Prayer assistance to the church The role of the Russian Orthodox Church in WWII

Each epoch in its own way tested the patriotism of believers constantly educated by the Russian Orthodox Church, their readiness and ability to serve reconciliation and truth. And each era has preserved in church history, along with the high images of saints and ascetics, examples of patriotic and peace-making service to the Motherland and people of the best representatives of the Church.

Russian history is dramatic. Not a single century has passed without wars, large or small, that have tormented our people and our land. The Russian Church, condemning the war of conquest, at all times blessed the feat of defense and defense of the native people and the Fatherland. Story Ancient Russia allows you to trace the constant influence of the Russian Church and the great church-historical figures on social events and the fate of people.

The beginning of the twentieth century in our history was marked by two bloody wars: the Russo-Japanese (1904) and the First World War (1914), during which the Russian Orthodox Church rendered effective mercy, helping refugees and evacuees destitute from the war, the hungry and the wounded, created in monasteries infirmaries and hospitals.

The war of 1941 fell upon our land as a terrible disaster. Metropolitan Sergius, who headed the Russian Orthodox Church after Patriarch Tikhon, wrote in his Appeal to pastors and believers on the very first day of the war: “Our Orthodox Church has always shared the fate of the people... She will not leave her people even now. She blesses with a heavenly blessing the upcoming national feat ... blesses all Orthodox to defend the sacred borders of our Motherland ... ”Turning to Soviet soldiers and officers brought up in the spirit of devotion to another - the socialist Fatherland, its other symbols - the party, the Komsomol, the ideals of communism , the archpastor urges them to take an example from Orthodox great-grandfathers, who valiantly repelled the enemy invasion of Russia, to be equal to those who, by feats of arms and heroic courage, proved to her holy, sacrificial love. It is characteristic that he calls the army Orthodox, he calls for sacrificing himself in battle for the Motherland and faith.

At the call of Metropolitan Sergius, from the very beginning of the war, Orthodox believers collected donations for defense needs. In Moscow alone, in the first year of the war, more than three million rubles were raised in parishes to help the front. 5.5 million rubles were collected in the churches of besieged exhausted Leningrad. The Gorky church community donated more than 4 million rubles to the defense fund. And there are many such examples. These funds, collected by the Russian Orthodox Church, were invested in the creation of a flying squadron named after Alexander Nevsky and a tank column named after Dmitry Donskoy. In addition, the fees went to the maintenance of hospitals, assistance to war invalids and orphanages. Everywhere they offered fervent prayers in churches for the victory over fascism, for their children and fathers on the fronts fighting for the Fatherland. The losses suffered by our people in the Patriotic War of 41-45 are colossal.

It must be said that after the German attack on the USSR, the position of the Church changed dramatically: on the one hand, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), Locum Tenens, immediately took a patriotic position; but, on the other hand, the occupiers came with a false in essence, but with an outwardly effective slogan - the liberation of Christian civilization from Bolshevik barbarism. It is known that Stalin was in a panic, and only on the tenth day of the Nazi invasion he addressed the peoples in a broken voice through a loudspeaker: “Dear compatriots! Brothers and sisters!...". He also had to remember the Christian appeal of believers to each other.

The day of the Nazi attack fell on June 22, this is the day of the Orthodox holiday, All the Saints in the Russian land shone. And this is no coincidence. This is the day of the New Martyrs - the many millions of victims of the Leninist-Stalinist terror. Any believer could interpret this attack as retribution for the beating and torment of the righteous, for the fight against God, for the last "godless five-year plan" announced by the communists. Across the country, bonfires were burning from icons, religious books and notes of many great Russian composers (Bortnyansky, Glinka, Tchaikovsky), the Bible and the Gospel. The Union of Militant Atheists (SVB) staged orgy and pandemonium of anti-religious content. These were real anti-Christian sabbaths, unsurpassed in their ignorance, blasphemy, desecration of the holy feelings and traditions of their ancestors. Temples were closed everywhere, the clergy and Orthodox confessors were exiled to the Gulag; there was a total destruction of the spiritual foundations in the country - honor, conscience, decency, mercy. All this continued with manic desperation under the leadership of the "leader of the world revolution", and then his successor - I. Stalin.

Therefore, for believers, this was a well-known compromise: either to rally to repel the invasion in the hope that after the war everything would change, that this would be a harsh lesson for the tormentors, perhaps the war would sober up the authorities and force them to abandon the theomachist ideology and policy towards the Church. Or recognize the war as an opportunity to overthrow the communists by allying with the enemy. It was a choice between two evils - either an alliance with an internal enemy against an external enemy, or vice versa. And it must be said that this was often an insoluble tragedy of the Russian people on both sides of the front during the war. But the Holy Scripture itself said that “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy...” (John 10:10). And the treacherous and cruel enemy knew neither pity nor mercy - more than 20 million who fell on the battlefield, tortured in fascist concentration camps, ruins and conflagrations on the site of flourishing cities and villages. Ancient Pskov, Novgorod, Kyiv, Kharkov, Grodno, Minsk churches were barbarously destroyed; our ancient cities and unique monuments of Russian ecclesiastical and civil history have been bombed to the ground.

“War is a terrible and disastrous thing for the one who undertakes it needlessly, without truth, with the greed of robbery and enslavement, on him lies all the shame and curse of heaven for the blood and for the disasters of his own and others,” he wrote in his appeal to believers June 26, 1941 Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod Alexy, who shared with his flock all the hardships and hardships of the two-year siege of Leningrad.

On June 22, 1941, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) had just served a festive liturgy, as he was informed of the outbreak of war. He immediately delivered a patriotic speech-sermon that in this time of universal misfortune the Church “will not leave its people even now. She blesses ... and the upcoming nationwide feat. Anticipating the possibility of an alternative solution by believers, Vladyka urged the priesthood not to indulge in thoughts “about possible benefits on the other side of the front.” In October, when the Germans were already standing near Moscow, Metropolitan Sergius condemned those priests and bishops who, finding themselves in occupation, began to cooperate with the Germans. This, in particular, concerned another metropolitan, Sergius (Voskresensky), the exarch of the Baltic republics, who remained in the occupied territory, in Riga, and made his choice in favor of the occupiers. The situation was not easy. Distrustful Stalin sends, nevertheless, despite the appeal, Bishop Sergius (Stragorodsky) to Ulyanovsk, allowing him to return to Moscow only in 1943.

The policy of the Germans in the occupied territories was quite flexible, they often opened churches desecrated by the communists, and this was a serious counterbalance to the imposed atheistic worldview. Stalin understood this too. To confirm Stalin in the possibility of changing church policy, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) November 11, 1941. writes a message in which, in particular, he seeks to deprive Hitler of his claims to the role of defender of Christian civilization: "Progressive humanity declared a holy war on Hitler for Christian civilization, for freedom of conscience and religion." However, the topic of defending Christian civilization was never directly accepted by Stalinist propaganda. To a greater or lesser extent, all concessions to the Church were with him until 1943. cosmetic character.

In the Nazi camp, Alfred Rosenberg, who headed the Eastern Ministry, was responsible for church policy in the occupied territories, being the governor-general of the "Eastern Land", as the territory of the USSR under the Germans was officially called. He was against the creation of all-territorial unified national church structures and was generally a staunch enemy of Christianity. As you know, the Nazis used various occult practices to achieve power over other peoples, and even the mysterious SS structure "Ananerbe" was created, making voyages to the Himalayas, Shambhala and other "places of power", and the SS organization itself was built on the principle of a knightly order with corresponding "initiations", hierarchy and represented Hitler's oprichnina. Runic signs became its attributes: double lightning bolts, a swastika, a skull with bones. Anyone who joined this order dressed himself in the black attire of the Fuhrer's Guard, became an accomplice in the sinister karma of this satanic semi-sect and sold his soul to the devil.

Rosenberg especially hated Catholicism, believing that it represented a force capable of resisting political totalitarianism. Orthodoxy, on the other hand, he saw as a kind of colorful ethnographic ritual, preaching meekness and humility, which only plays into the hands of the Nazis. The main thing is to prevent its centralization and transformation into a single national church. However, Rosenberg and Hitler had serious disagreements, since the first in the program included the transformation of all nationalities of the USSR into formally independent states under the control of Germany, and the second was fundamentally against the creation of any states in the east, believing that all Slavs should become slaves of the Germans. Others just need to be destroyed. Therefore, in Kyiv, at Babi Yar, automatic bursts did not subside for days. The conveyor of death was running smoothly here. More than 100 thousand killed - such is the bloody harvest of Babi Yar, which has become a symbol of the Holocaust of the twentieth century. The Gestapo, together with police henchmen, destroyed entire settlements, burning their inhabitants to the ground. In Ukraine, there were not one Oradour and not one Lidice, destroyed by the Nazis in Eastern Europe, but hundreds. If, for example, 149 people died in Khatyn, including 75 children, then in the village of Kryukovka in the Chernihiv region, 1290 households were burned, more than 7 thousand inhabitants were killed, hundreds of them were children. In 1944, when the Soviet troops fought to liberate Ukraine, they everywhere found traces of the terrible repressions of the occupiers. The Nazis shot, strangled in gas chambers, hanged and burned: in Kyiv - more than 195 thousand people, in the Lviv region - more than half a million, in the Zhytomyr region - over 248 thousand, and in total in Ukraine - over 4 million people. special role in the system of the Nazi genocide industry, concentration camps were carried out: Dachau, Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald, Flossenburg, Mauthausen, Ravensbrück, Salaspils and other death camps. In total, 18 million people passed through the system of such camps (in addition to the prisoner of war camps directly in the combat zone), 12 million prisoners died: men, women, children.

