By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet government closed most of the country's churches and tried to eradicate Christianity, but in the souls of the Russian people the Orthodox faith was warm and supported by secret prayers and appeals to God. This is evidenced by the decayed finds that search engines encounter in our time. As a rule, the standard set of things for a Russian soldier is a party card, a Komsomol badge, an icon of the Mother of God hidden in a secret pocket and a pectoral cross worn on the same chain with a personalized capsule. Rising to the attack, along with the calling cry “For the Motherland! For Stalin!" the soldiers whispered “With God” and were already openly baptized. At the front, cases were passed down from mouth to mouth when people managed to survive only with God’s miraculous help. The well-known aphorism, tested and confirmed over the years, was confirmed in this war: “There are no atheists in war.”
Bleeding Church
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, a five-year plan aimed at the complete destruction of the clergy and the Orthodox faith was in full swing. Temples and churches were closed and the buildings were transferred to the local authorities. About 50 thousand clergy were sentenced to death, and hundreds of thousands were sent to hard labor.
According to the plans of the Soviet authorities, by 1943 there should have been no working churches or priests left in the Soviet Union. The sudden outbreak of war upset the plans of the atheists and distracted them from fulfilling their plans.
In the first days of the war, Metropolitan Sergius of Moscow and Kolomna reacted faster than the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. He himself prepared a speech for the citizens of the country, typed it on a typewriter and spoke to the Soviet people with support and blessing for the fight against the enemy.
The speech included a prophetic phrase: “The Lord will grant us victory.”
Only a few days later, Stalin first addressed the people with a speech, beginning his speech with the words “Brothers and sisters.”
With the outbreak of the war, the authorities had no time to engage in a propaganda program directed against the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Union of Atheists was dissolved. In cities and villages, believers began to organize meetings and write petitions for the opening of churches. The fascist command ordered the opening of Orthodox churches in the occupied territories in order to win over the local population. The Soviet authorities had no choice but to give permission to resume the work of churches.
Closed churches began to open. The clergy were rehabilitated and released from hard labor. The people were given tacit permission to visit churches. The Saratov diocese, which did not have a single parish under its control, leased the Holy Trinity Cathedral in 1942. After some time, the Church of the Holy Spirit and some other churches opened.
During the war, the Russian Orthodox Church became Stalin's adviser. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief invited the main clergy to Moscow to discuss the further development of Orthodoxy and the opening of theological academies and schools. The permission to elect the main patriarch of the country came as a complete surprise to the Russian church. On September 8, 1943, by decision of the Local Council, our Orthodox Church acquired a newly elected Head, Metropolitan Sergius of Starogorodsky.
Fathers on the front line
Some priests supported the people in the rear, instilling faith in victory, while others dressed in soldiers' greatcoats and went to the front. No one knows how many priests without a cassock and a cross, with a prayer on their lips, went to attack the enemy. In addition, they supported the spirit of Soviet soldiers by holding conversations in which the mercy of the Lord and his help in defeating the enemy were preached. According to Soviet statistics, about 40 clergy were awarded medals “For the Defense of Moscow” and “For the Defense of Leningrad.” More than 50 priests received awards for valiant work. Father-soldiers who lagged behind the army enlisted in partisan detachments and helped destroy the enemy in the occupied territories. Several dozen people received medals “Partisans of the Great Patriotic War.”
Many clergy, rehabilitated from the camps, went straight to the front line. Patriarch of All Rus' Pimen, having served time in hard labor, joined the Red Army and by the end of the war had the rank of major. Many Russian soldiers who survived this terrible war returned home and became priests. Machine gunner Konoplev became Metropolitan Alexy after the war. Boris Kramarenko, a holder of the Order of Glory, dedicated himself to God in the post-war period, going to a church near Kiev and becoming a deacon.
Archimandrite Alipy Archimandrite Alypiy, abbot of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery, who took part in the battle for Berlin and received the Order of the Red Star, talks about his decision to become a clergyman: “In this war, I saw so much horror and nightmare that I constantly prayed to the Lord for salvation and gave him the word to become a priest, having survived this terrible war.”
Archimandrite Leonid (Lobachev) was one of the first to voluntarily ask to go to the front and went through the entire war, earning the rank of sergeant major. The number of medals he received is impressive and speaks volumes about his heroic past during the war. His award list contains seven medals and the Order of the Red Star. After the victory, the clergyman dedicated his further life to the Russian church. In 1948, he was sent to Jerusalem, where he was the first to lead the Russian Spiritual Mission.
Holy Bishop Surgeon
The heroic sacrifice of all oneself for the good of society and the salvation of the dying by Bishop Luke of the Russian Orthodox Church is unforgettable. After university, without yet having church rank, he successfully worked as a zemstvo doctor. I met the war in my third exile in Krasnoyarsk. At that time, thousands of trainloads of wounded were sent to the rear. Saint Luke performed the most difficult operations and saved many Soviet soldiers. He was appointed chief surgeon of the evacuation hospital, and he advised all medical workers in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
At the end of his exile, Saint Luke received the rank of archbishop and began to head the Krasnoyarsk see. His high position did not prevent him from continuing his good work. He, as before, operated on the sick, after the operation he made rounds for the wounded and advised doctors. Along with this, he managed to write medical treatises, give lectures and speak at conferences. Wherever he was, he always wore the constant cassock and hood of a priest.
After revision and addition of “Essays on Purulent Surgery”, the second edition of the famous work was published in 1943. In 1944, the archbishop was transferred to the Tambov See, where he continued to treat the wounded in the hospital. After the end of the war, Saint Luke was awarded the medal “For Valiant Labor.”
In 2000, by the decision of the Orthodox Diocese, Archpriest Luke was canonized. On the territory of the Saratov Medical University, the construction of a church is underway, which is planned to be consecrated in the name of St. Luke.
Help the front
Clergy and Orthodox people not only fought heroically on the battlefield and treated the wounded, but also provided material assistance to the Soviet Army. The priests collected funds for the needs of the front and bought the necessary weapons and equipment. On March 7, 1944, forty T-34 tanks were transferred to the 516th and 38th tank regiments. The ceremonial presentation of the equipment was led by Metropolitan Nikolai. The donated tanks were used to equip the column named after. Dmitry Donskoy. Stalin himself declared gratitude to the clergy and Orthodox people from the Red Army.
Having united with the people, our Orthodox Church held divine liturgies in honor of the fallen heroes and prayed for the salvation of Russian soldiers. After the service, meetings were held in churches with Christians, and it was discussed who and how the Russian Church and civilians could help. Using the collected donations, the clergy helped orphans left without parents and families who had lost their breadwinners, sending parcels with necessary things to the front.
Parishioners from Saratov were able to raise funds that were enough to build six Alexander Nevsky aircraft. During the first three years of the war, the Moscow diocese collected and donated donations worth 12 million rubles to the needs of the front.
During the Great Patriotic War, for the first time in their reign, the authorities allowed the Russian church to hold a religious procession. On the holiday of Great Easter in all major cities, Orthodox people gathered together and performed a great procession of the Cross. The Easter message written by Metropolitan Sergius contained the following words:
“It is not the swastika, but the Cross that is called upon to lead our Christian culture, our Christian life.”
The request to perform a religious procession was submitted to Marshal Zhukov by the Leningrad Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky). There were fierce battles near Leningrad, and there was a threat of the city being captured by the Nazis. By a wonderful coincidence, the day of Great Easter, April 5, 1942, coincided with the 700th anniversary of the defeat of the German knights in the Battle of the Ice. The battle was led by Alexander Nevsky, who was later canonized and considered the patron saint of Leningrad. After the religious procession, a miracle truly happened. Part of the tank divisions of the North group, on Hitler's orders, was transferred to help the Center group for an attack on Moscow. Residents of Leningrad found themselves in a blockade, but the enemy did not penetrate the city.
The hungry days of the siege in Leningrad were not in vain for both civilians and the clergy. Along with ordinary Leningraders, clergymen died of hunger. Eight clergy of the Vladimir Cathedral were unable to survive the terrible winter of 1941-1942. The regent of St. Nicholas Church died during the service. Metropolitan Alexy spent the entire blockade in Leningrad, but his cell attendant, monk Evlogy, died of starvation.
Some churches in the city that had basements set up bomb shelters. The Alexander Nevsky Lavra donated part of the premises for a hospital. Despite the difficult times of famine, divine liturgies were held in churches every day. The clergy and parishioners prayed for the salvation of soldiers who were shedding blood in fierce battles, remembered the untimely departed soldiers, and asked the Almighty to be merciful and grant victory over the Nazis. They remembered the prayer service of 1812 “during the invasion of adversaries,” and included it in the service every day. Some of the services were attended by the commanders of the Leningrad Front along with the Commander-in-Chief Marshal Govorov.
The behavior of the Leningrad clergy and believers became a truly civil feat. The flock and priests united and together steadfastly endured hardships and hardships. There were ten active parishes in the city and northern suburbs. On June 23, churches announced the start of collecting donations for the needs of the front. All funds in reserve were given away from the temples. Expenses for maintaining churches were reduced to a minimum. Divine services were held at those moments when there were no bombings in the city, but regardless of the circumstances, they were held daily.
Quiet Prayer Book
The quiet prayer of St. Seraphim Vyritsky during the days of the war did not stop for a minute. From the first days, the elder prophesied victory over the Nazis. He prayed to the Lord for the salvation of our country from the invaders day and night, in his cell and in the garden on a stone, placing in front of him the image of Seraphim of Sarov. Indulging in prayer, he spent many hours asking the Almighty to see the suffering of the Russian people and save the country from the enemy. And the miracle happened! Although not quickly, four painful years of war passed, but the Lord heard quiet pleas for help and sent mercy, granting victory.
How many human souls were saved thanks to the prayers of the unforgettable elder. He was the connecting thread between Russian Christians and heaven. Through the prayers of the monk the outcome of many important events was changed. At the beginning of the war, Seraphim predicted that the inhabitants of Vyritsa would escape the troubles of the war. And in fact, not a single person from the village was injured; all the houses remained intact. Many old-timers remember an amazing incident that occurred during the war, thanks to which the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, located in Vyritsa, remained unharmed.
