of science, the “daskals” 133 of the Greek people, who have not ceased to appear in it since the enslavement by his Turks until our time, and to the category of which belongs those described with such love by Barsky 134 Macarius (Patma), 135 Eugene, 136 Nicephorus, 137 Gazi, 138 Vamva, 139 Ikonom 140 ... Under the venerable ruler there is an office, which is headed by Hierodeacon Gregory Gog, a pet of the institution, a man with fiery jealousy to enlightenment and, in my opinion, with a great future. He has already made his name known among his fellow tribesmen by publishing a significant number of translations and his own works. The first ones were mostly done in Russian. He continues to retain the humble rank of hierodeacon, which he received in school, with admirable humility, thinking that that half of life in which a person must shepherd himself is not intended for shepherding others. But I do not hope that the new Ephraim 141 will succeed in Ephraim’s good perseverance for a long time. It is no longer only his comrades, but also his disciples who occupy metropolitan sees. Such a course of things can act too temptingly on the God-loving virtue of humility. Of the other mentors, most are secular people. The oldest among them, Mr. Tantalidi, 142 also famous for his printed works, unfortunately, had almost completely lost his sight. As I walked up to the school, I met here and there, sometimes alone, sometimes in pairs, students walking around, reminding me of the past from different eras. It was an hour of evening coolness and silence, no less dear to the muses than the classical aurora. Exhausted by long-term preparation for the exam and the exam itself, the strength of the pets required refreshment not only with clean air, which every Mediterranean island is so rich in, but also with pure peace of mind and heart. Having entered the monastery, I was surprised to find a truly monastic desert there. There was no one in the yard. I already knew that His Holiness had left for the island of Prinkipo since the very morning to visit the former Patriarch Anthimus (Byzantine) 143 and had not yet returned. The late hour did not allow me to disturb any of the mentors. Unfortunately, a person close to me (who invited me to the exam) was not in the monastery at that time. I didn't know what to decide. He walked around the church and returned to the gate. I found the goalkeeper there, I asked him: is it possible to hope that there will be an overnight stay for the wanderer in the monastery? To which he replied: hardly. Now there are so many people here, and - all the rulers! There was nothing to do. I decided to go look for the Jerusalem courtyard, but before I even had time to put my feet outside the gates, I saw myself face to face in front of Patriarch Joachim. 144 He rode up on a donkey, accompanied by several monks. This meeting was of such a nature that after it there was no room for questions about accommodation for the night. After a short conversation with His Holiness, I was taken to His Eminence Constantine. 145 This meeting was no less intimate. Contrary to the rumors that had spread in the winter about the hopelessness of his situation, I found him completely healthy, although his face was definitely thin and his voice was so weak that it was barely audible. The school will lose a lot in it when the predicted, although not desired, hour comes. The ringing of the dinner bell stopped our melancholy conversation, full of thoughts about what was not said and words that were not thought. During the entire time the patriarch was at the school, he made all expenses for his maintenance at his own expense, treating the bishops and his retinue to table every day. This was the real dinner. My pilgrimage was given so much attention and love at this meal that it would be a sin to remain silent about it. The subject of the conversation was, of course, the table itself, the variety and local nature of the dishes of which naturally called for comparison with those consumed in our fatherland. The sensible owner, offering me this or that dish, asked me to eat it in Slavic style, saying that this was crustaceans, and sometimes tikvytsia, and regretted that he was deprived of the pleasure of treating me to honey, the Russian folk drink. He learned all these words and many others when he was, long before this, at the St. John’s See. 146 It turned out that of the eight or ten bishops sitting at the table, almost everyone could declare something of their information in the Slavic language, not to mention Metropolitan Zvornitsky, 147 who speaks fluently (and even preached more than once) in Serbian, and Preslavsky, 148 who is himself a Bulgarian and also studied at the Moscow Academy. In Hellas, hearing a Slavic word in Greek lips is very rare. In educational institutions there is not only no place for him, but the very thought of it would be considered a betrayal, a betrayal in the sense of the nationality. It is comforting to see more justice in Greece. The Slavs are not completely ostracized; and it is not uncommon to hear an honorable review of the work of Ikonom on the affinity of the Greek and Slavic languages, while in Hellas rarely anyone knows about it, and those who know do not think at all. If it is true that the great Photius once loved to retire here, then, having spent one summer morning at the supposed site of his contemplative exploits, you guess the source of his high animation and wonderful eloquence. What can compare with this picture of dawn and sunrise, sending from hill to hill, from the mountains of Bithynia 149 to Constantinople, a scarlet, blue, yellow, white ray? And the silence, and the freshness, and the light splash of the sea, and the joy of awakening life, and the sweet smell of the earth drunk with the dew of heaven! How could he not sing in spirit, not sing in mind, according to the Apostle, in the friendly circle of Faith, nature and history? Send your golden ray to me, first council Bithynia; Yes, I too sing, if not now, then many years later, in the midst of the coldness of the aging forces of a mortal body and under the enchanting memories of real sensations, the bright and warm image of the primacy of the Church of Christ! At 5 o'clock in the morning the reading of the Midnight Office and Matins began in the patriarchal chambers. Soon the bell called the un tonsured brotherhood of the non-statutory monastery to the church. Today it was proposed to serve as a bishop for the sake of ordaining one of the six students completing the course as a deacon. According to the regulations of the school, a teaching diploma is given only to those students who have one of the degrees of priesthood. Four of those graduating are already hierodeacons, and two remain laymen. Of these, one recently expressed a desire to accept the priesthood and yesterday took monastic vows, renaming himself from Jordan Ioannikios. Today he had to pass the degree of clergy and be invested with the rank of priestly diaconate. The former student and mentor of the school, the current Metropolitan of Preslav Anfim, was appointed as the performer of the sacrament. The Patriarch was not in church. I expected that during the service of a Slavic bishop who taught the Slavic language at the institution, something would be sung or read in Slavic. But instead of everything expected, I only heard three Slavic exclamations from the bishop himself. The following circumstance attracted my attention during this service: it is known that during the so-called initiation into the surplice, after the tonsure of the initiate’s hair, a small veil is put on him, which is then immediately removed from him. Why this action? What does it mean? How does the phelonion precede the surplice? I have asked myself these questions more than once before. I was curious to know what Greek scholarship thought about this action. When I asked what this clothing was called, they answered me: felonion - without any further explanation, except for a reference to the Trebnik, where it is really called that way. I thought: is there some special name for it in the Greek language that can better explain its meaning and use, just as is the case with our words: throne (with which we connect the idea of ​​a throne, i.e., a chair), and in Greek: table - τράπεξα; altar (high altar), and in Greek: sanctuary - ίερόν; elevation by one level – βήμα; legguard and club (or police), and in Greek: kneecap - ΰπογονάτιον, and so on. In the Orthodox Church, both the most sacred degrees and their affiliations are strictly distinguished. Is it possible to think because the belonging of the priestly vestment, so apparently characteristic, is at the same time a common belonging of everyone who enters into the service of the Church. No, despite the official language of the Trebnik, one might think that this is not a phelonion, at least not a priestly phelonion (Φαινόλη, penula). This should be a cloak (pallium, ΐμάτιον) or the same toga. Judging by the expressions of the Trebnik, it is equated with a monastic mantle, and what does this mean in relation to the black clergy, the same in relation to the white clergy. With us, the lower degrees of the clergy do not have an outer garment, 150 because they have all already passed the level of reader or singer, having received from the hands of the Church the surplice - an accessory of the subdeaconry. In the Greek Church, readers and singers no longer belong to the clergy. Thus, the robe of the white clergy fell out of use altogether. Traces of it, which were not once universally used, can be seen, however, in the Latin church, where clergy wear short sleeveless linen clothes during worship, although with the front lowered, in the likeness of a phelonion. The short robes of the Armenian clergy that I saw yesterday should almost be considered direct evidence of an ancient custom. Another circumstance: when ordaining a subdeacon, the subdeacon, dressed in a surplice, was girded with an orar around his loins, that is, he was simply girded, and not tied crosswise from the back to the chest, as is done with us. And it seems that this is fairer. For it is hardly permissible for someone who is not a deacon to place an orarion on his shoulder, and even less so on both shoulders. Such use of the orarion by the subdeacon should be considered a leap forward, just like the imaginary phelonion of the reader. Third: at the end of the action, the newly initiated gave the bishop water to wash his hands. The bishop, having wiped his hands with a cloth, covered the subdeacon's head with it, and sent him to stand in front of the local icon of the Savior with a washstand and dish until the great entrance. So he stood there. After washing his hands a second time, the bishop again covered him with a cloth, under which he then walked last in the great entrance and, at the end of it, again stood in his place until the time came for his ordination as a deacon. In this case, would two small deviations be allowed from the Trebnik, which instructs the subdeacon to hold the cloth on his left shoulder and stand in front of the red ones, that is, in our opinion, the royal doors. At 8 o'clock we went to the exam, which had already lasted for the ninth day. The rather cramped and dark hall, facing west, was lined with benches along two-thirds of its length. In the depths of it, under the windows, parallel to the benches, there was a low and wide sofa. In the free space between the sofa and the benches, two tables were placed: one for the examiner, the other for the examinee. The scholar and the secretary sat behind the first, and the summoned pupil gave an answer after the second. The southern wall bench was intended for mentors, the northern one for visitors. On the sofa sat, according to Eastern custom, with their legs crossed, the bishops; in the very corner, opposite the scholar, is the Ecumenical Patriarch, behind him, in hierarchical order, are other patriarchs and metropolitans. According to the regulations of the school, none of the visitors can interfere with the course of the test, not the patriarch himself, as it seems. Pupils were called upon tickets. The test began in Greek Philology. Dismantled Demosthenes, 151 St. Gregory the Theologian 152 and other writers. First of all, the student translated the writer into the current language, then did a syntactical and even grammatical analysis of the passage, often delving into research and history - never, however, on his own, but always at the request of the mentor. Then they tested us in civil history. Here the student usually briskly read the professor's lectures, very rarely interrupted by him. Then they asked about the Turkish language department. This test lasted an hour and a half and everyone was tired of it. From the sofa, desires to do something else were quietly expressed more than once; but the strict scholar positively declared that he could not deviate from the rules and must ask the entire department again. This test was carried out in the same order as in the department of ancient Greek literature. The answers were given according to some kind of anthology, compiled from various stories and anecdotes. Wouldn't it be better to train the students (almost all of whom can speak Turkish) by translating some theological or liturgical books into Turkish? To such a remark, one bishop answered me that the pets who were asked had not yet reached the point of doing this, but that, of course, they would. They concluded with a test in geography, where again it was the same thing, so much is known, reading from a mentally visible notebook and combined with it the hints of the professor and the tips of his comrades. The proof of the movement of the earth, taken ab absurdo 153 of the supposed movement of the entire sky around it, was said by the student in such a positive and at the same time uncertain tone that it involuntarily cast doubt on whether it had accurately passed through his consciousness. One of the teachers wanted the student to repeat what was said in his own words. The rulers supported the teacher’s bold move. It turned out that such a thing was easier to propose than to carry out. Fatigue and fever put an end to today's ordeal. We didn’t have time to finish everything that was assigned in the program. The rest has been postponed until Monday and will be completed without the patriarch, which, however, will not prevent the solemn act of handing out diplomas tomorrow. After lunch, I took advantage of the free time and the goodwill of the local authorities and spent about an hour in the school library. The building was built on a large scale according to a good plan. The inside is bright and clean. Along the walls there is a row of large and beautiful cabinets. Everything is fine. There are not enough books. The enormity of the empty rooms amazed me to the point that at first I almost didn’t notice the books at all. But looking more closely, little by little, I found that their collection was not as insignificant as it seemed at first. There are all the Greek classics, all the Fathers of the Church, all the Byzantine historians, and not even in one copy, the anecdota of Angelo May, 154 the Greek Lexicon of Stephen, 155 Bandouri, 156 Du Cange 157 and many other expensive publications. In the Slavic department there are also three hundred books and little books - meager grains from the rich meal of Russian literature, which fell here as if by accident. The library also has a manuscript section. There are about twenty of them. Of these, six or seven were written on leather (X–XII centuries). This is the essence: a triodion and several collections of paternal conversations. Among the paper folios, the most striking are the volumes of panegyrics, arranged by month, from the 15th or 16th centuries. As a rarity, I was shown a collection of letters from the Patriarch of Alexandria Meletius Pygus, 158 among which there are several addressed to Tsar Theodore Ioannovich. 