The organization of Ukrainian nationalists (OUN) was also an accomplice of the Nazis. The OUN had its headquarters in Berlin, and since 1934. was a special department in the staff of the Gestapo. Between 1941 and 1954 OUN killed 50 thousand Soviet soldiers and 60 thousand civilians of Ukraine, including several thousand children of Polish and Jewish nationality. It is possible that these "patriots" would not have acted so cruelly if they had been restrained from unbridled violence by the Greek Catholic Church. During the ugly massacre of the Lviv professors in 1941, the UGCC did not condemn the rioters and did not prevent the bloody massacre. And on September 23, 1941. Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky sent a congratulation to Hitler on the occasion of the capture of Kyiv. In particular, he wrote: “Your Excellency! As head of the UGCC, I convey to your Excellence my heartfelt congratulations on the capture of the capital of Ukraine - the golden-domed city on the Dnieper Kyiv... From now on, the fate of our people is given by God primarily into your hands. I will pray to God for the blessing of victory, which will be the guarantee of a lasting peace for your Excellence, the German army and the German nation. Then agitation began for those wishing to join the ranks of the SS division "Galicia". Uniate priests, the episcopate and personally Metropolitan Sheptytsky were forced to take the path of blessing the fratricidal slaughter. Recruitment centers were located directly in the Uniate parishes.

In the city of Skalata, a local Uniate priest submitted an anti-Semitic petition to the invaders. In the town of Glinyany, priest Gavrilyuk led a group of OUN members who killed all the Jews who lived in the town. And in the village of Yablunitsy, a local Uniate pastor provoked nationalists against defenseless Jews who were drowned in the Cheremosh River.

No matter what the OUN-UPA “lawyers” say today, who are trying to rehabilitate the militants as fighters against the German occupiers, they even gave them the status of veterans today, but real liberator veterans will never “fraternize” with the “forest brothers”. At the Nuremberg Trials, among other issues, the subject of the OUN was also raised. Former Abwehr employee Alfons Paulus testified: “... In addition to the Bandera and Melnik group, the Abwehr command used the church ... In the training camps of the Governor General, the priests of the Ukrainian Uniate Church were also trained, who took part in our tasks along with other Ukrainians. ..Arriving in Lvov with the 202-B team (subgroup 11), Lieutenant Colonel Aikern established contact with the metropolitan ... Metropolitan Count Sheptytsky, as Aikern told me, was pro-German, provided his house for the 202 team ... Later Aikern as the head teams and the head of the OST department ordered all detachments subordinate to him to establish contact with the church and maintain it. An indispensable ritual of the OUN legionnaires was taking an oath to the Fuhrer, in which Ukraine was not mentioned in a single word.

The Nazis proclaimed: "Germany above all!". Where the nation is "above everything" - above Christianity with its ethical laws and anthropological universalism, above the postulates of morality and the norms of human society, "above everything called God or holy things" (2 Thess. 2:7), above FAITH, HOPE, LOVE - there nationalism turns into Nazism, and patriotism into chauvinism and fascism.

Gloomy autumn day. The mournful road of death, under the escort of Germans and policemen, went to Babi Yar a column of exhausted, beaten and hungry people. There were also Orthodox priests in this column, sentenced to death on the basis of denunciations from the OUN. Among the suicide bombers was Archimandrite Alexander (Vishnyakov). The story of his tragic death was recorded according to the testimony of eyewitnesses who miraculously escaped death: “The column was divided. The priests were led forward to the edge of the cliff. Archimandrite Alexander was pushed out of the general group and taken away about 30 meters away. Several machine gunners dispassionately and clearly shot a group of priests. Then Ukrainian policemen in embroidered shirts and armbands approached Fr Alexander and forced him to strip naked. At this time, he hid his pectoral cross in his mouth. The policemen broke down two trees and made a cross out of them. They tried to crucify the priest on this cross, but they did not succeed. Then they twisted his legs and with barbed wire by the arms and still crucified his legs on the cross. Then they doused it with gasoline and set it on fire. So, burning on the cross, he was thrown into a cliff. The Germans were shooting Jews and prisoners of war at that time.” Gavriil Vishnyakov learned the truth about the death of his father from Bishop Panteleimon (Rudyk) in December 1941.

The essence of the ideology of racial superiority and hypertrophied nationalism was brilliantly shown by director Mikhail Romm in the epic film Ordinary Fascism. In these children's eyes wide open with horror - a reproach to all mankind. To paraphrase F.M. Dostoevsky, who said about the exorbitant price of the tears of one child, how can one not recall one of Hitler’s orders, which said: “Taking into account the fierce battles taking place at the front, I order: take care of donors for the officer corps of the army. Children can be used as donors as the healthiest element of the population. In order not to cause any special excesses, use street children and children from orphanages.” Meanwhile, the German authorities, by their direct interference in the affairs of the Church, deliberately exacerbated the already difficult situation in Ukrainian Orthodoxy. She registered two confessions as equal in rights: the Autonomous Orthodox Church, which based its canonical position on the decisions of the Local Council of 1917-1918, as well as the autocephalous one, based on the movement of schismatic self-consecrated V. Lipkovsky. The head of the Autonomous Church in the canonical care of the ROC was Archbishop Alexy ( Gromadsky), whom the Council of Bishops in the Pochaev Lavra approved in the rank of Metropolitan-Exarch of Ukraine on November 25, 1941.

In Ukraine, church dual power was established, since with the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), the obedience of the exarch was performed by Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) of Kyiv and Galicia. In 1943 Vladyka Sergius was elected His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.

The Reichskommissariat "Ukraine", headed by the executioner of the Ukrainian people Erich Koch, following the instructions of A. Rosenberg to encourage anti-Russian sentiments among the population, supported the autocephalous schismatic movement. Rosenberg sent a directive letter to Ukraine dated May 13, 1942. with a direct indication that Ukrainians should have their own church structure, antagonistic to the ROC. However, many bishops of the autocephalous schismatic church felt the inferiority of their canonical status. The reports of the German security service SD reported that on October 8, 1942. in the Pochaev Lavra, a meeting took place between Metropolitan Alexy (Gromadsky) and two autocephalous bishops, during which an agreement was reached on unification. But the overwhelming majority of the hierarchs of the Autonomous Ukrainian Church rejected this plan, believing that in this case the autocephaly would gain control over the Autonomous UOC.

Archbishop of Lviv and Galicia Augustine (Markevich) writes in the Bulletin of the Press Service of the UOC No. 44, 2005. : “The influence of autocephalists and autonomists in various regions of Ukraine was unevenly distributed. The vast majority of Orthodox in Ukraine remained in the bosom of the Autonomous Church. In Volhynia, where both church centers were located, the Autonomous Church had an absolute predominance in the areas located near the Pochaev Lavra. The northwestern regions were the backbone of autocephaly. In Left-Bank Ukraine, everywhere, with the exception of the Kharkiv diocese, adherents of the Autonomous Church prevailed.

In Kyiv, parishioners did not accept autocephaly. Kievans have always been distinguished by high canonical discipline. When the Soviet authorities in every possible way supported the self-consecrated Lipkovites, the Renovationists, the "Living Churchers", who, in fact, represented the neo-Protestantism of the "Eastern rite", the people of Kiev simply did not go to their churches. So radically "voted with their feet" against their untruth.

December 18, 1941 Metropolitan Alexy (Gromadsky) appointed Archbishop Panteleimon (Rudyk) to Kyiv. However, representatives of the Melnikov OUN, who received leadership positions in the city government and created the so-called. "Ukrainian Church Council", began to threaten Archbishop Panteleimon and demand to go to their schismatic camp. The OUN members allocated three churches to autocephalous schismatics. This was all that could be done at that time, since the people of Kiev negatively perceived the idea of ​​autocephaly. Vladyka Panteleimon had 28 churches under his omophorion, including St. Sophia Cathedral, and well-known pastors served under him, such as priest Alexy Glagolev and priest Georgy Yedlinsky - the sons of holy martyrs, highly authoritative pastors and confessors. However, the flock did not obey the "alien voice" (Jn. 10:5), preferring real priests, rather than those who boldly admired such a right.