In September 1941, German troops intensively shelled the Vyritsa station. The Soviet command decided that for the correct targeting the Nazis would use the high dome of the church and decided to blow it up. A demolition team led by a lieutenant went to the village. Approaching the temple building, the lieutenant ordered the soldiers to wait, and he himself went into the building for a familiarization inspection of the facility. After some time, a shot was heard from the church. When the soldiers entered the temple, they found the lifeless body of an officer and a revolver lying nearby. The soldiers left the village in panic, the retreat soon began, and by the Providence of God the church remained intact.
Before taking holy orders, Hieromonk Seraphim was a famous merchant in St. Petersburg. Having taken monastic vows, he became the head of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The Orthodox people greatly revered the clergyman and came to him from all over the country for help, advice and blessings. When the elder moved to Vyritsa in the 30s, the flow of Christians did not decrease, and people continued to visit their confessor. In 1941, St. Seraphim was 76 years old. The reverend's health condition was not important; he could not walk on his own. In the post-war years, a new stream of visitors poured into Seraphim. During the war, many people lost contact with their loved ones and, with the help of the elder’s superpowers, wanted to find out about their whereabouts. In 2000, the Orthodox Church canonized the hieromonk.
The Great Patriotic War was a new stage in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church; the patriotic service of the clergy and believers became an expression of the natural feeling of love for the Motherland.
The head of the Church, Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), addressed his flock on the very first day of the war, 12 days earlier than Soviet leader Joseph Stalin (Dzhugashvili). “This is not the first time that the Russian people have had to endure trials,” wrote Bishop Sergius. “With God’s help, this time too he will scatter the fascist enemy force into dust.” Our ancestors did not lose heart even in worse situations because they remembered not about personal dangers and benefits, but about their sacred duty to the Motherland and faith, and emerged victorious. Let us not disgrace their glorious name, and we, the Orthodox, are relatives to them both in flesh and in faith. The Fatherland is defended by weapons and a common national feat, a common readiness to serve the Fatherland in difficult times of trial with everything that everyone can.”
The next day of the war, June 23, at the suggestion of Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky), Leningrad parishes began collecting donations for the Defense Fund and the Soviet Red Cross.
On June 26, 1941, a prayer service was held in the Epiphany Cathedral for the granting of Victory.
After the prayer service, Metropolitan Sergius addressed the believers with a sermon, which included the following words: “Let the storm come. We know that it brings not only disasters, but also benefits: it refreshes the air and drives out all sorts of miasmas: indifference to the good of the Fatherland, double-dealing, serving personal gain, etc. We already have some signs of such a recovery. Isn’t it joyful, for example, to see that with the first strikes of the thunderstorm, we have gathered in such a large number in our church and are consecrating the beginning of our nationwide feat in defense of our native land with a church service.”
On the same day, Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) of Leningrad addressed his flock with an archpastoral message, calling on them to defend the Motherland. The influence of these messages can be judged by the attitude of the occupation authorities towards the dissemination of pastoral messages. In September 1941, for reading the first message of Metropolitan Sergius in churches in Kiev, Archimandrite Alexander (Vishnyakov) - rector of the St. Nicholas Embankment Church - and Archpriest Pavel Ostrensky were shot; in Simferopol, Archpriest Nikolai Shvets, a deacon, was shot for reading and distributing this patriotic appeal Alexander Bondarenko, Elder Vincent.
The messages of the Primate of the Church (and there were over 20 of them during the war) were not only of a consolidating nature, but also had explanatory purposes. They determined the firm position of the Church in relation to the invaders and the war in general.
On October 4, 1941, when Moscow was in mortal danger and the population was going through anxious days, Metropolitan Sergius issued an Message to the Moscow flock, calling for calm among the laity and warning the wavering clergy: “There are rumors, which we would not like to believe, that there are among our Orthodox the faces of shepherds who are ready to go into the service of the enemies of our Motherland and the Church are marked with a pagan swastika instead of the holy cross. I don’t want to believe this, but if, despite everything, such shepherds were found, I would remind them that the Saint of our Church, in addition to words of admonition, was also given by the Lord a spiritual sword, punishing those who violate the oath.”
In November 1941, already in Ulyanovsk, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) addressed a message that strengthened the people’s confidence in the approaching hour of Victory: “May the all-wise and all-good Arbiter of human destinies crown our efforts with final victories and send successes to the Russian army, the guarantee of the moral and cultural prosperity of mankind.”
In his messages, Metropolitan Sergius paid special attention to believers in the temporarily occupied territories. In January 1942, in a special address, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens reminded the Orthodox that, while in captivity of the enemy, they should not forget that they are Russians, and that they would not, consciously or through thoughtlessness, turn out to be traitors to their Motherland. Metropolitan Sergius also contributed to the organization of the partisan movement. Thus, the message emphasizes: “Let your local partisans be for you not only an example and approval, but also a subject of constant care. Remember that every service rendered to a partisan is a merit to the Motherland and an extra step towards your own liberation from fascist captivity.”
The metropolitan's messages violated Soviet laws, for they prohibited any activity of the Church outside the walls of the temple and any interference in the affairs of the state. Nevertheless, all the appeals and messages issued by the locum tenens responded to all the main events in the military life of the fighting country. The patriotic position of the Church was noticed by the country's leadership from the first days of the war. On July 16, 1941, the Soviet press began publishing positive materials about the Church and believers in the USSR. Pravda published information about the patriotic activities of the Orthodox clergy for the first time. Such reports in the central press have become regular. In total, from this time to July 1945, over 100 articles and messages were published in the central press (the newspapers Pravda and Izvestia), which to one degree or another touched upon religious problems and the topic of the patriotic participation of believers in the Great Patriotic War.
Guided by civic feelings, hierarchs, priests and believers did not limit themselves to prayers for granting victory to the Red Army, but from the first days of the war participated in providing material assistance to the front and rear. The clergy in Gorky and Kharkov, and then throughout the country, organized a collection of warm clothes and gifts for the soldiers. Money, gold and silver items, and government bonds were contributed to the Defense Fund.
In fact, Metropolitan Sergius managed to legalize the collection of money and belongings of believers (illegal according to the decree “On Religious Associations” of April 8, 1929) only in 1943, after a telegram to I. Stalin (Dzhugashvili) dated January 5. It said: “I cordially greet you on behalf of the Orthodox Russian Church. In the New Year, I prayerfully wish you health and success in all your endeavors for the benefit of your native country entrusted to you. With our special message I invite the clergy and believers to donate for the construction of a column of tanks named after Dmitry Donskoy. To begin with, the Patriarchate contributes 100 thousand rubles, the Elokhovsky Cathedral in Moscow contributes 300 thousand, and the rector of the cathedral, Nikolai Fedorovich Kolchitsky, contributes 100 thousand. We ask the State Bank to open a special account. May the national feat led by you end in victory over the dark forces of fascism. Patriarchal Locum Tenens Sergius, Metropolitan of Moscow."
In the response telegram, permission to open an account was given. There were also words of gratitude to the Church for its activities: “To the Patriarchal Locum Tenens Sergius, Metropolitan of Moscow. I ask you to convey to the Orthodox clergy and believers my greetings and gratitude to the Red Army for caring for the armored forces of the Red Army. Instructions to open a special account in the State Bank have been given. I. Stalin."
With this permission, the Church de facto received the right of a legal entity. At the end of 1944, each diocese sent to the Synod a report on its activities in total terms from June 22, 1941 to July 1, 1944. The clergy and believers collected funds for defense needs, gifts to soldiers of the Red Army, the sick and wounded in hospitals , to provide assistance to disabled people of the Patriotic War, children and child care institutions, and families of Red soldiers. The collections were not only monetary, but also precious items, food and necessary things, such as, for example, waffle towels for hospitals. During the reporting period, contributions from parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church amounted to 200 million rubles. The total amount of funds collected during the entire war period exceeded 300 million rubles.
Of this amount of money collected, 8 million rubles were used to purchase 40 T-34 tanks built at the Chelyabinsk tank plant. They formed a column with inscriptions on the turrets of combat vehicles: “Dmitry Donskoy.” The transfer of the column to the Red Army units took place in the village of Gorenki, which is 5 kilometers northwest of Tula, at the location of the military units being completed.
The 38th and 516th separate tank regiments received formidable equipment. By this time, both had gone through difficult battle paths. The first took part in the battles on the Demyansk bridgehead, near Vyazma and Rzhev, liberated the cities of Nevel and Velikiye Luki, and beat the enemy near Leningrad and Novgorod. Near Tula, the combat paths of the regiments will diverge. The 38th will go to the southwestern regions of Ukraine, the 516th to Belarus. The military fate of the Dmitry Donskoy combat vehicles will be different. It will be short and bright for the 38th regiment, and long for the 516th. But on March 8, 1944, the day the church column was presented, they stood on the same snow-covered field. According to the state, each was entitled to 21 tanks. Only the 516th regiment received this number, the 38th received nineteen.
Considering the high significance of the patriotic act of believers, on the day of the transfer of the column a solemn meeting was held, at which Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) of Krutitsky spoke to the tank crews on behalf of Patriarch Sergius (Stragorodsky). This was the first official meeting of a representative of the episcopate of the Russian Orthodox Church with soldiers and commanders of the Red Army.
