Department of Education and Science of the Tambov Region

TOGBOU SPO "Zherdevsky College of the Sugar Industry"

Class hour

on the topic

"Military feats of clergy in

Great Patriotic War"

Goals:

To acquaint students with the activities of priests during the hard times of war;

Show with examples how the Russian Orthodox clergy worthily fulfilled their patriotic and moral duty during the war against the invaders.

Education of patriotism.

Venue: college spiritual library

Prepared and conducted: Moryakina O.A.

Zherdevka, 2015

Scenario for an extracurricular activity on the topic

"Priests and the Great Patriotic War"

Where does memory begin - with birches?

From a river forest?

From the rain on the road?

What if it’s murder!

And if from tears!

What if it was an air raid alert!

And if from a screeching saw in the clouds,

From adults, stretched out in the dust!

And if from childhood knowledge - how

The living becomes dead

And at five, and at fifteen, and at twenty-five years old

Memory begins with war.

K. Simonov

"Your faith and fidelity are proclaimed in the Fatherland »

Introduction.

From the very beginning of the emergence of Russian statehood, the Orthodox Church was in the closest connection with the authorities, based on the proximity of tasks and goals. During the war against foreign invaders, the Russian Orthodox clergy worthily fulfilled their patriotic and moral duty. Many of the clergy imprinted with their blood love and loyalty to the Fatherland on the battlefield.

This was the case during the Great Patriotic War: on the battlefield, the priest served a prayer service and walked around the trenches with the Holy Cross and holy water and blessed the defenders. Immortal glory and eternal memory to the heroic shepherds who gravitated toward the truth and served it, holyly fulfilling the greatest commandment of God’s law: “Lay down your souls for your friends.” Our soldiers were preserved not only by the prayers of their wives and mothers, but also by the daily church prayer for the granting of Victory.”

The Church during the war: service and struggle in the occupied territories

The Russian Orthodox Church, which for centuries created a unified state, was deprived of all its property after the Bolsheviks came to power, but considered it its duty to ascend to the all-Russian Golgotha ​​during the years of difficult trials.

In Soviet times, the question of the role of the Orthodox Church in achieving the Great Victory was hushed up. The question of the real losses suffered by the Russian Church in the Great Patriotic War, for obvious reasons, until recently could not become the subject of serious analysis. Attempts to raise this topic have appeared only in recent years. Now the development of materials on church-military topics is beginning, even from such large collections as the State Archives of the Russian Federation, the Central State Archives of St. Petersburg and the Federal Archives in Berlin.

Metropolitan Sergius on June 22, 1941, in a message to the “Pastors and flocks of Christ’s Orthodox Church,” called on Orthodox Russian people to “serve the Fatherland in this difficult hour of trial with all that everyone can” in order to “dispel the fascist enemy force to dust.”

In January 1942, in his messages to the flock in the occupied territories, the Patriarch called:“Let your local partisans be for you not only an example and approval, but also an object of constant care. Remember that every service rendered to the partisans is a merit to the Motherland and an extra step towards our own liberation from fascist captivity.”

This call received a very wide response among the clergy and ordinary believers. And the Germans responded to the patriotism of the priests with merciless cruelty.

Historical reference: By 1939, the structure of the Russian Orthodox Church was destroyed as a result of the most severe terror. From78 thousand temples and chapels that operated in Russia by this time remained from121 (according to Vasilyeva O.Yu.) to 350-400 (according to calculations by M.V. Shkarovsky). Most of the clergy were repressed. The Soviet power brought too much grief and blood to the Church.

By helping the armed forces, the Moscow Patriarchate forced the Soviet authorities to at least to a small extent recognize its full presence in the life of society. On January 5, 1943, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens took an important step towards the actual legalization of the Church, using the fees for the defense of the country. He sent a telegram to I. Stalin, asking for his permission for the Patriarchate to open a bank account into which all the money donated for the needs of the war would be deposited. On February 5, the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars gave his written consent.

Collection of funds by priests for the Victory.

Already from the first months of the war, almost all Orthodox parishes in the country spontaneously began collecting funds for the established defense fund. Believers donated not only money and bonds, but also items made of precious and non-ferrous metals, clothes, shoes, linen, wool and much more. By the summer of 1945, the total amount of monetary contributions alone for these purposes amounted to more than 300 million rubles. - excluding jewelry, clothing and food. Funds for defeating the Nazis were collected even in the occupied territory, which was associated with real heroism. Thus, the Pskov priest Fyodor Puzanov, close to the fascist authorities, managed to collect about 500 thousand rubles. donations and transfer them to the “mainland”. A particularly significant church act was the construction, at the expense of Orthodox believers, of a column of 40 T-34 Dimitri Donskoy tanks and the Alexander Nevsky squadron.

Historical information about the tank column "Dmitry Donskoy"

On December 30, 1942, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Sergius, addressed archpastors, pastors and parish communities with an appeal to raise funds for the construction of a tank column named after Dmitry Donskoy. This call was accepted by the entire Church.

Over 8 million rubles, a large number of gold and silver items were collected for the construction of 40 tanks. Believers in Moscow and the Moscow region contributed about 2 million rubles. 1 million rubles were received from the believers of Leningrad.The memoirs of the archpriest of the church I.V. Ivlev are filled with evidence of deep patriotism:“There was no money in the church treasury, but I had to get it... I blessed two 75-year-old women for this great cause. Let their names be known to people: Maria Maksimovna Kovrigina and Matrena Maksimovna Gorbenko. And they went, they went after all the people had already made their contribution through the village council. Two Maksimovnas went to ask in the name of Christ to protect their dear Motherland from rapists. We went around the entire parish - villages, farmsteads and settlements located 5-20 kilometers from the village and as a result - 10 thousand rubles, a significant amount in our places devastated by German monsters" . This is how those millions were collected. Sergius - Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus':“I’m very glad that a small beginning has been made. We do not doubt for a minute and have not doubted that all ordinary people who love our Motherland, of course, will not hesitate to give their lives to fulfill their military duty. Thus, in the struggle for common ideals during the Great Patriotic War, the patriotic aspirations of Russian believers and clergy merged with the heroism and valor of the Red Army soldiers.

The price of ruin and sacrilege

The true scale of the damage inflicted on the Russian Orthodox Church by the German occupiers cannot be assessed with accuracy. On November 2, 1942, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Extraordinary State Commission was created to establish and investigate the atrocities of the Nazi invaders and their accomplices and the damage they caused to citizens, collective farms (collective farms), public organizations, state enterprises and institutions of the USSR (ChGK) . A representative from the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) of Kiev and Galicia, was also included in the Commission. The Commission's staff developed an approximate diagram and list of crimes against cultural and religious institutions. The Instructions for the Registration and Protection of Monuments of Art noted that damage reports should record cases of robbery, removal of artistic and religious monuments, damage to iconostases, church utensils, icons, etc. Witness testimony, inventories, and photographs should be attached to the acts. A special price list for church utensils and equipment was developed, approved by Metropolitan Nicholas on August 9, 1943. The data appeared at the Nuremberg trials as documentary evidence of the prosecution. In the appendices to the transcript of the meeting of the International Military Tribunal dated February 21, 1946, documents appear under numbers USSR-35 and USSR-246. They show the total amount of “damage due to religious cults”, which amounted to6 billion 24 million rubles In the RSFSR, 588 churches and 23 chapels were damaged, in Belarus - 206 churches and 3 chapels, in Latvia - 104 churches and 5 chapels, in Moldova - 66 churches and 2 chapels, in Estonia - 31 churches and 10 chapels, in Lithuania - 15 churches and 8 chapels and in the Karelo-Finnish SSR - 6 churches.

Historical reference : Enormous damage was caused by German shelling to the famous St. Sophia Cathedral (11th century), St. George's Cathedral of the Yuriev Monastery - a unique monument of Russian architecture of the 12th century. - received many large holes, due to which through cracks appeared in the walls. Other ancient monasteries of Novgorod were also severely damaged by German bombs and shells: Antoniev, Khutynsky, Zverin, etc. The famous Church of the Savior-Nereditsa of the 12th century was reduced to ruins. Buildings included in the ensemble of the Novgorod Kremlin were destroyed and severely damaged, including the Church of St. Andrew Stratilates of the 14th-15th centuries, the Church of the Intercession of the 14th century, and the belfry of the St. Sophia Cathedral of the 16th century. etc. In the vicinity of Novgorod, the Cathedral of the Cyril Monastery (XII century), the Church of St. Nicholas on Lipna (XIII century), the Annunciation on Gorodishche (XIII century), the Church of the Savior on Kovalevo (XIV century), the Church of the Assumption on Gorodishche (XIII century) were destroyed by targeted artillery fire. Volotovo Field (XIV century), St. Michael the Archangel in the Skovorodinsky Monastery (XIV century), St. Andrew on Sitka (XIVV.).

Feats of arms of Orthodox priests

The priests shared the fate of their parishioners during the war. The clergy were participants in the Great Patriotic War, here are the names of some of them:

An example of serving God and neighbor

Borodin Alexander Ivanovich

About the life of Hieroschemamonk Pitirim (Borodin)

Alexander was born in 1914 into a peasant family in the village of Shmarovka, Mordovian district, Tambov region.

During his adolescence, the future, young Alexander, met with Elder Augusta, who said that a war would begin, and he would fight, but would not kill anyone and would return alive, and then become a priest.

A few years later, Borodin visited Kyiv again, intending to become a monk, but to his great chagrin, the elders blessed him to return home, where God showed him another path: to marry the pious girl Agrippina and they had seven children.

War.

When the war began, Alexander Ivanovich Borodin and his fellow villagers went to the front. He restored roads broken by the Nazis.

His fellow soldiers respected him very much. In the unit where he served, a food warehouse storekeeper was killed. When the question arose about who would become the storekeeper, fellow soldiers, knowing Alexander’s inherent wisdom, pointed to him. By the middle of the war, he had a 4th grade education and was in charge of the central warehouse. The head of the food service wanted this place for his man and tried to get rid of him. Once he sent him at night under fire with an unimportant report to division headquarters.

Alexander Ilyich later recalled: “When I was traveling, I sang all the prayers I knew out loud. There’s fire all around, and I’m riding a horse and praying.” When the report was printed and read at headquarters, the commander was deeply indignant at how trivial the package was, delivered at such risk.