159 “They should be published,” I remarked to the librarian. “It’s hardly convenient,” he answered, “they have a lot of things against the oppressors of our ill-fated Church.” With the exception of the last manuscript, the rest went to the school from one Olympian monastery, devastated by the Turks, who sold its library at 10 and 5 “pairs” 6 per book. In addition to these manuscripts, in the church in the choir there is kept the remains of the library of the ancient monastery, which contains about 60 manuscripts, among which a considerable number are leather ones. I postponed reviewing them until another time, for the hour of Vespers was already approaching. Vespers lasted about an hour. The patriarch himself was present in the church. He stood in his place in a robe and hood. At the bottom of his pulpit, on the right hand stood the archdeacon, on the left was the deacon, while the ό δευτερεΰων 160 served vespers together with the secretary of the Synod, Arch. Alexander (Laskari). 161 The opening psalm and Vouchsafe, Lord, were read by the patriarch himself; It was no longer the students who sang, but the patriarchal psalt and the canonarch. However, no difference was noticeable in the singing, except that instead of a young voice one could hear a fading one. During the entire service, in front of the patriarch, on the opposite side of the church, stood a large candlestick with a lit candle. This was all that marked his presence in the church. At the end of Vespers, having met Fr. the head of the establishment, I expressed regret that the singing is not performed by all the pets together, which would make it incomparably more pleasant. It took a while for the venerable Daskal to understand me. At first he thought that I was talking about alternating the singing of all the pets, and said that he himself had been taking care of this for a long time, but could not achieve the desired goal. When I managed to fully explain to him the meaning of my words, he looked at me in surprise and said: “Yes, we adhere to the ancient order of the Church. A few are supposed to sing, not everyone. Church singing is not for everyone. At the same time, not everyone has the right voices. Yes, even if they started singing, everyone would go separately.” So many objections suddenly! I noticed that in our seminaries and schools, where we have our own churches, often several hundred voices sing together and do not discord. “Your matter is different,” the elder objected. -Your music is different. After all, you borrowed your singing from Europe.” We sang, I answered, even when we did not yet have any relations with Europe, but borrowed everything from you. “So, it means that we have since changed our singing,” he noted with slight irony, “because yours now is not like ours.” No, I said, you didn’t have to change it, but we didn’t consider this or that way of singing essential in worship, and we came up with our own tunes. “Well, that’s the same as our own,” he interrupted, “but ours are not there for the congregational singing.” Yes, try it, I said. After all, if each of the students knows how to sing alone, then there is no reason why he should not sing together with others. “I deliberately talked about this subject with the venerable scholar. The Greeks have a universal conviction that church singing cannot, and should not, be anything other than that with which they now find comfort and which no ear discerning music can bear. This blind adherence to the ingrained way of singing cannot bring the desired benefit to the Church, established in the diverse East to attract others to itself through its worship - an attachment that extends to fanaticism! Its root and source are precisely here – in the Great Church. The transcriptions of Greek church chants made in Vienna into four voices were met here with the greatest indignation. Even the attempt to designate the same modern Greek singing with constant hooks (as we do with notes), known under the name of the Blade system, greeted with delight in Hellas, was subjected to severe persecution here. According to the old system, it takes at least six months to learn to sing, but according to Lezvieva, two or three days are enough. But despite the obvious advantage of the latter; they see it as dangerous 162 neoterism. Such persistence is very regrettable, especially since it is associated with a certain kind of self-delusion. 163 What one would least like to see is a limited view of church singing where one can most expect a renunciation of positions that are shaky or based on nothing at all. Today, at the entrance, ten or more people sang together: Quiet Light, etc. Why can’t all pets sing this song? There was still more than an hour left before sunset. I went to the neighboring monastery of Our Lady, located a quarter of an hour from the Trinity Monastery. Vespers was still going on there. The small and dark church of the Byzantine building was full of the brethren of the monastery, even less similar to the elders than the Trinity monks. These were children of all ages from 10 to 20 years old, mostly from the merchant class, all boarders of the establishment, living inside the walls all year round, excluding holidays. Their noisy prayer as we entered the church inspired me with a familiar, long-dead feeling of childish freedom... Lively movements, quick glances, continuous changes of positions, fluent whispers, subtle nods and anointings of friends separated by space, cheerful singing along to the psalm while drawing a fingernail on the wall, etc., all this clearly indicated what was being offered to the brethren here under the pretext of vespers. only a disciplinary measure. And from whom was it possible to demand a different state of affairs? If the society filling the church was content with moderate singing along, and only half-turned to look at the unfamiliar visitors, then this testifies to his true, genuine piety. It must be remembered that it prayed on the eve of dissolution to go home, and for some - even leaving school... A sonorous voice read: άγιος ό ό Θεός, etc., and after the exclamation of the priest, the whole church sang the troparion: let the heavenly one rejoice, etc. This at first delighted me. But the singing was so inconsistent that it immediately revealed a complete lack of preparation in the singers. It was obvious that everyone sang according to the desire of the soul, without orders and without invitation. A lesson to the venerable scholar of the Holy Trinity! At the end of the service, I met the head of the institution, Archimandrite Anfim (Mazaraki), an Ionian, like his neighbor, the Most Reverend Constantine. He showed me everything wonderful about the church, adding historical explanations where necessary. I was already previously familiar with the monastery from a letter published about it in 1846. Knowing that there was also a library at the church with 150 manuscripts, of which a third were parchments, I was eager to look at it; but it was already too late, and completely untimely due to the circumstances of the school. Having visited the chief’s home and received from him an invitation to attend a public event tomorrow, I hastened to return before dark to the hospitable shelter of the Holy Trinity. The road went downhill, first through a forest, then through an open slope. On the sides of it, small groups of pets sat in the clearing, saluting us as we approached, while my companion tried to prove to me, out of an excess of good zeal for his rank, that he was ashamed to even show himself before the people, knowing what an unfavorable impression the cassock and kamilavka made on him. No, venerable mentor! Your cassock speaks to an uncorrupted heart and an unprejudiced mind more than the weak body it covers can humiliate! At the sound of the bell, residents and guests of the monastery gathered in the church for Matins at 5 am. The pets were placed on stands along the walls. The rulers stood in the vestibule. The middle of the church was left for the people. The beginning of the Midnight Office was blessed by one of the students, a hieromonk, without bothering to put on an epitrachelium. The Trinity Canon, according to custom, was hastily written down. The same hieromonk also read the prayer to the Most Holy Trinity without an epitrachelion, turning his face to the people. It is worthy of note that from the Trinity Songs of St. Gregory of Sinaita there were only four petas, as indicated in the Greek Book of Hours, and, moreover, only two of those seven that we are supposed to sing. Evenly, the ectenia Let’s Pray, etc. is not the same one that is laid down for eternity; whereas in our Vespers litany it is noted: and so on, as prescribed in the Midnight Office. Neither one nor the other circumstance has anything to do with the corrections that the Great Church made in the Book of Hours in 1832. At the beginning of Matins, the scholar approached, taking the place adjacent to the patriarchal chair. Kathismas were previously subtracted; That’s why they were now content to read the Glory alone and immediately sang the Sunday troparia for the immaculate, and then the canon. The first two songs were sung, the rest were read. In the choruses to the troparions of the canon of the holy martyr, there was no address to him by name, but was said in a general form: Άγιε Θεοΰ πρέσβευε ΰρερ ήμων (Holy God, pray for us). The singing was carried out in two choirs - and at first without a canonarch. But the most reverend chief ordered, also, of course, to preserve the rank, to proclaim the song to one of the students, which confused me a lot. One could have expected a more meaningful order from him. Singing with the Canonarch, as far as one can guess, entered the Church at a time when books were rare, so that the Church could not have had more than one copy. Moreover, naturally, antiphonal singing required someone to proclaim the words of the song or run with a book from choir to choir (now the canonarch does both together). Is this necessary now, when you can get a copy of the book for every singer? The caring scholar was apparently pleased when the canonarch reading and psalm singing went together, drowning out one another. Singing with the canonarch can be tolerable, and even very pleasant, when the canonarch sings a lot (as with us), and when the singers wait for the end of the canonarch’s words, and the canonarch waits for the singers. But with one singer, the canonarch - one singing, the other reading, almost modernly, from the same book - this, may it be permitted to say, is not only an unnecessary luxury, but also an illegal violation of the essential nature of church singing! Meanwhile, the patriarchal protopsalt (yesterday's) arrived, an elderly man dressed in a Turkish jube (caftan with wide sleeves) and with a fez on his head. He had his own canonarch with him, a boy of about 12 years old, with a strong and ringing alto, dressed like a protopsalt. Soon the patriarch himself arrived. He was greeted at the door with a lit candle and nothing more. Immediately at the entrance, he put on the mantle, 164 he walked to his place, blessed the people while singing the usual many years to him, and stood, as yesterday, on a height, facing the north. At the opposite colonnade, it was placed in front of him, as yesterday, under a candlestick with a lit candle. The psalt began to sing the chaos of the canon, and immediately followed by the song of the Mother of God. Then the Gospel was read at the altar, which was then brought out to the patriarch, and after him to all the people, for kissing. During almost the entire duration of Matins, different faces did not stop looking out from the altar through the royal doors. I was greatly indignant at this simple-minded statement of untimely curiosity. At the right opportunity, I decided to complain to the scholar about such a deviation, as it seemed to me, from a good rank, when suddenly his smart and kind face appeared there. All that remained was to complain to some other higher authority, but it was doubtful that the same thing would not happen there too! No! In order to really introduce a strict order (which, as can be seen, can be understood differently), but a divine order in the worship of the East, it is not enough that one or another representative of the church authority is animated by a sincere desire to do good, but it is necessary that he sees a better order of things, and even more so that he is educated in its spirit. Without this, an incident that once struck me could easily be repeated with a very respectable priest, who, standing in the altar, noticed that two young people in the church greeted each other loudly, and then throughout the entire service did not stop making noise about the outrage he noticed. It was also equally desirable that in the Higher Theological School of the East there would be more respect for the