About the three holy rectors of the Kiev Theological Academy and their canonization mp

About the three holy rectors of the Kiev Theological Academy and their canonization About the three holy rectors of the Kiev Theological Academy and their canonization print version April 13, 2019 13:10 At a meeting of the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church held on April 3, 2019, it decided to canonize the three rectors of the Kiev Theological Academy - Bishop Sylvester (Malevansky), Archbishop Basil (Bogdashevsky) and Archpriest Alexander Glagolev. The current Rector of the CDA, Bishop of Belogorod Sylvester , told about the holy predecessors and their example of life, according to foma.in.ua. - Vladyka, why did you decide to canonize these three KDA rectors? - In 2016, on the eve of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Kiev Theological Academy, on the initiative of the Rector Metropolitan of Borispolsky and Brovarsky Anthony , a holiday was established - the Saints Cathedral of the Kiev Theological Academy. The cathedral includes all graduates and teachers of Kiev theological schools, canonized by various Local Churches. In accordance with this, the idea arose to start searching in the archives for the presence of a certificate of reverence for our graduates in order to expand the list of names included in the cathedral. And when we began to study the materials, it turned out that as much information as possible remained about the people who lived closest to us in time. In the 19th century, as rectors of the Kiev Theological Academy, there were enough famous personalities who, even during their lifetime, had the reputation of being righteous among their flock and subordinates. Some of them have already been canonized, for example, St. Innocent (Borisov), Archbishop of Kherson. I think that, perhaps, the Lord specially arranged so that the attention to the feat of these saints would fall precisely at a very difficult time for our Church. Up to this point, Bishop Sylvester (Malevansky) occupied a special place from among those not glorified among the saints. For many years he was an inspector, and then the rector of a theological school. About him preserved many memories of his contemporaries, testifying of him as a righteous man. We plan to soon publish a full corpus of memoirs of contemporaries about Vladyka Sylvestre (Malevansky), who in the society of believers gained the reputation of a man of holy life. All the money that he received as the rector of the Kiev Theological Academy, and the fees for his publications — for example, for the well-known five-volume “Experience of Orthodox Dogmatic Theology”, which brought him a name in the scientific world — was handed out to the poor on the day of receipt. And so he did his whole life. It is known that when St. Sylvester died, then after him there were literally a few silver rubles for a funeral and several vestments. Many people knew about the special mercy of the lord and went to him just in chains. There are many descriptions of contemporaries about the cases when the money was already running out, and the string was still stretching, and Vladyka Sylvester borrowed from someone not to let people go with nothing. We know that, for example, St. Philaret the Merciful was glorified for his mercy. And Vladyka Sylvester imitated this. There are two main criteria for canonization (of course, there are many more, but these are especially important) - this is the holiness of faith and the holiness of life. Regarding the sanctity of faith: Vladyka Sylvester was named in the scientific world as a well-known dogmatist, and a number of well-known researchers (both the 19th century and modern) believed that his works are the pinnacle of dogmatic science. And his “Experience ...” is still one of the unsurpassed works in terms of the amount of written, studied dogmatic material. Recalling the sanctity of life, we turn to the testimonies of contemporaries of Bishop Sylvestre (Malevansky), who describe him as a great prayer book. Already being at rest, the almost blind bishop never missed the prayer rule: in any weather he went from the cell to the church of the Kiev-Bratsk Epiphany Monastery, where, standing in front of the icon, he read a number of prayers that he knew by heart. It is also known that many righteous people of that time spoke with him. I do not know how much they considered him to be their spiritual father - as a rule, such things are not spoken by people of holy life, but are fixed by children, but, for example, it was Bishop Sylvester (Malevansky) who was funeral service for the Monk Iona of Kiev. And many famous righteous people of that era valued fellowship with Vladyka Sylvester. He died of 80 years old man in 1908. Here you need to understand one important point. There is such a condition for canonization - honoring the people. But this rule is freely realized when there is a continuous historical tradition. In this case, the scrapping of epochs led to the fact that not just people forgot the name of the lord - everything that was somehow connected with him and many other prominent church leaders was erased. I am convinced that if there were no revolution, then after 5-10 years popular veneer would have arisen. There is a lot of evidence that the people of Kiev were reverent towards Vladyka. Everything connected with Sylvester (Malevansky) was destroyed in the 1930s. The monastery where he lived and served is demolished. The cemetery where he was