(Gonozov or Gonzov) - Archbishop of Novgorod (1484-1504) and the first prominent opponent of the heresy of the so-called Judaizers. Prior to that, he was the archimandrite of the Chudovsky monastery in the Moscow Kremlin. His position as archbishop of Novgorod was surrounded by significant difficulties: he was the second person to occupy the cathedra by appointment from Moscow. The last archbishop to elect the people's veche was Theophilus, who, being suspected of loyalty to Lithuania, was arrested in 1480 and imprisoned in one of the Moscow monasteries, from where he sent a renounced letter only in 1482. After him, the Trinity Elder Sergius was installed, who, with his personal character and tactless attitude towards the Novgorod shrines, further complicated the already difficult position of the representative of the Novgorod church. Gennady immediately declared himself a zealous servant of Moscow and persistently set about carrying out the political and ecclesiastical aspirations of the central government in the Novgorod diocese, although here he had to meet stubborn opposition from the local clergy, to whom the Moscow domination caused sensitive material damage by the confiscation of part of the church and monastic lands and the rich Sofia treasury. Gennady acted slowly and carefully, but firmly and consistently. Little by little, he achieved that the local clergy got used to the veneration of Moscow saints and saints and introduced prayers for the sovereign into daily services. In one of his first messages, Gennady outlined a program for the relationship of the clergy to government power: the clergy must obey the orders of this power, for the Moscow sovereigns "impose obedience more than many virtues"; but at the same time, the great princes must recognize the leadership role of the clergy and submit to it - a point of view fully accepted and developed by the Josephite clergy. In the spirit of this program, Gennady also began the struggle against heresy, the existence of which he learned, it seems, not earlier than 1487. This struggle was waged not on the basis of dogmatic and theological disputes and denunciations, but by means of administrative penalties. Although Gennady was an educated man for his time, his theological erudition was not outstanding. He considered the theological debates with heretics to be directly harmful and in his epistle to the council of bishops expressed the idea that a council about faith should not be allowed, since “our people are simple, they do not know how to speak from ordinary books: so that no speeches are made about faith with them ". A council against heretics is needed, but not for debates about faith, but in order "to be executed, burned and hanged." Gennady even tried to arrange an approximate auto-da-fe: when the cathedral of 1490 sentenced some heretics to imprisonment and sent them to Novgorod, Gennady ordered to meet them outside the city, dress them in birch bark helmets with the inscription "Behold Satan's army", put them on horses facing the tail and drive them through the streets like that, and then light up their helmets. However, all the energetic measures against heretics recommended by Gennady did not materialize, since the heretics found support in Moscow and lived there quietly. Then Gennady turned to another measure - to a spiritual instrument (see below). Since among the clergy not only were there not enough trained people, but even there were few literate ones, Gennady petitioned Metropolitan Simon for the establishment of schools. Measures to raise religious education among the clergy and the people could not, of course, give quick results. To combat heresy, Gennady turned for help to the abbot of the Volokolamsk monastery, Joseph Volotsky, who became the most prominent fighter for Orthodoxy. The last important measure in countering heresy on the part of Gennady was the compilation of the Passover (see below). The system of Moscow taxes from the clergy in favor of the Novgorod ruler was streamlined through the efforts of Gennady. In 1503, he was summoned to a council in Moscow, where the question of not collecting levies when placing on church hierarchical posts was discussed and resolved in the affirmative sense. But Gennady, according to the chronicle, began to take bribes from the priests for the appointment more than before, for which in 1504 the Grand Duke and Metropolitan removed him from the pulpit. In June of the same year, he gave the Metropolitan a renounced letter and, settling in the Chudov Monastery, died in 1504. See Nikitsky, "Essay on the internal history of the church in V. Novgorod" ("Readings for general love. Spiritual education.", 1875 , No. 5); Granditsky, "Gennady Archbishop of Novgorod" ("Orthodox Review", September 1878 and August 1880). See also the literature on the heresy of the Judaizers.