Prayer, which the warrior Alexander never abandoned, and the fulfillment of God’s commandments about mercy and love for others did their job. Example:

Once, during an enemy air raid, everyone hurried to the bomb shelter. Suddenly he saw a little girl crying and running down the street in search of her mother. He ran up to the baby, fell to the ground with her, praying for salvation, and not a single bomb exploded nearby. When her mother ran out of hiding, she saw her daughter in the hands of a soldier, alive and well.

Strong faith and prayer protected him from mortal danger like an invisible wall. And at home both his wife Agrippina and the children prayed for their father.

At the end of the war, when our troops entered Berlin, on the initiative of A. Borodin, the distribution of hot food to the starving local population - women, children and the elderly - was organized. And it was like this. Alexander Ivanovich, moved by compassion for the people, went to his commander and reported that they had a lot of captured food accumulated in their food warehouse, and asked for permission to distribute them. Permission was received, and he stood for long hours, giving food to hungry people.

Alexander Borodin was awarded medals “For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”, “For the capture of Berlin”, “For the liberation of Warsaw”.

He returned to his native village only in October 1945, because... the warehouse had to be handed over.

From October 1945 to September 1946 he worked on a collective farm, then became a psalm-reader. In February 1950 he was ordained deacon. On February 15, 1951, Bishop Joasaph (Zhurmanov) of Tambov and Michurinsk ordained him to the rank of priest. He becomes a full-time priest of the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk Church in the village of Mordovo, and in January 1954 he is appointed rector of the temple. Having accepted the leadership, Father Alexander remained in this post until his death. (I was the rector of this temple for 20 years).

Archimandrite Macarius (Remorov) (1907-1998)
Archimandrite Macarius was born on March 23, old style, 1907 in the village of Syademka, Zemechensky district, Tambov province.
At baptism he received the name Igor. His father, Priest Nikolai Remorov, came from an ancient priestly family. Igor Remorov began studying at the Tambov Theological School, and after the revolution he continued his studies at a secular school. He graduated from nine years of school. In 1927, Igor Nikolaevich married Valentina Mikhailovna Mstislavskaya, whose father was a dean, served in one of the Mordovian villages and was awarded a medal for active missionary work.
In July 1941, he was mobilized and sent to the front. Initially he fought near Moscow, and then the engineer battalion where Father Igor served was transferred to Leningrad. Until 1944, part of it provided the “road of life” through Ladoga. Priest Igor Remorov ended the war in East Prussia in Königsberg. He was awarded the medals “For Courage”, “For the Defense of Moscow”, “For the Defense of Leningrad”, “For the Capture of Koenigsberg”, “For Victory over Germany”.
In the fall of 1945, Father Igor returned to Biysk, where he continued to work as an accountant. In 1956, Metropolitan Nestor of Novosibirsk and Barnaul blessed Father Igor to continue his priestly ministry. Until 1973, Father Igor served in the villages of Bolshoy Uluy and Novo-Berezovka, Krasnoyarsk Territory. In 1970 he was widowed.
Then Archpriest Igor Remorov served in the village of Kolyvan, Novosibirsk region. In 1980, he was tonsured a monk by Archbishop Gideon of Novosibirsk and Barnaul in honor of St. Macarius the Great...

Archpriest Kosma Rain.

At dawn on October 9, 1943, fascists burst into the parish church of the Belarusian village of Khoino.

To the priest Cosme Raine ordered to undress, he was taken to the police station and searched. The officer gave the documents and watch to the translator. "You won't need them anymore," he said. And two Czech soldiers took the priest to be shot.

Archpriest Kosma Raina was a hereditary priest. His father sailed on Russian warships and died from wounds received in the Battle of Port Arthur.

The German occupation found him with a large family (he had seven children) in the Pinsk district of the Brest region. In the occupied territories, with the assistance of the German authorities, autocephalous churches were created, independent of Moscow.
The occupation authorities demanded to pray “for the liberation of the Russian country and the victorious German army.” But Father Kosma every time read a prayer for the Russian army. And when they denounced him, he said that he had forgotten and read it out of inertia. He did not serve the Bolsheviks, but his flock, the Orthodox people. This day and night the people walked east along forest and field roads - refugees, wounded, surrounded... Mother gave them bread, boiled potatoes, clothes, shoes, medicine. The wounded received communion, many asked for prayers for their fallen comrades, for themselves and loved ones. People joined the partisans. After the Easter service, Father Kosma announced the collection of gifts for children, the wounded and partisans. And a few days later, shedding tears, he held a funeral service for the shot and burned residents of the village of Nevel. Then he went to the remote village of Semikhovichi - to the partisan base - and in a small church, which, out of cowardice (God is his Judge), was abandoned by a young priest, gave communion to the sick and wounded, baptized children, held funeral services for the dead and the dead.

On October 9, 1943, two Czech soldiers led Archpriest Kosma Raina to execution. Near the church he fell to his knees and began to pray fervently. He doesn’t remember how much time passed, but when he got up from his knees, he didn’t see anyone near him. Having crossed himself, the priest moved with prayer towards the bushes, and then rushed headlong into the forest.
He came to the partisan camp, where he met with his sons. Together they won back their mother from the Germans, who, along with other partisan wives and children, wanted to be sent to a concentration camp. The family of the parish priest managed to gather at the festive table only in 1946. Father Kosma spent the last years of his life in the village of Olgino near St. Petersburg, together with his mother and daughter Angelina, who worked here as a local doctor. He was buried here, in the Seraphim Church, at the altar.

Priest Nikolai Pyzhevich , helped wounded Red Army soldiers, was on good terms with the partisans and even distributed leaflets. They reported. In September 1943, punitive forces descended on Staroe Selo. Father jumped out the window and almost disappeared into the forest, but, looking back, he saw that his house, where his wife and five daughters remained, was being boarded up and covered with straw. “I’m here,” he shouted, “take me, I ask God, have mercy on the innocent children...”. The officer threw him to the ground with a blow of his boot and shot him at point-blank range, and the soldiers threw the priest’s body into the already burning house. After some time, the entire village was completely destroyed, its inhabitants were burned in the temple.

Archpriest Alexander Romanushko

In the summer of 1943, to the commander of the partisan unit, Major General V.Z. Korzh was contacted by the relatives of the deceased... the police. Nobody, they say, agrees to perform the funeral service for the dead man, will you send your partisan priest? He served in the detachment thenArchpriest Alexander Romanushko . Accompanied by two partisan machine gunners, he came to the cemetery. There were already armed policemen there. He put on his clothes and was silent for a while. And suddenly he said:
- Brothers and sisters! I understand the great grief of the mother and father of the murdered man. But it was not our prayers that the one in the grave deserved. He is a traitor to the Motherland and a murderer of innocent old people and children. Instead of eternal memory, we all,” he raised his head high and raised his voice, “say: “anathema”!
The crowd was speechless. And the priest, approaching the police, continued:
“I appeal to you, the lost ones: before it’s too late, atone for your guilt before God and people and turn your arms against those who destroy our people, bury living people in graves like these, and burn believers and priests alive in churches...
Father Alexander led almost an entire detachment to the partisans and was awarded the medal “Partisan of the Patriotic War”, 1st degree.

Archpriest Vasily Kopychko, rector of the Odriga Holy Assumption Church, Ivanovo district, Brest region. From the beginning of the war until its victorious conclusion, Father Vasily did not weaken in the spiritual strengthening of his flock, performing divine services at night, without lighting, so as not to be noticed. Almost all residents of the surrounding villages came to the service. The brave shepherd told believers about the situation at the fronts, called on them to resist the invaders, reproduced and transmitted Sovinformburo reports and partisan leaflets. Father Vasily collected food for the wounded partisans and sent them weapons.

At the end of 1943, the Gestapo learned of his active connection with the partisans. The special purpose punitive detachment received an order for the public execution of Father Vasily and his family. That same night, Father Vasily was transported to the partisan zone, and at dawn punitive forces arrived at his house and set fire to the church and parish house. This is how the brigade commander of the Pinsk partisan brigade I. Shubitidze describes the activities of Father Vasily and his first meeting with him: “...We called him our agitator and once invited him to the partisan camp. He willingly came accompanied by partisans. Kopychko looked closely at our life, at our order for a long time, walked around a dozen dugouts and over dinner, which was prepared especially for him at headquarters, began to talk: “So believe these Germans! Deceivers, atheists, bandits! I see that you are all Orthodox, give God bless you! That's what I told my parishioners..." From that time on, Kopychko became our liaison. He kept his word, helped not only with prayers, but financially: he collected food for the wounded, and sometimes sent weapons. For services to the Motherland, Archpriest Vasily Kopychko was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree, medals “Partisan of the Great Patriotic War” 1st degree, “For valiant labor in the Great Patriotic War”, “For victory over Germany” and others.

The partisans, through their contacts, distributed leaflets in churches: appeals from Patriarch Sergius calling for prayers for the victory of the Soviet army.

Ivan Ivanovich Rozhanovich. Father John.

House of the church rector, archpriestIvan Ivanovich Rozhanovich , which was about 70 years old at the beginning of the war, became a meeting place for underground fighters and partisan intelligence officers. Father John was a kind and valuable assistant to the partisans, carried out difficult tasks and assignments, and was accepted as a member of the anti-fascist committee. With the personal participation of Father John, risky steps of “shuttle diplomacy” were taken between the burgomaster of the city of Vysotsk Tkhorzhevsky, the police commandant Colonel Fomin and the partisan command. And this deadly dangerous game bore fruit: fifteen partisan hostages of the village of Velyuni were freed, an armed detachment of Cossacks from the ROA troops of the city of Vysotsk and parts of the police garrison led by Colonel Fomin went over to the side of the partisans. In January 1943, during the onset of one of the punitive expeditions, when the entire partisan region was already engulfed in flames, there was a real threat of complete destruction of the village of Svartsevichi. Various options for the upcoming battle were discussed at the partisan headquarters. But nevertheless, it was decided to use a military trick: to send a church delegation to meet the punitive forces with a “complaint” against the partisans and a request for “protection,” since Father John had experience in this matter. The purpose of the delegation is to convince the fascists that large forces of partisans armed with machine guns, machine guns and guns have been gathered in Svartsevichi, and the roads around them are mined. During a conversation with an SS colonel, Father John managed to convince him of the strength of the partisans so much that the officer ordered his detachment to retreat.

