According to the website of the Argentinean Metropolis, starting from July, every Saturday at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Buenos Aires, the Divine Liturgy will be performed, accompanied by znamenny singing. The ruling bishop, Metropolitan Ignatius of Argentina and South America, and the clergyman of the Argentine diocese, Hieromonk Anthony (Zhukov), will sing at the kliros.
Thus, the newly appointed head of the Argentine diocese intends to acquaint the parishioners of local Orthodox churches with the ancient church chant.
The hierarch began to support banner singing when he was still the ruling bishop of the Petropavlovsk and Kamchatka diocese, in the early 2000s, when a monastic community first formed in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, and then a monastery was established in honor of the Great Martyr Panteleimon (2006).
The first abbot of the monastery was Hieromonk Anthony (Zhukov), who later accompanied Archbishop Ignatius during his service at the Khabarovsk cathedra, and since the summer of 2016 in the Argentine diocese.
The first Divine Liturgy of Znamenny Chant took place at the Annunciation Cathedral in Buenos Aires at the end of June. Metropolitan Ignatius wrote about this in his personal blog, which he, the first of the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, has been writing since February 2008.
"ABOUT. Anthony became very close and quickly became friends with Fr. Oleg (priest Oleg Zabusen, rector of the church Reverend Job hegumen Pochaevsky in Buenos Aires; - site) - by the clerics of the cathedral - as well as by their household members. And it seems that he even told them about Znamenny singing in his Khabarovsk monastery. How else to explain the fact that yesterday, after morning rule they desired to celebrate the Sabbath banner liturgy. Accompanied Bishop's choir. So, we did,” he wrote in a blog post on June 30.
Now the celebration of the Liturgy, accompanied by Znamenny singing, will become regular, and Metropolitan Ignatius himself will also sing on the kliros, in addition to Hieromonk Anthony (Zhukov), choristers and clerics of the cathedral.
Banner singing
Znamenny chant, or znamenny chant, is the main type of ancient Russian liturgical singing. The name comes from non-recognizable signs - the banners used to record it. unites Various types znamenny chant and the corresponding types of banners - kondakar, pillar, demestvenny, travel.
The oldest manuscripts notated with hooks date back to the 11th century. In the 11th-13th centuries, the kondakar chant flourished, which, however, already in the 14th century practically disappears from the Russian liturgical tradition due to the change of the liturgical Rule from Studian to Jerusalem and the corresponding change in the corpus of liturgical books.
In the middle of the XV century. in Rus', demestvenny chant (domestic singing, demestvo) spreads, which becomes widespread in the 16th-17th centuries, including in polyphony.
In the last quarter of the fifteenth century there is a travel chant. By the end of the XVI century. travel chant becomes an independent, developed branch of ancient Russian singing art, distinguished by greater solemnity, chant and smoothness. Starting from the second half of XVII V. travel chant is falling into disuse.
The main type of znamenny chant, with which almost the entire corpus of books of the Russian liturgical tradition is sung, is pillar chant.
Beginning with late XVII century - early XVIII century, hook notation began to be replaced by Western notation, and Russian Znamenny singing began to be replaced by Western European, Latin singing. As a result, in the 19th century, znamenny singing was gradually replaced by "partes" (polyphonic).
The main environment in which the traditions of Znamenny singing are preserved today is the Old Believers.
Metropolitan of Argentina and South America Ignatius. Curriculum vitae
In 1978 he graduated from the Physics Department of the Irkutsk state university, from 1978 to 1980 he served in the ranks Soviet army. In 1980-1983 worked as an engineer at the East Siberian Energy Institute, since 1983 he was in charge of the laboratory of medical cybernetics of the All-Union Scientific Center for Surgery.
In 1988 he received Holy Baptism. In March 1990 he joined the brethren of the Holy Spirit Monastery in Vilnius. He performed the obediences of a librarian, dean, trustee and confessor of a boarding school in Vilnius.
In 1993 he graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary in absentia.
In September 1992 he was appointed Dean of the Holy Spirit Monastery.
In February 2008, Bishop Ignatius opened his blog on the Internet.
Decision Holy Synod On October 5-6, 2011, he was appointed head of the newly formed Amur Metropolis.
October 30, 2014 at the X Congress of the Union of Rectors of Russia, which was held at Moscow State University. Lomonosov in Moscow, was admitted to the Union of Rectors of Russia.
By the decision of the Holy Synod of June 3, 2016 (magazine No. 36), he was appointed His Grace of Argentine and South America with release from the administration of the Amur Metropolis.
By the decision of the Holy Synod of June 13, 2016 (magazine No. 42), he was relieved of the post of rector of the Khabarovsk Theological Seminary.
Arrived at a new place of service on June 18, 2016, on the eve of the feast of Pentecost. Since the end of June, he began to publish entries on his blog in two languages - Russian and Spanish.
Metropolitan of Khabarovsk and Amur Ignatius (Pologrudov)
Metropolitan of Khabarovsk and Amur Ignatius (Pologrudov)
“The inner thirst for God has always been in me. True, until the age of 30 I did not realize what I was looking for, ”said Vladyka Ignatius about his conversion to the faith. This is an indestructible desire. to something” led the future Metropolitan of Khabarovsk and Amur to the Faculty of Physics, provoked a serious passion for music, painting, forced him to study psychology and philosophy. and, in the end, led to the decision to devote himself completely to God.
And he said: come out and stand on the mountain in front of
of the Lord, and behold, the Lord will pass away, and a great
and a strong wind tearing apart the mountains
and crushing rocks before the Lord, but not
in the wind is the Lord; earthquake after the wind
but the Lord is not in the earthquake; after
earthquakes are fire, but the Lord is not in fire;
after the fire a breath of still wind, and there [the Lord].
3 Kings 19:11-12
Sail and thin glove
At Saint Simeon The New Theologian in the third hymn contains the following, in my opinion, very vivid and precise words (translated by Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev)):
A monk is one who is not involved in the world,
Who always speaks with God alone,
Who, seeing God, himself is seen,
Loving Him, he is loved by Him
And, becoming a light, it always shines.
A monk must be independent of the world, the people and circumstances around him, past life his. As you know, this very word - a monk - goes back to the Greek "monos", that is, living alone, in solitude. But is this loneliness right, is it natural? After all, it is said in the Bible: “…it is not good for a man to be alone…” (Gen. 2:18). Monastic independence does not at all mean selfish self-sufficiency, proud isolation. This is the way to a perfect and complete “being inside” with the Other, but not with man, but with God, and it has its own degrees of ascent. Saint Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) pointed out the most the right way monastic doing. First: a person leaves worldly life, comes to a cenobitic monastery. For a long time here he learns the main monastic quality - obedience through complete cutting off from his will, learns self-knowledge and repentance, and, finally, "art from arts, science from sciences - attentive prayer." If the first stage is passed and there is the Lord's will for that, he passes to the skete residence. Then there can be solitude, seclusion, and maybe until the end of life being in the brethren in various obediences or, alas, activity in the world, including the bishopric. Everyone determines the work of the monk himself on his inner man and the Lord, Who knows where, how and in what capacity to carry out the monk's obedience to the Church.
