Russian Orthodox Church during the war. Russian Orthodox Church during the Great Patriotic War

Fashion & Style 23.09.2019

Fashion & Style

The Great Patriotic War was a new stage in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church, the patriotic service of the clergy and believers became an expression of a natural feeling of love for the Motherland.

The head of the Church, Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), addressed the flock on the very first day of the war, 12 days earlier than Soviet leader Joseph Stalin (Dzhugashvili). “It is not the first time that the Russian people have to endure trials,” Vladyka Sergius wrote. - With God's help, this time too, he will scatter the fascist enemy force into dust. 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. The fatherland is defended by weapons and by a common national feat, by a common readiness to serve the Fatherland in a difficult hour of trial with everything that everyone can.

On the next day of the war, June 23, at the suggestion of Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky), the parishes of Leningrad began collecting donations to the Defense Fund and the Soviet Red Cross.

On June 26, 1941, a prayer service was held at the Epiphany Cathedral for the granting of the Victory.

After the prayer service, Metropolitan Sergius addressed the faithful with a sermon, which included the following words: “Let the storm come. We know that it brings not only disasters, but also benefits: it freshens the air and drives out all kinds of miasma: indifference to the good of the Fatherland, double-dealing, serving personal gain, etc. We already have some signs of such a recovery. Isn’t it joyful, for example, to see that with the first strokes of a thunderstorm, we gathered in such a multitude in our church and consecrate the beginning of our nationwide feat in defense of our native land with a church service.

On the same day, Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) of Leningrad also addressed his flock with an archpastoral message, urging them to defend the Motherland. The influence of these messages can be judged by the facts of the attitude of the occupying authorities to the dissemination of pastoral appeals. In September 1941, Archimandrite Alexander (Vishnyakov), rector of the Nikolo-Naberezhnaya Church, and Archpriest Pavel Ostrensky were shot for reading in the churches of the first epistle of Metropolitan Sergius in Kyiv, and Archpriest Nikolai Shvets, deacon, was shot in Simferopol for reading and disseminating this patriotic appeal Alexander Bondarenko, elder Vincent.

The messages of the Primate of the Church (there were over 20 of them during the war) were not only of a consolidating nature, but also had explanatory purposes. They determined the firm position of the Church in relation to the invaders and the war in general.

On October 4, 1941, when Moscow was in mortal danger and the population was going through anxious days, Metropolitan Sergius issued an Epistle to the Moscow flock, calling on the laity to calm and warning the vacillating clergy: “There are rumors that would not like to believe that there are among our Orthodox pastors who are ready to go into service to the enemies of our Motherland and the Church - instead of the holy cross, be overshadowed by a pagan swastika. I don’t want to believe this, but if, in spite of everything, such shepherds were found, I will remind them that the Saint of our Church, in addition to the word of exhortation, was also given by the Lord a spiritual sword that punishes violators of the oath.”

In November 1941, while already in Ulyanovsk, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) addressed a message that strengthened the people's confidence in the approaching hour of Victory: guarantee of the moral and cultural prosperity of mankind.

Special attention in his messages, Metropolitan Sergius gave to believers in the temporarily occupied territories. In January 1942, in a special appeal, the patriarchal locum tenens reminded the Orthodox that, being held captive by the enemy, they should not forget that they are Russians and that they should not, consciously or thoughtlessly, turn out to be traitors to their homeland. Metropolitan Sergius also contributed to the organization of the partisan movement. Thus, the message emphasizes: “Let your local partisans be for you not only an example and approval, but also the subject of unceasing care. Remember that any service rendered to a partisan is a service to the Motherland and an extra step towards your own liberation from fascist captivity.

The metropolitan's messages violated Soviet laws, for they prohibited any activity of the Church outside the walls of the temple and any interference in the affairs of the state. Nevertheless, all appeals and messages issued by the locum tenens responded to all major events in the military life of the fighting country. The patriotic position of the Church was noticed by the leadership of the country from the first days of the war. On July 16, 1941, the Soviet press began to publish positive materials about the Church and believers in the USSR. For the first time, Pravda published information about the patriotic activities of the Orthodox clergy. Such reports in the central press became regular. In total, from that time to July 1945, over 100 articles and messages were published in the central press (the newspapers Pravda and Izvestia), where religious problems and the theme of the patriotic participation of believers in the Great Patriotic War were addressed to one degree or another.

Guided by civic feelings, hierarchs, priests and believers did not limit themselves to prayers for the granting of victory to the Red Army, but from the first days of the war they participated in providing material assistance to the front and rear. The clergy in Gorky and Kharkov, and then throughout the country, organized the collection of warm clothes and gifts for the fighters. Money, gold and silver items, government bonds were contributed to the Defense Fund.

In fact, Metropolitan Sergius managed to legalize the collection of money and belongings of believers (illegal according to the decree “On Religious Associations” of April 8, 1929) only in 1943, after a telegram to I. Stalin (Dzhugashvili) dated January 5. It said: “I cordially greet you on behalf of the Orthodox Russian Church. I prayerfully wish you health and success in all your undertakings for the benefit of your native country entrusted to you in the New Year. With our special message, I invite the clergy and believers to donate for the construction of a column of tanks named after Dmitry Donskoy. For starters, the Patriarchate contributes 100,000 rubles, the Yelokhovsky Cathedral in Moscow contributes 300,000, and the rector of the cathedral Nikolai Fyodorovich Kolchitsky - 100,000. We ask the State Bank to open a special account. May the victory over the dark forces of fascism end with the nationwide feat led by you. Patriarchal Locum Tenens Sergius, Metropolitan of Moscow.

