Grounds for the canonization of the royal family. Why Emperor Nicholas II was canonized

In 1981, the royal family was glorified by the decision of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad. This event increased attention to the issue of the sanctity of the last Russian tsar in the USSR as well, as underground literature was sent there and foreign broadcasting was carried out.

July 16, 1989. In the evening, people began to gather in the vacant lot where Ipatiev's house once stood. For the first time, public prayers to the Royal Martyrs were read openly. On August 18, 1990, on the site of the Ipatiev house, the first wooden cross was erected, near which believers began to pray once or twice a week, read akathists.

In the 1980s, voices began to be heard in Russia about the official canonization of at least shot children, whose innocence raises no doubts. Mention are made of icons painted without church blessing, in which only they were depicted, without their parents. In 1992, the sister of the Empress, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Fyodorovna, another victim of the Bolsheviks, was canonized. Nevertheless, there were also many opponents of canonization.

Arguments against canonization

Canonization of the royal family

Russian Orthodox Church Abroad

The results of the work of the Commission were reported to the Holy Synod at a meeting on October 10, 1996. A report was published in which the position of the Russian Orthodox Church on this issue was announced. Further steps were possible on the basis of this positive report.

Key points of the report:

Based on the arguments taken into account by the ROC (see below), as well as thanks to petitions and miracles, the Commission voiced the following conclusion:

“Behind the many sufferings endured by the Royal Family in the last 17 months of their lives, which ended with the execution in the basement of the Yekaterinburg Ipatiev House on the night of July 17, 1918, we see people sincerely striving to embody the commandments of the Gospel in their lives. In the sufferings endured by the Royal Family in captivity with meekness, patience and humility, in their martyrdom, the light of Christ's faith conquering evil was revealed, just as it shone in the life and death of millions of Orthodox Christians who endured persecution for Christ in the 20th century.

It is in comprehending this feat of the Royal Family that the Commission, in complete unanimity and with the approval of the Holy Synod, finds it possible to glorify in the Cathedral the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in the face of the Passion-bearers of Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexander, Tsarevich Alexy, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia.

From the "Acts on the Council Glorification of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia of the 20th Century":

“To glorify the Royal family as martyrs and confessors of Russia as martyrs: Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra, Tsarevich Alexy, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia. In the last Orthodox Russian monarch and members of his Family, we see people who sincerely sought to embody the commandments of the Gospel in their lives. In the sufferings endured by the Royal family in captivity with meekness, patience and humility, in their martyrdom in Yekaterinburg on the night of July 4 (17), 1918, the conquering evil light of Christ's faith was revealed, just as it shone in life and death millions of Orthodox Christians who underwent persecution for Christ in the 20th century ... Report the names of the newly glorified saints to the Primates of the fraternal Local Orthodox Churches for their inclusion in the calendar. "

Arguments for canonization taken into account by the ROC

• Circumstances of death- physical, mental suffering and death at the hands of political opponents.
• Widespread popular veneration royal passion-bearers served as one of the main reasons for their glorification in the face of saints.
• « Testimonies of miracles and grace-filled help through prayers to the Royal Martyrs. It is about healings, the unification of disunited families, the protection of the church property from schismatics. Especially abundant is the evidence of the myrrh-streaming of icons depicting Emperor Nicholas II and the Royal Martyrs, of the fragrance and miraculous bleeding of bloody stains on the iconic faces of the Royal Martyrs ”.
• Personal piety of the Tsar: the Emperor paid great attention to the needs of the Orthodox Church, generously donated for the construction of new churches, including outside Russia. Deep religiosity distinguished the Imperial couple among the representatives of the then aristocracy. All of its members lived in accordance with the traditions of Orthodox piety. During the years of his reign, more saints were canonized than in the previous two centuries (in particular, Theodosius of Chernigov, Seraphim of Sarov, Anna Kashinskaya, Joasaph Belgorodsky, Germogen of Moscow, Pitirim of Tambovsky, John Tobolsky).
• “The Church policy of the Emperor did not go beyond the traditional synodal system of government of the Church. However, it was during the reign of Emperor Nicholas II that the church hierarchy, which had been officially silent on the issue of convening a Council for two centuries, had the opportunity not only to widely discuss, but also to practically prepare for the convocation of a Local Council ”.
• The activities of the Empress and the Grand Duchesses as sisters of mercy during the war.
• “Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich often likened his life to the trials of the sufferer Job, on the day of the church memory of which he was born. Having accepted his cross just like the biblical righteous man, he endured all the trials sent down to him firmly, meekly and without a shadow of murmur. It is this longsuffering that is revealed with particular clarity in the last days of the Emperor's life. From the moment of abdication, not so much external events as the internal spiritual state of the Sovereign draws our attention to itself ”. Most of the witnesses of the last period of the life of the Royal Martyrs speak of the prisoners of the Tobolsk governor and Yekaterinburg Ipatiev houses as people who suffered and, despite all the abuse and insults, led a pious life. "Their true greatness stemmed not from their royal dignity, but from that amazing moral height to which they gradually ascended."

Refutation of the arguments of opponents of canonization

• The blame for the events of January 9, 1905 cannot be placed on the emperor. The petition about workers' needs, with which the workers went to the tsar, had the character of a revolutionary ultimatum, which excluded the possibility of its acceptance or discussion. The decision to prevent workers from entering the area of ​​the Winter Palace was made not by the emperor, but by the government headed by the Minister of Internal Affairs PD Svyatopolk-Mirsky. Minister Svyatopolk-Mirsky did not provide the emperor with sufficient information about the events, and his messages were reassuring in nature. The order to the troops to open fire was also given not by the emperor, but by the commander of the St. Petersburg military district, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. Thus, "historical data do not allow us to detect in the actions of the Sovereign in the days of January 1905 a conscious evil will, directed against the people and embodied in specific sinful decisions and deeds." Nevertheless, Emperor Nicholas II did not see in the actions of the commander reprehensible actions to shoot the demonstrations: he was neither convicted nor removed from office. But he saw the guilt in the actions of the minister Svyatopolk-Mirsky and the mayor I. A. Fullon, who were dismissed immediately after the January events.
• The guilt of Nikolai as an unlucky statesman should not be considered: “we should not evaluate this or that form of state structure, but the place that a particular person occupies in the state mechanism. It is to be assessed to what extent this or that person has managed to embody Christian ideals in his activities. It should be noted that Nicholas II treated the duties of the monarch as his sacred duty. "
• Renunciation of the royal dignity is not a crime against the church: “The striving, characteristic of some opponents of the canonization of Emperor Nicholas II, to present his abdication from the throne as an ecclesiastical canonical crime, similar to the refusal of a representative of the church hierarchy from holy dignity, cannot be recognized as having any serious grounds ... The canonical status of the Orthodox sovereign anointed for the Kingdom was not defined in the church canons. Therefore, attempts to discover the composition of a certain ecclesiastical canonical crime in the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II from power seem untenable. " On the contrary, "The spiritual motives for which the last Russian Tsar, who did not want to shed the blood of his subjects, decided to renounce the Throne in the name of inner peace in Russia, gives his act a truly moral character."
• "There is no reason to see in the relations of the Tsar's Family with Rasputin signs of spiritual delight, and even more so insufficient churchliness."

Aspects of Canonization

The question of the face of holiness

In Orthodoxy, there is a very developed and carefully worked out hierarchy of faces of holiness - categories into which it is customary to divide the saints depending on their labors during their lifetime. The question of which saints the royal family should be numbered causes a lot of controversy among various movements of the Orthodox Church, which assess the life and death of the family in different ways.

Canonization of servants

Together with the Romanovs, four of their servants, who followed their masters into exile, were shot. ROCZ canonized them together with the royal family. And the ROC points to a formal mistake committed by the Church Abroad during the canonization against custom: "It should be noted that there is no historical analogy in the Orthodox Church, the decision to include among the canonized, who accepted a martyrdom together with the Royal Family, the royal servant of the Roman Catholic Aloisy Yegorovich Troupe and the Lutheran Goflektrissa Ekaterina Adolfovna Schneider" .

As a basis for such canonization, Archbishop Anthony (Sinkevich) of Los Angeles cited the argument that "these people, being loyal to the king, were baptized with their martyr's blood, and they deserve, thereby, to be canonized together with the Family."

The position of the Russian Orthodox Church proper regarding the canonization of servants is as follows: "Due to the fact that they voluntarily remained with the Royal Family and accepted a martyr's death, it would be legitimate to raise the question of their canonization."... In addition to the four who were shot in the basement, the Commission mentions that this list should have included those "killed" in various places and in different months of 1918 Adjutant General I. L. Tatishchev, Grand Marshal Prince V. A. Dolgorukov, "uncle" of the Heir K. G. Nagorny, children's footman I. D. Sednev, maid of honor of the Empress A. V. Gendrikov and goflektrissa E. A. Schneider. Nevertheless, the Commission concluded that "it is not possible for it to make a final decision on the existence of grounds for the canonization of this group of laity, who, according to the duty of their court service, accompanied the Royal Family," since there is no information about the broad nominal prayer commemoration of these servants by believers, in addition , there is no information about their religious life and personal piety. The final conclusion was this: "The commission came to the conclusion that the most appropriate form of veneration for the Christian feat of the faithful servants of the Royal Family, who shared its tragic fate, today may be the perpetuation of this feat in the lives of the Royal Martyrs." .

In addition, there is another problem. While the royal family is canonized in the face of martyrs, it is not possible to rank the servants who have endured to the same side, since, as Archpriest Georgy Mitrofanov, a member of the Synodal Commission, said, "the rite of martyrs has been used since antiquity only in relation to representatives of the grand ducal and royal families." ...

Reaction to canonization

The canonization of the royal family eliminated one of the contradictions between the Russian and Russian churches abroad (which canonized them 20 years earlier), said Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad in 2000, chairman of the department for external church relations. The same point of view was expressed by Prince Nikolai Romanovich Romanov (chairman of the Association of the House of Romanov), who, however, refused to participate in the act of canonization in Moscow, citing that he was present at the canonization ceremony, which was held in 1981 in New York by the ROCOR.

I have no doubts about the sanctity of the last Tsar, Nicholas II. Critically evaluating his activities as an emperor, I, being the father of two children (and he was the father of five!), Cannot imagine how he could maintain such a firm and at the same time gentle state of mind in prison, when it became clear that they would all die. His behavior at this moment, this side of his personality evokes my deepest reverence.

We glorified the royal family precisely as passion-bearers: the basis for this canonization was an innocent death, accepted by Nicholas II with Christian humility, and not political activity, which was rather contradictory. By the way, this cautious decision did not suit many, because someone did not want this canonization at all, while someone demanded the canonization of the sovereign as a great martyr, "ritually tortured by the Jews."

The modern veneration of the royal family by believers

Churches

Figures of Saints Romanov are also found in the multi-figured icons "Cathedral of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia" and "Cathedral of the Patron Saint of Hunters and Fishermen".

Relics

Patriarch Alexy, on the eve of the classes of the Council of Bishops in 2000, which performed the act of glorifying the royal family, spoke about the remains found near Yekaterinburg: "We have doubts about the authenticity of the remains, and we cannot call on believers to worship false powers if they are recognized as such in the future." Metropolitan Yuvenaly (Poyarkov), referring to the judgment of the Holy Synod of February 26, 1998 (“The assessment of the reliability of scientific and investigative conclusions, as well as evidence of their inviolability or irrefutability, is not within the competence of the Church. Scientific and historical responsibility for those taken during the investigation and the study, the conclusions regarding the "Yekaterinburg remains" completely fall on the Republican Center for Forensic Medical Research and the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation. The decision of the State Commission on the identification of the remains found near Yekaterinburg as belonging to the Family of Emperor Nicholas II caused serious doubts and even confrontations in the Church and society. " ), reported to the Council of Bishops in August 2000: “The 'Yekaterinburg remains' buried on July 17, 1998 in St. Petersburg, today cannot be recognized by us as belonging to the Royal Family.”

In view of this position of the Moscow Patriarchate, which has not undergone any changes since then, the remains, identified by the government commission as belonging to members of the royal family and buried in July 1998 in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, are not venerated by the church as holy relics.

Revered as relics are relics with a clearer origin, for example, the hair of Nicholas II, cut at the age of three.

Declared miracles of the royal martyrs

• A miraculous deliverance for hundreds of Cossacks. A story about this event appeared in 1947 in the Russian émigré press. The story outlined in it dates back to the time of the civil war, when a detachment of White Cossacks, surrounded and driven by the Reds into impassable swamps, called for help from the not yet officially glorified Tsarevich Alexei, since, according to the regimental priest, Fr. Elijah, in trouble, one should have prayed to the prince as to the chieftain of the Cossack troops. To the objection of the soldiers that the royal family was not officially glorified, the priest allegedly replied that glorification takes place by the will of “God's people”, and he swore to the others that their prayer would not go unanswered, and indeed, the Cossacks managed to get out through the swamps considered impassable. The figures of those saved by the intercession of the tsarevich are called - “ 43 women, 14 children, 7 wounded, 11 old and disabled people, 1 priest, 22 Cossacks, a total of 98 people and 31 horses».
• The miracle of dry branches. One of the most recent miracles recognized by the official church authorities took place on January 7, 2007 in the Transfiguration Church of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery in Zvenigorod, which was once a place of pilgrimage for the last tsar and his family. Boys from the monastery orphanage, who came to the temple to rehearse a traditional Christmas performance, allegedly noticed that the long-dried branches lying under the glass of the icons of the royal martyrs gave seven shoots (according to the number of persons depicted in the icon) and released green flowers with a diameter of 1-2 cm resembling roses, and the flowers and the mother branch belonged to different plant species. According to the editions referring to this event, the service, during which the twigs were placed on the icon, was held in Pokrov, that is, three months earlier. Miraculously grown flowers, four in number, were placed in an icon case, where by the time of Easter "they had not changed at all", but by the beginning of Holy Week of Great Lent, they unexpectedly threw out green shoots up to 3 cm long. Another flower broke off and was planted in the ground where it turned into a small plant. What happened to the other two is unknown. With the blessing of Fr. Savvas, the icon was transferred to the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin, to Savvin's chapel, where, apparently, it is found to this day.
• Descent of the wonderful fire. This miracle is said to have happened in the cathedral of the Holy Iberian Monastery in Odessa, when, during a divine service on February 15, 2000, a tongue of snow-white flame appeared on the altar of the temple. According to the testimony of Hieromonk Peter (Golubenkov):

Skeptical perception of miracles

Osipov also notes the following aspects of the canonical norms for miracles:

• For ecclesiastical recognition of a miracle, the testimony of the ruling bishop is required. Only after it can we talk about the nature of this phenomenon - whether it is a divine miracle or a phenomenon of another order. For most of the described miracles associated with royal martyrs, there is no such evidence.
• Declaring someone a saint without the blessing of the ruling bishop and a council decision is a non-canonical act, and therefore all references to the miracles of the royal martyrs prior to their canonization should be taken with skepticism.
• The icon is the image of the ascetic canonized by the church, therefore miracles from the icons written to the official canonization are doubtful.

"Rite of repentance for the sins of the Russian people" and more

Since the end of the 1990s, annually, on the days timed to the anniversaries of the birth of "Tsar-Martyr Nicholas" by some representatives of the clergy (in particular, Archimandrite Peter (Kucher)), in Taininsky (Moscow Region), at the monument to Nicholas II by the sculptor Vyacheslav Klykov, a special "Rite of repentance for the sins of the Russian people" is performed; the event was condemned by the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church (Patriarch Alexy II in 2007).

Among the Orthodox, the concept of the "Tsar-Redeemer" is circulating, according to which Nicholas II is revered as "the redeemer of the sin of the infidelity of his people"; critics call this concept the "royal heresy."

In 1993, “repentance for the sin of regicide on behalf of the whole Church” was brought by Patriarch Alexy II, who wrote: "We call to repentance all our people, all their children, regardless of their political views and views on history, regardless of their ethnic origin, religious affiliation, from their attitude to the idea of ​​monarchy and to the personality of the last Russian Emperor."... In the 21st century, with the blessing of the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, Vladimir, a penitential procession from St. Petersburg to Yekaterinburg to the place of death of the family of Nicholas II began annually. It symbolizes repentance for the sin of the apostasy of the Russian people from the conciliar oath of 1613 of loyalty to the royal family of the Romanovs.

see also

• Canonized ROCOR Martyrs of the Alapaevskaya mine(Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, nun Varvara, Grand Dukes Sergei Mikhailovich, Igor Konstantinovich, John Konstantinovich, Konstantin Konstantinovich (junior), Prince Vladimir Paley).
• Tsarevich Dmitry, who died in 1591, was canonized in 1606 - before the glorification of the Romanovs, he was chronologically the last representatives of the ruling dynasty, canonized.
• Solomonia Saburova(Venerable Sophia of Suzdal) - the first wife of Vasily III, chronologically the penultimate of the canonized.

Notes (edit)

Sources of

1. Tsar Martyr
2. Emperor Nicholas II and his family canonized
3. Osipov A.I.On the canonization of the last Russian tsar
4. Shargunov, A. Miracles of the royal martyrs... M. 1995.S. 49

Abbot Andronic Trubachev

Introduction

Canonization there is a reading by the Church of a deceased devotee of piety to the face of her saints. The word "canonization" (Latin Canonizatio - to take as a rule), borrowed from the Western theological language, is used in the Russian Church along with the expression "reckoning" to the face of the saints ("containment", "submission" to the face of the saints). In Greek hagiology, the term is used meaning "proclamation" (to the saints).
The grounds on which the deceased righteous are canonized were formed as early as in Dr. Churches. Over time, one or another basis acquired a predominant meaning, but on the whole they remain unchanged. All the deceased righteous, whom Dr. canonized, are divided into three genera. First, the ascetics, holiness which is evident from their special service to the Church and may not be accompanied by the gift of miracles (lifetime or posthumous), - Old Testament patriarchs and prophets, New Testament apostles... Until the 2nd Thursday. XI century, that is, approximately before the separation of the West. Churches from Orthodoxy, we can talk about a tendency to attribute hierarchs to this family of saints, with the exception of heretics and persons of vicious life or hierarchs who left the see during their lifetime or were dismissed from it on legal grounds. Holy hierarchs make up the face saints... Face Equal to the Apostles, naturally, should be attributed to the same family of saints. Some of the faces also belong to the first family of saints. noble kings, queens, princes and princesses- those whose holiness is not attested by miracles, but they were glorified for special services to the Church. The same rule applies to them regarding Orthodoxy and a virtuous life as it does to hierarchs. Secondly, ascetics, whose holiness is evident from their special deed martyrdom- martyrs. The feat of martyrdom for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the belief of the Church, - alone, by itself, regardless of the previous life of the martyr and the presence of miracles that are performed during the suffering of the martyr or after his death - reveals the holiness of the martyr, who receives the imperishable crown from the Lord ... Those of the righteous who have suffered, but did not die from torment, are considered as confessors and enter into the third kind of glorified saints - that is, ascetics, whose holiness is evident from their Orthodox faith and the feat of a godly life, attested gifts of the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Holy Spirit can be manifested during life or after death, they can be accompanied by visible signs (miracles, healings), for which Special attention circulated in ancient times, can remain invisible to external senses. The visible gifts of the Holy Spirit diminish over time in the Church, but this does not mean impoverishment. grace and saints. The main gift of the Holy Spirit is love(), which our time needs so much. Therefore, when glorifying the last time saints of God, first of all, attention is paid to the discovery in them of the gift of love for God and for people. The third family of saints includes, i.e., saints (after the 2nd quarter of the 11th century), noble kings, queens, princes and princesses, reverends, confessors, holy fools, righteous.
The deceased righteous, for one reason or another not yet canonized by the Church, but about whom there is reliable information that their life was pious, they died peacefully in God or suffered for Christ, are usually called ascetics of piety. This term has no official meaning and was previously used mainly in relation to the righteous of the 18th – 20th centuries. However, the possibility of its use in relation to the righteous of an earlier time is beyond doubt.
Regarding some of the saints, he does not have detailed historical evidence, either because time destroyed them, or because God was pleased to hide their lives from people, and to show only miraculous help. The same can be said for their revered remains. Miracles from the incorruptible relics, were sufficient grounds for the canonization of the righteous; sometimes the bodies of the righteous remained hidden in the earth and no one knew in what state it was pleasing to God to keep them; in one case, the remains of the righteous were incorruptible bodies, in the other - bones bared from decayed flesh, but such were equally revered as honest and holy.
Canonizations are divided into local and church-wide, in accordance with the kind of celebration they establish for the saint. A local celebration is equally called that which is performed only in one temple (mon-re), and that which is performed in the entire diocese. Since ancient times, canonization for local celebration in dioceses was carried out by the local bishop, with the consent of the metropolitan and the Council of bishops of the metropolis (in accordance with Ap. 34; Antioch. 9). In some cases, diocesan bishops carry out local canonizations without taking the blessing of the highest ecclesiastical authority. As a rule, in this case, the canonization is not canceled, but is repeated as expected. Sometimes the Primate of the Church (or the Metropolitanate) independently performs local canonization. Athos represents an exception, canonizing his ascetics to local celebration by the power of the brotherhoods of individual mon-rai or the entire community, expressed through the council protata; on Mount Athos, ascetics are numbered among the saints, sometimes according to one sign of the fragrance from the bones. Church-wide canonizations were always performed by the Primate of the Church with a Council of Bishops, and in the Russian Church during the synodal period - The Holy Synod led by the leading member of the Synod.
All the saints for whom the church authorities have established celebrations, church-wide or local, regardless of whether the time and circumstances of the establishment of their festivals are known or not, are recognized by the Church as equally venerated: we can all of them turn to them with prayer, to serve everyone, to portray everyone on icons... The Church does not make dogmatic or canonical distinctions in the veneration of saints, leaving this to the zeal of believers, but distinguishes between the statutory celebration of their memories. Terms "Locally revered saint", "venerated saint" denote the nature of the liturgical celebration - "locally celebrated", "generally celebrated" and reflect the prevalence of veneration of the saint. As a rule, local or church-wide canonization is preceded by popular veneration, accompanied by increased ministry. dirge... There have been cases when, even before the canonization, the so-called. dirge memory- on the day of repose or name day of an ascetic of piety. This goes back to the liturgical practice of Dr. The Church, whose Euchology practically does not distinguish between the commemoration of "canonized" saints from "every righteous spirit that has died in faith" - Liturgy of St. (Arranz M. How the ancient Byzantines prayed to God: The daily cycle of worship according to the ancient lists of the Byzantine Euchology: Dis. / LDA. L., 1979. S. 214) "Memorial service" is not canonization, but serves as evidence of the veneration of the ascetic and a step towards the establishment of a church celebration. Preparation for canonization includes certification of miracles, compilation of a service, a life, an extended reading, a commendable word, prayer, and the writing of an icon. Much of the above is often done after canonization. The rite of canonization itself has been different in the history of the Church, but it is based on two liturgical actions: the last prayer for repose (parastas, memorial service, lithium) and the first prayer to the saint (all-night vigil, prayer service, exaltation).
Questions of the canonization of saints, on one side rooted in the innermost depths of the spiritual life of the Church, on the other, reveal and glorify the eternal holiness of the Church not only in the church fence, but also in the external world, and therefore cannot but depend on the relationship of this world to the Church. That is why, while keeping the dogmatic and canonical doctrine of holiness and the glorification of saints unchanged, the Church, as necessary, modifies the external expression of the glorification of its members, which is reflected in her canonical practice, the state of which is largely due to the development hagiography, studying the written testimonies of the saint, and hagiology- the theological science of holiness, its manifestations, its existence in specific historical conditions.
The history of the canonization of saints in the Russian Church can be divided into seven periods:

1) XI century - 1547;

2) Cathedrals of 1547 and 1549;

3) 1550-1721;

4) 1721-1894;

5) 1894-1917;

6) 1917-1987;

For each period, we provide a list of the saints for whom a church-wide celebration was established. An overview of local canonizations throughout history would be too long, so we limited ourselves to listing for the first time a list of local canonizations after 1917; the names of locally revered saints XI - early. XX century. and devotees of piety XI-XX centuries. can be found in the lists of "Holy Russia", in the appendices to the publisher: Macarius... Book. 1-9.