M. Dyakonov.
Gennady, as mentioned above, wanted to fight heresy and spiritual weapons - on the basis of education, enlightenment. He invites the learned elders Paisiy Yaroslavov and Nil Sorsky - "to talk about those heresies", searches the monasteries for books needed to fight the heretics; it is curious that the Orthodox, even the archbishop himself, did not have many such books, while the heretics did. In order to counteract false rumors among the people about the imminent end of the world, scattered by heretics, Gennady composes Easter - a work that testifies to a kind of "scholarship" of the author. With the same goal - to fight heresy with spiritual weapons - part of the main work of Gennady was connected - the compilation of the Slavic code of biblical books. Until that time, neither Russian writing, nor the South Slavs had a biblical canon. Bible books, like any others, were offered to the Old Russian reader in various collections, very diverse in content - together and next to the works of the church fathers, lives, various teachings, often with apocryphal works or even directly with secular stories like Alexandria. It was too difficult for the literate masses to navigate among this literary chaos of collections, and this determines the significance of the Gennady case. He was the first to single out biblical books from the chaotic written mass of collections, collected them into one code, and thereby laid the foundation for the Slavic Bible. Gennady's work constituted an epoch in the history of the Biblical Slavic canon and formed the basis for subsequent printed editions. The codex, however, was not even distinguished by the unity of the text on the part of the language; some books were included in the oldest, perhaps even the original Cyril and Methodian translation, others - in a significantly revised or even later text; some, finally, - probably not at all found by Gennady in the then Russian writing system - were translated on his behalf from Latin, from the Vulgate, and part of one book - even directly from the Hebrew. It is impossible not to especially note in the work of Gennady the strong influence of the Vulgate; Gennady took it as his main guide instead of the Greek Bible. The arrangement, the very order of the books, their division into chapters is done according to the Vulgate and according to the Vulgate; from the same Vulgate are borrowed preliminary articles on books, prefaces to them. There is no Maccabean Book 3 at all in the Vulgate; it is not even in Gennady's code. At the same time, Gennady also uses the German Bible, which was then in print. Gennady's work is thus an extremely curious fact of the influence of the West in our country. Gennady's various letters were published in the "Russian Historical Bibl." v. VI, I. Khrushchov, "On the work of Joseph Sanin", in the "Readings" General. others 1847; in "Acts of History." On Gennady and the code he compiled, see Gorsky and Nevostruev, Description of the Manuscripts of the Moscow Synodal Library, Section I, pp. 1-128; reverend Macarius, History of the Russian Church, VII, 177 190; I. Khrushchov, "On the works of Joseph Sanin" (St. Petersburg, 1868) and Tikhonravov in the XIX Uvarov awards.
A. Arkhangelsky.
Service to Saint Gennady, Archbishop of Novgorod
Reprinted from the archives of Holy Trinity Monastery (Jordanville, USA).
Like the saints of our Father Gennady, Archbishop of Novgorod, in Holy Russia, the Jew's delight fell upon us and we sing along with the Great Martyr Barbara.
EVENING: Blessed is the husband, on "Lord, I have cried" voice 8.
By the true election of God / we will accept the rod of holy service / your people ruled for good, / having enlightened them with the light of the Holy Scriptures, / you were a zealous person of piety, / the same and praiseworthy cry to you, / to the Saint of Christ, blessed Gennady, / pray to Christ God for the salvation of our souls.
With the true teaching of Christ / you nourished smooth souls / and into the darkness and shade of the mortal heresy of the descent / to the light of God's commandments you returned the red praise to the Church of Russia / and the land of Novgorod the glorious fertilizer / Gennady, the blessed saint, / prayer for our souls.
Filled with true love, / to the Holy Hierarch Gennady, / in the midst of false brethren and secret apostates, / as the thorn is fragrant, you have flourished in thorns / and you have shamed the abusers of the wicked, / you have remained faithful even to death, / for this, for the sake of accepting the crown of life / and pray for our souls.
GLORY, voice 6
Right faith in slandering in vain / and the holy thing of the Lord in reproach, / girded with divine jealousy, / you became before the wicked in boldness, / like Elijah against Carmel and like your Lord to Calvary, / you ascended to the seat of the mountain / you ascended the enemy invisible Thou, / even if Thou didst not see the triumph of Truth on earth, / but the Church will beautify the work and sufferings of yours, / in it and for us, let us remain relentlessly / and glorify the Lord with you in the highest.
ON VERSE, voice 3 (or on lithium).
Paki gathers an unholy assembly / on the Lord, and on His Christ, and on His Church / an ancient apostate imitating, / the death of the Sinless Paki swearing, / but, as the wax melts from the face of fire, / so disappears from hearing your words, / God-wise saint Gennady, / the Lord's voivode is hefty.
The pack is a godless host, / keeping vain and false, / counseling evil against the Bride of the Lord / and seducing those who do not believe in the Resurrection, / and curse the Holy Mysteries, / and blaspheme the teaching of Christ, / but on the stone of your confession, / as a fierce wave breaks, / exclaiming for all their shame, / and involuntarily showing the greatness of your spirit, / to the wisdom of Saint Gennady, / the invincible governor of the Lord.
