Power and the Church during the Second World War. Russian Orthodox Church during the Great Patriotic War

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. Having learned about the attack on the USSR, Metropolitan Sergius returned to his modest residence from the Cathedral of the Epiphany, where he served the Liturgy, immediately went to his office, wrote and personally typed 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, moreover, 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 Dimitry 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. 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 floods 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 revenge! .. The Holy Church rejoices that among you, for the holy cause of saving the Motherland from the enemy, folk heroes are rising - 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 the believers in sorrow, called them to selfless work in the home front, courageous participation in military operations, supported the belief 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 decree 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 district 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.

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 enthusiasm 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 that all the Russian people live in. ”

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 clergy, 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 anxious 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.

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 Ivanovsky District in the Pinsk region, in the very first month of the war, through an underground group of a 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, called 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 send 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 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 could 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, 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. We 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.

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 during 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 illness 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 for 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 insistently 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, 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.

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 expels 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, the apostolic tradition: “We also implore you, brethren, admonish the disorderly, 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 Patriarchy. 1944. No. 10.S. 18–19.

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

A pectoral cross on the same chain with a token of a “suicide bomber”, an icon of the Mother of God hidden in the breast pocket of a tunic, the ninetieth psalm “Alive in the help of Vyshnyago”, rewritten with a trembling hand, which the soldiers called “living help”, - searchers find half-decayed evidence of faith on the battlefields together with party cards and Komsomol badges. And how many stories “how God saved” were passed from mouth to mouth. How, leaving for reconnaissance, they whispered: “With God!” How they prayed in secret before the start of the offensive and were already baptized openly, rising to the attack, and how the deathbed pierced the radio air: “Lord, have mercy!”. There is a well-known aphorism: "There are no atheists in war." But not much is known about how the Church lived during the war.

Bloodless Church

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church was almost destroyed. The godless five-year plan was in full swing. Thousands of temples and monasteries are closed and destroyed. More than 50 thousand clergy were shot. Hundreds of thousands were sent to camps.

By 1943, not a single functioning church and not a single active priest should have remained on the territory of the USSR. However, these plans were not destined to come true. The revelry of militant atheism was stopped by the war.

Upon learning of the attack by Nazi Germany, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Sergius (Stragorodsky) blessed the faithful to fight against the Nazi invader. He himself typed his "Message to the Shepherds and Flocks of Christ's Orthodox Church" on a typewriter and addressed it to the people. He did it before Stalin. For several days after the start of the war, the commander-in-chief of the Red Army was silent. After recovering from the shock, he also delivered an address to the people, in which he called the people, as they are called in the Church, "brothers and sisters."

In the message of Vladyka Sergius were prophetic words: "The Lord will grant us victory." The victory over fascist Germany was won. And it was not only the victory of Russian weapons.

From the first days of the war, the country's leadership canceled such an obvious anti-God course and temporarily suspended the fight against Orthodoxy. Atheistic propaganda was transferred to a new, quieter track, and the Union of Militant Atheists was defiantly disbanded.

The persecution of believers stopped - people were again free to attend church. The surviving clergy returned from exile and camps. Churches that had been closed were reopened. So, in 1942 in Saratov, where by the beginning of the war there was not a single functioning church left, the Holy Trinity Cathedral was transferred (at first for rent) to believers, and then the Holy Spirit Church was opened. Divine services are also resumed in other churches of the Saratov diocese.

In the face of danger, Stalin seeks support from the Church. He invites the clergy to his place in the Kremlin, where he discusses the position of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USSR and the possibility of opening theological schools and academies. Another unexpected step towards the Church - Stalin allows the Local Council and the election of the Patriarch. Thus, the patriarchate, abolished by the Orthodox Tsar Peter I, was restored under the atheistic Soviet regime. On September 8, 1943, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) becomes head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Fathers at the forefront

Some battles took place in the Kremlin, others in the line of fire. Today, few people know about the priests who fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. No one can say exactly how many of them went into battle without a cassock and crosses, in a soldier's overcoat, with a rifle in his hand and a prayer on his lips. Nobody kept statistics. But the priests did not just fight, defending their faith and the Fatherland, but also received awards - almost forty clergymen were awarded medals "For the Defense of Leningrad" and "For the Defense of Moscow", more than fifty - "For Valiant Labor during the War", several dozen - Medal "Partisan of the Great Patriotic War". And how many other awards bypassed?

Archimandrite Leonid (Lobachev) at the beginning of the war volunteered to join the Red Army and became a foreman of the guard. He reached Prague, was awarded the Order of the Red Star, medals "For Courage", "For Military Merit", "For the Defense of Moscow", "For the Defense of Stalingrad", "For the Capture of Budapest", "For the Capture of Vienna", "For the Victory over Germany". After demobilization, he again returned to serving in holy orders and was appointed the first head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem after its opening in 1948.

Many clergy went to the front, having served time in camps and exile. Returning from prison, the future Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Pimen (Izvekov) rose to the rank of major in the war. Many, having escaped death at the front, became priests after the victory. So, the future abbot of the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, Archimandrite Alipy (Voronov), who went from Moscow to Berlin and was awarded the Order of the Red Star, medals "For Courage" and "For Military Merit", recalled: "The war was so terrible that I gave my word to God that if I survive this terrible battle, I will definitely go to the monastery. Borys Kramarenko, holder of the orders of Glory of three degrees, also decided to devote his life to God, after the war he became a deacon in a church near Kyiv. And the former machine gunner Konoplev, who was awarded the medal "For Military Merit", later became Metropolitan Alexy of Kalinin and Kashin.

Holy Bishop Surgeon

A man of amazing fate, a world-famous surgeon, who was once a zemstvo doctor in the village of Romanovka, Saratov province, Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Luka (Voino-Yasenetsky) met the war in exile in Krasnoyarsk. Echelons with thousands of wounded soldiers came to the city, and St. Luke again took the scalpel in his hands. He was appointed a consultant to all hospitals in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the chief surgeon of the evacuation hospital, he performed the most complex operations.