Fedor Ivanovich Dmitryuk.

Before the war priestFedor Ivanovich Dmitryuk (later - Archbishop Flavian of Gorky and Arzamas) served in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Pruzhany, Brest region. During the occupation, Father Fedor and his entire family participated in the work of the patriotic underground in Pruzhany and had a direct connection with the Belarusian partisans operating in the area. After the Nazis defeated the Pruzhany underground, most of its participants died in the dungeons of the Gestapo. Father Fyodor was saved miraculously, but his wife, eldest daughter, son-in-law and other close relatives were shot, and his youngest daughter was seriously wounded.

priestGregory Chaus.

Priest of the churchGrigory Chaus Together with believers, he did a lot of work to collect money and valuables for the construction of tanks and aircraft for the Red Army. This money was transferred through the partisans to Moscow. For a partisan hospitalFather Gregory collected food and linen for bandages every Sunday.

Archpriest Vyacheslav Novrotsky.

His pastoral ministry, the dean archpriestVyacheslav Novrotsky performed in the regional center of Morochno, Rivne region. When at the beginning of 1943was The fascist German garrison was defeated and the city of Morochno was liberated; Father Vyacheslav greeted the partisans with an Easter chime. In honor of the liberation, a solemn meeting took place, and on the podium next to the generals and commanders of the partisan detachments stood the dean’s father Vyacheslav and the partisan liaison fatherMikhail Grebenko. In his speech, Father Vyacheslav, on behalf of the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church, addressed words of gratitude to the partisans, assuring that “we, believers, will always help and pray for your fallen comrades and for you.”

Archpriest Nikolai Petrovich Gordeev

Archpriest Nikolai Petrovich Gordeev actively helped the partisans in the fight against the invaders. Archpriest Vladimir Mikhailovich Tomashevich “during the Great Patriotic War, he inspired his flock to work and feat in the name of our speedy Victory over the hated invaders, collected valuable information about enemy troops and transferred them to the headquarters of the partisan detachment.”

Priest John Loiko publicly blessed the sons of Vladimir, George and Alexander to go to the partisans. “My weapon against the enemy is the holy cross, desecrated by adversaries, and the word of God, and you, be protected by God and honestly serve the Fatherland.”In February 1943, Khorostovo was surrounded by Nazi punitive detachments. The headquarters of the partisan command decided to leave this region without a fight and leave the encirclement with most of the population, but Father John remained with those who did not have the opportunity to retreat in order to help the sick, crippled, and helpless old people. He was burned by the Nazis on February 15 along with 300 parishioners in the church where he celebrated the Divine Liturgy. From the church engulfed in flames, the punitive forces heard popular singing of prayers.After the war, an obelisk was erected at the site of that terrible fire, where at first there was the name of the priest, but then it disappeared.

Ivan Tsub.

Parishioner of the same churchIvan Tsub In response to the fascist officer’s demand to show where the partisans had gone, he led the punitive forces into the quagmire of an impassable swamp. Of these, only one translator survived, falling half-dead into the hands of the people's avengers. He told about the feat of Ivan Tsuba. The hero's body was buried according to the Orthodox rite with military honors next to the church, of which he had been a parishioner all his life.

Hegumen Pavel

Pskov-Pechersky Monastery secretly provided assistance to Soviet prisoners of war. Although the abbot of the monasteryAbbot Pavel participated in the preparation of anti-Soviet documents, signed official greetings to the fascist authorities, at the same time he maintained secret contact with the partisans. Through a resident of Pskov, an ardent zealot of the monastery A.I. Rubtsov, the abbot sent them whole carts of food. Rubtsova was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 and shot. During interrogations, she behaved with amazing steadfastness and did not betray the governor. According to other testimonies (residents of Pechory), Abbot Pavel hid a walkie-talkie in the monastery premises, through which information about the Nazis collected by the hieromonks in the parishes was transmitted across the front line. On August 24, 1941, Abbot Pavel received a thank-you note: “The sick, wounded prisoners of war and the hospital staff at camp point 134 in the city of Pskov express deep gratitude for the products sent - flour, bread, eggs and other donations.”

Many shepherds, despite the danger to their own lives, found the opportunity to help Soviet partisans, avoid the deportation of young people to Germany, and saved Jewish families from imminent death. Until now, local residents remember with gratitude the priests I. Chubinsko (Varovichi village in the Kiev region), I. Shmygol (Stanislav village, Kherson region), F. Samuylik, E. Geyrokh, M. Rybchinsky (Rivne region), Archpriests K. Omelyanovsky , S. Ozhegovsky, M. Gerasimov (Kherson) and dozens of others who saved the lives of their relatives and friends. Kiev Archpriest A. Glagolev, together with his wife Tatyana and foreman A. Gorbovsky, saved several Jewish families from destruction.

Archpriest Vasily Braga. (Odessa)

Odessa Archpriest Vasily Braga, collaborating with Soviet foreign intelligence, conveyed a lot of valuable information. In his sermons, he called for prayer for the Motherland and victory. Father helped the partisans with food and financial assistance. For this he was awarded the medal “Partisan of the Patriotic War.”

V.I. Turbin. (Eagle)

In Orel, throughout the entire period of the German occupation, an underground hospital operated successfully, one of the leaders of which was a doctorV.I. Turbin , in the 1930s. secretly accepted monasticism. Thanks to his personal courage and the dedication of the medical staff in this hospital, it was possible to save several captured Red Army soldiers. After being cured, they were transported across the front line.

A united trusteeship of churches was created in Orel, headed by N.F. Lokshin. It provided free assistance to sick and elderly people, deducting monthly money from the earnings of clergy for the needs of the poor.

Trustee member Dr. I.M. was widely known and respected among the parishioners of the Church of the Epiphany. Varushkin, who treated them for free.

Priest John Karbovanets

Priest John Karbovanets and the abbess of the Dombassky monastery near the city of Mukachevo, risking their lives, saved 180 children doomed to inevitable starvation, taken by the German invaders in August 1943 from the Oryol orphanage. In the spring of 1942, the Gestapo identified many cases in which people of Jewish nationality turned to Orthodox churches with a request to perform the baptism ceremony on their children and issue them with a certificate of this. The Church accepted them, hoping to protect them from death. Despite this, everythingrevealingJews captured by the Nazis, including children, were shot.

John Krashanovsky.

Archpriest of the Annunciation Church in SimferopolJohn Krashanovsky, a former senior naval priest, did not compromise himself with treason and enjoyed the ardent love and deep respect of believers. When the Red Army expelled the German invaders from the Crimea, Archpriest John, with the permission of General Vetrov, called all the believers of Simferopol to the cathedral, dilapidated by the Germans, and performed a thanksgiving prayer. Military units were present at the prayer service for the granting of victory. Ioann Krashanovsky received gratitude from the command for patriotic activities and material assistance to wounded soldiers.

Vladimir Sokolov.

Priest Vladimir Sokolov at the beginning of 1942 he was appointed to the village. Mandush, Bakhchisarai district. This village changed hands more than once. Priest Sokolov, who had a house and 16 hives, kept in touch with the partisans all the time. When Soviet paratroopers descended into the village, he received newspapers from them and distributed them, and at great risk to himself he went to listen to the radio center’s broadcast through a secret receiver. Finally, the Germans burned the house and beehives of the priest they disliked and issued an order to shoot the entire male population of the village. Fortunately, Sokolov and his son managed to escape and make their way to Simferopol. Here priest Sokolov met Smirnov, whose son and grandson organized a partisan detachment of 200 people and went into the forest. Sokolov and Smirnov again listened to radio broadcasts from Moscow and disseminated the information they received. Priest Sokolov suffered cruelly from the Germans: his two daughters, 17 and 20 years old, were taken to German penal servitude.

Pavel Andreevich Govorov.

In the Kursk region, the priest of the village of GlebovaPavel Andreevich Govorov hid pilots who had escaped from fascist captivity and helped them go over to their own, and Archpriest Semykin not only helped captured Red Army soldiers, but also, after the arrival of Soviet troops, mobilized the local population to be on duty and care for the wounded in a field hospital.

CONCLUSION:

Many clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church received state awards during the war. But among the clergy who showed themselves heroically during the war, there are names that remained unknown. The time of voluntarism and stagnation played a significant role in their oblivion. We hope that through the joint efforts of historians, local historians, and journalists, over time it will be possible to restore the names of all the ministers of the Church and the laity - those who worked for the Victory during the most difficult war years. The pure light of this feat will not go out in the coming centuries.

For connections with the partisan movement, dozens of clergy were shot or burned by the Nazis, among them priests Nikolai Ivanovich Pyzhevich, Alexander Novik, Pavel Shcherba, Pavel Sosnovsky, Nazarevsky and many others.

The Germans used repression against patriotic clergy. The Germans forced one of them to read sermons glorifying the invaders. But instead, he told the people about Dmitry Donskoy, Alexander Nevsky, Sergius of Radonezh, and how they defended Russia. For this the priestwas shot

The best representatives of the Orthodox clergy remained faithful to the basic principles and commandments of Christianity. They provided assistance and often saved people from death, regardless of their faith and nationality.

Did faith in God help you survive and win this terrible war?!

Let each of us draw conclusions, and we will read a poem by an unknown soldier, found in the pocket of a killed soldier’s tunic... eternal glory and memory to him!

Soldier's verse

found a dead soldier in the pocket of his tunic

Listen, God...
Never before in my life
I haven't talked to you, but today
I want to greet You.
You know, from childhood I was told,
That you are not there. And I, a fool, believed it.
I have never contemplated your creations.
And then last night I looked
From the crater that was knocked out by a grenade,
To the starry sky that was above me.
I suddenly realized, admiring the universe,
How cruel deception can be.
I don’t know, God, if you will give me your hand,
But I will tell you, and you will understand me:
Isn't it strange that in the midst of a terrifying hell
Suddenly the light opened up to me and I recognized You?
Apart from this I have nothing to say,
It’s just that I’m glad that I recognized you.
We are scheduled to attack at midnight,
But I’m not afraid: You’re looking at us...
Signal. Well? I have to go.
I felt good with You. I also want to say
That, as you know, the battle will be fierce,
And maybe at night I’ll knock on You.
And so, even though I have not been your friend until now,
Will you let me in when I come?
But I think I'm crying. My God, you see
What happened to me is that today I have seen the light.
Farewell, my God, I'm leaving. And I’m unlikely to return.
How strange, but now I am not afraid of death.

