An open letter from the Leningrad Metropolitan Anthony Melnikov to ... - Russian architect. Enchanted Soul

Patriarchal locum tenens Alexy (Simansky).

In July of the same year, he joined the brethren of the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra and was tonsured a monk with a name in honor of St. Anthony the Roman.

From the memoirs of Fr. Vladimir Fomenko:

Vladyka Anthony taught us at the seminary New Testament... As soon as he appeared in the audience, all of us, students, were seized by a feeling of something extraordinary. Something extraordinary always happened to us, some discoveries were made, all the time we comprehended something new. His numerous collections of postcards, coins, stamps served as a great help in the lessons. Vladyka always brought something to class and illustrated his story with these unusual objects, visibly confirming the gospel text. It is also surprising that after his lectures we were seized by the desire to preach the faith of Christ to people. So contagious was his example

By the Decree of the Holy Synod of May 20, he was appointed Bishop of Belgorod-Dnestrovsky, vicar of the Odessa diocese.

On October 8 of the same year, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop.

In July of the same year, he headed the branch of the Department for External Church Relations established in Leningrad.

In the early 1980s, under his leadership, work began on the preparation of the Theological Encyclopedic Dictionary (it was not published), articles written for it were published in Theological Works and the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Being seriously ill, for the last month before his death he communed the Holy Mysteries daily. In his will, he asked to perform the funeral service with a monastic rank, to put the Orthodox Church on the grave. wooden cross. On the morning of May 29, 1986, feeling that his strength was leaving him, he asked to read the canon on the exodus of the soul. His last words: Holy Mother of God, help me".

"He himself [ Met. Anthony ] me in Uppsala defined his line and views in this way: "... I love and appreciate Vladyka Hermogenes very much, but he is a utopian. He writes his notes to Podgorny, Kosygin, Kuroyedov, proves that the constitution and Soviet laws on cults. But he does not want to understand that unless there is a general and drastic change in the regime in the USSR (and it is difficult to count on this), there can be no significant improvement in the position of the Church. Our rulers themselves are well aware that they violate the laws, but change their attitude they do not intend to the Church. The writings of Archbishop Hermogenes only irritate them, but do not bring any benefit to the Church, just the opposite. Personally, I act differently! I try to get along with the local representatives, unless absolutely necessary I do not complain about them to Moscow, to the Council for Religious Affairs. from this more harm than good, it is necessary to achieve small concessions in small things and gradually, on the ground, which are more important than "loud statements and complaints" ... This is how I act, and believe that this is how I succeeded for last years open five parishes.

It was difficult to argue against such reasoning of Vladyka Anthony, but in Moscow my acquaintances spoke of Vladyka Anthony (Minsk) as a weak, unstable person, trembling before the commissioners, and in particular Fr. Vsevolod Shpiller added: "For all his great spiritual qualities, culture and, as it were, "non-Soviet", he has one drawback - he is a desperate careerist!" Father Vsevolod said this with great bitterness, since he himself had been friends with Vladyka Anthony for many years and praised him in every possible way, spoke of him as an adornment of the Russian Church.

Later, I myself began to notice in Vladyka Anthony, despite all his openness to the West and culture, less understanding and even sympathy for Western Orthodoxy, oddly enough, even less than that of Met. Nicodemus and Bishop Juvenalia. So for him, our Parisian theologians, like Nikolai Lossky or Uspensky, were only "erudite fanatics" ... ". .

Prot. Vladimir Fomenko, cell-attendant ow. Anthony:

"He was a serious scholar, a major theologian, highly educated and profoundly a religious person.... Vladyka Anthony was not a revolutionary or an innovator striving to change something, first of all he was guided in his life by the aspiration to fulfill the will of God, he lived with the conviction that everything happens according to the design of God's finger. And of course, he deeply believed that all deviations in the relationship between the Church and the state would definitely pass. It is only necessary to survive, to be ill, to suffer through all the unrest that occurs ... He did everything wisely, delicately, carefully. Apparently, this position of his did not arouse objections from the authorities. But if it came to something that could harm the Church, for example, in public policy, he was very principled. Explained why this should not be done. And you know, they listened to him, respected his opinion, reckoned with him. Sometimes he is reproached for being too cautious, but rather, it was worldly wisdom and understanding of the time in which he lived."

“In a sense, he represented the opposite of Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov), ​​whom he replaced at the Leningrad cathedra. Some considered him soft, not having a strong character. And Vladyka simply endured, waiting for the correction of his subordinates. borders, the bishop showed his character, which forced many to change their minds about him.

"His appearance alone evoked reverence. It was the appearance of a holy man. A prayerful look, noble features, concentration, lack of fuss in movements ... Metropolitan Anthony led the service majestically and reverently" .

Awards

Church:

• order of St. equal to ap. book. Vladimir 2nd degree (1964)
• order of the military George the Victorious 1st degree (1977, Georgian Orthodox Church)
• the right to wear two panagias (November 14, 1978)
• Order of Commander 1st class (1978, Finnish Orthodox Church)
• order of st. Sergius of Radonezh 1st degree (September 7, 1981)
• Order of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul 1st degree (1981, Antioch Orthodox Church)
• order Life-Giving Cross Lord's 1st degree (1981, Jerusalem Orthodox Church)
• order of St. equal to ap. Prince Vladimir 1st degree (February 19, 1984, in connection with the 60th anniversary)

Secular:

• medal of the Soviet Peace Fund (1979)
• Order of Friendship of Peoples (February 19, 1984, in connection with the 60th anniversary)

Proceedings

1. "Pastoral counseling according to St. John Chrysostom" (candidate's thesis).
2. "Zhirovitsky monastery in the history of Western Russian dioceses" (master's thesis).
3. Speech at the naming of the Bishop of Belgorod-Dnestrovsky. ZhMP. 1964, No. 7, p. 17.
4. "Delegation of the Ethiopian Church in the Soviet Union". ZhMP. 1967, no. 2, p. 17-21.
5. "The trip of the Russian delegation Orthodox Church to Cyprus". ZhMP. 1967, No. 9, pp. 12-23.
6. "Lambeth Conference 1968". ZhMP. 1968, no. 11, p. 49-53.
7. "Congress of the Anglican-Orthodox Commonwealth of St. Sergius of Radonezh and St. Martyr Albania of the British" ZhMP. 1968, no. 12, p. 56-59.
8. "At the Christians of South India". ZhMP. 1969, No. 5, p. 56-60.
9. "Two weeks in the Land of the Rising Sun". ZhMP. 1972, no. 4, p. 15-19.
10. "World Missionary Conference in Bangkok". ZhMP. 1973, no. 3, p. 52-54.
11. "Return visit of the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Union of Evangelical Churches of the GDR". ZhMP. 1973, no. 10, p. 49-55.
12. "From the Gospel History". "Theological Works", 1971, Sat. 6, p. 5.
13. "Foreword about (about Vl. Lossky)". "Theological Works", 1972, Sat. 8, p. 5.
14. "Reverend Euphrosyne of Polotsk" "Theological Works", 1972, Sat. 9, p. 5-14.
15. "On Christianity in Pompeii and Herculaneum". "Theological Works", Sat. 10, p. 59-66.
16. "Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Archbishop Nicholas of Japan". "Theological Works", 1975, Sat. 14, p. 5.
17. "Blessed Augustine as a catechist." "Theological Works", 1976, Sat. 15, p. 56.
18. "Bibliography. H. Soman. St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage and the "African Pope". "Theological Works", 1978, Sat. 18.
19. Word spoken at the Trinity Cathedral in Leningrad on 4 Sept. 1979 on parastas on the anniversary of the death of Metropolitan Nikodim. ZhMP. 1979, no. 12, p. 28.
20. Closing remarks by Mr. Anthony on memorial meal September 5, 1979 on the anniversary of the death of Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov). ZhMP. 1979, no. 12, p. 32.
21. "Mission of the Russian Orthodox Church in the past and present". ZhMP. 1982, no. 5, p. 49-57.
22. Word on Cheesefare Week (Forgiveness Sunday), March 20, 1983. ZhMP. 1983, no. 4, p. 32.
23. "On the day of memory of St. Nikita, Bishop of Novgorod." ZhMP. 1983, no. 4, p. 33.
24. To the 175th anniversary of the Leningrad Theological Academy (1809-1984) Theological works. Anniversary Sat. M., 1986.
25. "From the history of Novgorod iconography". Theological Writings, vol. 27.
26. Conference of the Commonwealth of St. Sergius and Alban. "Voice of Orthodoxy", No. 2, 1969 (German)
27. Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops. "Voice of Orthodoxy", 1969, No. 4.
28. Bishop of Mogilev and Mstislav Vitaly Gregulevich. ZhMP. 1975, no. 9, p. 64-66.
29. Open letter to priest Alexander Menu (authorship not proven) - http://www.glagol-online.ru/arc/online-pub/321/