When 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 the work of a surgeon. After operations, the professor consulted doctors, received patients in a polyclinic, spoke at scientific conferences (always in a cassock and hood, which invariably aroused dissatisfaction with the authorities), gave lectures, and wrote medical treatises.

In 1943, he published the second, revised and significantly supplemented edition of his famous work Essays on Purulent Surgery (later he received the Stalin Prize for it). After being transferred to the Tambov department in 1944, he continued to work in hospitals, and after the end of World War II he was awarded the medal "For Valiant Labor".

In 2000, the bishop-surgeon was glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church as a saint. In Saratov, on the territory of the clinical campus of the Saratov State Medical University, a temple is being built, which will be consecrated in his honor.

Help the front

During the war, Orthodox people not only fought and looked after the wounded in hospitals, but also collected money for the front. The collected funds were enough to complete the tank column named after Dimitry Donskoy, and on March 7, 1944, in a solemn atmosphere, Metropolitan Nikolai and Krutitsky Nikolai (Yarushevich) handed over 40 T-34 tanks to the troops - the 516th and 38th tank regiments. An article about this appeared in the Pravda newspaper, and Stalin asked that the clergy and believers be given gratitude from the Red Army.

The church also collected funds for the construction of the Alexander Nevsky aircraft. The cars were transferred at different times to different parts. So, at the expense of parishioners from Saratov, six aircraft bearing the name of the holy commander were built. Enormous funds were collected to help the families of soldiers who had lost their breadwinners, to help orphans, parcels were collected for the Red Army soldiers who were sent to the front. During the years of trials, the Church was one with its people, and the newly opened churches were not empty.

Not a swastika, but a cross

On the first military Easter, for the first time in the years of Soviet power, it was again allowed to hold a religious procession in all major cities of the country. “Not the swastika, but the Cross is called to lead our Christian culture, our Christian life,” Metropolitan Sergius wrote in his Easter message of that year.

Metropolitan of Leningrad and future Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy (Simansky) asked Zhukov for permission to hold a procession around the city with the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. On that day, April 5, 1942, it was 700 years since the defeat of the German knights in the battle on the ice by the holy prince Alexander Nevsky, the heavenly patron of the city on the Neva. The procession was allowed. And a miracle happened - the tank and motorized divisions needed by Army Group North to capture Leningrad were transferred on Hitler's orders to the Center group for a decisive attack on Moscow. Moscow was defended, and Leningrad was in the ring of blockade.

Metropolitan Alexy did not leave the besieged city, although the famine did not spare the clergy - eight clerics of the Vladimir Cathedral did not survive the winter of 1941-1942. During the service, the regent of St. Nicholas Cathedral died, and the cell-attendant of Metropolitan Alexy, the monk Evlogy, died.

During the days of the blockade, bomb shelters were set up in a number of churches, and a hospital was located in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. But the main thing is that in the city, which is dying of hunger, the Divine Liturgy was served daily. In the temples they prayed for the granting of victory to our army. A special prayer service was served "during the invasion of adversaries, sung during the Patriotic War of 1812." The command of the Leningrad Front, headed by Marshal Leonid Govorov, was sometimes present at divine services.

Quiet prayer book

During the days of the war, St. Seraphim of Vyritsky, glorified as a saint in 2000, did not stop his prayer for the salvation of the country.

Hieroschemamonk Seraphim (in the world Vasily Nikolaevich Muravyov) before taking the rank, was a major St. Petersburg merchant. Having taken monasticism, he became the spiritual leader of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and enjoyed great prestige among the people - they went to him for advice, help and blessings from the farthest corners of Russia. In the 1930s, the elder moved to Vyritsa, where people continued to flock to him.

The great comforter and ascetic said: “The Lord Himself determined the punishment for sins for the Russian people, and until the Lord Himself has mercy on Russia, it is pointless to go against His holy will. A gloomy night will cover the Russian land for a long time, much suffering and sorrow awaits us ahead. Therefore the Lord teaches us: by your patience save your souls. The elder himself 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. In this corner, which the holy elder called Sarov, he spent many hours praying on his knees for the salvation of Russia, and begged. And one prayer book for the country can save all cities and towns…

Non-random dates

– June 22, 1941 The Russian Orthodox Church celebrated the day of all the saints who shone in the Russian land;

– December 6, 1941 on the day of memory of Alexander Nevsky, our troops launched a successful counteroffensive and drove the Germans back from Moscow;

– July 12, 1943 on the day of the apostles Peter and Paul, fighting began near Prokhorovka on the Kursk Bulge;

- for the celebration of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God November 4, 1943 Kyiv was taken by Soviet troops;

– Easter 1945 coincided with the day of memory of the Great Martyr George the Victorious, celebrated by the Church on May 6. May 9 - on Bright Week - to the exclamations of "Christ is Risen!" the long-awaited “Happy Victory Day!” was added;

The Church is often called the "second power"; most secular kings perceived Orthodoxy as a tool to maintain their autocracy. The authorities tried not to spoil relations with the Orthodox Church. Members of the clergy had privileges, a special status. Orthodoxy has always brought peace of mind and a sense of protection from above into the difficult life of the Russian peasant. The church was engaged in charity, in parochial schools children were given primary education. Often she stood up for the offended, one way or another, gave her assessment of political transformations, that is, she took an active position in the life of the state.

The Bolsheviks, when they came to power, did not speak openly from the positions of atheism, although their leaders had long lost touch with religion. The first events also did not say anything about the colossal upheaval that would be deployed in the coming years. IN AND. On November 20, 1917, Lenin wrote in his address "To all working Muslims of Russia and the East": "Muslims of Russia, Tatars of the Volga region and Crimea, Kirghiz and Sarts of Siberia, Turkestan, Turks and Tatars of Transcaucasia, Chechens and highlanders of the Caucasus, all those mosques and whose chapels were destroyed, whose beliefs and customs were trampled upon by the tsars and oppressors of Russia! From now on, your beliefs and customs, your national and cultural institutions are declared free and inviolable."

