Rector of St. Petersburg Theological Academy

• Episcopal consecration – June 4 2017
• Priestly consecration – June 15, 2008
• Diaconal ordination – April 27, 2008
• Monastic tonsure - April 22, 2008
• Date of birth: April 25, 1985
• Namesake – December 8

Education

• Smolensk Theological Seminary (2004)
• Moscow Theological Academy (PhD in Theology) (2006)
• Smolensk State University (candidate historical sciences) (2009)
• Christian Theological Academy in Warsaw (Doctor of Theology) (2017)

Academic degree

• candidate of theology
• Candidate of Historical Sciences
• doctor of theology

Biography

• Born on April 25, 1985 in Smolensk.
• After graduating from school in 2002, he entered the Smolensk Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 2004. In 2003 he entered Smolensk State University, Faculty of History, from which he graduated in 2009.
• In 2004 he entered the Moscow Theological Academy, from which he graduated in 2006 with a candidate of theology degree, having defended a dissertation on the topic "Smolensk diocese during the Great Patriotic War».
• In 2006 he was appointed teacher at the Smolensk Theological Seminary. He also taught at the Smolensk Interdiocesan Theological School. In 2007, he was appointed secretary of the Smolensk diocesan administration. He was the secretary of the Diocesan Council of the Smolensk diocese.
• April 22, 2008 in Svyato-Uspensky cathedral of Smolensk, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, now His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', was tonsured a monk with the name Seraphim in honor of the holy martyr Seraphim, Archbishop of Smolensk.
• On April 27, 2008, on the feast of Holy Easter, in the Holy Dormition Cathedral of Smolensk, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk ordained him to the rank of hierodeacon.
• On June 15, 2008, on the feast of Pentecost, in the Holy Dormition Cathedral of Smolensk, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk ordained him to the rank of hieromonk.
• On July 12, 2008, he was appointed rector of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Smolensk.
• On May 5, 2010, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' was awarded the pectoral cross.
• In 2010 in Bryansk state university them. Academician I.G. Petrovsky defended his dissertation for the scientific degree candidate of historical sciences on the topic “The impact of the Russian Orthodox Church on social sphere society during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. (Based on materials from the Smolensk region)".
• On April 30, 2012, he was appointed rector of the memorial church in honor of the Resurrection of Christ in Katyn, where he organized parish life.
• In 2012, for the holiday of Holy Easter, he was awarded the right to carry a club.
• Since July 2014 - employee of the Moscow Patriarchate Administration. On March 9, 2015, he was appointed to the position of executive secretary of the Moscow Patriarchate Administration.
• On July 25-31, 2016, as part of the official delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church, he took part in World Days youth in Krakow.
• In 2014-2017 he studied for a doctorate at the Christian Theological Academy in Warsaw, after which he defended his dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Theology on the topic “Święty męczennik Serafin (Ostroumow), arcybiskup smoleński oraz jego duszpasterstwo w Polsce i Rosji” (“Hieromartyr Seraphim (Ostroumov), Archbishop of Smolensk and his pastoral ministry in Poland and Russia”).
• By decision Holy Synod Russian Orthodox Church dated May 4, 2017 (magazine No. 30) was elected Bishop of Lyubertsy, Vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', and appointed to the position of Chairman of the Synodal Department for Youth Affairs.
• On May 10, 2017, in the church in honor of All Saints, in the Russian land, the Patriarchal residence in the Danilov Monastery in Moscow, the manager of the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Barsanuphius of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.
• On June 3, 2017, in the Throne Hall of the Patriarchal Apartments of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, he was named bishop. On June 4, 2017, on the feast of Pentecost, he was ordained bishop during the Divine Liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Lavra of Sergius. The naming and consecration was led by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'.
• From May 2017 to July 2018 – member of the Supreme Church Council Russian Orthodox Church.
• From May 22, 2017 to July 28, 2018, he was rector of the Church of the Assumption Holy Mother of God– Patriarchal Metochion on Krutitsy, Moscow.
• On July 17, 2017, he was included in the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church, in the commission for church education and diakonia, and from October 15, 2018, he was transferred to the commission for theology and theological education (Synod Journal No. 80).
• Since March 1, 2018 – Head of the Department of Theology Faculty of Humanities Russian State Social University.
• By the decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church of July 14, 2018 (journal No. 48), he was appointed rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, vicar of the St. Petersburg diocese with the title of Peterhof and relieved of the post of chairman of the Synodal Department for Youth Affairs.
• On July 31, 2018, he was admitted to the Council of Rectors of Higher Education educational institutions St. Petersburg and Leningrad region.
• September 24, 2018 elected member of the Academic Council Military Medical Academy(Saint Petersburg).
• On December 8, 2018, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' approved the rank of associate professor.