In the response telegram, permission to open an account was given. There were also words of gratitude to the Church for its activities: “To Patriarchal Locum Tenens Sergius, Metropolitan of Moscow. Please convey to the Orthodox clergy and believers my greetings and gratitude to the Red Army for caring for the armored forces of the Red Army. An instruction to open a special account with the State Bank has been given. I. Stalin.

With this permission, the Church was de facto entitled to legal entity. At the end of 1944, each diocese sent to the Synod a report on its activities in total terms from June 22, 1941 to July 1, 1944. The clergy and believers collected funds for defense needs, gifts for the soldiers of the Red Army, the sick and wounded, who were in hospitals , to provide assistance to the disabled of the Patriotic War, children and childcare facilities, families of the Red soldiers. The collections were not only monetary, but also precious items, food and necessary things, such as, for example, waffle towels for hospitals. During the reporting period, contributions from parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church amounted to 200 million rubles. The total amount of collected funds for the entire war period exceeded 300 million rubles.

Of this amount collected money 8 million rubles were used to purchase 40 T-34 tanks built at the Chelyabinsk tank factory. They made up a column with inscriptions on the towers of military vehicles: "Dmitry Donskoy." The transfer of the column to the units of the Red Army took place in the village of Gorenki, which is 5 kilometers northwest of Tula, at the location of the military units being assembled.

Terrible equipment was received by the 38th and 516th separate tank regiments. By this time, both had gone through difficult combat paths. The first participated in the battles on the Demyansk bridgehead, near Vyazma and Rzhev, liberated the cities of Nevel and Velikiye Luki, beat the enemy near Leningrad and Novgorod. Near Tula, the combat paths of the regiments will disperse. The 38th will go to the southwestern regions of Ukraine, the 516th - to Belarus. The military fate of the combat vehicles "Dmitry Donskoy" will develop differently. It will be short and bright for the 38th regiment, it will be long for the 516th. But on March 8, 1944, on the day of the delivery of the general church column, they stood on the same snowy field. According to the state, each was supposed to have 21 tanks. Only the 516th regiment received this amount, the 38th got nineteen.

Taking into account the high significance of the patriotic act of believers, on the day of the transfer of the column, a solemn rally took place, at which Metropolitan Nikolay (Yarushevich) of Krutitsky spoke to the tankmen on behalf of Patriarch Sergius (Stragorodsky). This was the first official meeting of a representative of the episcopate of the Russian Orthodox Church with soldiers and commanders of the Red Army.

The 38th separate tank regiment was the first to receive a baptism of fire in the Uman-Botosha operation, participating in the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front in the liberation of the southwestern regions of Ukraine and part of Bessarabia. Having made a 12-day combined march in the region of Uman, the regiment took the battle on the night of March 23-24, 1944. By March 25, together with rifle units 94th Guards rifle division 53rd Army were released settlements Cossack, Korytnoe, Bendzari. The first battles brought the first losses of combat vehicles. At the beginning of April 1944, only 9 tanks remained in the regiment. But the will to win and the desire of the army to carry the name of Dmitry Donskoy with honor on the armor did not weaken. The personnel of the 38th regiment distinguished themselves by heroic actions during the crossing of the Dniester River with subsequent access to the state border of the USSR. For the successful performance of combat missions, by order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of April 8, 1944, the regiment was given the honorary name "Dniester". In less than two months, the regiment fought more than 130 km, managed to overcome more than 500 km by marching off-road on their tanks. During this period, tankers destroyed about 1420 Nazis, 40 various guns, 108 machine guns, knocked out and captured 38 tanks, 17 armored personnel carriers, 101 transport vehicles, captured 3 fuel depots and captured 84 German soldiers and officers.

Twenty-one soldiers and ten officers of the regiment died a heroic death on the battlefields. For their courage, valor and heroism, 49 tankers were awarded orders and medals of the USSR.

Subsequently, being in the reserve of the Headquarters, the 38th regiment was renamed into the 74th separate heavy tank regiment, and then reorganized into the 364th heavy self-propelled artillery regiment. At the same time, given the high military merit personnel during the Uman-Botoshansky operation, he was awarded the title of "Guards" and retained the honorary name "Dniester".

Another regiment that received combat vehicles from the column named after Dmitry Donskoy, - the 516th separate flamethrower tank - began fighting July 16, 1944, together with the 2nd Assault Engineer Brigade of the 1st Belorussian Front. In view of the flamethrower weapons installed on the tanks (which were secret at that time), the units of this regiment were involved in the performance of special combat missions and in particularly difficult sectors of the front in cooperation with assault battalions. In a letter of thanks from the command of the regiment addressed to Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) there were the following words: “You said: “Drive the hated enemy out of our Great Russia. Let the glorious name of Dmitry Donskoy lead us to battle, warrior brothers.” Fulfilling this order, privates, sergeants and officers of our unit, on the tanks handed over by you, full of love for their Motherland, for their people, successfully smash the sworn enemy, expelling him from our land ... The name of the great Russian commander Dmitry Donskoy, like unfading glory weapons, we carried on the armor of our tanks forward to the West, to complete and final victory.

Tankers kept their word. In January 1945, they bravely stormed the strong fortifications of Poznan, and in the spring they fought on the Zeyalow Heights. Tanks "Dmitry Donskoy" reached Berlin.

The boundless courage and heroism of the tankers is evidenced by the fact that 19 people, fighting to the last breath, burned down in their combat vehicles. Among them were posthumously awarded Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, commander tank platoon Lieutenant A. K. Gogin and driver A. A. Solomko.