Attentive prayer, “staying within”, smart doing, inner silence are synonyms, each of which reveals the goal of monastic labors and achievement. To some extent, to some extent. It is clear: in order to achieve this goal, you need to move away from the hustle and bustle, everyday immersion in great amount small and big things. Important, but still external. Often worldly. And here the question often arises: how to combine this inner silence, to which a monk is called, with active external activity, to which a bishop is called (all bishops, as you know, belong to the monastic rank), “being inside” with the construction of a diocese or metropolis, care about a huge number of other people, administrative duties, constant meetings, conversations, contacts?
Humanly, by human forces, this is impossible. But God's - completely. “I can do all things,” writes the apostle Paul, “in Jesus Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). If the Lord has blessed a bishop to work in the world, He will give both opportunities and wisdom for this. It also requires inner efforts, but of a different kind - to try to dedicate any deed to God, to follow His will in everything, to learn to walk before His eyes. In other words, to fully devote oneself to one's obedience, performing it as if in the presence of God, abiding in God. “Abide in Me and I in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit of its own accord unless it is in the vine, so neither can you unless you are in Me. I am the vine and you are the branches; whoever abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5). If you strive to do this, then the Lord will give, I repeat once again, both the strength and the wisdom to do whatever pleases to fulfill His obedience.
I met a very precise example with Vladyka Anthony, Metropolitan of Surozh. Being a doctor by his first education, he said that a Christian, and even more so a monk, should be like a thin surgical glove.
The glove is the man, the hand of the surgeon is the Lord. The rougher the material of this glove, the less subtle operations the surgeon can perform, the worse it will be for the patient. And the thinner the material, the more correctly and accurately the surgeon will perform his medical actions. So we must be such “thin gloves”, completely surrendering ourselves to the will of God and only having it in mind.
Another interesting example. A man is a sail on a ship: the thinner the material of the sail, the faster the ship will respond to a fair wind. Sails are an image of our receptivity to God, the ability to hear His commands and fulfill them. If you try to live in such a way that your heart is obedient to the Lord, then He, with the help of this “sail” of yours, yourself, will direct the ship, your diocese, to where He needs. “.Who abides in Me. that bears much fruit." (John 15:5).
Quiet wind breeze
Man lives in the world of his childhood. What is instilled in him in childhood - at the level of images, memories, impressions, at the level of skills - will become the basis of his subsequent development. My memories of childhood are connected primarily with a feeling of deep silence, peace, some kind of inner silence. I remember often when my mother was at work, I closed myself at home and just sat in this silence. And when we went to the dacha or to children's camps, I liked to be alone in the forest or on the river. In my youth, as a student, I was engaged in mountain tourism, and the most important impression of that time - I remember clearly - you climb the peak, and there, at the top, you are overcome by an amazing feeling of silence!
And in churches, especially in our Holy Spirit Monastery in Vilnius, I experienced something that can probably be compared with the feelings of the prophet Elijah, to whom the Lord appeared, but not in a storm, not in some colossal, large-scale events, but - in a light, gentle breeze. It was clear to me what it means: God in the “voice of the coldness of the thin” that this is where the Lord is. I think this helped later to make a decision to fully devote myself to Him.
I also retained negative impressions from my childhood and youth, but, as I see now, they influenced me in a negative way, formed a strong conviction that it was impossible to do. For example, being a member of the Komsomol, I saw that people from the stands say one thing, but on the sidelines it is completely different. Then it seemed like normal, but in the depths of my soul I understood, of course, that this was no good. Conscience - the voice of God in the soul of everyone - gives real assessments to everything.
By the way, now they talk and argue a lot about the Soviet period of our history. It is customary to denounce him, scold him, overthrow his authorities. But Soviet system although it was based on completely different, atheistic, incorrect principles, it brought up the good in us too. On the good examples of Russian classical literature where, whatever the hero, then dedication, dedication, sacrifice. What is this if not Christian qualities? And there were also many people with a truly Christian disposition of the soul.
When Vivaldi is powerless
The Lord leads each person to Himself in a different way. He called the Apostle Paul instantly - and from a persecutor of Christians he became a great enlightener of the world, a beacon of Christianity; Peter and John brought up a long three and a half years. And the path of some lasts their whole life. The Lord calls someone in adulthood through great sorrows, someone is initially brought up by parents in the faith or even in the monastic spirit. Looking back at my life, I can say that the Lord led me to the moment when I had to make a choice further way, very imperceptibly, creating conditions in which I, not He, would make a decision. Without any pressure or coercion.
Before I reached the church doorstep, I had to walk quite a long life path. Only at the age of 30 did interest in faith, Orthodoxy, Orthodox life, Our Church. But some kind of inner spark - what Theophan the Recluse calls "the thirst for God" - was always inside. The inner thirst for God prompts the search. True, a person does not always realize that this impulse is directed to his Creator and Savior. Often takes false goals as the Truth - success, prosperity, power, the desire to “take place”. Yes, there are few of them, such. And I didn't realize for a long time which is exactly what I'm looking for. There was a thirst… for something. She encouraged me to look in different directions.
I entered the Irkutsk State University, the Faculty of Physics - that's how I got interested in physics. He began to study it - got acquainted with the laws of nature. The first weight fell on that scale, which, after 18 years, leaned towards monasticism.
Then, at an amateur level, he became interested in painting, studied the works of famous painters. Albums with good reproductions were then impossible to get, but in Soviet museums, paintings by Russian and Western European artists were presented very widely and varied. I traveled to exhibition sites, including other cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg - for a long time I admired the wonderful canvases. It was interesting, exciting, but after a while I realized that this was not it.
Then I became interested in music, mainly secular composers, since it was absolutely impossible to hear church composers then. I myself did not play, but often and for a long time listened to various works mostly classical. Over time, my tastes and attachments changed: at first I liked Vivaldi, to some extent - Mozart, some works of Beethoven, not of his last period. And then Rachmaninov and Chopin became favorite composers - and remain to this day. I always listen with pleasure to Chopin's piano concertos, Rachmaninoff's first concerto for piano and orchestra. Lately more and more I find some consonance with the work of Schnittke. But it also turned out to be a hobby.
Then there were interests in psychology, philosophy, but, reaching a certain limit, they exhausted themselves. Packs and packs - not the same.
When perestroika began and the clergy got the opportunity to reach a wide audience, a fateful meeting took place with the bishop, who subsequently ordained me a deacon, a priest, and tonsured me a monk. It was Bishop Chrysostom, at that time Irkutsk and Chita, and later - Vilna and Lithuania. A wonderful, deeply religious person, intelligent, insightful, bright personality. When Vladyka was transferred from Irkutsk to Vilnius, I left my worldly activities and followed him first, and then, joining the brethren of the Holy Spirit Monastery, followed Christ.
Not suddenly, not immediately - gradually began to understand that for a long time the Lord, step by step, through different hobbies led me to the Church, and allowed me to get carried away, so that later on I would be able to compare the world of high, but still human culture with the amazing, boundless world of Orthodoxy.
In the world - painting, and in Orthodoxy - icon painting, a phenomenon immeasurably higher. A painter is a person who tries to reflect the environment. visible world through your relationship with him. By and large, the icon painter is the Lord Himself, who, through man, shows us images of the invisible, spiritual world.