Main scientific works, publications:

Word Archimandrite Seraphim (Amelchenkov) upon his naming as Bishop of Lyubertsy, Vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.

Monographs

1. Smolensk diocese during the Great Patriotic War. - Smolensk, 2006. - 192 p.: ill.

2. Theological education in Russia: Smolensk Theological Seminary. Historical sketch. 1728-2008. - Smolensk, 2010. - 352 p.: ill.

3. Russian Orthodox Church and society during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 (based on materials from the Smolensk region). - Smolensk: Scroll, 2012. - 256 p.: ill.

4. Dear faith, love and truth. Historical sketch of the life and ministry of Hieromartyr Seraphim (Ostroumov), Archbishop of Smolensk and Dorogobuzh, 1880-1937. - Smolensk: Scroll, 2012. - 304 p.: ill.

5. Pastoration of the Hieromartyr Seraphim (Ostroumov), Archbishop of Smolensk in Poland and Russia. ― Smolensk: Scroll, 2017. ― 416 p.: ill.

Main articles (last five years)

1. Smolensk Theological Seminary in the first half of the 19th century // Religious education in Russia and Europe in the 19th century. - St. Petersburg: Publishing House of the Russian Christian Humanitarian Academy, 2014.
2. Religious factor in the development of Polish-Russian cultural relations // Russia and the West: Dialogue of Cultures: collection of articles / Moscow State University. - M.: Center for the Study of Interaction of Cultures, 2015.
3. Pastor counseling experience of saint martyr Seraphin (Ostroumov), archbishop of Smolensk, “Rocznik Teologiczny”, Warszawa 2016, LVIII (1).
4. Theological education in the Russian seminary in the second half of the 19th century: Smolensk Theological Seminary // Religious education in Russia and in Europe in late XIX- beginning of the 20th century. ― St. Petersburg: Publishing House of the Russian Christian Humanitarian Academy, 2016.
5. Hieromartyr Archbishop Seraphim (Ostroumov) as the patron of the reconciliation of the peoples of Poland and Russia // Russia and the West: Dialogue of Cultures: collection Articles XIX international conference March 22-23, 2017, issue 19, part I / Moscow State University. ― M.: Center for the Study of Interaction of Cultures, 2017.
6. Solidarity between pastor and people in an era of change. “Open letter to the Moscow clergy” sschmch. Seraphim (Ostroumov), Bishop of Belsky April 18/May 1, 1917 // Theology: a meeting of East and West. Proceedings of the Department of Theology of the Russian State University of Social Sciences. – St. Petersburg: Aletheya, 2018.
7. Orthodoxy: trajectories of movement of spiritual and moral boundaries // Religious freedoms in the world. The path to dialogue: materials of the international conference. – M.: Lawyer, 2018.

Area of ​​scientific interests: history of Russia, history of the Russian Orthodox Church, pastoral theology.

Date of Birth: June 15, 1970 A country: Russia Biography:

Since 1982, he carried out obediences in churches and dioceses. At the end high school and entered the military service.

On April 7, 1994, the rector of Moscow theological schools in the Trinity Cathedral tonsured a monk with the name Ambrose in honor of St. Ambrose of Optina.

On May 29, 1994, in the Intercession Academic Church of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Bishop Philaret of Dmitrov ordained him a hierodeacon.

In September 1994, he was appointed regent of the newly formed academic choir of seminary and academy students.

On October 8, 1994, in the Intercession Academic Church of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, he was ordained to the rank of hieromonk.

In June 1995 he graduated from the seminary and in August of the same year he was enrolled in the 1st year of the academy. In June 1999, he graduated from the MDA with a candidate of theology degree, having defended a dissertation in the department of patrolology on the topic “The Soteriology of St. John Chrysostom.” Remained in theological schools as a teacher and director of the academic choir.