Thus, in the struggle for common ideals during the Great Patriotic War, the patriotic aspirations of Russian believers and the clergy merged with the heroism and valor of the soldiers of the Red Army. As many years ago, the banners of Dmitry Donskoy blew over them, personifying victory over a strong enemy.

Undoubtedly, the collection of funds for the Defense Fund, for gifts to the Red Army, to help orphans, disabled soldiers, and the families of the dead was an important part of the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church during the war years. But there was another most important form of activity - prayers for the victory of the Russian army. One of the greatest prayer books during the war years was Hieroschemamonk Seraphim Vyritsky.

When the Germans entered the city, the elder reassured many who were confused, saying that not a single residential building would be destroyed. (In Vyritsa, indeed, only the railway station, the savings bank and the bridge were destroyed.) For a thousand days he stood in prayer for the salvation of Russia. He offered constant prayer not only in his cell, but also in the garden on a stone in front of the icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov, arranged on a pine tree, feeding a wild bear. The elder called this corner “Sarov”. In 1942 Father Seraphim wrote about his vigils:

“Both in joy and in sorrow, monk, sick old man
He goes to the holy icon in the garden, in the silence of the night.
To pray to God for the world and all people
And bow to the elder about his homeland.
Pray to the Good Queen, Great Seraphim,
She is the right hand of Christ, a helper to the sick.
Intercessor for the poor, clothing for the naked,
In the tribulations of the great many, he will save his servants ...
In sins we perish, departing from God,
And we offend God in our deeds.

The elder saw the Victory, which he brought closer with his prayers. Father Seraphim did not stop receiving people even after the war. There are even more of them. Mostly they were relatives of the missing soldiers.

Especially it should be said about the patriotic activity of the Church in the temporarily occupied territory. The priests were sometimes the only link between the partisans and local residents and received the glorious nickname of "partisan priests."

The medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" was awarded to the activities of Father Fyodor Puzanov from the village of Brodovichi-Zapolye in the Pskov region. During the war years, he became a scout of the 5th partisan brigade. Knight of St. George of the First World War, using the relative freedom of movement allowed to him by the occupiers as a priest of a rural parish, he conducted intelligence work, supplied the partisans with bread and clothing, was the first to give them his cow, and reported data on the movements of the Germans. In addition, he conducted conversations with believers and, moving from village to village, acquainted the inhabitants with the situation in the country and on the fronts. In January 1944, during the retreat of the German troops, Father Theodore saved more than 300 of his fellow countrymen from deportation to Germany.

Father Vasily Kopychko, rector of the Odrizhinsky Assumption Church in the Ivanovo district of the Pinsk region in Belarus, was also a “partisan priest”. From the beginning of the war, he performed divine services at night, without lighting, so as not to be noticed by the Germans. The pastor acquainted the parishioners with the reports of the Information Bureau, with the messages of Metropolitan Sergius. Later, Father Vasily became a partisan liaison and continued to be one until the liberation of Belarus.

The monastics also contributed to the cause of victory. (At the end of the war, not a single functioning monastery remained on the territory of the RSFSR, only in the annexed regions of Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, there were 46 of them.) During the years of occupation, 29 Orthodox monasteries resumed their activities in the territory temporarily occupied by the enemy. So, for example, the Kursk Holy Trinity Convent began operating in March 1942. In just a few months of 1944, the nuns handed over 70 thousand rubles to the Defense Fund, the Dnepropetrovsk Tikhvin Convent - 50 thousand, the Odessa St. Michael's Convent - 100 thousand .rubles The nuns helped the Red Army not only with donations, but also with the collection of warm clothes and towels, so needed in hospitals and medical battalions. The nuns of the Odessa Mikhailovsky Convent, together with their abbess, Abbess Anatolia (Bukach), collected and handed over a significant amount of medicines to military doctors.

The patriotic church activity in the first years of the war was noticed and appreciated by the Soviet leadership, having had a certain impact on changing the religious policy of the state during the war period.

On the day of Easter, May 6, 1945, the writer M. M. Prishvin wrote in his diary “... We were near the Church of John the Warrior in a tight crowd, going far beyond the church fence into the street. Steam from the breath of those who stood in the church poured from the side door above their heads. If only a foreigner could see how Russians pray and what they rejoice at! When the church heard “Christ is Risen!” and all the people picked it up - it was a joy!

No, victory was not achieved by cold calculation alone: the roots of victory must be sought here, in this joy of closed breathing. I know that it was not Christ who led the people to war and no one was happy about the war, but again, more than one calculation and external calculation determined the victory. And when now every commoner, introduced by the interlocutor into thinking about life, says: “No, there is something!” - this “no” he refers to the atheists and to himself, who did not believe in victory. And that “something” is God, who determines, as in this matins, his internal organization and free order, and this “something” (God) exists!”