church charter and that deviations from it, more or less excused in parish churches, would be considered unforgivable here. Thus: the separate singing of katavasia and the reading of the Gospel after the canon might not have taken place during the morning, to which so many persons prepared for the hierarchy listen and which the Ecumenical Patriarch himself approves with his presence. The Liturgy followed directly after Matins, even cutting off the end of it, that is, everything that follows the great doxology. The servants were: the archigrammate of the Synod and the deuterevon. Every time the priest needed to bless the people, the patriarch did it instead from his pulpit. The apostle read in a chant, the little canonarch, having climbed to the same height as the patriarch, directly opposite the patriarchal pulpit, on the opposite side. The Patriarch himself read the Creed and the Lord's Prayer. Four times he descended from his pulpit to the church platform for prayer: at the very beginning of the Liturgy, during the proclamation of the words Blessed be the Kingdom, etc., at the Great Entrance, during the Transfiguration, and during the manifestation of the Holy Gifts. His prayer during the presentation of the Holy Gifts involuntarily reminded me of a similar prayer of another patriarch - old Rome. The Pope, who stood throughout the liturgy, just like his brother in Constantinople, on an elevated pulpit, only not on the right, but on the left, royal side of the church, also dressed in a kind of mantle (brocade), decorated with an episcopal miter, at the arrival of the mysterious moment of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the offered Gifts, descended to the middle of the church, where he knelt before a small altar, and, covering his face with his hands, he prayed to the dull, stunning sounds of the organ. I still vividly remember the deep impression that this prayer left in my soul. And now I seemed to see that kneeling image from behind the humbly bowed uncovered head of the patriarch! There is between you, Bruno 165 and Cerularius, 166 a point of unity, the most dear to the Christian world and all humanity - faith in the life-giving mystery of human deification by essential unity with the God-Man. You both use the most precious heritage left to the earth by the Lord Jesus Christ inseparably. Both of you, having heard His voice, walking in Paradise, go out to meet Him with love. Is this love really not enough to look at each other brotherly in His face, to cry from the mutual grief of a long and bitter separation and to call the whole world to the sweet consolation of seeing Peter and John together again? Oh, when will it be? When will the venerable hands sew up the torn robe of the Lord? When will the disciples called to the Lord's table stop arguing about who they think is sick? All this will happen, of course, not when - in fulfillment of the due assurance of Christ about a single flock and a single Shepherd. And blessed is that race whose share will be the incomparable joy of witnessing the reconciliation that has been long awaited for centuries! But let us return to the custom itself, which led us to an inappropriate, perhaps, retreat. The descent from the places occupied by worshipers at certain times of worship is common in Greece. What does it mean? When I asked about the reason for it, they answered me: it should be so. But there was more than one reason: so. This custom, like many others in the church, originated from monasteries, where the brethren during divine services constantly occupy certain places in a row of wall stands. There they stand, squat and sit, resting their hands on the ledges of the stands. Being in such a position, they cannot bow, and every time they want to pray, they go to the floor. Naturally, whoever stands on the floor has no need for such movement. But even one who, although standing on some elevated place, can freely pray on it, should not, disturbing the peace of others, come down from it, in respect of the only reason: so. The rank is respectable, but the rank is reasonable. One more circumstance. During certain times of worship, monastics are required to stand with their heads uncovered, whereas in general it is required that they do not uncover their heads. What times are these? Our charter says: at the pronunciation of the words of the Lord, at the entrances and at the manifestation of the Gifts. Based, of course, on the first position, we open our heads when reading the Gospel. This is not observed in the Greek Church. As far as I could notice, only the reader himself (and not always) opens his head. But it is considered an indispensable rule to remove the kamilavka when proclaiming, at the beginning of the Liturgy, the words: blessed is the kingdom, etc. When reading the Creed, one must stand with an open head at regular intervals. Here, in the monastery of theologians, I did not notice that they adhered to any one order. And the two pets standing next to each other acted differently. In general, it becomes clear that the school not only does not teach from the pulpit, but also does not take into account a very important part of spiritual education: the practice of Orthodox worship. And what can we say about the fact that face to face in front of the patriarch, and precisely from his officials, some stood during the entire service in fez, which raised slightly, leaning towards the patriarchal pulpit every time the prayer of the church referred to the face of the patriarch? This is already etiquette. Agreeing that there is nothing actually reprehensible in this, one cannot help but recognize certain consequences behind it that give rise to temptation. So, for example, behind the patriarchal pulpit itself stood one gentleman, dressed in European style, with a hat on his head. If someone had asked him why he, contrary to all decency, did not put aside the worldly decoration of his head in the church of God, I have no doubt that he would have referred to the example of the said officials. But the orders of the Great Church are imitated everywhere in Greece! After mass, all the hierarchs gathered in the hall where the exam was held yesterday. The three patriarchs – Joachim of Constantinople, Jacob of Alexandria and Cyril of Jerusalem – were joined by a fourth, the former Ecumenical Cyril. There were about twenty bishops in total. The usual treat of jam and coffee followed. The public looked from the vestibule at the Cathedral of Saints, and the most honorable among them even dared to enter the meeting and take the blessing of His All-Holiness. The entire assembly stood at the entrance of the great logothete, an elderly man, with a dry, unusually high-cheekbone face, wearing a uniform Turkish frock coat and fez. He took the blessing from the high priest, and made quick greetings to the other rulers with his hand, following the Turkish example. According to European diplomacy, this is the perfect type of Byzantine Greek. To someone who lacks experience and diplomatic insight and judges from the modest dimensions of rural observation, the great logothete, in the face of a council of bishops, could more seem to be the characteristic of a clerk before the volost authorities than to declare himself a not yet well-defined type of Byzantine Greek. The Byzantine Greek, of course, does not enjoy a reputation in Europe, but he can console himself with the fact that Europe owes him the most powerful weapon of its political life - diplomacy. Diplomacy in Constantinople - in your homeland. Logothete was having an intimate conversation with the patriarch, his gaze running around the entire hall and, apparently, at the same time mentally conducting another speech, and maybe even more than one... No! Anyone who has the courage, patience and dexterity to endure the blade of Osman’s sword until it becomes rusty and dull can be forgiven for his Turkish greetings to the Greeks, Greek greetings to the Turks, and European greetings to Europe. The ringing of bells announced the time to go to the ceremony. All those in the hall went to church in order - the youngest first. The church was already full of people. There was a table in the middle of it. From there to the altar, sofas were arranged in the shape of the letter “P”. Entering the middle of the space remaining between the sofas, the patriarch put on a robe and a small omophorion. The archdeacon put on an orarion over his cassock; and everyone began to sing the troparion of the church and several other stichera. Then followed a pure actenia; and the first part of the ceremony was over. His Holiness was exposed. Everyone sat down. The scholar sitting on the side of the table stood up, bowed to the cathedral and began to speak to the students graduating from the course, standing on the opposite side of the table. Thin and yellow, but bright, his face was alternately animated and imprinted with mortal peace. Each of his words flowed from his heart and, transmitted in a trembling, sympathetic voice, in turn fell on his heart. Tears broke out in his eyes many times, and his speech stopped completely. It was marvelous for someone unaccustomed to listen to this father’s confession in front of his children. Those who listened were deeply moved. If at the same time the venerable teacher had given even the slightest hint that the illness that was persistently pursuing him might soon put an end to his labors, there is no doubt that the listeners would have burst into tears. So everything was ready for that. The final words of the speech, barely emanating from the weakened chest of the elder, wafted with deep sadness: τεχνια μου. Έιρήνη ΰμίν. Έιρήνη ΰμίν. Then the secretary read the minutes of two meetings relating to the pupils being released from the institution, i.e., the two days on which they were tested, July 1 and 3. After which the distribution of diplomas began. 167 The secretary, taking the diploma in his hands, read it in the hearing of everyone, and the scholar, in turn, read the instruction written on a special sheet, as if a testament from the school to the one being left to his pet, in response to which the pet, for his part, read before the scholar on another sheet a written promise to serve faithfully the Church of Christ. He immediately signed the latter, calling himself a theological teacher for the first time. Then the diploma, along with the instructions, was rolled up, tied with a blue ribbon and handed over to the new didaskal. Having received it, he went to the patriarchs and the cathedral for a blessing and received congratulations. This was repeated five times. Then the secretary announced that the sixth student who completed the course (Bulgarian by birth), since he had not yet expressed his readiness to accept holy orders, would not receive (for the time being) his diploma - in accordance with the provisions of the school. In conclusion, he read the minutes of the current meeting itself. When everything was thus ready to end, one of the newly produced didaskals addressed the meeting with a farewell speech, which was divided into three parts. The first related to the patriarch and bishops, the second to the scholar and mentors, the third to the students remaining in the school. The speech was generally good, but the pronunciation was not heartfelt. Only in the address to the scholararch several feelings were heard. Listening to so much well-deserved praise, the humble mentor, with his eyes downcast, faintly whispered inquiringly: right? - and a thin, somewhat ironic smile flew across his lips. Each of the graduating students had their own speech ready; and the lot decided who should have the honor of representing others before the Church, the school and society. Tired and drenched in sweat, the spectators of the touching and meaningful ceremony left. Yo Remembering yesterday's call from another, no less venerable scholar, I hurried to the Mother of God Monastery for the graduation ceremony of the trade school. The exam was still going on there. Strictly speaking, this was no longer an exam, and so, to console the public, several challenges were left for the best, as one might think, students in the most interesting subjects - with the goal of keeping it busy with something until the end of the act at the theological school, and the visitors there would be free to move here. The huge hall, very nondescript, however, was filled with people for two-thirds of its length. At the table that partitioned its entire width sat members of the school's ephoria, the scholar and teachers. In front of the table sat the selected public, and behind it was the crowd, from which the students called to answer spoke. Soon, His Beatitude the Patriarch of Jerusalem, the honorary chairman of the ephoria, arrived and took the main place at the table. They called a lively young man. The French teacher suggested that he tell him something about Montesquieu. An uncontrollable stream of French eloquence flowed, lasting about ten minutes and ending with reading something from a notebook like a political review of the modern world, supposedly owing its brilliant development to the ideas of Montesquieu and J. J. Rousseau. What followed was not so much an entertaining test in the Latin language, then in Turkish (an article about the Peace of Adrianople) and, finally, in the science of commerce. As if emerging from the grave, the dull but strong voice of the skeletal mentor struggled at the blackboard with the ringing and harsh voice of the student, who was drawing with chalk a sample of a banker's account book. The public, keenly interested in the subject, cheerfully followed the fast movements of the future cashier or banker and laughed at the unvarnished expressions of the mentor, breathing with the genuine life of the store. The test is over. His Beatitude the Patriarch of the Holy City put on a robe, and his archdeacon placed an orarion on his shoulder over his cassock. The doxology began, following the example of what had happened at the Trinity School. Having finished the prayer, everyone sat down as before. In the midst of the ensuing silence, the scholar stood up and addressed the audience with a speech, lively and strong, very well composed. As he spoke, the old man became animated beyond his years. His voice rang loudly throughout the hall, and his hands were in constant motion. By the way, a strong impression was made by the parallel he drew between the Greek people and the evangelical younger brother - sick, naked, hungry and thirsty... When he finished, an official of the Ministry of Public Education sitting next to him stood next to him and in a language that was both sincere and official, spent a lot of time giving instructions to the students, filled with the most positive prudence - assuring the public on behalf of the government of the high zeal of His Majesty the Sultan for the good and enlightenment of his Christian subjects, and asked everyone to assist the sovereign in a good goal. The speech caused exclamations from the public about the longevity of the new monarch. One of the ephors considered it necessary to respond to this with a brief expression of gratitude to the trustee government and expressed the hope that his good goals would be fulfilled... I was struck by the contrast between the last two speakers. One of them was an example of the strict, important and cold Aristides, 168 and the other was the active, lively and cheerful Alcibiades. 