The 38th separate tank regiment was the first to receive baptism of fire in the Uman-Botoshan operation, participating as part of the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front in the liberation of the southwestern regions of Ukraine and part of Bessarabia. Having completed a 12-day combined march in the area of Uman, the regiment took battle on the night of March 23-24, 1944. By March 25, together with the rifle units of the 94th Guards Rifle Division of the 53rd Army, the settlements of Kazatskoye, Korytnoye, and Bendzari were liberated. The first battles brought the first losses of combat vehicles. At the beginning of April 1944, only 9 tanks remained in the regiment. But the will to win and the desire of the army to carry the name of Dmitry Donskoy on the armor with honor did not weaken. The personnel of the 38th Regiment distinguished themselves by their heroic actions during the crossing of the Dniester River and subsequent access to the state border of the USSR. For the successful completion of combat missions, by order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of April 8, 1944, the regiment was given the honorary name “Dnestrovsky”. In less than two months, the regiment fought over 130 km, and managed to overcome more than 500 km by marching off-road in its tanks. During this period, the tankers destroyed about 1,420 Nazis, 40 different guns, 108 machine guns, knocked out and captured 38 tanks, 17 armored personnel carriers, 101 transport vehicles, captured 3 fuel depots and captured 84 German soldiers and officers.
Twenty-one soldiers and ten officers of the regiment died a brave death on the battlefields. For their courage, valor and heroism, 49 tank crews were awarded orders and medals of the USSR.
Subsequently, while in the reserve of the Headquarters, the 38th regiment was renamed the 74th separate heavy tank, and then reorganized into the 364th heavy self-propelled artillery regiment. At the same time, taking into account the high combat merits of the personnel during the Uman-Botosha operation, he was awarded the title “Guards” and retained the honorary name “Dnestrovsky”.
Another regiment that received combat vehicles from the Dmitry Donskoy column, the 516th separate flamethrower tank, began combat operations on July 16, 1944, together with the 2nd assault engineer brigade of the 1st Belorussian Front. Due to the flamethrower weapons installed on the tanks (which were secret at that time), units of this regiment were involved in special combat missions and in especially difficult sectors of the front in cooperation with assault battalions. In the letter of gratitude from the regiment command addressed to Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) there were the following words: “You said:“ Drive out the hated enemy from our Great Rus'. Let the glorious name of Dmitry Donskoy lead us to battle, brother warriors.” Fulfilling this order, privates, sergeants and officers of our unit, on the tanks handed over to you, full of love for their Mother Motherland, for their people, successfully defeat the sworn enemy, expelling him from our land... The name of the great Russian commander Dmitry Donskoy is like unfading glory weapons, we carried on the armor of our tanks forward to the West, to complete and final victory.”
The tankers kept their word. In January 1945, they boldly acted in the assault on the strong fortifications of Poznan, and in the spring they fought on the Zeyalovsky Heights. Tanks "Dmitry Donskoy" reached Berlin.
The boundless courage and heroism of the tankers is evidenced by the fact that 19 people, fighting until their last breath, burned in their combat vehicles. Among them, tank platoon commander Lieutenant A.K. Gogin and driver mechanic A.A. Solomko were posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.
Thus, in the struggle for common ideals during the Great Patriotic War, the patriotic aspirations of Russian believers and clergy merged with the heroism and valor of the Red Army soldiers. As many years ago, the banners of Dmitry Donskoy floated above them, symbolizing victory over a strong enemy.
There is no doubt that fundraising for the Defense Fund, for gifts to the Red Army, to help orphans, disabled soldiers, and families of the dead was an important part of the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church during the war. But there was another most important form of activity - prayers for the victory of the Russian army. One of the greatest prayer books during the war years was Hieroschemamonk Seraphim Vyritsky.
When the Germans entered the city, the elder reassured many who were confused, saying that not a single residential building would be destroyed. (In Vyritsa, indeed, only the station, the savings bank and the bridge were destroyed.) For a thousand days he stood in prayer for the salvation of Russia. He offered constant prayer not only in his cell, but also in the garden on a stone in front of an icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov feeding a wild bear, built on a pine tree. The elder called this corner “Sarov”. In 1942, Father Seraphim wrote about his vigils:
“Both in joy and in sorrow, monk, sick elder
He goes to the holy icon in the garden, in the silence of the night.
To pray to God for the world and all people
And he will bow to the elder about his homeland.
Pray to the Good Queen, Great Seraphim,
She is Christ's right hand, a helper to the sick.
Intercessor for the poor, clothing for the naked,
In great sorrows he will save his servants...
We perish in sins, having retreated from God,
And we insult God in our actions.”
The elder saw the Victory, which he was bringing closer with his prayers. Father Seraphim did not stop receiving people after the war. There are even more of them. These were mostly relatives of missing soldiers.
Particular mention should be made of the patriotic activities of the Church in the temporarily occupied territory. Priests were sometimes the only link between the partisans and local residents and received the glorious nickname “partisan priests.”
The “Partisan of the Patriotic War” medal recognized the activities of Father Fyodor Puzanov from the village of Brodovichi-Zapolye in the Pskov region. During the war he became a scout for the 5th Partisan Brigade. St. George's Knight of the First World War, he, taking advantage of the relative freedom of movement allowed to him by the occupiers as a priest of a rural parish, conducted reconnaissance work, supplied the partisans with bread and clothing, was the first to give them his cow, and reported data on the movements of the Germans. In addition, he held conversations with believers and, moving from village to village, introduced residents to the situation in the country and at the fronts. In January 1944, during the retreat of German troops, Father Theodore saved more than 300 of his fellow countrymen from being deported to Germany.
Father Vasily Kopychko, rector of the Odrizhinskaya Assumption Church in the Ivanovo district of the Pinsk region in Belarus, was also a “partisan priest.” From the beginning of the war, he performed divine services at night, without lighting, so as not to be noticed by the Germans. The pastor introduced the parishioners to the reports of the Information Bureau and the messages of Metropolitan Sergius. Later, Father Vasily became a partisan liaison and continued to be one until the liberation of Belarus.
The monastics also made their contribution to the victory. (At the end of the war, not a single active monastery remained on the territory of the RSFSR; only in the annexed regions of Moldova, Ukraine, and Belarus there were 46.) During the years of occupation, 29 Orthodox monasteries resumed their activities in the territory temporarily occupied by the enemy. For example, the Kursk Holy Trinity Convent began operating in March 1942. In just a few months of 1944, the nuns donated 70 thousand rubles to the Defense Fund, the Dnepropetrovsk Tikhvin Convent - 50 thousand, the Odessa Mikhailovsky Convent - 100 thousand . rubles. The nuns helped the Red Army not only with donations, but also by collecting warm clothes and towels, which were so needed in hospitals and medical battalions. The nuns of the Odessa St. Michael's Convent, together with their abbess, Abbess Anatolia (Bukach), collected and donated a significant amount of medicines to military doctors.
Patriotic church activities in the first years of the war were noticed and appreciated by the Soviet leadership, having a certain influence on the change in the religious policy of the state during the war period.
On the day of Easter, May 6, 1945, in his diary the writer M. M. Prishvin wrote: “... We were near the Church of St. John the Warrior in a close crowd, going far beyond the church fence into the street. Steam from the breath of those standing in the church poured out of the side door above their heads. If only a foreigner could see how Russians pray and what they rejoice at! When “Christ is Risen!” was heard from the church. and all the people joined in - it was joy!
No, the victory was not achieved by cold calculation alone: the roots of victory must be sought here, in this joy of closed breaths. I know that it was not Christ who led people to war and no one was happy about the war, but again, it was not just calculation and external calculation that determined victory. And when now every commoner, led by his interlocutor into thinking about life, says: “No, there is something!” - he turns this “no” to the atheists and to himself, who did not believe in victory. And then “something” is God, who determines, as in this Matins, his internal organization and free order, and this “something” (God) is!”
Each era in its own way tested the patriotism of believers, constantly educated by the Russian Orthodox Church, their willingness and ability to serve reconciliation and truth. And each era has preserved in church history, along with the lofty images of saints and ascetics, examples of patriotic and peacemaking service to the Motherland and the people of the best representatives of the Church.
Russian history is dramatic. Not a single century has passed without wars, large or small, that tormented our people and our land. The Russian Church, condemning the war of aggression, has at all times blessed the feat of defense and defense of the native people and the Fatherland. The history of Ancient Rus' allows us to trace the constant influence of the Russian Church and great church historical figures on social events and the destinies of people.
The beginning of the twentieth century in our history was marked by two bloody wars: the Russian-Japanese (1904) and the First World War (1914), during which the Russian Orthodox Church provided effective mercy, helping war-dispossessed refugees and evacuees, the hungry and wounded, creating There are infirmaries and hospitals in the monasteries.
The 1941 war struck our land as a terrible disaster. Metropolitan Sergius, who headed the Russian Orthodox Church after Patriarch Tikhon, wrote in his Appeal to pastors and believers on the very first day of the war: “Our Orthodox Church has always shared the fate of the people... She will not abandon her people even now. She blesses with heavenly blessing the upcoming national feat... blesses all Orthodox Christians for the defense of the sacred borders of our Motherland...” Addressing Soviet soldiers and officers brought up in the spirit of devotion to another - the socialist Fatherland, its other symbols - the party, the Komsomol, the ideals of communism , the archpastor calls on them to follow the example of the Orthodox great-grandfathers, who valiantly repelled the enemy invasion of Rus', to be equal to those who, through feats of arms and heroic courage, proved their holy, sacrificial love for her. It is characteristic that he calls the army Orthodox; he calls for sacrificing oneself in battle for the Motherland and faith.
At the call of Metropolitan Sergius, from the very beginning of the war, Orthodox believers collected donations for defense needs. In Moscow alone, in the first year of the war, parishes collected more than three million rubles to help the front. 5.5 million rubles were collected in the churches of besieged, exhausted Leningrad. The Gorky church community donated more than 4 million rubles to the defense fund. And there are many such examples. These funds, collected by the Russian Orthodox Church, were invested in the creation of the Alexander Nevsky flight squadron and the Dmitry Donskoy tank column. In addition, the fees were used to maintain hospitals, help disabled war veterans and orphanages. Everywhere they offered up fervent prayers in churches for victory over fascism, for their children and fathers on the fronts fighting for the Fatherland. The losses suffered by our people in the Patriotic War of 41-45 are colossal.