Sunday June 22, 1941, the day of Nazi Germany's attack on the Soviet Union, coincided with the celebration of the memory of All the Saints who shone in the Russian land. It would seem that the outbreak of war should have exacerbated the contradictions between and the state, which had been persecuting it for more than twenty years. However, this did not happen. The spirit of love inherent in the Church turned out to be stronger than resentment and prejudice. In the person of the Patriarchal Locum Tenens, the metropolitan gave an accurate, balanced assessment of the unfolding events, and determined her attitude towards them. At the moment of general confusion, turmoil and despair, the voice of the Church sounded especially clear. Upon learning of the attack on the USSR, Metropolitan Sergius returned to his modest residence from the Epiphany Cathedral, where he served the Liturgy, immediately went to his office, wrote and typed with his own hand on a typewriter "Message to the pastors and flock of Christ's Orthodox Church." “Despite his physical disabilities – deafness and inactivity,” Archbishop Dimitry (Gradusov) of Yaroslavl later recalled, “Metropolitan Sergius turned out to be extremely sensitive and energetic: he not only managed to write his message, but also sent it to all corners of the vast Motherland.” The message read: “Our Orthodox has always shared the fate of the people. Together with him, she carried trials, and consoled herself with his successes. She will not leave her people even now. She blesses with a heavenly blessing and the forthcoming nationwide feat ... ". In the terrible hour of the enemy invasion, the wise First Hierarch saw behind the alignment of political forces in the international arena, behind the clash of powers, interests and ideologies, the main danger that threatened the destruction of thousand-year-old Russia. The choice of Metropolitan Sergius, like that of every believer in those days, was not simple and unequivocal. During the years of persecution, he drank with everything from the same cup of suffering and martyrdom. And now, with all his archpastoral and confessional authority, he urged the priests not to remain silent witnesses, and even more so not to indulge in thoughts about possible benefits on the other side of the front. The message clearly reflects the position of the Russian Orthodox Church, based on a deep understanding of patriotism, a sense of responsibility before God for the fate of the earthly Fatherland. Subsequently, at the Council of Bishops of the Orthodox Church on September 8, 1943, the Metropolitan himself, recalling the first months of the war, said: “What position our Church should take during the war, we did not have to think, because before we managed to determine somehow their position, it has already been determined - the fascists attacked our country, devastated it, took our compatriots into captivity, tortured them in every possible way, robbed them. .. So even simple decency would not allow us to take any other position than the one we took, that is, unconditionally negative towards everything that bears the stamp of fascism, a stamp hostile to our country. In total, during the war years, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens issued up to 23 patriotic messages.

Metropolitan Sergius was not alone in his appeal to the Orthodox people. Leningrad Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) urged believers "to lay down their lives for integrity, for honor, for the happiness of their beloved Motherland." In his messages, he primarily wrote about the patriotism and religiosity of the Russian people: “As in the time of Demetrius Donskoy and St. Alexander Nevsky, as in the era of the struggle against Napoleon, the victory of the Russian people was due not only to the patriotism of the Russian people, but also to their deep faith in helping God's just cause ... We will be unshakable in our faith in the final victory over lies and evil, in the final victory over the enemy.

Another closest associate of the Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich), also addressed the flock with patriotic messages, who often traveled to the front line, performing divine services in local churches, delivering sermons with which he consoled the suffering people, instilling hope in the almighty help of God, calling the flock to loyalty to the Fatherland. On the first anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War, on June 22, 1942, Metropolitan Nikolai addressed a message to the flock living in the territory occupied by the Germans: “One year has passed since the fascist beast pours blood on our native land. This gate desecrates our holy temples of God. And the blood of the slain, and the ruined shrines, and the destroyed temples of God - everything cries out to heaven for vengeance! .. The Holy Church rejoices that among you, for the holy cause of saving the Motherland from the enemy, folk heroes rise from the enemy - glorious partisans, for whom there is no higher happiness than fight for the Motherland and, if necessary, die for it.

In distant America, the former head of the military clergy of the White Army, Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov), called on God's blessing on the soldiers of the Soviet army, on the whole people, the love for which did not pass and did not decrease during the years of forced separation. On July 2, 1941, he spoke at a rally of many thousands in Madison Square Garden with an appeal to compatriots, allies, to all people who sympathized with the fight against fascism, and emphasized the special, providential for all mankind, the nature of the events taking place in Eastern Europe, saying that the fate of the whole world depends on the fate of Russia. Vladyka Veniamin paid special attention to the day the war began - the day of All Saints who shone in the Russian land, believing that this is “a sign of the mercy of the Russian saints to our common Motherland and gives us great hope that the struggle that has begun will end in a good end for us.”

From the first day of the war, the hierarchs in their messages expressed the attitude of the Church towards the outbreak of war as liberating and just, and blessed the defenders of the Motherland. The messages consoled believers in sorrow, called them to selfless work in the home front, courageous participation in military operations, supported faith in the final victory over the enemy, thus contributing to the formation of high patriotic feelings and convictions among thousands of compatriots.

The characterization of the actions of the Church during the war years will not be complete, if not to say that the actions of the hierarchs who distributed their messages were illegal, since after the decision of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars on religious associations in 1929, the area of activity of clergy, religious preachers was limited to the location of members of the served their religious association and the location of the corresponding prayer room.

Not only in words, but also in deeds, she did not leave her people, she shared with them all the hardships of the war. The manifestations of the patriotic activity of the Russian Church were very diverse. Bishops, priests, laity, faithful children of the Church, accomplished their feat regardless of the front line: deep in the rear, on the front lines, in the occupied territories.

1941 found Bishop Luka (Voyno-Yasenetsky) in his third exile, in 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 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 October 1941, Bishop Luca was appointed consultant to all hospitals Krasnoyarsk Territory and chief surgeon of the evacuation hospital. He plunged headlong into the difficult and intense surgical work. The most difficult operations, complicated by extensive suppuration, had to be done by a renowned surgeon. In the middle of 1942, the term of exile ended. Bishop Luka was elevated to the rank of archbishop and appointed to the Krasnoyarsk cathedra. But, heading the department, he, as before, continued surgical work, returning the defenders of the Fatherland to the ranks. The hard work of the archbishop in Krasnoyarsk hospitals produced brilliant scientific results. At the end of 1943, the 2nd edition of "Essays on Purulent Surgery" was published, revised and significantly supplemented, and in 1944 the book "Late resections of infected patients" was published. gunshot wounds joints." For these two works, Saint Luke was awarded the Stalin Prize of the 1st degree. Vladyka transferred part of this award to help children who suffered in the war.