Literature

1. ZhMP. 1964, No. 7, p. 17; No. 6, p. 4; No. 11, p. 14.
2. - "-, 1965, No. 3, p. 4; No. 6, p. 2; No. 11, p. 1.
3. - "-, 1966, No. 1, p. 35; No. 4, p. 4; No. 8, p. 23; No. 11, p. 28.
4. - "-, 1967, No. 2, p. 7, 17-21; No. 7, p. 2, 26; No. 8, p. 38; No. 9, p. 12-23; No. 10, p. 9; No. 11, page 6.
5. - "-, 1968, No. 1, p. 26; No. 2, p. 15; No. 8, p. 1; No. 11, p. 49-53; No. 12, p. 56-69.
6. - "-, 1969, No. 4, p. 6; No. 5, p. 56-60; No. 8, p. 1, 18.
7. - "-, 1970, No. 3, p. 5; No. 6, p. 22; No. 7, p. 11; No. 8, p. 31; No. 9, p. 26-27.
8. - "-, 1971, No. 1, p. 5, 23; No. 3, p. 2; No. 4, p. 20; No. 6, p. 2; No. 8, p. 46; No. 11, p. 5, 13, 15.
9. - "-, 1972, No. 3, p. 2; No. 4, p. 15-19; No. 5, p. 17; No. 9, p. 24; No. 10, p. 54; No. 12, p. 17.
10. - "-, 1973, No. 1, p. 29; No. 2, p. 52-54; No. 4, p. 7; No. 5, p. 3, 5; No. 8, p. 2; No. 9, p. 2; No. 10, pp. 28-29, 49-55; No. 11, pp. 29.
11. - "-, 1974, No. 5, p. 5.
12. - "-, 1975, No. 1, p. 16; No. 5, p. 8; No. 6, p. 15; No. 8, p. 13; No. 10, p. 2, 22; No. 11, p. 6, 14.
13. - "-, 1976, No. 1, p. 10; No. 4, p. 5, 24; No. 6, p. 17; No. 8, p. 21; No. 9, p. 5; No. 10, p. 34.
14. - "-, 1977, No. 3, p. 24; No. 8, p. 8; No. 11, p. 3.
15. - "-, 1978, No. 1, p. 50; No. 4, p. 4; No. 5, p. 6; No. 8, p. 19; No. 9, p. 51; No. 11, p. 21; No. 12 , page 3.
16. - "-, 1979, No. 1, p. 3, 12; No. 2, p. 23; No. 5, p. 12, 34; No. 6, p. 14; No. 7, p. 6; No. 9, p. 13, 15; No. 11, pp. 11, 14; No. 12, pp. 23.
17. - "-, 1980, No. 2, p. 3, 16, 17, 27; No. 3, p. 18-19; No. 5, p. 8; No. 8, p. 54; No. 9, p. 7, 9 , 12, 62; No. 10, p. 3; No. 11, pp. 6, 27; No. 12, pp. 8, 31, 33.
18. - "-, 1981, No. 1, p. 11; No. 3, p. 18; No. 5, p. 4; No. 8, p. 15; No. 9, p. 3, 9; No. 11, p. 5, 9, 17, 20, 26; No. 12, pp. 25, 31.
19. - "-, 1982, No. 1, p. 39; No. 2, p. 7, 21-22; No. 5, p. 6, 18, 28, 48; No. 6, p. 65; No. 7, p. 10 ; No. 8, pp. 11, 54, 60; No. 9, pp. 3; No. 10, pp. 3, 26, 41; No. 12, pp. 7, 34, 36.
20. - "-, 1983, No. 1, p. 26; No. 2, p. 44, 47, 74; No. 5, p. 8; No. 6, p. 32; No. 8, p. 3, 30; No. 10, pp. 2, 22, 63.
21. - "-, 1984, No. 1, p. 9-11, 33; No. 3, p. 14; No. 4, p. 5, 60; No. 5, p. 10, 67; No. 8, p. 51, 53 ; No. 12, pp. 13, 40.
22. - "-, 1985, No. 1, p. 27, 57; No. 3, p. 19; No. 5, p. 7; No. 8, p. 5, 19.
23. - "-, 1986, No. 10, pp. 15-17, 20 (obituary).
24. "Theological Works", Sat. 6-10, 14-15, 18.

Used materials

• Prot. Vladislav Tsypin, A. S. Buevsky. Anthony (Melnikov Anatoly Sergeevich). Orthodox Encyclopedia, vol. 2, p. 634-635
• Biography on the site "Russian Orthodoxy"

For a long time, father Alexander, I have been watching your activities. You do not know me, and I have not seen you until recently, although I have been hearing about you for many years. I knew that you are a baptized Jew and serve Orthodox priest. This combination does not bother me in the least, just like any other Orthodox person, because there is no anti-Semitism in the very nature of Orthodoxy. But at first by chance, and then specifically getting acquainted with your articles, major works and your actions, I discovered in your words and deeds something that is in no way compatible either with your position in the Orthodox Church or with true love for the Jewish people. I treat you with sincere paternal care and would not write this letter and take care of its distribution, if your activity, in the end, did not force me to do so.

Do not demand, father Alexander, I will have to explain to you for real. For the point is not so much in you as a God-created personality, but in those visible and invisible forces that control you. The conditional collective name for these forces is Zionism. I call this name conditional because in fact Mount Zion is a holy mountain, God's. But the name of this mountain was used to deceive the uninitiated by forces deeply hostile to God and every shrine and to the Jewish people themselves. Hiding behind holy names and concepts, the Zionists want to deceive not only the "goyim", that is, all non-Jews, but above all their own people, the Jewish people. Zionism is nothing but the practical realization of the secret aspirations of the religion of Talmudic Judaism.

Modern Judaism is not just one of the religions of one of the peoples of the earth. The spiritual essence of Judaism is quite clearly revealed in the Gospel. To the Jews who stubbornly refused to believe in Christ crucified and risen as the promised Messiah, the Son of God who came in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself said: “If you were the children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham; And now you seek to kill Me, A man who told you the truth that he heard from God: Abraham did not do this; you do the works of your father." "If God were your father, then you would love me, because I came and came from God." "Your father is the devil, and you want to fulfill the lusts of your father; he was a murderer from the beginning and did not stand in the truth, for there is no truth in him; when he speaks a lie, he speaks his own, for he is a liar and the father of lies; And how I speak the truth you do not believe Me" (John 8:39-44). So, the word about Judaism, which does not recognize Christ as the Son of God and the true Messiah, is said: "Your father is the devil", and added: "Behold, your house is left empty" (Matt. 23, 38). The house in the sense of the words of the Holy Scripture is, first of all, the church, in this case Jewish church.

It is known how throughout history in certain circles of Israel, even before the advent of Christ the Savior, the worship of the devil began, first spiritually, and then this worship of the prince of darkness became quite definite and conscious. True, such conscious devil-worship was and remains the lot of very few specially dedicated spiritual leaders and teachers of Israel. For the rest of the Jewish people, it is considered sufficient only that this people do not believe in Christ crucified and risen, but in everything else, let them think that they worship the God of Abraham and Jacob and honor the law of Moses, which, however, is fundamentally perverted in the interpretation of Talmudic Judaism. So under the guise of religion old testament, under the guise of worshiping the One True God, they managed to create a hidden worship of the devil, Satan or Lucifer, who fell from the sky Dennitsa, as he is sometimes called.

The Jewish teachers had to resort to lies in every possible way to keep the masses of the Jewish people in ignorance of the truth for almost two thousand years. But of course, the spirit of hidden worship of the devil could not but affect the consciousness, spiritual life, behavior, social aspirations of both the Jewish people brought up in Judaism and those peoples of the earth among whom the Jewish people were scattered after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The deceived Jews were inspired that God's promises, spoken in the Old Testament, still retain their power in relation to this people, that nothing has changed in ancient faith Israel and that He is still God's chosen people. At the same time, Judaism hid and continues to hide from the Jewish people that in the depths of this religion, worship is performed not on the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but on the devil. For Orthodoxy, this mystery of Judaism is no longer a mystery.

Why does Judaism deceive the Jewish people? Because it is especially important for the devil to turn away from the true God the Jewish people, in ancient times truly God's chosen people - and through it, if possible, all other peoples - to turn them away from the true God and make them a God-opposing people. This is called: to affirm the abomination of desolation in a holy place. Therefore, modern Judaism and the Zionism that arose on its basis - worst enemies especially the Jewish people, and then through him to all the peoples of the world.

For Zionism, the interests of the Jewish people, which it allegedly expresses and defends, are only a demagogic screen to cover up its true goals: to lead Israel and other peoples to complete spiritual and physical death. In terms of these goals, the most important task of Zionism, as well as various organizations such as Freemasonry and other secret and open societies, is to bring the Jewish people and, if possible, all of humanity under the rule of the Antichrist, who will reign in Israel as the messiah. A lot is known about this false messiah, his spiritual signs and signs. It is enough to remember only the words of the Savior: "I came in the name of my Father, and you do not accept me; but if another comes in his name, you will receive him" (John 5:43). This one who comes in his own name, as the earthly ruler of Israel and the whole world, is the "Messiah" whom the Zionists are waiting for and whose coming they are now actively preparing. This is the Antichrist.