It must be said that after the German attack on the USSR, the position of the Church changed dramatically: on the one hand, the locum tenens Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) immediately took a patriotic position; but, on the other hand, the occupiers came with an essentially false, but outwardly effective slogan - the liberation of Christian civilization from Bolshevik barbarism. It is known that Stalin was in panic, and only on the tenth day of the Nazi invasion he addressed the people through a loudspeaker in an intermittent voice: “Dear compatriots! Brothers and sisters!...". He also had to remember the Christian appeal of believers to each other.
The day of Hitler's attack fell on June 22, this is the day of the Orthodox holiday of All Saints who shone in the Russian land. And this is not accidental. This is the day of the new martyrs - the many millions of victims of the Lenin-Stalinist terror. Any believer could interpret this attack as retribution for the beating and torment of the righteous, for the fight against God, for the last “godless five-year plan” announced by the communists. All over the country, bonfires of icons, religious books and sheet music of many great Russian composers (Bortnyansky, Glinka, Tchaikovsky), the Bible and the Gospel burned. The Union of Militant Atheists (LUA) organized bacchanals and pandemoniums of anti-religious content. These were real anti-Christian sabbaths, unsurpassed in their ignorance, blasphemy, and outrage against the sacred feelings and traditions of their ancestors. Churches were closed everywhere, clergy and Orthodox confessors were exiled to the Gulag; There was a total destruction of the spiritual foundations in the country - honor, conscience, decency, mercy. All this continued with manic desperation under the leadership first of the “leader of the world revolution”, and then of his successor, J. Stalin.
Therefore, for believers, this was a well-known compromise: either unite to resist the invasion in the hope that after the war everything will change, that this will be a harsh lesson for the tormentors, perhaps the war will sober up the authorities and force them to abandon the atheistic ideology and policy towards the Church. Or recognize the war as an opportunity to overthrow the communists by entering into an alliance with the enemy. It was a choice between two evils - either an alliance with the internal enemy against the external enemy, or vice versa. And it must be said that this was often an insoluble tragedy of the Russian people on both sides of the front during the war. But the Holy Scripture itself said that “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy...” (John 10:10). And the treacherous and cruel enemy knew neither pity nor mercy - more than 20 million died on the battlefield, tortured in fascist concentration camps, ruins and fires in place of flourishing cities and villages. Ancient Pskov, Novgorod, Kyiv, Kharkov, Grodno, and Minsk churches were barbarically destroyed; Our ancient cities and unique monuments of Russian church and civil history were bombed to the ground.
“War is a terrible and disastrous business for those who undertake it needlessly, without truth, with the greed of robbery and enslavement; all the shame and curse of heaven lies on him for the blood and for the misfortunes of his own and others,” he wrote in his address to to believers June 26, 1941 Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad and Novgorod, who shared with his flock all the hardships and deprivations of the two-year siege of Leningrad.
On June 22, 1941, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) had just served the festive liturgy when he was informed about the beginning of the war. He immediately delivered a patriotic speech-sermon that in this time of general trouble, the Church “will not abandon its people even now. She blesses...and the upcoming national feat.” Anticipating the possibility of an alternative solution for the believers, the bishop called on the priesthood not to indulge in thoughts “about possible benefits on the other side of the front.” In October, when the Germans were already standing near Moscow, Metropolitan Sergius condemned those priests and bishops who, finding themselves under occupation, began to collaborate with the Germans. This, in particular, concerned another metropolitan, Sergius (Voskresensky), exarch of the Baltic republics, who remained in the occupied territory, in Riga, and made his choice in favor of the occupiers. The situation was not easy. Incredulous Stalin, however, despite the appeal, sent Vladyka Sergius (Stragorodsky) to Ulyanovsk, allowing him to return to Moscow only in 1943.
The Germans' policy in the occupied territories was quite flexible; they often opened churches desecrated by the communists, and this was a serious counterbalance to the imposed atheistic worldview. Stalin also understood this. To confirm Stalin in the possibility of changing church policy, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) on November 11, 1941. writes a message in which, in particular, he seeks to deprive Hitler of his claims to the role of defender of Christian civilization: “Progressive humanity declared a holy war on Hitler for Christian civilization, for freedom of conscience and religion.” However, the topic of protecting Christian civilization was never directly accepted by Stalinist propaganda. To a greater or lesser extent, all concessions to the Church were made by him until 1943. cosmetic nature.
In the Nazi camp, Alfred Rosenberg, who headed the Eastern Ministry, was responsible for church policy in the occupied territories, being the governor-general of the “Eastern Land,” as the territory of the USSR under the Germans was officially called. He was against the creation of territorial unified national church structures and was generally a convinced enemy of Christianity. As is known, the Nazis used various occult practices to achieve power over other peoples, and even the mysterious SS structure “Ananerbe” was created, which made voyages to the Himalayas, Shambhala and other “places of power”, and the SS organization itself was built on the principle of a knightly order with corresponding “initiations”, hierarchy and represented the Hitlerite oprichnina. His attributes were runic signs: double lightning bolts, a swastika, a skull and crossbones. Anyone who joined this order clothed himself in the black vestments of the “Fuhrer's Guard”, became an accomplice in the sinister karma of this satanic semi-sect and sold his soul to the devil.
Rosenberg especially hated Catholicism, believing that it represented a force capable of resisting political totalitarianism. He saw Orthodoxy as a kind of colorful ethnographic ritual, preaching meekness and humility, which only played into the hands of the Nazis. The main thing is to prevent its centralization and transformation into a single national church. However, Rosenberg and Hitler had serious disagreements, since the former’s program included the transformation of all nationalities of the USSR into formally independent states under the control of Germany, and the latter was fundamentally against the creation of any states in the east, believing that all Slavs should become slaves of the Germans. Others must simply be destroyed. Therefore, in Kyiv, at Babi Yar, machine gun fire did not subside for days. The death conveyor here worked smoothly. More than 100 thousand killed - such is the bloody harvest of Babyn Yar, which became a symbol of the Holocaust of the twentieth century. The Gestapo, together with their police henchmen, destroyed entire settlements, burning their inhabitants to the ground. In Ukraine there was not just one Oradour and not just one Lidice, destroyed by the Nazis in Eastern Europe, but hundreds. If, for example, 149 people died in Khatyn, including 75 children, then in the village of Kryukovka in the Chernihiv region, 1,290 households were burned, more than 7 thousand residents were killed, of which hundreds of children. In 1944, when Soviet troops fought to liberate Ukraine, they everywhere found traces of the terrible repressions of the occupiers. The Nazis shot, strangled in gas chambers, hanged and burned: in Kiev - more than 195 thousand people, in the Lviv region - more than half a million, in the Zhytomyr region - over 248 thousand, and in total in Ukraine - over 4 million people. Concentration camps played a special role in the system of Hitler's genocide industry: Dachau, Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald, Flossenburg, Mauthausen, Ravensbrück, Salaspils and other death camps. In total, 18 million people passed through the system of such camps (in addition to prisoner of war camps directly in the combat zone), 12 million prisoners died: men, women, and children.
The organization of Ukrainian nationalists (OUN) was also an accomplice of the fascists. The OUN had its headquarters in Berlin, and since 1934. was part of the Gestapo staff as a special department. In the period from 1941 to 1954. The OUN killed 50 thousand Soviet soldiers and 60 thousand civilians of Ukraine, including several thousand children of Polish and Jewish nationality. It is possible that these “patriots” would not have acted so cruelly if they had been restrained from unbridled violence by the Greek Catholic Church. During the ugly massacre of Lvov professors in 1941, the UGCC did not condemn the pogromists and did not prevent the bloody massacre. And on September 23, 1941 Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky sent Hitler congratulations on the occasion of the capture of Kyiv. He, in particular, wrote: “Your Excellency! As the head of the UGCC, I convey to your Excellency my heartfelt congratulations on the capture of the capital of Ukraine - the golden-domed city on the Dnieper, Kiev... The fate of our people has now been given by God primarily into your hands. I will pray to God for the blessing of a victory that will guarantee lasting peace for your Excellence, the German army and the German nation." Then campaigning began for those wishing to join the ranks of the SS division “Galicia”. Uniate priests, the episcopate and personally Metropolitan Sheptytsky were forced to take the path of blessing the fratricidal massacre. Recruitment points were located directly in Uniate parishes.
In the city of Skalata, a local Uniate priest submitted an anti-Semitic petition to the occupiers. In the city of Glinany, priest Gavrilyuk led a group of OUN members who killed all the Jews living in the city. And in the village of Yablunitsy, the local Uniate pastor provoked nationalists against defenseless Jews who were drowned in the Cheremosh River.
No matter what the “lawyers” of the OUN-UPA say today, who are trying to rehabilitate the militants as fighters against the German occupiers, they even awarded them the status of veterans today, but real veteran liberators will never “fraternize” with the “forest brothers.” At the Nuremberg trials, among other issues, the topic of the OUN was raised. Former Abwehr employee Alfons Paulus testified: “...In addition to the group of Bandera and Melnik, the Abwehr command used the church...Priests of the Ukrainian Uniate Church were also trained in the training camps of the General Government, who took part in carrying out our tasks along with other Ukrainians. ..Arriving in Lviv with team 202-B (subgroup 11), Lieutenant Colonel Aikern established contact with the Metropolitan...Metropolitan Count Sheptytsky, as Aikern told me, was pro-German, provided his home for team 202...Later Aikern as chief teams and the head of the OST department ordered all units subordinate to him to establish contact with the church and maintain it.” An indispensable ritual of the OUN legionnaires was to take the oath to the Fuhrer, in which Ukraine was not mentioned in a single word.
The Nazis proclaimed: “Germany is above all!” Where the nation is “above all” - above Christianity with its ethical laws and anthropological universalism, above the postulates of morality and norms of human society, “above everything called God or holy things” (2 Thess. 2:7), above FAITH, HOPE, LOVE, - there, nationalism turns into Nazism, and patriotism into chauvinism and fascism.