Just as selflessly in besieged Leningrad, Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad carried out his archpastoral labors, having spent most of the blockade with his long-suffering flock. At the beginning of the war, there were five functioning churches in Leningrad: St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral, Prince Vladimir and Transfiguration Cathedrals and two cemetery churches. Metropolitan Alexy lived at St. Nicholas Cathedral and served there every Sunday, often without a deacon. With his sermons and messages, he filled the souls of the suffering Leningraders with courage and hope. On Palm Sunday, his archpastoral appeal was read in churches, in which he called on the faithful to selflessly help the soldiers with honest work in the rear. He wrote: “Victory is achieved by the power of not one weapon, but by the power of universal upsurge and powerful faith in victory, trust in God, crowning the triumph of the weapon of truth, “saving” us “from cowardice and from the storm” (). And our army itself is strong not only by the number and power of weapons, it overflows and kindles the hearts of warriors that spirit of unity and inspiration, by which the entire Russian people live.

The activity of the clergy during the days of the blockade, which had a deep spiritual and moral significance, was also forced to be recognized by the Soviet government. Many clergymen, headed by Metropolitan Alexy, were awarded the medal "For the Defense of Leningrad".

A similar award, but already for the defense of Moscow, was awarded to Metropolitan Nikolai of Krutitsy and many representatives of the Moscow clergy. In the "Journal of the Moscow Patriarchy" we read that the rector of the Moscow Church in the name of the Holy Spirit at the Danilovsky cemetery, Archpriest Pavel Uspensky, did not leave Moscow during troubled days, although he usually lived outside the city. A round-the-clock duty was organized in the temple, they carefully monitored so that random visitors did not linger at the cemetery at night. A bomb shelter was organized in the lower part of the temple. To provide first aid in case of accidents, a sanitary station was created at the temple, where there were stretchers, dressings and necessary medicines. The wife of the priest and his two daughters took part in the construction of anti-tank ditches. The energetic patriotic activity of the priest becomes even more revealing if we mention that he was 60 years old. Archpriest Peter Filonov, rector of the Moscow church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Unexpected Joy" in Maryina Roshcha, had three sons who served in the army. He also organized a shelter in the temple, just like all the citizens of the capital, in turn, stood at guard posts. And along with this, he conducted a great explanatory work among the believers, pointing to bad influence enemy propaganda that penetrated the capital in leaflets scattered by the Germans. The word of the spiritual shepherd was very fruitful in those difficult and troubled days.

Hundreds of clergy, including those who managed to return to freedom by 1941 after serving time in camps, prisons and exile, were drafted into the ranks of the army. So, having already been imprisoned, S.M. began his combat path along the war fronts as a deputy company commander. Izvekov, the future Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Pimen. Abbot of the Pskov-Caves Monastery in 1950–1960 Archimandrite Alipy (Voronov) fought all four years, defended Moscow, was wounded several times and awarded orders. The future Metropolitan of Kalinin and Kashinsky Alexy (Konoplev) was a machine gunner at the front. When he returned to the priesthood in 1943, the medal "For Military Merit" shone on his chest. Archpriest Boris Vasiliev, before the war, deacon of the Kostroma Cathedral, in Stalingrad commanded a reconnaissance platoon, and then fought as deputy chief regimental intelligence. In the report of the Chairman of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church G. Karpov to the Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks A.A. Kuznetsov on the state of the Russian Church dated August 27, 1946, it was indicated that many representatives of the clergy were awarded orders and medals of the Great Patriotic War.

In the occupied territory, the clergy were sometimes the only link between the local population and the partisans. They sheltered the Red Army, they themselves joined the partisan ranks. Priest Vasily Kopychko, rector of the Odrizhinsky Church of the Assumption in the Ivanovo district in Pinsk region, in the first month of the war, through an underground group of partisan detachment, received from Moscow a message from the Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius, read it to his parishioners, despite the fact that the Nazis shot those who found the text appeals. From the beginning of the war until its victorious end, Father Vasily strengthened his parishioners spiritually by performing divine services at night without lighting so as not to be noticed. Almost all the inhabitants of the surrounding villages came to the service. The brave shepherd acquainted the parishioners with the reports of the Information Bureau, talked about the situation on the fronts, urged them to resist the invaders, read the messages of the Church to those who found themselves in the occupation. Once, accompanied by partisans, he came to their camp, got acquainted in detail with the life of the people's avengers, and from that moment became a partisan liaison. The priest's house became a partisan turnout. Father Vasily collected food for the wounded partisans, and sent weapons. In early 1943, the Nazis managed to uncover his connection with the partisans. and the house of the abbot the Germans burned down. Miraculously, they managed to save the shepherd's family and transfer Father Vasily himself to the partisan detachment, which later joined the army and participated in the liberation of Belarus and Western Ukraine. For his patriotic activity, the clergyman was awarded the medals "To the Partisan of the Great Patriotic War", "For the Victory over Germany", "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War".

Personal feat was combined with the collection of funds for the needs of the front. Initially, believers transferred money to the account of the State Defense Committee, the Red Cross and other funds. But on January 5, 1943, Metropolitan Sergius sent a telegram to Stalin asking him to allow the opening of a bank account, into which all the money donated for defense in all the churches of the country would be deposited. Stalin gave his written consent and, on behalf of the Red Army, thanked the Church for her labors. By January 15, 1943, in Leningrad alone, besieged and starving, believers donated 3,182,143 rubles to the church fund to protect the country.