1. Canonization of the saints in the 11th century - 1547

During this period, the following saints were glorified for general church veneration: 1–2) noble princes passion-bearers Boris(baptized Roman, † 07.24.1015) and Gleb(baptized David, † 5.09.1015), commemorative. July 24. The common church celebration was established in 1072. 3) Venerable. Theodosius, abbot. Pechersky († 3.05.1074). The general church celebration was established in 1108, the local one - soon after the death of the saint. 4) Equal. led. kn. Olga(† 11.07.969). The church-wide celebration is established until the middle. XIII century (the memory is indicated in the Prologues of the XIII-XIV centuries - RSL. Rum. No. 319; RGADA. Syn. type. No. 168). 5) Venerable Anthony Kiev-Pechersky(† May 7, 1073, commemorated July 10). The church-wide celebration was established ca. 1132–1231, the oldest text of the life is dated no later than the 90s. XI century. 6) Equal. led. book Vladimir Svyatoslavich(† 15.07.1015). The church-wide celebration was established shortly after 07/15/1240. 7-8) Blgv. book Mikhail Chernigovsky (see. Mikhail Vsevolodovich) and his boyar Theodore, martyrs († 20.09.1246). The church-wide celebration was established until the 70s. XIII century 9) St. Leonty, schmch., ep. Rostov († c. 70s of the XI century, memorial May 23). Church-wide celebration was established by the beginning. XIV century. (the memorial is indicated in the Statutes of the late XIV century - State Historical Museum. Syn. No. 332 and 333, in the hagiographic collection of the XIV century - RSL. Trinity. No. 745 and later), and the local celebration was established in 1190 by Bishop. Rostov John on the day of the uncovering of the relics on May 23 (1164). ten) Peter, St., Met. Kiev and All Russia (+ 21.12.1326). The church-wide celebration was established by Met. Kievsky Theognostom with the blessing of the Patriarch of K-Polish Kaliki in 1339 11) St. Sergius of Radonezh(† 25.09.1392). The church-wide celebration was established until 1448, when Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia. St. And she mentions St. Sergius is among the “great wonderworkers of the Russian Land” (AI. T. 1. No. 87). The local celebration was established, probably in 1422 (commemorated on July 5), when the relics of St. Sergius (the life of the saint was written by the monk of the Trinity monastery, St. in 1418). 12) Venerable Kirill Belozersky(† 9.06.1427). The church-wide celebration was established until 1448, when the Moscow Metropolitan. Jonah calls St. Cyril among the "great miracle workers of the Russian Land" (Ibid.). The life was written by hierom. Pachomius the Serb (see. Pachomiy Logofet) in the spring of 1462 13) St. Alexy, Met. Kiev and All Russia († 02/12/1378). The church-wide celebration was established by Met. Moscow Jonah at the end. Dec 1448 The relics were found in 1431, probably at that time a local celebration was established. The Life was written by Pachomius the Serb in the spring of 1459. 14) Venerable. Varlaam Khutynsky(† 6.11.1192). The church-wide celebration was established, probably in 1461, and the local celebration began at the end. XIII century - 1st half. XIV century. (the early edition of the life dates back to the middle of the XIII - the beginning of the XIV century). 15-17) Blessed Princes Theodore the Black(† 1299) and his children David († 1321) and Konstantin Yaroslavsky, memory 19 sept. The church-wide celebration was established in 1467 with the blessing of Met. Moscow and All Russia Philip I... The first interim life was created no later than the end of the year. XIV century, and the earliest surviving copies date back to the XV century. 18) St. Isaiah, ep. Rostov († after 1089, commemorated on May 15). The church-wide celebration was established by Archbishop. Rostov Vassian (Snout) in 1474 on the day of the uncovering of the relics (15.05.1164), when, probably, the local veneration of the saint was established. 19) St. Ignatius, ep. Rostov († 05/28/1288). The church-wide celebration was established by Archbishop. Rostov Vassian approx. 1474, local celebration, probably from the 14th century. (the memory is indicated in the Charter of the XIV century - State Historical Museum. Syn. No. 328, in the hagiographic collection of the XIV century - RSL. Trinity. No. 745 and later). 20) Venerable Nikita Pereyaslavsky(† c. 24.05.1186). Church-wide celebration was established at the end. XIV - mid. XV century (the memory is indicated in the hagiographic collections of the 15th century - RSL. Trinity. No. 761 and 644; State Historical Museum. Syn. No. 637). 21) Venerable Dimitry Prilutsky(† 11.02.1392). Church-wide celebration was established at the end. XV century, and the local celebration began, probably, from 1409, the earliest list of the life of the saint dates back to 1494 (RNB. Solov. No. 518/537); 22) Venerable Avraamy Rostovsky(† 29.10 c. 1073-1077). Church-wide celebration was established at the end. XV - early. XVI century, the earliest copies of the life of the saint date from this time.
The names of all the named saints were included in the month words of the printed Rites of 1682 and 1695. All other saints who were canonized during this period were glorified locally, this position persisted until the Councils of 1547 and 1549. ( E. E. Golubinsky pointed out 45 locally glorified saints (pp. 43–85), but one might think that there were more of them).

2. Canonization of Russian saints at the Councils of 1547 and 1549.

A kind of completion of the previous period and the necessary preparation for canonizations at the Councils of 1547 and 1549. came Cheti-Menaion St. Macarius, Met. Moscow, on the collection and correspondence of which the saint labored in 1529-1541. The Chetikh-Minei were based on: Slavic Prologue, based on 2nd edition Months of the word imp. Basil II the Bulgarians(975–1025), the verse Prologue, all the lives of the Eastern and Russian saints known at that time, the works of St. fathers (especially words for the holidays), patericons etc.

The Council, which began on February 1, 1547, glorified to the general veneration: 1) St. Jonah, Met. Moscow († 31.03.1461). The local celebration was established in connection with the uncovering of the relics on 05/29/1472. The life of the saint was compiled in 1547, but the chronicle mentions of the incorruptibility of his remains date back to the end. XV century (Chronicle of the Moscow Grand Duke 1479, Sophia II, Lviv Chronicle). 2) St. John, Archbishop Novgorodsky († 7.08.1186). Local celebration established by Archbishop. Novgorod Evfimy (Vyazhitsky) in connection with the uncovering of the relics in 1439, the short life of the saint is probably dated back to the 40-50s. XV century 3) St. Makariy Kalyazinsky(† 17.03.1483). A local celebration was established in 1521 in connection with the uncovering of the relics, at the same time the original text of the life was created. 4) Venerable Pafnuti Borovsky(† 1.05.1477). The local celebration is established by Met. Moscow and All Russia Daniel in 1531 5) St. ... Nikon Radonezhsky(† 11/17/1426). The local celebration is set in mid. XV - early. XVI century, the life was created shortly after the death of the monk, in the middle. XV century., Pachomius the Serb. 6) Venerable Mikhail Klopsky(† 11.01 c. 1453-1456). Canonized for the first time, but his life is dated 1478-1479, in addition, in the life of Archbishop. Novgorod Jonah(1458-1470) speaks of what the saint asked hierom. Pachomia Serba to write the life of Mikhail Klop-sky. 7) Venerable Zosima Solovetsky(† 17.04.1478). Local celebrations established ca. 1503, probably in connection with the acquisition of relics (memorial on September 2, at the same time the original circle of hagiographic texts relating to the Monks Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky was created). 8) Venerable Savvaty Solovetsky(† 27.08.1435). Local celebrations established ca. 1503, probably in connection with the acquisition of relics, memory. 2 Sep 9) Venerable Pavel Obnorsky(† 01/10/1429). The local celebration is set in the 1st half. XVI century, at the same time, probably in 1538, the original text of the life of the saint was also created. 10) Venerable Dionisy Glushitsky(† 1.06.1437). The local celebration is set in the 1st half. XVI century., The life of the saint was written by the monk of the Glushitsk monastery Irinarch in 1495 11) Venerable. († 30.08.1533). Canonized for the first time, the life of the monk was written by his successor in the administration of the abbot of the abbot. Herodium... 12) Blgv. led. book Alexander Nevskiy(† 14.11.1263, commemorated 23 Nov.). A local celebration was established in 1380 in connection with the discovery of the relics. The veneration of the saint began long before the establishment of the celebration: the oldest edition of the life dates back to the middle - 2nd floor. XIII century ( Likhachev D.S. Galich literary tradition in the Life of Alexander Nevsky // TODRL. 1958. Vol. 15, pp. 36–56). 13) Venerable Savva Storozhevsky, Zvenigorodsky († 3.12.1406), canonized for the first time.
At present, several lists of documents of the Council of 1547 are known, differing, among other things, in the composition of the canonized saints (for details, see: , archim. Makariev Cathedrals of 1547 and 1549 and their significance // Materials and research / GMMK. M., 1998. Issue. 11: Russian artistic culture of the 16th – 17th centuries pp. 5–22). The above names appear in all or most of the lists. In the "Cathedral Exposition", Met. Macarius, sent to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, is also named: 14) St. Nikita, ep. Novgorod († 31.01.1109), and in the manuscript "The original list of new miracle workers to Theodosius, Archbishop of Novagrad and Pskov" Euthymius and And she... The names of all the saints who were glorified by the Council of 1547 for general veneration were included in the month's words of the Rites of 1682 and 1695.
For local veneration, the Council of 1547 glorified: 1) Blessed. Maksim, For Christ's sake, holy fool, Moskovsky(† 11.11.1434, commemorated August 13). For the first time, a local celebration is established in the 1st floor. XVI century 2-4) Blessed Princes Konstantin(† 1129) and his children Michael and Theodore of Murom, memory May 21st. For the first time, a local celebration is established in the 1st floor. XVI century 5-6) Blgv. book Peter and kn. Fevronia, Murom(† 1228, commemorated 25 June). For the first time, a local celebration is established in the 1st floor. XVI century 7) St. Arseny, ep. Tverskoy († 2.03.1409). For the first time, a local celebration was established by Bishop. Tverskoy Vassian(Prince Obolensky) in 1483 8) Blzh. Procopius, For Christ's sake, holy fool, Ustyuzhsky(† 8.07.1303). For the first time, a local celebration was established with the blessing of bishop. Rostov in 1471 (or 1495). 9) Blzh. John, For Christ's sake, holy fool, Ustyuzhsky († 29.05.1494).
The names of all the saints glorified by the Council of 1547 for local veneration were included in the month of the Rite of 1695, and in the month of the Rite of 1682, only St. Arseny, bishop Tverskoy, and blzh. Procopius Ustyuzhsky. But the inclusion of all these saints in the month's words of the Rites of the universally venerated saints was not made on the basis of the decision of the Council of 1547, as Golubinsky mistakenly believed (pp. 253–254), but because they were glorified again after 1547 already for general church veneration. ...
It is known about the Council of 1549 from the speech of the tsar Grozny To Stoglavy Cathedral, and the list of saints canonized by the Council is revealed indirectly from the life of St. Jonah, Met. Moscow: 1) St. Nifont, Archbishop Novgorodsky († 04.21.1156, commemorated on April 8). Canonized for the first time. 2) St. Euthymius (Vyazhitsky), Archbishop. Novgorodsky († 03/11/1458). Local celebrations established ca. 1474-1494 3) St. Jonah, Archbishop. Novgorod († 5.11.1470). Canonized for the first time. 4) St. Jacob, ep. Rostov († 27.11.1392). The local celebration is set in the 1st half. XVI century 5) St. Stefan Permsky(† 04/26/1396). Local celebrations established ca. 1475-1500 6) Blgv. book Vsevolod (Gabriel) Pskov(† 11.02.1138). The local celebration was established in 1192 in connection with the discovery of the relics, or in 1284 (the first miracle). 7) Blgv. book Mikhail Alexandrovich Tverskoy(† 22.11.1318). The local celebration was established, probably in 1318. 8) Venerable. Avraamy Smolensky(† 21.08 to 1224). The local celebration is set in the 1st half. XVI century 9-11) Martyrs Anthony, John and Eustathius of Lithuania(† 1347, commemorated April 14). The local celebration was established in 1364 with the blessing of the K-Polish Patriarch Filofei Kokkin and Met. Moscow and All Russia Alexy. 12) Venerable Euthymius of Suzdalsky(† 1.01.1404). The local celebration is set in the 1st half. XVI century 13) Venerable Grigory (Lopotov) Pelshemsky(† 30.09.1442). Canonized for the first time. 14) Venerable Savva Vishersky(† 1.10.1461). Local celebration established by Archbishop. Novgorod Jonah in 1464 15) Venerable. Euphrosynus of Pskov(† 05/15/1481). Canonized for the first time. 16) Venerable Efrem Perekomsky(† 09/26/1492, commemorated on May 16). The local celebration is set in the 1st half. XVI century
There is no reliable data as to which of the saints were glorified by the Council of 1549 for general church veneration, and which - for local veneration. Based on the months of the Rites of 1682 and 1695, which do not contain the names of St. Nifont, Archbishop. Novgorodsky, and the martyrs Anthony, John and Eustathius of Lithuania, it was these saints who were canonized to local veneration, or, which is less likely, later, in 1550-1695, they were transferred from the generally venerated to the locally venerated. The names of all other saints, glorified by the Council of 1549 for general veneration, were included in the months of the Rite of 1695, except for St. Euphrosynus of Pskov, who was excluded from the Monthly Word of the Charter of 1682 because of those passages of his Life in which the double vision of "Alleluia" was defended. In the month of the Rite of 1682, the monks Gregory of Pelshemsk and Ephraim of Perekomsk are missing erroneously.
Cathedrals of 1547 and 1549 were of exceptional importance in the history of canonization, since: 1) 39 saints were glorified at once; 2) the veneration of previously revered saints was ordered (only 8 out of 39 saints did not have a previously established celebration); 3) The councils showed a pattern for the conduct of canonization. Each saint must have a service, a life, a word of praise, a prayer, an icon written. After the Councils of 1547 and 1549. collections of services and lives of new miracle workers were distributed. The councils testified to the holiness of the Russian Church at a time when the Russian autocratic kingdom and the Russian Church became the stronghold of Orthodoxy in the world. The significance of the Macarius Councils of 1547 and 1549 in the life of the Church was also affirmed by a special "Service to all the newly appeared wonderworkers of Russia" (that is, those glorified at these Councils), which was compiled Gregory, monk of the Suzdal Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery, approx. 1558 The celebration of the Council of the newly-minted Russian wonderworkers was established on July 17, that is, on the day that is possibly the closest to the memory of Equal-to-the-Apostles. book Vladimir (July 15) (on July 16, the service is performed to the holy fathers of six Ecumenical Councils, if this number coincides with a Sunday, or in the week closest to July 16). Thus, it was emphasized that the saints, glorified at the Councils of 1547 and 1549, are worthy successors of the work of St. the baptist of Russia.