169 The first was fully aware of the importance of the present moment, his position and his word. The second, smiling and spreading his arms, almost scraping his feet, apparently considered everything that was happening in front of him to be one form, or even a game. And yet both were Greeks, both Byzantine! I will not be mistaken, I think, if I say that neither one nor the other of them revealed, in fact, in the present case, their true Greek character. The first, of course, felt the unnaturalness of his position among his compatriots, representing a different faith and foreign power, and therefore spoke with restraint unusual for a Greek (when he is among Greeks). The second, seeing a Greek in front of him in the image of a Turk, also could not stay on the golden mean of naturalness and allowed himself a familiarity that went beyond the limits of public etiquette. Everything in this empire, unsolved by its destinies, is shifted from its place, unnatural, confused and, apparently, insoluble! By the way, another speaker came out - a representative of the future generation, one of those completing the course, a young man of 18–20 years old. A slight, cursory bow to his audience showed from the first time that he would speak without embarrassment. And indeed, with the complete freedom and ease of youth, his lively and playful word poured out, touching on everything and not stopping for long on anything. He thanked, and asked, and promised, and pitied, and rejoiced, and boasted, and hoped, even consoled, even complained... Hinting at the recent unfortunate death of one of the ephors, the strongest and most active among the members, he told the survivors not to lose heart and act courageously... Talking about the donations of his fellow tribesmen for the benefit of the school and public education in general, he praised someone with truly Hellenic curiosity, who contributed to someone’s enterprise. Good young man! If this is your own word, then your warm patriotic feeling does you credit; but if you repeat the words of your teachers, then it is unforgivable for them to keep you in error about anyone’s privileged curiosity. But what was truly touching and delightful in the speech of the young speaker was his address to the pets of the establishment. “You must be better than us,” he said with great dignity to the younger students; and for such a turn it was truly worth the applause with which his speech was covered. Then came the distribution of certificates, which ended the act. That same day, after a four-hour fast swim, I was already at home, having given the word to the learned monasteries, at the first leisure, to return to their hospitable shelter to view their wonderful libraries. A few words about the teaching of the Slavic language at the Chalki Theological School of Constantinople Archpriest Seraphim Serafimov (“Kherson Diocesan Gazette”. 1864. No. 14. P. 771–779) In No. 16 of the newspaper “Day,” Mr. Assyrian, regarding Mr. Neklyudov’s article about dedicated monasteries, says “that the influence of the Khalki school on the Christian population in Turkey is exaggerated by Mr. Neklyudov; that, although the Slavic language is taught there, apart from several textbooks on this subject, he saw nothing else; and the school does not publish liturgical books at all.” To what extent this review is fair, we will let Neklyudov himself answer his antagonist. The remark of Mr. Assyrian about the textbooks of the Slavic language in the Chalki school only gives us a reason to report here some reliable data about the introduction of this subject in the Chalki seminary and about its further fate. Let the facts you speak for themselves. We are happy to share with our readers this or that information about the contemporary Orthodox East on every occasion. Moreover, the life of any school in general presents many instructive aspects to the observer: and the movement of science in such a school as the Chalki school, without a doubt, is of particular interest to the pious friend of the long-suffering Church: it so far serves as the only, main breeding ground for higher spiritual education in the East. In 1844, the Eastern Patriarchs, together with members of the Synod of Constantinople, jointly founded the first theological seminary on the small island of the Strait of Constantinople - Halki. To accommodate the students, they chose a dilapidated monastery, the beginning of which is attributed to the famous Patriarch Photius; track. dates back to the 9th century. There, near the ancient Church of the Holy Trinity, no more than 40 people took shelter for the first time, mostly adults, even young monks, driven, according to A. Sturdza, by the desire to put on the whole armor of God to serve the word of truth. God also sent them a trustworthy leader and mentor in the person of Archimandrite (and now Metropolitan of Stavropol) Konstantin Typaldos, a native of Kefalonia. A pious and learned man, obeying the call of the Church of Constantinople, accepted the position of scholararch (rector) and since then devoted himself to the education of spiritual youth. In addition to tireless work in this arduous field, the Right Reverend Constantine did not hesitate (precisely in 1847) to mark the management of his hitherto new and bright thought: he introduced the constant teaching of the Church Slavonic language at the Chalki school and entrusted this important position to a learned Serb. His sincere desire was to introduce the Russian language, but the suspicion of the Turks did not allow this good desire to be realized; then the school authorities limited themselves to opening only the department of the Slavic language. One has only to look at the map of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and pay attention to the spiritual relations of the East with Orthodox Russia to appreciate the completely wise order of the perspicacious mentor. No more than four years passed, and his diligence began to bear the desired fruit. A. S. Sturdza, who followed the progress of this case with special love, wrote the following in “Moskvityanin” in 1848: “The Bosphorus Telegraph published detailed information about the public test that was carried out at the Khalkiya School. The students of the theological class of the young seminary passed the test in the presence of the patriarch himself and the synodal metropolitans. Four hierodeacons, as a reward for their success, were awarded the degree of preacher and were sent to preach. In the lower classes, progress turned out to be no less satisfactory in church history, Greek, Latin and Slavic literature. The students are already freely reading our church books as a guarantee of their future activities in the field of ministry and preaching in the Bulgarian and Serbian regions. It was gratifying to see their rapid progress in knowledge of the Slavic language, the sounds of which during the test were replaced by speeches and Greek poems.” This is how they wrote about this subject 16 years before this. And here is the latest news. “Is the teaching of the Slavic language at the Khalki school going well now?” – we asked the other day about. Archimandrite, rector of the local (Odessa) Greek church, who, being himself a student of the said seminary, is naturally interested in any news about its current state. “Yes,” he answered, “even one of the students I know corresponds with me in the Slavic language. And wonderful,” added Fr. Gr., “Greek youths are extremely master of this subject.” In 1861, the venerable and deeply learned rector of our embassy church in Constantinople, Fr. Archimandrite An-b himself witnessed the test at the Chalkiya School, and although, unfortunately, he does not report anything about the success of the students in the Slavic language, he was pleased with the lively sympathy for it (the language) of the eminence metropolitans - the patrons of the seminary. “Of the eight or ten bishops sitting at the table,” he says, “almost everyone could state something of their information in the Slavic language, not to mention the Metropolitan of Gvarlitsky, who speaks freely and even preached in Serbian more than once. In Hellas (i.e., the Greek kingdom) it is very rare to hear the word Slavic in Greek lips. There is no place for him in educational institutions. It is comforting to see more justice in Turkish Greece." 170 It was said above that the Right Reverend Rector of the school entrusted the teaching of the Slavic language to a learned Serb. It was Hieromonk Ioannikiy Dmitrevich, who compiled a grammar of the Slavic language. His successor was Hieromonk Neophyte Rilliot, or more simply, Rylsky; this scientist and deeply respected worker published a “Chrestomathy” in 1852. 171 "Grammar" about. We did not happen to see Ioannikis; and the Reader is at our fingertips. We consider it useful to outline the contents of this wonderful textbook and the techniques that guided its compiler. Let the experts pronounce a truthful judgment on how well the book satisfies its purpose. In the preface, Fr. A neophyte to the collection, first of all, the following words deserve attention: “The Department of the Slavic language at the Chalki School is a matter, the fruit of the high care of the Church for the Orthodox parishes existing in Bulgaria.” Then the Reverend industrious man says: “As the goal of the school is to educate worthy fellow tribesmen, it is recognized not only fair, but also inevitably necessary to acquaint students with the ancient Slavic language, which from the beginning to the present day is used in public worship, 172 careful study of it as the root of the newest dialects: Bulgarian, Serbian, etc. is an essential duty of future preachers of the word of God. But this study at the Chalki school was associated with the greatest inconvenience due to the lack of necessary aids: grammar, dictionary, etc. And this poverty would not have been prevented for a long time if not for the Right Reverend Metropolitan of Stavropol Konstantin Typaldos, the wise ruler of the school and our father in spirit. Moved by commendable jealousy, he convinced my predecessor to compile a grammar of the Slavic language, and me to compile a “Chrestomathy”. Obeying his convictions and admonitions and bowing down from exemplary zeal, I collected the Slavic “Chrestomathy” from the small ones that I had and were able to obtain Slavic books, we always instruct with the opinion and advice of His Eminence. Without sparing any labor or inconvenience, he devoted himself to the arduous task of composing a lexicon of sayings covered in the entire “Chrestomathy.” 1. Selected passages from Holy Scripture, according to the Moscow edition of the Bible, namely: from the book of Genesis, Kings, Proverbs of Solomon, Sirach, the Holy Gospel, Acts, Apostolic Epistles and the Apocalypse. 2. Translated words of famous Church Fathers, such as: St. Chrysostom (word for the week of the publican and the Pharisee, for the week of the prodigal son); St. John of Damascus (a word about those who have fallen asleep in the faith); St. Cyril of Alexandria (word in the week of Vay); St. Epiphany of the Archbishop of Cyprus (word about the burial of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ); St. Gregory the Theologian (word for Holy Easter and Pentecost); St. Basil the Great (a word on the text: listen to yourself, and a word about fasting). These articles were my choice, says Fr. Neophyte, because their originals are usually placed in Greek anthologies or encyclopedias. In this way, students are given the convenience of comparing one language with another, which greatly contributes to success. 3. Then from the works of St. Demetrius of Rostov, the following articles were selected: words for the Nativity of Christ from the text: I see a strange and glorious sacrament; about the fear of God and the word for the week of the myrrh-bearers from the text: You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene crucified: there is no rise here. This choice also honors the taste of the author of the Reader, for the first word is filled with deep theological considerations, the second with a special power of edification for young hearts, and the third is distinguished by its extraordinary entertaining and playful nature of both thought and presentation, which greatly attracts the young mind to reading and study. From the historical works of the blessed hierarch are included: 1 - the life and works of our venerable fathers Methodius and Constantine, named Cyril, the Moravian bishops, teachers of Slaven (celebration of May 11) and 2 - the life of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, autocrat and educator of all Russia. Finally, in the form of an appendix, “Some small poems, excerpts from various poets, like the Slavs’ experience of the poetic word” are attached to the collection. These passages are taken mainly from Serbian poets. By the way, the tombstone of the Right Reverend Stefan, Metropolitan of Ryazan, was also placed after the burial of St. Demetrius of Rostov. When compiling a Dictionary of Slavic words with a Greek translation, Fr. The neophyte was guided by the following manuals: 1) Polikarpov’s trilingual lexicon, 2) Alekseev’s church dictionary, 3) Sokolov’s Church Slavonic dictionary and 4) the dictionary of the Russian Academy. 