There was also a fundamental difference between secular music and church music. Secular music is an expression of the composer's state of mind, and church singing is a means to aspire to God himself and help others to do it. Absolutely different level. I was interested in philosophy, and met with theology. He was fond of psychology, but found himself face to face with asceticism. Therefore, once in the monastery, having touched Orthodoxy, I no longer chose anything, everything became obvious: this is my path, and I need to follow it.
The Lord leads each person to Himself in different ways, knows everything, takes everything into account: what is the person himself, his character, temperament, life experience. The work of God is to call and help; our human business is to hear, respond and follow.
In my youth, in my student years, I could not stand when something was imposed on me. I tried to understand everything, and then to accept it myself. That's how he was raised, that's how he was. And the Lord, knowing this, did not force me to do anything. And gradually, imperceptibly, creating the appropriate conditions, I put before a choice that I made on my own and thereby made another, small, but still a step towards the Church.
Censer as sports equipment
My spiritual father, Father John (Krestyankin), said: before you become a monk, you need to become a Christian. Well, before becoming a Christian, I think it would be good to take place as a person. If the Lord has brought you to His Church, serve it with those talents that you have collected in the world; if you are in a monastery, serve the same monastery, brethren and pilgrims. Do not reject, do not refuse them - everything collected with God's help will be useful for a new ministry, including monastic one. Bad, in my opinion, are those novice monks who take too literally the commandment about leaving the world, dying for the world. And even worse, if they try to embody it too literally.
I, too, have gone through the same temptation. Through the prayers and instructions of Father John, all is well, thank God. Everything that I was fond of before taking the tonsure helped to join, albeit sincere, but still rich, diverse experience. human being. Culture is a manifestation of the experience of the soul, but often bordering on the spiritual. The Apostle Paul said that "...His invisible, His eternal power and Divinity, from the creation of the world through the consideration of creations are visible." (Rom. 1:20). Examining these creations allowed me to develop as a person, to catch, to see the spark of God in many works of art. Even in those where God was not mentioned: landscapes, still lifes, portraits ordinary people, in classical secular music, in works of Soviet literature (V. G. Rasputin - the most prime example). If I rejected all this, I would lose a lot both as a monk and as a bishop in the future.
When His Holiness Patriarch Alexy ordained me a bishop and blessed me to serve as a bishop in Kamchatka, the experience of worldly life helped me find mutual language with a variety of people: doctors, writers, and psychologists. A passion for cybernetics helps to work with a computer. I recently mastered the iPad, it is constantly with me. I have been running my blog on the Internet for several years now.
Nothing that the Lord gave me to go through in my worldly life was superfluous. Everything was necessary in one way or another.
In the monastery, understanding began to come - also not immediately, gradually, - What is God as He manifests Himself. And that one's impressions, the movements of one's soul and imagination should not be identified with the action of God's grace. This often happens, unfortunately.
Here is just one example. Soon after my tonsure, Vladyka entrusted me with the obedience of a dean, the one who oversees the fulfillment of the internal and liturgical routine. The inviting grace was felt quite clearly at that time, accompanied by deep and strong feelings. Due to inexperience, it was easy to mistake them for the grace-filled state characteristic of the elders. What happened. I was approached by one of the workers, a former paratrooper, captain of the landing troops. He, as it turned out later, had a very serious conflict with his wife, and he left the family. I ended up in a monastery, started working and decided, out of vexation with my wife, to stay with us.
He took a closer look at monastic life, or rather, at its outer side, and then he came and said: “You know, father, I saw a true monk in you. Please take charge of my spiritual life. I will prepare for the tonsure." Naturally, I immediately made up my mind to lead them spiritually. After all, I read St. Ignatius! And Theophan the Recluse! And I know a lot, and the monk himself!
And what is the result? I give him a prayer rule - he does not fulfill it. I bless every day to attend the service - he doesn’t come, and if he does, he can’t stand it for a long time, because standing for two hours for him is a test beyond his strength. I forbid you to go outside the monastery - he leaves right there. In desperation, I write a letter about all this to Batiushka John, and I receive an answer from him: “He has not yet become a Christian, and you want to make a monk out of him! And you should not carry your children in your arms - you will overstrain.
So the old man pointed out my mistakes. First, one who does not have sufficient experience of spiritual life should not engage in spiritual guidance. Secondly, it is impossible to place heavy burdens on people. And, finally, it was necessary to understand right away that this person would never be able to bear the burden of monastic life, for he came to the monastery not at the call of the Lord, but because he had a fight with his wife.
People come to the monastery to become monks
At all stages of monastic life, and especially at the initial stage, the internal dispensation in the monastery is extremely important. A person comes to a monastery as an unprepared monk. A person comes to a monastery to become a monk. Therefore, older, more experienced brothers should help him to correctly determine the measure of prayer, obedience, monastic deed - to correctly prioritize.
It is impossible for a beginner to stay in solitude and prayer for a long time. An experienced confessor will never give him complex ascetic exercises connected with deep inner work. Because at the first stages of the monastic path, the main thing is not in this, but in getting rid of worldly shackles, brought from the world.
The main one is “I”, self, pride. She - the main attention, against her - the main struggle. If this is not taken care of, no monastic deeds, no ascetic deeds will bring any benefit. Only harm. “Humility must underlie all monastic exercises,” these are the words of St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov). Because even such paramount Christian virtues as repentance, prayer, reading Holy Scripture The study of the Holy Fathers without humility does not lead to salvation, but to destruction.
What is repentance without humility? Self-admiration and admiration for oneself and one's repentant "exploits". What is prayer without humility? Not an appeal to God, but an internal observation of oneself, reflection: “Oh, how deeply, well and attentively I pray!” What is the reading of the Holy Fathers and the Gospel without humility? Nothing more than a search in the gospel and patristic texts for confirmation of one's own thoughts. Self-affirmation through the Gospel.
Some church people - both laymen and monks - not realizing that the spiritual path is primarily the acquisition of humility, on this path they are not saved, but damaged.
Here is a recent example. The Council of Bishops is over. One of the documents that we adopted at it concerned the electronic registration of citizens, TIN, new passports. It clearly and clearly spells out the position of the Church, which has been repeatedly stated before: to accept or not to accept a TIN is a matter of free choice for each person, and the state should not influence it. We appeal to the leadership of our country with a request to give the opportunity to use those accounting tools that do not embarrass the religious feelings of people. If a believer chooses electronic means - please, if not - you need to provide him with alternative traditional means. I emphasize that this has been discussed for a long time, and everyone should know about it.
So, we leave the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, we are met by five or six people who are obviously worried. A woman in monastic vestments approaches one bishop with the words: “Father! Bless me not to accept the TIN!” And so humbly, with such a meek, lean expression on his face! And she folded her hands on her chest, and lowered her eyes to the bottom. Vladyka looked at her, understood everything and said jokingly: “I bless you to receive!” And when she heard (where did humility go?! It disappeared in the blink of an eye!), With a face distorted with anger, she cried out in a hysterical voice: “I’ll show you“ accept ”!!!” Her humility could not stand even such an insignificant test.
Mirror of the Gospel
The monks of the first centuries of Christianity had a huge advantage: they learned to cut off their "I" under the spiritual guidance of God-inspired elders - people not just experienced, but led by the Spirit of God.