Paki is an unfaithful disciple / a Jew betrays Christ / and the apostate leads a lot of secret ones. / Ole sobbing, ole of shame! / Ole of the madness of the wicked, / leading Christ and to the heresy of those who have adhered to the Judaizers, / but put on guard more Divine / about the flock of the Lord by word of mouth / from the south God who came / and you preached our salvation, / God-wise Saint Gennady, / the most glorious voivode of the Lord.
GLORY, voice 4
This day the host of the crafty is put to shame / in your memory, glorious, / faithfulness rejoice in joy / and playfully glorify the Lord, / such a representative who has been given to us, / and a teacher, and a shepherd, and an unwavering confessor, / by the spirit of this age is not deceived, / but for the truth of the will of the will / and the crown of heaven from the Lord bound.
TROPAR, voice 5
You have become like an ancient father, / Saint Father Gennady, / collecting sacred books and shaming heretics, / showing jealousy for Bose, you protected the flock, / pray and now Christ God / grant the world to the Church / and save our souls.
IN THE MORNING:
Canon voice 4.
SONG 1. Irmos: Three-part strong born of the Virgin, impassivity in the depths of my soul, threefold flood I pray, yes, as if in the tympanum, in the mortification of the body, I will sing a triumphant singing.
Give the word to me, Savior Almighty, praise your wondrous saint, who has struggled with a good deed and is now brightly decorated with a victorious crown.
The horsemen, and the tristats, and all the army of Pharaoh mentally took up arms against the Bride of Christ, driving them to comprehend and share the wealth of the Lord, like self-interest, but with your word, Saint Gennady, as if you covered them with a deep abyss and mired in the depths, like a stone.
By you, saint, as if by His right hand, the Lord has erased those who resist, but now you are glorified in the fortress, and rejoice in heavenly glory, and visit those who exist in the situation on earth.
Theotokos: In the possession of Thee, Virgin, a quick Intercessor and refuge for the weak, we will not be afraid of the evil one, let us avoid evil wavering, and we all hope to receive heavenly treasures.
SONG 3. Irmos: The bow of the mighty is weakened, and the weak are girded with strength, for this sake my heart be established in the Lord.
Having strengthened the markers of ungodliness, the high and blasphemous verb, you, the saint, give your faithful confirmation in the Lord to the faithful with your word.
The wicked bow is exhausted, and the flattering body is exhausted in the end, but with the power of the Lord the girdle against His enemies, will give you a prayer prayer, like a fire that resists scorching, and bless the years of His righteous saint.
You, who descended from Heaven and ascended, proclaimed you, Father Gennady, Who can judge by the end of the earth in righteousness, if the hour of His coming is unknown, count the same number of years for the eighth thousand Paschal, to the saint, as if the ministry of Truth would not cease until the coming of Christ.
Theotokos: Permit our spiritual infertility, Virgo, and shake off the darkness of ignorance from hearts overwhelmed by passions, as if we may bring piety unclean fruit.
SEDALEN, voice 4
In the weakness of mankind, having crawled into the ruling power and flattering the comma, you valiantly reflected the insolence of the enemy, and Thou didst show up for salvation, Gennady the wise, and in this way Holy Russia was saved, leaving us with a scepter and a rod of the bishop and being strengthened by the same priest give, and the bitter torment from the wicked rulers of the one who finds it, your people now deliver.
GLORY, the martyr is sedated, AND NOW: His Theotokos.
SONG 4. Irmos: For the sake of Love, Generous, Thy image on Thy Cross became Thou, and the melting heathen, Thou art Thou, Human-loving, my strength and praise.
From the south who came and from the Holy Virgin the incarnate God you confessed before the faithful and unbelievers, strengthening the sheep, while the sheep, with the sword of the word of God, sowing as if to death the fallen and sick are incurable.
On the Divine guard of the flock of Christ's sheep you became, until the ungodly you saw shame, to the saint, looking down on your flock, bringing praise to God who strengthened you in battle.
Ole the wickedness of the wicked, it’s pious, but secretly Judaizing, reproaching every church sanctuary, it was created by a demon, but like wax from the face of fire, your words, father, melted away.
Theotokos: Hasten to help us fiercely misfortune immersed, Pure Mother of the Lord, cast down the wicked wavering, intercede the singing Thy.
SONG 5. Irmos: Thy enlightenment, Lord, send us down and from the darkness of sins permit us, Blessed, grant Thy peace.