The creation of the tank column "Dmitry Donskoy" and the squadron "Alexander Nevsky" at the expense of church funds is a special page in history. There was almost not a single rural parish on land free from fascists that did not contribute to the cause of the whole people. In the memoirs of those days of the archpriest of the church of the village of Trinity Dnipropetrovsk region I.V. Ivlev says: “There was no money in the church cash desk, but we had to get it ... I blessed two 75-year-old old women for this great deed. Let their names be known to people: Kovrigina Maria Maksimovna and Gorbenko Matrena Maksimovna. 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. They went around the entire parish - villages, farms and towns, located 5-20 kilometers from the village, and as a result - 10 thousand rubles, a significant amount in our places devastated by German monsters.

Funds were collected for a tank column and in the occupied territory. An example of this is the civil feat of the priest Theodore Puzanov from the village of Brodovichi-Zapolye. In the occupied Pskov region, for the construction of a column, he managed to collect among the believers a whole bag of gold coins, silver, church utensils and money. These donations, totaling about 500,000 rubles, were transferred by the partisans to big land. With each year of the war, the amount of church contributions grew markedly. But of particular importance in the final period of the war was the collection of funds begun in October 1944 to help the children and families of Red Army soldiers. On October 10, in his letter to I. Stalin, Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad, who headed Russia after the death of Patriarch Sergius, wrote: close spiritual ties with those who do not spare their blood for the sake of the freedom and prosperity of our Motherland. The clergy and laity of the occupied territories after liberation were also actively involved in patriotic work. So, in Orel, after the expulsion of the Nazi troops, 2 million rubles were collected.

Historians and memoirists have described all the battles on the battlefields of the Second World War, but no one is able to describe the spiritual battles fought by the great and nameless prayer books in these years.

On June 26, 1941, in the Cathedral of the Epiphany, Metropolitan Sergius served a moleben "For the granting of victory." From that time on, in all the churches of the Moscow Patriarchate, such prayers began to be performed according to specially composed texts “A Prayer Service in the Invasion of Adversaries, sung in the Russian Orthodox Church during the Great Patriotic War.” In all churches, a prayer composed by Archbishop Augustine (Vinogradsky) in the year of the Napoleonic invasion sounded, a prayer for the granting of victories to the Russian army, which stood in the way of civilized barbarians. From the first day of the war, without interrupting her prayer for a single day, during all church services, our Church fervently prayed to the Lord for the granting of success and victory to our army: to crush our enemies and adversaries of ours and all their cunning slanders ... ".

Metropolitan Sergius not only called, but he himself was a living example of prayer service. Here is what contemporaries wrote about him: “Archbishop Philip (Gumilevsky) was on his way from the northern camps to the Vladimir exile in Moscow; he went to the office of Metropolitan Sergius in Baumansky Lane, hoping to see Vladyka, but he was away. Then Archbishop Philip left a letter to Metropolitan Sergius, which contained the following lines: “Dear Vladyka, when I think of you standing at night prayers, I think of you as a holy righteous man; when I think about your daily activities, then I think of you as a holy martyr ... ".

During the war, when the decisive Battle of Stalingrad was drawing to a close, on January 19, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens in Ulyanovsk led a religious procession to the Jordan. He fervently prayed for the victory of the Russian army, but an unexpected illness forced him to go to bed. On the night of February 2, 1943, the Metropolitan, as his cell-attendant, Archimandrite John (Razumov) told, having overcome his illness, asked for help to get out of bed. Rising with difficulty, he made three prostrations, thanking God, and then said: “The Lord of armies, mighty in battle, has brought down those who rise against us. May the Lord bless his people with peace! Maybe this beginning will be a happy ending." In the morning, the radio broadcast a message about the complete defeat of the German troops near Stalingrad.

St. Seraphim of Vyritsky performed a wondrous spiritual feat during the Great Patriotic War. Imitating the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, he prayed in the garden on a stone in front of his icon for the forgiveness of human sins and for the deliverance of Russia from the invasion of adversaries. With hot tears, the great elder implored the Lord for the revival of the Russian Orthodox Church and for the salvation of the whole world. This feat demanded indescribable courage and patience from the saint, it was truly martyrdom for the sake of love for one's neighbors. From the stories of the relatives of the ascetic: “... In 1941, grandfather was already in his 76th year. By that time, the disease had weakened him greatly, and he could hardly move without outside help. In the garden, behind the house, about fifty meters away, a granite boulder protruded from the ground, in front of which a small apple tree grew. It was on this stone that Father Seraphim offered his petitions to the Lord. He was led by the arms to the place of prayer, and sometimes they were simply carried. An icon was strengthened on the apple tree, and grandfather stood with his sore knees on a stone and stretched out his hands to the sky ... What did it cost him! After all, he suffered from chronic diseases of the legs, heart, blood vessels and lungs. Apparently, the Lord Himself helped him, but it was impossible to look at all this without tears. We repeatedly begged him to leave this feat - after all, it was possible to pray in the cell, but in this case he was merciless both to himself and to us. Father Seraphim prayed for as long as he could—sometimes for an hour, sometimes two, and sometimes for several hours in a row, he gave himself entirely, without a trace—it was truly a cry to God! We believe that through the prayers of such ascetics Russia withstood and Petersburg was saved. We remember: grandfather told us that one prayer book for the country can save all cities and villages ... Despite the cold and heat, wind and rain, many serious illnesses, the elder persistently demanded to help him get to the stone. So day after day, during all the long exhausting war years ... ".