173 The same hardworking Slavicist in 1849 translated the service of St. into Slavic. Equal to the Apostles Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople, compiled by Metropolitan Constantine Tipal House. "The real St. service,” says Fr. Neophyte, - I translated St. into the Slavic language for use by all in Bulgaria of our fatherland. churches, sending up songs to God in the Slavic language, driven by reverence for the greatest saint, the first Orthodox and brave Bulgarians, educator and apostle. As for the current patriarchal printing house, in which the books we mentioned are published, it was originally founded (in 1797) by the blessed patriarch martyr Gregory under the name of Hellenic. But before the establishment of the Chalki school, only the messages and district letters of the patriarchs to the churches of the Slavic dioceses were printed there. Patriarch Herman, the founder of the Theological Seminary, after renovating the printing house buildings, expanded the scope of its activities: now it publishes, in addition to Slavic textbooks, the most necessary church books, such as service books, missals and individual services to one or another saint. As Mr. Assyrian assures, the printing house certainly does not publish a full range of liturgical books; but it does not publish Greek liturgical books. 174 The reason for this is probably the constrained financial circumstances of the Patriarchate itself. With all our hearts and soul we wish Fr. Neophyte and his co-workers, with great strength, strive in the field of Slavic writing, for the benefit of our fellow brothers in Christ. May St. grant them the blessing. The spirit of unquenchable zeal that animated the most blessed first teachers of the Slavic Cyril and Methodius! Notes by Saint Theophan on the margins of the manuscript “The Key to the Eastern Question” Doctor of Philology In 2010, the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) formed a scientific editorial council for the publication of the works of St. Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky, which included leading secular and ecclesiastical researchers. The council was headed by Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk, Chairman of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church; his deputy was M. I. Shcherbakova, head of the Department of Russian Classical Literature at the Institute of Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Philology, Professor. A wide range of experts - specialists in various fields of church history - were involved in the work of the council. A number of members and experts of the council - Abbot Euthymius (Moiseev), Archpriest Alexander Tuzkov, S. V. Lizunov, N. I. Sobolev, O. V. Lada - in May and October 2011 participated in expeditions to the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery on Athos (Rusik), as a result of which digital copies of the manuscripts of St. Theophan were obtained. The saint worked closely with the publishing house of the Panteleimon Monastery, especially in the last years of his life. After the death of St. Theophan, the monastery cost 10 thousand rubles. bought the manuscripts of his works and the right to publish them with silver from the heirs. Unfortunately, the inventory of the saint’s archives originally transferred to the monastery has not been preserved. Today, in the monastery library, all his materials (104 documents) are collected in the personal fund and included in one inventory of 47 items. hr. 175 An important source for characterizing St. Theophan’s views on church and social issues, along with his letters and writings, were notes in the margins of other people’s works. The scripts reveal Feofan’s attitude to the pressing problems of our time: the translation of the Holy Scriptures and liturgical texts into Russian, the Greco-Bulgarian schism, the events of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877–1878, the spread of Tolstoyism and mystical false teachings. Let us illustrate this with the example of the 1850 manuscript “The Key to the Eastern Question,” dedicated to the role of Catholicism in the events of world history. 176 It contains numerous handwritten notes by St. Theophan, which make it possible to reconstruct his views on problems to which individual works of the saint were not devoted. We were able to identify the author of the Athonite manuscript we selected thanks to a text similar in content found in the collection of books by Leonid (Kavelin) of the Manuscripts Department of the Russian State Library. 177 The previous owner indicated on the back cover: “From the manuscripts of Archimandrite Moses,” 178 as well as the author’s initials: “S. B." It was not difficult to determine that the Optina manuscript belonged to Lieutenant General, famous shipbuilder, publisher of the Mayak magazine (1840–1845) Stepan Onisimovich Burachk (1800–1877). He was a deeply religious man, close to Saint Theophan and the Optina elders, and corresponded with Macarius of Optina. The appearance of a separate manuscript dedicated to the relationship between Catholics and Orthodox Christians may have been caused by the famous “District Epistle” of Pope Pius IX of January 6, 1848. with an appeal to the Orthodox to accept papism: “We do not place on you any burden other than what is necessary, namely, that you, having returned to unity, agree with us in the confession of the true faith, which the Catholic Church preserves and teaches, and further, that you maintain unity with the Church itself and with this Supreme See of St. Peter.” 179 The message was sharply rejected by the Council of Eastern Patriarchs, which took place in May 1848 in Constantinople under the chairmanship of the Patriarch of Constantinople Anthimus. Obviously, the very presentation of this topic was very relevant and topical for that time, because it was then that Stepan Onisimovich was working on the manuscript “The Key to the Eastern Question,” which then ended up with St. Theophan and in the cell library of the rector of Optina Hermitage, Archimandrite Moses. The manuscript contains 12 chapters, which reveal how clashes between Catholicism and Orthodoxy influenced the development of events in world history - from the division of Churches, the Crusades to the largest military clashes of the 19th century. There are also 12 marks of St. Theophan in its margins. The largest number of them (7) refers to the first chapter under the heading “The Eastern Question is contemporary with primitive man and the Church. What is the Orthodox Church? Three notes concern the second chapter, “Latinism, which fell from the Orthodox Church: by teaching into heresy, by life into paganism”; one from the seventh chapter “Significant reasons for the fear and anger of the Latins against Russia. War" and the eighth "Austria's centuries-old intrigues against Russia and against Orthodoxy in Turkey and the plans of the French and the Pope for the Catholicization of the Byzantines. The miracle of the destruction of these plans by Napoleon III himself.” Some of Saint Theophan's remarks are quite lengthy and are of a purely theological nature. Thus, in a manuscript from the Athonite library it says: “... teaching and enlightenment alone are not enough for salvation. A person who is filled with all evil and cannot do anything good for himself needs messages from above all powers, gifts and the life-giving actions of the Holy Spirit. This is accomplished through the church’s divine sacraments and through the church’s grace-filled benefits.” 180 The saint proposed replacing the phrase “through church benefits of grace” with one word “sacred rites,” and opposite this paragraph he explained: “The sacraments are benefits of grace - ordinary, universal... there are no others. If they are extraordinary, immediate only to certain individuals, they are bestowed by the special providential love of God.” The idea of ​​the author of the manuscript that “all divine sacraments and all church benefits, performed on external things through mysterious sacred actions, in an unknown but completely real way, serve through the communication of the Spirit of God with the spirit of man and the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit with the soul of man,” 181 caused the following reaction of Theophan: “Sacred rites from sacraments must be sharply distinguished... Sacred rites are not given by the gifts of the Holy Spirit; but the gift given through the sacraments is warmed and elevated.” Having read the words in the manuscript: “The Church is like visible churches, with everything that is in them, gathers and takes place,” 182 - the saint wrote in the margins: “This need not be put among other such important meanings, for one can worship in an open field.” With some comments, Theophan the Recluse wished to clarify historical facts. Thus, the author who wrote: “patriarchs by the 8th century. seven were established: Roman, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Georgian (Catholicos) and Armenian (Catholicos),” 183 - he corrected as follows: “Armenians by the 8th century. were no longer in communion with the Church. If we count independents, then it is better to put Cyprus, Akhridon, Aquileia.” A little lower in the text, where it is said: “... it happened that the laity were the first to perceive the unorthodoxy of their Patriarch or bishop and began to expose errors,” 184 the saint recalled that “the first voice against Nestorius was cast by the Christians of Constantinople, upon hearing in the church. preach the word “Christ Mother”. One of the statements of the author of the Athonite manuscript regarding the history of the Popes from the 6th to the 9th centuries, which presented “the blackest and saddest picture of the fall of the Western Roman Church, into which here and there deviations from the apostolic conciliar doctrine, church traditions, ecclesiastical orders, orders and customs began to creep in and take root,” 185 according to Feofan, needed to be supported by correct examples and instructions. The following fragment of the Athonite manuscript provoked the reader’s purely reflections on the saint: “Has the Lord really forgotten his beloved, more than his life, the Orthodox Church that loves him? Will he really leave her under the yoke of Mohammedanism forever and ever, while this yoke will decay by itself? No, for the Lord there is nothing more precious on earth than His Church, for which He did not spare the blood of His Only Begotten Son.” 186 And he wrote: “The Lord loves the Church, but He does not show His love by exalting external prosperity. And by caring for internal prosperity. The external gives when what is needed for the internal.” The remaining marks have the form of cross-lines in the margins (in the form of a single, double, triple line, cross). Basically, these are the thoughts of the author, with which the saint agrees. Only in a few cases, when the saint considered the author’s statements controversial, did he put a question mark in the margin. Having studied these notes, we identified a range of main issues to which Theophan the Recluse paid special attention. Among them are the confrontation between West and East, Latinism and Orthodoxy, in particular Russia as the successor of Byzantium, the Crimean War of 1853–1856. (reasons and results), the fruits of the penetration of Latin culture into Russia (in the field of education, lifestyle, literature and art), unsatisfactory synodal governance of the Russian Church, the need to introduce the patriarchate in Russia. Let us dwell only on a few questions concerning the special mission of Russia as the successor of Byzantium and the consequences of the penetration of Latin culture into Russia. Saint Theophan highlighted in the text of the manuscript the thesis “The House of the Kings of Moscow is the legitimate successor of the house of Palaiologos,” 187 for “after the death of the last Palaiologos, the Patriarch of Constantinople, invested by the Turks with the power of the Lord and Judge of the Orthodox people, in the name of the entire Byzantine Church and people, sent a conciliar letter to the Moscow sovereign (John IV), in which he recognized him for equestrian emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Since then, Russia has adopted the state emblem of the Byzantine Empire.” 188 He agreed that the historical mission of the Russian autocrat is to be the Tsar of Byzantium: “... the Russian Tsar will enter into the exercise of that sacred duty to which 400 years ago he was called, by the rights of closest kinship, inheritance and the unanimous election of the Byzantine Church and people - the duty of being the Tsar of the Byzantine. Only in this way will the Orthodox Church and the kingdom be forever protected from the gaping jaws of Latinism.” 189 The saint supported the author, who recognized that especially Latin influence had spread in the field of culture and literature due to a thoughtless desire to imitate foreign models, and scribbled in the margins the words: “Like foolish children, we enthusiastically borrowed all this from them, tried to imitate, equal, surpass.” 190 The author of the manuscript considered the influence of writers who shaped public opinion, becoming teachers of many people, to be especially harmful. He exclaimed: “What is a writer? - Oracle, teacher of the people? If for some 50 students a professor spends several years studying, preparing, and undergoing tests, then is it really permissible for teaching millions to allow every boy to babble all sorts of nonsense, just because he can talk beautifully, gracefully, smartly, although deceitfully, gloomily, corruptly,” for “robbers with a knife are caught and put in prison; and the robber with the feather is called famous!” 