From the night of the matinee your spirit to the Lord about the faith, mocked by fierce blasphemy, the same and the Scriptures of the Divine, you wrote off a full vault, God-wise, and all of Russia is enlightened, thanksgiving to you sings.
With the dew of your words, heal those who are not afraid of heresy and the mind who have depended on the gift, to the saint, while the land of the wicked is falling, who do not confess the Trisimic Divine Light and have taken revenge on the incarnation of the Only Begotten.
Indeed, more than the dead of resurrection, there is a great and most glorious miracle, a hedgehog who has died with blasphemy blasphemy turns to piety and turn to praise, but about you, Father, who created the most glorious, rejoicing being on earth.
Theotokos: No one will see the Light, sweep aside the icons of Your worship, but you have not given honor to the image, what kind of radiance of acceptance is possible from the primordial lordship.
SONG 6. Irmos: Came to the depths of the sea and drowned me there is a storm of many sins: but as if God from the depths lift my belly, O Most Merciful.
The Russian Church has been swallowed in vain by the depth of anger and the abyss of blasphemy, you cried out with all your heart to the Lord, and more than hope you heard, Father, the same now we resort to your prayer.
Thou didst descend with your understanding to the very abyss of secret enemy undertakings, but out of decay, raise the souls of delusion, ole the fury of the godless!
Keeping the vain and false of the Merciful and Righteous, forsaking the Lord, and honoring Him with all the malice of the tongue of the flattering one, you, the saint, in the voice of praise and confession, the true sacrifice of the meal, the intrigues of those to the end you put down.
Theotokos: Do not turn your face away from us, Lady, but look mercifully on your sins, even if we fall in great numbers of fierce sins, but we will always seek Your mercy, as we glorify the Mother of God and the warm Intercessor.
KONDAK, voice 4
As if the gentle mentor of the meek / and the deceitful denunciator of the bold / The Church honors thee, Saint Gennady, / with the same cry to you with love: / grant us humility and the spirit of emotion / and in the confession of law / keep our souls intact.
ICOS. Come, God’s righteousness, and heavenly seeking, let us rejoice in the memory of our strong representative, Gennady, and heed his punishment: as lions are roaring and heretics, looking for someone to devour, first to the slothful and lazy they try to solve the secret and cold deeds of the unrepentant and the unrepentant , to ourselves, by that very binding sinful bonds, so we will fall to the good shepherd, as if a heart of love comes to us from the Lord to seek heavenly ones and in the confession of righteousness preserves our souls intact.
SONG 7. Irmos: Sometimes in Babylon the children of Abraham's children are beating the cave flame with songs crying out: our father, God, blessed art.
The deception and fury of the Christ-killers in your days of the cave of fire will be likened, but now you have ignited your Church in seven dimensions, speed up our help, saint, but we cry with you: our father, God, blessed be you.
Yako Daniel in the lion's den in the midst of the apostate walking secretly, you have blocked those crafty lips, Father Gennady, but now you have gone to the light of the non-evening glorify: our father, God, blessed be you.
The flame kindled by the madness and boeslove of a man put you on the spiritual dew of Orthodoxy, and you taught to cry: our father, God, blessed are you.
Theotokos: Ty, Most Pure Lady, as if the prophet of the ancients fulfilled the aspirations, we sing ceaselessly with songs: verily who has clothed God with the flesh and bestowed Him with a man, blessed are you.
SONG 8. Irmos: To the Deliverer of all, Omnipotent, in the midst of the flames pious, descended, you watered, and you taught petit: bless all works, sing to the Lord.
Then, and as a robber, who came to the imperishable wealth of the mental piety of dogmas, agitated, you forbade the saint with a reprimand, but you taught the faithful one to petit: bless all deeds, sing to the Lord.
If not at the arrival of the True Messiah, you are waiting in vain for Him, foil and criminals in your sins, you will abide, even when you come into the fire, you will be sent away unlit, but do not forbid us to cry out all the time: bless all deeds, sing to the Lord.
Theotokos: Bring, O Good prayer to the Lord, accept the prayer of prayer and Thy saint Gennady, who has moved like Thy love, teaches us to bless and pet Thee for all eternity.
SONG 9. Irmos: Eve, because of the ailment of disobedience, instilled an oath, You, Virgin Mary, through the vegetation of the gluttony of the world and blessing you flourished, so we magnify Thee.
Let us die in our sins, the oaths of Eve's heiress, even if with warm faith and zeal in every way We will receive from you, the saint, the Preached, and we will work for the One, as the Redeemer and Illuminator and Helper is strong, and the righteous Mz-Provider, the abyss of generosity to the one who has.