At that time, a lot of ordinary people, military personnel, those who had departed from God during the years of persecution, also turned to God. Ikh was sincere and often had the repentant character of a "prudent robber." One of the signalers who received combat reports from Russian military pilots on the radio said: “When pilots in wrecked planes saw imminent death for themselves, their last words were often: “Lord, accept my soul.” The commander of the Leningrad Front, Marshal L.A., repeatedly showed his religious feelings in public. Govorov, after the Battle of Stalingrad began to visit Orthodox churches Marshal V.N. Chuikov. The conviction was widespread among believers that Marshal G.K. Zhukov. In 1945, he again lit the inextinguishable lamp in the Leipzig Orthodox Church-monument dedicated to the "Battle of the Nations" with the Napoleonic army. G. Karpov, reporting to the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on the celebration of Easter in Moscow and Moscow Region churches on the night of April 15-16, 1944, emphasized that in almost all churches, in one quantity or another, there were military officers and privates.

The war reassessed all aspects of the life of the Soviet state, returned people to the realities of life and death. The reassessment took place not only at the level of ordinary citizens, but also at the government level. An analysis of the international situation and the religious situation in the occupied territory convinced Stalin that it was necessary to support the Russian Orthodox Church headed by Metropolitan Sergius. On September 4, 1943, Metropolitans Sergiy, Alexy and Nikolai were invited to the Kremlin to meet with I.V. Stalin. As a result of this meeting, permission was obtained to convene a Bishops' Council, elect a Patriarch at it, and resolve some other church problems. At the Council of Bishops on September 8, 1943, Metropolitan Sergius was elected His Holiness Patriarch. On October 7, 1943, the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR was formed, which indirectly testified to the government's recognition of the existence of the Russian Orthodox Church and the desire to regulate relations with it.

At the beginning of the war, Metropolitan Sergius wrote: “Let the storm approach, We know that it brings not only disasters, but also benefits: it freshens the air and drives out all sorts of miasma.” Millions of people were able to rejoin the Church of Christ. Despite almost 25 years of atheist domination, Russia has changed. The spiritual nature of the war was that through suffering, deprivation, sorrow, people eventually returned to faith.

In its actions, the Church was guided by participation in the fullness of moral perfection and love inherent in God, by the apostolic tradition: “We also implore you, brethren, admonish the unruly, comfort the faint-hearted, support the weak, be long-suffering towards all. See that no one repays evil for evil to anyone; but always look for the good both to each other and to everyone ”(). To preserve this spirit meant and means to remain United, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.

Sources and literature:

1 . Damaskin I.A., Koshel P.A. Encyclopedia of the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945 Moscow: Red Proletarian, 2001.

2 . Veniamin (Fedchenkov), Met. At the turn of two eras. M.: Father's house, 1994.

3 . Ivlev I.V., prot. About patriotism and about patriots with big and small deeds//Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. 1944. No. 5. pp.24–26.

4 . History of the Russian Orthodox Church. From the restoration of the Patriarchate to the present day. T.1. 1917–1970 St. Petersburg: Resurrection, 1997.

5 . Marushchak Vasily, protodeacon. Saint Surgeon: The Life of Archbishop Luke (Voyno-Yasenetsky). M.: Danilovsky Blagovestnik, 2003.

6 . Newly Illustrious Saints. The Life of Hieromartyr Sergius (Lebedev) // Moscow Diocesan Vedomosti. 2001. #11–12. pp.53–61.

7 . The most revered saints of St. Petersburg. M.: Favor-XXI, 2003.

8 . Pospelovsky D.V. Russian Orthodox in the XX century. M.: Respublika, 1995.

9 . Russian Orthodox Church in Soviet times (1917–1991). Materials and documents on the history of relations between the state and /Comp. G. Strikker. Moscow: Propylaea, 1995.

10 . Seraphim's blessing / Comp. and general ed. Bishop of Novosibirsk and Berdsk Sergius (Sokolov). 2nd ed. Moscow: Pro-Press, 2002.

11 . Tsypin V., prot. History of the Russian Church. Book. 9. M.: Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery, 1997.

12 . Shapovalova A. Motherland appreciated their merits//Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. 1944. No. 10.S. 18–19.

13 . Shkarovsky M.V. Russian Orthodox under Stalin and Khrushchev. Moscow: Krutitsy Patriarchal Compound, 1999.

Another closest associate of the Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich), also addressed the flock with patriotic messages, who often traveled to the front line, performing divine services in local churches, delivering sermons with which he consoled the suffering people, instilling hope in the almighty help of God, calling the flock to loyalty to the Fatherland. On the first anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War, on June 22, 1942, Metropolitan Nikolai addressed a message to the flock living in the territory occupied by the Germans: “One year has passed since the fascist beast is flooding our native land with blood. This gate desecrates our holy temples of God. And the blood of the slain, and the ruined shrines, and the destroyed temples of God - everything cries out to heaven for vengeance! .. The Holy Church rejoices that among you, for the holy cause of saving the Motherland from the enemy, folk heroes rise from the enemy - glorious partisans, for whom there is no higher happiness than fight for the Motherland and, if necessary, die for it.