One of the first decrees of the Soviet government was the decree on the separation of church and state of January 23, 1918. The decree itself did not carry an anti-religious, anti-church connotation. In most European countries, the church was separated from the state in the era of bourgeois revolutions. Western society is undeniably secular. But in most countries, the state officially supports those religious organizations that are most consistent with national interests and traditions. In England, this is the Anglican Church (its head is the queen), in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, it is Lutheran; in Spain, Portugal - Catholic, etc. As for the Eastern societies, they are characterized by the inseparability of the secular and religious spheres of life. Consequently, the act of separating the church from the state in Russia meant a movement in the western direction.

However, this act was accepted and in fact became the legislative basis for persecution against the church. The Orthodox Church, as the official church of old Russia, was the first to be hit. In addition, other churches were located in territories where there was no Bolshevik power yet. The closure of churches, the seizure of church valuables, and reprisals against clergy began already in the first months after the October events of 1917. On October 13, 1918, Patriarch Tikhon addressed the Council of People's Commissars with a message in which he wrote: "... Bishops, clergymen, monks and nuns are being executed not guilty of anything, but simply on a sweeping accusation of some kind of vague and indefinite counter-revolutionaryism.

On the territory of pre-revolutionary Russia, there were 78 thousand Orthodox churches, 25 thousand mosques, more than 6 thousand synagogues, 4.4 thousand Catholic churches, more than 200 Old Believer churches in Georgia and Armenia. The number of churches in Russia by 1941 had decreased by 20 times. Most of the temples were closed in the 30s. By 1938, more than 40 thousand prayer buildings were closed. These are not only Orthodox churches, but also mosques, synagogues, etc. In 1935-1936. the government banned the activities of the Synod and the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. In 25 regions there was not a single functioning temple, and in 20 regions there were 1-5 temples.

The clergy were also destroyed. IN AND. In a secret instruction dated August 19, 1922, Lenin wrote: "The more representatives of the reactionary clergy and the reactionary bourgeoisie we manage to shoot on this occasion, the better." Thus, the clergy and the bourgeoisie are for Lenin the same order of concepts. This is true from the point of view of civilizational affiliation. The creation of a new one could be successful only if the spiritual basis is destroyed, its carriers are destroyed.

In 1926, the Union of Atheists of the USSR for the Fight against Religion was created, which was then renamed the Union of Militant Atheists. The number of its members grew: in 1926 - about 87 thousand people; 1929 - more than 465 thousand; 1930 - 3.5 million people; 1931 - approximately 51 million. The growth in the number of active fighters against religion shows how rapidly the spiritual sphere was being destroyed. Curiously, the pro-Western trends in Christianity, especially such as Baptism, which was considered stupid and savage, were persecuted most severely. However, it was not possible to eliminate religion.

The half-strangled religious denominations were nationalized, subject to party-state control, and carried out in their activities only that which did not contradict the socialist ideology, that is, in practice, there was not a separation from the state, as the Decree of 1918 provided, but the subordination of the church to the state.

In an effort to keep their inner world in balance, many people stubbornly held on to traditional religious beliefs. Anti-religious campaigns, while achieving some success, in some cases caused the opposite reaction. Previously banned materials from the 1937 All-Union Population Census show that, despite the obvious fear of revealing adherence to religion, a significant part of the population admitted that they believe in God. Of the nearly 30 million illiterate adults (over 16), over 25 million (84%) have registered as believers. Of the 68.5 million literate population, 30 million (44%) were also believers.

The generations that grew up in the Soviet era had no idea about the role of traditional religions in society and perceived the activities of church organizations negatively. However, that part of society that had lost touch with the traditional religion accepted the new one. It had its own paraphernalia: red corners, portraits and monuments of leaders, etc. Its own ritual, its own dogma. Marxism-Leninism was only an outer shell, under which traditional Russian values ​​were often hidden.

The idea of ​​the messianic, saving role of Russia was transformed into the idea of ​​the USSR as the vanguard of the world revolution, which should pave the way for the future of all peoples, help them on this difficult path. Internationalism actually turned into the basis for a tough Russification policy, the imposition of the Russian model. The leaders, who were perceived as bearers and interpreters of higher values, also turned into an object of worship. The process of charismaticization of the leaders unfolded immediately and gained momentum as the Bolshevik Party secured power. Gradually V.I. Lenin turned into a charismatic leader and then, after his death, was canonized as the new Christ or Prophet Mohammed.

IN AND. Lenin always behaved like a prophet, surrounded by students and followers, and not like the leader of a political party. It is well known that he did not tolerate people in the Bolshevik Party and in his environment who did not agree with him, showed independence in judgment and behavior. This was the source of constant splits, exclusions, demarcations, starting from the Second Congress of the RSDLP and until the end of his life.

The formation of the image of a charismatic leader began after the Bolsheviks came to power. However, little was accomplished during Lenin's lifetime. In the full sense of the word, he became a charismatic leader, almost a god after his death. "Lenin lived, Lenin is alive, Lenin will live!" - this slogan could be found both on the streets of the capital and in a small village. Why not "Christ is risen!"

New leader I.V. Stalin took over as a faithful disciple, a faithful Leninist. His charismatization occurred in the 30s. He became a god during his lifetime. His portraits hung everywhere, monuments were erected in cities and towns. Cities, streets, schools, factories, collective farms, divisions, regiments, etc. were named after him. The press glorified the leader. Here are the lines from the pages of the Pravda newspaper. January 8, 1935: "Long live the one whose genius led us to unprecedented success - the great organizer of the victories of Soviet power, the great leader, friend and teacher - our Stalin!". March 8, 1939: "Let the father live, long live our dear father - Stalin the sun!"

The deification of the leaders gave "holiness" to the regime. In the mass consciousness, this meant the acceptance of new values ​​and new life guidelines. The system, which was largely based on violence, acquired a spiritual basis.

Characteristically, during the war years, a bet was made on the Russian people. Russian patriotism has become one of the most important sources of victory. The Russian theme was constantly addressed by I.V. Stayin, especially in the first, most difficult period of the war, on November 6, 1941, he spoke of the impossibility of defeating "... the great Russian nation, the nation of Plekhanov and Lenin, Belinsky and Chernyshevsky, Pushkin and Tolstoy, ... Suvorov and Kutuzov."