Mother Sophia

«
Fate leads those who want, but drags those who don’t want.”

Hardworking, humble person. Nun Sophia ended her earthly life in 2008, but she will be remembered for a long time not only in the Raifa monastery, but also in the small cozy city of Zelenodolsk...

Ekaterina Mikhailovna Osharina was involved in landscaping the city.

A wonderful master, the glory and pride of ornamental gardening in Zelenodolsk. A certified agronomist, a graduate of the Alma-Ata Agricultural Institute, she had the soul of an artist and golden hands...

Ekaterina Mikhailovna was a master, a purposeful, strong-willed person with a broad outlook. Her passion, erudition, and sociable nature helped her earn the sincere respect of flower growers and the love of numerous students.

Reflecting on her life, I remember the wise Latin saying: “Fate leads the willing, but drags the unwilling.” Here Ekaterina Mikhailovna was truly led by fate. A person of a generous soul, in love with the beauty of nature since childhood, she always surrounded her home and city with flowers; communicated with fellow hobbyists.

Ekaterina Mikhailovna participated in the Second World War and was awarded many government awards.

She gave the last years of her life to Orthodoxy and became nun Sophia.

Mother Sophia: about herself and about the war

From the very beginning of the revival of the monastery, her skillful hands create that wonderful beauty that amazes everyone who enters the Raifa monastery. Mother Sophia walked from Moscow to Berlin, fighting for her native land...

Was it scary during the war?

- When the Great Patriotic War began, I completed four courses at the Alma-Ata Institute. From the first year we were already prepared for war: some to become nurses, some to become radio operators... I ended up as a radio operator. Before being sent to the front, we spent another month studying to become gunners-radio operators. But I only had 12 sorties... At the beginning of 1942, our unit found itself in combat conditions, near Moscow.

We worked more at night, 6-8 hours. There are thousands of radio stations on the air, and among all this you need to find your own voice. If you make a mistake, that’s all... The Germans took direction finding and tried to destroy the radio operators. Therefore, stations stopped more often in the forest. And they had to be protected. You stand, the forest is noisy around... Like extraneous noise, you shout: “Stop, whoever is coming!” But no one is there, no one answers, and you just wait: now, now - once with a knife from behind! What, isn't it scary? And how!

And only to myself all the time: “Lord, save me. God help me. Lord, save”... They wore crosses on their chests. And during the entire war we did not see churches anywhere except in Orel. In the villages they were all burned.

I will never forget the eagle: a large temple on the mountain. Below is the station, all broken, everything around is in ruins, but the church has survived. I also remember the priest: small in stature, with extraordinary, somehow radiant eyes... We stood and prayed as best we could - during the months of military life we ​​had forgotten everything. And we didn’t see churches anywhere else.

And what happened when we crossed the Dnieper! In Mogilev, after the crossing, there were corpses all around - it was impossible to walk, thousands of them lie... here, here, here! Someone is still alive, grabbing you from below, from the ground - “sister, help!” And you and the radio station, you need to quickly move forward and establish communication. And they remained there, without help... In our unit, out of 25 people, only two survived. It's hard to remember.

How did you live? In tents, dugouts. Only one part will go away, after which there will be lice. Most often there was no place to wash. In Gzhatsk we were surrounded and couldn’t leave for a week. There are Germans all around, there was, there was nothing. The belts were removed and welded. It was with difficulty that we were pulled out of there.

I remember Koenigsberg. It was very difficult for him. Powerful fortifications connected by underground, large German forces, every house is a fortress. How many of our soldiers died!.. They took Koenigsberg with God's help. Monks, priests, a hundred or more people gathered. They stood up with banners, brought out the icon of the Kazan Mother of God... And all around there was a battle, the soldiers chuckled: “Well, priests, let’s go, now things will happen!” And as soon as the monks began to sing, everything fell silent. Our guys came to their senses and broke through in just a quarter of an hour... When the captured German was asked why they stopped shooting, he answered: the weapon failed. This is the power of prayer!

from the archives of the newspaper "Raifsky Vestnik"
Dmitry KATARGIN

Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov)

AND
Van Dmitrievich Pavlov born on September 8, 1919 in the village of Makovskie Vyselki, now the Mikhailovsky district of the Ryazan region, into a believing peasant family. From the age of twelve he “lived in an unbelieving environment, with his brother, and lost his spirituality.” After graduating from college, he worked as a technologist at a metallurgical plant. He was drafted into the Red Army. However, a turning point occurred in the life of Ivan Dmitrievich.

From his memoirs: “After the liberation of Stalingrad, our unit was left on guard duty in the city. There wasn't a single whole house here. One day, among the ruins of a house, I picked up a book from the trash. I began to read it and felt something so dear to my soul. This was the Gospel. I found such a treasure for myself, such a consolation!..”

With his military unit, the future father Kirill Pavlov fought as far as Austria. Sergeant Ivan Pavlov was awarded the Order of Glory and medals. In 1946, he was demobilized in Hungary and came to Moscow to serve God.

In 1953, upon graduating from the Moscow Theological Seminary (the MDS then first opened in the Novodevichy Monastery), Elder Kirill Pavlov took monastic vows at the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. Thus began Archimandrite Kirill’s long-term monastic feat of prayer. At first he was a sexton, and in 1970 he was appointed treasurer of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra and fraternal confessor.

Archimandrite Kirill spiritually cared for (was confessor) the most holy Patriarchs Alexy I, Pimen and Alexy II.

I.The relevance of research.

In connection with the declaration of 2012 as the year of Russian history, the study of the role of Orthodoxy and the Russian Orthodox Church in the victory of Russian weapons in the most difficult and dramatic periods of Russian history takes on special significance.

The purpose of our research is to study the spiritual and moral feat of the Orthodox Russian army, committed in different historical periods, when the fate of the existence of the Russian state itself, the people, their culture and faith, as the main spiritual component of human life, was being decided.

The objectives of the study are to present in chronological order the actions of the Russian Orthodox Church to unite the spiritual and moral forces of the Russian people in countering the forces trying to change the very course of our history, to erase the name of the largest and most rebellious country from political maps, to destroy the world's greatest culture and its bearer - Great Russian people.

Research methods. The limited time frame and the resulting volume of research predicted made it possible to apply the following methods:

Analysis of regulatory documents on the research topic;

Use of digital educational resources on the Internet;

Analysis and systematization of material;

Presentation of material on the theme of the conference “Russian New Martyrs” in the form of an electronic presentation, text accompaniment and a message on the research topic.

II. The role of the Orthodox Russian clergy in the victory of Russian weapons on the Kulikovo field.

The history of Ancient Rus' of the 14th century is the story of a difficult and bloody struggle to realize itself as an integral independent state.

September 8, 1380 will mark the beginning of the liberation of Rus' from the Mongol yoke. The great Russian historian Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky assesses the significance of the battle this way: “The political results of the victory on the Kulikovo Field are difficult to overestimate. The success of Russian weapons destroyed the previous belief in the invincibility of the Golden Horde, increased the number of supporters of the unification process and informed the Moscow prince of the importance of the national leader of Northern Rus'.”

Historical documents have brought to us a description of the events preceding the battle. On the eve of the battle, on August 18, 1380, the noble Prince of Moscow Demetrius asked St. Sergius of Radonezh for a blessing for the Battle of Kulikovo and also asked to give him two warriors as reinforcements - the brothers Peresvet and Oslyabya. The calling of warrior monks had primarily spiritual significance. The Monk Sergius gave them “instead of perishable weapons, an incorruptible one - the cross of Christ, sewn on the schemas, and ordered them to put it on themselves instead of gilded helmets.” Advising the monk warriors, the Monk Sergius said to them: “Peace be with you, my brothers, fight hard against the filthy Tatars as good warriors for the faith of Christ and for all Orthodox Christianity. Before the start of the battle, a trial (duel) of the monk Peresvet took place with the most experienced Mongol warrior Chelub, initiated into the highest bon of the warrior sect - “bon(g)-pon”. According to legend, he was invincible: he withstood 300 battles, and in all of them the enemy was defeated! Therefore, not just a warrior, but a warrior of Christ, endowed with spiritual, God’s power, could cope with him.

After the victory, Prince Dmitry spoke to Sergius of Radonezh: “With yours, father, favorites, and with my missives, he defeated his enemies. Your, father, weapon, named Peresvet, defeated his own kind. And if, father, it were not your armor, then, father, many Christians would have to drink a bitter cup!” Since then, the monk Peresvet has been canonized, and the Great Memorial Service is served for him and for all those killed on the Kulikovo field year after year, as long as Russia stands!

(Holy warriors Reverend Alexander Peresvet and Andrey Oslyabya (Radonezh). (ikonodel.ru/ikonograf/ikonografia/peresvet_i_oslyabya.htm)

III. The feat of the people and the Orthodox Russian clergy in the Patriotic War of 1812.

In the tenth chapter of the novel A.S. Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin” contains the lines:

“The storm of the twelfth year has arrived,

who helped us here - the frenzy of the people,

Barclay, winter or Russian God?

A partial answer to the writer’s question about the role of the Orthodox faith and its servants can be an analysis of documentary information about the participation of the Russian clergy in the Patriotic War of 1812.

In response to the Tsar's manifesto, regimental priests began serving in all newly formed regiments of the Russian regular army and regiments of the people's militia. According to the Synod archives, in 1812 the army clergy department consisted of 240 people, about 200 of them participated in the Patriotic War. 14 regimental priests were wounded and shell-shocked during the war. The priest of the Chernigov Dragoon Regiment Zabuzhenkov died in the Battle of Borodino.

The priest of the 19th Jaeger Regiment - Vasily Vasilkovsky - took part in the Vitebsk and Maloyaroslavets battles. He became the first Knight of St. George, receiving the Order of St. George, 4th class, as a reward. He died in France in 1813, during a campaign abroad.