buried was demolished. The grave and relics were destroyed ... And unfortunately, there are no material “points of support” for research and worship. That is why the renewal of the memory of temples and monasteries destroyed in the twentieth century is an important historical task for our people and the Church. Reconstruction of the memory of them is certainly connected with the restoration in the memory of the people of the names of those devotees who carried their feat in these places. And Sylvester (Malevansky), of course, is the brightest devotee of piety who lived in Kiev in the second half of the XIX - early XX centuries. Therefore, the question of which of the rectors of the pre-revolutionary Academy worked hard enough to be canonized, did not cause any doubts. The second rector of the KDA - Archbishop Basil (Bogdashevsky) - is also a very bright person with an interesting life. Long-term professor, first he taught philosophical, then biblical science. And in both areas he achieved serious results. As a rule, in a difficult era, people do not want to take responsibility, avoid it. After all, responsibility is always hard, and in critical times, all the more so. But he, a significant part of his life being a layman, ultimately, in difficult times, not only accepts monasticism, but even priestly and then hierarchal dignity, knowing that this is unlikely to bring him honor, but rather a danger. Adoption of episcopal dignity meant drawing attention to himself and his activities, and if, as a layman, he could get lost, retire or retire, then as a bishop he could not do that. So, the very decision to go for it on the eve of terrible events (and Vladyka Vasily understood what he was going to) speaks of him as a confessor. It so happened that he headed the Kiev Theological School in the most difficult historical period - before its closure (1920). When this happened, she continued to exist for some time, classes and diplomas were held in professors' apartments, and he served as rector. In 1923, Vladyka Vasily was arrested and sent to Moscow for interrogation, for about a year and a half he remained in exile. But then he was released. The sad thing is that, when he was already an old man, Vladyka was left completely without means of subsistence. And there is clear evidence that he died of exhaustion. It was 1933. And although he did not die in prison, his life, the decision to accept the priestly, hierarchal and rector service in this era is a clear confession. I think that if Vladyka lived to 1937-38, he would share the fate of many other new martyrs and confessors. And, finally, Archpriest Alexander Glagolev - probably the most famous Kiev priest of the twentieth century. He was elected acting rector when Vladyka Vasily was arrested. Father Alexander is a man of encyclopedic knowledge. You can talk a lot about his erudition, incredible abilities ... For example, the fact that he knew 18 languages ​​(ancient and modern)! And already being an elderly man, so that, so to speak, not to lose his knack, he began to learn Italian. By human standards, this is a unique phenomenon. Plus, Father Alexander was a real shepherd. He loved worship, fellowship with the people. It is very important to understand that he lived in times of serious trials for the Church in the sense of not only persecutions, but also schisms. Father Alexander was faithful to the canonical Church (then she was called Patriarch, even though the patriarch was no longer in the year of his death), and remained faithful to her even in the most difficult situation — during the arrest in 1937. His investigative work took place “under one cover” with the case Martyr Constantine (Dyakov), Patriarchal Exarch of Ukraine. Then everyone was arrested, accused of the same thing - anti-Soviet activities. But Father Alexander was arrested precisely as a bright priest supporting the canonical first-hierarch, Metropolitan Constantine. It is God's grace that Father Alexander did not die from a bullet. He rested in the hospital Lukyanovskaya prison. He was called in for questioning 18 times. And after the last he became so ill that the priest was placed in the hospital, where he died. But I think that if he had even a little bit of strength left, there could hardly have been a different fate awaiting him than all the priests who had suffered from the Soviet repression. So, Father Alexander is known both as a true shepherd and as a priest devoted to the Church who supported Metropolitan Constantine. Thus, these three people — two hierarchs and a priest — are significant figures not only for the life of Kiev theological schools, but also for the life of the Church in this complex era. And it is important to understand that for us the canonization of these saints is needed not just to replenish the list of the names of the saints of the KDA and not so much to perpetuate their memory, but to admit that it is necessary to correctly evaluate the historical situation and take lessons from it. After all, canonization is not just a certain liturgical exaltation of a person, it is a canonization of a way of thinking and a way of life to imitate them. We must imitate not only life as a whole, but also the behavior of devotees under specific conditions. Therefore, if we are asked how to act in such a case, we can say: in such conditions, act as these three people did. Although one of them - Vladyka Sylvester - did not live to see the revolutionary events, but his image as a man of great piety also