Christianity has always carried a charge of great moral strength, which was especially important during the war years. Religion drew consolation and strength for life and work in the most difficult conditions of war. The Russian Orthodox Church called for humility and patience, for mercy and brotherhood. The war showed the best features of Russian Orthodoxy.

In 1943, the orders of A. Nevsky, A. Suvorov, M. Kutuzov, and other prominent Russian military leaders and naval commanders were established, the St. George Ribbon was introduced, and the pre-revolutionary uniform of the Russian army was returned. Orthodoxy received more freedom than other confessions. Already on June 22, 1941, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Sergius, addressed the faithful, urging them to stand up in defense of the Motherland, to take part in raising funds for the defense fund.

A number of telegrams from representatives of the Orthodox clergy with messages about the transfer of funds for defense needs in the very first months of the war appeared on the pages of the central newspapers Pravda and Izvestia, they also provided information about the work of the Orthodox Church, and published biographies of the newly elected Patriarchs Sergius and Alexis. That is, the patriotic activity of the Church was covered in the press and recognized by the authorities. Dozens of clergy were released from the camps, including 6 archbishops and 5 bishops.

On Easter 1942, Moscow allowed unhindered movement through the city for the whole night. In 1942, the first Council of Bishops in the entire war was assembled in Ulyanovsk. In the spring of 1943, the government opens access to the icon of the Iberian Mother of God, which was brought from the closed Donskoy Monastery for worship to the Resurrection Church in Moscow.

For the period from 1941 to 1944. the church contributed more than 200 million rubles to the country's defense fund. In the very first years of the war, more than three million rubles were collected in the churches of Moscow for the needs of the front and defense. 5.5 million rubles were collected in the churches of Leningrad. The church communities of Nizhny Novgorod collected more than four million rubles for the defense fund in 1941-1942. The Novosibirsk diocese for the first half of 1944 collected about two million rubles for wartime needs. With funds raised by the Church, an air squadron named after Alexander Nevsky and a tank column named after Dmitry Donskoy were created.

Here are some more examples. Vladyka Bartholomew, Archbishop of Novosibirsk and Barnaul, called on people to donate to the needs of the army, performing divine services in the churches of Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Barnaul, Tyumen, Omsk, Tobolsk, Biysk and other cities. The proceeds were used to purchase warm clothes for the fighters, maintain hospitals and orphanages, restore areas damaged during the German occupation and help war invalids.

Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad remained with his flock in besieged Leningrad throughout the entire blockade. "... the spirit of unity and inspiration that the entire Russian people now lives in ignites the hearts of warriors," read his appeal to the faithful on Palm Sunday.

On September 4, 1943, Stalin met with the highest hierarchs of the Orthodox Church. It marked a thaw in relations between the government and the church. The regime decided to use traditional religion to mobilize forces and means in the fight against an external enemy. By order of I.V. Stalin was tasked with "Bolshevik pace" to restore the normal practice of religious rites. A decision was also made 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.

In general, it should be noted that the war had a significant and positive impact on relations between the Orthodox Church and the Soviet government. After the war, the People's Commissariat of Education issued a decree on the priority admission of front-line soldiers to educational institutions. In this matter, the church followed the decision of the authorities; at that time, a lot of front-line soldiers studied at the seminary. For example, I.D. Pavlov, the future Archimandrite Kirill, he became the confessor of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II.

During the war years, there was a legend among the people that during the attack on 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 an 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 a national religion. The famous marshal Zhukov said before the battle together with the soldiers: "Well, with God!" There is a legend among the people that Zhukov carried the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God along the fronts.

During the "period of change" (1917-1941), the Bolsheviks abandoned the traditional Russian religion. But during the war, "the time to collect stones", it was necessary to return to the original Russian, traditions helped to unite the people on the basis of a common, common religion. Hitler was well aware of this. One of his instructions was that the fascists should prevent the influence of one church in a large area, but the emergence of sects in the occupied territories, as a form of split and disunity, should be encouraged.

Stalin did not organize a church revival, he held it back. In the Pskov region, before the arrival of the Germans, there were 3 churches, and by the return of the Soviet troops there were 200. In the Kursk region, there were 2 before the Germans, it became 282, but in the Tambov region, where Soviet power stood unchanged, 3 churches remained. So, the first 18 churches were allowed to open only almost six months after Stalin's meeting with the metropolitans by a resolution of the Council of Ministers of February 5, 1944. And of the total number of requests from believers about the opening of churches received in 1944-1947, the Council of Ministers satisfied only 17%.
On November 16, 1948, the Synod was forced to make a decision to prohibit turning sermons in churches into lessons of the Law of God for children. Moreover, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, churches were again taken away for clubs and warehouses. In 1951, when harvesting only in the Kursk region, by order of the district executive committees, about 40 buildings of existing churches were covered with grain for many months. Communists and Komsomol members who performed religious rites began to be persecuted. A new wave of arrests of the most active clergy began. For example, in September 1948, Archbishop Manuel (Lemeshevsky) was arrested for the seventh time. If on January 1, 1949 there were 14,447 officially opened Orthodox churches in the country, then by January 1, 1952 their number had decreased to 13,786 (120 of which were not in operation due to their use for grain storage).

During and after the war, Stalin's policy towards the Church knew two turning points. Today, the positive turning point of 1943-1944 is more often remembered, but one should not forget the new "Ice Age" that began in the second half of 1948. Stalin wanted to make Moscow the Orthodox Vatican, the center of all Orthodox churches in the world. But in July 1948, the Pan-Orthodox Conference (with the participation of Metropolitan Elijah) did not at all lead to the expected result in the Kremlin: the hierarchs of the churches that found themselves at a distance from the Soviet tanks (primarily Greece and Turkey) showed intransigence. And Stalin, realizing that he would not be able to use a religious resource in global politics, sharply lost interest in church affairs. So, the cynical pragmatism of Stalin's church policy during the war and the immediate transition to new persecution in 1948 indicate that Stalin did not have any ideological crisis, conversion, return to faith.