191 In relation to assessing the influence of this kind of teachers, which led to the fact that “now we all live in Latin. The day begins, is filled, and ends entirely with Latin affairs and undertakings: reading, visits, dinners, balls, performances, philanthropy, cards, salons, dancing, slander, red tape, intrigue, seeking, fashion, outfits - all this is Latin, alien, disgusting, incompatible with Orthodoxy; for all this removes him from him, makes him cold, suppresses him in us,” 192 and also to the fact that a person ceases to notice the pain and suffering of the people around him, Theophan the Recluse singled out the phrase: “How can I calmly throw a lot of money, for example, on a theatrical outfit, a carriage, a box, when at my gates hundreds of Lazaruses are in vain waiting for a grain of bread from me.” 193 Theophan the Recluse, in the margins of the manuscript, underlined a rather extensive excerpt from the work of S. O. Burachk, which clearly characterizes the civic position of the saint himself: “Our whole trouble lies precisely in the fact that, under the influence of Latin education, literature and examples, each of us makes up our own religion for ourselves, that is, plausible indulgence of our personal passions, habitual weaknesses and vicious habits, and sleeps unrestrained in his incorrigibility, imagining himself to be a very zealous and devout Orthodox, only because he sometimes goes to church, indifferently fasts once a year and, in case of bitter cramped conditions, sometimes serves prayer services and gives pennies to the poor, without leaving Latin life. No, if we really want to be Orthodox, we must sincerely, unconditionally submit to the leadership of the Orthodox Church, without adding, subtracting or changing anything in everything, as the Latins do. Orthodox life dresses simply, chastely, in accordance with the climate, always the same, as if in a certain uniform, not for show, but only to cover the nakedness of a sinful body, always according to rank and status. He equips his cozy houses in a secluded way, so that there is not much prey for moths and fire, and for the servants - the pain of leaving. He consumes food according to quality, quantity and time, in accordance with the charter of the Church, and lives not from the belly, but from the spirit. Dangerously raked from everything that excites passion and lust. The Orthodox life with love, humility and prayer carries out its earthly work for the Lord's sake: whether it is eating, drinking or doing anything else, it does everything for the glory of God, preparing every hour to appear at the Judgment of God. This is blessed and easy Orthodoxy, filled with spiritual, unspeakable consolations and all sorts of earthly blessings.” 194 In general, the notes in the margins of the manuscript left by Saint Theophan testify to the closeness of his views to the position of S. O. Burachk. A textual analysis of the notes of St. Theophan the Recluse opens up new facets of his worldview for researchers. The unknown work of St. Theophan the Recluse (NIOR RSL. F. 765. K. 5. Item 42) Scientific Research Department of Manuscripts Russian State Library This year, in which the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great ascetic, theologian, preacher, teacher of the Russian Church - St. Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky (1815-1894), presented the Orthodox community with a previously unknown spiritual creation of the saint. As part of the project to publish the Complete Works of St. Theophan the Recluse, carried out by the Scientific Editorial Council, a huge complex of works by the spiritual ascetic was identified, stored together with his archive in the library of the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery on Athos. However, recently, in the archives of the Scientific Research Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library, a new, previously unknown creation of the saint was discovered. It is part of the “Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew” - a major work, the author of which is a famous theologian and publicist, long-time publisher of “Trinity Leaves”, Archbishop Nikon (Rozhdestvensky) of Vologda and Totem (1851–1919). The history of this interpretation is as follows. While publishing the “Trinity Leaves”, then Archimandrite Nikon for 17 years read in the letters that came to him that the reading Orthodox community of that time had a great desire to have such an evangelical interpretation that would not only explain the gospel text, but also contain a simply and clearly stated edification, suitable for reading in the family circle. Having finally decided to undertake the preparation of such a work, Archimandrite Nikon spent the next seven years thinking about a plan for its creation, which he wrote about in his letters: “... I wanted to give the people a book that I myself was looking for and could not find. Our interpretative literature on the Holy Scriptures specifically for the people is very scarce: until now it is impossible to provide an interpretation of the Gospel that would satisfy a literate Russian person. He needs an interpretation not for a simple “scientific” reference: what this or that expression means, he is looking for food for his heart as well as for his mind in the interpretive Gospel.” 195 However, even having decided to begin creating the Interpretation, Archimandrite Nikon, understanding the responsibility for the final result and the complexity of implementing his plan, could not find the determination to begin the work. Perhaps the “Interpretation...”, which we have the opportunity to use even today, would never have been created if not for the intercession of His Grace Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky. Archimandrite Nikon admitted in his letters: “...I didn’t decide on this matter for a long time; wrote to the late Saint Theophan that I consider myself not sufficiently prepared for such work, both scientifically and even less morally, for it is said: wisdom will not enter into an evil-doing soul. But the saint encouraged, blessed, approved the plan, made some guiding instructions, and I began...” 196 The words of St. Theophan addressed to Father Nikon regarding the “Interpretation” have actually reached our days: “...Your project for the interpretation of St. The Gospel is very good. And you saw the need as persistent and urgent. May God bless you to fulfill it... The Angel of God inspired you; You need to fulfill it. All that remains is to explain it in an accessible way for the people... which you have nothing to learn. So, God bless! Excellent job! 197 Work on “Interpretation” continued for more than ten years. As the text was being prepared, even before the publication of the full book, it was published in “Trinity Leaves” (of which about 200 were required), distributed at a price of 2 rubles. for no measures. The text itself was divided into “conceptions” (so that priests had the opportunity to use sheets for church and non-liturgical interviews with the people) and, on the advice of the famous Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov (1848–1926), was decorated with more than 60 drawings from ancient iconography, in the creation of which the Gospel of 1470, the Psalter of 1634 and the murals of Moscow were used Assumption Cathedral. 198 After the publication of the “Interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew” by Archimandrite Nikon (Rozhdestvensky), it aroused great interest among the Orthodox community (it is noteworthy that it is still being published) and was awarded a high award in 1900 - the academic prize of Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov) of Moscow. Recently, in the Nikon (Rozhdestvensky) archive (fond 765), stored in the Scientific Research Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library, one document related to the “Interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew” was discovered - a letter from its creator, Archimandrite Nikon (Rozhdestvensky), to Archpriest Mikhail Khitrov (1851–1899), a spiritual writer and translator, to the author of a book about St. Theophan the Recluse, dated approximately 1895. 199 This letter in itself is a very interesting document, as it contains many details regarding the process of creating the Interpretation. Archimandrite Nikon consults with his correspondent about writing a letter about his work to a certain metropolitan, whose name is not mentioned: “Here, my friend, is what I am thinking of writing to Vladyka: Fr. Michael accurately conveyed to me your comments that were dear to me regarding the sheets of the Gospel of Matthew, and he also returned the very sheets with the marks of V.V. I will not hide from you, Holy Master, that it was not without fear that I expected how pleasing it would be for you to react to this undertaking of mine. I myself saw many shortcomings in my work, and if I decided to undertake it, it was only because I did not see such an explanation of the Gospel in our spiritual literature, while most Orthodox readers are looking for a book that, along with the interpretation of the text, would also provide edification for family home reading. For seven years I dreamed of such work, not daring to begin it, and only now, having a printing house at hand, I decided to experiment with the idea that even if my work does not fully satisfy the urgent needs of pious readers, it will at least lead others, more capable than me, to the idea of ​​how best to achieve this goal. For 17 years I have been publishing my leaflets and receiving several thousand letters a year, from which I see: what the people ask for their edification, what meets their spiritual needs; One can often hear in these letters a strong desire to read an interpretation of the word of God, not in the form of a dry scientific interpretation, but in a more vital presentation, so that, as simple people put it, “it falls on the soul”, “reaches the heart”... And so, although it was bold on my part, I decided to make an experiment to satisfy this need of a pious Christian feeling... Wishing that my work would not be in vain, I asked, through an announcement printed during the last issue of the leaflets, all my readers: to make their comments on the new leaflets and send them to me. All the more valuable to me are the comments made by V.V. Some of them coincided remarkably with the comments I received from one Athonite elder schema-monk, so that your highly authoritative archpastoral voice confirmed for me the humble opinion of an unlearned monk. I will keep the sheets with your marks as a precious evidence of your attention to my work, and in the second edition I will use all your comments to improve the presentation of the sheets. It goes without saying that in the next sheets, starting with No. 821 (up to this No. have already been printed), I will keep in mind all your instructions, although in the future I do not consider myself protected from possible errors and shortcomings. As for the note at the end of the sheets regarding the conditions for their release, it turns out to be necessary in many experiments for those who participate in their distribution. For such an intermediary, it is enough to point out this mark to the buyer in order to stop any dispute about the price of the leaflet, and all intermediaries in the distribution of leaflets ask me to do this. We have to temporarily endure this order until the sheets make up a whole book, which can then be published without any such notes. Bringing to the Supreme Court my deep filial gratitude for the merciful and condescending attention to my weak work, with the utmost respect and filial devotion... Well, what do you say? I’m thinking of writing something like this.” 200 Thus, from the contents of this letter we learn that Archimandrite Nikon sent his “Leaflets” with the text of the interpretation printed in them to the metropolitan, whose name is not mentioned in the letter (perhaps it was Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Sergius (Lyapidevsky) (1820–1898), a famous spiritual writer, for feedback and comments. The leaflets themselves, in the amount of 12, are attached to this letter. 201 They are not handwritten, but printed, with pencil notes left by the Metropolitan’s hand. Some chapters of the “Interpretation” are placed not in one sheet, but in several. Here is the content of the attached sheets: “Before reading the Holy Gospel” (sheet No. 801), “On the holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew and his Gospel” (sheet No. 802), “The Book of the Kinship of Jesus.” Christ" (sheets nos. 803 and 804), "Revelation of the Mystery to the Righteous Joseph" (sheets nos. 805-807), "Adoration of the Magi" (sheets nos. 808-810), "Flight into Egypt and the Massacre of the Innocents" (sheets no. 811-812). Of these, attention should be paid to the second sheet, entitled "On the Holy Apostle and Evangelist." Matthew and his Gospel." 202 Its text is widely known and accessible today, so there is no need to quote it in full. Suffice it to say that it consists of the following points: Q) Where did he preach about Christ the Savior? D) When did he write his Gospel? E) What language did you write it in? G) Who translated it into Greek? H) What does the word “Gospel” mean? I) Where does the name evangelist come from? J) Where did the inscriptions of the Gospels come from (“From Mark”, “From Matthew”...). K) Eyewitness accounts (about this). M) Symbol of the Gospel of Matthew (Angel of God). The information presented in the chapter “About the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew and his Gospel”, without a doubt, is of great importance for everyone who is interested in the history of the Gospels. However, of greatest interest to us is the note printed at the bottom of the sheet, which states the following: “Proposed information about St. The evangelist and his Gospels belong in Bose to the late Bishop Theophan, who himself intended to take upon himself the work of a complete explanation of St. Gospel, but did not have time to fulfill this intention. We are happy that we have the opportunity to begin our humble work with the lines belonging to this divinely enlightened interpreter of Holy Scripture.” 