3. Canonization of the saints in 1550-1721.

The experience of preparing and conducting canonizations, acquired at the Councils of 1547 and 1549, made it possible in the future to begin consistent activities in this area. For general church veneration in 1550-1721. 23 saints were glorified (of them nine were established by the Council of 1547 local veneration): 1-3) in 1553 - the holy noble princes Constantine (+ 1129) and his children Michael and Theodore, Murom, mem. May 21st. The 1547 cathedral established a local celebration. In 1553, the relics were uncovered and, probably in connection with this, as well as the gratitude of Tsar Ivan the Terrible for the capture of Kazan in fulfillment of the vow he had given at the grave of the noble princes of Murom - the establishment of a church-wide celebration. 4–5) Probably in the same 1553, simultaneously with the noble princes Constantine, Mikhail and Theodore, as the gratitude of Tsar Ivan the Terrible for the capture of Kazan, the holy noble books were glorified for general church veneration. Peter and the king. Fevronia of Murom. The 1547 cathedral established a local celebration. 6) Blzh. Isidore, For Christ's sake, holy fool Tverdislov(† 14.05.1474), Rostov, was glorified for general veneration, probably in 1553 (or c. 1550-1563), when the local celebration of St. Peter, Tsarevich Orda, Rostov († 29.06.1290, commemorated on June 30), and simultaneously with the Murom saints as a gratitude to Tsar Ivan the Terrible for the capture of Kazan. In any case, in 1563, Tsar Ivan the Terrible already mentions St. Isidora is among the common Russian saints (AI. T. 1. No. 320). 7) In 1568, relics were found and, probably, a church-wide celebration of Blessed. Maxim, for Christ's sake, the holy fool, Moscow (+ 11.11.1434). The 1547 cathedral established a local celebration for him. In 1598 the relics of the saint were laid openly, and in honor of St. Maxim, the temple in Moscow on Varvarka was consecrated. 8) In 1579, a church-wide celebration of St. Anthony Siysky(† 7.12.1556) at the intercession of the elders of the monaster before Tsar John IV. 9) In 1588, a church-wide celebration was established Basil the Blessed, For Christ's sake, the holy fool, Moscow (+ 2.08.1557) in connection with the beginning of miracles at the tomb. 10) June 1, 1591 St. († 09.09.1515), the veneration of which was established in the mon-re on 12/20/1578, and the local one - on 1/15/1589. 11-12) 4.10.1595 while digging ditches for a new stone church in the Transfiguration Monastery of Kazan, the relics of St. Guria (Rugotina), Archbishop Kazansky (+ 5.12.1563), and St. Varsonofia, ep. Tverskoy and Kashinsky (+ 11.04.1576), and he established a church-wide celebration for this day. 13) In 1597, in connection with the opening of the relics, a church-wide celebration of St. Anthony the Roman(† 3.08.1147). 14) 01/25/1600 a church-wide celebration of St. Cornelius Komelsky(† 05.19.1537). 15) In 1606, a church-wide celebration of Blgv was established. tsarevich martyr. Dimitri Uglichsky, Moscow († 15.05.1591), in connection with the transfer of relics from Uglich to Moscow and miracles. Initially, the church-wide celebration extended to three commemorations: May 15 - murder, June 3 - transfer of relics, October 19 - birth. 16) In Aug. 1619 established a church-wide celebration of St. Macarius Unzhensky(† 25.07.1444) due to numerous miracles at the tomb, which began in 1618, the local celebration began in the 1st half. XVI century 17) Probably a church-wide celebration of Blgv. led. book Vladimirsky mch. George(† 4.03.1238, commemorated February 4) established by the Patriarch Joseph(1642-1652), since the memory of St. George on Feb 4. noted in the "Charter of Church Rites of the Moscow Dormition Cathedral" 1643 18-19) Church-wide celebration of Blessed. Procopius (+ 8.07.1303) and John (+ 29.05.1494), for the sake of the holy fools, Ustyug was established, probably under Patriarch Joseph (1642-1652), when Prince. S. I. Shakhovskoy in 1647 he compiled a Praise for Saints Procopius and John of Ustyug. Local veneration was established by the Council of 1547. 20) In 1648, in connection with the uncovering of relics and the miracles that began, a church-wide celebration of St. Kirill Novoyezersky(† 4.02.1532) (special commemoration - August 22, for the introduction of the relics in the new church in 1652), the local veneration of which dates back to the time of the Patriarch Filareta(1619-1633). 21) Church-wide celebration of the schmch. Philip II, Met. Moscow and All Russia (+ 23.12.1569, commemoration of January 9), established in 1652 (on July 17) in connection with the transfer of the relics of St. Philip from Solovetsky Monastery to Moscow (in 1669 the celebration was postponed to July 3). In 1591 the coffin with the body of the schmch. Philip was moved from Tver to the Solovetsky Monastery. EE Golubinsky believed this to be the establishment of a local celebration (p. 118). Under the Patriarch Joasaph I(1634-1640) St. Philip was included in the liturgical Menaion. The local celebration for the transfer of the relics was established on 05/31/1646 (diploma of Patriarch Joseph to the Solovetsky Monastery dated 04/29/1646). 22) 02/21/1657 Patriarch Nikon transferred part of the relics of the rights. Jacob Borovichsky(† c. 1540, commemorated October 23) in Valdai Iversky mon-r, which, probably, was the basis for the establishment of general church veneration. The "memorial service" to the saint was established on 6.10.1544, and on 8.02.1572, it was probably a local celebration. 23) Church-wide celebration of St. Arseny, Archbishop. Tverskoy, probably installed in 1665 in connection with the transfer of relics with the blessing of Patriarch Nikon. A local celebration was established by the Council of 1547.
The names of the named saints are included in the month words of the Rites of 1682 and 1695. (with the exception of Venerable Korniliy of Komelsky, Blessed Prince George of Vladimir, Blessed Procopius of Ustyug, Venerable Cyril of Novoyezersky, St. Arseny of Tversky, absent in the Monthly Charter of 1682).
The establishment of the conciliar memory of “all the saints of the new Russian wonderworkers” served as an example for the establishment of local cathedral memorials, some of which were formed long before the middle. XVI century, while others began to form later: approx. 1549 – XVII century - Cathedral of Novgorod saints (October 4, on the day of commemoration of the blessed monarch. Vladimir Yaroslavich Novgorodsky, and February 10, on the day of remembrance of the blgv. kn. Anna Novgorodskaya). The beginning of the conciliar celebration dates back to 1439, when the archbishop. Novgorod Euthymius (Vyazhitsky) established the local veneration of St. John, Archbishop. Novgorodsky († 7.09.1186), and the statutory memorial service for Prince. Vladimir and king. Anna. In 1596, the celebration of the Cathedral of Moscow saints was established Peter, Alexis and Jonah (October 5) modeled on the Cathedral of the Three Ecumenical teachers and saints. Subsequently, it was supplemented with the names of the saints Philip (1875), Hermogen(1913), Macarius (1988), Job(1989) and Tikhon(1989). The Cathedral of the Saints of Moscow acquired the significance of a general church celebration. In 1607, the celebration of the Cathedral of Great Perm saints was established Pitirim, Gerasim and Jonah(Jan. 29) on the model of the Council of the Three Ecumenical Teachers and Saints and the day before this holiday. In 1643, the celebration of the Council of the Reverend Fathers of Kiev-Pechersk was established, in the Near Caves of the Resting (originally on Saturday, after the holiday Exaltation Holy Cross, in 1886 the celebration was postponed to 28 Sept.). According to Golubinsky (p. 210), this Council, like the next two, was established by St. , Met. Kiev, in 1643, and Archbishop. attributed (p. 167) the establishment of the Cathedrals of the Kiev-Pechersk Fathers to 1670. In 1643, the celebration of the Cathedral of the Reverend Fathers of the Kiev-Pechersk Fathers, who rest in the Far Caves (August 28), began. In the same year, the Cathedral of the Monk Fathers of the Kiev Caves and all the saints who shone in Little Russia (on the 2nd week of Great Lent). The conciliar celebration was confirmed by the decree of the Holy Synod in 1843.
As for the canonizations to local veneration for the period 1550–1721, EE Golubinsky's list includes 123 saints, in respect of whom he was able to identify the establishment of local veneration. However, Golubinsky does not have the entire list of Russian saints. The point is not that he lacked sources, but that deep prejudice against the reliability of hagiographic monuments, which Russian historical science has absorbed since the publication of the book V.O. Klyuchevsky"Old Russian Lives of Saints as a Historical Source" (1871). Monthly words of liturgical and four books, saints of a kind of topographic reference book - "Books, verb description of Russian saints" (late 17th - early 18th centuries), month words of verbal and facial originals, in which information about locally revered Russian saints was collected with special care finally, the most lists of lives, services ( tropari and kontakion), words of praise, iconographic monuments were contrasted to E.E. Golubinsky act and chronicle sources as unreliable. However, the accumulation of factual material and the further development of historical science and hagiology confirmed that the existence of monuments associated with the saint should be considered as evidence of the establishment of local veneration for him. The blessing of the diocesan bishop for the local veneration of the saint until the 18th century, as a rule, was not imprinted with special letters, but was preserved through the annual celebration of the memory of the saint and hagiographic monuments dedicated to him.
The emergence split became the reason for the decanonization of a number of saints. Blgv. kn. St. Anna Kashinskaya was glorified in 1650. Its decanonization was carried out in 1677 and approved by the Council on 01.01.1678, because: 1) in the life of St. Anna turned out to be dissimilarities with the data of the Book of Degrees and the annals; 2) in the description of miracles there were "disagreements and obscenities"; 3) the relics of the saint decayed and collapsed in different places, and in the life it was written that they were not involved in decay; 4) about the book. The rumor spread to Anna that her hand had a blessing appearance, "but in fact it is not." This last point was in fact the real reason for de-canonization. It was claimed that the fingers of St. Annas are folded with two fingers, and in this they saw evidence of the truth of the old rituals. Decanonization was carried out by the Patriarch Joachim: the saint's tomb was sealed, prayers were prohibited, the churches named after her were renamed in honor of all the saints. But the decanonization of St. Anna Kashinskaya was only the most famous case. Patriarch Joachim excluded the name of St. Euphrosynus of Pskov, glorified by the Council of 1549, from the Statute of 1682 and thereby transferred him from generally venerated saints to locally venerated ones. The basis for this was the life of St. Euphrosynus, which contained the protection of the double vision "Alleluia", adopted by the Old Believers. Venerable , local glorification of which took place with the blessing of the Patriarch Job in 1591, was decanonized, probably by oral ban for the same reasons. But the most pernicious were not these specific decanonizations, but the very admission of decanonization into church life as a possible norm, a rule, carried out by virtue of a change in church policy. Already for other reasons, but by virtue of the same view in the XVIII century. tens of ascetics were de-canonized.
A generalization of a significant part of the hagiographic monuments that existed in 1550–1721 was the Chetyi-Minei priest. Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius Herman (Tulupova)(1627-1632), Chetya-Minea priest of the Sergiev Posad Church in honor of the Nativity of Christ John Milyutin(1646-1656) and the Lives of the Saints by St. Demetrius (Tuptalo), Met. Rostovsky (1684-1709). At a turning point in the development of Russian historiography (late 17th - early 18th centuries), St. Demetrius preserved hagiography in the mainstream of church tradition and science and thereby confirmed its significance for the canonization of saints.

4. Canonization of the saints in 1721-1894.

The period of synodal government did not formally introduce any new criteria for the canonization of saints. The procedure for the general church and local canonization of saints naturally changed, but only to the extent that the very governance of the Church changed. In the absence of Councils and the Patriarch, all questions of canonization, both church-wide and local, were to be decided by the Holy Synod, with the approval of this decision by the imperial power. For general church veneration during this period, the Holy Synod glorified: 1) April 15, 1757 - St. Demetrius (Tuptalo), Met. Rostov († 28.10.1709, uncovering of relics - 21.09.1752). 2) 09/30/1798 - St. Theodosius Totemsky(† 28.01.1568, uncovering of relics - in 1796). 3) 1.12.1804 - St. Innokenty (Kulchinsky), ep. Irkutsk (+ 11/26/1731, uncovering of relics - in 1764). 4) 06/25/1832 - St. Mitrofan, ep. Voronezh († 11/23/1703, uncovering of relics - in 1831, celebration of glorification - 08/07/1832). 5) 06/20/1861 - St. Tikhon (Sokolov), ep. Voronezh († 13.08.1783, uncovering of relics - in 1846, celebration of glorification - 13.08.1861).
Solemn glorifications of the newly canonized saints were not the only way to establish general church veneration. The introduction of names into the Monthly Words of the Typicon and the Followed Psalter by decree of the Holy Synod also implied the establishment of church-wide veneration of the saint. Although the formal reason for most of these decrees was the grateful feeling of the emperor who visited this or that monastery, all the saints who, so on. general church veneration was established, they had already been canonized as locally venerated, and their veneration actually went beyond the local boundaries. During this period, the following names of the saints were included in the months of the Church Rite, which implied general church glorification: 1) St. Michael, Met. Kievsky (+ 992, commemoration of Sept. 30, June 15), probably as a result of the decree of Emp. Anna Ioannovna of 07/27/1730 on the transfer of the relics to the Great Lavra Church (Assumption), as well as the decrees of the Holy Synod of 1762, 1775, 1784. on the introduction of the Kiev saints in the Moscow month. 2) Blgv. book Feodor Novgorodsky(† 5.06.1233) - possibly due to the special veneration by the Royal House of Blgv. book Alexander Nevsky, whose brother was St. Theodore; so, in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, one of the churches was dedicated to St. Theodore. The local celebration was established in 1614 when the relics were transferred from St. George's Monastery to St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod. 3) St. Neil Stolobensky(† 7.12.1554, commemorated on May 27). Church-wide celebration was established, probably due to the fact that Nilov Stolobenskaya Deserts 12.07.1820 visited Imp. Alexander I... The local celebration was established in 1595. The following names of the saints were included in the months of the Followed Psalter during this period, which implied general church glorification: 4) St. Nikandr Pskovsky(† 24.08.1581). A local celebration was established by Met. Novgorod Nikon approx. 1649-1652 and confirmed by Patriarch Joachim in 1686 5-6) Sergius and German of Valaam(commemorating 11 Sept., 28 June), by decree of the Holy Synod of 20.10.1819, which followed in connection with the fact that in August. 1819 imp. Alexander I made a pilgrimage to Valaam. 7) Venerable Arseny Konevsky(† 1447, commemorated June 12), by decree of the Holy Synod of 1819
The question of the general church veneration of the Kiev saints, glorified in 1643 by St. Peter, Met. Kievsky, as locally revered. By the decree of the Synod of 1762 (confirmed in 1775 and 1784), the Kiev saints could be entered into the general (Moscow) monthly monographs, and their services could be printed in the Monthly Menaea. The Kiev saints included: 1) the Kiev-Pechersk saints, in total 118; 2) saints buried in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, number 11; 3) the saints of Kiev and Kievan Rus, number 10. The decree of 1762 was not fully implemented. The normative month words of the synodal period - in the Typicon and the Followed Psalter - did not include the names of Kiev saints, continuing to consider them locally venerated (of course, except for those saints who were previously glorified as church-wide). Monthly words of other liturgical books (the priest's Prayer Book, Trebnik and the alphabet of names with him) began to include the names of the Kiev saints, mainly those who published the services in the Kiev Minea (Services by the Monk Father of the Caves. Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, 1855). The non-liturgical monarchs strove to include the maximum number of names of Kiev saints. This became possible when the Kiev-Pechersk saints, who had neither separate services nor memorials, began, in accordance with the church tradition, to be located in the month by name.
Period 1721-1894 regarding issues of canonization can be characterized as controversial. On the one hand, there was a sharp decrease in the number of general church canonizations and local canonizations ceased altogether, on the other, some of the most revered saints were canonized and general church veneration of the Kiev Caves and a number of other locally revered saints was established. In the XVIII century. there was a decanonization of a number of locally revered saints, and in the 19th century. church veneration of many locally venerated saints was restored. The reasons for these contradictions are rooted in the historical conditions in which the Providence of God judged the Russian Church to remain in the 18th – 19th centuries. The massive closure of small mon-rai and deserts gradually led to oblivion of the local celebrations of their founders. The end of local canonizations was partly due to the false bureaucratic opinion that in a single centralized state there should be nothing "local", but only "general", and partly with the influence Protestantism... So, in 1767 the chief prosecutor of the Synod I. P. Melissino proposed legislatively "to weaken the veneration of holy relics and icons in the Russian Church" (Quoted from: ZhMP. 1977. No. 11. S. 63). The inconsistency is especially noticeable when considering the issue of locally revered saints. By order of the Synod and diocesan bishops, the celebration of some locally revered saints was stopped: 1) c. 1721-1723 - Venerable Cornelius Pereyaslavsky(† 07.22.1693); 2) in 1722, 1904 - blzh. Simon, For Christ's sake the holy fool, Yuryevetsky(† 4.11.1584, commemorated on May 10); 3-4) in 1745 - to the holy faithful Prince. Vladimir and kn. Agrippina Rzhevsky(mid. XIII century, commemorated on July 15); 5) 20.11.1746 - blgv. book mch. Theodore Starodubsky(† 1330, commemorated June 21); 6) probably in 1746 - mch. Vasily Mangazeya(† 04.04.1602, commemorated on March 22); 7) in 1778, 1849 - Venerable Savvaty Tverskoy(† not later than 1434, commemorated on March 2); 8) in 1801 - right. Procopius Ustyansky(late 16th century - 1st half of the 17th century, memorial on July 8).
In the list of saints canonized in the synodal period for local veneration, E. E. Golubinsky included: blgv. book Daniel of Moscow(1791), saints Theognost, Cyprian and Photius, Metropolitans of Kiev and All Russia (after 1805), Venerable Longin Koryazhemsky(c. 1814-1827), St. (before 1855), Venerable Sevastian Sokhotsky(c. 1853-1856), bldg. book Roman Ryazansky(1854), reverend Nikifor and Gennady Vazheozerskikh(c. 1861), Venerable Stefan Ozersky(c. 1862), bl. John, Big Cap, Moscow(1876), St. Galaktion (Belsky) Vologda(c. 1880-1885), Venerable Makariy Zhabynsky(1887), schmch. Isidora, presv. Yurievsky, and with him 72 martyrs (1897). However, only in exceptional cases could Golubinsky rely on a specific decree of the Holy Synod (p. 169), which would have been necessary in case of actual local canonization. It is quite obvious that here it was not about local canonization, but about the restoration of local veneration of saints after decanonization acts and prohibitions in the 18th century.
During this period, the celebrations of three local Councils were established, which were also called to revive the local veneration of the saints. In 1831, the Cathedral of the Volyn saints was established (October 10, on the day of commemoration of St. Amphilochia, ep. Vladimir Volynsky) in connection with the return Pochaev Mon-ry to Orthodoxy from the Union. OK. 1831 - Cathedral of Novgorod saints (the day of the celebration is unknown). Celebration confirmed in 1981 and set for 3rd week Pentecost... Bp. Vologda On October 5, 1841, a festival was established for all the monastic fathers of Vologda (August 17). Subsequently, the conciliar celebration was postponed to the 3rd week after Pentecost.

5. Canonization of the saints in 1894-1917.

During the reign of the imp. Nicholas II there was a turning point in canonization issues, which was primarily a consequence of the personal piety of the sovereign and his sincere desire to revive the union of the Orthodox Church and the Orthodox autocratic state on the basis of "pre-Petrine Rus". For general church veneration during this period, the Holy Synod glorified: 1) 09.09.1896 - St. Theodosius, Archbishop Chernigov († 02/05/1696); 2) 07.19.1903 - St. († 2.01.1833); 3) June 12, 1909, the general church veneration of St. blgv. kn. St. Anna Kashinskaya (in terms of significance and solemnity, this event can be equated with general church canonization); 4) 4.09.1911- St. Joasaph (Gorlenko), ep. Belgorodsky († 10.12.1754); 5) 05/12/1913 - schmch. and all Russia († 17.02.1612); 6) 07/28/1914 - St. Pitirim, ep. Tambov († 07.28.1698); 7) 06/10/1916 - St. , Met. Tobolsk († 10.06.1715).
As in the previous period, a church-wide celebration was established indirectly for some locally revered saints. Additional Menaion (1909) with the blessing of the Holy Synod, in addition to services to the icons of the Most Holy. Theotokos and the saints canonized during the synodal period included services to the Monks Sergius and Herman of Valaam, as well as: 1) Venerable. († 28.10.1651, commemoration of 28 Aug.) (Probably, given that in 1833 the Pochaev Monastery received the status of a lavra, and based on the decree of the Synod of 1763); 2) St. Tikhon Medynsky, Kaluga (+ 1492, commemorated on June 16), a local celebration was established for him during the reign of Ivan the Terrible (1533-1584); 3-4) Equal to the Apostles Methodius(† 885) and Kirill(† 869), Slovenian teachers (common memorial. May 11), the celebration of which was established by the decision of the Holy Synod of 18.03.1863. In addition, the services of the Equal to Apostles were published in the Minea Supplementary. Nina, Enlightener of Georgia (as of January 14), and St. John the Warrior(as of July 30).
During this period, for the first time in 200 years, local canonization was carried out, which was not repeated and was not associated with the restoration of the once forbidden veneration. During the anti-Christian uprising of the Ihetuanians in 1900, 222 Chinese Orthodox Christians were tortured in China, led by the first Chinese priest, a priest. Mitrofan Ji Chun(cm. Chinese martyrs). 10/11/1901 head of the Russian spiritual mission in China, archim. Innokenty (Figurovsky), after. Met. Peking and Chinese, presented to the Holy Synod a list of names of those killed for the faith of the Chinese and petitioned for the perpetuation of their memory. By a decree of the Holy Synod of 04/22/1902, it was determined to glorify the martyred Chinese people who suffered for their faith during the uprising of the "Ihetuan" as locally revered saints, for the Orthodox community in China an annual two-day celebration was established in their memory - on June 10 and 11. The imperishable relics of the new martyrs were buried in the crypt of the Church of All Holy Martyrs on the territory of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Beijing. In 1957, when the territory of the mission was transferred to the USSR embassy, ​​the relics of the martyrs were transferred to the Russian cemetery in Beijing. Subsequently, this cemetery was rebuilt by the Beijing municipal authorities into the Youth Lake Park (Qingnyanhu), 1/3 of its area was flooded with an artificial lake. The Synod's decree of 1902 on honoring the memory of the Chinese martyrs ceased to be fulfilled in 1962 and was renewed on April 17, 1997 (IB DECR MP. 1997. May 8. No. 6. P. 6-7).
The restoration of church celebrations of locally revered saints, which began from the end of the year. In the 18th century, during the reign of Nicholas II, it began to be realized much faster. In 1897, by decree of the Holy Synod, the local celebration of the schmch was restored. Isidore, pres. Yuryevsky, and the 72 martyrs who suffered with him. The Lives of the Saints in Russian, published by the Moscow Synodal Printing House (1903-1916), contained the lives of the monks. Abraham and Vasily Mirozhsky, Athanasius Vysotsky, John, the hermit of Pskov, Sergius of Malopinezh... In the collection "Prayers to the Lord God, the Most Holy Theotokos and the holy saints of God, that at prayer services and other followings", published with the blessing of the Holy Synod (Pg., 1915), there appeared prayers to the monks Gerasim Boldinsky, Gury Shalochsky, Simon Yuryevetsky. The official "Orthodox Calendar", published at the Holy Synod, included in the beginning. XX century the names of St. Simeon Tverskoy, Monks Savvaty and Euphrosynus, Sava and Varsonofia Tverskikh, Vassa Pskovo-Pecherskaya, right. Basil of Mangazey, Venerable Gerasim Boldinsky, St. and etc. (, hierom... On the introduction of all Russian memorials into the church month // BT. 1998. Sat. 34. S. 357–358). In 1904, Archbishop. Tverskoy and Kashinsky consecrated the throne in honor of the Cathedral of Tver Saints, composed a service and published the Tver Paterikon (1908). The general day of the celebration of the Cathedral of Saints of Tver was not established at that time, but in 1979 it was set on the 1st week after June 29. The restoration of the local veneration of saints only in rare cases was accompanied by a special decree of the Holy Synod, and was carried out for the most part by the consecration of the throne in honor of the saint, by the order of the local bishop, by entering the name of the saint in the monthly words or texts of liturgical books published with the blessing of the Holy Synod. It makes no sense to argue that the above practice should be recognized as a model, but church life chose such paths, probably because others were too difficult. The canonization of saints during the synodal period experienced, that is, a deep decline (18th century), and revival (19th century), and rise (late 19th - early 20th centuries), and the highest manifestation - the solemn glorification of St. ... in the summer of 1903, when the coffin with the honest relics of the saint of God was carried along with the im. Nicholas II, grand dukes, bishops, surrounded by many thousands of people gathered from all over Russia.
The issues of canonization in the synodal period cannot be considered outside the rapid development of Russian hagiology and hagiography in the 2nd half. XIX - early. XX century At this time, Russian hagiologists focused their attention mainly on the study of hagiographic monuments related to locally revered saints. Huge factual material collected by the beginning. XX century., Unfortunately, turned out to be of little demand in church practice. The Faithful Messeslov, published by the Holy Synod in 1903, was compiled exclusively on the basis of reports from the localities, without taking into account the achievements of Russian hagiology, and therefore was of little use.