Material assets of the Russian Orthodox Church were also sacrificed to the altar of the Fatherland. The archives of the Holy Synod contain reports of bishops of 32 dioceses on donations for the needs of the people's militia, according to which 2,405,076 rubles were collected. 60 kopecks banknotes, 20,761 rubles. 89 kopecks silver

As for the Russian soldier, he, with God’s help and led by wise military leaders, not only liberated Russia from the enemy, but once again became the liberator of Europe, thereby earning the respect and memory of his descendants!

(Yu.A. Kobyakov “The Russian Orthodox Church in the War of 1812.” topwar.ru)

(Vyacheslav Kotkov “Military Clergy of Russia”.

IV. The unity of church and state during the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945.

The relations between the Soviet state and the Russian Orthodox Church in the pre-war years were complex and contradictory.
It is impossible to deny persecution and repression against the Russian clergy and the destruction of churches, the holding of mass anti-church actions and the confiscation of church property in the interests of the state.

At the same time, it cannot be denied that the majority of the population of the Soviet Union remained religious! With the outbreak of the war, the common threat forced us to forget mutual grievances and consolidate the strength of the people to repel the enemy. Appeals from Patriarchal Locum Tenens Sergius to believers and I.V. Stalin's message to the citizens of the Soviet Union has a common spiritual message - the unity of all forces to defeat the enemy. This natural, explainable duality of the spiritual and moral choice of a common person is reflected in the poem by K. Simonov “Do you remember, Alyosha, the roads of the Smolensk region,” written in the most bitter days of the autumn of 1941.

As if behind every Russian outskirts,

Protecting the living with the cross of your hands,

Having gathered with the whole world, our great-grandfathers pray

For their grandchildren who do not believe in God.

In addition to these reverent prayers, there were other church acts that brought closer the Great Victory common to atheists and believers.

The Church immediately drew the attention of believers to the fact that Hitler’s propaganda hypocritically promises to return religious freedom to our people. On the contrary, fascism aims to destroy all religious denominations on the territory of the USSR and replace them with sectarian, pagan and occult organizations. Therefore, while defending the territory of our Motherland, we also defend the right to preserve our traditional faith. “It is not the swastika, but the Cross that is called upon to lead our Christian culture, our Christian life,” wrote Metropolitan Sergius in his Easter message on April 2, 1942.

Fundraising to help the front begins among believers for gifts for soldiers and for the maintenance of wounded and orphaned children.

On the initiative of the Church, funds are being raised to create a tank column named after. Dmitry Donskoy, then to an aviation squadron. In total, during the war years, the Russian Orthodox Church contributed more than 300 million rubles to the Defense Fund.

The active role of the Russian Orthodox Church in resisting the invaders was highly appreciated by the leadership of the party and state. In a telegram to Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius dated February 25, 1943, J.V. Stalin wrote: “I ask you to convey to the Orthodox clergy and believers, who collected 6 million rubles, gold and silver items for the construction of a tank column named after Dmitry Donskoy, my sincere greetings and gratitude to the Red Army ".

The patriotic activities of the Russian Orthodox Church and its leadership in the first years of the war played an important, if not decisive role in the authorities’ radical change in their attitude towards the Church for the better.

Previously closed parishes begin to open throughout the country (from January to November 1944 alone, more than 200 churches were opened; clergy are being ordained, spiritual education is being resumed - the Theological Institute is opening in Moscow, clergy are returning from prisons, camps and exile).

The Orthodox Church is gradually beginning to revive. This is evidenced by the following facts: from 1941 to 1951. in the Russian Orthodox Church, the number of registered parishes increased almost 5 times and amounted to approximately 14.5 thousand, the number of monasteries reached 89 (with 4.6 thousand monastics).

Thus, in a time of difficult trials for the country, the Church, with its selfless patriotic service, convinced the authorities not only of its loyalty to it, but also of devotion to its country and people, loyalty to its calling - to be the spiritual shepherd of the Orthodox people.

"The Russian Orthodox Church during the Great Patriotic War"

(http://voinstvo.com/528.html)

( S.G. Kryukov. “ROC during the Great Patriotic War” svoim.info)

VI. Test of spiritual strength: modern Russia in the confrontation with religious fanaticism and international terrorism.

The collapse of the Soviet Union became another fateful milestone on the path of the peoples of Russia.

The bloody fratricidal Chechen military campaigns became another severe test of faith and loyalty - the loyalty of the Russian soldier to the military oath and the Orthodox faith - the constant companion of the Russian Christ-loving army for centuries.

On December 11, 1994, on the basis of the decree of Russian President Boris Yeltsin “On measures to suppress the activities of illegal armed groups on the territory of the Chechen Republic,” units of the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs entered the territory of Chechnya. A new series of Caucasian wars began, started by Tsarist Russia.

One of the soldiers of this war was the border guard warrior Evgeniy Rodionov. While performing his military duty, he was captured by Chechen separatist militants, where he was humiliated and tortured for a hundred days. In response to the offer of the bandit leader to save his life at the cost of renouncing the Orthodox faith, Evgeniy refused to convert to Islam and remove the Orthodox cross. The strength of the spirit of the Russian soldier turned out to be stronger than the strength of the religious fanaticism of his tormentors.

In a rage, the bandits beheaded the martyr warrior, who had completely fulfilled his military, spiritual and moral duty to God and the Motherland.

Perhaps the feat of Yevgeny Rodionov greatly contributed to the decision of the President of the country and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to revive the institution of military priests in the Army!

Download presentation "For the Faith of the Tsar and the Fatherland"

Hundreds of priests heroically defended their Motherland during the Great Patriotic War

Hundreds of priests heroically defended their Motherland during the Great Patriotic War

In Russia it is not customary to talk about the contribution of clergy to the Victory. Some church leaders consider those priests who prayed for the Victory of the Red Army and for the success of their persecutors, the communists, to be traitors. Instead of a story about the real exploits of the clergy, they sell us the film “Pop”. Officially, the prototype of the main character is Alexei IONOV, a Vlasov priest who ran with the Germans. He is impudently credited with the heroic deeds of those priests who shared with their people all the horror of war and were faithful to the Motherland. Our story is about them.

The feat of the priests in the Great Patriotic War cannot be understood with a market mind. Judge for yourself. They defended their homeland, which, it would seem, betrayed them and mercilessly destroyed them until the war.

In 1937 alone, 136,900 Orthodox priests and clergy were arrested, of which 85,300 were shot. In 1938, 28,300 clergy were arrested, 21,500 were shot. In 1939, out of 1,500 arrested, 900 were shot. During 1940 - 1941, 9,100 clerics were arrested ov, shot - 3000.

And then, miraculously, the survivors, who served time in camps, prisons and exile, were deprived of their parishes in August 1941, the Motherland called them into service. But can a clergyman, even if deprived of a parish, take up arms and go kill?

Holy war

The offended priests only had to hide when the military registration and enlistment offices were attacked by volunteers rushing to the front. Or surrender. Which is what others did. And then, like the prototype of the hero of the film “Pop,” the Vlasov priest Alexey Ionov, evacuate with his family to Germany, then move to the USA, join the ranks of the ROCOR and today, with the help of cinema, be known in Russia as a righteous man, allegedly sent to the Gulag. But no matter how diligently the actor Sergey Makovetsky, portraying a rural priest, the film failed miserably at the box office.

Real Russian clergy did not please the enemy and were not hypocrites, hiding behind the Old Testament commandment “Thou shalt not kill,” but were guided by another commandment Christ: “Greater love has no one than this one who lays down his life for his friends.” And they prayed for their communist persecutors, just as Jesus prayed for the Jews who crucified him and the Romans who “washed their hands”: “They do not know what they are doing.”

Our Orthodox Church has always shared the fate of the people. She endured trials with him and was consoled by his successes. She will not leave her people even now. “She blesses with heavenly blessing the upcoming national feat,” the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan, wrote in his appeal on the very first day of the war Sergius (Stragorodsky), now criticized for promoting the "red demons". “And if the shepherd’s silence, his lack of concern for what his flock is experiencing is also explained by crafty considerations about possible benefits on the other side of the border, then this will be a direct betrayal of the Motherland and his pastoral duty.

Priests, deacons, singers, psalm-readers, like once the heroes of the Battle of Kulikovo, heroic monks Peresvet And Oslyabya, stood up in defense of the Russian people, fully understanding why for the Germans we were all Russians, regardless of nationality and religion.

No one kept separate records of this replenishment of the Red Army and its exploits. Archpriest Nikolay Agafonov, the author of the book “Military Feats of the Orthodox Clergy,” collecting evidence bit by bit, claims that “many hundreds of clergy who served their terms in the army became tank crews, artillerymen, and infantrymen.” More than a hundred were awarded medals and orders. 40 priests were awarded medals “For the Defense of Leningrad” and “For the Defense of Moscow.” More than 50 were awarded medals “For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War.” Several dozen received medals “Partisans of the Great Patriotic War.” And how many heroic soldiers and military officers, having given such a word to God in difficult times, became priests or monks after the war. And proudly on May 9 they pinned orders and medals to their cassocks.

Scouts and partisans

In October 1943, for the first time in the history of the Soviet Union, 12 clergy were presented with high state awards. By this time, for promoting the partisan movement only in the Polesie diocese in the territories of what is now Western Ukraine and the lands ceded to Poland, the Nazis brutally tortured and shot every second Orthodox priest. The Nazis' particular cruelty towards the Russian clergy was a terrifying countermeasure.

Having received the blessing of Metropolitan Sergius in the summer of 1942 to help the partisans in any way, the priests not only became messengers and scouts, but also joined detachments or sent their sons and daughters to serve in them. They organized interaction with the city underground, delivered false documents and clothes to the participants in the operations, transported the wounded to hospitals or to the houses of reliable people, and brought food and medicine.

Priest Vasily Kopychko managed to perform almost all of the listed functions. And he was nicknamed Politinformator by the partisans for regularly delivering Sovinformburo reports and conveying their essence to parishioners during sermons. For which the Nazis burned both the church and his house. The family was saved by parishioners. He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, II degree, as well as medals “For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War” and “For Victory over Germany.”

Hereditary priest Kosma Raina came to the partisan camp to his sons for help. Their mother, along with other partisan wives and children, was taken to a concentration camp by the Germans. Without hesitation, Father Kosma took up arms and, together with the detachment, went to recapture the women and children. The family survived and came together in 1946 when the sons returned from military service.