A gloomy autumn day. A column of exhausted, beaten and hungry people walked to Babi Yar along the sad road of death, under the escort of Germans and policemen. There were also Orthodox priests in this column who were sentenced to death as a result of denunciations by OUN members. Among the suicide bombers was Archimandrite Alexander (Vishnyakov). The story of his tragic death is recorded according to eyewitnesses who miraculously escaped death: “The column was divided. The priests were led forward to the edge of the cliff. Archimandrite Alexander was pushed out of the general group and taken about 30 meters away. Several machine gunners dispassionately and clearly shot at the group of priests. Then Ukrainian policemen in embroidered shirts and armbands approached Father Alexander and forced him to strip naked. At this time, he hid his pectoral cross in his mouth. The police broke down two trees and made a cross out of them. They tried to crucify the priest on this cross, but they didn’t succeed. Then they twisted his legs and crucified him on the cross with barbed wire by his arms and legs. Then they doused him with gasoline and set him on fire. So, burning on the cross, he was thrown into a cliff. At that time the Germans were shooting Jews and prisoners of war.” Gabriel Vishnyakov learned the truth about the death of his father from Bishop Panteleimon (Rudyk) in December 1941.
The essence of the ideology of racial superiority and hypertrophied nationalism was brilliantly shown by director Mikhail Romm in the epic film “Ordinary Fascism.” In these children's eyes, wide with horror, there is a reproach to all humanity. To paraphrase F.M. Dostoevsky, who spoke about the exorbitant price of one child’s tears, how can one not recall one of Hitler’s orders, which said: “Taking into account the fierce battles taking place at the front, I order: take care of donors for the army officer corps. Children can be used as donors as the healthiest element of the population. In order not to cause any special excesses, use street children and children from orphanages.” Meanwhile, the German government, through its direct intervention in the affairs of the Church, deliberately aggravated the already difficult situation in Ukrainian Orthodoxy. It registered two denominations as equal in rights: the Autonomous Orthodox Church, which based its canonical position on the decisions of the Local Council of 1917-1918, and also the autocephalous one, based on the movement of the schismatic self-saints of Lipkovsky V. The head of the Autonomous Church in the canonical care of the Russian Orthodox Church was Archbishop Alexy ( Hromadsky), whom the Council of Bishops in the Pochaev Lavra confirmed in the rank of Metropolitan-Exarch of Ukraine on November 25, 1941.
In Ukraine, church dual power was established, since, with the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), the obedience of the exarch was performed by Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) of Kiev and Galicia. In 1943 Vladyka Sergius was elected His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.
The Reichskommissariat “Ukraine”, led by the executioner of the Ukrainian people Erich Koch, following the instructions of A. Rosenberg to encourage anti-Russian sentiments among the population, supported the autocephalous schismatic movement. Rosenberg sent a directive letter to Ukraine dated May 13, 1942. with a direct indication that Ukrainians should have their own church structure, antagonistic to the Russian Orthodox Church. However, many bishops of the autocephalous schismatic church felt the inferiority of their canonical status. Reports from the German SD security service reported that on October 8, 1942. In the Pochaev Lavra, a meeting took place between Metropolitan Alexy (Hromadsky) and two autocephalist bishops, during which an agreement on unification took place. But the overwhelming majority of the hierarchs of the Autonomous Ukrainian Church rejected this plan, believing that in this case autocephaly would gain control over the Autonomous UOC.
Archbishop of Lvov and Galicia Augustine (Markevich) writes in the Bulletin of the press service of the UOC No. 44, 2005. : “The influence of autocephalists and autonomists in various regions of Ukraine was distributed unevenly. The overwhelming majority of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine remained within the Autonomous Church. In Volyn, where both church centers were located, the Autonomous Church had unconditional predominance in the areas located near the Pochaev Lavra. The northwestern regions were the basis of autocephaly. In Left Bank Ukraine, supporters of the Autonomous Church prevailed everywhere, with the exception of the Kharkov diocese.”
In Kyiv, parishioners did not accept autocephaly. The people of Kiev have always been distinguished by high canonical discipline. When the Soviet government in every possible way supported the self-sanctified Lipkovites, renovationists, “Living Churchers,” who, in essence, represented neo-Protestantism of the “Eastern Rite,” the people of Kiev simply did not go to their churches. So they radically “voted with their feet” against their lies.
December 18, 1941 Metropolitan Alexy (Hromadsky) appointed Archbishop Panteleimon (Rudyk) to Kyiv. However, representatives of the Melnikovsky OUN, who received leading positions in the city administration and created the so-called. “Ukrainian Church Council” began to threaten Archbishop Panteleimon and demand that he move to their schismatic camp. The OUN members allocated three churches to the autocephalous schismatics. This is all that could be done at that time, since the people of Kiev negatively perceived the idea of autocephaly. Vladyka Panteleimon had 28 churches under his omophorion, including the St. Sophia Cathedral, and famous shepherds served under him, such as priest Alexy Glagolev and priest Georgy Edlinsky - sons of holy martyrs, highly authoritative shepherds and confessors. However, the flock did not obey the “strange voice” (John 10:5), preferring real priests rather than those who boldly seized such a right for themselves.
The imposition of the Gregorian calendar by the occupation regime was a blatant violation of church norms and traditions. As one of the evidence, we cite the bulletin of the Security Police and SD dated September 21, 1942: “In mid-December 1941, some local commandants (in Strugaz and Ostrov), citing orders from a higher authority, demanded that the Orthodox celebrate all church holidays, as well as Christmas, in the Gregorian style. This demand caused a storm of indignation among the believers: “Even the Bolsheviks did not commit such violence against the Church... We will not submit...” The priest, not wanting to either violate church order or enter into conflict with the German authorities, had to leave Strugi. After this, the local commandant ordered to bring a priest from a neighboring village and forced him to conduct a Christmas service according to the Gregorian calendar... There were no parishioners that day, and the few who, out of fear of the commandant, attended the service were very upset and embarrassed.”
By that time, in addition to the autocephalous schismatic movement of Polycarp (Sikorsky), another schism was operating on the territory of Ukraine - the false church of Bishop Theophilus (Buldovsky), called the Lubensky schism, or in common parlance - “Buldovshchina”. Buldovsky proclaimed himself Metropolitan of Kharkov and Poltava. Shkarovsky M.V. in the book “The Russian Orthodox Church under Stalin and Khrushchev” he writes: “In general, the share of supporters of the autocephalous church by 1942. could not exceed 30%. Even in the Zhitomir diocese it was only a quarter, and in the more eastern regions it was even lower. Thus, in the Chernigov diocese there were practically no autocephalous churches.”
It must be said that the autocephalous structures did not bother themselves with conflicts with the Germans on a canonical basis. They ordained married priests as bishops and did not interfere with the introduction of the new style, not to mention the abolition of the Church Slavonic language in divine services. Ukrainian monasticism showed complete rejection of autocephaly. The occupation regime put a barrier to the spread of monasticism, in every possible way preventing the tonsure of people of working age as those evading labor service and deportation to Germany to the labor front. Members of the OUN, although they were at enmity with each other (for example, Melnik and Bandera), but as representatives of the civil administration under the occupation regime, they clearly supported autocephaly. S. Petlyura’s nephew Stepan Skrypnyk became a notable person in the UAOC Sikorsky. Since July 1941 he was a representative of A. Rosenberg’s ministry at Army Group South and was a trusted official on the organization of civil administration in Ukraine. Soon Sikorsky “ordained” Skrypnik to the “bishop” rank under the name Mstislav.
March 28, 1942 His Beatitude Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) again addressed the Ukrainian flock with an assessment of the anti-canonical activities of Polycarp Sikorsky. In his Easter message, the head of the Church wrote: “The real culprits of Ukrainian autocephaly should be considered not so much Bishop Polycarp or Metropolitan Dionysius, but rather the political club of the Petliurist party, settled in the German General Government in Poland... To top it all off, now we hear that the bishop Polycarp went to the fascist authorities and repeated the words spoken long ago: “What do you want to give and I will betray Him to you?” What else can one call Bishop Polycarp’s conspiracy with the fascists after everything that they are doing before our eyes, on our land, if not the most treacherous betrayal of the people’s cause, and therefore the cause of Orthodoxy?”
Let us note once again that the Nazis actively used the religious factor in their policy of conquest and occupation, skillfully inciting the religious antagonism of ethnic groups to set them against each other: Catholic Croats against Orthodox Serbs, Muslim Albanians against Montenegrins, Lutheran Balts against Orthodox Russians , Galician Uniates - to Catholic Poles. Himmler personally agreed to the formation of the three-thousand-strong SS regiment “Galicia”. The text of the oath of the SS Galicians is interesting: “I serve you, Adolf Hitler, as the Fuhrer and Chancellor of the German Reich with loyalty and courage. I swear to you and will obey you until death. May God help me." In addition to the SS division "Galicia", there were special Abwehr battalions "Nachtigal" and "Roland", which were part of the punitive regiment "Brandenburg - 800" and other formations of Ukrainian collaborators.
The people suffered victory. Once upon a time, the magazine “Atheist” in the June 1941 issue. wrote: “Religion is the worst enemy of patriotism. History does not confirm the merits of the church in the development of true patriotism” (Evstratov A. Patriotism and religion II Atheist, 1941. No. 6). These words were spoken a few days before the start of the war. So the communists tried to take away even the right to patriotism from the Church. The authorities went so far as to classify Metropolitan Sergius himself among the fascists! This is evidenced by a file stored in the NKVD archives in Moscow. According to the charges fabricated against Metropolitan Sergius and his closest associate Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky), they and other “church members” were part of the Moscow church-fascist center, which trained “sabotage personnel” and plotted “terrorist acts against the leaders of the party and government,” in which they were insidiously helped by the British embassy. The execution in this case on October 4, 1937 shows that the authorities were not joking. the elderly Metropolitan of Nizhny Novgorod Feofan (Tulyakov). The valiant security officers would have shot the Primate himself, but then political expediency prevailed.