To prepare for his coming and to make humanity bow to him as the most worthy political leader and leader, Zionism uses various means. Firstly, these are attempts to concentrate in the hands of Zionism the main gold of the world and the main levers for managing the economy and politics. Secondly, it is the deliberate creation in the world of all sorts of instability, political, economic, moral, etc. Thirdly, it is the undermining of all peoples' confidence in their state, national authorities, so that the peoples entangled in endless problems will gladly accept the Israeli "Messiah", who seems to be able to arrange everything and everyone.

Finally, the most important task of Zionism is the fight against Christianity and, above all, against Orthodoxy as the most faithful guardian of the gospel truth. The fight against Orthodoxy seems absolutely necessary for Zionism also because in Lately more and more intelligent people, including Jews by nationality, began to find the fullness of spiritual truth and truth precisely in Orthodoxy, to be baptized and become true sons and daughters of Orthodoxy, for Orthodox faith alien anti-Semitism. Our Church knows that there are genuine "Israelis in whom there is no deceit", lies (John 1, 47) and there are "those who say about themselves that they are Jews, but they are not such, but are the assembly of Satan" (Rev. .2, 9). The Orthodox Church accepts people without distinction of their nationality, and people here acquire both the fullness of undistorted dogma and the only true way of life in God by faith.

Therefore, Zionism is especially interested in having in the Orthodox Church its "guards" who would meet people who are sincerely moving towards the truth, and would see them off far from it, trying, however, to assure that they are being led correctly, precisely to Orthodoxy. The task of such "guards" is to preach lies under the guise of truth, to fill the souls of people with views and moods pleasing to Zionism under the guise of an Orthodox. You, Father Alexander, are such a "guard" of Zionism in Orthodoxy. This is your specific place in the complex and diverse system of Zionism. This is your long-standing, thoughtful and voluntarily undertaken mission. And I know that you yourself know this very well.

Before considering your spiritual essence and modes of action, a few words about the special, purely religious means of Zionism in its intrigues against Orthodoxy. The first means can be called negative: it is all kinds of corruption of Orthodoxy. Not the last place here is occupied by attempts to prove the need for the unification of Orthodoxy with Catholicism, which is conceived not simply as good relations between churches, but as the penetration of the Catholic spirit, way of thinking and life into the environment of Orthodoxy.

In recent years, the closest alliance has developed between Zionism and the authorities of the Catholic Church. This is largely due not only to the double game that they play with each other, but also to some spiritual community. For example, Catholic church policy is oriented towards the acquisition of worldwide spiritual dominance. This directly follows from some of the essential features of the Catholic worldview: the desire for external activity in the world, for influencing the course of purely worldly affairs, for world power. To infect the Orthodox with Catholic sentiments means to arouse in them a spirit of external activity, a thirst for political struggle, participation in the fuss of purely worldly affairs. Why this is necessary will become clear from the further content of the letter, but for now we will note one significant statement of yours, Father Alexander.

In your interview with the samizdat magazine "Jews in the USSR", which we will discuss separately, you frankly stated that Western Catholic Church really close to the Jewish consciousness, in particular, the spirit of activity, energy, active practical character. Strange as it may seem at first superficial glance, Zionism and Catholicism at this point indeed acquired a certain spiritual affinity. But attempts to introduce into Orthodoxy the same spirit of activity have their own special purpose. If Mary (Orthodoxy) is informed of the marfino (Catholic) state of vanity, then the good part will be taken away from Mary (Luke 10).

The positive religious means used by Zionism boil down to the following: people are strongly instilled that the modern Jewish people, because of the Judaic deception, still rejects the true Christ, still remains God's chosen one, and therefore called from above to world domination. However, after the crucifixion of Christ, God's chosenness no longer belongs to the Jewish people as a nation - God's chosenness remained in Christ, for those who are truly in Him and with Him without distinction of nations, that is, in the Church of Christ. God's chosen people is now the Church of Christ. Hence, Palestine as the place of residence of modern Israel has long been no longer the promised land, but only its ancient prototype. The Promised Land is actually the Kingdom of Heaven, God's. And the city of Jerusalem with Mount Zion, not as places associated with the events of Holy History, but as the capital of modern Judaism and Zionism, is a city no longer beloved by God. The City of God is now the Heavenly Jerusalem, on a new earth under a new heaven, as the eternal kingdom of the righteous, proclaimed by God in Revelation (Rev. 21). And modern Jerusalem, as the center of Christ-hating Judaism, God spiritually calls "Sodom and Egypt, where our Lord was also crucified" (Rev. 11:8).

All this and much more is well known to Orthodoxy, so that special sophistication in lies is required in order to conduct corruptive activity here too. And yet you took on such an activity. Hiding behind a misinterpretation of the words of the Apostle Paul, you confess that you do not cease to believe that Israel, as a people, retains its chosenness, remaining the firstborn son. It is this very desire to remain the first-born that betrays you, father Alexander. You stated it in an interview with the Zionist samizdat magazine "Jews in the USSR". It was published in this magazine for number 11 in 1975 and distributed as a separate text. In this conversation with a Zionist representative, you communicated those touches and features to your spiritual portrait that make it complete and allow it to be put on public display. This will have to be done, all the more so since the tricks used by the anti-Orthodox forces are well revealed here. You talk to a Zionist correspondent like a true brother. Both of you understand each other perfectly and are quite satisfied with the conversation. The Zionist gave you amazingly precise, mathematically precise questions. They were aimed at clarifying the most important subjects for Zionism: the relationship of modern Russian Orthodoxy to Zionism, as well as the departure of Jewish Christians from Orthodoxy under the guise of creating a special independent Jewish Christian Church.

On all counts, you have completely reassured the Zionist. Zionism, under certain conditions, can penetrate into Orthodoxy. This is the meaning of your answers to one of the issues raised. Jews who are sincerely striving for Christ-Jesus can be prevented from being truly in Christ through communion with genuine Orthodoxy, it is possible and necessary to create for them a special, independent, that is, not dependent on Christ, church, which should be one of the branches of Judaism. This is the meaning of your statement on another group of questions. You are asked: What do you see as a special, religious vocation of the Jewish people? You answer: due to the fact that through them, the Jews, God's revelation was given and the Incarnation was made, this people is forever consecrated to God. This is followed by an excerpt from the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament about Ancient Israel: "And you shall be with me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6). You explain that "holy" means consecrated to God, and say: when a Jew betrays his consecration, he betrays himself and easily finds himself in power dark forces. However, the whole point is which forces you consider dark and which are light. What God do you bow to, Father Alexander, and to what God is the Jewish people dedicated forever, in your opinion?

You are asked: "Are the opportunities ripe for the creation of a special independent Jewish Christian church (attempts to which have already been made and are being made in Israel, where Christian communities are emerging with worship close to the synagogue in Hebrew, like the community of St. James)?" You answer: "Strictly speaking, Judaism has never been monolithic, and there were many different currents in it. Judaists can look at the community of St. James as one of them." With you, father Alexander, such words are not a diplomatic move. This is where you talk about what is most important to you. It turns out that Christianity is one of the currents of Judaism, about which you speak in another place like this: "Christianity pushed the boundaries of this Jewish church, including other peoples in it [that is, in Judaism - Metropolitan Anthony]."

At the same time, you do not separate modern Judaism from the faith of the Old Testament Israel, arguing that a Jewish Christian and a Jewish Jew today are connected not only by a common national origin, but also by faith in the One God, faith in Holy Bible, general religious ethics. Modern Christianity and modern Judaism, which rejects Jesus Christ, are for you equal branches of the same religion of Abraham.

Thus, it is quite obvious that modern Judaism does not and cannot have anything in common either with the religion of Abraham or with Christianity. Judaism is fundamentally hostile to the faith of the forefathers of the Jewish people according to the flesh, and Christian faith. You are not new to the Church, Father Alexander, and you probably know the text of the passages of the Gospel given here by heart. So when you combine in your interpretation of the One God of Christians and Ancient Israel with the "god" of modern Judaism the devil, you do it deliberately, deliberately mixing light with darkness. But even if we assume that you have such an association involuntarily and from a completely sincere idea, then all the more it turns out to be your receipt that your personal God is not Christ, not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Only under such a condition could you have in your soul and consciousness a feeling and representation of the commonality of your faith with the religion and religious ethics of modern Judaism. That's the point, Father Alexander. Now it is clear to which "god" Israel is forever dedicated to you, and which forces are dark for you, and which are light. Darkness for you, father Alexander, is traditional Russian patristic Orthodoxy in all its mature forms, which it has reached in the process of its historical development. It is your task to "enlighten" such Orthodoxy, or rather to decompose and destroy it. If under the mask of the Old Testament faith in the One True God it turned out that hidden worship of Satan was possible, then why not try to arrange the same in Christianity.

However, one cannot do without deceit and forgery, and you commit them. A Zionist correspondent asks you cautiously: is it already now possible for the Jews coming to Orthodoxy to retain Judaism somehow (although the form of this question was different). Without hesitation, you answer in the affirmative. It is possible, you say, if you inspire Orthodox Jews that they may not renounce the rites and religious customs of Judaism. You argue that, from the point of view of Orthodoxy, this idea is quite acceptable, that baptized Jews, along with Christian rites, should keep circumcision, the Sabbath and other things. At the same time, you refer to the decision of the Council of the Holy Apostles in Jerusalem in the year 51, which supposedly decided that the Judaic rites are not obligatory only for Gentile Christians, but remain valid for Jewish Christians. "The decisions of this Council have not been canceled, and it is hardly possible to cancel the words of the Apostles," you declare.