A flagrant violation of church norms and traditions was the planting of the Gregorian calendar by the occupation regime. As one of the evidence, we cite the bulletin of the security police and the SD of September 21, 1942: “In mid-December 1941, some commandants of the localities (in Strugaz and Ostrov), referring to the order of a higher authority, demanded that the Orthodox celebrate all church holidays, and Christmas, in the Gregorian style. This demand caused a storm of indignation among the faithful: “Even the Bolsheviks did not commit such violence against the Church ... We will not submit ...” The priest, not wanting to either violate church order or come into conflict with the German authorities, had to leave Struga. After that, the local commandant ordered to bring a priest from a neighboring village and forced him to hold a Christmas service according to the Gregorian calendar ... That day there were no parishioners, and those few who, out of fear of the commandant, were present at the service, were very upset and embarrassed.

By that time, in addition to the autocephalous schismatic movement of Polycarp (Sikorsky), another schism was operating on the territory of Ukraine - the pseudo-church of Bishop Theophilus (Buldovsky), called the Lubensky schism, or colloquially - "Buldovshchina". Buldovsky proclaimed himself Metropolitan of Kharkov and Poltava. Shkarovsky M.V. in the book "The Russian Orthodox Church under Stalin and Khrushchev" writes: "In general, the share of supporters of the autocephalous church by 1942. could not exceed 30%. Even in the Zhytomyr diocese, it was only a quarter, and in the more eastern regions it was even lower. So, in the Chernihiv diocese, there were practically no autocephalous churches.”

It must be said that autocephalous structures did not bother themselves with conflicts with the Germans on a canonical basis. They ordained married priests as bishops, did not prevent the introduction of a new style, not to mention the abolition of the Church Slavonic language in worship. The complete rejection of autocephaly was manifested by Ukrainian monasticism. The occupation regime put a barrier to the spread of monasticism, in every way preventing the tonsure of people of working age as evading labor service and deportation to Germany on the labor front. Members of the OUN, although they were at enmity with each other (for example, Melnik and Bandera), but as representatives of the civil administration under the occupation regime, they unambiguously supported autocephaly. Stepan Skrypnik, the nephew of S. Petlyura, became a prominent figure in Sikorsky's UAOC. From July 1941 he was a representative of the ministry of A. Rozenberg at the army group "South" and was a trusted official on the organization of civil administration in Ukraine. Soon Sikorsky "ordained" Skrypnik to the "episcopal" rank under the name Mstislav.

March 28, 1942 His Beatitude Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) again addressed the Ukrainian flock with an assessment of the anti-canonical activities of Polycarp Sikorsky. In his Easter message, the head of the Church wrote: “The real culprits of Ukrainian autocephaly should be considered not so much Bishop Polycarp or Metropolitan Dionysius, but rather the political club of the Petliurist party, who settled in the German General Government in Poland ... To top it off, now we hear that the bishop Polycarp went to the fascist authorities and repeated the words spoken long ago: “What do you want to give and I will betray Him to you?” What else can be called the conspiracy of Bishop Polycarp with the Nazis after all that they are doing before our eyes, on our land, if not the most treacherous betrayal of the cause of the people, and therefore, the cause of Orthodoxy?

Once again, we note that the Nazis actively used the religious factor in their conquest and occupation policy, skillfully fomenting the religious antagonism of ethnic groups to set them against each other: Catholic Croats against Orthodox Serbs, Albanians professing Islam against Montenegrins, Lutherans-Balts against Orthodox Russians , Galicians-Uniates - on the Poles-Catholics. Personally, Himmler agreed to the formation of the three thousandth SS regiment "Galicia". The text of the Galician SS oath itself is interesting: “I serve you, Adolf Hitler, as the Fuhrer and Chancellor of the German Reich with loyalty and courage. I swear to you and I will submit to death. God help me." In addition to the SS division "Galicia", there were special battalions of the Abwehr "Nachtigal" and "Roland", which were part of the punitive regiment "Brandenburg - 800" and other formations of Ukrainian collaborators.

The people have won the victory. Once upon a time, the magazine "Bezbozhnik" in the June issue of 1941. wrote: “Religion is the worst enemy of patriotism. History does not confirm the merits of the church in the development of true patriotism ”(Evstratov A. Patriotism and Religion II Bezbozhnik, 1941. No. 6). These words were spoken a few days before the start of the war. So the Communists tried to take away even the right to patriotism from the Church. The authorities have gone so far as to classify Metropolitan Sergius himself as a fascist! This is evidenced by the case stored in the archives of the NKVD in Moscow. According to the charges fabricated against Metropolitan Sergius and his closest associate, Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky), they and other "churchmen" were part of the Moscow fascist church center, which prepared "sabotage personnel" and plotted "terrorist acts against the leaders of the party and government", in which they were slyly aided by the British embassy. The fact that the authorities were not joking is evidenced by the execution in this case on October 4, 1937. the elderly Metropolitan of Nizhny Novgorod Feofan (Tulyakov). The valiant Chekists would have shot the Primate himself, but then political expediency took over.

When the time came to fight the Nazi plague, the main anti-fascist and patriot sat in the Kremlin, chained by moral paralysis, and the invaders tormented the country. If our fighters returned from captivity - to their native rear - the Gulag, oblivion, death awaited them. Loss, resentment, deep grief and nationwide grief, early gray hairs of mothers and widows accompanied the war. She was accompanied by destroyed churches and desecrated shrines, the Holocaust of the Jews and the burned Khatyn, Buchenwald stoves and the desperate courage of a simple soldier. “The darker the night, the brighter the stars - the greater the sorrow, the closer God is” - therefore, with all its formidable power, the people rose to fight the tyrant and crushed the fascist Moloch. For, according to the patristic saying: "God is not in power, but in righteousness." And how can one not recall the lines of Marina Tsvetaeva (after all, a poet in Russia is more than a poet):

These are the treasure ashes:
Loss and resentment.
These are the ashes before which
In dust - granite.
The dove is naked and bright,
Not living as a couple.
Solomon Ashes
Over great vanity.
sunsetless time
Terrible chalk.
So God is at my door -
Once the house burned down!
Not suffocated in the trash
For dreams and days, sir,
Like a sheer flame
Spirit - from early gray hairs!
And you didn't betray me
Years, to the rear!
This greyness is a victory
Immortal powers.

Viktor Mikhailovich Chernyshev professor of theology

Russian Orthodox Church on the eve of the Great Patriotic War

The actions of the Russian Orthodox Church during the Great Patriotic War are the continuation and development of the centuries-old patriotic tradition of our people.

During the years of the civil war, and then during the period of the "offensive of socialism along the entire front," the policy of the Soviet authorities in relation to the Church and believers became more and more repressive. Tens of thousands of clergy and laity who did not want to renounce their faith were shot, torn to pieces, died in dungeons and camps. Thousands of temples were destroyed, robbed, closed, turned into people's houses, warehouses, workshops, simply abandoned to their fate. According to some Western sources, between 1918 and the end of the 1930s, up to 42,000 Orthodox priests perished.

By the beginning of the 40s, dozens and hundreds of villages, towns, cities, and even entire regions were churchless and therefore were considered godless. In 25 regions of the Russian Federation there was not a single Orthodox church, in 20 regions there were no more than 5 churches.

At the end of the thirties, all churches in the region (more than 170) were closed, except for the only one - the Assumption cemetery church in Novosibirsk. Church buildings, for example, in the villages of Nizhnyaya Kamenka, Baryshevo, Verkh-Aleus were occupied by clubs, in the village. Baklushi - under the school, in the village. Kargat - for industrial workshops, in Kuibyshev - for a warehouse of a military unit, in Novosibirsk - for a cinema, workshops of the Hydrometeorological Department of the headquarters of the Siberian Military District, etc. Churches were destroyed, but faith lived on!

To the credit of the Russian Orthodox Church, she, despite the sharp historical turns in the state, the Stalinist repressions, has always remained faithful to the patriotic service to her people. “We didn’t even have to think about what position our Church should take during the war,” Metropolitan Sergius later recalled.

Church in the early days of the war

On the very first day of the war, the head of the Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Sergius, addressed a message to the faithful, which spoke of the treachery of fascism, there was a call to fight against it and a deep faith that we, the inhabitants of Russia, would win, that the Russian people would “scatter to dust fascist enemy force. Our ancestors did not lose heart even in the worst situation, because they remembered not about personal dangers and benefits, but about their sacred duty to the Motherland and faith, and emerged victorious. Let us not disgrace their glorious name, and we are Orthodox, kindred to them both in the flesh and in faith. In total, during the war years, Metropolitan Sergius addressed the Russian Church with 23 epistles, and in all of them the hope for the final victory of the people was expressed. Stalin, on the other hand, found the strength to address the people with an appeal only half a month after the start of the war.