203 Thus, the cited chapter of the “Interpretation” of Archimandrite Nikon (Rozhdestvensky) about the holy evangelist Matthew and his Gospel actually belongs to the pen of St. Theophan. However, in none of the subsequent editions of the Interpretation do we find a single mention of this, not a single note about the authorship of the Vyshensky recluse. How did this happen? It was already said earlier that the metropolitan, unknown to us, left his notes in pencil in the text of the “Leaflets” with the interpretation. Among them there is one concerning a fragment indicating the authorship of St. Theophan. In the margin opposite it there is a vertical line and a question mark. As you know, Bishop Nikon (Rozhdestvensky) treated Saint Theophan with great respect and often asked his advice on this or that issue, as can be seen from their correspondence. Apparently, it was completely natural for him to include in his work, which was also blessed by Saint Theophan, a text directly from his pen, especially since the holy ascetic himself had the intention of interpreting the Gospel. However, after a note made by a metropolitan unknown to us, the mention that the author of the chapter about the Evangelist Matthew is St. Theophan disappears, and in subsequent editions the text is printed without any special notes, as if its author was exclusively Archimandrite Nikon (Rozhdestvensky). Why this happened - we do not yet know; this issue requires further investigation, supported by archival documents, which we do not yet possess. For now, we can only assume that for some reason the Metropolitan did not like or was perplexed by this mention of the authorship of St. Theophan, and he recommended that it be removed from the text. Unfortunately, we also do not know in what form Father Mikhail conveyed the Metropolitan’s comments on the “Interpretation” to Father Nikon - in writing, or in a personal conversation. If we could find these comments expressed in written form somewhere, it would greatly shed light on the problem that interests us. The archival fund of the Right Reverend Nikon (Rozhdestvensky) was at one time allocated from a larger fund of documents of the Trinity of Sergius Lavra, which entered the Manuscripts Department in 1920 (NIOR RSL. F. 303 and 304). Undoubtedly, the desire to fully clarify all the circumstances of this story will serve as a reason for a more in-depth study of the archival materials of these funds by interested researchers and specialists in church history. In addition, the found work of the Right Reverend Theophan is a printed document, and if his manuscript had been discovered in the collections of the Scientific Research Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library or anywhere else, this would have become a very significant event. In the meantime, we can rejoice in the fact that, despite the fact that many facts of this history remain unclear to us, the previously unknown work of St. Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky, has been identified thanks to ongoing archival research and will be able to take its rightful place in the Complete Edition of the works of the great ascetic of the Russian Church. Allotment memory is a document about the allocation of a plot of land, forest or part of rivers for fishing. Tikhon (Tsyplyakovsky), ig. The communal Vyshenskaya Assumption hermitage, historical sketch and description of it. Tambov, 1881. pp. 5–6. Kurnasov A., Jer. Holy Dormition Vyshensky Monastery. Ryazan, 2008. P. 11. Archimandrite Arkady, rector of the Vyshenskaya Hermitage // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1908. No. 45. P. 1978. Works like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse: Collected. pi sem. Vol. V. Ed. Holy Dormition Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery and Pilgrim Publishing House, 1994. P. 153. Letter No. 882. Korsunsky I. His Eminence Bishop Feofan, former Vladimir and Suzdal. Biographical sketch. M., 1895. P. 160. I. T. His Grace Bishop Feofan // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1894. No. 5. P. 78. Smirnov P. A. The life and teaching of St. Theophan the Recluse. Kaluga, 2004. P. 102. Khitrov M.I., Archpriest. His Eminence Theophan the Recluse of Vyshensky. M., 1905. P. 27. RGIA. F. 796. Op. 147. Unit hr. 467. L. 11–11b. Memory of His Eminence Bishop Theophan, who died in Bose // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1895. No. 39. P. 996. Soulful reading. 1894. Part II. P. 64. Vladimir Diocesan Gazette. 1897. No. 9. pp. 290–291. Faith and Reason. Kharkov. 1895. T. 1. Part 1. P. 43. Korsunsky I. His Eminence Bishop Feofan, former Vladimir and Suzdal. Biographical sketch. M., 1895. S. 166, 167. Memories of His Eminence Bishop Theophan who died in Bose // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1895. No. 39. P. 997. I. T. His Grace Bishop Feofan // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1894. No. 5. P. 79. Hegumen Tikhon (Tsyplyakovsky) lived in the Vyshensky Monastery from May 10, 1871 to April 10, 1874 and from October 10, 1886 to December 23, 1896. RGIA. F. 796. Op. 147. UNITS Chr. 467. L. 11–116. Korsunsky I. His Eminence Bishop Feofan, former Vladimir and Suzdal. Biographical sketch. M., 1895. P. 159. I. T. In memory of His Grace Bishop Theophan. Memoirs of the Vyshensky monk // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1894. No. 6. P. 112. I. T. His Grace Bishop Feofan // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1894. No. 5. P. 79 Dubasov I.I. In memory of St. Theophan // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1894. No. 43. P. 877. Letters from His Grace Bishop Feofan to A.D. // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1901. No. 49. pp. 1093–1094. Memories of His Eminence Bishop Theophan who died in Bose // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1895. No. 39. P. 999. Memories of His Eminence Bishop Theophan who died in Bose // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1895. No. 39. pp. 998–999. Korsunsky I. His Eminence Bishop Feofan, former Vladimir and Suzdal. Biographical sketch. M., 1895. P. 167. Kurnasov A., Jer. Holy Dormition Vyshensky Monastery. Ryazan, 2008. P. 46. Works like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse: Collected. pi sem. Vol. III. Ed. Holy Dormition Pskov Pechersk Monastery and Pilgrim Publishing House, 1994. P. 40. Letter No. 394. Right there. P. 43. Letter No. 398. Right there. pp. 43–44. Letter No. 399. Right there. P. 22. Letter No. 382. Right there. P. 49. Letter No. 404. Right there. P. 87. Letter No. 445. About the six-month commemoration in Bose of the late Bishop Theophan // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1894. No. 29. pp. 524–525. Svirin A. N. Following the letter of St. Theophan the Recluse to His Eminence Vitaly (Iosifov) // Theophan’s Readings. Ryazan, 2012. Issue. 5. P. 105. CIAM. F. 2355. Op. 1. D. 262. L. 48–49 vol. Korsunsky I. His Eminence Bishop Feofan, former Vladimir and Suzdal. Biographical sketch. M., 1895. P. 182. Letters in Bose from the late Bishop Theophan, a recluse of the Vyshensk Hermitage // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1894. No. 44. pp. 908–909. Korsunsky I. His Eminence Bishop Feofan, former Vladimir and Suzdal. Biographical sketch. M., 1895. P. 168. Tikhon (Tsyplyakovsky), ig. Stay of Their Imperial Highnesses the Blessed Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich with his wife Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna and the Blessed Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich on the estate of Messrs. The Naryshkins and their Highnesses’ two-time visit to the Vyshenskaya Hermitage // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1886. No. 21. P. 863. Memories of His Eminence Bishop Theophan who died in Bose // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1895. No. 39. P. 1001. Letter from Bishop Feofan to A.D. Tarbeeva // Soulful reading. 1903. Part 1. pp. 314–315. Memories of His Eminence Bishop Theophan who died in Bose // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1895. No. 39. P. 1006. Works like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse: Collected. pi sem. Vol. I. Ed. Holy Dormition Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery and Pilgrim Publishing House, 1994. P. 66. Letter No. 80. Right there. Vol. II. P. 153. Letter No. 296. Letters from Bishop Theophan to Archpriest Luka Yakovlevich Voskresensky // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1914. No. 9. P. 281. Word on the consecration of the church at the Catherine Plant by His Excellency Emmanuel Dmitrievich Naryshkin // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1871. No. 11. P. 615. Works like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse: Collected. pi sem. Vol. II. Ed. Holy Dormition Pskov Pechersk Monastery and Pilgrim Publishing House, 1994. pp. 43–44. Letter No. 230. Georgy (Tertyshnikov), archimandrite. Saint Theophan the Recluse and his teaching on salvation. M., 1999. P. 86. Works like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse: Collected. letters. Vol. II. Ed. Holy Dormition Pskov Pechersk Monastery and Pilgrim Publishing House, 1994. P. 45. Letter No. 231. Right there. Vol. I. P. 187. Letter No. 164. Right there. Vol. II. pp. 47–48. Letter No. 233. Korsunsky I. His Eminence Bishop Feofan, former Vladimir and Suzdal. Biographical sketch. M., 1895. P. 169. Works like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse: Collected. pi sem. Vol. II. Ed. Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersky Monastery and Pilgrim Publishing House, 1994. P. 48. Letter No. 233. Right there. Vol. VII. P. 153. Letter No. 1150. Right there. pp. 154–155. Letter No. 1151. Right there. Vol. III. P. 91. Letter No. 449. Memory of His Eminence Bishop Feofan, who died in Bose // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1895. No. 39. P. 1001. Korsunsky I. His Eminence Bishop Feofan, former Vladimir and Suzdal. Biographical sketch. M., 1895. P. 180. Works like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse: Collected. pi sem. Vol. III. Ed. Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersky Monastery and publishing house "Pilgrim", 1994. P. 69. Letter No. 425. Right there. Vol. II. pp. 142–143. Letter No. 289. Review of the saint's works. Quote by: Korsunsky I. His Eminence Bishop Theophan, former Vladimir and Suzdal. Biographical sketch. M., 1895. pp. 217–246. Korsunsky I. His Eminence Bishop Feofan, former Vladimir and Suzdal. Biographical sketch. M., 1895. P. 246. I. T. His Grace Bishop Feofan // Tambov Diocesan Gazette. 1894. No. 5. P. 83. Works like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse: Collected. pi sem. Vol. VII. Ed. Holy Dormition Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery and Pilgrim Publishing House, 1994. P. 43. Letter No. 1078. P. 44. Right there. Vol. VII. P. 49. Letter No. 1081. Clement, Metropolitan of Kaluga and Borovsk. Russian Athos as a factor in the spiritual enlightenment of Russia: to the 1000th anniversary of the Russian presence on Athos (1016–2016) [Electronic resource] / Access mode http://fund panteleimon.ru/press/smi/mitropolit kaluzhskij i borovskij kliment russkij afon kak faktor dukhovnogo prosveshcheniya rossii k 1000 letiyu russkogo prisut stviya na afone 1016 2016 gg (date of access 10/15/2015). Letter from Elder Silouan to Hieromonk Demetrius (Balfour) [Electronic resource] / Access mode: http://gorenka.org/index.php/pravoslavnaya literatura/6673 siluan afonskij tvoreniya?showall=&start=22 (date accessed 10.10.2015). Saint Theophan the Recluse. What is spiritual life and how to tune in to it? M.: Rule of Faith, 2009. Ch. 64. P. 272. Kirik, Schema-Archimandrite. Spiritual alphabet [Electronic resource] / Access mode: https://nasledie77.wordpress.com/2014/10/20/ (access date 10/11/2015). Letters of the Most Reverend Theophan the Recluse to the Athonite people // Soulful reading. 1894. Part III. September. pp. 113–115. Georgy (Tertyshnikov), archimandrite. The spiritual and literary activities of St. Feofan (Govorov) during the retreat in the Vyshenskaya hermitage [Electronic resource] / Access mode: http://azbyka.ru/ otechnik/Feofan_Zatvornik/dushepopechitelnaja i literaturnaja dejatelnost svjatitelja feofana govorova v period zatvora v vyshensko/ (date appeal 10.10.2015). Great guard. The life and works of the Athonite elders, Hieroschemamonk Jerome and Schema-Archimandrite Macarius, of blessed memory. M., 2001. Book. 1. P. 293. Letters from Bishop Theophan to N.I.K.// Soulful reading. 1903. Part 3. December. P. 641. Lizunov S.V. Feofanovsky archive on Mount Athos // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. 2012. No. 3. pp. 83–84. Chronicle of the first Russian spiritual mission in Jerusalem. Based on materials from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire and other archives / Comp. M.I. Shcherbakova // Holy Land. Historical and cultural illustrated almanac: To the 165th anniversary of the Russian spiritual mission in Jerusalem. Ed. Russian Spiritual Mission, 2012. pp. 12–59. RGIA. F. 796. Op. 128. Units hr. 326. L. 72 vol. – 73 rev. Creations like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse. Collection pi this: From the unpublished. M.: Rule of Faith, 2001. P. 183. RGIA. F. 1661. Op. 1. Unit hr. 1604. L. 10. Creations like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse. Collection pi this: From the unpublished. M.: Rule of Faith, 2001. P. 184. RGIA. F. 1661. Op. 1. Unit hr. 1604. L. 11. "Creations of St. Fathers in Russian translation" is a magazine founded by Archimandrite Philaret (Gumilevsky), a professor at the Moscow Theological Academy, in 1843; published until 1917 The dogmatic theology of Archbishop Anthony (Amphiteatrov) was translated into Modern Greek in 1858. Leontyev K. N. East, Russia and Slavism. M., 1996. P. 192. Christian reading. 1861. Part 2. November. pp. 270–306. Kherson Diocesan Gazette. 