But this Council never made such a decision. This Council is very well described in the 15th chapter of the Acts of the Holy Apostles. Resolving the dispute about whether the pagans who come to Christ should be circumcised and forced to accept the law of Moses, the apostle Peter noted that God gave them "the Holy Spirit, just as he gave us; And he made no difference between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:8-9). The apostle further noted that neither our fathers nor we could bear the yoke of the law of Moses, and that we, the apostles, believe that "by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we are saved, even as they are" (Acts 15:11). St. app. Jacob added that God initially looked upon the Gentiles in order to make a people out of them in His name, because God so desired to recreate the fallen tabernacle of David and what was destroyed in Israel in it. It was decided not to make it difficult for Gentile Christians to keep the law of Moses. At the same time, nothing is said about Jews who want to preserve Jewish customs in Christianity. It is only noted that the law of Moses has preachers and is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.

In the context of the acts of this Council and the entire apostolic teaching, this means that the apostles do not forbid the observance of Jewish customs by those Jews who are accustomed to them, but in no way make it a duty for Jewish Christians and do not consider these rites to have saving power. For, according to the direct meaning of the apostolic words and the conciliar decision, firstly, salvation is recognized both for Jews and for Gentiles only through faith in Christ Jesus and the grace of the Holy Spirit, and the customs of the law of Moses thus turn out to be superfluous, since in itself and By Himself Christ fulfilled the whole Law. First, Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians are recognized as perfectly equal. No double responsibility and no primacy, about which you, Father Alexander, are talking, is recognized for the Jews either in this conciliar decision or in other texts of the New Testament. On the contrary, it is affirmed on the basis of the prophecies of the Old Testament and the signs of God that the tabernacle of David destroyed by Judaism is being recreated by attracting people from all nations to the Truth through Jesus Christ. This means that God's chosenness and consecration to God no longer belongs to the Jewish people, or to any other people as a nation, but to the Body of Christ, the Church, which is made up of representatives of all the peoples of the earth.

You, Father Alexander, know this very well. Why do you distort the meaning of the acts of the Apostolic Council, which, of course, no one can cancel? Why are you deceiving your own Jewish people in the first place? The fact that this is not an accidental mistake with you, but a deliberate deceit, is evident from how you, in the same spirit, distort the meaning of another New Testament text - chapter two of the Epistle of St. app. Paul to the Romans. You are tearing out of the semantic context of the teachings of St. Paul the following words: "So, I ask: Has God really rejected His people? No way [...] In relation to the election, the Jews are beloved of God, for the gifts and callings of God are immutable." Leaving these words without any explanation, you draw the necessary conclusion for you and Zionism that modern Israel as a nation, despite the fact that it continues to reject Christ Jesus in its fullness, remains the chosen people of God. From this you conclude that a Jewish Christian supposedly bears a dual responsibility - as a member of the Church and as a member of the people of God. In other words, along with the Church, the Body of Christ, you have one more people of God: the Jews as a nation, although you claim that Israel did not arise as a nation, but as a religious community.

However, according to the meaning of the words of ap. Paul, in this chapter and many other places in his Epistle, the people of God is one and only people - the Living Tree of the Church as the Body of Christ, which we, many, make up. (Rom. 12:4) This is the living olive tree, from which the withered branches of Jews who did not believe in Christ were cut off. Branches of the wild olive tree, former pagans, are grafted in. So "the bitterness took place in Israel in part, until the time when the full number of the Gentiles will enter" (Rom. 11, 25). Where will he enter, Israel as a nation? No, to the Body of Christ, the Church. "And so all Israel will be saved" (Rom. 11:26). The apostle warns the former pagans from pride, so that they do not exalt themselves with the flesh and do not consider the Jewish flesh to be something worse than themselves, for in Christ everyone is equal, there is no difference between a Jew and a Greek. In another place it is said that in the Church there is no longer a Scythian, nor a barbarian, nor a Greek, nor a Jew. The Apostle Paul says: "And Isaiah proclaims about Israel: even if the children of Israel were in number, like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will be saved" (Rom. 9, 27). It is about this "remnant" that can be saved through conversion to Christ Jesus that the apostle says that they are "in regard to election, beloved of God for the sake of the fathers" (Rom. 11:28). It is no coincidence that you, father Alexander, excluded these last two words from the quote this place the apostle, for the fathers of Ancient Israel lived by faith in the true Christ, who, as they knew from the prophets, was to come exactly when he came and suffered in Israel for the sins of the world.

The apostle Paul teaches that election and the promise apply only to those who are saved by faith in Jesus Christ, and not by the works of the law. According to the apostle about the Jews who did not accept Christ, "struggling to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to the righteousness of God: For the end of the law is Christ, to the righteousness of everyone who believes" (Rom. 10, 3-4). Thus, according to the teachings of the Apostle Paul, there are no two different God-chosen communities - the Church of Christ and Israel as a people according to the flesh, but there is only one God-chosen people, the Christian Church. And so that the relatives of the apostle in the flesh, the Jews, turn to her, he is ready not to spare his soul, because he knows that otherwise they will remain cut off branches, despite their carnal origin. At the same time, the ardent love of the Apostle Paul for his relatives according to the flesh was never higher than his love for the Church, which in his time was composed mainly of pagans. And he himself called himself "the apostle of the Gentiles."

Centuries have passed since the time of the Apostle Paul. Once wild in origin from paganism, branches from different peoples growing on the noble olive tree of the Body of Christ, long ago became one with Him, so that now it is entirely one noble olive tree. And Judaism, deceiving the Jews, during this time managed to dry up and run wild. So the Jews of our day, who are in Judaism and unbelief, are a wild and barren olive tree. Now, in order to become noble, this olive tree will have to be grafted into the olive tree of Christ's Church, just as the pagans were once grafted in. Therefore, for a modern Jew, the most important condition for a true conversion to Christ should be a resolute rejection of any thought of one’s being chosen by God on the basis of carnal origin and a humble repentant feeling that one can no longer be called a son of the Heavenly Father, but asks to be accepted at least among one’s workers. Thus teaches the famous parable of prodigal son. In this case, without any doubt, God will restore sonship to such an Israelite with love, but the forgiven son will now, in turn, have to share his sonship with those whom the Lord, for faith and devotion to Him, from among the workers, has long been pleased to make his sons, and not only by grace, but also according to flesh and blood in the direct and highest sense of these words. For the Church of the former pagans has long been nourished and saturated with the Body and Blood of the Firstborn of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ, through the sacrament of Communion. Therefore the Church is rightly called the New Israel. Here, no one has and cannot have an advantage over anyone by origin, "for God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience, that he might have mercy on all" (Rom. 11:32).

This is the true meaning of the text of the second chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. You, Father Alexander, have perverted this meaning to please the very chauvinism that, as you say in words, disgusts you, be it Jewish, Russian or Chinese. What really disgusts you, it turns out, is something completely different: the fidelity of Orthodoxy to the Lord Jesus Christ, to which you yourself testify with amazing frankness. The Zionist correspondent asks you how you feel about the cults of the Orthodox saints Gabriel and Eustratius, allegedly martyred by the Jews; Is this not one of the obstacles for Jewish Christians to stay in the bosom of the Russian Orthodox Church?

Saint Eustratius was a monk Kievo-Pechersky monastery, where he became especially famous for fasting. During the raid on Kyiv, the Polovtsy, among other Russians, took Eustratius captive and then, together with several Christians, sold him into slavery to a Jew in Tauric Chersonese. This man turned out to be a Jewish fanatic. Wanting to persuade his slaves to renounce Christ, he starved them. Soon everyone except Eustratius died. Then, on the feast of Holy Easter in 1097, a fanatic crucified Eustratius on the cross. The relics of the martyr were witnessed by God as miraculous. This saint is commemorated twice a year and once served with a polyeleos.

The Holy Martyr Gabriel was a six-year-old boy and lived in the village of Zverki, Grodno province. The tenant of this village, also a Jewish fanatic, together with his like-minded people, kidnapped the boy and brutally killed him. The murderers were later caught and convicted according to the law. And the relics of St. Gabriel were found incorruptible and also received special grace-filled power from God. St. Gabriel suffered in 1690.

Is there anything anti-Jewish in the circumstances of the death of these saints? No. We are talking about the victims of religious fanaticism, the presence of which in the Jewish environment is not denied by you, Father Alexander, when you say that Jewish chauvinism disgusts you. Why don't you answer the Zionist in this light. But you suddenly start talking about ritual murder right away.