My spiritual father, Archimandrite John (Krestyankin), I believe, was just that. He could lead and, perhaps, led the spiritual life of some of the brothers of his monastery, but he could not spiritually nourish everyone. After all, the whole of Orthodox Russia went to him! Understanding this, the elder awakened in people independence and responsibility for the decisions that they themselves had to make. He taught everyone to think and compare their lives with the life of Christ. He instructed: “Here is the gospel before you. Look. Learn. As Christ does, so do you. As He thinks, so do you. As He spoke, so do you."
And St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) wrote that the Gospel, the commandments of God, are a mirror in which one can see oneself, the real one, and according to which one must constantly correct oneself. If you want to see what you really are, look into Christ, read the Gospel, and you will see. Not the way you want to appear, but the way Christ sees you.
Monks of the last times
In one of the letters of St. Ignatius there is such an episode. A certain old man had a vision: three people were praying on the bank of a very wide river, and through their prayers the Lord gave them wings. The first two are powerful, strong, and, having flapped these wings, they instantly flew to the other side. The third was also given, only the feeble and weak. And now he, waving them, then rising a little above the water, then plunging into the waves, then rising again from his last strength, constantly crying and calling out to God, nevertheless overcame this river. The saint argues: the first two people are the monks of the first centuries of Christianity, from our earthly life to eternal life they “flew” very quickly, because they had strong spiritual wings. The third person is an image of a monk of the last times. He will also be saved. But much more effort will be required from him, because his wings are weak.
Perhaps I will give another parable, also from St. Ignatius. One novice comes to an elder and asks: “I see that you and other elders are people of high spiritual life. Tell me, father, what have you done? And he replies: "We have fulfilled all the commandments of Christ." Then the second question followed: “And what will we, your disciples, the closest followers, do?” And the answer is, "You won't do half." - "And what will be the work of the monks of the last centuries?" “And they won’t have any work at all. But such tribulations will be sent, having endured which, they will become higher than us.
The Lord never leaves those people who turn to Him. Whether they go to salvation in the worldly way, priestly or monastic. In the early days or the last. He sends trials, to each his own, in his measure and degree. Therefore, it is very important for every person, and especially for a monk, to understand that any trial is from the Lord. Not from a bad person, not from a strict abbot, not from an annoying parishioner, but from the Lord. And understanding this, accepting it, enduring trials according to God, each of us gradually draws closer to Him.
And the apostle James writes: “My brethren, receive with great joy when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience; but patience must have a perfect effect, that you may be perfect in all its fullness, without any defect” (James 1:2-4). Here we are, Christians, monks of the last times, with this patience we try to ascend to perfection - not by our own deeds.
Women's question
People are often confused by the negative statements of some holy ascetics regarding women.
What can you say? Monks are not born, they are made. When a man, a young man, comes to a monastery, he brings there all his worldly qualities - both vices and virtues. His masculine, bodily nature comes along with him. And in it lies the desire for a woman, which makes itself felt. With rare exceptions. Let's say John the Evangelist was a virgin. Perhaps he never had carnal desires in his life: thus the Lord kept the purity of his mind and heart for the building of his great gospel. Only the pure in heart can see God. But this, I repeat, is a rarity, an exception.
And for most monks, masculine nature does not disappear anywhere, and demons use this, trying to kindle a fire of impure desires in their souls. How to treat it? In the works of the holy ascetic fathers there are many instructions on the fight against fornication. Very efficient.
But there you can also find arguments that “a woman is a vessel of sin”, “through a woman the fall of man happened”.
Metropolitan Ignatius (Pologrudov)
The last one is fair. But it is not a woman who is evil - this is not mentioned anywhere in the Gospel - but a sinful view of a woman (and this is from there). A novice turned to one elder with the question: “Is it a sin, father, wine, money and women?” And he answered him: “Not wine, but drunkenness, not money, but avarice, not women, but fornication - that’s what sin is!”
Here is another parable from monastic life. Two elderly monks lived in the monastery. One of them behaved extremely cautiously: as soon as he saw a woman among the pilgrims, he closed his eyes and ran away. And the other, seemingly carelessly, remained, approached her, and talked for a long time. And now the prudent asks the careless: “How do you communicate with women like that. It could lead to a fall." And the second answered: “When you look at a woman, you see in her, first of all, sin and temptation, and I am a creation of God and I thank Him for such beauty that He created.”
If in the world a person indulged in a sinful, prodigal life, then in a monastery, of course, it is better for him to avoid communication with women. Because sinful habits can lead him to temptation. If he was pious, there will also be temptations, but much weaker. And it will be possible to fight them in other ways. One of them is the ability to see God's creation in a woman and perceive her beauty as a reflection of the Divine beauty.
About the feat of a non-monastic
I have cut my hair only one person who had experience of family life. And I think that one who lived piously in the family, of course, can become a good monk. But the family is a blessing of God, and celibacy is permissible only in one case: if the Lord Himself blesses otherwise.
Although St. Ignatius, my heavenly patron, puts monasticism above marriage, I think that these two paths are equivalent. Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh writes: “...there is a wonderful passage in the life of Saint Macarius the Great. He prayed that it would be revealed to him if there was anyone who could teach him a greater perfection than what he had learned in the wilderness. He was ordered to go to a neighboring city, find an artisan and find out how he lives. Macarius went. It turned out that the craftsman is a simple worker who lives with his family and does not stand out for anything special. Macarius began to ask him what their spiritual life was like. “Well, what a spiritual life! - he answers: - I work from morning to night, earn a penny, live with my wife and children, that's our whole life. Macarius continued to ask questions. And it turned out that this man in his whole life did not say a harsh word to his wife, that they love each other completely and completely and make up one whole. And Saint Macarius returned to the wilderness with the thought that he himself was of such integrity, such unity with God, which this man showed through unity with his wife (I do not say only “in unity with his wife”, but “through him”), not yet reached. Therefore, we must be careful to say that one path is higher than the other: not everyone who walks one path is spiritually higher than the one who follows another path.
For a monk, in a sense, it is even easier... There are a huge number of ascetic books written by monks for monks. But there are almost no such books for the family. It's a pity! I think that if family people shared their experience, we would see what a huge spiritual work, no less than monastic, must be carried out by spouses in order to live in peace and harmony and achieve what the Lord spoke about: “... two will become one flesh ." (Matthew 19:5). From the book Bibliological Dictionary the author Men Alexander
IGNATIUS (Matthew Afanasyevich Semenov), archbishop. (1791–1850), Russian. orthodox church writer, preacher and scholar. Genus. in Pinezhsky district, in a family of villages. psalmist. Early discovered abilities allowed him to receive a theological education. After seminary he became
From the book Russian Patriarchs 1589-1700. author Bogdanov Andrey PetrovichPatriarch Ignatius Patriarch of Tsar Demetrius. Reflections in the Prison Flying in through a narrow window, under the vault of the cell, the drunken cries of the "saviors of Russia" resounded loudly. For the second week, the old intriguer Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky, who with a handful of slanderers exterminated Tsar Dmitry
From the book Way of the Fathers by Amman A.Ignatius of Antioch († about 110) A modern Christian is accustomed to the words of the mass: “Deign to introduce us into the community of all your saints and martyrs, John, Stephen, Ignatius ...” But how many people know who he is, this Ignatius mentioned among others? Bishop or monk? Where is he from?