In August 2000, by decree, he was appointed vice-rector of pastoral courses, which were later transformed into a priesthood in Moscow, and assigned to the brethren of the monastery. While staying at the Sretensky Monastery, he served as dean of the monastery and regent of the festive monastery choir.

In 2003 he completed training at the Russian Academy civil service under the President of the Russian Federation under the program “Fundamentals of State-Church Relations”.

December 28, 2004 by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II in the cathedral church Sretensky Monastery elevated to the rank of archimandrite.

The bishop's consecration took place on March 26, 2005 in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. The service was led by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of July 19, 2006 () he was appointed Bishop of Bronnitsky, vicar of the Moscow diocese.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of October 6, 2008 () Bishop of Gatchina, vicar, rector.

April 2, 2011 appointed chairman of the department religious education and catechesis of the St. Petersburg diocese.

On February 1, 2014, at the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill consecrated him to the rank of archbishop.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of July 14, 2018 () he was appointed rector, with the dismissal of the rector of St. Petersburg theological schools. Determined to be Archbishop of Vereya, vicar His Holiness Patriarch Moscow and all Rus'.

Education:

1995 - Moscow Theological Seminary.

1999 - Moscow Theological Academy (PhD in Theology).

Diocese: Moscow diocese (urban) (Vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus') Place of work: Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary (Rector) Scientific works, publications:

Soteriology of St. John Chrysostom (PhD thesis).

Archbishop Ambrose (Ermakov). . - St. Petersburg: SPbPDA Publishing House, 2018. - 192 p.

Awards:

Church:

• 2011 - sschmch. Isidore Yuryevsky III Art. (Estonian Orthodox Church);
• 2012 - Rev. Andrey Rublev, II degree;
• 2017 - medal of St. Theophan the Recluse, 1st class. (Ryazan Metropolitanate).

Secular:

• 2015 - Friendship.

Email: [email protected] Website: www.mpda.ru

Publications on the portal Patriarchia.ru

Archbishop Ambrose of Vereya: We are still too far from people to be trusted [Interview]

Archbishop Ambrose of Vereya: “Not to get carried away with external activities is our main task today” [Interview]

Archbishop of Peterhof Ambrose: “Secularization does not threaten Christian reading” [Interview]

Archbishop of Peterhof Ambrose: “Academy for everyone” is a new direction in the publishing activities of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy [Interview]

Archbishop of Peterhof Ambrose. A few words about the publishing house of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy [Interview]

Use a shell to scoop up the sea. Interview with Bishop Ambrose of Peterhof to the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate [Interview]

Interview with the rector of St. Petersburg theological schools, Bishop Ambrose of Peterhof, to German media representatives [Interview]

The Chairman of the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis of the St. Petersburg Diocese said this during a meeting of the Collegium for Religious Education and Catechesis.

At the beginning of the meeting, Archbishop Ambrose read out some provisions from the report of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' at the Bishops' Conference of the Russian Orthodox Church, in which the Patriarch addressed Special attention to questions regarding activities in the field of religious education. Then the bishop moved on to issues directly related to the St. Petersburg diocese.

During the meeting, the prospects for religious-educational, catechetical and cultural-educational activities in deaneries were discussed. The main issues and directions of work in the field of religious education for the near future were also announced. In particular, Archbishop Ambrose drew the attention of those present to a number of the most important aspects activities.

Thus, the hierarch spoke about plans to organize Centers for spiritual culture and education in deaneries. The idea of ​​​​creating such Centers is caused by the need to intensify the work of deaneries in in this direction. Many issues of spiritual and moral education and upbringing, resolved at the level of the diocese and the Education Committee, for many reasons do not receive further development. One of the obstacles is the lack of a platform for the implementation of fruitful interaction between secular and church specialists for a joint solution common tasks in the field of culture, education and upbringing of children. Centers for spiritual culture should become such a platform.

One of most important tasks diocese on this moment is to increase the percentage of selection of the Fundamentals module Orthodox culture V secondary schools city, which is now 30.