What happened to you? You're not asking about ritual murder. However, you began to say that the ritual slander against the Jews did not receive legal confirmation in the scandalous trials of the past. This helps you to cast a shadow of slander on the memory of Saints Gabriel and Eustratius and to state in no uncertain terms: "I hope that they will be decanonized," that is, they will be excluded from the saints of our Church. For what? Because they were faithful to Christ and suffered for Him? Then, continuing the logic of your thoughts, you should also exclude from the saints the first martyr Archdeacon Stephen, a Jewish Christian, who was killed back in the 1st century by a crowd of his relatives in the flesh of Jewish fanatics. In this case, all those who in one way or another suffered from Jewish fanaticism should be excluded from the ranks of the saints, and it will be necessary to “start” with Christ Jesus, who was betrayed by the Jews to be crucified.

On the other hand, when you, Father Alexander, so unexpectedly started talking about ritual murder, as they say, your cap caught fire. I do not want to say that you personally have anything to do with this phenomenon, but you may suspect or even know about it. It is very significant that in your words on this subject you do not directly deny the presence of ritual murder in Judaism, but refer to the fact that Russian theologians themselves did not support these accusations in the past. But with all responsibility it should be noted and recalled that where conscious worship of the devil is performed in secret spheres, ritual murder is very possible and it exists. They try not to talk about this once again only out of philanthropy, so as not to arouse a wave of blind popular anger against the innocent mass of the simple Jewish people, who really do not know about the secret deeds of their spiritual leaders.

You, Father Alexander, also hate what your Zionist interlocutor calls attacks against the Jews in Christian worship. You know very well that in Orthodox Divine Liturgy, built half of the psalms of David, the images of the history of Ancient Israel, the glorification of the righteous Israelites and prophets, there are no and cannot be anti-Jewish attacks. But the denunciation of the insane Jews, who did not recognize their Messiah in Jesus Christ and betrayed Him to death on the cross, really exists. Knowing all this, you say to the Zionist: "I hope, when the time comes for the revision of Orthodox liturgical texts, these attacks will be removed here too." Why? Because they denounce unbelief in Christ?

You are an educated and intelligent person, father Alexander, and therefore, quite deliberately, in full accordance with the tactics of the father of lies, you mix two different concepts - about the Jewish people and about the Judaic religion - into one concept. And this is a forgery. It vividly testifies that it is not anti-Semitism, which does not exist in Orthodoxy, but anti-Zionism, that is, the fidelity of Orthodoxy to the True Christ, that disgusts you most of all and worries you most of all. To see the Russian Church as one of the instruments and currents of Zionism is what you and your hosts would like.

Expressing these sentiments, you repeat the word "hope" twice, that, they say, it will be. Don't hope it won't. Nor will you be able to carry out the project of the "ecumenical church of the future" about which you speak, urging you to focus on it, and not on confrontation of churches, because confrontation prevents the synthesis of such a universal church. You used the word "synthesis" when you said that the cultures of Russia, Europe, Israel and most other countries were allegedly created on its basis.

What is the analysis and synthesis of Jewish thinking is well known. Now you are engaged in "analysis" in Russian Orthodoxy, that is, attempts to decompose its fundamental, life-giving foundations. Your like-minded people do the same in other Christian nations. And if your dreams came true, then from the spiritually decomposed Christian churches By choosing elements suitable for Zionism, one could synthesize something whole. Only it would no longer be the living Body of the Lord Jesus Christ, but a dead synthetic, a talking doll, a robot that only outwardly looks like something alive, like a mechanical doll is somewhat similar to a person. And Zionism and its allies just need a church-doll, apparently Christianity, but in fact a fake. Such a universal "church" could be managed in any way, and above all, so that it would recognize the Israeli false messiah, the Antichrist, as the true Christ and help establish his spiritual and political domination in the world.

Therefore, the matter is not in the confrontation of churches and not in Russian chauvinism Orthodox people and in the fact that the living noble olive tree of Orthodoxy cannot be allowed to die by corrupting and alien influences under the guise of fraternal union, it is impossible to put out the lamp of truth and truth. In the Russian Orthodox Church, God's truth is providentially preserved in the greatest purity and integrity - both as a dogma and as a way of thinking and living in God, and therefore the Holy Spirit, Life-giving, and not "synthesizing", lives in this Church with especially abundant grace.

Therefore, it is no coincidence that today many people different countries and peoples, including many Jews, began to turn to our Church. And not because she is Russian, but because these people themselves are genuine Israelis, in whom there is no lie, but there is also wisdom inherent in genuine Israel. And when such people begin to really thirst for the truth, they will certainly find it in due fullness and safety in Russian Orthodoxy. This was once the faith of the entire undivided apostolic Church, and this faith is close and understandable to the souls of people of any nation.

So if you, Father Alexander, were in fact an Orthodox person in spirit and a person who sincerely loves the people from whom you descended according to the flesh, and a person who honestly strives for Christian unity, you would not say and do what are doing now. You would try to call on everyone and everything, and above all your relatives according to the flesh, to turn to our patristic Russian Orthodoxy, so that all peoples, if possible, become members of our Orthodox Church. For if a real universal church, it must be only Orthodox, in the image of Russian Orthodoxy.

You would tell your Jewish people to accept our Orthodoxy, because our Church, having taken flesh and blood from the Lord-Christ and His Most Pure Mother, having in itself all the best that Ancient Israel possessed, cannot but love Israel. She loves him even now, although he has become only a shadow of his great ancestors, and is waiting for his conversion. Let only true Israelites bring forth fruit worthy of repentance and, according to the words of John the Baptist, “do not think to say to themselves: “We have Abraham as our father,” for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones; Already the ax lies at the root of the trees : every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire "(Mat. 3, 9-10).

The letter was written in the late 70s, and was first published only in 1998 in the newspaper "Orthodox Book Review"

Successor: Filaret (Vakhromeev) February 5 - May 25 Predecessor: Boris (Vic) Successor: Sergius (Petrov) May 31 - May 25 Predecessor: Sergius (Petrov) Successor: Alexy (Grokha) Name at birth: Anatoly Sergeevich Melnikov Birth: February 19(1924-02-19 )
Moscow Death: May 29(1986-05-29 ) (62 years old)
Leningrad Buried: Nikolskoye Cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Saint Petersburg, Russia. Taking holy orders: July 22, 1950 Acceptance of monasticism: July 1950 Episcopal consecration: May 31, 1964 Awards:

Metropolitan Anthony(in the world Anatoly Sergeevich Melnikov; February 19, Moscow - May 29, Leningrad) - Bishop of the Russian Church; since September 29, Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod, permanent member of the Holy Synod, theologian.

Biography

After graduating from high school in Moscow, during the Great Patriotic War he worked at one of the defense enterprises of the capital.

On October 6, 1964, he defended his dissertation at the Moscow Theological Academy for a master's degree in theology on the topic "Zhirovitsky Monastery in the History of Western Russian Dioceses."

In connection with the death of Metropolitan Boris (Vik) of Kherson, in February - May 1965, he temporarily ruled the Odessa diocese.

At the Leningrad department

In July 1979, he headed the branch of the Department for External Church Relations established in Leningrad.

Awards

• Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir 2nd class (1964)
• Order of the Great Martyr George the Victorious, 1st class (1977, Georgian Orthodox Church)
• Order of the Holy Lamb Commander 1st Class (1978, Finnish Orthodox Church)
• Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, 1st class (1981)
• Order of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, 1st class (1981, Orthodox Church of Antioch)
• Order of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, 1st class (1981, Jerusalem Orthodox Church)

Proceedings

1. "From the Gospel History": "Theological Works", 1971, Sat. 6, p. 5.
2. "Foreword about (about Vl. Lossky)": Theological writings. 1972, Sat. 8, p. 5.
3. "Reverend Euphrosyne of Polotsk": Theological writings. 1972, Sat. 9, p. 5-14.
4. "On Christianity in Pompeii and Herculaneum": Theological writings. Sat. 10, p. 59-66.
5. "Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Archbishop Nicholas of Japan": Theological writings. 1975, Sat. 14, p. 5.
6. "Blessed Augustine as a catechist": Theological writings. 1976, Sat. 15, p. 56.
7. "Bibliography. H. Soman. St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage and "Pope African": Theological writings. 1978, Sat. 18.
8. Word spoken at the Trinity Cathedral in Leningrad on 4 Sept. 1979 on the parastas on the anniversary of the death of Metropolitan Nikodim: ZhMP. 1979, No. 12, p. 28.
9. "Mission of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Past and Present": ZhMP. 1982, no. 5, p. 49-57.
10. Word on Cheesefare Week (Forgiveness Sunday), March 20, 1983: ZhMP. 1983, no. 4, p. 32.
11. “On the day of St. Nikita, Bishop of Novgorod": ZhMP. 1983, No. 4, p. 33.
12. To the 175th anniversary of the Leningrad Theological Academy (1809-1984): Theological Writings. Anniversary Sat. M., 1986.
13. "From the history of Novgorod iconography": Theological writings. issue 27.
14. Bishop of Mogilev and Mstislav Vitaly Gregulevich: ZhMP. 1975, no. 9, p. 64-66.
15. “The desert flourished like a krin” [On the revival of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra]: St. Petersburg Church Bulletin. 2006, no. 5, p. 19-21.
16. Feedback on the work of Metropolitan Manuel "Russian Orthodox hierarchs of the period from 1893 to 1965 (inclusive)": "Church Historical Bulletin", 2005-2006, No. 12-13, p. 239-247.