6. Canonization of the saints in 1917-1987.

Canonization issues on Local Council of the Orthodox Russian Church 1917-1918 were taken to the Department of Worship, Preaching and Temples for training. According to the reports of the Department, the Local Council, by its decision dated 04/19/1918, canonized to general church veneration: 1) sshmch. Joseph, Met. Astrakhan(† 11.05.1671), and 2) St. Sophronia (Kristalevsky), ep. Irkutsk (+ 03/30/1771, glorification on June 30). The moral and edifying direction of these canonizations was obvious: St. Joseph was tortured to death by the traitor Cossacks during the revolt of Stepan Razin, his example was supposed to strengthen the Russian archpastors during the years of persecution; St. Sophrony was a missionary in Siberia, "in a harsh country, amidst the wilderness and the tyranny of the people," and soon after the Local Council for many decades the entire once Orthodox Russia turned into a country where missionary work became the main Christian activity. The department did not limit itself to specific canonizations, but developed a whole program for the development of issues of canonization and the Russian monthly. Its implementation was supposed to fill the voids that were artificially formed in the era of synodal government and perceived at the Local Council as phenomena harmful to church life... Thanks to the position of the Patriarch Tikhon (Belavina) issues of canonization in the Department about worship, preaching and the temple began to be considered not from the point of view of the "nationalization of the liturgical month" (the preference of national saints over ecumenical), as suggested by some of its participants (for example, in the report "On the nationalization of the liturgical month" at the Pre-Council Council), but proceeding from the need to identify and confirm the grace-filled succession of the saints in the Russian Church from the beginning of her existence until the last time. Regarding the report on the glorification of St. Sophronia, bishop Irkutsk, Patriarch Tikhon on February 25, 1918 wrote about the need to “restore the old, pre-synodal order, when some of the saints were recognized as church-wide all-Russian, while others were only local. Of course, these last essence real saints, but only smaller in comparison with the first: this is celebrated throughout the Church, and this is only in some places. With this order, firstly, there would be no place for wrangling (which was sometimes heard for last years) that the Church glorifies saints little known throughout Russia; secondly, this last circumstance would not delay the glorification of those quite many righteous men who have long been venerated in certain places. The right of local canonization in ancient times belonged to the diocesan bishops with the blessing of the All-Russian Metropolitans or Patriarchs, and for general glorification a resolution of the Council was required ”(BT. 1998, Sat 34, p. 346). After discussion on 03/15/1918 of the report “On Locally Revered Saints” The Department on Divine Services on March 20 approved the theses “On the Procedure for Glorifying the Saints of the Russian Orthodox Church for Local Veneration”. The theses were presented and discussed at the 144th session of the Council on 08/15/1918, and at the 155th session of the Council on 09/03/1918, the definition “On the order of glorifying saints for local veneration” was adopted, which, after being approved by the Conference of Bishops on 09/08/1918, received the status of a conciliar act ... The definition said: “1. The glorification of the saint of God to local veneration in the Russian Orthodox Church is accomplished by the Council of the metropolitan district with the blessing of the Most Holy Patriarch and the Holy Synod taught through a special letter. Note. Until the proper organization of metropolitan districts and district councils, glorification is performed by the Holy Patriarch with the Holy Synod. 2. A petition for the glorification of the saint of God to local veneration comes from the local Orthodox population, with the blessing of the diocesan bishop. 3. For a saint of God to be counted among the locally revered saints, it is necessary that the godly life of the righteous be witnessed by the gift of miracles after his death and by the popular veneration of him. 4. Before the glorification of the saint, his miracles, recorded by those who honor his memory and by the clergy, are checked by a special commission appointed by the diocesan bishop, with the blessing of the metropolitan or higher church authority. 5. When verifying miracles, applicants and witnesses testify under oath about the validity of the miraculous signs recorded. 6. The testimony and opening of the relics for the honoring of the saint of God to the face of the locally revered saints is optional. If the witnessing of the relics of the saint of God is performed, then it is performed with the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch and in the presence of his representative. 7. With the blessing of the diocesan bishop, the previously compiled life of the saint is compiled or reviewed, and the correspondence of the life to the testimonies and records of the saint's contemporaries and chronicle records and legends is determined. From the life of the saint, a prologue or synaxarum is compiled for liturgical use. 8. With the blessing of the diocesan bishop, a church service to the saint is compiled (troparion, kontakion, stichera, canon), and before such service is compiled according to the General Menaion. Newly compiled liturgical chants and prayers are allowed for liturgical use with the blessing of the Holy Patriarch and the Holy Synod. 9. The day of the celebration of the saint is established with the blessing of the district council or the higher church authorities. 10. The name of the saint is entered in the general church month with an indication of the local celebration of the saint. 11. Upon receipt of the blessing to glorify the saint of God, the upcoming celebration is announced to the general public through the publication in the "Church Gazette" of the patriarchal letter, a short life of the glorified saint, troparion and kontakion to him, which should be drawn up by this time. 12. The rite of glorification of a saint is drawn up by the local diocesan authority and approved by the Holy Patriarch and the Holy Synod. 13. The veneration of a locally venerated saint as a general church saint belongs to the Holy Council of the Russian Church. But before such glorification, the service to him as a saint can be performed at the request of those who venerate him everywhere. 14. The name of the saint who was glorified for the general church celebration is printed in the general church Russian month of the month without designating the local celebration of the saint. 15. His Holiness the Patriarch informs the Ecumenical Patriarch and the primates of other autocephalous Churches about glorification for general church veneration "(Sobor, 1918. Definitions. Issue 4. P. 25-26).
The second step in restoring the veneration of Russian saints was the solution of the issue of compiling a complete revised monthbook with the introduction of the names of all Russian saints venerated in general church and local, and the adoption of an appropriate program of work. Hierom's report was devoted to this issue. "On the introduction of all Russian memorials into the church month", discussed at the 35th meeting of the Department on Divine Services, Preaching and Churches on April 9, 1918. At the beginning of the lecture, Hierom. Athanasius pointed out the extreme incompleteness, contradictions, errors and inaccuracies of various monthly passages, published both officially and privately. “It is resolved (this question. - and. A. ) can only be the introduction of the memorials of all Russian saints, both general churchly and locally venerated, in all the liturgical books ... that their names after canonization were not included in the general church monthly. In addition, the introduction of the names of all, even locally revered saints, into the monthly passages in all church service books, is also important because only then can the abnormal phenomenon be eliminated, that in one place prayers are served to the saint of God, and in another - requiems. Our Department has already adopted a clause in the rules on the canonization of saints that the names of the saints canonized for the local celebration are included in the general church month. But not only the newly canonized saints of God must be included in it, but the names of all previously canonized saints must also be included. Of course, in the monthly words it should be noted which of the saints of God are honored by the entire Russian Church and which - only locally ... the days on which celebrations are performed in honor of the holy icons of the Mother of God, glorified in our Fatherland, should be noted ”(BT. 1998, Sat. 34. S. 358–359). Based on the report of Hierom. Afanasy (Sakharova) 04/16/1918 The Department on Worship, Preaching and Temple sent to the Cathedral Council a program of work, which included the following provisions: “1. A full month should be published with an exact indication of all the festivities in honor of the icons of the Mother of God and all the memorials of the saints - both ecumenical and Russian generally churchly and locally revered, with troparions and kontakions, with brief information about the holy icons and from the lives of the saints, indicating their place reverence. This month should be sent to all churches. 2. The names of the saints venerated by the entire Russian Church are entered in the month of all liturgical books where this month is printed. 3. All available services to Russian saints and in honor of the icons of the Mother of God should be collected, corrected, replenished with synaxaries and henceforth printed services in honor of the icons of the Mother of God and saints generally venerated by the Church in the Menstrual Menaion; services in honor of holy icons and saints revered locally should be placed in the additional Menaion. 4. Full face calendar should be published with the image of both the universal and all Russian saints and with the image of the icons of the Mother of God. 5. In each diocese lists of saints close to the given diocese should be compiled, and their names, in the order specially established by the diocesan authority, should be offered up at the lithium petition "Save, O God, Thy people" and the prayer "Vladyka Many-merciful." The diocesan authority must determine in what locality and to which locally revered saints the services should be solemnly performed on the days of their remembrance ”(Ibid. Pp. 361–362). This program was approved by the Council Council, and on July 20, 1918 - by the Council.
The third step in the veneration of Russian saints was the determination of the Council of 08/26/1918 "On the restoration of the celebration of the day of remembrance of all Russian saints" on the 2nd week after Pentecost. in the report , approved by the Department on Divine Services and then presented to the Council, this is how the meaning of the restoration of this holiday was revealed: “May it remind us and our rejected brethren from generation to generation of the united Orthodox Russian Church, and may it be a small tribute to our sinful generation and a small atonement for our sin. Since the service was compiled, apparently, in the 16th century, it should be supplemented in order to include in it newly glorified saints, as well as in some general form not yet canonized, but either long ago revered, or laid down their souls for the faith of Christ. those hieromartyrs and martyrs who suffered in our sorrowful days during the real persecution of the Church ”(Service to all the saints who shone forth in the Russian land / Comp. Bishop Afanasy (Sakharov) of Kovrovsky. Moscow, 1995, pp. 6–7). Initially, the higher church administration was instructed to correct and finish the service on the day of the celebration of all the saints of the new wonderworkers of Russia, compiled by the monk Gregory of Suzdal in the 16th century. But, having begun this, the initiators of the restoration of the holiday, and Hierom. Afanasy (Sakharov), were convinced that it was difficult to fix the old service. Therefore, a new service was soon compiled and published in the civilian press. After. ep. Afanasy continued to work on the text and charter of the service until the middle. 50s Considering it his duty to work on the implementation of the program for compiling a complete Russian mesyaslov, Bp. Throughout his life Athanasius collected the services and lives of Russian saints, his materials were used in the publication of the Liturgical Mena in 1978–1990.
After the Local Council of 1918 and up to 1988, due to the tacit prohibition of canonization by the authorities, the questions of canonization could not be raised openly. From the beginning. 60s Sacred The Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church carried out several canonization acts, relying on interchurch relations. According to the tradition existing in the Church, saints canonized in separate Local Churches can be entered into the month words of other Local Churches without a second act of canonization. According to this practice, the Synod of the Russian Church adopted resolutions on the inclusion of names in the month: 1) 07/01/1962 - Venerable. John the Russian, confessor (+ 1730, commemorated on May 27), previously canonized by the K-Polish and Greek Churches; 2) 11/12/1970 - St. Herman of Alaska(† 1837, commemorated on July 27), glorified by the American Orthodox Church on 08/09/1970. At the request of the Council of the Orthodox Mission in Japan, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on 10.04.1970 glorified in the face of saints: 3) Equal-to-the-Apostles. , Archbishop Japanese († 1912, commemorated February 3). On appeal in 1974, Priest. The Synod of the Orthodox Church in America The Synod of the Russian Church established a Commission to study materials about the life of the enlightener of America, Met. Moscow and Kolomenskoye ... As a result, 6/10/1977 Sacred. The Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church glorified in the face of saints: 4) Equal-to-the-Apostles. Innocent, Met. Moscow and Kolomenskoye (+ 1879, commemorated on March 31, glorification on Sept. 23). The canonization of 5) St. Melety (Leontovich), Archbishop Kharkovsky and Akhtyrsky († 29.02.1840, commemoration of 12 Feb., namesake). Resolution of His Holiness the Patriarch Pimen (Izvekova) and the Synod of 02/21/1978 approved the service and akathist of St. Meletios, compiled by Archbishop. Kharkiv and Bogodukhovsky Nicodemus (Rusnak)... Naturally, this resolution implied a special report by Archbishop. Nicodemus, which contained the justification for the canonization of St. Meletius: his holy life, miraculous intercession, more than a century of veneration by the believing people.
From the end. 70s XX century. in the Russian Church, a renewal of diocesan life and an intensification of publishing activities began, as a result of which the program of compiling a complete Russian monthly verse was largely spontaneously carried out. The external dependence of the Church on the state ruled out the possibility of glorifying individual saints, but this was the reason for the establishment of local conciliar memorials in many dioceses. 1) 03/10/1964 at the initiative of Archbishop. Yaroslavl and Rostov Nikodima (Rotova) the Cathedral of the Rostov-Yaroslavl saints was installed (May 23, on the day of the uncovering of the relics of St. Leonty, Bishop of Rostov). 2) In 1974, the Finnish Orthodox Church established the Cathedral of Karelian Saints (1 Nov. New Style in the likeness of the Feast of All Saints in the Western Church). In the Petrozavodsk Deanery (Karelia) of the Leningrad Diocese, the celebration is established on Saturday between October 31st. and 6 nov. (Art. Art.) on the initiative of Met. Leningrad and Novgorod Nikodim (Rotov). 3) In 1976, at the initiative of Archbishop. Cheboksary and Chuvash Benjamin (Novitsky) the Cathedral of the Kazan saints Guria, Barsanuphius and German (Sadyreva-Poleva)(on the 1st week after October 4, on the feast of the uncovering of the relics of Saints Guria and Barsanuphius). Later, in connection with the establishment of the Cathedral of Kazan saints, this Cathedral was abolished. 4) In 1979, at the initiative of Archbishop. Kalininsky and Kashinsky Alexia (Konopleva) the Cathedral of Tver Saints was established (on the 1st week after June 29, on the day of the rolling celebration of St. Arseny, Bishop of Tver); originally this Council was established in 1904 5) 07/10/1981 on the initiative of the governor of the TSL Archim. Jerome (Zinovieva) the Cathedral of the Saints of Radonezh was established (July 6, on the second day of the feast of the uncovering of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh); the beginning of the cathedral veneration of the Radonezh saints dates back to the 2nd half. XVII century. 6) 07/10/1981 on the initiative of Met. Leningrad and Novgorod Anthony (Melnikova) the Cathedral of Novgorod Saints was established (on the 3rd week after Pentecost); The cathedral has been known since 1831. 7) In 1981, on the initiative of Archbishop. Kostroma and Galich Cassiana (Yaroslavsky) the Cathedral of the Kostroma Saints was installed (January 23, on the feast day of St. Gennady of Kostroma). 8) In 1982, at the initiative of Archbishop. Vladimirsky and Suzdal Serapiona (Fadeeva) the Cathedral of Vladimir Saints was installed (June 23, the day of the celebration of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos). 9) 04/03/1984 on the initiative of Met. Minsk and Belorussky Filareta (Vakhromeeva) the Cathedral of Belarusian Saints was established (on the 3rd week after Pentecost). 10) In 1984, on the initiative of Bishop Omsk and Tyumen Maxima (Crumbs) the Cathedral of Siberian Saints was established (June 10, commemoration day of St. John, Metropolitan of Tobolsk). 11) In 1984, at the initiative of Archbishop. Smolensky and Vyazemsky Feodosia (Protsyuka) the Cathedral of Smolensk Saints was installed (on the week before July 28, the day of the celebration of the Smolensk Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos). 12) In 1984, at the initiative of Bishop. Kazan and Mari Panteleimon (Mitryukovsky) the Cathedral of the Kazan Saints was installed (October 4, on the day of the feast of the uncovering of the relics of Saints Guria and Barsanuphius). 13) 01/12/1987 on the initiative of Archbishop. Ryazansky and Kasimovsky Simona (Novikova) the Cathedral of the Ryazan Saints was installed (June 10, on the day of the feast of the uncovering of the relics of St. Basil, Bishop Ryazansky)... 14) 04/10/1987 on the initiative of Met. Pskov and Porkhovsky John (Razumova) the Cathedral of the Pskov Saints was established (on the 3rd week after Pentecost). 15) 06/03/1987 at the initiative of Archbishop. Tula and Belevsky Maxim (Crumbs), the Cathedral of Tula Saints was installed (22 Sept., On the feast day of Venerable Macarius Belevsky).
The practice of establishing cathedral memorials had significant drawbacks. Some bishops included in the Council the names of only those saints who were in the Orthodox Church Calendar of the current year, others added the names of those devotees of piety of the 11th – 17th centuries, about whom numerous hagiographic monuments testified as locally revered saints. Still others added the names of the devotees of piety of the 18th – 20th centuries, believing that the establishment of the Council is the implementation of local canonization, but at the same time the name of each ascetic of piety was not discussed separately and neither lives nor services were compiled by them. Let us also note that in the "Orthodox Church Calendar" a unified system of publication of conciliar memorials has not yet developed: some Councils are published annually by name; in other cases, the list of names of Councils has been published once and references are made to the year of publication in the Calendar; in many cases the list of names has never been published; there are also some conciliar memories closely related to Russian history (on the 2nd week after Pentecost - the Council of All Saints who shone in the Czech land, the Council of All Saints who shone in Bulgaria, on the 3rd week after Pentecost - the Cathedral newly-minted Martyrs of Christ, on the capture of Constantinople victims († after 1453)). All these shortcomings led to the fact that the "technical" side of the preparation of cathedral memorials subsequently received an ambiguous assessment in the report of the Commission on Canonization (see. Canonization Commission of the Moscow Patriarchate), approved by the definition of Sacred. Synod of 1.10.1993 (IB OVTsS MP. 1993. October 27. No. 20. S. 1).
In 1978-1979. 2nd and 3rd volumes were published "Handbook of a clergyman"(NKS), which included a month with hagiographic information about the saints. The basis for the month of the NCC was the capital hagiographic research ser. XIX - early. XX century. (especially Archbishop and Archbishop Demetrius (Sambikina)), supplemented by hagiographic data for the time after 1917. Months of the "Handbook of a clergyman" 1978–1979. was the first in Russian hagiography experience of combining the full month of the East and the full Russian month. The same month (with corrections and additions) was repeated during the publication of the liturgical Miney (September. M., 1978; August. M., 1989). This edition of Minea (M., 1978-1990), which has no analogues in any Orthodox Church, made a significant contribution to the development of issues of canonization. It was based on the following main complexes of services: 1) the range of services of the traditional synodal Minei; 2) additional Minea service (M., 1909); 3) "Services of the Reverend Father of Pechersk" (K., 1855), supplemented with handwritten supplements in the 1920s. XX century; 4) editions of the 18th – 20th centuries. services to Russian saints and icons of the Most Holy. Theotokos from the collection of bishop Afanasy (Sakharova); handwritten services sent from places of worship and mon-rey, compiled in the 1920s and 1950s. XX century; 5) services to Russian saints and icons of the Most Holy. The Mother of God (as well as some Greek saints, translated earlier), preserved in the archives of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, etc .; 6) services to Serbian saints from the collection "Srblak"; 7) handwritten and printed services to Bulgarian saints; 8) handwritten services to the Athonite saints from the Russian Panteleimonov Mon-rya on Athos; 9) services translated to some Greek and Georgian saints. In addition to the services, the publication included all other known liturgical texts for the saints and icons of the Most Holy. Theotokos (canons, troparia, kontakions), as well as hagiographic references and numerous traces, subsequently published separately (Images of the Mother of God and the saints of the Orthodox Church: 324 figures, made by priest Vyacheslav Savinykh and N. Shelyagina. M., 1995). It should be noted that the tradition of the synodal period did not imply the inclusion of services for locally venerated saints in the liturgical Menaion; services for locally venerated saints were printed in separate editions. However, in the end. 70-80s XX century, when church publishing was extremely limited, the only opportunity to publish services to locally revered saints was their inclusion in the Menaion. In addition, a similar publication acquired and special meaning as a complete collection of all known services. The publication of the Liturgical Minea and the NCC Monthly, in fact, represented the fulfillment of the first four points of the program for compiling a complete Russian Monthly, approved by the Local Council on July 20, 1918. Both publications were carried out Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, the editor-in-chief of which in those years was Met. Volokolamsky Pitirim (Nechaev).