From the book Pre-Nicene Christianity (100 - 325 A.D. ?.) author Schaff Philip§45. development of the episcopate. Ignatius It is proved that the episcopate as a form of church administration was established in the Eastern and Western churches everywhere already in the middle of the 2nd century. Even heretical sects are at least Ebionites, as we can understand from the praise of the episcopate in
From the book Canon of the New Testament author Metzger Bruce M.Ignatius Ignatius, in his Epistle to the Romans (even in its Syriac version), assigns a number of exalted titles to this community and describes it as "preeminent in the region inhabited by the Romans" and "leading in charity." These words
From the book Russian Saints. December-February author author unknown From the book Russian Saints. March-May author author unknownIgnatius Lomsky, Rev. Nothing is known about the place of birth and parents of the Monk Ignatius. It is believed that initially he labored in the Vologda Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery. But then Rev. Ignatius moved to the Kirillov Belozersky Monastery and here
From the book Canon of the New Testament Origin, development, meaning author Metzger Bruce M.Ignatius Bryanchaninov, Saint Saint Ignatius (in the world Dimitri Alexandrovich Bryanchaninov) was born on February 5, 1807 in the village of Pokrovsky, Gryazovetsky district, Vologda province. The father of the saint, Alexander Semyonovich, belonged to an old noble family
From the book Lectures on Patrology of the 1st-4th century by the authorII. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH According to Origen, Ignatius was the second bishop of Antioch, that is, the successor of the Apostle Peter. Eusebius also reports that Ignatius was only the third after Peter, inheriting Euvodius. Nothing is known about his life, except perhaps that he was under escort.
From the book Theological encyclopedic Dictionary by Elwell WalterSt. Ignatius the God-bearer
From the book Dogma and Mysticism in Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism author Novoselov Mikhail AlexandrovichIgnatius Loyola Loyola, Ignatius.
From the book of Prayers in Russian by the authorIgnatius Loyola "Conversation takes place when a person imagines before him Jesus Christ crucified on the cross." From the teachings of Ignatius Loyola on contemplation “Do not build imaginations from yourself, and which are built by themselves, do not heed those, and do not allow the mind to imprint them on
From the book HISTORICAL DICTIONARY ABOUT THE SAINTS GLORED IN THE RUSSIAN CHURCH author Team of authorsMetropolitan Michael (the first Metropolitan of Kiev +991) Metropolitan Michael – saint of the Russian Church; commemorated June 15 and September 30 according to the Julian calendar. According to church tradition, he was the first metropolitan of Kyiv (988 - 991). Presumably originally from Syria. How
From the author's bookIGNATIUS, monk, wonderworker of Vologda (see John, prince
The head of the Amur Metropolis, Bishop Ignatius, was transferred to another place of service, he was appointed Bishop of Argentina and South America. This became known at night in Moscow during a meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. Where they also announced who will head the Khabarovsk diocese.
Metropolitan Ignatius himself attended the meeting of the Holy Synod, now he is in Moscow and while he does not comment on the new appointment, he took a time out to communicate with journalists. Rumors about his transfer to another place of service appeared a month ago, but Vladyka himself did not confirm them.
I serve the Khabarovsk diocese and its parishioners, there is no information about my transfer, commented then Metropolitan of Khabarovsk and Amur Ignatius.
The diocese is now also refraining from any comments. Supervisor information department Metropolitan Priest Roman Nikitin is on vacation, and the press secretary of the Metropolitan Anastasia Penkova was restrained in her comments.
Metropolitan in Moscow, we don’t know anything yet, said the press secretary of the bishop, Anastasia Penkova
Metropolitan Ignatius is 60 years old, was born in Irkutsk. In 1978 he graduated from the Faculty of Physics of the Irkutsk State University, from 1978 to 1980 he served in the Soviet Army. In 1980-1983 worked as an engineer at the East Siberian Energy Institute, since 1983 he was in charge of the laboratory of medical cybernetics of the All-Union Scientific Center for Surgery. In 1988 he received Holy Baptism. In March 2011, he was appointed head of the Khabarovsk diocese, six months later he was elevated to the rank of metropolitan and appointed head of the newly formed Amur Metropolis. Prior to that, he headed the Kamchatka diocese for a long time, where he was remembered for the fact that for the first time, as part of the crew of a nuclear submarine, he made a transition under the ice of the Northern Arctic Ocean in the rank of ship's priest. Then this transition was called a unique case in the history of the modern Russian fleet. Metropolitan Ignatius is a media personality, under him the diocese became open to journalists and society, participated in talk shows, interviews, established television under the diocese. One of the first in Russia among the clergy, he started a personal blog, actively communicated with parishioners via the Internet.
The Argentine diocese, where Metropolitan Ignatius has been appointed ruling bishop, is based in Buenos Aires (Argentina). It was founded in 1946, now there are 18 parishes and 13 clergy.
By decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Vladimir (Samokhin) was appointed head of the Amur Metropolis. Prior to that, he led the Transbaikal Metropolis. He is only 37 years old, he is one of the youngest bishops in Russia.
It is not yet clear when Metropolitan Vladimir will arrive in Khabarovsk, most likely after the transfer of affairs in his already former diocese, said the press secretary of Metropolitan Ignatius Anastasia Penkova
The press service of the Amur Metropolis assured that they would definitely organize a press conference next week, though they found it difficult to answer who would be its participants.
Anna Demina, Khabarovsk news on DVhab.ru
The Argentine and South American diocese is the largest in terms of area in the Russian Orthodox Church(ROC). Exactly a year ago, it was headed by Metropolitan Ignatius, who previously served in Far East.
In an interview with TASS, he spoke about the peculiarities of the diocese, about communion with the flock and about relations with those who ten years ago refused to accept the Act of Canonical Communion, signed by the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR).
— Vladyka, you arrived in Argentina a year ago, what preliminary results can you bring?
- First of all, I needed to get acquainted with the diocese and with the conditions in which I had to work. The diocese is special - it is the largest in terms of territory and one of the smallest in terms of the number of parishes, monasteries, communities.
I must say that there are no monasteries here at all and never have been. I mean the monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Before starting my ministry here, I happened to serve in two departments, all of them were in the Far East: Kamchatka and Khabarovsk. Here is now the westernmost pulpit of our church.
Of course, I needed to personally get to know all the clergy, visit each parish, see how church life is developing, what are the features of this diocese.
One of the main ones is that here the ROC is located on a continent that is traditionally Catholic. Another feature is a very broad ecumenical movement.
The Argentine and South American diocese includes nine countries. And each state has its own laws, its own religious atmosphere, environment. If, say, in Kamchatka and Khabarovsk they are different, but homogeneous, then here, every region, every state has its own conditions.
For example, Argentina is a country that was shaped by immigrants. They brought their culture and religion here. And initially Argentina was formed as a tolerant state. Here, each denomination has equal rights. Even not so much confession as nationality. And each nationality is given equal attention.
Or Chile - a special state, with its bright face, which, if I am not mistaken, was the last to be Christianized on the continent. And in Ecuador - 70% of the Indian population, and the influence of the culture of the indigenous people is very pronounced there. And so on...