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An excerpt characterizing Anthony (Melnikov)

Prince Andrei was delighted to see the boy as if he had already lost him. He bent down and, as his sister had taught him, tried with his lips to see if the child had a fever. His tender forehead was wet, he touched his head with his hand - even his hair was wet: the child was sweating so much. Not only did he not die, but it was now obvious that the crisis had come to an end and that he had recovered. Prince Andrei wanted to seize, crush, press this small, helpless creature to his chest; he didn't dare to do it. He stood over him, looking at his head, arms, legs, defined under the covers. A rustle was heard beside him, and some kind of shadow appeared to him under the canopy of the bed. He did not look back and listened to everything, looking into the face of the child, his even breathing. The dark shadow was Princess Marya, who with inaudible steps went up to the bed, lifted the curtain and lowered it behind her. Prince Andrei, without looking back, recognized her and held out his hand to her. She squeezed his hand.
“He was sweating,” said Prince Andrei.
“I came to you to say this.
The child stirred a little in his sleep, smiled and rubbed his forehead against the pillow.
Prince Andrei looked at his sister. Princess Mary's radiant eyes, in the dull half-light of the canopy, shone more than usual from the happy tears that stood in them. Princess Mary reached out to her brother and kissed him, lightly catching on the canopy of the bed. They threatened each other, still stood in the opaque light of the canopy, as if not wanting to part with this world, in which the three of them were separated from the whole world. Prince Andrei was the first, tangling his hair against the muslin curtains, and moved away from the bed. - Yes. this is the only thing left to me now,” he said with a sigh.

Shortly after his admission to the brotherhood of Masons, Pierre, with a complete guide written by him for himself on what he was supposed to do on his estates, left for the Kiev province, where most of his peasants were.
Arriving in Kyiv, Pierre called all the managers to the main office, and explained to them his intentions and desires. He told them that measures would be taken immediately for the complete emancipation of the peasants from serfdom, that until then the peasants should not be burdened with work, that women with children should not be sent to work, that assistance should be given to the peasants, that punishments should be used. exhortations, and not bodily ones, that hospitals, asylums and schools should be established on every estate. Some managers (there were also semi-literate housekeepers) listened frightened, assuming the meaning of the speech was that the young count was dissatisfied with their management and concealment of money; others, after the first fear, found Pierre's lisping and new, unheard-of words amusing; still others simply found the pleasure of listening to the master speak; the fourth, the most intelligent, including the chief manager, understood from this speech how to deal with the master in order to achieve their goals.
The general manager expressed great sympathy for Pierre's intentions; but he noticed that in addition to these transformations, it was necessary in general to attend to affairs that were in a bad state.
Despite the enormous wealth of Count Earless, since Pierre received it and was said to have received 500,000 a year income, he felt much less wealthy than when he received his 10,000 from the late count. IN in general terms he was vaguely aware of the next budget. About 80 thousand were paid to the Soviet for all estates; about 30 thousand was the cost of maintaining a suburban, Moscow house and princesses; about 15 thousand went into retirement, the same number went to charitable institutions; 150 thousand were sent to the countess for living; interest was paid for debts of about 70 thousand; the construction of the begun church cost these two years about 10 thousand; the rest, about 100,000,000 diverged - he himself did not know how, and almost every year he was forced to borrow. In addition, every year the chief executive wrote about fires, then about crop failures, then about the need to rebuild factories and factories. And so, the first thing that presented itself to Pierre was the one for which he had the least ability and inclination - doing business.
Pierre worked with the chief manager every day. But he felt that his studies did not move things forward one step. He felt that his studies took place independently of the case, that they did not cling to the case and did not force him to move. On the one hand, the chief manager put things in the worst possible light, showing Pierre the need to pay debts and undertake new work by the forces of serfs, to which Pierre did not agree; on the other hand, Pierre demanded the commencement of the case of release, to which the manager exposed the need to first pay the debt of the Board of Trustees, and therefore the impossibility of a quick execution.
The manager didn't say it was completely impossible; to achieve this goal, he proposed the sale of the forests of the Kostroma province, the sale of grassroots lands and the Crimean estate. But all these operations in the speeches of the manager were associated with such complexity of processes, the lifting of prohibitions, demands, permits, etc., that Pierre was at a loss and only said to him:
- Yes, yes, do it.
Pierre did not have that practical tenacity that would have given him the opportunity to directly get down to business, and therefore he did not like him and only tried to pretend to the manager that he was busy with business. The manager, however, tried to pretend to the count that he considered these activities very useful for the owner and embarrassing for himself.
In the big city there were acquaintances; strangers hurried to get acquainted and warmly welcomed the newly arrived rich man, the largest owner of the province. The temptations towards Pierre's main weakness, the one he confessed to during admission to the lodge, were also so strong that Pierre could not refrain from them. Again, whole days, weeks, months of Pierre's life passed just as preoccupied and busy between evenings, dinners, breakfasts, balls, not giving him time to come to his senses, as in Petersburg. Instead of the new life that Pierre hoped to lead, he lived the same old life, only in a different environment.
Of the three appointments of Freemasonry, Pierre was aware that he did not fulfill the one that prescribed each Freemason to be a model of moral life, and of the seven virtues he did not have two at all in himself: good morality and love of death. He consoled himself with the fact that in return he fulfilled a different purpose - the correction of the human race and had other virtues, love for one's neighbor, and especially generosity.
In the spring of 1807, Pierre decided to go back to Petersburg. On the way back, he intended to go around all his estates and personally ascertain what was done from what was prescribed for them and in what position is now the people that God entrusted to him, and which he sought to benefit.
The chief manager, who considered all the undertakings of the young count almost madness, a disadvantage for himself, for him, for the peasants, made concessions. Continuing to make the work of liberation seem impossible, he ordered the construction of large buildings of schools, hospitals and shelters on all estates; for the arrival of the master, he prepared meetings everywhere, not magnificently solemn, which, he knew, Pierre would not like, but precisely such religious thanksgiving, with images and bread and salt, exactly such that, as he understood the master, should have affected the count and deceived him .
The southern spring, the calm, quick journey in a Viennese carriage and the solitude of the road had a joyful effect on Pierre. The estates that he had not yet visited were - one more picturesque than the other; the people everywhere seemed prosperous and touchingly grateful for the good deeds done to them. There were meetings everywhere, which, although they embarrassed Pierre, but in the depths of his soul evoked a joyful feeling. In one place, the peasants brought him bread, salt and the image of Peter and Paul, and asked permission in honor of his angel Peter and Paul, as a token of love and gratitude for the good deeds he had done, to erect a new chapel in the church at their own expense. Elsewhere, women with babies met him, thanking him for getting rid of hard work. In the third estate, he was met by a priest with a cross, surrounded by children, whom he, by the grace of the count, taught literacy and religion. On all the estates, Pierre saw with his own eyes, according to the same plan, the stone buildings of hospitals, schools, almshouses, which were supposed to be opened soon, erected and erected already. Everywhere Pierre saw the reports of the administrators about corvée work, reduced against the previous one, and heard the touching thanksgiving of deputations of peasants in blue caftans for this.
Pierre just did not know that where they brought him bread and salt and built a chapel of Peter and Paul, there was a trading village and a fair on St. The peasants of this village were in the greatest ruin. He did not know that due to the fact that, on his orders, they stopped sending women children with babies to corvée, these same children carried the most difficult work in their quarters. He did not know that the priest, who met him with a cross, weighed down the peasants with his requisitions, and that the disciples gathered to him with tears were given to him, and for big money were paid off by their parents. He did not know that the stone buildings, according to the plan, were erected by their workers and increased the corvée of the peasants, reduced only on paper. He did not know that where the steward pointed out to him, according to the book, that the dues should be reduced by one third at his will, the corvée service was added by half. And therefore, Pierre was delighted with his journey through the estates, and completely returned to the philanthropic mood in which he left Petersburg, and wrote enthusiastic letters to his mentor, brother, as he called the great master.

(Melnikov Anatoly Sergeevich; 02/19/1924, Moscow - 05/29/1986, Leningrad), Met. Leningrad and Novgorod. Genus. in the family of a teacher at the Moscow Geodetic Institute. After the death of his father in 1940, A. Melnikov was brought up by a deeply religious mother. After graduating from high school in Moscow, during the Great Patriotic War he worked at one of the defense enterprises of the capital. In 1944, he entered the newly created Moscow Theological Institute, which was later transformed into a secondary (MDS) and higher (MDA) theological school, in 1950 he graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy with a Ph.D. theology for term paper. “Pastoral counseling, according to St. John Chrysostom”, 6 Oct. 1964 at the MDA he defended his thesis. for a master's degree in theology on the topic "Zhirovitsky monastery in the history of Western Russian dioceses."