When the hour came to fight the Hitlerite plague, the main anti-fascist and patriot sat in the Kremlin, shackled by moral paralysis, while the country was tormented by invaders. If our soldiers returned from captivity - to their native rear - the Gulag, oblivion, and death awaited them. Losses, grievances, deep grief and national sorrow, the early gray hairs of mothers and widows accompanied the war. She was accompanied by destroyed temples and desecrated shrines, the Holocaust of the Jews and the burning of Khatyn, the ovens of Buchenwald and the desperate courage of a simple soldier. “The darker the night, the brighter the stars - the greater the sorrow - the closer God is” - therefore, with all their formidable might, the people rose to fight the tyrant and crushed the fascist Moloch. For, according to the patristic saying: “God is not in power, but in truth.” And how can one not recall the lines of Marina Tsvetaeva (after all, a poet in Russia is more than a poet):
These are the ashes of treasures:
Loss and grievances.
These are the ashes before which
To dust - granite.
The dove is naked and light,
Not living as a couple.
Solomon's Ashes
Over great vanity.
sunsetless time
Terrible chalk.
So, God is at my door -
Once the house burned down!
Not suffocated in the trash,
Master of dreams and days,
Like a sheer flame
The spirit is from early gray hairs!
And it wasn't you who betrayed me,
Years to the rear!
This gray hair is a victory
Immortal powers.
Victor Mikhailovich Chernyshev professor of theology
To the 75th anniversary of the counter-offensive near Moscow
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the threat of complete destruction loomed over the Russian Orthodox Church. The country declared a “godless five-year plan,” during which the Soviet state was supposed to finally get rid of “religious remnants.”
Almost all the surviving bishops were in camps, and the number of operating churches throughout the country did not exceed several hundred. However, despite the unbearable conditions of existence, on the very first day of the war, the Russian Orthodox Church, in the person of the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), showed courage and perseverance, and discovered the ability to encourage and support its people in difficult times of war. “The protection of the Most Holy Virgin Mother of God, the ever-present Intercessor of the Russian land, will help our people survive the time of difficult trials and victoriously end the war with our victory,” with these words Metropolitan Sergius addressed the parishioners gathered on June 22, Sunday, at the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow. The bishop ended his sermon, in which he spoke about the spiritual roots of Russian patriotism, with words that sounded with prophetic confidence: “The Lord will grant us victory!”
After the liturgy, locked in his cell, the locum tenens personally typed the text of the appeal to the “Pastors and flock of Christ’s Orthodox Church,” which was immediately sent out to the surviving parishes. In all churches, a special prayer for deliverance from enemies began to be read during services.
Meanwhile, the Germans, having crossed the border, rapidly advanced through Soviet territory. In the occupied lands they pursued a well-thought-out religious policy, opening churches and conducting successful anti-Soviet propaganda against this background. Of course, this was not done out of love for Christianity. Wehrmacht documents released after the end of the war indicate that most of the open churches were subject to closure after the end of the Russian campaign. Operational Order No. 10 of the Reich Main Security Directorate speaks eloquently about the attitude towards the church issue. It stated, in particular: “... on the German side, in no case should there be any explicit support for church life, the organization of divine services or the holding of mass baptisms. There can be no talk of re-establishing the former Patriarchal Russian Church. Particular care should be taken to ensure that, first of all, no organizationally formalized merger of the Orthodox Church circles that are in the stage of formation takes place. Splitting into separate church groups, on the contrary, is desirable.” Metropolitan Sergius also spoke about the treacherous religious policy pursued by Hitler in his sermon at the Epiphany Cathedral on June 26, 1941. “Those who think that the current enemy does not touch our shrines and does not touch anyone’s faith are deeply mistaken,” the bishop warned. – Observations of German life tell a completely different story. The famous German commander Ludendorff... over the years came to the conviction that Christianity is not suitable for a conqueror.”
Meanwhile, the propaganda actions of the German leadership to open churches could not but cause a corresponding response from Stalin. He was also encouraged to do this by those movements for the opening of churches that began in the USSR already in the first months of the war. Gatherings of believers were held in cities and villages, at which executive bodies and commissioners for petitions for the opening of churches were elected. In rural areas, such meetings were often headed by collective farm chairmen, who collected signatures for the opening of church buildings and then themselves acted as intercessors before the executive bodies. It often happened that employees of executive committees at various levels treated favorably the petitions of believers and, within the framework of their powers, actually contributed to the registration of religious communities. Many churches opened spontaneously, without even having legal registration.
All these processes prompted the Soviet leadership to officially allow the opening of churches in territory not occupied by the Germans. The persecution of the clergy stopped. The priests who were in the camps were returned and became rectors of the newly opened churches.
The names of the shepherds who prayed in those days for the granting of victory and, together with all the people, forged the victory of Russian weapons, are widely known. Near Leningrad, in the village of Vyritsa, there lived an old man known today throughout Russia, Hieroschemamonk Seraphim (Muravyov). In 1941 he was 76 years old. The disease practically did not allow him to move without assistance. Eyewitnesses report that the elder loved to pray in front of the image of his patron saint, the Monk Seraphim of Sarov. The icon of the saint was mounted on an apple tree in the garden of the elderly priest. The apple tree itself grew near a large granite stone, on which the old man, following the example of his heavenly patron, performed many hours of prayer on sore legs. According to the stories of his spiritual children, the elder often said: “One prayer book for the country can save all the cities and villages...”
In those same years, in Arkhangelsk, in the St. Elias Cathedral, the namesake of the Vyritsa elder, Abbot Seraphim (Shinkarev), who had previously been a monk of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, served in the St. Elijah Cathedral. According to eyewitnesses, he often spent several days in the church praying for Russia. Many noted his insight. Several times he predicted the victory of the Soviet troops when circumstances directly pointed to a sad outcome of the battle.
The capital's clergy showed true heroism during the war. The rector of the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit at the Danilovskoye Cemetery, Archpriest Pavel Uspensky, who lived outside the city in peacetime, did not leave Moscow for an hour. He organized a real social center at his temple. A 24-hour watch was established in the church, and a bomb shelter was set up in the basement, which was later converted into a gas shelter. To provide first aid in case of accidents, Father Pavel created a sanitary station, where there were stretchers, dressings and all the necessary medicines.
Another Moscow priest, rector of the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo, Archpriest Pavel Tsvetkov, established a shelter for children and the elderly at the temple. He personally carried out night watches and, if necessary, took part in extinguishing fires. Among his parishioners, Father Pavel organized a collection of donations and scrap non-ferrous metals for military needs. In total, during the war years, the parishioners of the Elias Church collected 185 thousand rubles.
Fundraising work was also carried out in other churches. According to verified data, during the first three years of the war, the churches of the Moscow diocese alone donated more than 12 million rubles for defense needs.
The activities of the Moscow clergy during the war period are eloquently evidenced by the resolutions of the Moscow Council of September 19, 1944 and January 3, 1945. about awarding about 20 Moscow and Tula priests with medals “For the Defense of Moscow.” The authorities' recognition of the Church's merits in defending the Fatherland was also expressed in the official permission for believers to celebrate church holidays and, first of all, Easter. For the first time during the war, Easter was openly celebrated in 1942, after the end of the fighting near Moscow. And of course, the most striking evidence of the change in the policy of the Soviet leadership towards the Church was the restoration of the Patriarchate and the opening of the Theological Seminary for the training of future clergy.
The new vector of church-state relations ultimately made it possible to strengthen the material, political and legal position of the Russian Orthodox Church, protect the clergy from persecution and further repression, and increase the authority of the Church among the people. The Great Patriotic War, becoming a difficult test for the entire people, saved the Russian Church from complete destruction. In this, undoubtedly, the Providence of God and His good will for Russia were manifested.
Today, rarely anyone has any clear idea about the position of the Orthodox Church during the Nazi occupation of the western territories of the Soviet Union. It is known that with the arrival of the occupiers, churches began to be opened there, and services were resumed there. Maybe the Nazis patronized Orthodoxy? Not at all. In their religious policy, Hitler and the fascist elite pursued far-reaching goals, but they were well hidden. The Nazis treated Christianity of all denominations - Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Protestantism - with contempt and hatred. They extended to him their attitude towards Jewry, their extreme Judeophobia, and considered all Christian denominations to be branches of Judaism, since the Savior was a Jew according to the flesh. Their goal was to create a new religion, the religion of the “eternal Reich” based on a combination of ancient Germanic pagan beliefs and occult mysticism.
Since both in Germany and throughout Europe many people were still committed to their national Christian traditions, the Nazis planned to use all confessions and movements that separated from them, including any schismatics and sectarians, in order to create this new religion, using the ancient principle - “ divide and rule".
They intended to put all Christian churches under their control, to achieve their division, dismemberment into the smallest possible, supposedly independent “autocephalies”. They wanted to recruit and secretly take into service the most ambitious, selfish or cowardly churchmen, so that they would gradually, systematically carry out the ideas of the new religion through preaching and gradually introduce changes in church life right down to liturgical texts, statutes, etc. Transformation of all life and activities the Christian Church (essentially, their undermining) in the direction they needed - that was the goal of the Nazis when their occupation administration allowed the opening of churches. According to the Nazis, for the conquered peoples, for those whom they considered “Untermensch” (inferior race), such as all the Slavs, for them religious freedoms were supposed to become a temporary, “transitional” phenomenon. Imaginary loyalty to the Church, deception of the population and clergy, who were unaware of the far-reaching goals of the occupiers, allegedly opposing religious freedom to the anti-religious ideology of the Soviet state - this is what the confessional policy of the Nazis represented.
Of course, these plans were completely utopian and unrealistic. But the fascists began to implement them immediately, without taking into account the loyalty and devotion to the Church of its ministers and their flock. Several departments were responsible for the implementation of religious policy in the occupied territory of the Nazis - from the special Ministry of Religions to the military command and the Gestapo. Disagreements and friction often arose between them, mainly regarding means and methods of work, tactics in specific situations. This was successfully used by Orthodox bishops who had to bear the heavy cross of caring for their flock under occupation. A short story follows about some hierarchs who accomplished the feat of loyalty to the Mother Church - the Russian Orthodox Church and the Fatherland, and served them even until death.