Warm spokesman, wake up about us, Gennady, your flock from the wolves that are destroying him, protect him, moreover, with the Divine word, nourish smooth souls, and we magnify you all.
Trinity: He who is the Divine One leads the one who thinks, he who rejects the Trinity of Godliness, not in the heavenly, but in the underworld of the earth, will find a father for himself;
Theotokos: Enlighten our souls with the Light of Thy Son and shine our thoughts, Good Lady, yes, with a pure heart and lofty thought we magnify all of You.
Svetilen: Today, great Novograd, enlighten, glorify with spiritual songs in the memory of your chairman Gennady in the face of your saints who have shone forth, in them you praise and affirmation.
PRAISE, voice 4.
Praise the Lord for His strength, / Praise His miracles in His saint, / how I stand against a host of cunning good, / like a stone of the sea against many waters, / and left us a good legacy / of the dogmas of fatherly wealth of great value / in the enlightenment and salvation of our souls.
Praise the Lord in a trumpeting voice, / Praise in thanksgiving songs / the Holy Hierarch of the Lord Gennady, / like a complete set of Divine Scriptures / has given it for the edification of his people, / to drive away slander and blasphemy heretical, / in the enlightenment and salvation of our souls.
Praise the Lord in the tympanum and face, / Sing now and His saint, / Saint Gennady the Wise, / the glorious praise of the land of Novgorod / and all Russia as a mentor and representative, / his people strengthens his piety / and teaches the enemy's intrigues / teaches / to enlightenment and salvation our souls.
Praise the Lord in the kind-hearted cymbals / and on the bright days of Easter, / when every breath praises the Soutetel, / and remember His saint Gennady, people, / for the eighth millennium, we have made up Paschal, / the same and the traditions about it we hold tightly, / and the reckoning of the church, / times and years in His own, and not in our power, who has placed / glorifying incessantly / in the enlightenment and salvation of our souls.
Under the spiritual guidance of the Monk Savvaty of Solovetsky.
His position as archbishop of Novgorod was surrounded by significant difficulties: he was the second person to occupy the cathedra by appointment from Moscow. The last archbishop to elect the people's veche was Theophilus, who, being suspected of loyalty to Lithuania, was arrested in the city and imprisoned in one of the Moscow monasteries, from where he sent a renounced letter only in the city. After him, the Trinity Elder Sergius was installed, who, with his personal character and tactless attitude towards the Novgorod shrines, further complicated the already difficult position of the representative of the Novgorod church.
Gennady immediately declared himself a zealous servant of Moscow and persistently set about carrying out the political and ecclesiastical aspirations of the central government in the Novgorod diocese, although here he had to meet stubborn opposition from the local clergy, to whom the Moscow domination caused sensitive material damage by the confiscation of part of the church and monastic lands and the rich Sofia treasury. St. Gennady acted slowly and carefully, but firmly and consistently. Little by little, he achieved that the local clergy got used to the veneration of Moscow saints and saints and introduced prayers for the sovereign into daily services.
In one of his first epistles, St. Gennady expressed a program of relations between the clergy and government authorities: the clergy must obey the orders of this government, for the Moscow sovereigns "obedience is more powerful than many virtues"; but at the same time, the great princes must recognize the leadership role of the clergy and submit to it - a point of view fully accepted and developed by the Josephite clergy.
St. Gennady owns a statutory instruction on the liturgical veneration of the Russian saints. Reverenting to the memory of the great saint Alexy, Gennady, and being in Novgorod, did not cease to worry about the construction of a church named after him: "And silver is enough for the celebration of this temple and the meal and the chambers you send."
Fighting the Heresy of the Judaizers
The time of Saint Archbishop Gennady's prelacy in Novgorod coincided with a formidable period in the history of the Russian Church - the spread of the heresy of the Judaizers. Jewish preachers, who came under the guise of merchants to Novgorod, from a year ago began to sow tares of heresy and apostasy between the Orthodox. False teaching was spreading secretly.
The first news of the heresy reached Saint Gennady in a year: four members of the secret community, in a drunken stupor denouncing each other, discovered before the Orthodox the existence of an impious heresy. As soon as this became known to the saint, the zealous archpastor immediately began a search and, with deep sorrow, became convinced that the danger threatened not only the local, Novgorod piety, but also the capital itself, where the leaders of the Jews had moved in a year. In September, he sent to Moscow, Metropolitan Gerontius, the entire search file in the original, along with a list of the apostates he had discovered and with their writings. The struggle against the Judaizers became the main subject of the archpastoral activity of Saint Gennady.