deserves imitation and attention. Everyone understands: history repeats itself. But if we repeat only history, not repeating the exploits of our predecessors, this will be a real break of tradition. But the true tradition is preserved when there is a transfer of spiritual experience and one of the links in the process of transferring this experience is canonization. - Why was it talked about canonization right now? For example, Archpriest Alexander Glagolev in the ROCOR was canonized in 1989. - Good question. When we started collecting materials, we approached this very thoroughly. Our teachers and some students studied the manuscript memories of Bishop Sylvestre (Malevansky) stored in the archive (not previously published anywhere). One of our teachers fully studied the investigative work of Father Alexander and wrote his dissertation on him, which became the basis for preparing materials for canonization. Some of our students and teachers wrote theses on Vladyka Vasily (Bogdashevsky). We approached complex canonization and prepared materials for a long period. The question of why there was still no canonization, arose immediately. You know, I did not find the answer. It seemed that there could be some experiences: suddenly, something in the investigation, suddenly, there was something in a person’s life that didn’t allow one to submit it to canonization ... And when we lifted everything up, we did not find anything seditious. Why did not canonization happen before? As believers, we must see in all the Providence of God. I think that, perhaps, the Lord specially arranged so that the attention to the feat of these saints would fall precisely at a very difficult time for our Church. Resuming the memory of churches and monasteries destroyed in the twentieth century is an important historical task for our people and the Church. Often we, after reading the book, put the book on the shelf and then forget it. During the period of churching, we read more lives, then interest in them begins to disappear. And then - you just know that there are such saints ... I look at the same "Lives" of St. Dimitry of Rostov - I started reading them when I was at school 20 years ago - and I understand that now I find time to reread at least one tom it's hard for me And when you prepare the material for canonization, you will, willy-nilly, look through, “lift up” everything connected with the saint. And I think that this “rise” of information about the holy rectors was carried out by the Lord specifically at this difficult time, in order to strengthen us, support us and show us that we were not the only people who worried about their Church, hoped and trusted in God's mercy. Thank God, we don’t have any serious tests, similar to those of Vladyka Vasily or Father Alexander. But if they are, we have examples that help to undergo all the tests. Many of our teachers are studying the investigative cases of priests and religious laymen arrested in Soviet times. Someone from those arrested stood up to the end, and someone gave up: he refused his faith or betrayed those who trusted him. When you read this, a thought always arises (not to condemn these people): once in a difficult situation, a person saved his life, maybe - extended for 5-10 years or more, but, alas, in the memory of the historical (not only the church) he stayed like a man who "broke down." Although it is also possible to “break” in different ways ... Also affects the cynicism of the Soviet investigative agencies. Many people were “broken”, promising to save lives, but in the end they were also destroyed. And there are such amazing investigative cases, when, for example, a person “rents” those who were gathered in an apartment to perform a liturgy or read underground lectures, and hopes to save his life by this, and they are all shot in one day. Such things are extremely difficult to perceive from the moral side, but they remind us of the need to be firm. - What were the difficulties in collecting materials about these saints? - The only difficulty is perseverance. Let it sound ironic. Imagine: investigative cases were sometimes typed, but many papers were filled in by hand. For example, the work of the father of Alexander. Most of the memories of Vladyka Silvestre are preserved in manuscripts — ink has faded, handwritings have been different (good, then they taught calligraphy). Parse someone else's handwriting, in principle, not as easy as it seems. Some documents are easy to read, some are not. But can you imagine what it means to translate about 500 pages of handwritten text into electronic format? It's very hard. And then re-read it all, see that there are no errors, and analyze it. And our employees and some students who have done this work have accomplished, I believe, a serious feat. Moreover, let’s say frankly, all this was done for free, only on the enthusiasm and desire to glorify these people. This is a very serious work. And, I think, if we have more time and such enthusiasts who are ready to work in the archives and waste their strength and vision, then there will be more saints who are canonized by the Church and whose biographies and feats of which will be known to the public. The memory of the Cathedral of Saints Kiev Theological Academy is celebrated on November 9. It includes more than 50 saints - teachers and graduates of the theological school who lived in different centuries and are canonized. Among them are the saints Peter the Grave, Theodosius of Chernigov, Dimitry of