Metropolitan Sergius
Metropolitan Sergius, Exarch of the Baltic States in 1941 - 1944 (in the world Dmitry Nikolaevich Voskresensky) was born in Moscow into the family of a priest. Graduated from seminary. After the revolution, he entered Moscow University, from which he was expelled (from the 3rd year of the Faculty of Law) as the son of a “clergyman.” In 1925, he took monastic vows at the Moscow Danilov Monastery. He was the spiritual son of the famous Archimandrite George (Lavrov), and shared his residence in the monastery cell with the later revered ascetic and perspicacious elder Pavel (Troitsky).
In 1930, he was appointed rector of the cathedral in Orekhovo-Zuyevo and assistant on legal issues to the Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) - the future Patriarch Sergius. In 1931, he became editor of the short-lived magazine of the Moscow Patriarchate. In 1932, Archimandrite Sergius was transferred to Moscow as rector of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Sokolniki. In this church in October of the following year, his episcopal consecration as Bishop of Kolomna, vicar of the Moscow diocese, took place. The rite of consecration was performed by several bishops, led by Metropolitan Sergius and the hieromartyr, Metropolitan of Leningrad Seraphim (Chigagov). Before the start of the war, Archbishop Sergius (Voskresensky) of Dmitrov was the manager of the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate. In 1940, he was sent to Western Ukraine and Belarus, then to Latvia and Estonia, after their annexation to the USSR, to familiarize himself with the situation of the Church there. On February 24, 1941, Metropolitan Sergius was appointed to the See of Vilna and Lithuania and the title of Exarch of Latvia and Estonia was added. With the outbreak of the war, Metropolitan Sergius did not evacuate, but remained under occupation. His further fate is extraordinary and tragic. A man of strong will, an unusually flexible and courageous mind, courage, and, of course, strong faith, Metropolitan Sergius heroically and sacrificially fulfilled his duty as a shepherd and head of the Exarchate and did many things that now seem beyond human strength. He managed to successfully resist the tactics of dismembering church and administrative units pursued by the Nazis. He not only kept the entire Exarchate intact, not allowing it to be divided into several pseudo-independent churches-dioceses, but was also able to resist local nationalist tendencies that could lead to an intra-church split. He managed to defend church unity not only within the territory of the Exarchate, but also its unity with the Moscow Patriarchate. In 1943, Metropolitan Sergius even managed to appoint a new bishop to the Riga See - John (Garklavs), whom he soon prudently included among the possible successors in the event of his death. The great merit of Metropolitan Sergius was his care for Red Army prisoners of war. The Nazis imposed a categorical ban on communication between the Orthodox clergy and prisoners of war, but for some time Metropolitan Sergius achieved its abolition within the Exarchate he headed.
Metropolitan Sergius took charge of the occupied part of the Pskov, Novgorod and Leningrad regions, where over 200 churches were opened. They sent a group of priests to Pskov, and the activities of the Pskov Spiritual Mission turned out to be very beneficial. There is direct evidence that the Mission’s work in the parishes even served as a cover and contributed to the partisan movement. Metropolitan Sergius opened theological courses in Vilnius. The courage, flexible mind and extraordinary courage of Metropolitan Sergius allowed him to defend the interests of his flock before the occupation authorities for almost three years. In Moscow, he was put on trial in absentia, “as having gone over to the side of fascism.” But in reality, Metropolitan Sergius served the Church and the Fatherland. After the war, there were rumors that he celebrated the victories of the Red Army in a narrow circle and even sang the famous “Little Little Blue Handkerchief.” This is most likely a legend, but a very characteristic legend, testifying to his reputation as a patriot.
The Nazis planned to hold a bishops' meeting in Riga with the aim of getting Metropolitan Sergius and the bishops to renounce their canonical connection with the Moscow Patriarchate, but it was thwarted by the Exarch. Metropolitan Sergius understood that he was risking his life, and prudently drew up a spiritual will, in which he indicated successively his three successors in case of death - Archbishop Daniel of Kovno (Kaunas), Bishop John of Riga and Bishop Dimitri of Tallinn. Documents have been preserved in the Berlin archives indicating that Metropolitan Sergius and his activities were like a thorn in the side of the occupation authorities. Among these documents there is information collected by the Nazis about Metropolitan Sergius, which includes listening to Moscow radio and singing a song popular in the Red Army. And they decided how to deal with him in Berlin.
On April 29, 1944, on a deserted section of the Vilnius-Riga highway, the car of the Patriarchal Exarch of the Baltic States, Metropolitan Sergius, was shot by machine gunners. Metropolitan Sergius and his companions died. The murder of the head of the Exarchate was attributed by the fascists to local nationalist partisans - the “green brothers”. The administration of the Exarchate was taken over by Archbishop Daniel, as the first of three bishops indicated in the will of Metropolitan Sergius. The grave of the murdered hierarch is located in Riga, at the Pokrovskoye cemetery.
What would have happened to Metropolitan Sergius if he had lived to see the imminent arrival of the Red Army? Most likely, he would have been repressed on the formal charge of collaborating with the occupiers. But such a case testifies to his loyalty to the Motherland and its Church. In 1942, a certain Archimandrite Hermogenes arrived at the Pskov mission from Germany, who was convinced that the “Moscow Church” was “red”, and potential Vlasovites should be called upon to “liberate the Motherland.” But after communicating with Metropolitan Sergius, this erring but honest monk decided to move to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, to Metropolitan Sergius, which he did. And he no longer remembered the purpose of his previous “mission.” In the churches headed by Metropolitan Sergius of the Exarchate, throughout the occupation, prayers were offered for the Motherland Church, they prayed for the salvation of the Fatherland and worked for its salvation. Nowadays the Orthodox people of the Baltic countries keep his memory. In the history of the Patriotic War, the name of Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky) is next to the heroes who gave their lives for the Motherland, for its Victory.
Archbishop Daniel
 |
The biography of Archbishop Daniel (in the world Nikolai Porfiryevich Yuzvyuk) is somewhat unusual for a bishop. He was born in 1880 in the family of a psalm-reader, and graduated from theological school at the Holy Dormition Zhirovitsky Monastery in Western Belarus. Worked as a teacher. In 1914, he entered legal courses in Petrograd. After the revolution, he worked in Kharkov, then in Vilnius, where from 1925 he taught at the Theological Seminary. In 1939, he became the secretary of Metropolitan Eleutherius (Epiphany) of Vilna, then became the “right hand” of Metropolitan Sergius (Voznesensky). Metropolitan Sergius was a very decisive bishop. In April 1942, he tonsured his secretary Nikolai Porfirievich Yuzviuk into monasticism with the name Daniel, in the same year, in a matter of days, he elevated him to the rank of priesthood from hieromonk to archimandrite and installed him as Bishop of Kovno, Vicar of the Lithuanian Metropolis . Having a faithful assistant in the person of Bishop Daniel, Metropolitan Sergius held a congress of Orthodox bishops in Riga in August 1942, which determined the integrity of the entire Exarchate, its loyalty to the Moscow Patriarchate and, as a consequence, the loyalty of its laity to their united Fatherland. The merit of Bishop Daniel in holding the congress of bishops and in its good results is very great. And all the activities of Metropolitan Sergius could not have been so successful if he had not had such a reliable comrade-in-arms next to him. It is no coincidence that Bishop Daniel was listed first in the spiritual will of the Exarch and became the successor of Metropolitan Sergius after his martyrdom. In the rank of Archbishop of Kovno, he was the temporary administrator of the Lithuanian Metropolis and the acting Exarch of the Baltic States. Archbishop Daniel did everything to preserve the work of Metropolitan Sergius. Circumstances were such that he had to leave the department temporarily. The situation at the end of the war was changing rapidly. Archbishop Daniel was unable to return to the see because the front line had changed. In May 1945, he was in a displaced persons camp in Czechoslovakia. In October 1945, he restored communication with the Moscow Patriarchate and in December 1945 received an appointment to the Pinsk See. But in 1949, when a new wave of repression began, Archbishop Daniel was arrested, convicted and served a prison term until 1955. Upon his release, the Church was unable to return the now elderly bishop to any department. In 1956, Archbishop Daniel was retired, at the request of the atheistic authorities, to the remote, outlying city of Izmail. All that was achieved for him was the right to serve in the city cathedral. Then Archbishop Daniel stayed for a short time in his native Zhirovitsky monastery and, finally, in the St. Michael's Monastery in the village of Aleksandrovka near Odessa. Archbishop Daniel soon lost his sight. Presumably this is a consequence of the conditions of detention. In 1964, he was awarded the right to wear a cross on his hood. This is all that at that time, under the dominance of state atheism, the Church could reward the archpastor-confessor, whose feat she always remembered. Archbishop Daniel died in the Alexander St. Michael's Monastery on August 27, 1965, on the eve of the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God.
The memory of Archbishop Daniel (Yuzviuk), a collaborator and assistant of Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky), who stood for loyalty to the Mother Church and the Fatherland under conditions of occupation, will be holy for all the faithful children of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Metropolitan Alexy
 |
A difficult biography of another wartime Exarch - the Patriarchal Exarch of Ukraine in 1941 - 1943. Metropolitan Alexy. It reflected, as if in a mirror, the complexities of the life of Orthodoxy in Western Ukraine. The future exarch (in the world Alexander Yakubovich or Yakovlevich Hromadsky) was born in 1882 into a poor family of a church psalm-reader in the village of Dokudowo in Podlasie, Kholm diocese. He graduated from the seminary in Kyiv and the Kyiv Theological Academy. Since 1908, he was a priest of the cathedral in the city of Kholm, a teacher of the law at the Kholm men's gymnasium, and an observer (nowadays this position would be called “curator”) of theological educational institutions of the Kholm diocese. In 1916, Archpriest Alexander Gromadsky left Kholm, served in churches in Bessarabia (now Moldova), and in 1918 became rector of the theological seminary in Kremenets. In 1921, he was widowed, took monastic vows with the name Alexy, and soon in April 1922 he was installed as Bishop of Lutsk, vicar of the Volyn diocese.