Hero of two world wars - peasant Fedor Puzanov He knew his letters poorly, but he knew the psalms well. For bravery in the First World War he was awarded three St. George Crosses and the St. George Medal of the 2nd degree, its analogue will be the Soviet Medal “For Courage”. In the late 1920s he became a deacon and was arrested. According to the logic of the Germans, “tsar’s warriors” like him should have fervently prayed for the victory of German weapons. And the Pskov mission, where after the execution of priests first by the Reds, then by the Nazis, such prayer services were already served, sent Father Fyodor to offer many years to the leaders of the Reich in the temple of the village of Khokhlovy Gorki in the Pskov region.

But the priest did not confuse good and evil, gained the trust of the Germans and became a partisan intelligence officer. He did not pray for the Nazis, citing lack of education and formal knowledge of the canonical service. In a word, he acted like a klutz, and he himself supplied the partisans with valuable information. And by cunning he saved more than 300 villagers, gathered by the Nazis in a convoy to be driven to Germany. Having caught up with her outside the village, Father Fyodor “warned” the Germans that there were partisans ahead, and “agreed” to watch over his fellow countrymen while the motorcycle convoy checked the situation. And he himself led people into a partisan detachment. Awarded the medal "Partisan of the Great Patriotic War". But the local hierarchs and authorities did not forget his demonstrated self-will. Soon after the Victory, the dean was relieved of his duties.

Converted the policemen

The feat of the archpriest Alexandra Romanushko, in fact, is reflected in the film “Pop”. The difference is that since the summer of 1942, Father Alexander served not in the church, but as a partisan priest in the Pinsk formation under the command of the legendary Vasily Korzh. His partisans spent 1,119 days behind enemy lines, destroyed more than 26 thousand fascists, defeated 60 German garrisons and 5 railway stations, derailed 468 trains, and destroyed 519 km of telephone and telegraph lines. Father Alexander participated in many combat and reconnaissance operations.

In the summer of 1943, local residents, the parents of a murdered policeman, came to Korzh with a request to “send the priest” to the funeral service. The general left the decision to the priest. Father Alexander arrived at the cemetery, where armed police from dozens of villages were waiting for him, accompanied by two machine gunners, put on his clothes, bowed and suddenly said: “Brothers and sisters, I understand the grief of the mother and father of the murdered man. But it was not our prayers and “Rest with the saints” that the one lying in the tomb deserved. He is a traitor to the Motherland and a murderer of innocent children and old people. Let us anathematize him!”

The policemen were dumbfounded, and the priest continued:

To you, the lost, my last request: atone for your guilt before God and people and turn your weapons against those who are destroying our people.

Some of the policemen left the cemetery together with the priest, and the rest did not dare to shoot at them. For this feat, Father Alexander was awarded the “Partisan of the Great Patriotic War” medal, 1st degree.

Golgotha ​​at Babi Yar

Ancestors of the Master of Theology Archimandrite Alexandra Vishnyakova for three centuries they were churchmen. One of them served as a priest while still in the army Ivan the Terrible on a trip to Kazan. For his feat in the First World War, Father Alexander, as an exception, was awarded the soldier's St. George Cross. When the company commander was killed and the soldiers began to retreat, the regimental priest raised his pectoral cross above his head and led the men into the attack.

I almost joined the Civil Denikin. But it was not God’s will - he came down with typhus. Then prisons, exiles, and camps began. Released in 1940, he received a parish in Kyiv, where the Germans entered on September 19, 1941. And with them are Uniates and independent autocephalists, as well as Banderaites and other nationalists, for whom Father Alexander was a “damned Muscovite” who baptized Jews. At every service, at the risk of his life, the priest read the message of Metropolitan Sergius to the Russian people. The Nazis were informed about this, and he ended up in the Gestapo. What saved him was his education, brilliant German language and the biography of a man repeatedly repressed. The Germans released Vishnyakov in the hope of using him.

On September 29, 1941, when the executions began at Babi Yar, a neighbor, a Magyar Jew, whose family the priest had baptized before the war, came running to Father Alexander for help. And he begged to save his wife and three children, the Germans took them away to be shot. Having put the St. George's Cross on his cassock, the priest went to Babi Yar. He showed the officers the family's baptismal certificate and obtained permission to find her. But I didn’t find one child until nightfall.

And the next morning his anti-Nazi sermon sounded in the church. The Gestapo did not forgive this. He was tortured for more than a month, vainly extracting the names of baptized Jews and agreement to cooperate. And on November 9, in a column of prisoners of war, Red Army soldiers, underground fighters, priests and Jews were led to execution. They took him 30 meters away from the column and shot the archpriest in front of his eyes. Pavel (Ostrenskogo) and schema-nun Esther, and then forced her to strip naked, tied her arms and legs to two crossed logs with barbed wire, doused her with gasoline and set her on fire. The police did not notice that the priest, while undressing, put his pectoral cross in his mouth.

The priest burned without opening his lips. His silence shocked even the Gestapo.

Our Lady saved the regiment

Future Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Pimen (Forever) in August 1941 was drafted into the army in Uzbekistan, where he served exile. As part of the 702nd Infantry Regiment, he fought on the Southern and Steppe fronts. He commanded a company and rose to the rank of major. Everyone knew that he was a former pop. In 1943, the regiment was surrounded, and the soldiers asked, “Pray for us, father.” Sergei Izvekov took out a small icon of the Mother of God, prayed and suggested to the staff officers the direction of the breakthrough. The regiment was saved.

But the rumor that the Mother of God herself showed Izvekov the path ended in his being sentenced to two years in prison. However, by some miracle he avoided it, ending up in the hospital with spinal tuberculosis. A document was found in the archives of the Ministry of Defense stating that Izvekov “went missing in action on June 28, 1943, was excluded (from the unit list. - E.K.) by order of the GUK NVS No. 01464 dated June 17, 1946."

They found him in the Annunciation Monastery in Murom at the request of the service that calculated pensions for Red Army soldiers amnestied in connection with the Victory over Germany. After legalization, he went through all levels of the church hierarchy, and on May 30, 1971, he was elected head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Why did Hitler open churches?

The All-Union Population Census, conducted in January 1937, showed that, despite atheistic propaganda and the mass closure of churches, two-thirds of the rural population and one-third of city residents considered themselves believers.

We know from reliable sources that the believing Russian people, groaning under the yoke of slavery and awaiting their liberator, wrote Hitler Member of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, Metropolitan Anastasy June 12, 1938 - constantly raises prayers to God that He will preserve you, guide you and grant you His all-powerful help. Your feat for the German people and the greatness of the German Empire made you an example worthy of imitation and an example of how one should love one’s people and one’s homeland, how one should stand up for one’s national treasures and eternal values.

By the summer of 1941, there were 3,732 churches operating in the USSR, including Catholic, Uniate, Protestant and others. Of these, 3,350, that is, almost all, were in Western Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and the Baltic states.

Having believed Anastasia, Hitler relied on opening churches to win the trust of Russian believers and clergy who had gone through repression.

But he miscalculated badly.

Having won back, they became monks

In Soviet times, it was customary to speak of the First World War as alien to the people and unsuccessful. The names of the heroes were deliberately kept silent: no monuments were erected to them, their exploits were not mentioned in textbooks. The feat of the military clergy was also forgotten. Only in recent years have the names of military priests who performed their pastoral duty in the war and the feats they performed become known.

There were many bright clergymen who walked along the roads of war. Thus, for some time in the ranks of the military clergy there were Archbishop of Tauride Dimitri (Abashidze) and Bishop of Dmitrov Trifon (Turkestanov). Archimandrite Nestor (Anisimov) and Hieromonk Nikolai (Yarushevich), later metropolitans, as well as famous philosophers, priests Pavel Florensky, Valentin Sventsitsky and others, visited the war as military pastors and preachers.
As in peacetime, the task of military shepherds was primarily to administer the sacraments and preach the Gospel. During the battle, in accordance with the instructions, the place of residence of the military priest was the forward dressing station (1). The wounded were brought here to be confessed and given communion. The priests also had to have medical skills, so that, if necessary, they could help doctors and with
anitaram in their work. In between battles, the shepherd served prayers at the positions and talked with the soldiers. The priest’s task also included the burial of the dead. Surprisingly, examples of true heroism took place everywhere - both in rear hospitals and on the front line.

A feat, but not a duty

The idea of ​​the exploits of the military clergy often comes down to the stereotype that clergy in war, if necessary, led soldiers into the attack. But from a pastoral point of view, this feat was controversial. Protopresbyter George Shavelsky, recognizing in such a manifestation of heroism the highest love for one’s neighbor, was still against making such a feat a duty, for this would turn the ministry of a shepherd into military service (2). However, the patriotic upsurge was so great that there were many such cases.

On June 24, 1915, the hieromonk of the Nilova Hermitage of the Tver province Ambrose accomplished the feat (3). During the battle near the village of Boby, New Alexandria district (Poland), when the grenadiers wavered, the hero-hieromonk with a cross in his hands led them into battle. The Germans were overthrown, but Fr. Ambrose died (4). Another case is also known. On August 29, 1914, the regiment in which Hieromonk Felix (Nosilnikov) performed his duties was ordered to go on the offensive. Seeing that the soldiers were hesitating, the shepherd, coming forward, with an inspired speech and his own example, carried the soldiers into the attack. When the offensive stalled, Hieromonk Felix refused to retreat and with 30 soldiers remained on the front line under constant fire.

In the battle on October 19, 1916, the priest of the 318th Chernoyarsk regiment, Alexander Tarnoutsky, was killed. Death overtook the shepherd when he walked ahead of his regiment with a cross in his hands. A similar feat was accomplished in the same year by priest Vasily Shpichak. The Kazan Dragoon Regiment, where Father Vasily served, received orders to attack the Austrians. However, confusion arose in the regiment. Then Fr. Vasily rushed forward on his horse, shouting “Follow me, guys!”, and behind him, inspired by his example, was the entire regiment (5). The names of other shepherds who led the soldiers in the attack are known. These are Archpriest Sergius Sokolovsky, priests Viktor Kashubsky, John Terlitsky, John Dolishchinsky, Mikhail Dudnitsky.