1943 can be considered the year of the official "thaw" in Stalin's relations with Orthodoxy. One day in July 1943, Metropolitan Sergius and his closest associates received a message that they were allowed to return to Moscow (from Orenburg). The "competent authorities" offered Sergius, Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad and Nikolai of Kyiv to hold a meeting with Stalin. Stalin received three metropolitans in the Kremlin. He said that the government highly appreciates the patriotic activity of the Church. “What can we do for you now? Ask, offer,” he said. During that meeting, Sergius was elected patriarch. His candidacy turned out to be the only one, the metropolitan was deeply involved in the affairs of the Church. It was also decided to establish spiritual academies in Moscow, Kyiv and Leningrad. Stalin agreed with the clergy on the issue of the need to publish church books. Under the patriarch, it was decided to form the Holy Synod of three permanent and three temporary members. A decision was made to form a Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church. The activities of the new council were supervised by Molotov, and "especially important questions Stalin decided.

Stalin realized that the communist ideology inspires only a part (a smaller part of the population). It is necessary to appeal to the ideology of patriotism, the historical, spiritual roots of the people. From here the orders of Suvorov, Kutuzov, Alexander Nevsky are established. Shoulder straps are "reviving". The role of the Church is also being officially revived.

During the war years, there was a legend among the people that during the defense of Moscow, the icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God was placed on the plane, the plane flew around Moscow and consecrated the borders, as in Ancient Russia, when the icon was often taken out to the battlefield so that the Lord would protect the country. Even if it was unreliable information, people believed it, which means they expected something similar from the authorities. At the front, soldiers often made the sign of the cross before the battle - they asked the Almighty to protect them. Most perceived Orthodoxy as national religion. The illustrious Marshal Zhukov before the battle, together with the soldiers, said: "Well, with God!" There is a legend among the people that G.K. Zhukov carried the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God along the fronts.

Apparently, there is a special higher logic of history in the fact that Stalin, who did not stop repressions for a day, during the days of the war spoke in the language of the church he was persecuting: “Brothers and sisters! I am addressing you…” The clergy address the church flock with the same words every day. The subsequent course of events clearly showed that he was forced, at least for a time, to change his policy towards the church.

Patriotic appeals were made by the clergy of other religions - the leaders of the Old Believers, the Armenian Gregorian Church, Baptist and other organizations. Thus, in the appeal of the Central Muslim Spiritual Administration of the USSR, there was an appeal to "stand up for the defense of your native land ... and bless your sons who are fighting for a just cause. ... Love your country, because such is the duty of the righteous."

The patriotic activity of the Russian Orthodox Church during the Great Patriotic War was carried out in many directions: patriotic messages to the clergy and flock, including in the territory occupied by the enemy; encouraging sermons of pastors; ideological criticism of fascism as an anti-human, anti-human ideology; organization of fundraising for weapons and military equipment, in favor of children and families of soldiers of the Red Army, as well as patronage over hospitals, orphanages, etc.

And the government immediately took steps towards religious organizations. Broader publishing activity (books, leaflets) is allowed, restrictions on non-cult activities of religious associations are lifted. There are no obstacles to mass worship and ceremonies. Prayer buildings are being opened - still without legal registration, without prior permission. Recognized - also so far de facto - religious centers that establish links with foreign church organizations. These actions were determined by both internal and external reasons - the need to unite all anti-fascist forces. Orthodox Church Patriotic War

The Soviet state, in fact, entered into an alliance with the Church and other confessions. And how could it be otherwise if, before standing up to their full height and rushing to the attack towards death, many soldiers hastily made the sign of the cross, others whispered a prayer, remembering Jesus, Allah or Buddha. And how many warriors kept treasured maternal amulets, or icons, or “saints” near their hearts, protecting letters from death, or even just bags with their native land. Churches were destroyed, but faith lived on!

Prayers for the granting of victory over the fascists begin to be offered in churches. These prayers are accompanied by patriotic sermons, in which believers are called not only to pray for victory, but also to fight and work for it. In a prayer read in all the churches of the Russian Orthodox Church at the liturgy during the Great Patriotic War, it was said:

“Lord God ..., arise in our help and give to our army to win in Your name: and by them you judged to put your souls in battle, so forgive their sins, and on the day of Your righteous retribution give the crowns of incorruption ... "

Prayers sounded in memory of great ancestors: Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Dmitry Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov, Mikhail Kutuzov.

On April 5, 1942, it was announced in the order of the military commandant of Moscow to allow unimpeded movement around the city all Easter night "according to tradition", and on April 9, for the first time in many years, a religious procession with candles took place in Moscow. At this time, even had to suspend the law on the state of emergency. Stalin was forced to reckon with the Church.

In besieged Leningrad, Metropolitan Alexy held a service on the same day and emphasized that the date of Easter coincides with the date of the Battle on the Ice and exactly 700 years separate this battle led by Alexander Nevsky from the battle with the fascist hordes. After the blessing of Metropolitan Alexy, the military units of the Leningrad Front, under unfolded banners, moved from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra to their combat positions.

Collecting donations for the needs of the front

Having joined the nationwide patriotic movement, the Church launched fundraising activities for the needs of the Great Patriotic War. On October 14, 1941, Patriarchal Locum Tenens Sergius called for "donations to help our valiant defenders." Parish communities began to contribute large sums of money to the Defense Fund. Only Moscow churches during the year of the war transferred to the Red Army more than 3 million rubles. Church community from the city of Gorky ( Nizhny Novgorod) for this period transferred to the state about 1.5 million rubles. In besieged Leningrad (St. Petersburg), church fees to the Defense Fund by June 22, 1943 amounted to 5.5 million rubles, in Kuibyshev (Samara) - 2 million rubles, etc. On June 5, 1943, the Church Council of the Assumption Church (Novosibirsk) signed a loan for 50,000 rubles, of which 20,000 were paid in cash. In the spring of 1944, the believers of Siberia collected a donation - more than two million rubles. In the 4th quarter of 1944, the parishes of both Novosibirsk churches contributed 226,500 rubles, and in total, during 1944, parish councils from church funds and the clergy collected and contributed 826,500 rubles, including: 120,000 rubles for gifts to Red Army soldiers ., on the tank column them. Dmitry Donskoy - 50 thousand, to the fund for helping the disabled and the wounded - 230 thousand, to the fund for helping children and families of front-line soldiers - 146,500 rubles, for children of front-line soldiers of the Koganovichi district - 50,000 rubles.

Regarding these contributions, Archbishop Bartholomew and the dean of the Novosibirsk churches twice sent telegrams to Comrade Stalin in May and December 1944. Telegrams in response were received from Comrade Stalin, the contents of which were communicated to the faithful of both churches after the services, with a corresponding appeal to increase assistance to the front, families and children of veterans.

In addition, in May the parish councils and the clergy purchased bonds of the 3rd state military loan in the amount of 200,000 rubles for cash. (including clergy for 95 thousand rubles).

In total, during the war years, the contributions of the Church and believers to the Defense Fund exceeded 150 million rubles.

Driven by the desire to help the Motherland in Hard time, many believers carried their modest donations for defense directly to the temple. In the besieged, hungry, cold Leningrad, for example, unknown pilgrims brought and stacked packages with the inscriptions “To help the front” by the icon. The bags contained gold coins. Donated not only gold and silver, but also money, food, warm clothes. The clergy transferred money to the bank, and food and things to other relevant state organizations.

With the money collected by the Russian Orthodox Church, a column of tanks "Dmitry Donskoy" was built for the regiment that reached Prague, aircraft for the air squadrons "For the Motherland" and "Alexander Nevsky".

The 38th and 516th separate tank regiments received combat equipment. And just as a few centuries ago, St. Sergius of Radonezh sent two monks from among the brethren of the Trinity Monastery to the ranks of the Russian troops to fight with the Mamaev hordes, so during the Great Patriotic War, the Russian Orthodox Church sent two tank regiments to fight against fascism. Two regiments, as well as two warriors, could add a little strength to Russian weapons, but they were sent from the Church. Seeing them in their midst, the Russian army was convinced with its own eyes that it was blessed by the Orthodox Church for the holy cause of saving the Motherland.

The personnel of the tank regiments showed miracles of heroism and valor in battles, inflicting crushing blows on the enemy.

A special church collection was opened to help the children and families of Red Army soldiers. The funds collected by the Church were used to support the wounded, to help orphans who lost their parents in the war, and so on.

Change in the relationship of the state to the Church

Despite the general thaw in relations between the Soviet government and the church, the former, however, significantly limited the possibilities of the latter. So, Bishop Pitirim (Kaluga) turned to the hospital command with a proposal to take patronage over the hospital, and his command accepted the offer of the bishop.

The church council, exercising patronage, collected 50 thousand rubles, bought 500 gifts for the wounded with them. With this money, posters, slogans and portraits of the leaders of the party and government were purchased and transferred to the hospital, accordionists and hairdressers were hired. The church choir organized concerts in the hospital with programs of Russian folk songs and songs of Soviet composers.