Archbishop Ambrose drew special attention of those listening to the need for a responsible selection of assistant deans for religious education and catechesis, directors of the Centers for Cultural Education and Lectures, and teaching methodologists. The chairman of the diocesan OROiK emphasized that it is necessary to appoint people with appropriate education and experience in this field to these positions. According to the hierarch, if the director of the DKiO Center can be a creative, energetic person, if possible a clergyman who is not engaged in other activities in the parish, then the methodologist must be a professional who knows his job. It is important for any parish employee who interacts with parishioners to have at least a basic education in the field of Orthodox doctrine. For this purpose, the diocese has Diocesan courses of religious education and catechesis - the only diocesan courses that have received the stamp of the Synodal Department of Religious Education and Catechesis.

Archbishop Ambrose spoke about the draft Agreement on cooperation in the field of spiritual and moral education and upbringing between the heads of administrations of the districts of St. Petersburg and the leadership of the deaneries of the St. Petersburg diocese, territorially associated with these areas. The draft of this Agreement is currently being finalized taking into account current information.

The next issue raised at the meeting was the interaction of the diocesan OROiK and deaneries in matters of religious education, catechesis and cultural and educational activities. Archbishop Ambrose noted the importance of interaction between the Department and deaneries, which should be carried out with the help of assistant deans, who should be in constant contact with the Department.

Concluding his speech, the Chairman of OROiK raised the issue of catechesis in parishes and in Sunday schools. He talked about the decision taken about organizing a Sunday school in every parish. According to the bishop, “for creative process the main thing should be - children should know the basics Holy Scripture And Christian life" The Bishop also emphasized that at present it is obligatory to announce the Sacraments of Baptism and Marriage with the issuance of certificates of a single standard established by the Holy Synod.

After the speech of Archbishop Ambrose, at the end of the meeting, the first deputy chairman of the Department, priest Ilya Makarov, discussed with those present the issues of distribution of areas of responsibility of assistant deans, directors of the Centers for Education and Culture, financing problems and other aspects of activities in the field of religious education, and also answered questions from the audience.

The meeting was attended by assistant deans for religious education and catechesis, as well as teachers and methodologists of deaneries for spiritual and moral development, education and upbringing, reports the press service of the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis of the St. Petersburg Diocese.

In St. Petersburg, events related to the transfer of the Russian Orthodox Church St. Isaac's Cathedral. And again we see the heterogeneity of the church environment and the disunity of people on an issue that should, on the contrary, unite them.

Press dossier:

On the day of the procession around Isaac, believers listened to the sermons of two dignitaries. Archbishop Ambrose apologized for the church aggression. Metropolitan Barsanuphius, meanwhile, threatened punishment for blasphemers. Fontanka compared the texts.

Preparations for the second religious procession were carried out with the help of diocesan circulars and aggressive PR on social networks. The rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Archbishop Ambrose, speaking in front of thousands, relieved the tension with a peaceful sermon. At the same time, the head of the St. Petersburg priests, Metropolitan Barsanuphius, delivered his speech.

On Sunday, February 19th, to Orthodox calendar Meat week has started. Tradition prescribes speaking from the pulpit about the terrible (last) judgment. But each clergyman independently decides in what way to convey his thoughts to the flock.

Coincided with the beginning of the meat-eating procession around Isaac - a kind of response of the diocese to civil protests. By that time, it was already known in St. Petersburg that the Kremlin was skeptical about the willfulness of the city and church authorities, and public speaking Each cleric had a theme color by default.

In Isaac, the sermon was read by the rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Archbishop of Peterhof Ambrose. Metropolitan Barsanuphius of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, considered the main proponent of the transfer of Isaac to the church, was also not left without an audience. Several dozen people listened to him in the church at the Seraphim cemetery.

Archbishop of Peterhof Ambrose. In the world Vitaly Ermakov, 46 years old. Was born in Kursk region. He became a novice in 1982. He entered the Moscow Theological Academy after the army. He was tonsured a monk at the age of 23.

Candidate of Theology. Has two secular educations. Graduated Russian Academy civil services under the program “Fundamentals of State-Church Relations” and the Institute of Friendship of the Peoples of the Caucasus (Stavropol) with a specialty in “Psychology”. Before St. Petersburg, he served in the Kemerovo and Moscow dioceses. Rector of St. Petersburg Theological Schools since 2008. He was elevated to the rank of archbishop in February 2014.

Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Barsanuphius. In the world Anatoly Sudakov, 56 years old. Born in the Saratov region. He was tonsured a monk at the age of 22. In 1986 he graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy. While studying at Moscow theological schools, he spent his vacation time annually in Pyukhtitsky convent in Estonia, where he helped the future Patriarch Alexy II more than once. Before St. Petersburg, he served in the Penza and Saransk dioceses, as a manager of the Moscow Patriarchate, and the Mordovian Metropolis. Metropolitan since February 2010. He moved to St. Petersburg in March 2014.

Barsanuphius, speaking about the days of judgment, recalled the inevitability of punishment:

“We heard in the Gospel that the Lord revealed how the final judgment would take place. When atrocities happen, many ask why the Lord does not punish them. Everything has its time".

The words of Ambrose were heard throughout Isaac:

“I want to talk about Christ and love. The Last Judgment is a court of love. Without love for a person, justice and law are impossible. The Last Judgment is the question of whether you loved anyone.”

Barsanuphius chose a different tone:

“When we hear the Gospel, we must do it... It will be finished Last Judgment. Some try to associate life in half with sin - it seems that the Second Coming is far away, there are no signs indicated in the Gospel yet, the Antichrist has not yet come. But death is on our heels. You have to be prepared every day."

Ambrose did not separate himself from the flock:

“We are trying in vain to improve the world, to find justice, we want to win politically and socially, and in this game we do not compromise anything, not even faith and shrines. We spend hours arguing about the correctness of other people's actions, dividing people into our own, who must have our views, and strangers, whom we must crush. And we do not do anything that will save us in the hour of the Last Judgment.”

Barsanuphius hurried:

"Today we must make a choice: to the right or left side from the Judge of the Universe we want to stand up. Those who have corrected their lives through repentance, tears, and cleansed their souls will stand on the right. And on the left will stand those who did everything contrary to the commandments of God and so stained their souls that they appear in rags and all wounded by sins.”

Ambrose tried to project the Gospel onto civic values:

“Be careful that your freedom does not cause you to fall,” the Apostle Paul warned the Christians of his time. These words were spoken to us too. Freedom without love in Christ very quickly becomes freedom for one and compulsion for another. The limit of a Christian’s freedom lies where the personal freedom of his neighbor, the freedom of another person, begins.”

Barsanuphius shared his personal experience:

“I witnessed punishments when the Lord punished blasphemers. These people died naturally. They held high positions in Soviet time, were school directors, someone else. But they opposed God. They received their punishment while they were alive.”

Ambrose called for mercy:

“Don’t put up walls between yourself and others. Do not look for dividing differences between people, try not to classify them according to characteristics and treat everyone with the same benevolence. Do not draw an identity between a person and his sins, mistakes and weaknesses. Know how to forgive."

Barsanuphius assured that the Lord’s choice would be simple:

“Just as it is easy to distinguish a sheep from a goat, so it will be easy for the Lord to distinguish a holy soul from a lost one, corrupted during life in sins.”

According to Ambrose, not everything is so simple:

“After all, it was not the atheists who crucified Christ, but precisely those people who spoke most about God and prayed in church and on the street more than others.”

Barsanuphius did not speak about the broadcast of Isaac on February 19 for obvious reasons - the audience was not the same. He expressed his position very clearly in a letter to Dmitry Medvedev in March 2016:

“It is absolutely obvious that historical churches... need to be returned to their original and only possible liturgical purpose.”

Ambrose, in turn, could not help but say:

“Taking this God-given opportunity, I want to ask for forgiveness from all of you. And for those who in the past weeks were unrestrained in words and emotions, spoke unworthily about people, and gave temptations. And thinking that by defending his position and even the church, he was harming both the church and all of us.”

Ambrose became the first church dignitary to apologize and express gratitude to the director of the GMZ " Saint Isaac's Cathedral“To Nikolai Burov and his staff for “many years of cooperation and maintaining the cathedral in a majestic condition.”

The word “love” was heard more than thirty times in Ambrose’s sermon. In Barsanuphius’s speech, judging by the transcript on the website of the St. Petersburg diocese, there was not a single one.

Today at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy
entrance exams are held
and at the very time to listen to the words of its rector,
expressed by him on June 30, 2016:

So, a few quotes from this archpastoral speech,
addressed to graduates:

Archbishop Ambrose: “Think that, being within these walls, you, without noticing it, were endowed by God with something that the vast majority of people on our planet are absolutely deprived of, for, according to statistics, you did not belong to those 80 out of every 100 people , who live in extreme poverty, and those 70 who are regularly malnourished. But you had the opportunity to belong to that lucky one hundredth of humanity that has access to. higher education and access to the Internet. Agree, these seem like simple numbers, but how radically they can change our attitude towards ourselves and the years spent at the Academy.”