In the trenches

Some priests died while performing services and preaching at the forefront.
One of the most striking examples of asceticism and heroism is the service of the priest Alexander Voznesensky. This shepherd graduated from the Yaroslavl Theological Seminary and the Moscow Theological Academy, and served for several years in Prague, where he studied the movement of the followers of Jan Hus. The result of these studies was a voluminous work on the Hussite movement, to which Hus's correspondence was attached. Father Alexander is the author of an akathist to the blessed Prince Vyacheslav of Czech; he also translated several church services into Czech. The further service of priest Alexander was connected with the army, where he managed to establish good relations with the soldiers. He spoke to them simply and never showed off his education. “I was more than once surprised at his endurance,” recalled priest G. Karmazin, “when, despite the consequences of paralysis of his leg, he cheerfully walked in a row of soldiers, having a conversation with them as he walked.”

During the First World War, Father Alexander had to lead his regiment into attack more than once. Often, under enemy fire, he bid farewell to the dying and buried the dead. On July 8, 1915, near the town of Pokroy (Lithuania), he had to be buried under enemy heavy artillery fire. The priest recalled: “They dug graves lying down, and I, lying ... in a trench, buried the dead... At night everyone left, but they didn’t warn me about the departure. I had to grope my way, without maps or a guide, and almost got to the Germans.” The fulfillment of duties did not interfere with the ascetic life of the priest. Shortly before his death, he turned to the former rector of the Moscow Theological Academy, Archbishop Anthony (Khrapovitsky), with a request to bless him to enter the monastery. However, the archpastor did not advise Father Alexander to abandon the regiment until the end of the war. The shepherd remained in the active army, although he led a monastic life, and in his house he read services and akathists until late. The priest had a presentiment of his death. In the summer of 1915, walking with priest Sergius Florinsky through the village of Daugishki, he stopped at a fork in the road where a cross was erected. “Here,” said the shepherd, “in this place, bury me; There’s no need for a coffin, bury you like a soldier, just wear a black cassock.”

The shepherd's life was cut short on August 6, 1915. After serving the prayer service, Father Alexander went into the trenches to sprinkle the soldiers with holy water. Here the priest was mortally wounded by a bullet and died ten minutes later. As Father Alexander bequeathed, he was buried at a fork in the road near the village of Daugishki (presumably on the territory of Lithuania), but, contrary to his request, in a coffin and in full vestments6.
Other shepherds also suffered death in the trenches. Thus, on May 8, 1915, priest Philip Gorbanevsky, who before the war was a teacher of the law at the Elisabeth Women's Gymnasium in Moscow, died. He went to war voluntarily. An enemy shell hit the trench where the shepherd was located. O. Philip was mortally wounded (7). Archpriest Joakinf Sedletsky (2nd Life-Ulan Courland Regiment) also fulfilled his pastoral duty until his last breath. On August 12, 1916, while visiting the trenches, the shepherd was hit by a bullet in the forehead (8).

Next to the wounded and dead

The ministry of shepherds at dressing stations was not easy and dangerous. On May 19, 1915, priest Alexy Misevich died at a forward dressing station near the town of Krakovets (Lviv region). The enemy discovered a dressing station and began to fire heavy shells at it. One of the shells fell on the roof of the building. O. Alexy received a severe concussion and died of a broken heart (9).
Serving in the State Hospital
Italy also harbored another danger - the risk of infection. Among the shepherds who died under these conditions, one can remember the priest Gabriel Popovichenko. On July 18, 1914, he was called up for mobilization into the active army, was a regimental and then a hospital chaplain. That same autumn, in the city of Sambir (Lviv region) there were several hospitals, many of which did not have their own priests. Father Gabriel volunteered to perform pastoral duties in the Fergana infirmary for acutely infectious patients. The dean was against it and proposed sending a lone priest or hieromonk instead of Father Gabriel. However, Popovichenko insisted that he be taken to this hospital.

“Whoever has visited such hospitals at least once,” wrote a contemporary, “will understand the burden of serving in them. We can safely say that more difficult impressions can hardly be taken from anywhere else. These are the chambers of the living dead, with terribly thin, emaciated, exhausted faces, with wandering, inflamed or almost extinguishing gazes of dying life, where you hear constant groans or feverish delirium, - where you are surrounded by a terribly heavy atmosphere with the constant danger of infection, which is slowly but will surely undermine your body, where the presence of death is felt everywhere, vigilantly guarding its victims.” It was under such conditions that Father Gabriel served. In the spring of 1915, he contracted typhus and died on May 26 of that year. He is survived by his wife and four children (10).
The shepherds also showed real heroism during the burial of the dead.

This work was not as simple as it might seem. Collecting the dead from the battlefield while the regiment went ahead was very difficult. The priest sometimes had to search for the bodies of the dead in huge areas. “I traveled across the field of our first battle,” wrote priest M. Shcherbakov, “on August 20, 21, and 22, but I could not travel around or explore it. The line of advance of our regiment was three versts wide, we launched the attack almost 6 versts from the enemy’s trench line and drove the enemy from his position 2-3 versts. This means that it was necessary to explore approximately 25 square miles. There were several villages, forests, arable fields, sand, bushes, swamps.”

According to the current regulations, local residents had to bury the dead under the direction of a priest. Teams were also created to dig graves, usually consisting of orderlies and musicians. However, in practice, there might not have been any inhabitants in the battle area, and the funeral teams were often far away. Two people (a priest and a psalm-reader), of course, could not have gathered the dead in one place, dug a grave and erected a cross. Each time the shepherd himself looked for assistants to perform the burial and attracted random people (11). It should be added that the search for the dead and their burial sometimes had to be done under fire. Often priests died. So, on the night of May 21-22, 1915, near the city of Lyubachev (Poland), the famous missionary priest Elpidy Osipov died while carrying the dead from the battlefield and burying the dead. An enemy shell exploded so close to the shepherd that the orderlies could only find some parts of his body, which they identified by his clothing (12). On January 22, 1916, near the village of Glinitsa (Belarus), priest Alexander Yazlovsky, who was removing the dead from the battlefield along with four soldiers, was killed by an explosive bullet (13).

The naval clergy also carried out the feat of their service. In October 1914, Hieromonk Anthony (Smirnov) died at the Prut minelayer. The shepherd refused to leave the sinking ship so as not to take up space in the boat. “Save yourself; You
are young, but I have already lived in this world and am old,” said Father Ant
ony. The shepherd overshadowed the fleeing soldiers with a cross and disappeared inside the ship, which soon sank into the water (14).

Captured next to the flock

A considerable number of military priests were captured. And there they were at their post - next to the flock. They continued to fulfill their priestly duty in the conditions of camp life, sharing with the soldiers all the hardships and sorrows.

The hardships were indeed serious. According to priest Nikolai Bolbochan, life in the camp was so difficult that “many priests could not stand these conditions and, broken morally and physically, became disabled and were released to Russia, some of them have already died.” According to Nikolai’s father, in winter in his barracks the water in a bucket froze. The food was also meager: “In the morning, “coffee” consisting of boiled grated wild chestnuts and chicory without milk and sugar; at 12 noon, boiled peas, rutabaga, or fodder carrots; at 6 p.m., cornmeal soup mixed with 25% sawdust. Receiving lunch from outside is prohibited in most camps.” It is not surprising that Father Nikolai Balbochan was reduced to tuberculosis during 23 months of captivity and survived only because he was released to Russia when the disease was still in its early stages.

The priest of the 128th Stary Oskol regiment, Vladimir Kavsky, who died of bronchitis, and also Hieromonk John (Zhuk), who performed pastoral duties in the 301st field reserve hospital, did not return from captivity. Soon after returning from captivity, the priest of the Novogeorgievsk military hospital, Leonid Stefanov, as well as the priest Georgy Gromov, died. The latter, during the attack on March 27, 1915, received a concussion in the head and was captured, and many soldiers of the regiment considered him dead (15). However, Father George survived. After spending 16 months in Wegscheidt near Linz, in a camp for captured officers, he returned to Russia and was assigned to the 280th Sursky Regiment. In the fall of 1917, the shepherd went on vacation to the village of Suzdalskoye, Tomsk diocese, where he died suddenly on November 17, 1917 (16). Of course, shell shock and being in captivity played an important role in this premature death (Father George was just over 50 years old).

Carrying out pastoral duties in such conditions was necessary, but often difficult. First of all, it was necessary to organize the performance of worship. Being far from their homeland, surrounded by hostile, non-religious people, captured soldiers and officers experienced a longing for everything that was connected with the Fatherland and the Church. The divine service provided an opportunity not only to connect with God, but also to plunge into the familiar atmosphere of Orthodox life. Priest Anthony Zhukovich recalled that during his first service, the sobs of those crying were drowned out by pastoral cries - the priest had never seen greater reverence.

But it was not always possible to perform divine services. The camp authorities clearly did not want to entrust the spiritual care of prisoners of war to Russian priests by nationality and prevented this in every possible way. Russian shepherds were not allowed, for example, into special camps for captured Ukrainians, whom the German-Austrian command tried to win over to their side. In such camps, prisoners were not limited in their religious services; they were even allowed to build churches with bell towers. Orthodox priests, citizens of Austria-Hungary, mainly Galicians and Bukovinians served here (17). To care for Russian prisoners of war, the German-Austrian command also tried to provide priests - citizens of their countries (18).

However, it was impossible to find the required number of priests for all camps in Germany and Austria-Hungary. The camp authorities had to put up with the fact that captured priests took over the services for prisoners of war. While formally not objecting to the holding of services, the camp leadership in fact often prevented the priests from performing their duties. Priest Anthony Zhukovich, for example, wrote that the Germans allowed him to perform divine services only a month after his insistent demands. However, permission to hold services did not mean that they would proceed unhindered. “The local camp authorities,” the shepherd recalled, “in the person of commanders, non-commissioned officers and even lower ranks, with all possible measures, always prevented the free and calm performance of worship<…>There were also cases when the outside guards of the camps did not give me and the guard a pass into the camp, they kept me at the camp for several hours, and I returned to my quarters with nothing - to the city barracks” (19).

The German-Austrian command also had a different attitude towards pastoral preaching. In some camps, priests were allowed to preach sermons, which were necessary not only for the spiritual support of the soldiers, but also to prevent falling away into sects, because propaganda of Stundo-Baptism was actively carried out among Russian prisoners (20). However, there is information that not all pastors were given such freedom. There were camps in which not only preaching was prohibited, but even conversations with prisoners of war. The shepherds recalled that seeing their compatriots and not being able to talk with them was unbearably difficult. The mistrust of priests on the part of the Germans was sometimes so great that even giving instructions to the dying was allowed in exceptional cases, for example, when they were actually unconscious (21).