7. Canonization of saints after 1988

The Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988, dedicated to the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus, opened a new period in the history of canonization. Thorough study of materials for the glorification of saints by the historical and canonical group within the framework of the Jubilee Commission, the possibility of comprehending and discussing the issues of canonization from t. Sp. dogmatic, canonical and historical - all this began at the Local Council of 1988 and became a characteristic feature of the preparation of subsequent canonizations. Chairman of the historical and canonical group of Met. Krutitsky and Kolomensky Yuvenaly (Poyarkov) read at the Council a report "Canonization of Saints in the Russian Orthodox Church" and presented materials for canonization (lives, icons, troparia and kontakion). On the basis of the materials presented, the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church on 6–9.06.1988 glorified for general church veneration: 1) Blgv. led. book Moscow Dmitry Donskoy(† 05/19/1389); 2) St. Andrey Rublev, icon painter (1360 - † 1st half of the 15th century, commemorated on July 4); 3) St. († 1556, commemorated January 21); 4) St. Macarius, Met. Moscow and All Russia (+ 1563, commemorative December 30); 5) St. , Nyametsky († 11/15/1794); 6) blzh. Xenia of Petersburg, For Christ for the sake of the holy fool (+ 1803, commemorated January 24); 7) St. , ep. Caucasian and Black Sea († 04/30/1867); 8) St. Ambrose (Grenkova) Optinsky († 10.10.1891); 9) St. Feofan (Govorova), hermit Vyshensky (+ 1894, commemorated January 10). In the report of Metropolitan. Juvenalia raised the issue of locally revered saints. In connection with the preparation of subsequent canonizations important step was the recognition of the incompleteness and inaccuracy of the lists of the so-called. "The departed, in fact revered" and "the deceased, in fact not revered, but whose names are included in the catalogs of saints", cited by EE Golubinsky in the book. "History of the Canonization of Saints in the Russian Church" (1903). Met. Juvenaly noted, “that the so-called“ revered ”saints in reality have always been in the minds of the people and were honored in their memory in various parts of Russia. This is evidenced by the fact that many of the “disregarded” saints, according to Golubinsky, were later reintroduced into the mesyaslovs and thus remain in the calendar of Russian saints to this day. ” Trinity-Sergius Lavra, June 6-9, 1988, pp. 163-167). On the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus Liturgical Commission prepared "Order of the feast of the Baptism of Rus" (Moscow, 1988). According to the charter, the service to the Lord God in commemoration of the Baptism of Rus must precede and unite with the service to all the saints who shone forth in the land of Russia, not only in 1988, but also in the subsequent time. This fulfills her great solemnity and semantic unity. The Testament of the Council of 1917-1918 was finally completed 70 years later.
In the post-conciliar period, the work on canonization was to be continued by the Commission of Sacred. Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church for the canonization of saints, formed on 10-11.04.1989. Since its inception, the Commission has been chaired by Met. Krutitsky Juvenaly, who presented her goals in the following way: “The Commission, open to the participation of all, is a coordinating research body in preparation for the canonization of devotees of the faith. She first of all studies the grounds for canonization ... Any canonization is preceded by a research stage, and our Commission carefully and carefully prepares materials for canonization. And only after considering and studying these materials, the Commission, if it considers them justified for the canonization of this or that ascetic, submits them to the Most Holy Patriarch and Priest. Synod. After that, the Bishops' or Local Council, after considering the materials, makes a decision on canonization. As we can see, the canonization of saints is the result of a conciliar examination and not at all of a separate research group of theologians of the Commission ”(IB DECR MP. 1993. No. 7. Apr. 9, p. 4).
In 1989-1998 The following general church canonizations were carried out, prepared by the Commission (the dates of death and events after 02/01/1918 are given according to Art., in this case the day of remembrance corresponding to the day of death is given according to Art. Art., and the day of commemoration is not separately stipulated), - at the Council of Bishops on October 9, 1989, the following were glorified: 10) St. Job, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (+ 19.06.1607, transfer of relics on April 5); 11) St. , Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, confessor (+ 04/07/1925, commemorated on March 25, September 26). At the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church on June 7-8, 1990, 12) rights were glorified. (Sergiev)(† 20.12.1908). At the Council of Bishops on 31.03–4.04.1992, the following were canonized: 13) Venerable. Cyril of Radonezh(† 1337, commemoration of Sept. 28, Jan. 18, on Thursday of the week about the publican and the Pharisee - local); 14) St. Maria Radonezhskaya(† 1337, commemoration of Sept. 28, Jan. 18, on Thursday of the week about the publican and the Pharisee - local); 15) sshmch. , Met. Kiev and Galitsky († 01/25/1918, uncovering of relics - June 14); 16) sshmch. Benjamin (Kazansky), Met. Petrogradsky and Gdovsky (+ 13.08.1922, commemorated on July 31); 17) prmch. Sergiy (Shein) Petrogradskiy, Radonezhskiy (+ 13.08.1922, commemorated on July 31); 18) martyr. Yuri Novitsky Petrogradsky (+ 13.08.1922, commemorated on July 31); 19) martyr. John Kovsharov Petrogradsky (+ 13.08.1922, commemorated on July 31); 20) St. blgv. led. kn. prmts. Elizabeth (Romanova) Moscow († 07/18/1918, commemorated on July 5); 21) prmts. Barbara, nun Moscow(† 07/18/1918, commemorated on July 5). At the Council of Bishops on December 4, 1994 glorified: 22) St. , Met. Moscow and Kolomensky († 11/19/1867); 23) sshmch. protopres. Alexander Hotovitsky Moscow († 4.12.1937, commemorated 20 November); 24) sshmch. prot. John Kochurov Petrogradsky († 31.10.1917). At the Council of Bishops on February 18-23, 1997, the following were glorified: 25) schmch. , Met. Krutitsky († 10.10.1937, commemoration of 27 Sept.); 26) sshmch. , Met. Petrogradsky († 12/11/1937, commemorated on November 28); 27) schmch. , Archbishop Tverskoy († 31.12.1937, commemorated 18 December).
For consideration of the future Council of Bishops, the commission referred the questions of canonization in the face of the new martyrs-confessors of Russia for general church veneration: St. Agafangel (Preobrazhensky), Met. Yaroslavsky, confessor (+ 16.10.1928, commemoration of October 3); sshmch. , Archbishop Vereisky († December 28, 1929, commemorated on December 15, local glorification in Moscow took place on May 10, 1999); sshmch. Pet-ra (Zvereva), Archbishop Voronezh († 02/07/1929, commemorated January 25); sshmch. Varsonofia (Lebedeva), ep. Kirillovsky (+ 09/15/1918, commemoration of 2 Sept.), And with him sshmch. priest Ivanova John(† 19.09.1918, commemoration of 6 Sept.) And prmts. Seraphim (Sulimova), abbot. Ferapontov Monastery, and Martyrs Nikolay Burlakov, Barashkov Anatoly, Trubnikov Mikhail and Philip Maryshev(† September 15, 1918, commemoration of 2 Sept.); St. Seraphima (Muravyova) confessor, Vyritsky († 04/03/1949, commemorated on March 21); St. , Met. Moscow and Kolomenskoye († 1.03.1926, commemorated February 17); right. , prot. († 06/22/1923, commemorated June 9); St. , hieroschem. Zosimovsky (+ 2.10.1928, monument. 19 Sept.), As well as a number of new martyrs and confessors of Russia, represented by the Almaty, Vyatka, Samara dioceses and the Solovetsky mon-rem. Bishops' Council of 1997, based on the report of Met. Krutitsky Juvenaly of 10.10.1996 "On the work of the Commission of the Holy Synod for the canonization of saints on the question of the martyrdom of the Royal Family", submitted for the decision of the Local Council questions about the canonization in the face of new martyrs and confessors of the Russian members of the Royal Family: blgv. imp. mch. Nicholas II, bldg. empress mts. Alexandra Feodorovna, mch. blgv. Tsarevich Alexy Nikolaevich, martyrs of the faithful princesses Olga, , Mary, Anastasia (Romanovs), executed on July 17, 1918 (commemorated on July 4). The commission developed and adopted a number of documents on the canonization of the Royal Family (Materials related to the question of the canonization of the Royal Family. Synodal Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church for the canonization of saints. Moscow, 1996).
In addition to the activities of the Commission for the Canonization of Saints, the names of some of the saints previously canonized by other Local Churches were included in the monthly ROC for general church veneration: 28) St. († 24.09.1938, commemoration of 11 Sept.), Canonized by the K-Polish Patriarchate in 1987; included in the month with the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch Alexia II in 1991; 29) St. Equalap. blgv. book Velikomoravian Rostislav(† 870, commemorated May 11), canonized by the Orthodox Church Czech lands and Slovakia October 29–31, 1994; 30-31) reverend Zebulun and Sosanna(parents of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina) (early IV, commemorated on May 20), canonized Georgian Orthodox Church 12/23/1996; included in the month by the definition of Holy. Synod on 04/17/1997; 32) the host of venerable fathers who asceticised on the Divine Mount Sinai (memorial on Wednesday Easter week), canonized Jerusalem Church in 1996; included in the month by the definition of the Holy. Synod of 17.04.1997. In the month of the ROC, the definition of Holy. The Synod of 17.07.1997 also introduced the celebration of the uncovering of the relics of St. Maxim the Greek, committed July 4, 1996 (commemorated on June 21).
During the period under review, the practice of establishing cathedral memorials was continued. 1) 02/16/1988 at the initiative of Bishop. Tambov and Michurinsky Evgeniya (Zhdana) the Cathedral of Tambov saints was installed (July 28, commemoration day of St. Pitirim, Bishop of Tambov). 2) 03/10/1988 at the initiative of Archbishop. Simferopol and Crimean Leonty (Gudimova) the Cathedral of Crimean Saints was installed (December 15, on the day of commemoration of St. Stefan, Archbishop Surozhsky). 3) In 1992, by the definition of the Council of Bishops, a Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia was established (in the week next to January 25, or January 25 of Art. ... According to the original definition, the Council included the names of only those martyrs and confessors who had previously been canonized for general church veneration. 02/16/1998 Chairman of the Commission for the Canonization of Met. Yuvenaly spoke at a meeting of Priest. Synod with the report “Towards the conciliar glorification of the martyrs and confessors of the twentieth century. in the Russian Orthodox Church. " The report proposed to perform the conciliar glorification of the new martyrs and confessors of Russia, which implied the inclusion in the Council of those glorified not only for general church, but also for local veneration, as well as nameless martyrs and confessors. The Synod approved the initiative of the Commission for Canonization and transferred the consideration of this issue to the Council of Bishops. At the same time, the ruling bishops were instructed to conduct a thorough documentary study about the new martyrs and confessors of the twentieth century who suffered in their dioceses, for their possible inclusion in the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors. 4) On the same day - commemoration of all the departed who suffered in the time of persecution for the faith of Christ. Established by the definition of the Holy. Synod of 30.01.1991 on the basis of the decision of the Local Council of 1917-1918. 5) 04.16.1993 with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, Holy Archim. Spaso-Preobrazhensky Solovetsky Monastery, under the governor archim. Joseph (Bratishchev), the Cathedral of the Solovetsky Saints was established (August 9, the day after the feast of the transfer of the relics of the Monks Zosima, Savvaty and Herman Solovetsky). 6) 07/26/1996 with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, Holy Archim. Svyato-Vvedenskaya Optina desert, under the governor archim. Venedikta (Penkovo), the Cathedral of the Optina Elders was established (October 11, the day after the memory of Venerable). The cathedral contains the names of the venerable Venerable. Ambrose and the locally venerated reverend fathers. 7) 12/26/1996 with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II on the initiative of Archbishop Pskov and Velikolutsky Eusebius (Savvina) the Cathedral of the Venerable Fathers of Pskov-Pechersk was established (the service was compiled in 1990) (on the 4th week after Pentecost). 8) 07/04/1999 with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy, sacred igum. Valaam Spaso-Preobrazhensky monastery, under the governor archim. The Cathedral of Valaam Saints was installed in Pankratia (Zherdev) (August 7, the day after the patronal feast of the monastery in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord).
A characteristic feature of the latter period was the establishment of celebrations for locally revered saints. In 1988, in Vologda, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Pimen, the following was glorified for local veneration: 1) Blessed. Nikolay Rynin, For Christ's sake, holy fool, Vologda (+ 05/19/1837). All subsequent local canonizations were carried out with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. The glorification of some local saints was led by His Holiness the Patriarch himself. The following saints were canonized for local veneration: 2) ssmch. Iuvenaly (Maslovsky), Archbishop Ryazan († 25.10.1937, commemorated October 12), glorified on 8.06.1993 Archbishop. Ryazansky and Kasimovsky Simon; 3) sshmch. , Archbishop Kursk and Oboyansky († 1.06.1938, commemorated on May 19); 4) sshmch. Alexander (Petrovsky), Archbishop Kharkovsky († May 24, 1940, commemorated on May 19); 5-32) prmch. Varsonofy (Mamchin), Archimandrite; prmch. Cyprian (Yankovsky), Archimandrite; sshmch. Jacob Redozubov, prot .; sshmch. Nikolay Zagorovsky, prot .; sshmch. Petro Doroshenko, prot .; sshmch. John Fedorov, priest; sshmch. Ilarion Zhukov, priest; sshmch. Sergiy Shipulin, priest; sshmch. Anthony Gorban, priest; sshmch. John Timonov, priest; sshmch. Vladimir Vasilovsky, priest; sshmch. Nikolay Migulin, priest; sshmch. Victor Yavorsky, priest; sshmch. Dionysius Chagovets, priest; sshmch. Stefan Andronov, priest; sshmch. John Fedorov II, priest; sshmch. Lucian Fedotov, priest; sshmch. Alexander Tatarinov, priest; sshmch. Jacob Martynenko, priest; sshmch. Pavel Krasnokutsky, priest; sshmch. Paisiy Moskot, priest; sshmch. Simeon Oskin, priest; sshmch. Nikolay (Efimov), priest; sshmch. Gabriel Protopopov, priest; sshmch. Spiridon Evtushenko, deacon; mch. Ioann Kononenko, regent; mch. Philip Ordinets, regent; mch. Andrey Mishchenko, regent - Novoslobodsky, Kharkov († 30s of the XX century, commemorated on May 19); glorified on 22.06.1993 by the decision of the Holy. Synod UOC... 33-39) Prmch. Seraphim (Theological), hierom. Alma-Atinsky († 08/11/1921, commemorated on July 29); prmch. Theognost, hierom. Alma-Ata(† 08/11/1921, commemorated on July 29); prmch. Pachomiy (Rusin), hierom. Alma-Ata († 1938, memorial to the Cathedral of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia); prmch. Anatoly, hierom. Alma-Ata(† c. 1930–1933, memorial to the Cathedral of New Martyrs); prmch. Irakli (Matyakh) Alma-Ata († 1936, memorial to the Cathedral of New Martyrs); mch. Victor Matveev wanderer, Alma-Ata (+ c. 1936-1937, memorial to the Cathedral of New Martyrs); prmts. Evdokia nun Alma-Atinskaya(† 1918, memorial to the Cathedral of New Martyrs) - glorified on 07/28/1993 Archbishop. Alma-Ata and Semipalatinsk Alexy (Kutepov)... 40) Venerable Kiev-Pechersk (+ 03/25/1855, commemorated on March 17), glorified by the UOC on 07/27/1993. 41) St. George (Konissky), Archbishop Mogilev, Mstislavsky and Orshansky († 13.02.1795), glorified on 5-6.08.1993 by the Synod Belarusian Exarchate Moscow Patriarchate (resolution of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II of 17.07.1993). 42) St. , ep. Kineshemsky († 08/12/1945, commemorated on July 30), glorified on 08/12/1993 Archbishop. Ivanovsky and Kineshemsky Ambrose (Shchurov)... 43) Blg. Alexy Voroshin, For Christ's sake, the holy fool, Yuryevetsky, Ivanovsky († May 1937; commemorated on September 12) was glorified on September 25, 1993, Archbishop. Ivanovsky and Kineshemsky Ambrose (Shchurov). 44) Schmch. Konstantin (Dyakov), Met. Kievsky († 10.11.1937, commemoration October 28), glorified on 19.10.1993 by the decision of Holy. Synod of the UOC. 45-47) Martyr. Daniil Mlievsky, Cherkassky († 07/29/1766); St. Job Knyaginitsky(† 29.12.1621); St. Theodosius, abbot. Manyavsky(† 24.09.1629), - glorified on 8.03.1994 by the decision of Holy. Synod of the UOC, the celebration of glorification took place on March 14, 1994. 48) Venerable Zosima Alexandrovsky, Vladimirsky (+ c. 1713, July, commemorated on July 15), glorified on July 18, 1994 by the decision of the congress of the Vladimir diocese, chaired by Archbishop. Vladimirsky and Suzdal Eulogia (Smirnova), the celebration of glorification on July 26, 1994 was led by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II. 49-51) Venerable Kuksha Odessa(† 24.12.1964, commemoration of 16 Sept.); St. Gabriel of Athos, Ilyinsky († 07/09/1901); St. Lawrence (Proskura) Chernigov († 19.01.1950, commemoration of December 29 and August 9) - glorified on 10/04/1994 by the decision of Holy. Synod of the UOC. (According to data from the Chernigov diocese, Venerable Lavrenty was glorified on 07/27/1993 by the decision of the UOC Synod, the uncovering of the relics took place on 08/22/1993, the memorial day - December 29.) 52) Sshmch. Nikodim (Krotkov), Archbishop Kostroma (+ 21.08.1938, commemoration of August 8), glorified on 03.27.1995 Archbishop. Kostroma and Galich Alexander (Mogilev), the celebration of glorification was led by Met. Krutitsky and Kolomensky Yuvenaly. 53) Venerable Barnabas (Merkulov) Gethsemane, Radonezh († 17.02.1906), glorified on 19.07.1995 with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, Holy Archim. TSL, under the governor archim. Feognoste (Guzikove) and the head of the Chernigov skete, archim. Theophilakte (Moiseev), the glorification was led by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II. 54) Venerable Jonah Odessa(† 05/30/1924, commemorated on May 17) glorified on 09/08/1995 by the decision of the Synod of the UOC. The uncovering of the relics took place on 07/01/1996, the celebration of glorification on 09/07/1996 was led by Met. Kiev and all Ukraine Vladimir (Sabodan)... 55-57) Venerable And she(in schema Peter) Kievsky, archim. Trinity Monastery († 9.01.1902); St. John the Recluse Svyatogorsk, Kharkov († 08/11/1867); St. , Archbishop Simferopol and Crimean, confessor (+ 11.06.1961, commemorated on May 29), - glorified on 11.22.1995 by the decision of the Synod of the UOC. 58) Schmch. Konstantin (Golubev), missionary, Bogorodsky, Moscow (+ 1918, commemoration of 19 Sept.), glorified on April 18, 1996 by Met. Krutitsky and Kolomensky Yuvenaly. 59) Schmch. Procopius (Titov), Archbishop Kherson and Nikolaevsky (+ 23.11.1937, commemorated November 10), glorified 05.03.1996 by the decision of the Holy. Synod of the UOC (according to the data of the Kherson diocese, the celebration of glorification took place on 5.09.1996). 60) Venerable Rachel (Korotkova) Borodinskaya (+ 10.10.1928, commemoration of 27 Sept.) Glorified by Met. Krutitsky and Kolomna Juvenal on 07/28/1996. 61-73) St. Optinsky († 10/11/1841); St. Optinsky († 09/07/1860); St. Moisey (Putilov) Optinsky († June 16, 1862); St. Anthony (Putilov) Optinsky († 08/07/1865); St. Hilarion (Ponomarev) Optinsky († 09/17/1873); St. Anatoly (Zertsalov) senior Optinsky († 25.01.1894); St. Isaac I (Antimonov) Optinsky († 08.22.1894); St. Optinsky († 05/09/1911); St. Optinsky († 04/01/1913); St. Anatoly (Potapov) Optinsky († 08/12/1922, commemorated on July 30); St. Optinsky († 05/12/1928, commemorated April 29); prmch. Optinsky († 07/08/1931, commemorated on June 25); prmch. Isaac II (Bobrikov) Optinsky († January 8, 1938, commemorated on December 26) - glorified on July 26, 1996 with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, Holy Archim. Optina Hermitage, under the governor archim. Venedikte (Penkovo). 74) St. , Met. Kiev and Galitsky († 31.12.1646), glorified on 6.12.1996 by the decision of the Synod of the UOC. 75-79) Prmch. Joseph (Gavrilov), Anthony, hieromon., Raifsky, Kazansky; prmch. Varlaam (Pokhilyuk), hieromon., Raifsky, Kazan; prmch. Job (Protopopov), hieromon., Raifsky, Kazan; prmch. Peter novice, Raifsky, Kazansky - † 04/07/1930, memorial. Jan 14; 80) prmch. Sergiy (Guskov), hieromon., Raifsky, Kazan (+ 10.08.1930, commemoration of 14 January) - glorified on 6.04.1997 by the definition of Archbishop. Kazan and Tatarstan Anastasia (Metkina)... 81-88) Schmch. Porfiry (Gulevich), ep. Simferopol and Crimean († December 2, 1937, commemorated November 19); sshmch. Nikolay, prot., Crimean(† 02/14/1938, commemorated Nov. 19); sshmch. Dimitri (Kiranov), prot., Krymsky († 4.01.1938, commemorated 19 November); prmch. Bartholomew hieromon., Crimean Vladimir priest, Crimean(† 02/10/1938, commemorated Nov. 19); sshmch. John Blumovich, Priest, Crimean († 04/13/1938, commemorated Nov. 19); sshmch. Timofey (Izotov), Priest, Crimean († 02/15/1938, commemorated Nov. 19); prmch. Anthony (Korzh), hierod., Crimean († 03/14/1938, commemorated Nov. 19) - glorified by the decision of the Synod of the UOC on 06/11/1997, the celebration of glorification took place on 06/29/1997, the week of all the saints who shone in the Russian land. 89) Venerable , Kazan, Pskov († 24.09.1915), glorified on 30.07.1997 by the definition of Archbishop. Kazansky and Tatarstan Anastasia (Metkina). 90) Venerable Matthew (Shvetsov) Yaransky(† 05/29/1927, commemorated on May 16) - glorified on 11/23/1997 in the city of Yaransk, Archbishop. Vyatsky and Slobodsky Khrisanf (Chepel). 91-92) Schmch. , ep. Semirechensky and Vernensky (+ 16.09.1918, commemoration of 3 Sept.); St. , Elder Karaganda († 04/19/1966, memorial on April 6, uncovering of relics on 10/22/1997), - glorified in 1997 by the definition of Archbishop. Almaty and Semipalatinsky Alexy (Kutepova). 93-95) Schmch. , Met. Kherson and Odessa († 23.01.1938, commemorated January 10); sshmch. Vasily (Zelentsov), ep. Prilutsky († 02/09/1930, commemorated January 27); St. , Archbishop Kherson and Tauride (+ 25.05.1857), - glorified in 1997 by the decision of the Synod of the UOC. 96) Schmch. Germogen (Dolganev), ep. Tobolsk and Siberian († 29.06.1918, commemorated on June 16), glorified on 23.06.1998 bishop. Tobolsk and Tyumen Dimitriy (Kapalin)... 97-105) Schmch. Feofan (Ilminsky), ep. Solikamsk, and three holy martyrs and five lay martyrs who suffered with him (+ 11.12.1918, commemorated on November 28); 106-132) prmch. Varlaam, archim., prmch. Sergius, hierom., Prmch. Or me, hierom., prmch. Vyacheslav, hierom., prmch. Joasaph, hierom., prmch. John, hierom., prmch. Anthony (Arapov), hierom., prmch. Micah, hierod., prmch. Vissarion, hierod., prmch. Matthew, hierod., prmch. Evfimy (Korotkov), hierod., prmch. Barnabas, monk, prmch. Demetrius, monk, prmch. Savva, monk, prmch. Hermogen, monk, prmch. Arkady, monk, prmch. Evfimy (Sharshilov), monk, prmch. Markell, monk, prmch. John, novice, prmch. Jacob, novice, prmch. Peter, novice, prmch. Jacob is different, novice, prmch. Alexander, novice, prmch. Theodore, novice, prmch. Peter is different, novice, prmch. Sergius, novice, prmch. Alexey Korotkov, novice,- Belogorsk(† 25.08.1918, commemoration 12 Aug.) - glorified on 2.07.1998 Archbishop. Perm and Solikamsk Afanasy (Kudyuk)... 133-135) St. Ignatius (Khozadinov), Met. Gotfeysky and Kifalsky, Mariupol († 1786, commemoration of January 29 and February 3); Hieromartyrs of Cherkassk(XX century, commemorated on May 13); sshmch. Sergiy (Zverev), Archbishop Eletsky, Melitopol († 20.11.1937, memorial November 7; the celebration of glorification took place on 20.09.1999 in Melitopol), - glorified in 1998 by the decision of the Synod of the UOC. 136) St. Anthony (Medvedev), archim. TSL, Radonezh (+ 05/12/1877) glorified on 10/16/1998 with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, Holy Archim. TSL, under the governor archim. Feognoste (Guzikove), the celebration of glorification was led by His Holiness the Patriarch. 137) ssmch. Sylvester (Olshevsky), Archbishop Omsk and Pavlodar (+ 26.02.1920, monument. 13 Feb.), Metropolitan. Omsk and Tarsk Theodosius (Protsyuk) 11/29/1998; 138) ssmch. , Archbishop Perm and Solikamsk († 20.06.1918, commemorated on June 7) glorified on 11.01.1999 bishop. Perm and Solikamsk Afanasy (Kudyuk). 139) Venerable Leonty (Stasevich), isp., Ivanovsky, Mikhailovsky († 02/09/1972, commemorated on January 27) glorified 02/09/1999 Archbishop. Ivanovsky and Kineshemsky Ambrose (Shchurov). 140-143) Venerable Alexy Goloseevsky, Kievsky († 03/11/1917); blzh. Paisiy (Yarotsky), For Christ's sake, holy fool, Kiev-Pechersk († 04/17/1893); St. Dositheus, recluse Kievskaya(† 09/25/1776); blzh. Theophilus (Gorenkovsky), For Christ's sake the holy fool, Kitaevsky, Kievsky (+ 28.10. 1853 or 1852), were glorified in 1999 by the decision of the Synod of the UOC. 144) Blg. Matrona Belyakova, For Christ's sake, the holy fool, Anemnyasevskaya, Kasimovskaya († 07/29/1936, commemorated on July 16), glorified on 04/22/1999 Archbishop. Ryazansky and Kasimovsky Simon. 145) Right. Matrona Nikonova, For Christ's sake, the holy fool, Danilovskaya, Moscow (+ 2.05.1952, memorial April 19), glorified on 2.05.1999 by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. 146) , Archbishop Vereisky († 28.12.1929, commemorated on December 15, April 27), glorified on 05.10.1999 by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. 147) Right. Pavel Pavlovich Taganrog († 03/10/1879) glorified 06/20/1999 Archbishop. Rostov and Novocherkassk Panteleimon (Dolganov). 148) Venerable († 19.02.1791) was glorified on 11.07.1997 as a locally revered saint of the Tambov land, Archbishop. Tambov and Michurinsky Evgeny (Zhdan), the celebrations took place in Saransk. 149) Right. Vasily Gryaznov Pavlovo Posad († 16.02.1869) glorified on 7.08.1999 by Met. Krutitsky and Kolomensky Yuvenaly. 150) Venerable Elena (Girls), abbot. Smolensk Novodevichy monastery, Moscow (+ 18.11.1547), glorified (restored church veneration) 10.08.1999 by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia and Met. Krutitsky Juvenal. 151-157) Schmch. Grigory Roevsky, prot. († 09/29/1937, commemoration of 16 Sept.); sshmch. Dimitri Benevolensky, prot. († November 27, 1937, commemorated November 14); sshmch. , Alexy Benemansky, prot. († December 5, 1937, commemorated November 22); sshmch. Nikolay Dmitrov, prot. († 03/08/1938, commemorated February 23); sshmch. Vladimir Moshansky, prot. († September 7, 1938, commemorated August 25), - Tver; St. Sergius (Srebryansky, in the world of Fr. Mitrofan), archim., Moscow, Tverskoy, confessor (+ 5.04.1948, commemorated on March 23), - glorified on September 18-19, 1999 in the city of Vyshny Volochek, archbishop. Tverskoy and Kashinsky Victor (Oleinik); 158-180) schmch. Vladimir Hirasko, prot. († 1932); sshmch. Vladimir Izmailov, prot. († 1930); sshmch. Peter Grudinsky, priest († 1930) sshmch. Valerian Novitsky, priest († 1930) sshmch. Vladimir Khrishchanovich, priest († 1933) sshmch. John Vecherko, priest († 1933) sshmch. Sergiy Rodakovsky, prot. († 1933); sshmch. Vladimir Talyush, priest († 1933) sshmch. Mikhail Novitsky, prot. († 1935); sshmch. Porfiry Rubanovich, prot. († 1937); sshmch. Mikhail Plyshevsky, prot. († 1937); sshmch. Dimitri Pavsky, prot. († 1937); sshmch. John the Voronets, prot. († 1937); sshmch. Leonid Biryukovich, prot. († 1937); sshmch. Alexander Shalai, prot. († 1937); sshmch. Nikolay Matskevich, Priest († 1937) sshmch. John Pankratovich, Priest († 1937) sshmch. Nikolay Vasyukovich, deac. († 1937); sshmch. Vladimir Zubkovich, prot. († 1938); sshmch. Vladimir Pasternatsky, prot. († 1938); sshmch. Dimitri Klyshevsky, priest († 1938) prmch. Seraphim (Shakhmut), archim. († 1945); sshmch. Matthew Kritsuk, prot. († 1950), - New Martyrs Minsk, Belorussian (commemorated on October 15), glorified on 10/28/1999 by the Synod of the Belarusian Exarchate. 181-182) Schmch. Mikhail Pyataev, priest; sshmch. John Kuminov, priest († 28.02.1930, commemoration of 15 February), - Metr. Omsk and Tarsk Theodosius (Protsyuk) 11/29/1999.
Carrying out a study of general issues of canonization, the Commission published a historical and theological essay "Towards the canonization of the new martyrs of Russia" (Moscow, 1991), developed the themes "On the procedure for the canonization of locally venerated saints in the Russian Orthodox Church at the diocesan level" (IB DECR MP. 1993, October 27 No. 20. P. 1), "Historical and canonical criteria in the question of the canonization of the new martyrs of the Russian Church in connection with the church divisions of the 20th century." (Ibid. 1996. 24 Jan. No. 1. P. 4. Session of the Synod of 26.12.1995). The need to restore a unified canonical practice of glorifying locally revered saints is caused, firstly, by the shortcomings of establishing cathedral memorials, and secondly, by the fact that in dioceses, according to the decision of the Bishops' Council, which took place on 03.31–4.04.1992, and the definition of Sacred. Synod of 25.03.1991, diocesan commissions began to be created, which were supposed to collect materials about the life and exploits of both locally revered saints and martyrs and confessors of the faith of the 20th century. The issues of canonization of locally venerated saints were discussed at meetings of Sacred. Synod 22.02, 25.03 and 1.10.1993. At the meeting on October 1. Sacred The Synod determined: “The Diocesan Commission collects information about the life, exploits, miracles and veneration among the people ... of the ascetic. His life and the text of the deed about his canonization are compiled, his icon is written. Liturgical texts are compiled and submitted to the Synodal Liturgical Commission for consideration. Then these materials are sent to the Synodal Commission for Canonization. After consideration by the Synodal Commission of the materials sent by the diocesan bishop, if there are sufficient grounds for canonization, His Holiness the Patriarch blesses the local venerated ascetic of the faith to be canonized and venerated within this diocese, which is communicated to the interested diocesan authorities. The canonization of a locally venerated saint is carried out by the diocesan bishop in accordance with the procedure established in the Russian Orthodox Church. The names of the glorified locally venerated saints are not included in the general church calendar, and the service to them is not printed in general church service books, but is published in a separate local edition. In order to avoid spontaneity in the canonization of locally venerated ascetics who previously entered the conciliar memory, but were not canonized by a resolution of the Local or Bishops' Council, the issue of their canonization should be resolved in the same manner. If the veneration of a local saint goes beyond the boundaries of a given diocese, then the question of his general church canonization is submitted to the judgment of the Most Holy Patriarch and the Holy Synod after being examined by the Synodal Commission. The final decision on general church veneration belongs to the Local or Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. Between sessions of such Councils, the issue may be decided at an enlarged session of the Holy Synod, taking into account the opinion of the entire episcopate of the Russian Orthodox Church. It is these principles that should determine the activities of diocesan canonization commissions in matters of canonization of locally venerated saints ”(Ibid. 1993. No. 20. Oct. 27, p. 1). In addition to this definition, it is necessary to bear in mind the answers of the Commission for Canonization to a number of questions related to the local veneration of saints, which were posed by Bishop. Vladimirsky and Suzdal Eulogius, in particular: "When there is a troparion and a kontakion for a locally revered ascetic, compiled in the past, what should be done - a requiem or a prayer service, especially on the day of his memory?" then it is necessary to investigate whether these troparion and kontakion are a trace of the established local veneration of him as a saint in the past. If it is impossible to be convinced of this, then he should perform memorial services without using the available troparion and kontakion ”(Ibid. No. 5. March 15, p. 4.). So, to the end. 1993 The Canonization Commission restored the procedure for the canonization of local saints of the 11th – 17th centuries, adopted by the Local Council of 1917–1918. However, it is necessary to make some additions to these provisions, which can be considered as one of the directions of the nearest works on canonization.
Russian mesyaslov, according to ancient practice and the definition of the Council of 1917-1918, should have two sections: 1) saints generally venerated by the Church, 2) saints venerated locally. In order to cite the current month of the "Orthodox church calendar»In the correct form, it is necessary: ​​1) in the existing month to separate the saints generally venerated by the Church from the locally venerated. 2) The section on locally venerated saints shall be supplemented with the names of those concerning whom hagiological studies have revealed traces of their local veneration as saints established in the past. For the most part, this work has already been carried out in the compilation of the NCC month's word. T. 3) In the section of locally venerated saints, include the names of those who were canonized in the period after 1917 in accordance with the criteria established by the Council of 1917-1918. and confirmed by the definition of Holy. Synod of October 1, 1993 (the clause of the determination that the names of locally venerated saints are not included in the month should be amended over time in accordance with the council determination of 1918). These are the main results, trends and problems of the canonization of saints in the ROC that have arisen over its 1000-year history.