I had to personally get acquainted with all this, decide on the goals and means. Moreover, less than a year before I arrived here, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' was here for the first time in the history of the Russian Church on the South American continent.
He also became the first patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church in a thousand years to meet with the Pope. It is clear that this meeting had a powerful potential, and it was necessary for me to study it and think about how to develop it.
I was able to visit almost all of our parishes, with the exception of those that exist in Peru and Panama, and celebrated services everywhere, met with our parishioners everywhere, as well as with representatives of culture, the Catholic faith.
- You noted that each state has its own laws and conditions. Are there any difficulties associated with this at work?
— No, none... There are difficulties for the clergy, and for me, as a bishop, to understand these conditions and build my work in them. It is clear that if the country of immigrants, then the conditions are the same, and if it is dominated by the indigenous population, then others.
But there are no difficulties. What kind of difficulties? To be prejudiced against us by the state? Or, say, from the residents? There is no such. Everywhere they are treated equally, everywhere benevolently. Everywhere you can work.
“This year marks ten years since the signing of the Act of Canonical Communion. What are the relations between the ROC and ROCOR now, including here, in South America?
- I must say that many, including myself, did not expect that the unification of churches would happen so quickly. Judging by the situation before the unification, there were almost no hopes, at least for many bishops.
No one even thought that such a union could happen, because there were too many contradictions, there was too much misunderstanding, hostility on the part of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia towards the Moscow Patriarchate.
You know all these arguments: that you are supposedly a communist Church, that you do not recognize the tsar as a saint, that you adopted the Sergius Declaration, where you promised to be loyal to the state, where you declared that "the pain of the state is our pain and joy is our joy" that you are in the service of the state and so on...
There was a period, of course, 70 years, when these accusations were grounded. But we did not serve the state, but were looking for an opportunity to survive, to preserve the Church. And if this had not happened, then the beginning of perestroika would have shown that Russia in the Orthodox spiritual sense is a scorched desert. We have saved our Church. Yes, sometimes at the price of serious concessions.
And when the foreign bishops began to visit us and saw that the image of the ROC that they had and that they have now are different things, they had a desire to get to know each other better.
And then followed in 2007 the famous visit of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin to the first hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. Then Putin, as the head of state, received a proposal for unification. A visit by the head of ROCOR followed, a meeting was held, and then an agreement was signed.
Now the two Churches are under the same omophorion of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', but in fact ROCOR is absolutely independent. They have their own Synod, they gather and resolve all their issues themselves, they themselves ordain their bishops, they have their own property.
Maybe I will express my thought in a not quite canonical language, but it will help to better understand what the relationship between ROCOR and the ROC is really like: they are completely independent, and common decision, which is obligatory for all Churches, is adopted in the process of consultations, in the process of dialogue, discussions. For example, in the Russian Orthodox Church, the Patriarch issues a decree - everyone is obliged to comply with it. Here the general decision is reached by the results of the discussion.
— And how are relations developing directly with the ROCOR Diocese of Caracas and South America? Her Cathedral also located in the Argentine capital.
- Absolutely normal. We serve together. Vladyka invites me to his holidays, and we invite him to ours. In addition, we meet in person to discuss some common problems.
We often participate in various events with him. We are invited, which is very important for us, say, to various state events as representatives of one Church.
That is, in us here they see exactly one Church. And not only government agencies, but also representatives of other faiths. Let's say Antiochian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox Church and so on.
- Are there any contacts with those who refused to accept the Act of Canonical Communion? They also have parishes in Buenos Aires.
– I would say that our Russian Orthodox Church is always open to any contacts, to absolutely any, and His Holiness the Patriarch spoke about this more than once, it was said at bishops' councils.
On the part of the non-aligned part, we are still encountering an unfriendly attitude, unwillingness to make any contacts. More precisely, not on the part of the entire non-aligned part, but on the part of several bishops, because at the level of the clergy the situation is completely different.
We are familiar with the rector of the church on Brasil Avenue (Holy Trinity Church. - Approx. TASS). We met with him, he was here, we talked with him.
We have normal human relations. And I think that this should be a guarantee that in the future, I hope, in the near future, there will be a complete reunion. It is necessary to leave, it is necessary to get rid of this hostility, this distrust, hostility. And for this, I would advise the hierarchs of the non-aligned church to visit Russia more often.
This hostility is dictated by a false idea of what is happening in the Russian Federation, what is the position of the Church. This is a wrong, false, perverted view.
Therefore, it is necessary to visit Russia, and not only in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but also in the outback. To go to the Far East, to see how the Church lives there, as in Siberia, as in the North, as in Central Asia how she lives in Transcaucasia.
And then they will see that no communist Church exists. Yes, we cooperate with the state [in Russia], just like in Argentina, just like in Brazil.
But this does not make us the Brazilian or Argentine Church, we remain the Russian Orthodox Church. We need to travel more often, meet with our hierarchs more often, talk and watch. "Come and see," said Christ.
- Has something changed in the relations between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches after the meeting between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis, especially here, in Argentina - in the homeland of the pontiff?
—Being structurally homogeneous, the Catholic Church is not at all so in opinion. in the womb Catholic Church There are many currents and trends.
However, despite the fact that there are different points of view on certain issues, the overwhelming majority of the hierarchs of the Catholic Church are still very sympathetic towards this meeting. It's one of the few big, very big events that almost everyone has the same view of. I'm not talking about ordinary believing Catholics.
All the cardinals and bishops with whom I have met have a very favorable opinion of this meeting. Now, in my opinion, it is necessary here in South America for the hierarchs of our and the Catholic Church to gather and discuss what concerted actions can be taken, to take steps to develop the potential laid down by this meeting.
— Your diocese is the largest in terms of area in the Russian Orthodox Church. How often do you manage to hold meetings or conferences with other parishes?
As surprising as it sounds, very often. Despite the fact that the distances are huge, we meet every week. It's necessary. Especially in such a situation, when in some countries there is one clergyman, and in major countries the parishes are separated by vast distances.
But we meet every week. How? We hold Skype conferences, summarize the results of the week, make some decisions, make plans.
I have now pushed the clergy to ensure that each parish has its own website and that they send their news to our website. Now it very often contains news from the field, including in local languages.
I recently opened my Facebook page. There I already made 300 friends in five days. I don’t know what to do, because I have to talk to them all night, because they have questions that they would like to discuss.
I try to visit each parish at least once a year. I visit some parishes more often. For example, last year I was in the Argentine province of Misiones four times, in Brazil three times. Twice in Chile
And then there is the opportunity to personally talk with the bishop. So we negotiate with them, and after 11 a.m., a conversation begins on Facebook, via video and audio communications. Yesterday I went to bed at 4 am, and this morning I got up for the liturgy.
So we communicate constantly, and I try to visit each parish at least once a year. In some parishes I visit more often. For example, last year I was in the Argentine province of Misiones four times, in Brazil three times. Twice in Chile.
How many parishes are there in the diocese now? Who is in charge of the services?
- Parishes, communities - 30, clergymen, deacons - 20. They are mostly Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians. But we have quite a lot of clergy of other nationalities.
There are Serbs. In Obera (a city in the north-east of Argentina. - Approx. TASS) Father Bartholomew Oviedo serves, he is an Argentinean. There are also Colombian, Chilean, Brazilians. And now we have several local residents who would like to take holy orders.