1941 found Bishop Luka (Voyno-Yasenetsky) in his third exile, in 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 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 October 1941, Bishop Luka was appointed consultant to all hospitals in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and chief surgeon of the evacuation hospital. He plunged headlong into the difficult and intense surgical work. The most difficult operations, complicated by extensive suppuration, had to be done by a renowned surgeon. In the middle of 1942, the term of exile ended. Bishop Luka was elevated to the rank of archbishop and appointed to the Krasnoyarsk cathedra. But, heading the department, he, as before, continued surgical work, returning the defenders of the Fatherland to the ranks. The hard work of the archbishop in Krasnoyarsk hospitals produced brilliant scientific results. At the end of 1943, the 2nd edition of "Essays on Purulent Surgery" was published, revised and significantly supplemented, and in 1944 the book "Late resections of infected gunshot wounds of the joints" was published. For these two works, Saint Luke was awarded the Stalin Prize of the 1st degree. Vladyka transferred part of this award to help children who suffered in the war.

A similar award, but already for the defense of Moscow, was awarded to Metropolitan Nikolai of Krutitsy and many representatives of the Moscow clergy. In the "Journal of the Moscow Patriarchy" we read that the rector of the Moscow Church in the name of the Holy Spirit at the Danilovsky cemetery, Archpriest Pavel Uspensky, did not leave Moscow during troubled days, although he usually lived outside the city. A round-the-clock duty was organized in the temple, they carefully monitored so that random visitors did not linger at the cemetery at night. A bomb shelter was organized in the lower part of the temple. To provide first aid in case of accidents, a sanitary station was created at the temple, where there were stretchers, dressings and necessary medicines. The wife of the priest and his two daughters took part in the construction of anti-tank ditches. The energetic patriotic activity of the priest becomes even more revealing if we mention that he was 60 years old. Archpriest Peter Filonov, rector of the Moscow church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Unexpected Joy" in Maryina Roshcha, had three sons who served in the army. He also organized a shelter in the temple, just like all the citizens of the capital, in turn, stood at guard posts. And along with this, he did a lot of explanatory work among believers, pointing out the harmful influence of enemy propaganda that penetrated the capital in leaflets scattered by the Germans. The word of the spiritual shepherd was very fruitful in those difficult and troubled days.

Hundreds of clergy, including those who managed to return to freedom by 1941 after serving time in camps, prisons and exile, were drafted into the ranks of the army. So, having already been imprisoned, S.M. began his combat path along the war fronts as a deputy company commander. Izvekov, the future Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Pimen. Abbot of the Pskov-Caves Monastery in 1950–1960 Archimandrite Alipy (Voronov) fought all four years, defended Moscow, was wounded several times and awarded orders. The future Metropolitan of Kalinin and Kashinsky Alexy (Konoplev) was a machine gunner at the front. When he returned to the priesthood in 1943, the medal "For Military Merit" shone on his chest. Archpriest Boris Vasiliev, before the war, deacon of the Kostroma Cathedral, in Stalingrad commanded an intelligence platoon, and then fought as deputy chief of regimental intelligence. In the report of the Chairman of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church G. Karpov to the Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks A.A. Kuznetsov on the state of the Russian Church dated August 27, 1946, it was indicated that many representatives of the clergy were awarded orders and medals of the Great Patriotic War.

The creation of the tank column "Dmitry Donskoy" and the squadron "Alexander Nevsky" at the expense of church funds is a special page in history. There was almost not a single rural parish on land free from fascists that did not contribute to the cause of the whole people. In the memoirs of those days, the archpriest of the church of the village of Trinity, Dnepropetrovsk region, I.V. Ivlev says: “There was no money in the church cash desk, but we had to get it ... I blessed two 75-year-old old women for this great deed. Let their names be known to people: Kovrigina Maria Maksimovna and Gorbenko Matrena Maksimovna. 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. They went around the entire parish - villages, farms and towns, located 5-20 kilometers from the village, and as a result - 10 thousand rubles, a significant amount in our places devastated by German monsters.

Funds were collected for a tank column and in the occupied territory. An example of this is the civil feat of the priest Theodore Puzanov from the village of Brodovichi-Zapolye. In the occupied Pskov region, for the construction of a column, he managed to collect among the believers a whole bag of gold coins, silver, church utensils and money. These donations totaling about 500,000 rubles were transferred by the partisans to the mainland. With each year of the war, the amount of church contributions grew markedly. But of particular importance in the final period of the war was the collection of funds begun in October 1944 to help the children and families of Red Army soldiers. On October 10, in his letter to I. Stalin, Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad, who headed Russia after the death of Patriarch Sergius, wrote: close spiritual ties with those who do not spare their blood for the sake of the freedom and prosperity of our Motherland. The clergy and laity of the occupied territories after liberation were also actively involved in patriotic work. So, in Orel, after the expulsion of the Nazi troops, 2 million rubles were collected.

At that time, a lot of ordinary people, military personnel, those who had departed from God during the years of persecution, also turned to God. Ikh was sincere and often had the repentant character of a "prudent robber." One of the signalers who received combat reports from Russian military pilots on the radio said: “When pilots in wrecked planes saw imminent death for themselves, their last words were often: “Lord, accept my soul.” The commander of the Leningrad Front, Marshal L.A., repeatedly showed his religious feelings in public. Govorov, after the Battle of Stalingrad, Marshal V.N. began to visit Orthodox churches. Chuikov. The conviction was widespread among believers that Marshal G.K. Zhukov. In 1945, he again lit the inextinguishable lamp in the Leipzig Orthodox Church-monument dedicated to the "Battle of the Nations" with the Napoleonic army. G. Karpov, reporting to the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on the celebration of Easter in Moscow and Moscow Region churches on the night of April 15-16, 1944, emphasized that in almost all churches, in one quantity or another, there were military officers and privates.