8. Unity and graceful succession of Holy Russia

Science in the 19th century researched hagiographic monuments mainly as a historical source, as monuments of ancient Russian writing and liturgy. In the XX century. hagiographic monuments began to be studied also as sources for hagiology. The experience of a systematic presentation of hagiology is an unpublished work of Bp. "Fundamentals of the Art of Holiness" (written in the 20s of the XX century, ed: N. Novg., 1996-1998. 4 v.). The experience of the historical presentation of hagiology was first proposed by priest. Sergius Mansurov in "Sketches from the history of the Church" (written in the 20s. XX century, publ .: BT. 1971-1972. Sat. 6-7; Moscow, 1994p). Unfortunately, external circumstances for 70 years excluded the possibility of further development of Russian hagiology in the indicated directions. At the same time, a number of studies were published abroad in which attempts were made to comprehend Russian holiness as a historical and integral phenomenon: Talberg N. D. Holy Russia (P., 1929. M., 1992); Saints of Ancient Russia (P., 1931. M., 1990); Spassky F.G. Russian liturgical creativity (according to the modern Menaea) (P., 1951); John (Kologrivov), hierom... Essays on the History of Russian Holiness (Brussels, 1961). These books, addressed not so much to specialists in hagiology as to the general reader, were the discovery of a whole world of holiness, especially for those who still stood at the walls of the church. But at the same time, foreign authors, especially G.P. Fedotov, created a kind of myth about the "leak", the "tragedy" of Russian holiness (Saints of Ancient Russia. Pp. 196-197). This opinion was indirectly supported by the fact that the monuments of hagiography, as a rule, were studied by Soviet science only until the 18th century. Fedotov's conclusions are due, firstly, to an uncritical approach to the data of E.E. Golubinsky, and secondly, to an erroneous methodology. Even if the information given in the book about the canonization of E. E. Golubinsky would have been corrected and supplemented, the list of canonized saints venerated both church-wide and locally does not exhaust Russian holiness. A complete (as far as possible) idea of ​​Holy Russia can be provided by two types of information: 1) a list of saints canonized for general church and local veneration, 2) a list of uncanonized ascetics of piety, including new martyrs (with this approach, the names of saints mistakenly excluded from the first list , should still be included in the second list). The information included in the general list "Holy Russia" was first presented in the appendix to the publication: Macarius... Book. 1-9. The uncanonized devotees of piety, new martyrs and confessors, included in the list of "Holy Russia", became famous for their godly life, peaceful Christian death in God or martyrdom for faith in Christ, blessed phenomena and, as a result, were revered by the believing people, their names were entered into various hagiographic monuments. and they are the “closest candidates” for local and church-wide canonizations. The act of canonization, which is undoubtedly necessary for the canonical structure of the Church and the stability of the liturgical rule, becomes conditional if we want to investigate holiness as an integral phenomenon and goal of church life.
Let's try to analyze the main directions in the history of Russian holiness on the basis of the above list of "Holy Russia". Note that information about uncanonized devotees of piety, and even more so about uncanonized new martyrs and confessors, of course, cannot be considered completely statistically accurate. The possibilities of the statistical method in the study of Russian holiness are generally limited for a number of reasons: 1) the characteristic properties of holiness do not lend themselves well to statistical accounting; 2) the number of saints and devotees of piety is not directly dependent on the size of the population, however, the growth of population cannot be ignored when comparing quantitative indicators; 3) different centuries have different source study bases and the degree of study, XIX and XX centuries. in this respect stand out sharply by the wealth of sources. Therefore, without absolutizing specific numbers, we use the statistical method, first, to refute the conclusions; secondly, to identify not quantitative characteristics, but the main directions in the history of Russian holiness. In the XI-XVII centuries. the number of canonized saints tended to increase (11th century - 61; 17th century - 149). In the XVIII century. the number of canonized saints falls sharply - 13. But if we compare the total number of canonized saints together with uncanonized devotees of piety for the 11th-18th centuries, then they are quite comparable: 11th century - 77, XII - 93, XIII - 167, XIV - 126, XV - 179, XVI - 205, XVII - 245, XVIII century - 147. Decrease in the number of God's saints in the XVIII century. obvious, but it is not significant enough to speak of the "mortification of Russian life" and the end of "holy history." The 18th century in the history of Holy Russia is characterized not so much by a "decrease" in holiness, but by the fact that after 1721 the number of canonizations sharply decreased (only 2) and decanonizations began (there were, of course, much more than 8 of them), which does not indicate the end Holy Russia, but that the Church did not have the opportunity to either canonize the saints, or to protect her saints, already canonized. In the XIX century. the total number of the saints of God increased sharply - 927 (together with 221 unnamed Chinese martyrs). Of these, 254 (33 + 221) canonized, 896 uncanonized. (hagiological research began quite recently) this trend continues: the total number of the saints of God - 1460, canonized - 129, including for the local celebration - 113, and for the general church - 16. Another trend is revealed when analyzing the total number of canonized and uncanonized saints of God - an increase in the number of holy wives: XI century. - 2 (1 canonized + 1 not canonized), XII - 3 (1 + 2), XIII - 18 (15 + 3), XIV - 11 (7 + 4), XV - 8 (7 + 1), XVI - 8 (4 + 4), XVII - 13 (4 + 9), XVIII - 21 (all are not canonized), XIX - 241 (2 + 239), XX century - 110 (5 + 105). As we can see, despite the sharp decrease in the number of canonizations in the 18th – 19th centuries, one cannot speak of the belittling of holiness in the Russian Church, as evidenced by the significant number of ascetics of piety who pursued asceticism during this period. Their canonization, along with the glorification of the new martyrs who suffered from the godless power, is actively carried out at the end. XX century.
Lit .: Lives of saints and devotees of piety, collected in the order of the annual circle: ZhSv; Muravyov A. N... Lives of the saints of the Russian Church, also Iberian, and Slavic, and locally revered ascetics of piety. SPb., 1855-1868. T. 1-18; Filaret, Archbishop RSv; [Nikodim (Kononov), bishop] Biographies of Russian devotees of piety in the 18th and 19th centuries. M., 1906-1910. September-August; M., 1912. Book. additional: September-August.
Ref. ed .: A historical dictionary about the saints glorified in the Russian Church, and about some ascetics of piety, locally revered. M., 1836, 18622, 1990r; V... The book, verb Description of the Russian saints, where and in which city or region or mon-re or desert live and perform miracles of every order of saints. M., 1887, 1995r; , archbishop... Full of Months of the East. M., 1876. Vladimir, 19012; Barsukov N.P. Sources of Russian hagiography. SPb., 1882. Lpz., 1970r; , archim... Holy Russia or information about all the saints and ascetics of piety in Russia (up to the 18th century), generally and locally revered, set out in tables, with a map of Russia and a plan of the Kiev caves: Ref. book in Russian hagiography. SPb., 1891; Dimitri (Sambikin), Archbishop. Months of saints, by the entire Russian Church or locally revered, and an index of festivities in honor of the icons of the Mother of God and the saints of God in our fatherland. Kamenets-Podolsk, 1892-1895. Issue 1–4: September-December; Tver, 1897-19022. Issue 5-12: January-August; Polish; Vladyshevskaya I. V., Sorokina V. L. Russian saints, devotees of piety and hagiographers: Dictionary-decree. M., 1992; Ascetics of piety of the XX century. M., 1994. T. 1; Russia will be purified by their sufferings. M., 1996; Those who suffered for Christ. Book. 1; Overcoming Fear with Love: Biographies of the New Martyrs of Russia. Fryazino, 1998; Patericon of the newly canonized saints // Alpha and Omega. 1998. No. 1 (15). S. 201–246; No. 2 (16). S. 195-223; No. 4 (18). S. 189–205; 1999. No. 1 (19). S. 182-192; No. 2 (20). S. 219-226; Canonization of Saints in the 20th Century / Komis. Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church for the canonization of saints. M., 1999.
Sci. issled. generalizing nature: Klyuchevsky V.O. Old Russian Lives of Saints as a Historical Source. M., 1871, 1988r; Lives of the saints of the Northern Russian ascetics of the Pomeranian Territory as a historical source. Kaz., 1881; Vasiliev V... Essays on the history of the canonization of Russian saints. M., 1893; E. The history of the canonization of saints in the Russian Church. M., 19032, 1998r; A. Essays on the history of ancient Russian literature, the lives of saints. Warsaw, 1902; I. Kovalevsky, priest. Foolishness about Christ and Christ for the sake of the holy fools of the Eastern and Russian Church: Ist. essay and lives of these devotees of piety. M., 1902; Nikodim (Kononov), archim. On the question of the canonization of saints in the Russian Church. M., 1903; Serebryansky N. Old Russian princely lives. M., 1915.
Patericons (in alphabetical order of localities): Altai. Makarova-Mirskaya A. Altai Apostles: Sat. stories from the life of Altai missionaries. H., 1914. M., 1997r.
Arkhangelsk. Nikodim (Kononov), archim... Arkhangelsk Patericon: East. essays on the life and exploits of Rus. saints and some. blessed men who labored ascetic within the Arkhangelsk diocese. SPb., 1901; he is... The most ancient Archangel saints and historical information about their church veneration. SPb., 1901.
Athos. Azaria, mon... Athonite Patericon, or Biographies of the Saints Who Shone in the Holy Mount Athos. SPb., 1860. M., 18977, 1994r.
Balaam. Valaam monastery and its devotees. SPb., 1864, 19033; Janson M. Elders of Valaam. M., 1994; Iuvian (Krasnoperov), mon... Valaam chronicler. M., 1995; Cathedral of Valaam Saints. SPb., 1999.
Vladimir. Dobrokhotov V. Monuments of antiquity in Vladimir-Klyazemsky. M., 1849; Joasaph, hierom... Church-historical description of the Vladimir monuments. Vladimir, 1857; he is... Brief information about the holy saints of God and locally revered ascetics of piety, whose holy relics rest in the churches of the Vladimir diocese. Vladimir, 1860.
Vologda. , ep. Topographic list of the holy Vologda miracle workers with the designation of their place of residence or the location of their holy relics // Vologod. EB. 1864. Arr. No. 1; nine; Mordvinov V... Lives of the Holy Saints of God, Resting within the Vologda Diocese. M., 1879; John (Veruzhsky), hierom... Historical legends about the life of the saints who asceticised in the Vologda diocese, glorified by the whole Church and locally venerated. Vologda, 1880. M., p; Konoplev N. Saints of the Vologda Territory. M., 1895.
Volyn. F., priest. Essays from the history of the Orthodox Church and ancient piety in Volyn, set out in the biographies of the holy saints of Volyn and other Orthodox saints who took the closest part in the historical fate of the Volyn land. Zhitomir, 1878; he is. Orthodoxy in the west of Russia in its closest representatives, or Paterik Volyno-Pochaevsky. M., 1888.
Glinskaya desert. , schema... Glinskaya desert. M., 1992; he is. Glinsky patericon. M., 1997.
Georgia. Ioseliani P. Biographies of Saints Glorified by the Georgian Orthodox Church. Tiflis, 1850; Sabinin M., priest Complete biography of the saints of the Georgian Church. SPb., 1871-1873.
Zadonsk, Yelets. Zadonsk and Elets ascetics. B. m., B. G.
Ivanovo. Damascene. Book. 2.
Kazan. Zhuravsky A. Biography of the new Kazan martyrs. The year is 1918. M., 1996; New Martyrs of Raif / Ed. Kazan. diocese. M., 1997.
Kazakhstan. [Queen V.] Cross on a red cliff. M., 1996.
Kiev. Kiev-Pechersk Paterik, or Legends about the life and exploits of the saints of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. K., 19033; ed. Archeogr. commission. SPb., 1911; Samuel (Mislavsky), Metr... A brief historical description of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. K., 1795, 18175; , Met. Description of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra with the addition of various letters and extracts explaining it, as well as plans of the Lavra and both caves. K., 1826, 18473; Brief legends about the life and exploits of the holy fathers of the Far Caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. K., 1906.
Kostroma. Saints of God and Kostroma Ascetics: Their Life, Deeds, Death and Miracles. Kostroma, 1879.
Crimea. Strukov D. Lives of the saints of Tauride (Crimean) miracle workers. M., 1878; Donenko N., prot. Enduring to the end: Priests of the Crimean Diocese of the 30s. Simferopol, 1997.
Kursk. Kursk patericon. Kursk, 1911. Issue. 1.
Moscow. About the saints of God, the Moscow miracle workers. M., 1879; Poselyanin E. Moscow patericon. M., 1912; Joseph (Shaposhnikov), hierom... Moscow patericon. M., 1991; Damascene. Book. 2; , protode... Moscow clergy on the eve and beginning of the persecution, 1917-1922. M., 1999; he is... Professors of the Moscow Theological Academy in the networks of the GULAG and the Cheka. M., 1999; he is. Academic stratilates. M., 1999.
Moore. The first Murom collection. Moore, 1993.
Nizhny Novgorod. Damascene... Book. 1.
Novgorod. The historical description of the Novgorod shrine, contained in the St. Sophia Cathedral, in churches and nearby monasteries, with a short legend about the holy miracle workers, ancient icons and memorable things stored in the sacristy of the Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral. SPb., 1847; Makariy (Mirolyubov), archim... Archaeological description of church antiquities in Novgorod and its environs. M., 1860; , priest Historical information about the holy saints of God, who openly and secretly repose in the St. Sophia Cathedral, Novgorod churches and surrounding monasteries, and about the ancient holy icons glorified by miracles. Novgorod, 1861; Tolstoy M.V. Novgorod month. M., 1862; Krasnyansky G., priest. Months (saints) of Novgorod saints of God, openly and secretly resting in cathedrals, churches, chapels and monasteries not only in Novgorod, its immediate environs, but also in the entire Novgorod diocese with historical, chronological and geographical information about the places of their repose and an index of miraculous saints icons. Novgorod, 1876; Concordin An., Priest. Lives of the saints, the saints of God, resting in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod. Novgorod, 19022.
Oonezhie. [Barsov E. V.] Monks of the Obonezh desert-dwellers. Petrozavodsk, 1868.
Olonets. Dokuchaev-Baskov K. Ascetics and monasteries of the Far North // KhCh. 1885-1891; Nikodim (Kononov), archim... Olonets paterik, or Legends about the life, exploits and miracles of the monks and God-bearing father of our enlighteners and miracle workers of Olonets. Petrozavodsk, 1910.
Optina Hermitage. Optina Pustyn and her time. Jord., 1970. Serg. P., 1995r; Flowers of Optina Desert. M., 1995; Optina Golgotha: To the Murder of Monks on Holy Easter. M., 1996; Akathist to the venerable father and to the elders who shone forth in Optina. M., 1996; Reverend Optina Elders: Lives and Instructions / Ed. Vvedenskaya Optina Pustyn. [M.], 1998.
Orenburg. Stremsky N.E., priest... Martyrs and confessors of the Orenburg diocese of the XX century. Book. 1. Saraktash, 1998.
Song. Rudnev V., prot. The Pesnoshsky flower garden: Ascetics of piety in the Nikolaevsky Pesnoshsky monastery. M., 1898, 1997p.
Pereslavl. Svirelin A., prot. Lives of the saints of Pereslavl miracle workers. Vladimir, 1889.
Permian. Damascene. Book. 2.
Baltic and northwest. Golikov A., priest, Fomin S. Whitewashed by Blood: Martyrs and Confessors of the North-West of Russia and the Baltic States, 1940-1955: Martyrology of Orthodox priests and clergymen of Latvia, repressed in 1940-1955. M., 1999.
Pskov. A chronological list of the Pskov saints of God, revered since ancient times in Pskov, of which some are included in the Russian Church and in the Church Months, other monuments. is happening only in churches, with their tombs, and others are inscribed only in the Pskov church synodikas // Eugene (Bolkhovitinov), Met. The history of the principality of Pskov. K., 1831. Part 3, pp. 74–81.
Pskov-Pechersky Monastery. Malkov Yu. G. Chronicle of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery. M., 1993; In the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery: Memoirs of Inhabitants. M., 1998; Near the "caves made by God": Pskov-Pechersk ascetics of piety of the XX century / Comp. Malkov Yu.G., Malkov P. Yu.M., 1999.
Rostov. Lives of Rostov saints. B. m., 1865.
Sarov. Abel (Vdovin), hierom... The common Sarov desert and the memorable monks who labored in it. M., 1853, 18844, 1996r.
Samara. The ascetics of the Samara land. Samara, 1995.
Siberia. Putintsev M., prot. Legends about some Siberian devotees of piety. M., 1900; Lives of Siberian Saints: Siberian Patericon. Novosib., 1999.
Simbirsk. Simbirsk Golgotha ​​/ Comp. priest V. Dmitriev. M., 1997.
Smolensk. Historical and statistical description of the Smolensk diocese. SPb., 1864.
Solovki. Solovetsky Paterik. SPb., 1873, 19144. M., 1991r; Nikodim (Kononov), hierom. A faithful and concise calculation, as it was possible to collect the monks Father of Solovetsky, who shone forth in fasting and virtuous deeds, which are known from descriptions, and historical information about their church veneration: Agiol. essays. SPb., 1900.
Suzdal. Fedorov A., prot... Historical collection about the God-saved city of Suzhdal // VOIDR. 1855. Book. 22, p. 117.
Tver. [Dmitry (Sambikin), archbishop]. Tver Patericon: Cr. information about Tver locally revered saints. Kaz., 1907.
Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Tolstoy M.V. Patericon of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. M., 1892; [, archim.]... Trinity Patericon. Serg. P., 1896, 1992r; , protode... Trinity-Sergius Lavra over the past hundred years. M., 1998.
Kharkov. Nicodemus (Rusnak), Met. Collection of services and akathists. H., 1996.
Shuya. Milovsky N. The uncanonized holy cities of Shuya. M., 1893.
Yaroslavl. Yaroslavsky K., priest. The list of the saints of God and other persons who labored within the Yaroslavl diocese and are mentioned in various printed and handwritten saints and historical indexes // Yarosl. EB. 1887. No. 20, 22, 23; Tolstoy M.V. Biographies of the saints of God who lived within the current Yaroslavl diocese. Yaroslavl, 1885, 19052; Tolstoy M.V. Lives of the Saints of the Yaroslavl Diocese. Yaroslavl, 1905; Yaroslavl Patericon, or the Lives of the Saints of God Who Fought in the Present Yaroslavl Diocese. Yaroslavl, 1912; Yaroslavl saints of God. Yaroslavl, 1991. [Bibliography. by dep. saints will be given at the end of the dictionary entries of the alphabetical volumes.]