1864. No. 14. pp. 771–779. Joachim II (Constantinople; 1802 1878) - elected to the patriarchal throne on October 4, 1860; the first Ecumenical Patriarch, elected for life according to the provisions of the General Statutes; On August 18, 1863, he was forced to abdicate due to dissatisfaction with him on the part of the Synod members; re-elected on November 23, 1873 and occupied the throne until his death on August 5, 1878. James II Pankostas (Alexandrian; 1803 1865) - enthronement as patriarch took place on May 25, 1961 in Constantinople. Cyril II (Konstantinos Kritikos; 1795 1877) – Patriarch of Jerusalem and all Palestine from 1845 to 1872. The Nicomedia Metropolis was headed from February 1840 to August 22, 1877 by Dionysius II (Kotakis). The Princes' Islands are a group of nine islands in the Sea of ​​Marmara that now make up the administrative district of Adalar, Istanbul Province, Turkey. The historical Greek names of the islands (Prinkipos, Halki, Antigoni, Proti, Terevintos, Plati, Oxea, Pita and Neandros) are today replaced by Turkish ones (Büyükada, Heybeliada, Burgazada, Kınalyada, Sedefadası, Yassyada, Sivriada, Kaşıkadası and Tavshanadası). In the Byzantine Empire, the islands served as a place of exile for princes and other important persons, which gave them their name. Since the 19th century, the islands have become a popular holiday destination for wealthy residents of Constantinople. The New Bridge, or Valide Bridge, is the first wooden Galata bridge, built in 1845 across the Golden Horn Bay; named after Bezmialem Valide Sultan, mother of Sultan Abdul Mejid I, who was directly involved in the construction; there was a fee to cross the bridge. The Golden Horn divides the European part of Constantinople (Istanbul) into the Old City, located on the historical peninsula south of the strait, and Peru (Beyoglu), located south of the entrance to the Golden Horn. Constantine I the Great (272,337) - Roman emperor, founder of Constantinople as the capital of the Roman Empire, organizer of a new state system with Christianity as the dominant religion. Nissava (Nais, Nissa) is a city in Upper Moesia, a historical region between the Lower Danube and the Balkans. Constantinople is one of the names (Slavic) of the city, known in different eras as Byzantium, New Rome, Constantinople and Istanbul. Scutari is a city located on the site of the historical Chrysoupoulis (Chrysopolis) on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus; now – Uskudar. Armenian Patriarch – Sarkis V Kuyumtsuyan, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople in 1860-1861. Kamilavka - the headdress of clergy, symbolizing the crown of thorns of Jesus Christ and the mortification of the flesh; for the white clergy is a reward. Panagia is a badge of honor for bishops upon consecration. The Armenian Gregorian Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator (Sur Grigor Lusavorich) was built on the island of Proti (Kynalyada) in 1857 in the form of a basilica Greek hierarchs do not usually wear any jewelry; and the encolpion is placed upon oneself only during the celebration of the liturgy. (Author's note.) John VIII Palaiologos (1392–1448), Byzantine emperor 1425–1448 Nicosius Panagios is the first Greek Christian to achieve the position of dragoman of the Sublime Porte, which he held under the great vizier Ahmet Köprili; turned his influential position into support of Orthodoxy; did a lot to renovate monasteries in the East. Ypsilanti is a Phanariot clan, originating from the Komneni era; in the 15th century moved from Trebizond to Constantinople; in 1774–1898 Alexander Ypsilanti the Elder was the ruler of Wallachia and Moldavia. In 1846, a description of this monastery was published in Constantinople under the title: της θεοτόχον. (Author's note.) Photius (c. 820–896) – Patriarch of Constantinople in 858–867 and 877–896; Byzantine theologian. Herman IV (1790–1853) – Patriarch of Constantinople in 1842–1845 and 1852–1853. Ktitor (Greek) – founder, creator; the person who allocated funds for the construction, repair or beautification of a monastery or church. Konstantin (Tipaldos; 1795–1867) – rector of the Khalkin Theological School in 1844–1864, since 1848 titular Metropolitan of Stavropol (the city of Caria in Asia Minor). Kerkyra Guildford Academy is the Ionian Academy, the first university of modern Greece, founded in 1824 by Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guildford (1766–1827) in the city of Kerkyra on the island of Corfu, part of the Ionian Islands. Daskal - teacher, master (Greek). Barsky - Grigorovich Barsky Vasily Grigorievich (1701–1747) - Russian traveler, writer, publicist and pilgrim. Macarius of Patma - Macarius (in the world Michael Notaras; 1731-1805) - saint; theologian, together with St. Nicodemus Svyatogorets, the founder of the philocalistic tradition. Eugene (Bulgaris; 1715–1806) – theologian, figure of the modern Greek Enlightenment, Archbishop of Slovenia and Kherson. Nikephoros (Theotokis, 1731–1800) - Greek and Russian theologian, teacher and spiritual writer, Archbishop of Astrakhan and Stavropol. Gazi - Antimos Gazis (1758–1828) - Greek educator, philosopher, politician, writer and cartographer, one of the leaders of the revolutionary society Filiki Eteria. Vamva - Neophytos Vamvas (1776–1855) - Greek priest and scientist, a prominent figure in the modern Greek Enlightenment. Ikonomou - Konstantinos Ikonomou (1780–1857) - Greek theologian and preacher, a prominent representative of the modern Greek Enlightenment, member of the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences. Ephraim the Syrian (c. 306–373) - Christian theologian and poet, one of the great teachers of the Church of the 4th century, who called himself “unlearned and unskilled.” Tantalidi Ilias (1818–1876) - Greek philologist and poet, since 1846 professor of Greek literature at the Khalkin Theological School. Patriarch Anthimus VI (1782–1877) – occupied the throne of Constantinople three times: in 1845–1848, 1853–1855 and 1871–1873. Patriarch Joachim II (Kokkodis; 1802–1878) – occupied the Polish throne of Constantinople twice: in 1860–1863 and in 1873–1878. Konstantin Typaldos (1795–1867) – archimandrite, first rector of the Khalkin Theological School (1844–1864). Joachim (Kokkodis; 1802–1878) – occupied the episcopal see in Ioannina (Ioannina) in 1835–1838 and in 1840–1845. Presumably Metropolitan Agafangel (Scholaris; 1818–1893) – elected Metropolitan of Zvornitsa in 1848; ten years later, having won the grateful memory of the Serbs, he was recalled to Constantinople, and was immediately sent by the Patriarchal Exarch to the Prussian Metropolis; in the summer of 1861 he was elected Metropolitan of Philippi, Drama and Sachnen; For many years he was ephor of the Theological School on the island of Halki. Metropolitan Anfim (Chalykov; 1816–1888) – first exarch of the Bulgarian Exarchate; graduate of the Odessa Theological Seminary and the Moscow Theological Academy with a master's degree in theology (1856); from 1857 he held the post of caretaker in the Russian embassy church in Constantinople; taught church history, Church Slavonic and Russian languages ​​at the Khalkin Theological School, of which he became rector in 1865–1868. Bithynia is a historical region in the north-west of Asia Minor; one of the main centers of resettlement of the Slavs during the Byzantine Empire. A natural consequence of the inconsistency of the “initiation into the surplice” itself. In the Greek Trebnik, there are only two rites of initiation into the lower degrees of the church: 1) the rite for the initiation of a reader and singer, and 2) the rite for the initiation of a subdeacon. Which of these two initiations is our “initiation into the surplice”? It is higher than the first and does not reach the fullness of the last. I am not touching on the subject from the canonical side. I just want to explain why our “clerks” were left with nothing but cassocks. The surplice took away their church cloak, placing them above the servants of the church, removing them from the crowd and classifying them among the sanctified. And the refusal to give them an orar did not give them the right to a cassock. (What is a cassock and what is its relationship to the surplice?) (Author’s note.) Demosthenes (384 BC - 322 BC) - famous orator of the Ancient World; his legacy consists of more than sixty speeches, distinguished by the nobility of thought and the majestic simplicity of language. Gregory the Theologian (329–389) – Archbishop of Constantinople, theologian, one of the Great Cappadocians; author of messages, poems, conversations. Angelo Mai (1782–1854) – Italian cardinal and philologist; publisher and researcher of ancient texts. Stephen of Byzantium (527–565) – Neoplatonist philosopher, representative of the Alexandrian school of Neoplatonism; grammarian; author of the geographical and ethnographic lexicon “Ethnica”, popular in Byzantium, created in 525–535. and dedicated to Emperor Justinian I. Banduri, Don Anselm (1671–1743) - Benedictine Byzantine scholar, whose works, among others, published a manuscript on the history of Constantinople Imperium orientale, a description of Roman and Byzantine coins Numismata imperatorum romanorum. Du Cange - Charles Du Cange (1610–1688) - French historian, medievalist and philologist, encyclopedist; one of the founders of Byzantine science in Europe. Meletius Pigus - Meletius Pigas (c. 1549-1601) - Patriarch of Alexandria in 1590-1601, contributed greatly to the establishment of the patriarchate in Moscow. Feodor Ioannovich - Feodor I Ioannovich, Theodore the Blessed (1557–1598), Tsar of All Rus' and Grand Duke of Moscow; third son of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible; canonized by the Orthodox Church. 6 Para is a Turkish silver coin, in circulation since 1623. The deacons of the patriarchate are generally known by these names. When talking about them, they are usually expressed in this form. Addressing them, they say: άγιε δευτερεΰων! etc. The Great Patriarchal Proto-Singel, in turn, is known under the same name as the Great. So, turning to him, they say: άγιε μέγα! (Author's note.) Alexander (Laskari, Laskaris) – graduate of St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (course XXIV, class of 1861), later Metropolitan of Sisania in Macedonia. For the pocket of privileged teachers and publishers of books of church singing, as the persecuted and triumphant Blade speaks publicly. (Author's note.) I have more than once heard Greek self-indulgence about the fact that the Greek churches in London and Manchester attract “the curiosity of the English, who attend the services with extreme reverence.” Heartily glad; but it’s just curiosity! As for reverence, this is hardly evidence in favor of the attractiveness of Orthodox worship. The task of the first importance for the Orthodox Church of our time is to make our divine services near, dear and beloved for everyone - not only according to tradition or custom, but according to its actual correspondence to the various needs of the believing society. The universal desire for order, beauty, cleanliness, intelligibility and musical harmony in church services cannot be stopped by anything. All this comes from the just idea of ​​the most perfect form of worship of God. Roman Catholics make enormous moral gains in the Christian (and non-Christian) world by carefully trying to satisfy the needs of not only the spirit, but also the heart. The splendor of their churches, the order and strict order of the services, the harmonious singing, the organ pleasing the ear, attract the soul seeking God. Even the Methodists, with all the emptiness of their worship, with the order of their prayer meetings and harmonious congregational singing, not without success, influence the Orthodox inhabitants of Turkey. Isn't it time to understand this? The patriarchal mantle is silk, purple, with sources of gold braid. A flap with gold fringe is sewn at the back - according to ancient custom. The tablets are brocade, without any decoration. Cerularius - Michael I Cerularius, Patriarch of Constantinople in 1043–1058, under whom the Christian Church was finally divided into Western and Eastern. Since the founding of the school, 89 diplomas have already been issued. The first number belongs to the current Metropolitan of Preslav. (Author's note.) Aristides (c. 530–467 BC) - Athenian statesman, commander; became famous for the fairness of his decisions, which he made based on national interests, often neglecting personal and group ones. Alcibiades (450–404 BC) - Athenian statesman, orator and commander; Along with noble character traits, he showed frivolity, audacity, and the desire to be the first everywhere. Kherson Diocesan Gazette. 1851. I again cannot keep silent about how happy I was at the appearance of this book by A. S. Sturdz. Handing me the copy he had received, he said: “Look at it, father, and give me your opinion. Isn’t it true, how gratifying it is to see such an experience in the young school of the ill-fated Church? Soon afterwards, the pious husband told the Moskvitian the following: “From now on, those who wish to study the language of the vast majority of Orthodox Christians, all those who will be given the lot of priestly service in Bulgaria, Bosnia and part of Macedonia, can prepare themselves for future labors. As the Chalkian spiritual nursery exhausts an increasing number of its pupils for the work of preaching, the relations between shepherds and flocks in the Slavic regions of the Turkish Empire will begin to improve; complaints and complaints, often justified, will fall silent to the chagrin and shame of Western infidels, who are diligently engaged in the systematic seduction of Orthodox Christians in both Turkey and Greece” (Moskvityanin. 1853. March 12). In the Slavic dioceses subordinate to the Patriarch of Constantinople, according to Fr. Neophyte, sacred worship, or all, or mixed with Hellenic; Slavic and sing and read. See the preface to the Reader. Recently Fr. Neophyte also compiled a Bulgarian (the first of this people) “Dictionary”, in which Bulgarian sayings are interpreted by Greek ones. Highly appreciating the selfless zeal of Fr. Neophyte to the success of his native literature and Slavic science in general, the All-Russian Holy Synod accepted the publication of the “Dictionary” into its care (report of the prosecutor of the Holy Synod for 1861, p. 69). The Greek churches usually receive these books from Venice. Library of the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery (BRSPM). F. “St. Feofan (Govorov)." Op. 24. For a description of the fund, see: Lizunov S.V. Feofanovsky archive on Mount Athos // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. 2012. No. 3. pp. 83–84. BRSPM. F. “St. Feofan (Govorov)." Op. 24. Doc. No. 33124. 80 l. NIOR RSL. F. 557 “Leonid (Kavelin)”. Unit hr. 12. 117 l. Schema-Archimandrite Moses (Putilov) - in 1826–1862. rector of the Vvedenskaya Kozelskaya Optina Hermitage. http://texts.news/bogoslovie teologiya/pravoslavie katolichestvo proti vopolojnost ili.html BRSPM. F. “St. Feofan (Govorov). Op. 24. Doc. No. 33124. L. 5 vol. NIOR RSL. F. 765. K. 16. Unit. hr. 10. Nikon (Rozhdestvensky), archimandrite. Letter to an unidentified person. 4 [November] 1898 Autograph. – 4 l. L. 1–1 vol. NIOR RSL. F. 765. K. 12. Unit. hr. 33. Feofan (Govorov), bishop. Letters to Nikon (Rozhdestvensky). 1889–1890. – 6 l. L. 4–5. NIOR RSL. F. 765. K. 16. Unit. hr. 10. Nikon (Rozhdestvensky), archimandrite. Letter to an unidentified person. 4 [November] 1898 Autograph. – 4 l. L. 2. NIOR RSL. F. 765. K. 5. Unit. hr. 42. Nikon (Rozhdestvensky), archimandrite. Letter to Khitrov, M. (1895?). Attached: "Leaflets for the Gospel of Matthew." – 26 l.