Having received this information, the NKGB of the USSR took measures to prevent further attempts by churchmen to enter into direct relations with the command of hospitals and the wounded under the guise of patronage.

The Church did not leave without all-round support and attention the invalids of the Great Patriotic War, the children of military personnel and those who died at the front and the field of the end of the war. An example is the activity of the parish community of the Ascension Church in Novosibirsk, which in the first quarter of 1946 transferred 100,000 rubles for their needs in commemoration of the elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

The existence of religious traditions among the people is evidenced by the fact that in the most hard days The battle of Stalingrad in the besieged city of worship still took place. In the absence of priests, fighters and commanders placed icon lamps made of shell casings next to the icons, including V.I. At one of the meetings, the writer M. F. Antonov said that during the preparation of the Germans for the storming of Moscow, Russian priests surrounded our line of defense with holy icons. The Nazis did not advance further than this line. I did not have a chance to meet documentary evidence of these events, as well as refutation of oral stories that Marshal G.K. Zhukov carried with him the icon of the Kazan Mother of God throughout the war, and Marshal of the Soviet Union B.M. Shaposhnikov wore an enamel icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. But quite reliable is the fact that the counter-offensive near Moscow began just on the day of the memory of Alexander Nevsky.

Belarus is liberated. The bitter tears of mothers, wives and children are not drained. And in this difficult time for the country, the parishioners of the church in the village of Omelenets, Brest Region, turned to Marshal Zhukov with their misfortune: to find the bells of the local church removed and taken out by the invaders. And what a joy it was when soon a baggage weighing a ton came to their name - three bells. They were helped by the soldiers of the local garrison. The humble district has never heard such a blasphemy. In the victorious 1945, the illustrious marshal lit a lamp in the Orthodox Church of Leipzig.

From the history of the Fatherland during the war years

Thousands of believers and clerics of various faiths selflessly fought the enemy in the ranks of the army, partisan detachments and underground, setting an example of serving God, the Fatherland and their people. Many of them fell on the battlefields, were executed by the Nazis. Already on August 16, 1941, SS Gruppenführer Heydrich ordered the arrest of Metropolitan Sergius with the capture of Moscow.

The English journalist A. Werth, who visited the city of Orel, liberated by Soviet troops in 1943, noted the patriotic activity of Orthodox church communities during the Nazi occupation. These communities, he wrote, “informally created circles of mutual aid to help the poorest and to provide all possible assistance and support to prisoners of war…. They (Orthodox churches) turned, which the Germans did not expect, into active centers of Russian national identity.

In Orel, for example, the Nazis shot the priests Father Nikolai Obolensky and Father Tikhon Orlov for this.

Priest John Loiko was burned alive along with the inhabitants of the village of Khvorostovo (Belarus). He was the father of four partisan sons, and in the difficult hour of death he did not leave the people given to him by God and accepted the martyr's crown with them.

Awards for courage and courage to ministers of the church

Many representatives of the Orthodox clergy took part in the hostilities and were awarded orders and medals. Among them are Deacon B. Kramorenko with the Order of Glory of three degrees, Cleric S. Kozlov with the Order of Glory of the third degree, Priest G. Stepanov with the medal "For Courage", Metropolitan Kalininsky, nun Anthony (Zhertovskaya). Father Vasily Kopychko, during the war years, a partisan liaison officer, was awarded medals “To a Partisan of the Great Patriotic War”, “For the Victory over Germany”, “For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War”; Priest N. I. Kunitsyn fought since 1941, a guardsman, reached Berlin, had five military medals, twenty thanks from the command.

By a resolution of the Moscow Council of September 19, 1944 and September 19, 1945, about twenty priests of Moscow and Tula churches were awarded medals "For the Defense of Moscow." Among them are Archpriest Pyotr Filatov, rector of the Church of Unexpected Joy, Archpriest Pavel Lepekhin, rector of the Church of St. Why were the clergy awarded military awards? In October 1941, when the enemy approached the walls of the capital, these shepherds led air defense posts, took personal part in extinguishing fires from incendiary bombs, and, together with parishioners, carried out night shifts .... Dozens of metropolitan priests went to build defensive lines in the Moscow region: they dug trenches, built barricades, set up gouges, and looked after the wounded.

In the front line, there were shelters for the elderly and children, as well as dressing stations near the front lines, especially during the retreat in 1941-1942, when many parishes took care of the wounded, left to the mercy of fate. The clergy also participated in digging trenches, organizing air defense, mobilizing people, comforting those who had lost their relatives and shelter.

Especially many clergymen worked in military hospitals. Many of them were arranged in monasteries and were located on full content monastics. So, for example, immediately after the liberation of Kyiv in November 1943, the Pokrovsky Convent organized a hospital exclusively on its own, which was served as nurses and orderlies by the inhabitants of the monastery, and then it housed an evacuation hospital, in which the sisters continued to work until 1946. The monastery received several written thanks from the military administration for the excellent care of the wounded, and the abbess Archelaia was presented for awarding the order for patriotic activities.

The fates of hundreds of parish priests were marked high awards. Immediately after the Victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany, more than 50 of them were awarded the medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War."

About the life of Archbishop Luke during the war years

An example of faithful service to the Fatherland is the whole life of Bishop Luka of Tashkent, who by the beginning of the war was serving a link in a remote village of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. When the Great Patriotic War began, Bishop Luke did not stand aside, did not harbor a grudge. He came to the leadership of the regional center and offered his experience, knowledge and skills for the treatment of the soldiers of the Soviet army. At that time, a huge hospital was being organized in Krasnoyarsk. Echelons with the wounded were already coming from the front. In September 1941, the bishop was allowed to move to Krasnoyarsk and was appointed "consultant to all hospitals in the region." The very next day after his arrival, the professor began to work, spending 9-10 hours in the operating room, doing up to five complex operations. Most heavy operations, complicated by extensive suppuration, has to be done by a renowned surgeon. The wounded officers and soldiers loved their doctor very much. When the professor made his morning rounds, they joyfully greeted him. Some of them, unsuccessfully operated on in other hospitals for injuries to large joints, invariably saluted him with their surviving legs raised high. At the same time, the bishop advised military surgeons, gave lectures, and wrote treatises on medicine. For the scientific and practical development of new surgical methods for the treatment of purulent wounds, Bishop Luka Voyno-Yasenetsky was awarded the Stalin Prize of the 1st degree, out of 200 thousand rubles of which the bishop transferred 130 thousand to help children who suffered in the war.

The noble activity of His Grace Luke was highly appreciated - by the diploma and gratitude of the Military Council of the Siberian Military District.

In 1945, the Bishop of Tashkent was awarded the medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War."

By the decision of the Holy Synod of November 22, 1995, Archbishop Luke of Crimea was canonized.

Meeting in the Kremlin and the revival of the church

The meeting of Stalin and the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church in September 1943 in the Kremlin is evidence of the rapprochement of the Church and the state in the struggle against fascism, the high appreciation of the patriotic activity of the Church. At it, agreements were reached on the “revival” of the church structure of the Russian Orthodox Church - the restoration of the patriarchate (the throne of the Church was empty for 18 years) and the Synod, on the opening of churches, monasteries, spiritual educational institutions, candle factories and other industries.

By September 1943, there were 9829 Orthodox churches, in 1944 another 208 were opened, and in 1945 - 510.

The Russian Orthodox Church takes a firm, uncompromising position in relation to those who, under the slogan of fighting communism, defected to the Nazis. Metropolitan Sergius, in four personal messages to pastors and flocks, stigmatized the betrayal of the bishops: Polycarp Sikorsky (Western Ukraine), Sergius Voskresensky (Baltic), Nicholas of Amasia (Rostov-on-Don). The decision of the Council of the Most Reverend Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church on the condemnation of traitors to the faith and the Fatherland of September 8, 1943 reads: “Anyone guilty of treason to the general church cause and who has gone over to the side of fascism, as an opponent of the Cross of the Lord, may be considered excommunicated, and a bishop or cleric - defrocked” .

The decisive factor in the war is not the quantity and quality of weapons (although this is also very important), but above all the person, his spirit, his ability to be the bearer of the best military traditions of his fatherland.

During the war years, the Russian invincible army did not divide itself into Belarusians, Russians, Armenians, Ukrainians, Georgians, believers, non-believers. The warriors were the children of one mother - the Motherland, who had to protect her, and they defended her.

In his Address to the 60th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Russia noted that the victory of our people during the war years became possible because the soldiers and home front workers were united by a high goal: they defended the whole world from a deadly threat, from anti-Christian ideology of Nazism. The Patriotic War has become sacred for everyone. “The Russian Orthodox Church,” the Message says, “unwaveringly believed in the coming Victory and from the first day of the war blessed the army and all the people to defend the Motherland. Our soldiers were kept not only by the prayers of their wives and mothers, but also by the daily church prayer for the granting of Victory.”