What kind of activity, besides liturgical activities, does the diocese carry out?
- There are many Russian clubs, associations of compatriots here. First of all, I met with their activists, we talked. After that, they started inviting me. During this year, I visited almost all Russian organizations operating here. We take part in events within clubs or associations of compatriots, we implement joint initiatives.
A plan for this year's cultural events has been developed. It includes conversations about Russian spiritual culture, that is, about monasteries, temples, but not from a religious point of view, but from a cultural one. I will also speak at workshops on the basics Orthodox faith.
In July, a wonderful specialist in iconography, a senior researcher at the State Tretyakov Gallery, Lyubov Yakovlevna Ushakova, comes to us here. She will hold several meetings here and then travel to Brazil and Chile.
We plan to bring in other specialists in spiritual culture. We are planning to arrange mobile photo exhibitions of monasteries, Russian icons with appropriate guides. We are going to invite the church choir and take it around South America. In general, there are many plans. The community, as they say...
Once in the Moscow metro I met the metropolitan. The fact that I was not mistaken was evidenced by a cassock and a skuffia with a cross. Standing side by side, we passed several stations, but I did not dare to take a blessing from such important person. And three months later we met again - for an interview. And then I realized how misplaced my timidity was. Siberians are alien to the ceremony of Muscovites. And Metropolitan Ignatius of Khabarovsk is a born Siberian.
REFERENCE
Metropolitan of Khabarovsk and Amur Ignatius (Pologrudov). Born in 1956 in Irkutsk. Graduated from the Faculty of Physics of the Irkutsk State University. He was baptized in 1988. In 1990 he joined the brethren of the Holy Spirit Monastery in Vilnius. He graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary in absentia.
In 1992 he was appointed Dean of the Holy Spirit Monastery. In 1998, he was consecrated Bishop of Petropavlovsk and Kamchatka. In 2007 he graduated from PSTGU with a degree in Theology. In February 2008, he opened his blog on the Internet.
In March 2011 he was appointed to the Khabarovsk Department. In October 2011, he was elevated to the rank of metropolitan.
E-mail of Metropolitan Ignatius [email protected]
Link to the blog “Bishop. Personal diary of Metropolitan Ignatius" http://blogs.pravostok.ru/vladyka_ignaty
Shepherd in the crowd
- Do you often travel by public transport in Moscow?- Almost always. I don't want to waste time. You see, when you arrive for a few days, every minute is precious - there is so much to do and want to do. And if you travel by car, you will have to stand in traffic jams for hours. But the main thing is different: a clergyman in a cassock both on the street and in the subway is a sermon.
- Especially the metropolitan.
- No, not many people understand such subtleties. But even those Muscovites who understand that they have a hierarch in front of them rarely come under the blessing. Either they are shy, or they are embarrassed by others. Marvelous. In the Far East, people are more open. If a person wants to ask something, get acquainted or just get a blessing, he will definitely do it. Our region is harsh, the weather does not indulge, so the Russian people from time immemorial had to stick to each other. And besides, they were also Orthodox. Apparently this formed the character of the Far East and the Siberian. I myself was born and raised in Irkutsk. Now in Khabarovsk I live far from the temple, I have to travel by car, and when I served in Petropavlovsk, I always went to the temple on foot and communicated with people along the way. It is not at all burdensome, on the contrary, it brings joy and gives strength.
Is it really necessary for bishops to communicate with the people? After all, they have many other, purely administrative duties.
- That's right, and administrative, and economic, and organizational. But the main one is one, and all the rest are reduced to it. In the Gospel of John, the Lord speaks beautifully and very clearly: a good shepherd must know his sheep, lead them, feed, protect them. Yes, and with all His life Christ testifies: "such is your bishop." This is where we should be like. Was He not available to people? No, with the people, basically, and communicated. Everyone who needed it came to Him, and we must give people such an opportunity. Christ gave them time, and we should strive to do the same. You should not, fearing rudeness and provocations, fence yourself off from people. During the thirteen years of my ministry in Kamchatka, there were practically no provocative letters, phone calls or offers.
- It seems that the ruling bishop simply does not have time to communicate with the flock.
- This is a purely organizational issue. You can communicate in different ways. We have TV, radio, press. Only the Internet offers what opportunities! It is possible and necessary to conduct correspondence on e-mail to preach in in social networks, twitter. I blog. And every Thursday, if not on a business trip, I receive everyone. It just seems impossible. It is necessary to start, and then the Lord Himself will become wiser, direct, give strength.
- What do people contact you with?
- Not so long ago, a young man sent a letter to my email address: “Vladyka, why don't you introduce elements of management theory into your seminary? After all, the priest manages the parish.” An unusual proposal, but worthy of attention. Another letter: “I am a drug addict, I have been clean for eleven years. Organized a group of anonymous drug addicts. Help me find a place. Contact on a variety of issues. Some want to sort out a difficult situation in the parish, while others need spiritual and even worldly advice. One day a woman came up: “It’s very hard for me, confess me, please.”
- Is it appropriate for a metropolitan to confess, to baptize?
- The Metropolitan can perform all the sacraments, but I do not think that he should do it for any reason and without it. Otherwise, many will want, for example, to be baptized by him. There is a danger of sowing the seeds of vanity in some and offending others. Therefore, I baptize very rarely and almost never get married, except for those cases when I am in far, far away parishes where there has not been a priest for a long time.
True, last year in Khabarovsk he married four couples at once. It was summer. The day of Peter and Fevronia falls on a fast, so we performed the sacrament a week later, but dedicated it to these two saints - the patrons of the family. We have a huge cathedral in our city, the largest in the Far East. And on its steps, majestically, solemnly, we married four couples at once. A huge number of people gathered, through microphones, chants and prayers filled the entire square. Why, you ask, was this done? The reason is simple: young people should know and see how wonderful the birth of a new family can be and how ridiculous it is to turn this event into a banal feast.
But with baptism ... Late one night they called from the maternity hospital: “The child has a serious birth injury, most likely he will not live until morning. Come, please, baptize him.” He arrived, dressed in a dressing gown, on top - an epitrachelion and handrails. They brought a boy tightly swaddled, explained: if the diaper is even slightly loosened, the baby begins to scream terribly in pain. I began the service, and the longer the prayers sounded, the less worried this little sufferer. When it was time for the chrismation, I unwrapped him. And he did not react in any way - he slept soundly, for the first time in many hours! I remember that night well. Outside the window is dark, summer rain, on the glass - the sound of wet leaves. And after all, a feeling of some kind of blissful fatigue: everything, everything did what he could. They christened him Rostislav.
Several days have passed. In my worries, I almost forgot about this case. And on Sunday, a woman comes up to the liturgy with breastfed baby wants to take communion. What's the name, I ask? Rostislav, answers, and looks attentively, as if he is waiting for something. And then it dawns on me: this is the same baby we baptized! Glory to Your power, Lord!
In such cases, I baptize.