At first no execution of the royal seven did not have, as evidenced by many facts described in the articles: There was no execution of the royal family. The royal family was not shot!

The whole truth about the canonization of Nicholas II

Why was Nicholas II canonized? This canonization seems strange to many people. I think that it is necessary to dot all the i's and highlight all the most important issues related to Nicholas II and his canonization. And these questions are important, and every person for whom the history of Russia is important should know about it.

These important questions are as follows.

1. Was there a death of Nicholas II martyr death for Christ? A martyr's death, accepted by him because he confessed Christianity, confessed Christ?

No. Nicholas II was shot not for his religious beliefs, but for his past political activities - this is a historical fact.

And actually at that moment there was a Civil War, and people mass death for their political views from all sides participating in the war (and not only Red and White). But for this reason all of them were not numbered among the Saints, they were not considered martyrs.

They did not demanded renunciation of their religious views from Nicholas II, they did not carry out any torture (for this purpose or with any other). And he lived with his family after the arrest (which, by the way, was not carried out by the Bolsheviks, but just the future leaders of the whites - General Alekseev arrested the king, general Kornilov- the queen) not in a prison, but in a private house. That is, the conditions of the tsar's detention in custody were very mild, incomparably softer than other prisoners, both from the Reds and from the Whites.

On the day of the execution of Nicholas II, together with his family, they were simply forced to go down to the basement of the house, the verdict was read out there and they were shot. Everything. In general, after the arrest, the tsar lived with his family in a large merchant's house, and then died from a bullet. This was considered "martyrdom."

And the fact that before that hundreds of thousands of people were killed by bullets for the tsar and the Christ-loving fatherland during the First World War in much more difficult and painful circumstances, was not a circumstance for all of them to be ranked as holy martyrs. Snout, you see, they did not come out, not of royal blood.

So the first historical fact that you need to know about: the death of Nikolai Romanov was not a death for Christ and was not a martyr's.

By the way, about renunciation. This raises a second, also extremely important question.

2. How should the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne be viewed?

The abdication of the anointed king from the throne should be considered as an ecclesiastical canonical crime, similar to the refusal of a representative of the church hierarchy from the priesthood. Quite unambiguously.

Any soldier who left his post without permission, who left the object entrusted to him without protection, without supervision, especially in wartime, especially a strategic important post, is considered a criminal. At all times, in all countries and among all peoples, such a crime is considered extremely serious and very severely punished, almost always the death penalty.

And how to relate to the king, who left the country in the hardest time of war, moreover, not just a king, but To the Supreme Commander-in-Chief? Only as a cowardly coward and a traitor to the homeland. Exactly so: betrayal is, by definition, a violation of loyalty or default on duty. The tsar, having renounced, thereby refused to fulfill his duty to his homeland as tsar and as supreme commander-in-chief. In fact, he renounced Russia, the army and the people.

The people and the army were simply presented with a fait accompli. Therefore, it is the height of cynicism and hypocrisy to assert that the people bear “the grave sin of regicide, prevailing over all the peoples of Russia,” and to demand from the people repentance before the tsar-traitor to the motherland, as the Tsarists demand. This is how the count wrote in his memoirs Ignatiev, who was a participant in the coronation of Nicholas II, and since 1912 was a military attaché in France:

« … The king, who is he now for me? I have only to give up on him, but he gave up on Russia. He broke the oath he took in my presence under the ancient vaults of the Assumption Cathedral at the coronation ceremony.

The florid words of the manifesto justifying the abdication of the throne are not convincing to me. The Russian tsar cannot "renounce".

What a pathetic figure always seemed to me Paul I, but he also found the courage to say at the last minute to his murderers - the Guards officers, who invited him to sign an act of abdication: “You can kill me, but I will die as your emperor,” and it was strangled, and his successor, Alexander I, only thanks to this, could, perhaps, freely access the throne.

Nikolay II, by his renunciation, he himself frees me from the oath given to him, and what a nasty example he sets to all of us, the military! How would we judge a soldier who left the formation, and even in battle? And what can we think about the "first soldier" of the Russian Empire, the commander-in-chief of all land and sea forces, leaving his post, not even thinking about what will become of his army? "

AI Ignatiev "Fifty years in the ranks". Volume 2, Book 4, Chapter 12.

It also follows from the fact of abdication that from March 1917 Nicholas II ceased to be tsar. He became just a citizen Nikolay Romanov... Therefore, when they say: here, de, the Bolsheviks shot the tsar ... But in 1918 there was no tsar in Russia, he was gone already in March 1917 - these are the facts. So the second historical fact that you need to know: by the very fact of his abdication, Nicholas II committed two grave crimes - a canonical crime and a betrayal of the homeland.

But, perhaps, during his reign, Nicholas II was remembered as virtuous and merciful, like a tsar from God, who brought prosperity and prosperity to Russia? Let's talk about that too.

3. What was the reign of Nicholas II? Was he a good king and a real Christian? Was the king remembered as an example of Christian virtues?

It is not worth considering this issue in particular within the framework of this article, since Nicholas II was canonized precisely as a martyr, a passion-bearer. That is, the reason for canonization was not how he ruled(such as, Alexander Nevskiy- there really was something to be canonized for) or how he lived, but how he died. That is, even those who had to canonize him understood that if you take the reign of Nicholas II, then glorify its just not at all. The result of his reign was collapse of the Russian Empire Is a historical fact.

How did it start? From the tragedy on Khodynka. Many hundreds of people died. And the king on the same day went to have fun at the ball at the French embassy. The famine of 1901-1902, combined with brutal exploitation, caused massive peasant uprisings from 1902 to sweep across Russia. The workers also showed more and more dissatisfaction with their disenfranchised position, poverty and barbaric exploitation.

On January 9, 1905, the workers went with a petition to the tsar. The workers who were peacefully walking with their wives and children to the tsar to complain about their difficult and powerless situation were greeted with bullets. Hundreds of people died. And what about the king? The tsar in his speech of January 19 ... forgave those workers who were shot, if not even on his direct order, then with his knowledge and approval. This is certainly not an example of Christian mercy, but rather the height of cynicism, meanness and hypocrisy.

As the Gospel of Matthew says:

Is there a person between you who

When his son asked him for bread, would he give him a stone?

And when he asked for a fish, would he give him a snake?

(Matt. 7.9-10)

So, Nicholas II turned out to be such a person. When the subjects of the king came to him as children to their intercessor father and asked him for protection - bullets were his answer. The people did not forget this and did not forgive, which is natural. The answer was the revolution, which was drowned in blood by the "good father". And then there was also Lena execution, which was taken for granted by the king.

Lena execution

A request for help, including spiritual help Rasputin, Rasputin's influence even on politics and on the appointment of people to high government posts - is this also an example of following the canons of the Russian Orthodox Church? Unlikely. No wonder no saint Patriarch Tikhon nor the holy Metropolitan of Petrograd Benjamin nor the holy metropolitan Krutitsky Peter nor the holy metropolitan Seraphim(Chichagov), nor the holy archbishop Thaddeus nor the holy archbishop Hilarion(Troitsky), nor other hierarchs now glorified by our church, new martyrs, who knew much more and better than we now, the personality of the former tsar - none of them ever expressed their thoughts about him as a holy martyr (and at that time about this still could be declared loudly).

In other words, people who knew Nicholas II, including the ministers of the church, including those who were canonized (which means that the church has no reason not to trust them, but there is every reason to listen to them) did not see there is no holiness.

So the third historical fact is that the life and reign of Nicholas II were such that there was nothing to glorify him for, because they were both mediocre and inglorious.

So why, then, are the admirers of Nicholas II raising such a howl, hi and hysteria around his name, and so insist on his holiness?

4. So who are they, admirers of Nicholas II? Why was Nicholas II actually canonized? What was really behind this canonization?

Now let's move on to the main thing. Why, despite all of the above, Nicholas II was canonized anyway? Moreover, why are the calls for national repentance to him being heard more and more powerfully? Who is behind this? What kind of power? Maybe they are monarchists? Does not look like it. You have seen a lot of communists who, after the collapse of the USSR, still revered Gorbachev, protect him in every possible way? I've never met anyone like that. And you have seen many Christians who worship Judas Iscariot? I have not met.

There were tsars in Russia whose rule was very successful: for example, under Ekaterina II, outstanding military victories were won and the Crimea was liberated, with Alexandre I won an outstanding victory over Napoleon. But they do not rush with them as with a written sack, they do not raise such a fuss and hysteria around them. So a monarchist defending Nicholas II is like a communist defending Gorbachev. Means, it's not about monarchism.

Maybe the fact is that the sin of regicide is so terrible that it is absolutely necessary to repent of it, and to the whole people, otherwise it is impossible? Maybe so?

But let's remember Paul I who was killed, remember Alexandra II, the king who freed the peasants from serfdom, who won the war with the Turks, and who was also killed. Moreover, both Paul I and Alexander II perished by the kings, in the performance of their royal duties. Why are they not so worried about them, do not demand repentance before them and are not canonized? This means that the matter is not in monarchism and not in the sin of regicide. The point is quite different.

The whole point is that these admirers of Nicholas II are really just anti-Soviet, and they do not hide their anti-Sovietism! They need a good reason to blame the Bolsheviks for something else and Soviet power! That's the whole point of canonization!

And now these people are also trying to present the execution of Nikolai Romanov as a ritual murder! At the same time, without having his remains (I mean, the remains of Nikolai Romanov, recognized as such by the church), that is, without having any evidence in order to draw such a conclusion!

And from this the following important conclusions follow.

First, the decision to canonize Nicholas II - a completely politically motivated decision that has political but not religious grounds.

Secondly, it turns out that the church, even in such a purely ecclesiastical issue as the issue of canonization, is guided not by the will of God, but by the wishes of the worldly authorities... And this, in turn, indicates the gracelessness of such a church, which is, in fact, a political organization that uses religion merely as an instrument of class rule.

Thirdly, the very fact that the highest church hierarchs cover up in the name of God only their ambitions and the political wishes of the authorities, indicates that they themselves do not believe in God, otherwise they themselves would have been afraid of the wrath of God for their monstrous deception of millions of people.

And so that people do not think about all this, they could not realize and understand this - it is necessary to plunge the people into the darkness of ignorance... It is for this that all current education reforms, the introduction of the Unified State Exam, etc. are being carried out. This is the co-operation between the government and the church. But this is a topic for another article.

Questions and answers.

1. Here it is logical to pose the following question. Here the king renounced, he and the whole family were arrested. Did the church intercede for its Holy Tsar or what?Precisely "or how."

February 27, 1917(the tsar has not yet renounced!) chief prosecutor N.P. Raev turned to the Holy Synod with a proposal to condemn the revolutionary movement. And what about the Holy Synod? The synod rejected this proposal, motivating the refusal by the fact that it is still unknown where the betrayal comes from - from above or from below.

Like this! During the February Revolution, the church, it turns out, supported not the tsar, but just the revolution! What happened next? And then it was like this.

March 4, 1917 the meeting of the Holy Synod on March 4 was chaired by the Metropolitan of Kiev Vladimir, and the new synodal chief prosecutor, Prince V.N. Lviv announced the granting of the ROC freedom from the tutelage of the state, which, they say, had a destructive effect on church and social life. Synod members expressed sincere joy about the offensive new era in the life of the church.

Like this! The tsar has renounced, a decision has already been made to arrest him, and the higher church hierarchs, instead of interceding for the holy tsar, rejoice, except perhaps they are not jumping from happiness!

5th of March The Synod ordered that in all the churches of the Petrograd diocese the reigning house for many years “ henceforth not proclaimed».

Like this! What kind of veneration there is for the holy king - even for his health he should no longer pray!

6-8 March... The Holy Synod ordered the removal of commemoration from liturgical ranks royal power, about which the first-present member of the Synod, Metropolitan of Kiev Vladimir, on March 6, on his behalf, sent telegrams to all dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church (66 within Russia and 1 to New York) with the order that “prayers should be offered up for the God-protected power of Russia and Provisional government her ".

7-8 March The Synod issued a ruling, according to which the entire Russian clergy was instructed: "in all cases, during services, instead of commemorating the reigning house, offer a prayer" for the God-protected Russian power and Provisional government her ".

Like this! The highest church hierarchs commanded to pray not for the king, but for his persecutors and detractors! And then some of these hierarchs were also recognized as holy new martyrs ...

2. How so? Why were they recognized as saints and Nicholas II and those who rejoiced at his abdication and arrest? How, by some indication, they suddenly ended up in the same host of saints?

Now it is already clear why - anti-Bolshevism and anti-Sovietism! That's what they have in common! Among other things, I already wrote about this in paragraph 4 of this article, and this example is another confirmation of this. Which once again confirms that The ROC is a political organization, religiosity is just a cover. And often, the more anti-communism, the more holiness. And therefore, when the Nazis came, it was often like this:

Never forget this.

Canonization of the traitor to Russia Nicholas II. Open letter to the Patriarch

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REASONS FOR CANONIZING THE ROYAL FAMILY
FROM THE REPORT OF THE METROPOLITAN OF KRUTITSKY AND KOLOMENSKOYE JUVENAL,
CHAIRMAN OF THE SINODAL COMMISSION FOR THE CANONIZATION OF SAINTS

By the decision of the Bishops' Council of March 31 - April 4, 1992, the Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints was instructed "to begin the study of materials related to the martyrdom of the Royal Family in the study of the exploits of the new martyrs of Russia."

The Commission saw the main task in this matter in an objective examination of all the circumstances of the life of members of the Imperial Family in the context of historical events and their ecclesiastical understanding outside the ideological stereotypes that prevailed in our country over the past decades. The commission was guided by pastoral concern so that the canonization of the Royal Family in the host of the new martyrs of Russia would not give rise to reasons and arguments in political struggle or worldly confrontations, but would contribute to the unification of the people of God in faith and piety. We tried to take into account the fact of the canonization of the Royal Family by the Russian Church Abroad in 1981, which caused a far from unambiguous reaction both among the Russian emigration, some representatives of which did not see sufficient convincing grounds in it then, and in Russia itself, not to mention this, the decision of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, which has no historical analogies in the Orthodox Church, as the inclusion of the Roman Catholic Aloysius Yegorovich Troupe and Lutheran Goflektrissa Ekaterina Adolfovna Schneider among the canonized who, together with the Royal Family, accepted the martyrdom of the royal servant of the Roman Catholic.

Already at the first meeting of the Commission after the Council, we began to study the religious, moral and state aspects of the reign of the last Emperor of the Romanov dynasty. The following topics were thoroughly studied: “The Orthodox view of the state activities of Emperor Nicholas II”; "Emperor Nicholas II and the events of 1905 in St. Petersburg"; “On the Church Policy of Emperor Nicholas II”; “The reasons for the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II from the throne and the Orthodox attitude to this act”; “The Tsar's Family and G.E. Rasputin "; "The Last Days of the Royal Family" and "The Attitude of the Church to Passion-Tolerance."

In 1994 and 1997, I acquainted the members of the Councils of Bishops with the results of the study of the above topics. Since that time, no new problems have arisen in the issue under study.

Let me remind you of the Commission's approaches to these key and complex topics, the comprehension of which is necessary for the members of the Bishops' Council when deciding on the canonization of the Royal Family.

The argumentation of the opponents of the canonization of the Royal Family, which is very different in religious and moral content and in the level of scientific competence, can be reduced to a list of specific theses that have already been analyzed in the historical references compiled by the Commission and at your disposal.

One of the main arguments of opponents of the canonization of the Royal Family is the assertion that the death of Emperor Nicholas II and members of his Family cannot be recognized as a martyr's death for Christ. The commission, on the basis of a careful consideration of the circumstances of the death of the Royal Family, proposes to carry out its canonization as a holy martyr. In the liturgical and hagiographic literature of the Russian Orthodox Church, the word "passion-bearer" began to be used in relation to those Russian saints who, imitating Christ, endured physical, moral suffering and death at the hands of political opponents with patience.

In the history of the Russian Church, such passion-bearers were the holy noble princes Boris and Gleb (+1015), Igor of Chernigovsky (+1147), Andrei Bogolyubsky (+1174), Mikhail of Tverskoy (+1319), Tsarevich Dimitri (+1591). All of them, by their feat of passion-bearers, showed a high example of Christian morality and patience.

Opponents of this canonization try to find obstacles to the glorification of Nicholas II in the facts related to his state and church policy.

The Church policy of the Emperor did not go beyond the traditional synodal system of government of the Church. However, it was during the reign of Emperor Nicholas II that the church hierarchy, which had been officially silent on the issue of convening a Council for two centuries, had the opportunity not only to widely discuss, but also practically prepare for the convocation of a Local Council.

The Emperor paid great attention to the needs of the Orthodox Church, generously donated for the construction of new churches, including outside Russia. During the years of his reign, the number of parish churches in Russia increased by more than 10 thousand, more than 250 new monasteries were opened. The emperor personally participated in the laying of new churches and other church celebrations.

Deep religiosity distinguished the Imperial couple among the representatives of the then aristocracy. The upbringing of the children of the Imperial Family was imbued with a religious spirit. All of its members lived in accordance with the traditions of Orthodox piety. Mandatory attendance at services on Sundays and holidays, fasting during fasting was an integral part of their everyday life. The personal religiosity of the Tsar and his wife was not a simple adherence to traditions. The royal couple visit churches and monasteries during their numerous trips, worship miraculous icons and relics of saints, make pilgrimages, as it was in 1903 during the glorification of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov. Short divine services in the court temples did not satisfy the Emperor and Empress. Services are performed especially for them in the Tsarskoye Selo Feodorovsky Cathedral, built in the Old Russian style. Empress Alexandra prayed here in front of a lectern with open liturgical books, closely following the service.