The fight against heresy was conducted not on the basis of theological disputes and denunciations, but by means of administrative measures. Although St. Gennady was an educated man for his time, but his theological erudition was not outstanding. He considered directly harmful theological debates with heretics and in his epistle to the council of bishops expressed the idea that a council of faith should not be allowed, since "Our people are simple, they do not know how to speak from ordinary books: so that they do not produce any speeches about faith with them." A council against heretics is needed, but not for debates about faith, but in order "to be executed, burned and hanged." Gennady even tried to arrange an exemplary auto-da-fe: when the cathedral of the city sentenced some heretics to imprisonment and sent them to Novgorod, the saint ordered to meet them outside the city, to dress in birch bark helmets with the inscription "Behold Satan's army" drive this way through the streets and then light up their helmets.
However, all the energetic measures against heretics recommended by St. Gennady, did not come true, since the heretics found support in Moscow and lived there quietly. Then St. Gennady turned to another measure - to a spiritual instrument.
Since among the clergy not only were there not enough trained persons, but even there were few literate ones, St. Gennady petitioned Metropolitan Simon for the establishment of schools. Measures to raise religious education among the clergy and the people could not, of course, give quick results. To combat heresy, the saint turned for help to the abbot of the Volokolamsk monastery, Joseph Volotskiy, who became the most prominent fighter for Orthodoxy.
The saint invites the learned elders Paisius Yaroslavov and Nil of Sorsk to him - "talk about those heresies", searches the monasteries for books needed to fight the heretics; it is curious that the Orthodox, even the archbishop himself, did not have many such books, while the heretics did.
"Gennadievskaya Bible"
With the same goal - to fight heresy with spiritual weapons - part of the main work of Gennady was connected - the compilation of the Slavic code of biblical books. Until that time, neither Russian writing, nor the South Slavs had a biblical canon. Biblical books were copied in Russia, following the example of Byzantium, not in the form of a whole set, but in separate parts - the Pentateuch or the Eight Books, Kings, Proverbs and other teaching books; Psalms, Prophets, Gospels and Apostles. Bible books, like any others, were offered to the Old Russian reader in various collections, very diverse in content - together and next to the works of the church fathers, lives, various teachings, often with apocryphal works or even directly with secular stories like Alexandria. It was too difficult for the literate masses to navigate among this literary chaos of collections, and this determines the significance of the case of St. Gennady. He was the first to single out biblical books from the chaotic written mass of collections, collected them into one code, and thereby laid the foundation for the Slavic Bible.
In the Book of Degrees, we read:
Archbishop Gennady stayed in the archbishop for nineteen years, many corrections were made to the show about church splendor and priestly decency, and shame heretics, and affirm the Orthodox faith, then they were brought to Moscow, and half-three years old to stay in the monastery of the miracles of the Archangel Michael and the Holy and the Wonder-Working. , where the former was in the archimandrite, and that one will end up before God.
The holy relics of Archbishop Gennady were laid in the church of the Miracle of St. Archangel Michael in Khonekh, in the place where the relics of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow, who were especially revered by him, rested before.
Troparion Gennady, Archbishop. Novgorod
You have become like an ancient father, / Saint Father Gennady, / Collecting the Holy Books and shaming heretics, / showing jealousy for Bose, you protected the flock, / pray and now Christ God / grant the world to the Church / and save our souls.
Literature
- Nikitsky, "Essay on the internal history of the church in V. Novgorod" ("Readings for general love. Spiritual education.", 1875, No. 5);
- Granditsky, "Gennady Archbishop of Novgorod" ("Orthodox Review", September 1878 and August 1880).
Used materials
- Life on the website of the Moscow Patriarchate Publishing House
- Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron.
Christmas post.
Memory today: vmts. Barbarians and mts. Julianias, who suffered at the beginning of the 4th century; St. John of Damascus and St. John, Bishop of Polivot (VIII); St. Gennady, Archbishop of Novgorod (XV-early XVI).
Sshmchch. XX century: Alexy Saburov, John Pyankov, Alexander Posokhin and Nikolai Yakhontov, presbyters, Vasily Kashin, deacon, and with him 10 martyrs; sshmch. Demetrius Nevedomsky, presbyter, prmts. Anastasia Titova, mcts. Catherine Arskaya and Kira Obolenskaya.
The icon of the Mother of God "Damascus" is glorified.