Several departments were responsible for conducting religious policy in the occupied territory of the Nazis - from a special ministry of religions up to the military command and the Gestapo. In the occupied territories, at the beginning of the war, the Germans allowed churches to operate. Some priests accepted fascist culture, citing the fact that in Russia the Church is being persecuted. And yet, most of the clergy showed themselves humbly during the war, forgetting past grievances. The Nazis stopped the practice of opening churches because the priests held patriotic sermons among the population. Now the priests were beaten and shot.

The Orthodox Church united with the secular authorities in the fight against the Nazis. The war was declared sacred, liberating, and the Church blessed this war. In addition to material assistance, the Church morally supported people at the front and in the rear. At the front, they believed in the miraculous power of icons and the sign of the cross. Prayers acted as a peace of mind. The rear guards in prayers asked God to protect their relatives from death. The Orthodox Church made a significant contribution to the all-Soviet struggle against the Nazis during the Great Patriotic War. The position of the Orthodox Church in Soviet Russia was strengthened for a time. But the authorities followed, first of all, their own interests, and this strengthening was only temporary. Ordinary people often believed in God and hoped for him as a support from above.

On Sunday, June 22, 1941, the day of all saints who shone in the Russian land, fascist Germany entered the war with the Russian people. On the very first day of the war, the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Sergius, wrote and personally typed on a typewriter a “Message to the Shepherds and Flocks of the Orthodox Church of Christ,” in which he called on the Russian people to defend the Fatherland. Unlike Stalin, who took 10 days to address the people with a speech, the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal throne immediately found the most accurate and most necessary words. In a speech at the Council of Bishops in 1943, Metropolitan Sergius, recalling the beginning of the war, said that at that time there was no need to think about what position our Church should take, because “before we had time to determine somehow our position, it had already been determined - the fascists attacked our country, devastated it, took our compatriots into captivity. On June 26, the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne performed a prayer service in the Epiphany Cathedral for the victory of the Russian army.

The first months of the war were a time of defeat and the defeat of the Red Army. The entire west of the country was occupied by the Germans. Kyiv was taken, Leningrad was blocked. In the autumn of 1941, the front line was approaching Moscow. In this situation, Metropolitan Sergius made a will on October 12, in which, in the event of his death, he transferred his powers as Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne to Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) of Leningrad.

On October 7, the Moscow City Council ordered the evacuation of the Patriarchate to the Urals, to Chkalov (Orenburg), the Soviet government itself moved to Samara (Kuibyshev). Apparently, the state authorities did not fully trust Metropolitan Sergius, fearing a repetition of what his close assistant did in the 30s, Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky), exarch of the Baltic states. During the evacuation from Riga before the arrival of the Germans, he hid in the crypt of the temple and remained in the occupied territory with his flock, taking a loyal position to the occupying authorities. At the same time, Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky) remained in the canonical obedience of the Patriarchate and, as far as he could, defended the interests of Orthodoxy and the Russian communities of the Baltic before the German administration. The Patriarchate succeeded in obtaining permission to leave not for distant Orenburg, but for Ulyanovsk, formerly Simbirsk. The administration of the Renovationist group was also evacuated to the same city. By that time, Alexander Vvedensky had appropriated the title of "most holy and blessed First Hierarch" and pushed the aged "Metropolitan" Vitaly into secondary roles in the Renovationist synod. They traveled on the same train with the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne. The patriarchy was located in a small house on the outskirts of the city. Next to the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church were Archpriest Nikolai Kolchitsky, Head of the Moscow Patriarchate, and Hierodeacon John (Razumov), the Locum Tenens' cell attendant. The outskirts of a quiet provincial town became the spiritual center of Russia during the war years. Here, in Ulyanovsk, the Primate of the Russian Church was visited by the exarch of Ukraine who remained in Moscow, Metropolitan Nicholas of Kyiv and Galicia, Archbishop Sergius (Grishin) of Mozhaisk, Andrey (Komarov) of Kuibyshev, and other bishops.

On November 30, Metropolitan Sergius consecrated the church on Vodnikov Street, in a building that had previously been used as a hostel. The main throne of the temple was dedicated to the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The first liturgy was served without a professional choir, with the singing of the people, who gathered with great joy in the temple, which, in essence, became a patriarchal cathedral. And on the outskirts of Simbirsk, in Kulikovka, in a building that was once a temple, and then mutilated, with holy domes, was used as a warehouse, a renovationist church was built. Alexander Vvedensky, the self-appointed First Hierarch, "Metropolitan" Vitaly Vvedensky, and the Renovationist pseudo-archbishop of Ulyanovsk Andrey Rastorguev served there. Approximately 10 people came to worship them, and some of them only out of curiosity, and the church on Vodnikov Street was always crowded with people praying. This tiny temple for some time became the spiritual center of Orthodox Russia.

In the Primate Epistles to the flock, which Metropolitan Sergius sent from Ulyanovsk to the churches of Russia, he denounced the occupiers for their atrocities, for the shedding of innocent blood, for the desecration of religious and national shrines. The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church called on the inhabitants of the regions captured by the enemy to courage and patience.

On the first anniversary of the Great Patriotic War, Metropolitan Sergius issued two epistles - one for Muscovites and the other for the All-Russian flock. In the Moscow message, the locum tenens expressed his joy at the defeat of the Germans near Moscow. In his message to the entire Church, the head of the Church denounced the Nazis, who, for propaganda purposes, appropriated the mission of defending Christian Europe from the invasion of the Communists, and also consoled the flock with the hope of victory over the enemy.

Metropolitans Alexy (Simansky) and Nikolai (Yarushevich) also addressed the flock with patriotic messages. Metropolitan Nicholas left Kyiv for Moscow two weeks before the fascist invasion. Shortly thereafter, on July 15, 1941, he, retaining the title of Exarch of Ukraine, became Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia. But throughout the war, he remained in Moscow, acting as administrator of the Moscow diocese. He often traveled to the front lines, 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.

Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) of Leningrad did not part with his flock all the terrible days of the blockade. At the beginning of the war, five functioning Orthodox churches remained in Leningrad. Even on weekdays, mountains of notes about health and repose were submitted. Due to frequent shelling, from bomb explosions, the windows in the temples were knocked out by an explosive wave, and a frosty wind walked through the temples. The temperature in the temples often dropped below zero, the singers could hardly stand on their feet from hunger. Metropolitan Alexy lived at St. Nicholas Cathedral and served there every Sunday, often without a deacon. With his sermons and messages, he supported courage and hope in people who remained in inhuman conditions in the blockade ring. In Leningrad churches, his messages were read with an appeal to believers to selflessly help the soldiers with honest work in the rear.

Throughout the country, prayers for the granting of victory were served in Orthodox churches. A prayer was raised daily at the divine service: “For a hedgehog to give strength unrelenting, invincible and victorious, strength and courage with courage to our army to crush our enemies and adversary of ours and all their cunning slanders ...”

The defeat of the Nazi troops at Stalingrad marked the beginning of a radical turning point in the course of the war. However, the enemy still had a powerful military potential at that time. His defeat required a huge effort of forces. For decisive military operations, the Red Army needed powerful armored vehicles. Workers of tank factories worked tirelessly. All over the country there were fundraising for the construction of new combat vehicles. By December 1942 alone, about 150 tank columns were built with these funds.

The nationwide concern for the needs of the Red Army did not bypass the Church, which sought to make its own contribution to the victory over the Nazi invaders. On December 30, 1942, Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius called on all believers in the country to send "our army to the upcoming decisive battle, along with our prayers and blessings, a material evidence of our participation in the common feat in the form of building a column of tanks named after Dmitry Donskoy." The whole Church responded to the call. In the Moscow Epiphany Cathedral, the clergy and laity collected more than 400 thousand rubles. All church Moscow collected more than 2 million rubles; in besieged Leningrad, the Orthodox raised one million rubles for the needs of the army. In Kuibyshev, 650,000 rubles were donated by old people and women. In Tobolsk, one of the donors brought 12,000 rubles and wished to remain anonymous. A resident of the village of Cheborkul, Chelyabinsk Region, Mikhail Alexandrovich Vodolaev wrote to the Patriarchate: “I am elderly, childless, with all my heart I join the call of Metropolitan Sergius and contribute 1,000 rubles from my labor savings, with a prayer for the speedy expulsion of the enemy from the sacred confines of our land.” A freelance priest of the Kalinin diocese, Mikhail Mikhailovich Kolokolov, donated a priestly cross, 4 silver chasubles from icons, a silver spoon and all his bonds to the tank column. Unknown pilgrims brought a packet to a church in Leningrad and placed it near the icon of St. Nicholas. The package contained 150 gold ten-ruble coins of royal minting. Large collections were held in Vologda, Kazan, Saratov, Perm, Ufa, Kaluga and other cities. There was not a single parish, even a rural parish, on land free from fascist invaders that did not make its contribution to the cause of the whole people. In total, more than 8 million rubles were collected for the tank column, a large number of gold and silver items.

The baton from the believers was taken over by workers from the Chelyabinsk tank factory. Workers worked day and night in their places. In a short time, 40 T-34 tanks were built. They made up the general church tank column. Her transfer to units of the Red Army took place near the village of Gorelki, which is five kilometers northwest of Tula. Terrible equipment was received by the 38th and 516th separate tank regiments. By that time, both had already gone through a difficult military path.

Considering the high importance of the patriotic contribution of the clergy and ordinary believers, on the day of the transfer of the column, on March 7, 1944, a solemn rally was held. The main organizer and inspirer of the creation of the tank column, Patriarch Sergius, due to a serious illness, could not personally be present at the transfer of tanks to units of the Red Army. With his blessing, Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) spoke before the personnel of the regiments. Having reported on the patriotic activity of the Church, its indestructible unity with the people, Metropolitan Nikolai gave a parting order to the defenders of the Motherland.

At the end of the rally, Metropolitan Nikolai, in memory of the significant event, presented the tankers with gifts from the Russian Orthodox Church: the officers received engraved watches, and the rest of the crew members received folding knives with many accessories.

This event was celebrated in Moscow. Chairman of the Council for Affairs

The Russian Orthodox Church under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR G. G. Karpov on March 30, 1944 arranged a special reception. It was attended by: from the Military Council of the armored and mechanized troops of the Red Army - Lieutenant General N. I. Biryukov and Colonel N. A. Kolosov, from the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Sergius and Metropolitans Alexy and Nikolai. Lieutenant General N. I. Biryukov conveyed to Patriarch Sergius the gratitude of the Soviet command and an album of photographs depicting the solemn moment of the transfer of a tank column to the Red Army.

For their courage and heroism, 49 tankmen of the "Dimitriy Donskoy" column from the 38th regiment were awarded orders and medals of the USSR. Another, the 516th Lodz separate flamethrower tank regiment, was awarded the Order of the Red Banner by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 5, 1945.

Tankers summed up the results of the battle path in Berlin. By May 9, 1945, over 3820 enemy soldiers and officers, 48 ​​tanks and self-propelled guns, 130 various guns, 400 machine-gun points, 47 bunkers, 37 mortars were listed as destroyed on their account; about 2526 soldiers and officers taken prisoner; captured 32 military depots and much more.

Even greater was the moral impact on our army of the tank column. After all, she carried the blessing of the Orthodox Church and her unceasing prayer for the success of Russian weapons. To the believers, the church column gave a comforting realization that Orthodox Christians did not stand aside and that, according to their strengths and capabilities, each of them participated in the defeat of Nazi Germany.

In total, during the war, more than 200 million rubles were collected by parishes for the needs of the front. In addition to money, believers also collected warm clothes for the soldiers: felt boots, mittens, padded jackets.

During the years of the war, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens addressed the faithful with patriotic messages 24 times, responding to all major events in the military life of the country. The patriotic position of the Church was of particular importance for the Orthodox Christians of the USSR, millions of whom participated in military operations at the front and in partisan detachments, and worked in the rear. The hard trials and hardships of the war became one of the reasons for the significant growth of people's religious feelings. Representatives of different strata of the population sought and found support and consolation in the Church. In his epistles and sermons, Metropolitan Sergius not only consoled the faithful in sorrow, but also encouraged them to selfless work in the home front, courageous participation in military operations. He condemned desertion, surrender, cooperation with the invaders. Supported faith in the final victory over the enemy.