The personal piety of the Tsar was manifested in the fact that during the years of his reign more saints were canonized than in the previous two centuries, when only 5 saints were glorified. During the last reign, Saint Theodosius of Chernigov (1896), Saint Seraphim of Sarov (1903), Saint Princess Anna of Kashinskaya (restoration of veneration in 1909), Saint Joasaph of Belgorod (1911), Saint Hermogenes of Moscow (1913), Saint Pitirim of Tambov (1914), Saint John of Tobolsk (1916). At the same time, the Emperor was forced to show special perseverance, seeking the canonization of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, Saints Joasaph of Belgorod and John of Tobolsk. Nicholas II highly respected the holy righteous father John of Kronstadt. After his blessed death, the tsar ordered a nationwide prayer commemoration of the deceased on the day of his repose.

As a politician and statesman, the Sovereign acted on the basis of his religious and moral principles. One of the most common arguments against the canonization of Emperor Nicholas II is the events of January 9, 1905 in St. Petersburg. In the historical note of the Commission on this issue, we point out: having got acquainted on the evening of January 8 with the content of the Gapon petition, which bore the character of a revolutionary ultimatum, which did not allow entering into constructive negotiations with representatives of the workers, the Tsar ignored this document, illegal in form and undermining the prestige of an already shaken wars of state power. Throughout January 9, 1905, the Tsar did not make a single decision that determined the actions of the authorities in St. Petersburg to suppress mass protests of workers. The order to the troops to open fire was given not by the Emperor, but by the Commander of the St. Petersburg Military District. Historical data do not allow us to detect in the actions of the Sovereign in the days of January 1905 a conscious evil will turned against the people and embodied in specific sinful decisions and actions.

With the outbreak of the First World War, the Tsar regularly travels to Headquarters, visits military units of the active army, dressing points, military hospitals, rear factories, in a word, everything that played a role in the conduct of this war.

From the very beginning of the war, the Empress devoted herself to the wounded. After completing the courses of sisters of mercy together with the eldest daughters - Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana, she took care of the wounded in the Tsarskoye Selo hospital for several hours a day.

The Emperor viewed his tenure as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief as a fulfillment of a moral and state duty to God and the people, however, always presenting leading military specialists with a broad initiative in resolving the entire set of military-strategic and operational-tactical issues.

The assessments of Nicholas II as a statesman are extremely contradictory. Speaking about this, we should never forget that, comprehending state activity from a Christian point of view, we must evaluate not this or that form of state structure, but the place that a particular person occupies in the state mechanism. It is to be assessed to what extent this or that person has managed to embody Christian ideals in his activities. It should be noted that Nicholas II treated the duties of the monarch as his sacred duty.

Typical of some opponents of the canonization of Emperor Nicholas II, the desire to present his abdication from the throne as an ecclesiastical canonical crime, similar to the refusal of a representative of the church hierarchy from holy dignity, cannot be recognized as having any serious grounds. The canonical status of the Orthodox sovereign anointed for the Kingdom was not defined in the church canons. Therefore, attempts to discover the composition of a certain church-canonical crime in the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II from power seem untenable.

As the external factors that gave rise to the Act of Abdication, which took place in the political life of Russia, it is necessary to single out, first of all, a sharp exacerbation of the socio-political situation in Petrograd in February 1917, the inability of the government to control the situation in the capital, which spread to wide strata of society. conviction of the need for strict constitutional restrictions on monarchical power, the urgent demand of the Chairman of the State Duma M.V. Rodzianko of the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II from power in the name of preventing internal political chaos amid the conduct of a large-scale war by Russia, almost unanimous support provided by the highest representatives of the Russian generals to the demand of the Chairman of the State Duma. It should also be noted that the Act of Abdication was adopted by Emperor Nicholas II under the pressure of dramatically changing political circumstances in an extremely short time.

The commission expresses the opinion that the very fact of the abdication of the throne of Emperor Nicholas II, which is directly related to his personal qualities, as a whole, is an expression of the historical situation in Russia at that time.

He made this decision only in the hope that those who wanted him to be removed would still be able to continue the war with honor and would not ruin the cause of saving Russia. He was afraid then that his refusal to sign the abdication would not lead to civil war in view of the enemy. The Tsar did not want even a drop of Russian blood to be shed because of him.

The spiritual motives for which the last Russian Tsar, who did not want to shed the blood of his subjects, decided to renounce the Throne in the name of inner peace in Russia, gives his act a truly moral character. It is no coincidence that during the discussion in July 1918 at the Council of the Local Council of the issue of the funeral commemoration of the murdered Emperor, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon made a decision on the widespread service of requiems with the commemoration of Nicholas II as Emperor.

A very small circle of people could communicate directly with the Emperor in an informal setting. Everyone who knew his family life firsthand noted the amazing simplicity, mutual love and consent of all members of this closely knit family. Its center was Alexei Nikolaevich, all attachments, all hopes were concentrated on him.

The circumstance that darkened the life of the Imperial Family was the incurable illness of the Heir. Attacks of hemophilia, during which the child experienced severe suffering, were repeated several times. In September 1912, as a result of a careless movement, internal bleeding occurred and the situation was so serious that they feared for the life of the Tsarevich. In all churches of Russia, prayers were served for his recovery. The nature of the disease was a state secret, and parents often had to hide their feelings, participating in the usual routine of palace life. The Empress was well aware that medicine was powerless here. But nothing is impossible for God. Deeply religious, she with all her soul indulged in fervent prayer in the hope of a miraculous healing. Sometimes, when the child was healthy, it seemed to her that her prayer had been heard, but the attacks were repeated again, and this filled the mother's soul with endless grief. She was ready to believe anyone who was able to help her grief, to somehow alleviate the suffering of her son.

The disease of the Tsarevich opened the doors to the palace for the peasant Grigory Rasputin, who was destined to play a role in the life of the Royal Family, and in the fate of the whole country. The most significant argument among the opponents of the canonization of the Royal Family is the very fact of their communication with G.E. Rasputin.

The relationship between the Emperor and Rasputin was complicated; disposition to him was combined with caution and doubt. "The Emperor tried several times to get rid of the 'elder', but each time he retreated under the pressure of the Empress because of the need for Rasputin's help to heal the Heir."

In relation to Rasputin, there was an element of human weakness associated with the Empress with a deep experience of the incurability of her son's mortally dangerous illness, and with the Emperor due to the desire to preserve peace in the Family by compassionate compliance with the Empress's maternal torments. However, there is no reason to see in the relations of the Tsar's Family with Rasputin signs of spiritual delight, and even more so insufficient churchliness.

Summing up the study of the state and church activities of the last Russian Emperor, the Commission did not find in this activity alone sufficient grounds for his canonization.

In the life of Emperor Nicholas II, there were two periods of unequal duration and spiritual significance - the time of his reign and the time of imprisonment. The commission carefully studied the last days of the Royal Family associated with the suffering and martyrdom of its members.

Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich often likened his life to the trials of the sufferer Job, on whose church memory he was born. Having accepted his cross just like the biblical righteous man, he endured all the trials sent down to him firmly, meekly and without a shadow of murmur. It is this longsuffering that is revealed with particular clarity in the last days of the Emperor's life. From the moment of abdication, not so much external events as the internal spiritual state of the Sovereign draws our attention to itself.

The sovereign, having made, as it seemed to him, the only correct decision, nevertheless experienced severe mental anguish. “If I am a hindrance to the happiness of Russia and all the social forces now at the head of her ask me to leave the throne and hand it over to my son and brother, then I am ready to do this, I’m ready not only to give up the Kingdom, but also to give my life for the Motherland. I think no one doubts this from those who know me, ”the Tsar said to General D.N. Dubensky.

"Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich, who saw so much betrayal around him ... retained his indestructible faith in God, paternal love for the Russian people, willingness to lay down his life for the honor and glory of the Motherland." On March 8, 1917, the commissars of the Provisional Government, arriving in Mogilev, announced through General M.V. Alekseev on the arrest of the Tsar and the need to proceed to Tsarskoe Selo. For the last time, he turns to his troops, calling on them to be loyal to the Provisional Government, the very one that put him under arrest, to fulfill his duty to the Motherland until complete victory.

Consistently and methodically killing all the members of the Imperial Family who fell into their hands, the Bolsheviks were primarily guided by ideology, and then by political calculation - after all, in the popular consciousness the Emperor continued to remain the Anointed of God, and the entire Royal Family symbolized Russia leaving and Russia being destroyed. On July 21, 1918, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, in his speech during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy in the Moscow Kazan Cathedral, seemed to answer those questions and doubts that the Russian Church will try to comprehend in eight decades: “We know that he (Emperor Nicholas II - M.Yu. .), renouncing the Throne, did it, bearing in mind the good of Russia and out of love for her. "

Most of the witnesses of the last period of the life of the Royal Martyrs speak of the prisoners of the Tobolsk governor and Yekaterinburg Ipatiev houses as people who suffered and, despite all the abuse and insults, led a pious life. In the Imperial Family, trapped in prison, we see people who sincerely strived to embody the commandments of the Gospel in their lives.

The Imperial Family spent a lot of time in soulful reading, primarily of the Holy Scriptures, and in regular - almost unacceptable - attendance at divine services.

Kindness and peace of mind did not leave the Empress in this difficult time. The emperor, naturally withdrawn, felt calm and complacent, above all in a narrow family circle. The Empress did not like socializing, balls. Her strict upbringing was alien to the moral licentiousness that reigned in the court environment, the empress's religiosity was called strangeness, even hypocrisy. In the letters of Alexandra Feodorovna, the whole depth of her religious feelings is revealed - how much strength of spirit they have, grief over the fate of Russia, faith and hope for God's help. And whoever she wrote to, she found words of support and consolation. These letters are real testimonies of the Christian faith.

Consolation and strength in enduring sorrows gave the prisoners spiritual reading, prayer, worship, communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Many times in the letters of the Empress it is said about the spiritual life of her and other members of the Family: “In prayer, consolation: I pity those who find it not fashionable, unnecessary to pray ...” In another letter she writes: “Lord, help those who cannot contain love Of God in hardened hearts that see only everything bad and do not try to understand that all this will pass; it could not be otherwise, the Savior came, showed us an example. Whoever follows His path following love and suffering, understands all the greatness of the Kingdom of Heaven ”.

Together with their parents, the Tsar's children endured all humiliation and suffering with meekness and humility. Archpriest Athanasius Belyaev, who confessed the Tsar's children, wrote: “The impression [from the confession] was the following: God grant that all children should be morally as tall as the children of the former Tsar. Such gentleness, humility, obedience to the parental will, unconditional devotion to the will of God, purity in thoughts and complete ignorance of earthly dirt - passionate and sinful, - he writes, - I was amazed and I was decisively perplexed: should I be reminded as a confessor of sins, perhaps unknown to them, and how to dispose to repentance for the sins known to them ”.

In almost complete isolation from the outside world, surrounded by rude and cruel guards, the prisoners of the Ipatiev House show amazing nobility and clarity of spirit.

Their true greatness stemmed not from their royal dignity, but from that amazing moral height to which they gradually rose.

Together with the Imperial Family, their servants, who followed their masters into exile, were also shot. In connection with the fact that they voluntarily remained with the Royal Family and accepted a martyr's death, it would be legitimate to raise the question of their canonization; to them, in addition to those who were shot together with the Imperial Family by Doctor E.S. Botkin, the room girl of the Empress A.S. Demidova, court chef I.M. Kharitonov and lackey A.E. The troupe belonged to those killed in different places and in different months of 1918, Adjutant General I.L. Tatishchev, knight marshal Prince V.A. Dolgorukov, “uncle” of the Heir to K.G. Nagorny, children's footman I.D. Sednev, maid of honor of the Empress A.V. Gendrikov and goflektrissa E.A. Schneider. It is not possible for the Commission to make a final decision on the existence of grounds for the canonization of this group of laity, who, according to the duty of their court service, accompanied the Tsar's Family during its imprisonment and accepted a violent death. The commission does not have information about a wide nominal prayer commemoration of these laity. In addition, there is little information about the religious life and their personal piety. The commission came to the conclusion that the most appropriate form of honoring the Christian feat of the faithful servants of the Royal Family, who shared its tragic fate, today may be the perpetuation of this feat in the lives of the Royal Martyrs.

The topic of the canonization of Emperor Nicholas II and members of the Royal Family was widely discussed in the 90s in a number of publications in the church and secular press. The overwhelming majority of books and articles by religious authors support the idea of ​​glorifying the Royal Martyrs. A number of publications contain convincing criticism of the arguments of opponents of canonization.

In the name of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, the Holy Synod and the Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints received many appeals with approval of the conclusions made in October 1996 by the Commission for the Canonization of Saints regarding the glorification of the Royal Martyrs.

The Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints also received appeals from the ruling bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, in which, on behalf of the clergy and laity, they expressed approval of the Commission's conclusions.

In some dioceses, the issue of canonization was discussed at diocesan, deanery and parish meetings. They expressed unanimous support for the idea of ​​glorifying the Royal Martyrs. The Commission also received appeals from individual clergy and laity, as well as groups of believers from different dioceses with support for the canonization of the Royal Family. Some of them bear the signatures of several thousand persons. Among the authors of such appeals are Russian emigrants, as well as clergy and laity of the fraternal Orthodox Churches. Many of those who applied to the Commission spoke in favor of an early, urgent canonization of the Royal Martyrs. The idea of ​​the need for the earliest glorification of the Sovereign and the Royal Martyrs was expressed by a number of church and public organizations.

Of particular value are publications and appeals to the Commission and other church authorities, containing testimonies of miracles and gracious help through prayers to the Royal Martyrs. It is about healings, the unification of disunited families, the protection of the church property from schismatics. Especially abundant is the evidence of the myrrh-streaming of icons depicting Emperor Nicholas II and the Royal Martyrs, of the fragrance and miraculous bleeding of bloody stains on the iconic faces of the Royal Martyrs.

I would like to touch upon the issue of the remains of the Royal Family. The State Commission "for the study of issues related to the study and reburial of the remains of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II and members of his Family", as you know, finished its work on January 30, 1998. The State Commission recognized as correct the scientific and historical conclusions made during the investigation by the Republican Center for Forensic Medicine and the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation about the ownership of the Tsar's Family and its servants of the remains found near Yekaterinburg. However, doubts arose in connection with the well-known conclusions of the investigator Sokolov, who back in 1918 testified that all the bodies of the Imperial Family and their servants were dismembered and destroyed. The Holy Synod, at its meeting on February 26, 1998, had a judgment on this issue and came to the following conclusion:

“2. Evaluation of the reliability of scientific and investigative conclusions, as well as evidence of their inviolability or irrefutability, is not within the competence of the Church. Scientific and historical responsibility for the conclusions made in the course of the investigation and study regarding the “Yekaterinburg remains” rests entirely with the Republican Center for Forensic Medical Research and the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation.

3. The decision of the State Commission on the identification of the remains found near Yekaterinburg as belonging to the Family of Emperor Nicholas II caused serious doubts and even confrontation in the Church and society ”.

Since since then, as far as we know, there have been no new results of scientific research in this area, the “Yekaterinburg remains” buried on July 17, 1998 in St. Petersburg cannot be recognized by us as belonging to the Royal Family.

The veneration of the Tsar Family, already begun by His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon in the funeral prayer and words at the funeral service at the Kazan Cathedral in Moscow for the slain Emperor three days after the Yekaterinburg murder, continued - despite the dominant ideology - throughout several decades of the Soviet period of our history. Priests and laity offered prayers to God for the repose of the murdered sufferers, members of the Royal Family. In the houses in the red corner one could see photographs of the Royal Family, and recently icons depicting the Royal Martyrs have become widespread. Now such icons are found in some monasteries and churches of a number of dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church. Prayers addressed to them and various musical and cinematographic, literary works reflecting the suffering and martyrdom of the Royal Family are compiled. Everywhere and more often funeral dirges are performed for her. All this testifies to the growing veneration of the slain Royal Family throughout Russia.

The Commission, in its approach to this topic, strove to make the glorification of the Royal Martyrs free from any political or other conjuncture. In this regard, it seems necessary to emphasize that the canonization of the Monarch is in no way connected with the monarchical ideology and, moreover, does not mean the “canonization” of the monarchical form of government, which can, of course, be treated differently. The activities of the head of state cannot be removed from the political context, but this does not mean that the Church, in canonizing a Tsar or a prince, which she did in the past, is guided by political or ideological considerations. Just as the acts of canonization of monarchs that took place in the past were not of a political nature, no matter how the biased enemies of the Church interpreted these events in their tendentious assessments, so the forthcoming glorification of the Royal Martyrs will not and should not have a political character, for, glorifying the saint, the Church does not persecute political goals, which she actually does not have by the nature of things, but testifies to the people of God who already honor the righteous man that the ascetic she canonized has really pleased God and is interceding for us before the Throne of God, regardless of what position he occupied in his earthly life: whether from these little ones, like the holy righteous John of Russia, or from the mighty of this world like the holy Emperor Justinian.

Behind the many sufferings endured by the Royal Family in the last 17 months of their life, which ended with the execution in the basement of the Yekaterinburg Ipatiev House on the night of July 17, 1918, we see people sincerely striving to embody the commandments of the Gospel in their lives. In the sufferings endured by the Royal Family in captivity with meekness, patience and humility, in their martyrdom, the light of Christ's faith conquering evil was revealed, just as it shone in the life and death of millions of Orthodox Christians who endured persecution for Christ in the twentieth century.

It is in comprehending this feat of the Royal Family that the Commission, in complete unanimity and with the approval of the Holy Synod, finds it possible to glorify in the Cathedral the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in the face of the Passion-Bearers of Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexander, Tsarevich Alexy, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia.

Having rewritten it in an encyclopedic style. Thanks.

Canonization of the royal family - the canonization by the Russian Orthodox Church of the last Emperor Nicholas II and members of his family, one of the most controversial acts of the ROC in its entire history, which caused an extremely negative reaction from a significant part of Orthodox believers, including such prominent figures of the ROC as Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga John, AI Osipov and others. Nicholas II and members of his family were glorified as passion-bearers. At the same time, the servants who were shot along with the royal family were not canonized.

Worship history

In 1928, Nicholas II and his family were canonized in the Catacomb Church.

In 1981, the emperor and his family were glorified by a group of bishops who “call themselves the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, which does not have the recognition of the entire Orthodox Plenitude due to its anti-canonical nature” (From the appeal of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, 1990), in other words, the so-called. Russian Church Abroad.

In the last decade of the 20th century in Russia, a number of clergy sympathizing with the so-called. The "Russian Church Abroad" launched a campaign for the canonization of the now Russian Orthodox Church of the emperor and his family, as well as servants. Many prominent representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church opposed canonization, including the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Ioann (Snychev). As a result, the Bishops' Council in 1997 refused to canonize the former sovereign. According to one of the prominent opponents of the canonization of Nicholas II, professor of the Moscow Theological Academy A.I.

However, the pressure on the ROC from the supporters of canonization grew. In radical monarchist and pseudo-Orthodox circles, even the epithet "redeemer" is used in relation to Nicholas II. This is manifested in both written appeals, heading to the Moscow Patriarchate when considering the issue of canonization of the royal family, and in non-canonical akathists and prayers: "O wonderful and glorious Tsar-redeemer Nicholas." However, at a meeting of the Moscow clergy, Patriarch Alexy II unequivocally spoke about the inadmissibility of such a thing, stating that “if he sees in any church books in which Nicholas II is called the Redeemer, he will regard the abbot of this temple as a preacher of heresy. We have one Redeemer - Christ. "

In accordance with the next decision of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church of August 20, 2000, Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarevich Alexei, Tsarevnas Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia are numbered among the holy new martyrs and confessors of Russia, revealed and not revealed.

Arguments against canonization

• The death of Emperor Nicholas II and his family members was not a martyr's death for Christ, but only political repression.
• Unsuccessful state and church policy of the emperor, including such events as Khodynka, Bloody Sunday and the Lena execution.
• The extremely controversial activities of Grigory Rasputin.
• The renunciation of the anointed king from the throne should be viewed as an ecclesiastical canonical crime, similar to the refusal of a representative of the ecclesiastical hierarchy from the holy dignity.
• "The religiosity of the royal couple, with all their outwardly traditional Orthodoxy, bore a distinctly expressed character of inter-confessional mysticism."
• The active movement for the canonization of the royal family in the 1990s was not spiritual, but political.
• Professor of the MDA A. I. Osipov: “Neither the holy Patriarch Tikhon, nor the holy Metropolitan Benjamin of Petrograd, nor the holy Metropolitan Peter of Krutitsk, nor the holy Metropolitan Seraphim (Chichagov), nor the holy Archbishop Thaddeus, nor the holy Archbishop Hilarion (who is Trinity) doubts, he will soon be canonized, nor other hierarchs, now glorified by our Church, new martyrs, who knew much more and better than we now, the personality of the former Tsar - none of them ever expressed the thought of him as a holy martyr (and in at that time it was still possible to declare it at the top of the voice) ”.
• The responsibility for "the gravest sin of regicide, which prevails over all the peoples of Russia", is also deeply perplexing and propagandized by some supporters of canonization.

Pressure on the ROC from supporters of canonization in the period between the first and second bishops' councils

The question of canonizing servants

A clear comparison of the personality of Nicholas II with the personalities of some other illustrious ROC

Arguments for canonization in a different face

The Jews are satisfied that the royal family of the Romanovs has been elevated to the host of martyrs, not martyrs, note, but martyrs. What is the difference? The rite of the martyr is the feat of death for Christ at the hands of the Gentiles. Passion-bearers are those who have received torment from their fellow Christians. According to the passion-suffering rite of canonization, it turns out that the Tsar and the Family were martyred by their own fellow Christians. Now, if the Council of Bishops recognized the obvious that the Tsar was tortured to death by the Gentiles, the Jews, then he would not have been a passion-bearer, but a great martyr. This is what the Jews are satisfied with, this is what they mean when they present the Moscow Patriarchate with an ultimatum: "It is very important that the decision on canonization in the form in which it was adopted by the Council becomes known to the widest circle of laity and clergy."