Landmarks
- Were you baptized when you were 32 years old?- Yes. This was the beginning of perestroika. Many rushed to the Church, including myself. Then the Irkutsk diocese was headed by the archbishop - now the metropolitan - Chrysostomos (Martishkin, born in 1934 - ed.). When I heard him preach, I was amazed. At lectures on scientific atheism, we were told: all the priests are illiterate, they themselves do not believe in God, they only profit from people's ignorance. And suddenly I see a man who is comprehensively educated, excellently versed in both secular and ecclesiastical matters. That's why I came to the Church. He became my first mentor. And then Vladyka was transferred to Vilnius, and I followed there. In the Vilnius Monastery of the Holy Spirit, he received tonsure and the grace of the priesthood through him.
Many of today's bishops have come from Vilnius. You can probably talk about a galaxy of followers of Metropolitan Chrysostomos.
-I think that this is the galaxy of Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov). His first followers are our current His Holiness Patriarch, Metropolitan Yuvenaly, Metropolitan Chrysostomos. Then we, too: Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev), Metropolitan Vadim of Irkutsk, myself, Archbishop Innokenty of Vilensky.
- Were you a spiritual child of Metropolitan Chrysostom?
- No, although I aspired to this at one time. Once I asked him for confession, but was refused. Vladyka did not want anyone to have affection for him. So he said: “A priest is a pillar with a sign “God is there”. It bothered me a little then. I left everything, followed him, and he even refuses to confess. Now I understand it. But the Lord sent me spiritual father- Father John (Krestyankina)
Feeling new
- You are now a postgraduate student at the Moscow Psychological and Pedagogical University. Why does the metropolitan need psychology?- In Kamchatka, I taught "Fundamentals Orthodox culture» in high school students. Thursday and Friday spent at school. The communication went like this: we got to know each other, I answered their questions - any, including about myself, and then asked what they would like to talk about. It was important for me to discuss with them precisely those topics that concern them. It turned out that there are not many such topics. I thought it would be necessary to prepare separately for each meeting, in each class. But no. All teenagers, as it turned out, are interested in about the same thing: love, life after death, relationships with parents, the meaning of life, mysticism, the infernal world. That's what they were talking about.
For seven years, I have accumulated quite a lot of experience working with high school students. On the one hand, I wanted to summarize it, on the other hand, to understand how to make this communication more systematic and purposeful. The Holy Fathers give a lot of advice on the upbringing of young people, but I have not been able to find a systematic presentation in them. And in pedagogy and psychology, many works and studies are devoted to this. True, most of them do not suit us at all, because they are aimed at cultivating pride, self-centeredness, and arrogance. But acceptable, very interesting psychological and pedagogical systems and methods were found. I started reading and publishing. And soon the rector of the Psychological and Pedagogical University, Vitaly Vladimirovich Rubtsov, offered to enter graduate school. The topic of my dissertation is something like this: psychological techniques can be used to train future shepherds.
- And you recently graduated from St. Tikhon Orthodox University. Do you like to study?
- Like. It is very interesting to get new knowledge. I need a sense of the novelty of the surrounding God's world.
- Speaking of novelty. A few years ago you went skydiving. Haven't jumped since then?
- I jumped twice. Once in Kamchatka, the second - quite recently, already in Khabarovsk, with seminarians and members of the youth department. I invited them myself. It was a wonderful jump - summer, sun, no wind. Everyone was delighted and still remember.
- Will you still jump?
- I don't. I myself don't like it very much. Yes, and age ... When I invited the seminarians to jump, almost no one responded. It surprised me. Why future man, the warrior is afraid of? Why doesn't he want to overcome his fears. Then I said that I would jump myself. Look, they started raising their hands. At first, slowly, hesitantly ... in the end, there were twelve people. And those who did not dare, later regretted it. They ask again. Well, now let them. Contact phones have where to go and know what to do. I showed them the way - and that's enough.
- There is a theological seminary in Khabarovsk. Is this also something new?
Yes, she's only five years old. The only seminary in the Far East. We are now moving to the third generation standard, the Bologna system. There is something to work on here. How does a typical seminarian day go? I got up, prayed, had breakfast, studied in the classroom, dined, studied on my own, prayed, went to bed. And so five years. First, it is unhealthy. Secondly, I would not say that it is ideal for spiritual development. Therefore, the first thing I did was introduce a daily exercise of 25 minutes in the seminary. Then I included physical education lessons in the schedule. Now we are introducing pastoral practice. They study liturgy - let them participate in divine services on weekends, study homiletics - let them preach a sermon at the Sunday liturgy. The future shepherd must have all the skills practical activities. So our seminarians work in various diocesan departments: missionary, catechesis, youth, social, prison. Several people have expressed a desire to work with drug addicts.
I offered everyone to keep their blogs, work in social networks. They are young, it is easy for them. The church is now losing the internet battle. So let future priests master communication with people in virtual space. They will need it.
- Do you run your own blog?
- Of course, myself. Otherwise, what's the point in it? True, with the move to Khabarovsk, there is not always enough time. And in Kamchatka I regularly made notes, and people responded, commented. There were fifty visits a day.
Diocese the size of Europe
- In Central Russia, they know almost nothing about the Far East ...- In fact of the matter! IN Soviet time development of the region was given great importance. Then a person who went to the Far Eastern construction sites was considered a hero. And today the media only talk about how bad and scary we are. The region, which needs increased government attention, is practically deprived of this attention. In the meantime, the southern neighbor is growing and strengthening nearby. The Far East is 36 percent of the entire territory of the Russian Federation. And only about 6 percent of the population lives there, about 6 million people. Nearby, at the border Chinese city Harbin - 10 million inhabitants. There are more in one city than in the entire Far East.
- Your diocese is also not small?
- Huge! Almost all of Europe can be placed on the territory of the Khabarovsk Territory. Wherein settlements tiny, located at large distances from each other. There is only one bishop. It's not a car, but a plane. Therefore, I strongly support the idea of creating new dioceses. Recently we have three vicar bishops. For me, this is a huge help. They are young, energetic people who will push me, will not let me fall asleep. And I, as a more elderly and experienced person, will try to lead wisely.
- There are not enough priests in the diocese?
- Not enough yet. We recently traveled to all the villages of the region. Almost everyone can create a community. But there are no shepherds. There is only one way out: for the time being, organize the life of the parish without constant pastoral care. We supply the community with literature - and let them serve in a secular rank. The laity cannot perform any sacraments. But without a priest, you can serve prayers, requiem, read the psalter. You can serve lunch - antiphons, the reading of the Apostle, the reading of the Gospel. Then, after the service - a common meal. This is how we support church life in remote villages. After all, there are places where a priest can only reach once every few months.
- As a metropolitan, can you somehow participate in the fate of the region?
- Recently I was elected to the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. I very much hope that this will give me the opportunity to bring the problems that exist in the Far East to the ears of the state leadership and suggest ways to solve them.
- Do you know such ways?
- I'm not alone. Within two weeks after my arrival in Khabarovsk, almost all the leaders of our region turned to me. Governor, mayor, head legislative assembly, chairman of the regional State Duma, ministers, leaders of many public organizations- all offer concrete active cooperation. Together we can work out sound proposals.
- Vladyka, when do you rest? Is the bishop entitled to leave?
- For 13 years in Kamchatka, I had only one vacation. But in general, I'm not going anywhere. For me best holiday- in my cell. I am a reserved person by nature.
Interviewed by: Evgenia VLASOVA