P.S. Instead of reciting a mantra
"Thank God I'm not Zimbabwean
and I belong to the golden billion!"
I would be in the place of His Eminence
I would wonder:
"Why are SPbDA graduates
for the rest of my life
end up bruised
higher spiritual education
and experience a great feeling of inferiority
in front of the same graduates of St. Petersburg University?"

Archbishop Ambrose: “Accept as a fact that you will teach people many times older than you in age and life experience. But it is in your word that they will discover for themselves the depth of God’s eternal mysteries.”

P.S. How familiar this is: twenty-year-old and still beardless boys
with priestly crosses on the necks,
ordained by His Eminence Ambrose Ermakov
in violation of all canons
and generally without any life experience,
"they will reveal the depth of God's eternal secrets"
those who are old enough to be grandchildren themselves.

Archbishop Ambrose: “And one of the main issues that you will face in your ministry will be the question of unity. The well-known events associated with the organization and conduct of the 2016 Assembly in Crete clearly exposed a whole range of problems that Orthodoxy faces in the world. Each turned out to be right in its own way, and the position of each Church was logical and justified in its own way, but the fact remains: with pain in the heart we have to admit that over the past centuries we have forgotten how to think with a single collective mind, have forgotten how to feel the beat of a single heart and have forgotten how to live as one life. It is the task of theologians of future generations to understand all the intricacies of the current ecclesiological crisis..."

P.S. What theological helplessness and arch stupidity:
assign the task to understand
"in the current ecclesiological crisis"
to “theologians of future generations”?!
This is the same for the rector of the Theological Academy
recognition of one's own professional incompetence,
and complete theological incompetence,
SPBDA headed by him.

Archbishop Ambrose: “Be attentive and wise to all manifestations of the destructive division that is being introduced into the church fence before our eyes. Slander and gossip are genuine cancer tumor, who has found herself favorable environment development in the uncontrolled spaces of the Internet. Do not succumb to the provocations of other madmen who have decided to try on the mantle of prophets and believe that the condemnation of everything and everyone, with or without reason, can be worthy and effective way solutions to the problems of the Church. Always remember that “there are two ways: one is life and one is death; great is the difference between the two ways” (Didache 1:1). He who chooses the path of life is aware that all the troubles of the Church on earth lie not in the abuses of bishops or in the mistakes of patriarchs, but in the fact that I am today in no way better than I was yesterday; that's mine inner man did not take a single decisive step to reach a different level of existence and relationship with God; Finally, the Fifth Gospel, which I am called to write on the pages of my earthly journey, should speak not at all about the vices and shortcomings of others, but about my personal journey side by side with Christ to Emmaus.

P.S. Oh yes, let the "bishops abuse"
and the patriarchs make mistakes and even fall into heresy,
for me, a church conformist and opportunist
with higher theological education,
earthly problems of the earthly Church
are not subject to discussion even in the kitchen:
“Holy lord, spit in my eyes—it’s God’s dew!
Drive me around like a gypsy throughout the diocese, spread rot, continue to abuse me!”

Archbishop Ambrose: “But the unity and like-mindedness of each Church, where everyone lives with common interests and common aspirations, is based on an even more important unity - parish. Each of you will have to make every effort in your parish to become an earthly father for the community of believers, indicating the path to the chamber of the Heavenly Father."

P.S. The only thing that the bishop did not mention was
that in SPbDA there is a compulsory
descended from above, distribution of graduates.
And before “his arrival,” the 22-year-old “shepherd the sheep”
There are 11-12 time zones to travel:
this is both the Arctic Circle and Chukotka,
and Aleut camps in the Far North.
Students are distributed according to positions comparable
with graduates of military schools.
However, the junior lieutenant
finding himself on the shores of the Bering Strait,
receives a guaranteed “social package”:
a separate apartment equipped with amenities,
good health insurance,
stable salary,
doubled by the “northern allowances”,
and retirement at 45 years old.
The young priest, finding himself
at the same time and in the same place,
of all the benefits listed above
acquires only one grandiose “donut hole”...