Since 1944, A. Melnikov served as subdeacon of the Patriarchal Locum Tenens, after. His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I. In July 1950, he was tonsured a monk with a name in honor of St. Anthony the Roman. On July 18, 1950, in the Assumption Cathedral of the TSL, Patriarch Alexy I A. was ordained a hierodeacon; on July 21, in the Epiphany Patriarchal Cathedral of Moscow, he was ordained a hieromonk. In the same year he was appointed a teacher and soon an inspector of the Odessa Children's Palace. In 1952-1956. inspector of the Saratov Palace of Culture, teacher of homiletics and practical guide for pastors and at the same time secretary of the Saratov diocesan administration. In 1956, he was appointed rector of the Minsk Palace of Culture and viceroy of the Zhirovitsky Assumption Rev. Virgin of the monastery with the elevation to the rank of archimandrite. In 1963, he was transferred to the post of rector of the Odessa Palace of Culture and viceroy of the Odessa Assumption of the Presv. Virgin Mon-rya.

Decree of the Holy Synod of May 20, 1964 A. was appointed Bishop of Belgorod-Dnestrovsky, vicar of the Odessa diocese. On May 31, 1964, the consecration of A. took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Odessa Monastery, which was headed by Patriarch Alexy I. In connection with the death of Met. Kherson Boris (Vika) in February-March 1965 A. exercised temporary control of the Odessa diocese. On May 25, 1965, he was appointed to the Minsk and Belorussian Department, on October 8. of the same year elevated to the rank of archbishop, 8 Sept. 1975 - to the rank of metropolitan. Oct 10 1978 transferred to the Leningrad and Novgorod cathedra, became a permanent member of the Holy. Synod. In July 1979, he headed the branch of the Department for External Church Relations established in Leningrad.

Oct 7 1967 Priest. Synod appointed A. chairman of the editorial board of the annual Sat. "Theological Works". Having united the best scientific forces of the Russian Church around the collection, A. attracted scientists from secular institutions to cooperation, to-rye, due to the circumstances of the time, often signed their articles with pseudonyms. Edited by A. published No. 4-27 and several. thematic, having no number of BT volumes, in some articles A. V. beginning were published. 80s 20th century under the leadership of A. work began on the preparation of the Theological Encyclopedic Dictionary (not published), articles written for him were published in BT and ZhMP. Since 1981, Mr.. A. headed the Theological Working Group of the Commission of St. Synod for the preparation of the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus'.

A. was an honorary member of the MDA (1975), LDA (1979), Doctor of Theology honoris causa of the Theological Faculty. J. A. Comenius (1981) in Prague. At the head of church delegations A. visited many countries of the world, met with the Jerusalem Patriarchs Benedict and Diodorus, Patriarch Nicholas VI of Alexandria, the Romanian Patriarch Justin, archbishop. Cypriot Chrysostom. Over the course of 22 years of his hierarchal service, A. made a valuable contribution to the interregional. relations, in cooperation with the World Council of Churches, the Conference of European Churches, other interchrist. world and regional org-tions and movements.

Being seriously ill, the last month before his death, A. daily communed the Holy Mysteries. In his will, he asked to perform the funeral service with a monastic rank, to put the Orthodox Church on the grave. wooden cross. On the morning of May 29, 1986, feeling that his strength was leaving him, he asked to read the canon on the exodus of the soul. His last words are: "Holy Mother of God, help me." The funeral litia was performed by Bishop. Tambovsky Valentin (Mishchuk). The day of A.'s burial coincided with the 22nd anniversary of his episcopal consecration. The funeral liturgy at the Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra was celebrated by Metropolitan. Tallinn Alexy (Ridiger), bud. Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. A. was buried in the fraternal part of the Nikolsky cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Collected by A. a significant art collection and a library of 7 thousand volumes, along with an extensive library of his friend archbishop. Tambov and Michurinsky Mikhail (Chub) became the basis of the revived Synodal Library of the Moscow Patriarchate. A. was awarded the Order of St.. equal to ap. book. Vladimir of the 2nd degree (1964), St. Sergius of Radonezh 1st class (1981), Holy Apostles Peter and Paul 1st class (1981, Orthodox Church of Antioch), Life-Giving Cross of the Lord 1st class (1981, Jerusalem Orthodox Church), martyr. George the Victorious 1st degree (1977, Georgian Orthodox Church), Order of the Commander 1st degree (1978, Finnish Orthodox Church), Order of Friendship of Peoples (1984), medal of the Soviet Peace Fund (1979).

Arch.: OVTS MP; St. Petersburg diocese. control. F. 6 (Fund of Metropolitan Anthony (Melnikov)).

Lit .: Naming and consecration of archim. Anthony (Melnikov) in ep. Belgorod-Dnestrovsky // ZhMP. 1964. No. 7. S. 15-19; The award of the Metropolitan Leningrad and Novgorod Anthony of the degree of doctor of theology honoris causa // ZhMP. 1982. No. 5. S. 48-49; Chizhov A ., deacon. Eminence Met. Leningrad and Novgorod Anthony (Melnikov): Obituary // Ibid. 1986. No. 10. S. 15-20; Vasily (Krivoshein), archbishop. Memories. Letters. N. Novg., 1988.

Prot. Vladislav Tsypin, A. S. Buevsky

June 22nd, 2012

On October 28, 2002, the Patriarch of All Rus' Alexei P had a heart attack, the doctors managed to provide him with qualified assistance, and on Tuesday the patient was transferred to Moscow, to the Central Clinical Hospital. Media representatives immediately linked the patriarch's illness with the experiences of the latest tragic events in Moscow. However, few knows what actually caused the blow. Information about what actually happened in Astrakhan with the patriarch came to us from a confidential source in Alexy's entourage. Perhaps this information will shed light on the true reasons for the sudden ailment of Patriarch Alexy.
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Well, who, in fact, from those who know the cold-bloodedness of the patriarch, will believe in the official version? Recall that when the White House was shot in 1993, Ridiger endured it quite calmly, and he experienced other no less dramatic events completely serenely. This time, according to our source, the true cause of the attack was a certain vision that visited and shocked the patriarch.

What Alexy saw before the stroke happened to him, he confessed to several people around him, after the vision, a few hours before his health began to deteriorate sharply. for, according to the source, Alexy, despite his high ecclesiastical rank, perceives religion more as a tradition and ritual than actually believes in anything. who called himself hegumen Theodosius of the Caves (as is known, this abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, who lived in the 11th century and stood at the origins of Orthodoxy in Russia, was revered by believers as a miracle worker during his lifetime, and after his death was recognized as a saint). Saint Theodosius stood right in front of the patriarch, there was no anger in his bright piercing eyes, but a cruel reproach was noticeable. Alexy transmitted verbatim what he heard from the elder hegumen.

“You and many of your brothers fell away from God, and fell to the devil,” said the saint. And the rulers of Rus' are not rulers, but crooks. right hand from Christ. And fiery torment awaits you, gnashing of teeth, endless suffering, if you don’t come to your senses, cursed. The mercy of our Lord is limitless, but the path to salvation through the atonement of your countless sins is too long for you, and the hour of the answer is near. "After these words, the vision disappeared, leaving Ridiger completely numb, who had never experienced anything like this, moreover, he was always skeptical about reports of all kinds of miracles.

Soon after that, the patriarch became ill. Those who gave him first aid claim that the patient whispered barely audibly: "It can't be, it can't be!"... The official diagnosis made by the doctors in the hospital was: "hypertensive crisis with elements of a dynamic disorder of cerebral circulation "Before the most critical aggravation of his state of health, Alexy spoke about his vision, being in a state of extreme depression. According to the source, later, having recovered a little. , the patriarch said that he had hallucinations. However, the fact that he had previously told about the appearance of Theodosius to several people testified that the bewildered Alexy was trying to find support in someone in a moment of deep mental stupor into which Theodosius’s words plunged him. According to the source, "Alexy will never tell anyone else about the vision.

However, the words that it was Theodosius of the Caves, a half-forgotten saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, and other details, as well as the shock that the patriarch experienced, saying that such a fact was ". Let's pay attention to what the saint said about the "indulgence of the Church in the sins" of the "rulers of Rus'", whom he calls "criminals". In other words, we are talking about a close connection between the state and spiritual authorities in Russia. We also note that the very fate of Ridiger is somehow mystically connected with the current political system. He was elevated to the rank of patriarch at the end of perestroika, when the outlines of the modern absurd In Russia, when Boris Yeltsin was already making his claims to supreme power with might and main. The patriarch lived with the regime, rose along with its approval, and at the most critical moments for him acted as a support for the regime. This is exactly what happened, for example, in the early autumn of 1993, when the Russian government, it would seem, was hanging on by a thread. So, is the current illness of the patriarch connected with another difficult period for the political system? It seems that the connection between church and state is indeed mystical, but does today's Russia come from God? (Russian Information Agency-www.ari.ru) This message may be true. Then only one question remains: Why did this vision come so belatedly? And why was the speech of St. Theodosius not continued? According to the meaning of the visions, which were holy, there must have been words that the saints always heard, such as Seraphim of Sarov, that God punishes, first of all, for not only departing from God, but precisely from His Word, and the Word of God replaced with their own inventions.