Rostov, Joasaph Belgorod, Paisiy (Velichkovsky), Feofan the Recluse, Innokenty of Kherson, etc. The festival was established in 2016 and was celebrated only in Kiev theological schools. In September 2018, the UOC Sacred Synod approved for liturgical use the text of the service in honor of the Cathedral of the Saints KAH. On April 3, 2019, the holiday was added to the church calendar of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. - Is it possible to get acquainted with the works of these three saints? - Many essays were published, including in the "Works of the Kiev Theological Academy." The writings of Bishop Sylvestre were reprinted several times, but reading the five volumes of the dogmatic text (and not for a tick) is not very easy. In addition, the philosophical and biblical writings of Vladyka Vasily (Bogdashevsky) require the reader to have serious skills in these areas. For example, he has studies on Emmanuel Kant. That is, you first need to understand seriously who Emmanuel Kant is, and then read Vladyka Vasily, realizing that he tried to write about Kant not just as a researcher, but as a professor at the Orthodox Theological Academy. Or, imagine ... Father Alexander - and he was a specialist in biblical studies and Jewish tradition - read in 18 languages ​​and, as was customary in his time, he often quoted in his writings according to the original.It is assumed that he would be interested in biblical studies - of course, also Greek and Hebrew. Alas, it is not so now. Until now, unfortunately, many works, even patristic, have not been translated to the extent desired. Many dogmatists of the XIX century. It will be a glance. Moreover, in Bible studies of Bogdashevsky and Glagolev, the number of such sorts of quotations is even greater. You need to grow it up. - KDA something already republished? “Unfortunately, we didn't reprint these works. But we want, as I said, to publish materials devoted to them. Moreover, we have studies, for example, our period. It is not the best pleasure. - Where are the relics of saints Sylvestre, Vasily and Alexander now? - Bishop Sylvester was buried in the cemetery at St. Nicholas Monastery, at Askold's grave. This cemetery was destroyed and his grave too. Vladyka Basil is buried in the Lukyanovka cemetery. Father Alexander was buried in a common grave at the same cemetery. - After canonization, their names will be included in the Saints Cathedral of the Kiev Theological Academy. What will the students of Kiev theological schools address in their prayers? What can any believer resort to? - I think that students, as is usually the case, will pray to them for enlightenment, for success in the sciences. And most people will be able to pray for perfection in the well-known Christian virtues, and especially for Saint Basil and Alexander, for resisting during trials. *** About the three holy rectors of the Kiev Theological Academy and their canonization Bishop Sylvester (Malevansky). Born in 1828 in the family of a priest in Volyn. He graduated from the Volyn Theological Seminary (1847) and the Kiev Theological Academy (1857). 1862-1881 - Inspector of KDA, 1883-1898 - Rector of the CDA and abbot of the Kiev-Bratsk Epiphany Monastery. From 1885 - Bishop of Kanev, Vicar of the Kiev Diocese. The author of the five-volume "Experience of Orthodox dogmatic theology." He died on November 12, 1908 Kiev Theological Academy and their canonization Archbishop Basil (Bogdashevsky). Born in the family of a priest in 1861 in Volyn. He graduated from the Volyn Theological Seminary (1882) and the Kiev Theological Academy (1886). In 1910 he became a priest, in 1913 he was tonsured, in 1914 he was ordained a bishop of Kanevsk, a vicar of the Kiev diocese. In the same year he was appointed rector of the KDA and abbot of the Kiev-Bratsk Epiphany Monastery. April 4, 1923 was arrested and sent to Butyrka prison, then - in exile in a. Izhma Zyryansky region. Upon returning to his homeland in 1924, he became the Bishop of Prilutsky, later elevated to the rank of Archbishop and re-appointed Vicar of the Kiev Diocese , Archbishop of Kanev. Known as an explorer of the New Testament books. He died on February 26, 1933 in Kiev. The grave is located at the Lukyanovsky cemetery. Kiev Theological Academy and their canonization Archpriest Alexander Glagolev. Born in the family of a priest in 1872 in the province of Tula. He studied at the KDA in 1894-1898. From 1899 he began teaching in it. He acted as the Rector of the CDA after the arrest of Vladyka Vasily (Bogdashevsky), was the rector of the St. Nicholas the Good Church in Podol (before closing in 1934), one of the best experts in the Old Testament in Kiev, owned eighteen ancient and new languages. He defended his thesis on the topic of the Old Testament Bible Doctrine of Angels, the author of the comments to the Explanatory Bible (ed. Lopukhin) on a number of books of the Old and New Testament (including the 3rd and 4th books of Kingdoms, the book of Tobit , Proverbs, Songs of Songs, the prophets of Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai and to the Catholic Epistles). In 1913 he acted as an expert in the “Beilis case”. In the same year, he crowned Mikhail Bulgakov, the writer imprinted him in the image of Alexander's father from the White Guard. He was arrested twice. The first arrest (in 1931) lasted five months, the second time the priest was taken to prison on October 20, 1937. He died from torture in the NKVD 36 days later - on November 25, 1937.