In October 1922, Bishop Alexy participated in Warsaw in the notorious council of bishops of the dioceses located on the territory of the then newly formed Poland. Then Metropolitan George (Yaroshevsky) of Warsaw, carried away by his ambitious desire to become the head of an independent church, followed the lead of the secular authorities and proclaimed the self-imposed autocephaly of the Polish Church, without turning to his legitimate head, Patriarch of Moscow St. Tikhon. To give the appearance of legality, Metropolitan George, under pressure from the civil authorities, invited the Ecumenical (Constantinople) Patriarch Meletios (Metaxakis), who in February 1923, without any canonical (legal) basis, “granted” autocephaly to the Polish Church. A number of other Local Churches (Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Serbian) did not recognize this “act”. Back in 1927, Metropolitan Dionysius (Valedinsky), successor of George (Yaroshevsky), traveled to the heads of these Churches, trying to achieve their recognition.
Unfortunately, Bishop Alexy of Lutsk sided with the autocephalist bishops, became a member of the autocephalous Synod, deputy chairman of the Metropolitan Council, and in 1927 accompanied Metropolitan Dionysius on his journey. In the autocephalous church he became a bishop, then archbishop of Grodno, and in 1934 - archbishop of Volyn. In Western Ukraine, the so-called “Ukrainization” of the Church was carried out. Nationalist tendencies were pursued, dividing the historical unity of all-Russian Orthodoxy; even in Divine services, the Church Slavonic language was replaced with Ukrainian. Archbishop Alexy actively “implemented” this Ukrainization. In 1939, when Poland was divided between Germany and the USSR, Western Ukraine was occupied by the Red Army. Archbishop Alexy was arrested in August 1939, but was soon released, and in 1940, after communicating with Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) of Kiev, who had the gift of persuasion, he transferred to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, remaining in the same Volyn and Kremenets departments. Soon the war began, the occupation of Ukraine, and the best part of the biography of this hierarch dates back to this time.
The occupation fascist regime decided in its religious policy in Ukraine to rely on the Polish autocephalist Metropolitan Dionysius (Valedinsky), to support his church first, and then to “cut” it into parts – Ukrainian (created in 1942), Belarusian “autocephalies”. And they, in turn, are divided according to “local characteristics,” etc. Archbishop Alexy did not recognize the claims of Metropolitan Dionysius and took a number of effective measures to establish canonical norms of church life in Ukraine. On August 18, 1941, he, as the senior bishop by consecration, convened and held a bishop's meeting in the Pochaev Lavra, at which the status of the autonomous Ukrainian Church in canonical dependence on the Moscow Patriarchate was determined. On November 25, 1941, this decision was corrected. For the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, the status of the Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate was adopted, i.e. the situation was restored to the pre-occupation time. Alexy (Hromadsky) was elected Exarch, and was soon elevated to the rank of Metropolitan of Volyn and Zhitomir, as a rank befitting the position of Exarch. At the same time, no “transfer” to the Kyiv See was made, since the bishops recognized this transfer as the prerogative of the head of the entire Russian Orthodox Church. The great merit of Metropolitan Alexy was the unification of bishops faithful to their canonical duty, and with them their clergy and laity. Observance of fidelity to the Mother Russian Orthodox Church by the Exarchate headed by Metropolitan Alexy was also observance of fidelity to the Fatherland, spiritual and moral opposition to the occupiers. At the end of Metropolitan Alexy’s life there was a difficult moment when all his beneficial activities were in jeopardy. He signed a preliminary agreement on unification with the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church, created in 1942 - it was headed by bishops Alexander (Inozemtsev) and Polycarp (Sikorsky). Metropolitan Alexy heeded their arguments and promises that with this unification each side would remain autonomous, that both sides would be able to help each other in difficult wartime conditions. But the bishops, on whom Metropolitan Alexy relied and who supported him, convinced him that the agreement would turn into deception, the churches of the exarchate would be captured by autocephalists, and unrest would begin, which would play into the hands of the Nazis. Metropolitan Alexy annulled the agreement and finally broke all contacts with the autocephalists. He did not yet know that by doing this he was signing his own death warrant. On May 8, 1943, during a trip around the diocese on the road from Kremenets to Lutsk in the forest near the village. Smyga Metropolitan Alexy was killed by Ukrainian nationalists. Probably, the occupation authorities wanted the murder of the First Hierarch of Ukraine to look like an internal Ukrainian “showdown.” But objectively, the murder of Metropolitan Alexy was retribution for undermining the religious policy of the Third Reich. The activities of the Exarch and the martyrdom of Metropolitan Alexy cover his past sins of participation in the schism of the Polish “autocephalists.”
Of course, Metropolitan Alexy (Hromadsky) was not such a powerful personality as Metropolitan Sergius (Voznesensky), but they are related by the commonality of accomplishing the feat of loyalty to the Church and the Fatherland under conditions of occupation and a common fate. Even the form of killing both Exarchs is common. And the memory of Metropolitan Alexy (Hromadsky), who suffered for serving the Orthodox Church and our united Fatherland during the Great Patriotic War, will be preserved in all future times.
Archbishop Benjamin
 |
Archbishop Veniamin (in the world Sergei Vasilyevich Novitsky) was born in 1900 in the family of an archpriest in the village of Krivichi, Minsk province. He graduated from the theological seminary in Vilnius and the theological faculty of the University of Warsaw in 1928. He was a village teacher and psalm-reader. In 1928, he took monastic vows at the Holy Dormition Pochaev Lavra. From 1934 he was rector of churches in Ostrog, then in Lvov, and dean of parishes in Galicia. Since 1937 - Archimandrite, Master of Theology for work on canon law. In the Pochaev Lavra he organized missionary courses to educate the Uniates. He taught at the Lavra monastic school. He was a great connoisseur and lover of church singing and organized choirs in all churches, where he was rector of the Pochaev Lavra. A few days before the start of the war, on June 15, 1941, he was consecrated in the Lutsk Cathedral as Bishop of Pinsk and Polesie, vicar of the Volyn diocese. The consecration was presided over by Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) of Kiev, Exarch of Ukraine. Bishop Veniamin chose the Pochaev Lavra as his residence, where on August 18 and November 25, 1941, with his active participation, episcopal conferences were held that determined the loyalty of Orthodox Ukraine to the united Russian Orthodox Church under conditions of occupation. In August 1942, Bishop Veniamin was appointed to the Poltava See. In September 1943 he returned to the Pochaev Lavra.
All the activities of Bishop Veniamin (Novitsky) during the occupation were aimed at preserving the norms of church life and preserving church unity with the Moscow Patriarchate, and this was, under the conditions of occupation, observance of loyalty to the united Fatherland. The merit of Bishop Veniamin must be recognized both for his weighty persuasive word and opposition to the preliminary agreement that was imposed on Metropolitan Alexy (Hromadsky) by the Ukrainian autocephalists. The authority of Bishop Veniamin greatly influenced the preservation of the true independence of the Church in Ukraine from all kinds of attempts to split it.
But during the war, the service of Bishop Benjamin was not appreciated. In 1944, he was summoned from Pochaev to Kyiv and here arrested on charges of collaboration with the occupiers. Bishop Veniamin was unjustly convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison, which he served in difficult conditions in Kolyma. But upon his release in 1956, he was immediately elevated to the rank of archbishop and appointed to the Omsk See. The authorities did not allow the honored bishop to return to his native land, where he was remembered and revered as a confessor. It was only allowed to appoint him to remote eastern departments. In 1958, he was transferred to the Irkutsk See, in addition, Archbishop Veniamin was also entrusted with the vast territory of the Khabarovsk and Vladivostok diocese for temporary administration. Here, during a trip around the diocese, Bishop Benjamin came under severe radiation, as a result of which he suffered greatly. All his hair fell out and his neck became bent, but to the surprise of the doctors, he not only remained alive, but also continued his feat of archpastoral service.
Archbishop Benjamin remained at the Irkutsk See for 15 years. The Church, as best it could in those years of prevailing state atheism, celebrated the great merits of the suffering archpastor. A cross to be worn on the hood, the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st degree - these are the awards that testify that Archbishop Benjamin was not forgotten, he was remembered and his great feat was highly valued by the Church. Only in 1973 was it possible to transfer the already elderly bishop from the Far East to central Russia, to the Cheboksary See. Confounding all the doctors' predictions, Archbishop Benjamin did not die soon. Despite his poor health, he did not interrupt his archpastoral work, did not retire, and continued serving until his death on October 14, 1976 (on the Feast of the Intercession of the Mother of God). His funeral service was performed by Archbishop John (Snychev) of Kuibyshev, the future Metropolitan of St. Petersburg. Archbishop Veniamin (Novitsky) was buried in the Vvedensky Cathedral in Cheboksary. The name of Archbishop Veniamin (Novitsky) should shine in our grateful memory among the names of those hierarchs who defended the independence of our Church under occupation, who strengthened their flock in loyalty to the Mother Church and the Fatherland.
Literature
- “Everyone is alive with God: Memories of the Danilov elder Archimandrite Georgiy (Lavrov).”
M. Danilovsky evangelist. 1996. - Golikov A. priest, Fomin S. “White with blood. Martyrs and confessors of North-West Russia and the Baltic states (1940-1955). Martyrology of Orthodox clergy of Latvia, repressed in 1940-1952.”
M. 1999. - Orthodox encyclopedia. T.1. 2000.
“Acts of His Holiness Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, later documents and correspondence on the canonical succession of the highest church authority, 1917-1943.” M. 1994. - Shkarovsky M. V.
“Nazi Germany and the Orthodox Church.” M. 2002 - Shkarovsky M. V.
“The policy of the Third Reich towards the Russian Orthodox Church in the light of archival materials from 1935 to 1945.” M. 2003