We congratulate the birthday people on the day of the angel.
Brothers and sisters, today we will talk about the remarkable saint of the Russian land - Gennady, Archbishop of Novgorod. He was born in the first half of the 15th century in the pious Gonzov family. He began his monastic life in the Valaam monastery under the leadership of Saint Savvaty of Solovetsky. In February 1477, the saint was appointed archimandrite of the Chudov Monastery, and on December 12, 1484, he was ordained Archbishop of Novgorod.
The saint zealously fought for the purity of Orthodoxy and exerted much effort to enlighten his flock. In the 15th century, such a phenomenon as the "heresy of the Judaizers" arose in Russia. As the name suggests, significant elements of Judaism were present in the worldview of the heretics. At the very least, these elements were the non-recognition of the divine nature of the Lord Jesus Christ and the denial of the related dogmas, as well as the adherence to some of the ritual prescriptions of Judaism. Archbishop Gennady, faced with the bookishness of the Jews, could not find the necessary patristic books in the Novgorod Sofia house. With a request to help him in solving the book problem, he wrote to the Rostov Vladyka Joasaph, in whose diocese there was then the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery, famous for its library. The list of requested books was very varied, including Menander, Logic, Dionysius the Areopagite, part of the books of the Old Testament, books of anti-heretical polemics.
Another way to change the situation in society was an active translation activity, which developed under St. Gennady in Novgorod. First of all, a complete and systematic translation of the Holy Scriptures into the Slavic language was made. "Gennadiev's Bible" became the first complete publication of the books of the Old and New Testaments in the Slavic language. Translations were also made of other books necessary for polemics with heretics. It is important to note that the story with the announced apostasy clearly raised the question of the unacceptably low level of education not only of the laity, but also of the clergy. Metropolitan Macarius wrote about the unacceptably low level of education among the clergy of that time: "Most of the pastors of the Church themselves barely knew how to read and write, and among the archpastors there were people who were unable to answer how many evangelists there were and the like."
Of course, in such an environment, superstitious fears of various kinds grew by leaps and bounds. At the end of the 15th century, the menacing thought of the imminent demise of the world, which was expected after the seventh thousand years "from the creation of the world" according to the chronology adopted at that time, weighed over Russian minds. At the end of the peacemaking circle in 1408, Russia did not even dare to continue Easter beyond 1491. In September 1491, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Church in Moscow, with the participation of Saint Gennady, decided: "To write Paschal for the eighth thousand years." In the theological interpretation of Paschal, based on the Word of God and the testimony of the holy fathers, the saint wrote: “It is not fitting to fear the end of the world, but to wait for the coming of Christ at all times. As much as God is pleased to stand for the world, so much the passing of times will last ”. From 1504, Saint Gennady was at rest in the Chudov Monastery, and on December 4, 1505, he peacefully departed to the Lord.
The situation with the level of spiritual education in Russia in the 15th century is very indicative. Indicative and, unfortunately, still relevant. Brothers and sisters, why does it happen that the laity shift the responsibility to the priests both in resolving personal issues, and in the knowledge of Holy Scripture, and in theological matters? Someone says that if all the laity are given the knowledge of Holy Scripture and theology, then heretical confusion and vacillation will begin in us. But history tells us otherwise. It is ignorance that becomes the basis for heresies and all sorts of destructive spiritual phenomena. Because wolves will always be found, and sheep, according to the Gospel, should know the voice of the Shepherd. The Lord says about Himself: And when he brings out his sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. They do not follow a stranger, but they run from him, because they do not know someone else's voice.(John 10: 4.5). What does it mean to know the voice of the Shepherd? It is to live a real spiritual life in the Church and be sure to know the Word of God. Reading the Holy Scriptures should be a regular practice in our life. No specialist will retain his qualifications if he does not regularly read literature on the basis of his profession. But if you lose your specialty, it is still not so critical, but to stop being a Christian is a terrible and sad fate that no one would like to wish. Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us zealously read the Word of God, the works of the holy fathers and the lectures of wonderful modern theologians. Thank God, in our time all this is so accessible that you can familiarize yourself with them without leaving your home, via the Internet on your computer or phone. Saint Gennady could not even dream of such opportunities for the enlightenment of Christians.
Saint Father Gennady, pray to God for us.
Deacon Mikhail Kudryavtsev
On December 17, we remember Gennady Novgorodsky. The Russian people owe him three major deeds. Collection and release of the first complete Bible in the native language. Detection and struggle with the most dangerous heresy, capable of defeating the state and changing the course of history. And - the abolition of the "end of the world" in the 15th century.