Remaining in the territory occupied by the enemy, the clergy performed their patriotic duty to the best of their ability and capabilities. They were the spiritual defenders of the Fatherland - Russia, Russia, the Soviet Union, whether the invaders wanted or did not want to talk about it.

Both the church itself and the many millions of believers agreed to an alliance, a lasting alliance with the state in the name of saving the Motherland. This union was impossible before the war. Counting on the obedience and cooperation of the hierarchs of the Orthodox Church with the occupying authorities, the Nazis did not take into account one very important circumstance: despite many years of persecution, these people did not cease to be Russian and love their Motherland, despite the fact that it was called the Soviet Union.

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the threat of complete annihilation loomed over the Russian Orthodox Church. The “godless five-year plan” was announced in the country, during which the Soviet state was to finally get rid of “religious vestiges”.

Almost all the surviving bishops were in camps, and the number of active churches throughout the country did not exceed a few hundred. However, despite the unbearable conditions of existence, on the very first day of the war, the Russian Orthodox Church, represented by the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), showed courage and steadfastness, discovered the ability to encourage and support its people in difficult times. war time. “The protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the ever-present Intercessor of the Russian land, will help our people survive the time of severe trials and victoriously end the war with our victory,” Metropolitan Sergius addressed the parishioners who gathered on June 22, Sunday, at the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Moscow, with these words. Vladyka ended his sermon, in which he spoke of the spiritual roots of Russian patriotism, with words that sounded with prophetic confidence: “The Lord will grant us victory!”

After the liturgy, having locked himself in his cell, the locum tenens personally typed on a typewriter the text of an appeal to the "Pastors and flocks of Christ's Orthodox Church", which was immediately sent to the surviving parishes. In all churches, during divine services, they began to read a special prayer for deliverance from enemies.

Meanwhile, the Germans, having crossed the border, were rapidly advancing through Soviet territory. On the occupied lands, they pursued a well-thought-out religious policy, opening churches and conducting successful anti-Soviet propaganda against this background. Of course, this was not done out of love for Christianity. Wehrmacht documents published after the end of the war show that most of the open churches were subject to closure after the end of the Russian campaign. Operational order No. 10 of the Reich Main Security Directorate speaks eloquently about the attitude to the church question. In particular, it stated: “…on no account should the German side explicitly provide assistance to church life, organize divine services or conduct mass baptisms. The restoration of the former Patriarchal Russian Church is out of the question. Particular care should be taken to ensure that, first of all, there is no institutionalized merger of the Orthodox church circles that are in the process of formation. Splitting into separate church groups, on the contrary, is desirable.” Metropolitan Sergius also spoke about the treacherous religious policy pursued by Hitler in his sermon at the Cathedral of the Epiphany on June 26, 1941. “Those who think that the current enemy does not touch our shrines and does not touch anyone’s faith are deeply mistaken,” Vladyka warned. - Observations over German life they are talking about something completely different. The famous German commander Ludendorff ... over the years came to the conclusion that Christianity is not suitable for a conqueror.

In the meantime, the propaganda actions of the German leadership to open churches could not but evoke a corresponding response from Stalin. He was also encouraged to do this by those movements for the opening of churches that began in the USSR already in the first months of the war. Gatherings of believers gathered in cities and villages, at which executive bodies and representatives were elected on petitions for the opening of churches. In the countryside, such meetings were often led by chairmen of collective farms, who collected signatures for the opening of church buildings and then themselves acted as intercessors before executive bodies. It often happened that employees of executive committees at various levels favorably treated the petitions of believers and, within the framework of their powers, actually facilitated the registration of religious communities. Many temples were opened spontaneously, even without legal registration.

All these processes prompted the Soviet leadership to officially allow the opening of churches in the territory not occupied by the Germans. The persecution of the clergy ceased. The priests who were in the camps were returned and became abbots of the newly opened churches.

The names of the shepherds who prayed in those days for the grant of victory and, together with all the people, forged the victory of Russian weapons, are widely known. Near Leningrad, in the village of Vyritsa, there lived an old man known today throughout Russia, Hieroschemamonk Seraphim (Muraviev). In 1941 he was 76 years old. The disease practically did not allow him to move without assistance. Eyewitnesses report that the elder loved to pray in front of the image of his patron saint, the Monk Seraphim of Sarov. The icon of the saint was fixed on an apple tree in the garden of an elderly priest. The apple tree itself grew near a large granite stone, on which the elder, following the example of his heavenly patron, prayed for many hours on his sick legs. According to the stories of his spiritual children, the elder often said: “One prayer book for the country can save all cities and villages…”

In those same years, in Arkhangelsk, in the St. Ilyinsky Cathedral, the namesake of the Vyritsk elder, hegumen Seraphim (Shinkarev), who had previously been a resident of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, served. According to eyewitnesses, he often spent several days in the church praying for Russia. Many noted his insight. Several times he predicted victory Soviet troops when circumstances directly pointed to the sad outcome of the battle.

Genuine heroism during the war years was shown by the capital's clergy. The rector of the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit at the Danilovsky cemetery, Archpriest Pavel Uspensky, who lived outside the city in peacetime, never left Moscow for an hour. At his temple, he organized a real social center. A round-the-clock duty was established in the church, and a bomb shelter was organized in the basement, later converted into a gas shelter. To provide first aid in case of accidents, Father Pavel created a sanitary station, where there were stretchers, dressings and all the necessary medicines.

Another Moscow priest, rector of the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo, Archpriest Pavel Tsvetkov, arranged a shelter for children and the elderly at the temple. He personally carried out night duty and, if necessary, took part in extinguishing fires. Among his parishioners, Father Pavel organized the collection of donations and scrap of non-ferrous metals for military needs. In total, during the war years, the parishioners of the Ilyinsky Church collected 185 thousand rubles.

Fundraising work was also carried out in other temples. According to verified data, during the first three years of the war, the churches of the Moscow diocese alone donated more than 12 million rubles for defense purposes.

The Moscow Council's resolutions of 09/19/1944 and 01/03/1945 eloquently testify to the activities of the Moscow clergy during the war period. about awarding about 20 Moscow and Tula priests with medals "For the Defense of Moscow". The recognition by the authorities of the Church of her merits in the defense of the Fatherland was also expressed in the official permission for believers to celebrate church holidays and, above all, Easter. For the first time during the war, Easter was openly celebrated in 1942, after the end of the fighting near Moscow. And of course, the most striking evidence of the change in the policy of the Soviet leadership towards the Church was the restoration of the Patriarchate and the opening of the Theological Seminary for the training of future clergy.

The new vector of church-state relations eventually made it possible to strengthen the material, political and legal position of the Russian Orthodox Church, protect the clergy from persecution and further repression, and increase the authority of the Church among the people. The Great Patriotic War, becoming an ordeal for the entire people, saved the Russian Church from complete annihilation. In this, undoubtedly, God's providence and His good will for Russia was manifested.

Plan

Introduction

1. Russian Orthodox Church on the eve of World War II (1937-1941)

1.1. Bolshevik terror and the Russian Orthodox Church

1.2. Beginning of World War II. ROC and Bolshevik propaganda in the near abroad.

2. Russian Orthodox Church during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945)

2.1. The reaction of the Russian Orthodox Church to the country's entry into the great battle.

2.2. The religious policy of Nazi Germany in the occupied territories

3. Changing the policy of the atheistic state in relation to the Russian Orthodox Church during the years of the Second World War

3.1. A turning point in relations between the church and the Bolsheviks

3.2. Russian Orthodox Church under His Holiness Patriarch Sergius

3.3. Triumph of the Red Army. Russian Orthodox Church under Patriarch Alexy I.

4. Attitude towards the Russian Orthodox Church during the apogee of Stalinism (1945-1953)

Conclusion

Applications

Bibliography

Introduction

Forever and ever, remembering the darkness

Ages past once and for all,

I saw that not to the Mausoleum, but to your altar

The banners of the enemy regiments lay down.

I. Kochubeev

Relevance of the topic:

The Russian Orthodox Church played an important role during the Great Patriotic War, supporting and helping the people to endure this unequal battle with extermination, when she herself was subjected to persecution not only by the enemy, but also by the authorities.

Nevertheless, during the Great Patriotic War, the Church addressed its parishioners with an appeal to defend the Motherland to the end, for the Lord will not leave the Russian people in trouble if they fiercely defend their land and earnestly pray to God.

The support of the Russian Orthodox Church was significant, the Bolsheviks also appreciated its power, therefore, in the most intense period of the war, the atheistic state suddenly changes the course of its religious policy, starting cooperation with the Russian Orthodox Church. And although it did not last long, this fact did not go unnoticed in the history of our country.