The patriotic activity of the Russian Orthodox Church, which manifested itself from the first day of the war in moral and material assistance to the front, won in the shortest possible time recognition and respect among both believers and atheists. Fighters and commanders of the active army, home front workers, public and religious figures and citizens of allied and friendly states wrote about this to the Government of the USSR. A number of telegrams from representatives of the Orthodox clergy with messages about the transfer of funds for defense needs appear on the pages of the central newspapers Pravda and Izvestia. Anti-religious attacks are completely stopped in the periodical press. Stops

the existence of the "Union of Militant Atheists" without official dissolution. Some anti-religious museums are closing. Temples are beginning to open, yet without legal registration. On Easter 1942, by order of the commandant of Moscow, unhindered movement around the city was allowed for the entire Easter night. In the spring of 1943, the Government opens access to the icon of the Iberian Mother of God, which was transported from the closed Donskoy Monastery for worship to the Resurrection Church in Sokolniki. In March 1942, the first Council of Bishops during the war years met in Ulyanovsk, which considered the situation in the Russian Orthodox Church and condemned the pro-fascist actions of Bishop Polycarp (Sikorsky). More and more often in Stalin's speeches one hears a call to follow the precepts of great ancestors. According to his instructions, one of the most revered Russian saints - Alexander Nevsky, along with other commanders of the past, is again declared a national hero. On July 29, 1942, the military order of Alexander Nevsky was established in the USSR - the direct heir to the order of the same saint, created by Peter the Great. For the first time in the entire history of the existence of the Soviet state, a hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church takes part in the work of one of the state commissions - on November 2, 1942, Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) of Kyiv and Galicia, head of the Moscow diocese, becomes, according to the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, one of the ten members Extraordinary State Commission for the Establishment and Investigation of the Atrocities of the Nazi Invaders.

In the first years of the war, with the permission of the authorities, several bishops' chairs were replaced. During these years, bishops were also consecrated, mainly widowed archpriests of advanced years who managed to receive a spiritual education in the pre-revolutionary era.

But the year 1943 prepared for the Russian Orthodox Church even greater changes.

During the years of the Great Patriotic War, the Russian Orthodox Church, despite many years of pre-war repressions and a suspicious attitude on the part of the state, proved in word and deed that it is a truly patriotic organization, making a significant contribution to the common cause of victory over a formidable enemy.

Metropolitan Sergius: a prophecy about the fate of fascism

Patriarch Sergius (Stragorodsky)

The Russian Orthodox Church clearly outlined its position from the first day of the war. On June 22, 1941, its head, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) of Moscow and Kolomna, addressed all the Orthodox believers of the country with a written message "To the pastors and flock of Christ's Orthodox Church", in which he stated that the Church has always shared the fate of its people.

So it was in the time of Alexander Nevsky, who smashed the knight dogs, and in the time of Dmitry Donskoy, who received a blessing from the abbot of the Russian land Sergius of Radonezh before the Battle of Kulikovo. The Church will not leave its people even now, blessing for the upcoming feat.

Vladyka perspicaciously emphasized that “fascism, which recognizes only bare force as law and is accustomed to mocking the high demands of honor and morality,” will suffer the same fate as other invaders who once invaded our country.

On June 26, 1941, Sergius served a prayer service “On the Granting of Victory” in the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow, and from that day on, similar prayers began to be performed in all the churches of the country, almost until the very end of the war.

The position of the Church on the eve of the war

Church of the Annunciation in the Smolensk region without crosses. Photo taken in 1941.

The country's leadership did not immediately appreciate the patriotic spirit of the Moscow Patriarchate. And this is not surprising. From the beginning of the revolution of 1917, the Orthodox Church in Soviet Russia was considered an alien element and experienced many of the most difficult moments in its history. During the civil war, many clergymen were shot without trial or investigation, temples were devastated and plundered.

In the 1920s, the extermination of the clergy and laity continued, and, unlike previous outrages, in the USSR this process took place with the help of show trials. Church property was confiscated under the pretext of helping the starving in the Volga region.

In the early 1930s, when collectivization and the "dispossession" of peasants began, the Church was declared the only "legal" counter-revolutionary force in the country. The cathedral in Moscow was blown up, a wave of destruction of churches swept across the country and turned them into warehouses, and clubs under the slogan "The fight against religion is the fight for socialism."

The task was set - during the "godless five-year plan" of 1932-1937 to destroy all temples, churches, churches, synagogues, prayer houses, mosques and datsans, covering all the inhabitants of the USSR with anti-religious propaganda, primarily youth.

Hieromartyr Peter Polyansky). Icon. azbyka.ru

Despite the fact that all the monasteries and the vast majority of churches were closed, the task was not completed to the end. According to the 1937 census, two-thirds of the villagers and one-third of the townspeople called themselves believers, that is, more than half of Soviet citizens.

But the main test was ahead. In 1937–1938, during the Great Terror, every second clergyman was repressed or shot, including the Metropolitan, who, after the death of Patriarch Tikhon in 1925, was entrusted with the duties of Patriarchal Locum Tenens.

By the beginning of the war, there were only a few bishops in the ROC, and less than a thousand churches, not counting those that operated in the territories of western Ukraine and Belarus and the Baltic countries annexed to the USSR in 1939-40. Metropolitan Sergius himself, who became Patriarchal Locum Tenens, and the bishops who remained at large lived in constant expectation of arrest.

The fate of the church message: only after Stalin's speech

It is characteristic that the message of Metropolitan Sergius of June 22 was allowed to be read in churches only on July 6, 1941. Three days after the de facto head of state, Joseph Stalin, who was silent for almost two weeks, addressed his fellow citizens on the radio with the famous appeal “Brothers and sisters!” In which he acknowledged that the Red Army had suffered heavy losses and was retreating.