Or did Patriarch Ridiger-(agent Drozdov) not tell what he saw in the vision? If this vision did not exist, but it was simply invented, fabricated by the enemies of the patriarch and the Orthodox Church, then this fabrication is more like the truth than the truth itself. Do the patriarch himself and his comrades not see what the organization, which they have led for so many years, has turned into, which is called the Orthodox Church and the Moscow Patriarchate? Absolute, complete secularization, and nowhere and in nothing the church and the world differ. Basil the Great claims that everything is different for believers - not only spiritual life, but also clothing and food, and gait. So different and so different, like a sheep from a wolf, like a dove from a hawk. Can it really be that God cannot find free time in our life, a place of life not littered with sins, through which He could reach us, and is forced to turn to us only through visions and dreams?

The Word of God foresaw this, prompting, prompting in all days and in all ages to seek connection with God, revelation from Him only through His word and through prayer. Jer.23.28 - The prophet who had a dream, let him tell it like a dream, but whoever has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What does chaff have in common with pure grain? says the Lord. Today we receive information about one vision, allegedly the former patriarch. But tomorrow there will be thousands of completely opposite visions, and all of them will be confirmed by myrrh-streaming and incorruption, and fragrance, and all of them can be from the devil. The spirit of lies fills not only this world, but also those places where prayers are raised to God. This spirit knows how to inspire confidence in itself, and this spirit finds support and response from those who hold this worldly power. 1 Kings 22.20-23 - "And the Lord said, who would bow Ahab to go and fall in Ramoth of Gilead? you will do this: go and do this. And behold, now, the Lord has let a lying spirit into the mouth of all these your prophets, but the Lord has spoken unkindly about you. Jer.5.31 - "The prophets prophesy lies, and the priests rule through them, and My people love it. What will you do after all this?

"For from small to large, each of them is devoted to self-interest, and from the prophet to the priest - all act deceitfully." Jer.23.11 - "For both the prophet and the priest are hypocrites, even in My house I found their wickedness, says the Lord." Mic.3.11 - "His heads judge for gifts and the priests teach him for a fee, and the prophets foretell him for money, and meanwhile lean on the Lord, saying:" Is not the Lord among us? trouble will not befall us!" Soph.3.4. - his prophets are frivolous, treacherous people, his priests desecrate the shrine, violate the law." A person who loves the Bible and reads it as the Word of God will not find anything new in this vision of the patriarch, for the Word of God constantly speaks about this. Love the Bible, which will give millions of times more than any vision. The Lord is near! THE DESCRIPTION OF THIS CASE WITH THE PATRIARCH, FORMER OR NOT FORMER, GIVES HOPE THAT GOD HAS PRESERVED THE UNKNOWN TO US THE REMAIN OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO DO NOT AGREE WITH WHAT THE LEADERS OF FALSE ORTHODOXY ARE DOING UNDER THE SIGN OF THE MOSCOW PATRI ARCHII. About "Patriarch" Kirill (Gundyaev) Patriarch Kirill: "Father Alexander Men and I have common theological views"

I arrive - and Metropolitan Anthony tells me that he has expelled Kochetkov by his resolution. And then I entered into some conflict with the metropolitan and with the commissioner, who was also involved in this case, and this was one of the weights thrown on the scales of fate ... When I was expelled from Leningrad in 1984 to Smolensk, it was a difficult time, everything was done to show that I was sent to the link. I arrived in Smolensk in January 1985, and the decision was made in December, on the tenth day of my rectorship - I think on purpose. I arrived in incredible, over 30 degrees frost, went to the house where I was supposed to live, and found that the house was occupied. The bishop, who was before me, left his things, and he left them in such a way that there was an impression that the person went out for five minutes. Scattered shoes, socks ... And I realized that this is a sign that I should not live in this house. I can’t enter a person’s house where everything is not locked, open, personal belongings are scattered, a bed is not made ... And I settled in a shed - in the truest sense of the word, in a shed without sewage, without running water, with huge rats. I woke up with rats running all over my bed. And this was all, of course, a strategy to show me: "Now this is your place, and now you have to put up with it. Forget that you were a rector, you went somewhere abroad. This is your place."

And at that moment, many shied away from me "So who sent to Smolensk, to this terrible Russia, where" rats ran "the then rector of the theological academy, and now the Patriarch? It was METROPOLITAN ANTONY MELNIKOV But after the death of Bishop Anthony, Bishop Kirill Gundyaev began to promote: he became chairman of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR), which made it possible to travel abroad again, and his Smolensk diocese was expanded by joining the Kaliningrad region to it. The true face and guise of Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov), ​​the spiritual mentor of the current "Patriarch" Kirill political system. And the main crime against the Church is heresy, since it is aimed at defiling the purity of her teachings. Hence it becomes clear why the Church of Christ has always looked negatively at heresies and uncompromisingly fought them in the person of the Holy Fathers, many of whom accepted martyrdom from heretics.

The Church has expressed its attitude towards heretics in canons or church laws, according to which: 1. Orthodox Christians cannot pray with heretics. “If anyone prays with someone who has been excommunicated from church fellowship, even if it is in the house, let such one be excommunicated.” (Rule 10 of the Holy Apostles). 2. Accept gifts from them. “If anyone, a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, or in general from the list of the clergy, fasts with the Jews, or celebrates with them, or receives from them the gifts of their feasts, such as: unleavened bread, or something similar; let him be cast out. If he is a layman, let him be excommunicated” (Canon 70 of the Holy Apostles). 3. To allow them to access the Sacraments of the Church, or to enter into heretical false sacraments themselves. “A bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, who only prayed with heretics, may he be excommunicated. And if he allows them to act in any way, like ministers of the church: let him be cast out. (Rule 45 of the Holy Apostles). There are other prohibitions concerning the communication of the Orthodox with heretics. 4. Take a blessing from heretical priests. “Since now is the time of heresy, without inquiry one should not say to them: “Bless, saints,” nor ask their prayers,” writes St. Theodore the Studite. 5. Take food with them. The same saint says: “If someone eats together with those who have combined adulterers or with another heretic, it is indifferent, then it is not necessary to eat food together with such ...”. But in the second half of the twentieth century. A bishop appeared in the Russian Orthodox Church who dared to violate the rules of the Holy Apostles, as well as Ecumenical Councils and the Holy Fathers, doing everything exactly the opposite. We are talking about Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov). “The end,” as the people say, “is the crown of business.” Rotov's end was terrible. On August 10, 1978, in defiance of the strictest prohibition of the Holy Apostles, he served a memorial service at the tomb of Pope Paul VI. On August 12, also contrary to the canons, he participated in his funeral.

And on September 5, in the Vatican, he suddenly died at a reception at Pope John Paul I at the shoes of the Roman pontiff, like his faithful dog. The prophecy of Blessed Pelagia of Ryazan, who predicted a terrible and shameful death to the ecumenist, came true: “You will die like a dog at the feet of your dad.” After Rotov's death, Vatican Radio announced that he was a secret Catholic cardinal.

This sad outcome was preceded by a long path of betrayal of Orthodoxy, the milestones of which were: 1. Cooperation with the KGB under the operational pseudonym "Svyatoslav" ("Private definition of the Commission of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of Russia to investigate the causes and circumstances of the State Emergency Committee"). 2. The involvement of the Russian Orthodox Church in the heretical World Council of Churches, which St. Justin (Popovich) called "a heretical, humanistic and man-pleasing council, consisting of 263 heresies (1961), each of which means spiritual death." 3. Joint service with heretics in violation of church laws in the West and in the Leningrad Theological Academy, communion of heretics with the Holy Mysteries of Christ. 4. Education of a new stratum of bishops who are ready to betray Orthodoxy for the sake of their career. 5. Pseudo-theological works in which Rotov justifies communist atheism and calls for unity with all non-believers and heretics. 6. Persecution of archpastors and pastors who are firm in Orthodoxy.

All this is no secret to anyone now. That is why it was strange to hear when, on July 17, 2010, on the air of the “Church and the World” program, the chairman of the Department of External church connections Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, in response to a question from the co-host of the program Ivan Semenov about Nikodim (Rotov), ​​began to extol him as an ascetic of piety. “The true greatness of this man is becoming clear only now. In fact, he played a decisive role in determining the position of our Church in relation to the state, which under Khrushchev organized another wave of persecution of the Church. Metropolitan Nikodim, with all the power of his intellect and church consciousness, stood up for the defense of the Church...”.

Further, Metropolitan Hilarion explains to the journalist and the viewers of the program how, with the help of heretics, he "saved" the Church. If one does not know Rotov's treacherous biography, then from the words of his successor, Metropolitan Hilarion, a false impression may be formed about the "holiness" of the secret cardinal. Perhaps for the Roman curia he is holy, but he is as far from true Orthodox holiness as from earth to heaven. Orthodox Christians are guided not by such false saints and no longer believe the words of Metropolitan Hilarion, but in their spiritual life they are guided by the writings of the Holy Fathers, hoping through them to gain salvation and avoid the temptations of modern anti-Christian reality. Nikolai Svetlov Today, many Russian people are beginning to understand that the kosher slaughter of the Russian people is being carried out, and these figures are all promoting the humility of the victim before the invaders. It's time to "remove the bells from churches and cast cannons" - it's time to talk in all churches about the organized genocide of the Russian people and drive the satanic evil spirits out of power, from the media, from the Russian Orthodox Church, from culture, from the education system.