To this end, this paper aims to:

1. Consider the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church on the eve of World War II.

2. Analyze the policy of the Bolsheviks towards the Russian Orthodox Church during the Great Patriotic War.

3. To establish the relationship between the situation on the fronts of the Second World War and the relationship between the Bolsheviks and the Church.

4. Draw conclusions about how the atheism of the Bolshevik system affected modern Russian society.

1. ROC on the eve II World War (1937-1941)

1.1. Bolshevik terror and the Russian Orthodox Church

The results of the census indicated a grandiose failure of the Union of Militant Atheists. For this, the five-million-strong union was subjected to a "cleansing". About half of its members were arrested, many were shot as enemies of the people. The authorities had no other reliable means of atheistic education of the population, except for terror. And he attacked the Orthodox Church in 1937 with such total coverage that it seemed to lead to the eradication of church life in the country.

At the very beginning of 1937, a campaign of mass closing of churches was launched. Only at a meeting on February 10, 1937, the permanent commission on religious issues considered 74 cases on the liquidation of religious communities and did not support the closure of churches only in 22 cases, and in just a year over 8 thousand churches were closed. And, of course, all these destructions were carried out "at the numerous requests of the working collectives" in order to "improve the planning of the city." As a result of this devastation and ruin, about 100 churches remained in the vast expanses of the RSFSR, almost all in large cities, mainly those where foreigners were allowed. These temples were called "exemplary". A little more, up to 3% of pre-revolutionary parishes, survived in Ukraine. In the Kyiv diocese, which in 1917 had 1710 churches, 1435 priests, 277 deacons, 1410 psalmists, 23 monasteries and 5193 monastics, in 1939 there were only 2 parishes with 3 priests, 1 deacon and 2 psalmists. In Odessa, there was one functioning church in the cemetery.

During the years of pre-war terror, mortal danger hung over the existence of the Patriarchate itself and the entire church organization. By 1939, in addition to the head of the Church, the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Sergius, 3 bishops remained in the departments - Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) of Leningrad, Archbishop of Dmitrovsky and administrator of the Patriarchate Sergius (Voskresensky) and Archbishop Nikolai (Yarushevich) of Peterhof, administrator of Novgorod and Pskovskaya dioceses.

1.2. Beginning of the Second World War. ROC and Bolshevik propaganda in the near abroad

On September 1, 1939, the second World War. Not only in human life, but also in the life of peoples, the fate of civilizations, disasters come as a result of sins. Unparalleled in scale persecution of the Church, Civil War and the regicide in Russia, the Nazi racist rampage and rivalry over spheres of influence of European and Pacific powers, the moral degradation that has swept over European and American society - all this has overflowed the cup of God's wrath. For Russia, there were still 2 years of peaceful life, but there was no peace within the country itself. The war of the Bolshevik government with its people and the internal party struggle of the communist elite did not stop, there was no peaceful silence on the borders of the Soviet empire. After the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and 16 days after the German attack on Poland, the Red Army crossed the Soviet-Polish border and occupied its eastern voivodships - primordially Russian and Orthodox lands: Western Belarus and Volhynia, cut off from Russia under the Riga Treaty (1921) of the Soviet government with Poland, as well as Galicia, which for centuries was separated from Russia. On June 27, 1940, the Soviet government demanded from Romania within four days to clear the territory of Bessarabia, which belonged to Russia until 1918, and Northern Bukovina, cut off from Russia in the Middle Ages, but where the majority of the population had Russian roots. Romania was forced to submit to the ultimatum. In the summer of 1940, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which belonged to Russia before the revolution and civil war, were annexed to the Soviet Union.

The expansion of the borders of the Soviet state to the west territorially expanded the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Moscow Patriarchate was given the opportunity to actually govern the dioceses of the Baltic States, Western Belarus, Western Ukraine and Moldova.

The establishment of the regime of Soviet power in western regions Ukraine and Belarus was accompanied by repressions. Only in Volhynia and Polissia, 53 clergymen were arrested. However, they did not destroy the church life of Western Russia. Almost all the parishes that survived during the years of the Polish occupation were not closed by the Soviet authorities either. Monasteries also continued to exist; True, the number of inhabitants in them was significantly reduced, some were removed from the monasteries by force, others left them themselves. Land plots and other real estate were confiscated from monasteries and churches, temples were nationalized and transferred to the use of religious communities, and civil taxes were imposed on "clergymen." A serious blow to the Church was the closure of the Kremenets Theological Seminary.

Bolshevik propaganda through newspapers and radio tried to discredit the Orthodox clergy in the eyes of populace, to kill faith in Christ in the hearts of people, the "Union of militant atheists" opened its branches in the newly annexed areas. Its chairman, E. Yaroslavsky, lashed out at parents who did not want to send their children to Soviet atheist schools that had opened in the western regions. In Volhynia and Belarus, gangs were created from hooligan teenagers and Komsomol members who made scandals near churches during worship, especially on holidays. For such atheistic activity, for the celebration of Easter 1940, the "Union of militant atheists" got 2.8 million rubles from the state treasury, which was not rich at that time. They were spent mainly in the western regions, because there the people openly celebrated the Resurrection of Christ and Easter services were celebrated in every village.

In 1939–1941 in legal forms, church life was preserved in essence only in the western dioceses. More than 90% of all parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church were here, monasteries operated, all dioceses were ruled by bishops. In the rest of the country, the church organization was destroyed: in 1939 there were only 4 departments occupied by bishops, including the head of the Church, the Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna, about 100 parishes and not a single monastery. Mostly elderly women came to the churches, but religious life was preserved even under these conditions, it glimmered not only in the wild, but also in countless camps that disfigured Russia, where priest-confessors fed the condemned and even served the liturgy on carefully concealed antimensions.

In the last pre-war years, the wave of anti-church repression subsided, partly because almost everything that could be destroyed was already destroyed, what could be trampled on was trampled on. The Soviet leaders considered it premature to deliver the final blow for various reasons. There was probably one special reason: the war was raging near the borders of the Soviet Union. Despite the ostentatious peacefulness of their declarations and assurances of the strength of friendly relations with Germany, they knew that war was inevitable and were hardly so blinded by their own propaganda as to create illusions about the readiness of the masses to defend communist ideals. Sacrificing themselves, people could fight only for their homeland, and then the communist leaders turned to the patriotic feelings of the citizens.

2. Russian Orthodox Church during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945)

2.1. The reaction of the Russian Orthodox Church to the country's entry into the great battle

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet government closed most of the country's churches and tried to eradicate Christianity, but in the souls of the Russian people, the Orthodox faith was warm and supported by secret prayers and appeals to God. This is evidenced by decayed finds that are found by search engines in our time. As a rule, the standard set of things for a Russian soldier is a party card, a Komsomol badge, an icon of the Mother of God hidden in a secret pocket and a pectoral cross worn on the same chain with a name capsule. Rising to the attack, along with the invocative cry “For the Motherland! For Stalin!" the soldiers whispered "With God" and were already openly baptized. At the front, cases were passed from mouth to mouth when people managed to survive only with God's miraculous help. A well-known aphorism, tested and confirmed over the years, was also confirmed in this war: "There are no atheists in a war."

Bloodless Church

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the five-year plan was in full swing, aimed at the complete destruction of the clergy and the Orthodox faith. Temples and churches were closed and the buildings were transferred to the department local authorities. About 50 thousand clergy were sentenced to death, and hundreds of thousands were sent to hard labor.

According to the plans of the Soviet authorities, by 1943 there should have been no working churches or priests in the Soviet Union left. The unexpectedly started war upset the ideas of the atheists and distracted them from the fulfillment of their plans.

In the first days of the war, Metropolitan Sergius of Moscow and Kolomna reacted faster than the supreme commander. He himself prepared a speech for the citizens of the country, typed it on a typewriter and spoke to the Soviet people with support and blessing for the fight against the enemy.

The speech included a prophetic phrase: "The Lord will grant us victory."

Stalin only a few days later addressed the people for the first time with a speech, beginning his speech with the words "Brothers and sisters."

With the outbreak of the war, the authorities had no time to engage in an agitation program directed against the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Union of Atheists was dissolved. In towns and villages, believers began to organize gatherings and write petitions for the opening of churches. The Nazi command ordered the opening of Orthodox churches in the occupied territories in order to win over the local population. The Soviet authorities had no choice but to give permission for the resumption of the work of churches.

Closed churches began to work. The clergy were rehabilitated and released from hard labor. The people were given tacit permission to visit churches. The Saratov diocese, in whose subordination there was not a single parish left, in 1942, the Holy Trinity Cathedral was leased. Some time later, the Holy Spirit Church and some other churches were opened.

During the war years, the Russian Orthodox Church became an adviser to Stalin. The Supreme Commander invited the chief clergy to Moscow to discuss the further development of Orthodoxy and the opening of theological academies and schools. Completely unexpected for the Russian church was the decision to choose the country's chief patriarch. On September 8, 1943, by the decision of the Local Council, our Orthodox Church acquired the newly elected Head, Metropolitan Sergius of Starogorodsky.