And yet, the pastors managed to achieve both the performance of divine services and even the delivery of sermons. In some camps, where there were several priests, services were held daily (22).

On two fronts

Lists of clergy who suffered during the war were published in the “Bulletin of Military and Naval Clergy.” According to these lists, during the First World War, from 1914 to October 1917, 25 priests were killed, 54 priests died from wounds and illnesses, and 80 clergy received non-fatal wounds. 76 military priests passed through German-Austrian captivity. In fact, there were more casualties - firstly, not all injuries were recorded, and secondly, many priests died from their wounds upon returning home.

Many military pastors testified to their fidelity to Christ after the disaster of 1917. Preserved by God on the battlefield, they were sentenced to death by the new government. Here are the names of some of them: Archpriest Mikhail Chafranov (served in Sevastopol), shot in December 1917; chief priest of the Southwestern Front, Archpriest Vasily Griftsov, killed in 1918; Hieromartyr Alexy Stavrovsky, shot in 1918 as a hostage in response to the murder of the head of the Petrograd Cheka M. Uritsky. These are also military shepherds - holy martyrs Sergius Florinsky, Alexy Saburov, Nikolai Probatov, Stefan Khitrov. The head of the military leadership, Protopresbyter Georgy Shavelsky, and the chief priest of the Black Sea Fleet, Archpriest Roman Medved, miraculously escaped execution.

However, most of the former military priests died during the years of Stalin's rule. In 1929, the holy martyr Archbishop of Voronezh Peter (Zverev) died in the Solovetsky camp. Mass executions of the clergy, as is known, took place in 1937–1938. During these years, many bishops and priests who had previously served in the active army were shot. Among them are the holy martyrs Bishop Anthony of Belgorod (Pankeev), Bishop of Tula Onisim (Pylaev), Bishop of Bezhetsk Arkady (Ostalsky), Bishop of Yekaterinburg Arkady (Ershov), Bishop of Yekaterinoslav Macarius (Karmazin), Archpriest Vasily Yagodin, as well as the holy martyrs Hegumen Gabriel (Vladimirov) ), Hieromonk Joseph (Shakhov) and others. In 1937, shortly after returning from the camp, the priest, Archpriest Roman Medved, died. The shepherd's health was so undermined that the NKVD officers, who came to arrest him once again, changed their minds at the last moment.

***
During the First World War, it was planned to create a book in memory of Russian heroes. Of course, after the revolution this project was never implemented. However, at present, the creation of such a book seems quite possible. Priests who fulfilled their duty during the war years could also take a worthy place on its pages. And the duty of their descendants is to strive to ensure that these names are not forgotten.

Notes

1 Bulletin of the Military and Naval Clergy (hereinafter referred to as VViMD). 1914. No. 17. P. 598.
2 Shavelsky G., protopr. Orthodox shepherding. SPb.: RKhGI. 1996. P. 504.
3 Rybakov V. † Hieromonk Ambrose // VViMD. 1915. No. 18. P. 565.
4 A.S., priest. In memory of Hieromonk Ambrose // VViMD. 1915. No. 17. P. 542.
5 Shavelsky G., protopr. Memoirs of the last protopresbyter of the Russian army and navy. M., 1996. T. 2. P. 103–104.
6 Karmazin G., priest. In memory of the hero priest Fr. Alexander Pavlovich Voznesensky // VViMD. 1916. No. 5. P. 143–145; Annenkov A. The Glorious Death of a Military Shepherd // VViMD. 1915. No. 18. P. 570; † In memory of the shepherd-hero // VViMD. 1915. No. 17. P. 540
7 Titov A. Priest-hero // VViMD. 1915. No. 13–14. pp. 424–426.
8 Matkovsky, colonel. The Glorious Death of a Shepherd // VViMD. 1916. No. 19. P. 596.
9 Rybakov V., priest. In memory of Fr. Alexy Misevich // VViMD. 1915. No. 21. P. 664.
10 Ibid. V.R., priest. † Priest Fr. Gabriel Popovichenko // VViMD. 1915.
No. 15–16. pp. 496–497.
11 Shcherbakov M., priest. Letters from the active army // VViMD. 1915. No. 5.
P. 134; No. 6. pp. 179–180.
12 V.R. In memory of priest E.M. Osipova // VViMD. 1915. No. 15–16. P. 495.
13 The feat of the priests of the N Kuban Plastun brigade S. Tikhomirov and A. Yazlovsky // VViMD. 1916. No. 6. P. 189.
14 Heroic death of the hieromonk of the “Prut” transport Anthony // VViMD. 1914.
No. 22. P. 764.
15 Church-social thought (TSOM). 1917. No. 1. P. 48; No. 7. P. 30; No. 10.
pp. 27–28; † Regimental priest Vladimir Andreevich Kavsky // VViMD. 1915.
No. 13–14. P. 438; News from captivity // VViMD. 1915. No. 19. P. 603; Rufimsky P. priest. On the battlefields // VViMD. 1915. No. 17. P. 534.
16 Russian State Military Historical Archive (RGVIA). F. 2044. Op. 1. D. 25. L. 954.
17 Zhukovich A. priest. From the memoirs of a captive priest // VViMD. 1916.
No. 15–16. pp. 483, 486.
18 Sukachev V., priest. In captivity // VViMD. 1915. No. 21. P. 662.
19 Zhukovich A. priest. From the memoirs of a captive priest // VViMD. 1916.
No. 15–16. P. 483.
20 TsOM. 1917. No. 10. P. 27.
21 Zhukovich A. priest. From the memoirs of a captive priest // VViMD. 1916.
No. 15–16. pp. 482–484.
22 Priests in captivity // VViMD. 1915. No. 23. P. 728.

Priests have accompanied warriors since ancient times, but until the beginning of the 18th century. the ministry of military shepherds was not orderly. Under Tsar Peter I, their activities began to be regulated by the Charter, as a result of which a group of shepherds, directly connected with the army and navy, gradually began to emerge from the priestly class. Under Emperor Paul, the military priests were headed by the chief chief priest of the army and navy. Since 1890, the military clergy was subordinate to the protopresbyter of the army and navy. Pastors who served in the military-spiritual department did not depend on the diocesan bishop, but reported directly to the protopresbyter. By the beginning of the First World War, the head of the military clergy was Protopresbyter Georgy Shavelsky (1871–1951).

For a variety of reasons, many wanted to join the ranks of the military clergy. To a large extent this was due to material interest. If the parish priest at the beginning of the 20th century. had on average 500–600 rubles a year, then the regimental - 900 rubles. City and especially rural clergy were often in need: for example, Metropolitan Evlogy (Georgievsky) recalled what agony it was for his priest father to get an extra 10–15 rubles to pay for his children’s education. Military shepherds did not encounter such a problem.
By the beginning of the First World War, there were 730 priests and 150 deacons in the Russian army and navy (GARF. F. 1486. ​​Op. 1. D. 8. P. 417). However, with the outbreak of hostilities, the number of military pastors increased sharply due to the clergy mobilized from the dioceses, and reached 5 thousand people. It is quite difficult to determine the exact number of clergy who passed through the army and navy: the composition of the military clergy changed due to the fact that some priests returned to the dioceses, and others came to take their place. In addition, some shepherds served in sanitary units and trains.

Kronstadt Epiphany Naval Cathedral. 1913

Construction of a camp church by soldiers of the Dukhovshchinsky regiment. Active army. 1915–1917

Protopresbyter Alexander Shabashev, awarded the pectoral cross with St. George's ribbon, regimental priest of the 233rd Starobelsky Infantry Regiment

Andrey Kostryukov

Archpriest Nikolai (Agafonov)- an outstanding Orthodox writer, priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, missionary, preacher. Rector of the Church of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women in Samara. Member of the Union of Writers of Russia.

Father was born in 1955 in the tiny village of Usva, Perm Territory. Then the family moved to the Volga, where he spent his childhood. He finished school in Tolyatti, then served in the army. In 1976 he was enrolled in the Moscow Theological Seminary. A year later he was ordained a deacon, and in 1979 a presbyter. The priest serves in small rural churches, then he is assigned to Volgograd. In 1992 he graduated from the Leningrad Theological Academy. By decree of the Holy Synod, priest Nikolai Agafonov was appointed to the responsible position of rector of the newly created Saratov Theological Seminary. In 1997, he moved to Volgograd, where he took the post of rector of the church in honor of the Great Martyr Paraskeva, and also became the head of the Volgograd diocese. Under his direct supervision, two missionary churches were built afloat. For this, Patriarch Alexy II will honor Father Nicholas with the Order of St. Innocent, III degree.

In 2002, the first two stories by Archpriest Nikolai Agafonov were published. This is how his literary journey began. Today he has written such well-known collections of stories as “Uninvented Stories”, “The Light of the Golden Moon”, “Overcoming Gravity”, “A Very Important Deed”, “The Restless Foolishness of Simple Stories”, etc. He is the author of the wonderful historical novel “Myrrh-Bearing Wives” ", dedicated to the great and modest feat of quiet, unnoticed women who followed Christ. They are for each of us an example of worthy service to God and people. In the preface to the book, the author himself writes that it is difficult to overestimate the feat of the myrrh-bearing women. They have always been an example for Christians. And also for Russian women, who in the hard years of the beginning of the 20th century, when priests were killed, churches were burned, preserved the faith and saved many shrines from desecration. Perhaps it is thanks to such modest Russian women that faith in our country has not faded away. Father also wrote an outstanding novel “”. The author managed to create a living image of the great enlightener, unique poet, writer of the 8th century - St. John of Damascus. The novel is set against the backdrop of a brutal war between Christians and Muslims.

Priest Nikolai Agafonov also writes for children. Little readers really like his story “Puppy Sleepyhead.” It teaches kindness and sincere empathy. After all, even for an adult it is not easy to give away what is very dear to him. And some little boy whose most important dream came true - he was given a puppy. And suddenly it has to be given away?

For his work, Archpriest Nikolai Agafonov was awarded the Crystal Rose Prize by Victor Rozov in 2005, the Prize of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky in 2007, and the Patriarchal Literary Prize in 2014.