One of the final phrases of Stalin's speech: “All our forces are in support of our heroic Red Army, our glorious Red Fleet! All the forces of the people - to defeat the enemy! became a protective letter for the Russian Orthodox Church, which was previously considered by the NKVD almost like a fifth column.

The war, which Stalin called the Great Patriotic War, did not unfold at all according to the scenario that was assumed in Moscow. The German troops were rapidly advancing in all directions, capturing large cities and the most important regions, such as the Donbass with its coal.

In the autumn of 1941, the Wehrmacht began to advance towards the capital of the USSR. It was about the very existence of the country, and in these difficult conditions, a dividing line lay between those who rose to fight against a formidable enemy, and those who cowardly shied away from it.

The Russian Orthodox Church was among the first. Suffice it to say that during the years of the war, Metropolitan Sergius addressed the Orthodox people with patriotic messages 24 times. Other hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church did not stand aside either.

Saint Luke: from exile to the Stalin Prize

Saint Luke Voyno-Yasenetsky in the sculptor's workshop, 1947

At the beginning of the war, Mikhail Kalinin, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, received a telegram from the archbishop, in which the clergyman, who was in exile in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, reported that, being a specialist in purulent surgery, “I am ready to help soldiers in front or rear conditions, there, where I will be entrusted.

The telegram ended with a request to interrupt his exile and send him to the hospital, while after the war the bishop expressed his readiness to return back to exile.

His request was granted, and from October 1941, 64-year-old Professor Valentin Voyno-Yasenetsky was appointed chief surgeon of the local evacuation hospital and became a consultant to all Krasnoyarsk hospitals. The talented surgeon, who took holy orders in the 1920s, performed 3-4 surgeries a day, setting an example for his younger colleagues.

At the end of December 1942, without interrupting his work as a military surgeon, he was entrusted with the administration of the Krasnoyarsk diocese. In 1944, after the hospital moved to the Tambov region, this unique person, who combined the abilities of a venerable doctor and an outstanding confessor, headed the local diocese, where many churches were subsequently opened and about a million rubles were transferred for military needs.

Tanks and planes from the Orthodox Church

Love for the Motherland and its protection from enemies has always been the testament of all Orthodox Christians. Therefore, believers reacted with particular fervor to the call for help for the needs of the front, and to support the wounded soldiers. They carried not only money and bonds, but also precious metals, shoes, towels, linen, and a lot of felted and leather shoes, overcoats, socks, gloves, linen were prepared and sold.

“This is how the attitude of believers to the events they are experiencing was outwardly materialized, for there is no Orthodox family whose members would not directly or indirectly take part in the defense of the Motherland,” Archpriest A. Arkhangelsky reported in a letter to Metropolitan Sergius.

If we take into account that by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War the Orthodox Church in the USSR was almost destroyed, this can truly be called a miracle.

Deputy commander of a rifle company, future patriarch Pimen

Senior Lieutenant S. M. Izvekov (future Patriarch Pimen), 1940s

Unprecedented in the history of mankind in its scope and ferocity, the war imperiously demanded military participation as well. Unlike when priests were officially allowed to fight in the ranks of the Russian army, in 1941-1945 many clerics of the Russian Orthodox Church fought as ordinary fighters and commanders.

Hieromonk Pimen (Izvekov), the future Patriarch, was the deputy commander of a rifle company. Deacon of the Kostroma Cathedral Boris Vasiliev, who became an archpriest after the war, fought as a reconnaissance platoon commander and rose to the rank of deputy regimental reconnaissance commander.

Many future clergy during the Great Patriotic War were in the thick of the war. Thus, Archimandrite Alipy (Voronov) in 1942-1945 participated in many military operations as a rifleman in the 4th Panzer Army and ended his military career in Berlin. Metropolitan of Kalinin and Kashinsky Alexei (Konoplev), was awarded the medal "For Military Merit" - for the fact that, despite being seriously wounded, he did not abandon his machine gun during the battle.

Priests also fought on the other side of the front, behind enemy lines. As, for example, Archpriest Alexander Romanushko, rector of the church in the village of Malo-Plotnitskoye, Logishinsky District, Pinsk Region, who, together with his two sons, participated in combat operations more than once as part of a partisan detachment, went to reconnaissance and was rightfully awarded the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" I degree.

Combat award of Patriarch AlexyI

Priests of the Russian Orthodox Church, awarded the medal "For the Defense of Leningrad". 10/15/1943. First on the right - the future patriarch, Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod Alexy

Representatives of the Church fully shared with their people all the hardships and horrors of the war. Thus, the future Patriarch, Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) of Leningrad, who remained in the city on the Neva throughout the terrible period of the blockade, preached, encouraged, comforted the faithful, communed and often served alone, without a deacon.

Vladyka repeatedly addressed the flock with patriotic appeals, the first of which was his address on June 26, 1941. In it, he called on Leningraders to take up arms in defense of their country, emphasizing that "the Church blesses these deeds and everything that every Russian person does to protect his Fatherland."

After the blockade of the city was broken, the head of the Leningrad diocese, together with a group of Orthodox clergy, was awarded a military award - the medal "For the Defense of Leningrad".

By 1943, the attitude of the leadership of the USSR in the person of Stalin realized that the people were fighting not for the world revolution and the Communist Party, but for their relatives and friends, for the Motherland. That the war is, indeed, Patriotic.

1943 - a turning point in the attitude of the state towards the Church

As a result, the institution of military commissars was liquidated and the Third International was dissolved, epaulettes were introduced in the army and navy, the appeals "officers", "soldiers" were allowed to be used. The attitude towards the Russian Orthodox Church has also changed.

The "Union of militant atheists" actually ceased to exist, and on September 4, 1943, Stalin met with the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate.

During an almost two-hour conversation, Metropolitan Sergius raised the issue of the need to increase the number of parishes and the release of priests and bishops from exile, camps and prisons, the provision of unhindered worship and the opening of spiritual institutions.

The most important result of the meeting was the appearance of the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church - for the first time since 1925. By decision of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, held on September 8, 1943 in Moscow, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) was unanimously elected Patriarch. After his untimely death in May 1944, Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) became the new head of the Church on February 2, 1945, under whom the clergy and believers met Victory in the war.