Fathers at the forefront

Some priests supported the people in the rear, instilling faith in victory, while others dressed in soldier's overcoats and went to the front. No one knows how many priests without a cassock and a cross with a prayer on their lips went on the attack on the enemy. In addition, they supported the spirit of the Soviet soldiers, holding talks in which the mercy of the Lord and his help in defeating the enemy were preached. According to Soviet statistics, about 40 clergy were awarded medals "For the Defense of Moscow" and "For the Defense of Leningrad". More than 50 priests received the award "For Valiant Labor". Fathers-soldiers who lagged behind the army signed up for partisan detachments and helped to destroy the enemy in the occupied territories. Several dozen people received medals "Partisan of the Great Patriotic War."

Many clergymen, rehabilitated from the camps, went straight to the front lines. Patriarch of All Russia Pimen, having served his term in hard labor, joined the Red Army and by the end of the war had the rank of major. Many Russian soldiers who survived this terrible war returned home and became priests. Machine gunner Konoplev after the war became Metropolitan Alexy. Boris Kramarenko, holder of the Orders of Glory, dedicated himself to God after the war, going to a church near Kyiv and becoming a deacon.

Archimandrite Alipiy, the abbot of the Pskov-Caves Monastery, who took part in the battle for Berlin and received the Order of the Red Star, talks about his decision to become a priest: “During this war I saw so much horror and nightmare that I constantly prayed to the Lord for salvation and gave him the word to become a father, surviving in this terrible war.

Archimandrite Leonid (Lobachev) was one of the first to volunteer for the front and went through the entire war, earning the title of foreman. The number of medals received inspires respect and speaks of his heroic past during the war. His award list contains seven medals and the Order of the Red Star. After the victory, the clergyman devoted his later life to the Russian Church. In 1948 he was sent to Jerusalem, where he was the first to lead the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission.

Holy Bishop Surgeon

Unforgettable is the heroic giving of oneself for the good of society and the salvation of the dying Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Luke. After university, without yet having a church order, he successfully worked as a zemstvo doctor. I met the war in the third exile in Krasnoyarsk. At that time, thousands of echelons with the wounded were sent to the deep rear. Saint Luke performed the most difficult operations and saved many Soviet soldiers. He was appointed chief surgeon of the evacuation hospital, and he advised all medical workers in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

At the end of his exile, Saint Luke received the rank of archbishop and began to head the Krasnoyarsk cathedra. His high position did not prevent him from continuing his good work. He, as before, operated on the sick, after the operation he made rounds of the wounded and consulted doctors. Along with this, he managed to write medical treatises, give lectures and speak at conferences. Wherever he was, he always wore the same cassock and priest's hood.

After the revision and addition of "Essays on Purulent Surgery", in 1943 the second edition of the famous work was published. In 1944, the archbishop was transferred to the Tambov cathedra, where he continued to treat the wounded in the hospital. After the end of the war, Saint Luke was awarded the medal "For Valiant Labor".

In 2000, by decision of the Orthodox Diocese, Archpriest Luke was canonized as a saint. On the territory of the Saratov Medical University, a church is being built, which is planned to be consecrated in the name of St. Luke.

Help the front

clergy and Orthodox people not only fought heroically on the battlefield and treated the wounded, but also provided material assistance to the Soviet Army. The priests raised funds for the needs of the front and bought the necessary weapons and equipment. On March 7, 1944, forty T-34 tanks were transferred to the 516th and 38th tank regiments. The ceremonial presentation of equipment was led by Metropolitan Nikolai. Of the donated tanks, a column was completed to them. Dmitry Donskoy. Stalin himself declared gratitude to the clergy and Orthodox people from the Red Army.

United with the people, our Orthodox Church held divine liturgies in honor of the fallen heroes and prayed for the salvation of Russian wars. After the service in the temples, meetings were held with Christians, and it was discussed who and how the Russian church and civilians could help. With the collected donations, the clergy helped orphans who were left without parents, and sent parcels with the necessary things to the front for families who had lost their breadwinners.

Parishioners from Saratov were able to raise enough funds to build six aircraft of the Alexander Nevsky brand. During the first three years of the war, the Moscow diocese collected and handed over 12 million rubles in donations for the needs of the front.

During the Great Patriotic War, for the first time in the years of their rule, the authorities allowed the Russian church to hold a religious procession. On the feast of the Great Pascha in all major cities, Orthodox people gathered together and made a great procession of the Cross. In the Paschal message written by Metropolitan Sergius, there were the following words:

"Not the swastika, but the Cross is called to lead our Christian culture, our Christian living."

A petition for a religious procession was submitted to Marshal Zhukov by Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) of Leningrad. There were fierce battles near Leningrad, and there was a threat of the capture of the city by the Nazis. By a miraculous coincidence, the day of Great Easter on April 5, 1942 coincided with the 700th anniversary of the defeat of the German knights in Battle on the Ice. The battle was led by Alexander Nevsky, who was later canonized and considered the patron saint of Leningrad. After the procession, a miracle truly happened. Part of the tank divisions of the "North" group, on Hitler's orders, were transferred to the aid of the "Center" group for an attack on Moscow. The inhabitants of Leningrad found themselves in a blockade, but the enemy did not penetrate the city.

The hungry blockade days in Leningrad were not in vain both for civilians and for the clergy. Along with ordinary Leningraders, clergy were dying of hunger. Eight clerics of the Vladimir Cathedral could not survive the terrible winter of 1941-1942. The regent of St. Nicholas Church died right during the service. Metropolitan Alexy spent the entire blockade in Leningrad, but his cell-attendant monk Evlogii died of starvation.

In some churches of the city, which had basements, bomb shelters were arranged. The Alexander Nevsky Lavra gave part of the premises for a hospital. Despite the difficult time of famine, divine liturgies were held daily in the churches. The clergy and parishioners prayed for the salvation of the soldiers shedding blood in fierce battles, commemorated the untimely departed wars, asked the Almighty to be merciful and grant victory over the Nazis. They remembered the prayer service of 1812 “during the invasion of adversaries”, and every day they included it in the service. Some services were attended by the commanders of the Leningrad Front, together with the commander-in-chief, Marshal Govorov.

The behavior of the Leningrad clergy and believers has become a truly civic feat. The flock and priests united and together endured hardships and hardships. There were ten active parishes in the city and northern suburbs. On June 23, the churches announced the start of collecting donations for the needs of the front. From the temples, all the funds that were in stock were given. The cost of maintaining churches was reduced to a minimum. Divine services were held at those moments when there were no bombings in the city, but regardless of the circumstances, they were performed daily.

Quiet prayer book

The quiet prayer of St. Seraphim of Vyritsky during the days of the war did not stop for a minute. From the first days, the elder prophesied victory over the Nazis. He prayed to the Lord for the salvation of our country from the invaders day and night, in his cell and in the garden on a stone, placing in front of him the image of Seraphim of Sarov. Praying, he spent many hours asking the Almighty to see the suffering of the Russian people and save the country from the enemy. And the miracle happened! Albeit not quickly, four painful years of the war passed, but the Lord heard quiet pleas for help and sent indulgence, granting victory.

How many human souls were saved thanks to the prayers of the unforgettable old man. He was the connecting thread between Russian Christians and heaven. The prayers of the monk changed the outcome of many important events. Seraphim at the beginning of the war predicted that the inhabitants of Vyritsa would bypass the troubles of the war. And in fact, not a single person from the village was injured, all the houses remained intact. Many old-timers remember an amazing incident that occurred during the war, thanks to which the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, located in Vyritsa, remained unharmed.

In September 1941, German troops intensively shelled the Vyritsa station. The Soviet command decided that the Nazis were using the high dome of the church for the correct aiming and decided to undermine it. The demolition team led by the lieutenant went to the village. Approaching the building of the temple, the lieutenant ordered the soldiers to wait, and he himself went into the building for a familiarization inspection of the object. After a while, a shot was heard from the church. When the soldiers entered the temple, they found the lifeless body of an officer and a revolver lying nearby. The soldiers left the village in a panic, the retreat soon began, and the church, by the Providence of God, remained intact.

Hieromonk Seraphim was a well-known merchant in St. Petersburg before taking the ordination. Having taken monastic vows, he became the head of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The Orthodox people greatly revered the clergyman and from all over the country went to him for help, advice and blessings. When the elder moved to Vyritsa in the 1930s, the flow of Christians did not decrease, and people continued to visit the confessor. In 1941, the Monk Seraphim was 76 years old. The state of health of the monk was not important, he could not walk on his own. In the post-war years, a new stream of visitors poured into Seraphim. Many people lost contact with their loved ones during the war years and, with the help of the elder's superpowers, wanted to know about their whereabouts. In 2000, the Orthodox Church canonized the hieromonk as a saint.