Since 1472, Gennady has been the archimandrite of the Chudov Monastery in the Moscow Kremlin. An adherent of strict statutory worship.
In 1483, Saint Gennady began to build in the Chudov Monastery a stone refectory church in honor of the revered Saint Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow, the founder of the monastery, whose relics are now in the Epiphany Cathedral.
On December 12, 1484, Archimandrite Gennady was ordained Archbishop of Novgorod. Reverenting to the memory of the great Saint Alexis, Gennady, and being in Novgorod, did not cease to take care of the construction of a church named after him in Moscow.
The time of the ministry of Saint Archbishop Gennady in Novgorod coincided with a formidable period in the history of the Russian Church. Jewish preachers who came under the guise of merchants to Novgorod, as early as 1470, began to sow the tares of heresy and apostasy between the Orthodox. False teaching was spreading secretly.
The danger threatened not only Novgorod piety, but also the capital of Orthodoxy itself, Moscow, where in 1480 the leaders of the Jews had moved.
In September 1487, Gennady sent to Moscow, Metropolitan Gerontius, the entire search file in the original, along with a list of the apostates he discovered and their writings. The struggle against the Judaizers became the main subject of the archpastoral activity of Saint Gennady.
For nineteen years the struggle between St. Gennady and St. Joseph of Volotsk continued with the strongest attempt by the opponents of Orthodoxy to change the entire course of the history of the Russian Church and the Russian state. Through the labors of the holy confessors, the struggle was crowned with the victory of Orthodoxy.
This was facilitated by the labors of Saint Gennady in the study of the Bible. The heretics in their impious philosophies resorted to distorted texts of the Old Testament books. They differed from those adopted by the Orthodox Church. Archbishop Gennady took upon himself a great deal of work - to bring serviceable copies of Holy Scripture into a single set.
Until that time, biblical books were copied in Russia, following the example of Byzantium, not in the form of a whole set, but in separate parts - the Pentateuch or the Eight-books. Kings, Proverbs and other teaching books. Psalms, Prophets, Gospels and Apostles.
The sacred books of the Old Testament were especially often subjected to accidental and deliberate damage. Saint Gennady wrote about this with sorrow in his letter to Archbishop Joasaph.
In 1499, the first complete set of Holy Scriptures in the Slavic language was published in Russia - the Gennady Bible, as it is respectfully called by the name of the compiler, which has become an integral link in the continuity of the Slavic translation of the Word of God.
The memory of Saint Gennady is preserved in his other work for the benefit of the Orthodox Church. At the end of the 15th century, the menacing thought of the imminent demise of the world, which was expected after the seventh thousand years from the creation of the world, weighed heavily over Russian minds. After the end of the peacemaking circle in 1408, they did not dare to continue Easter in Russia beyond 1491. In September 1491, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Church in Moscow, with the participation of Saint Gennady, determined: To write Paschal for the eighth thousand years. On November 27, 1492, Metropolitan Zosima, a participant in the heresy of the Judaizers, in Moscow expounded Paschalia for only 20 years.
Saint Gennady soon completed the compilation of his Paschalia, which, unlike the Metropolitan, was continued for 70 years. Under the general title "The Beginning of Paschalia Performed for the Eighth Thousand Years."
In the theological interpretation of Paschalia, based on the Word of God and the testimony of the holy fathers, the saint wrote:
- It is fitting not to fear the end of the world, but to wait for the coming of Christ at all times. As much as God is pleased to stand for the world, as long as the passing of times will last. Times were arranged by the Creator not for Himself, but for man. Let the man understand the times of change, honor the end of his life. Nobody knows about the timing of the fulfillment of the creation of God, neither the Angels, nor the packs of the Son, but only the Father. Therefore, the holy fathers, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, set forth the peace-making circle precisely as a circle. The saint opposed to the heretical seductions about the calculation of dates, the path of constant spiritual sobriety, consecrated by the Church.
Saint Gennady outlined the theological foundations of Paschalia. He explained how with the help of Alpha, the great peace-making circle, it is possible to bring Paschal into the future, as long as it takes.
Leaving his archpastoral service, from 1504 the saint lived in retirement in the Kremlin Miracle Monastery, where he peacefully departed to the Lord on December 4 (17), 1505.
The holy relics of Archbishop Gennady were laid in the church of the Miracle of St. Archangel Michael in Khonekh. In the place where the relics of St. Alexis, the Metropolitan of Moscow, who were especially venerated by him, rested until that time.
