And why did he pay dearly for a good deed
The revival of the modern Orthodox Church was marked by the canonization of Vasily Ivanovich Bellavin, better known as Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. His Holiness did not heal with the touch of his hands, did not show miracles to the flock, and died not a martyr's death, but in a private clinic. For what deeds was Tikhon numbered among the saints?
Icon "Tikhon of Moscow". / Photo: www.taday.ru
Youth of the Patriarch
The future patriarch was born into the family of the village priest John Bellavin in the Pskov province. Together with his brothers, Vasya worked on the farm, looked after the cattle. It is said that his father had a dream about his late mother, who predicted, pointing to the middle son: "Vasily will be great."
For the village priest, the path to greatness led through education. From the age of 13, Vasya studied at religious institutions - a school, seminaries, and graduated from the Theological Academy of St. Petersburg. For his calm prudence, the seminarians called the tall, fair-haired youth "Patriarch".
His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon (Bellavin) - in the rank of bishop. / Photo: acmus.ru
Promotional video:
After several years of unhurried deliberation, Vasily takes vows of celibacy, non-possession, obedience and is called Tikhon. At the age of 32, he was ordained bishop in the Kholm diocese. Here for the first time Tikhon shows his gift - the ability to find a common language with people of different social levels, faiths and nationalities.
American Mission of the Archbishop of Aleutian
In September 1898, His Grace Tikhon was sent to America. His ministry began with a missionary feat - traveling on a canoe to the Eskimo settlements in northern Alaska. Vladyka walked more than 11,000 kilometers through the "desert and wild, with a myriad of mosquitoes", blessing the indigenous inhabitants of the Far North.
Philip Moskvitin. Farewell to America of St. Tikhon.
In the United States, Tikhon organizes services in English, which is understandable to all Orthodox parishioners of different nationalities - Greeks, Syrians, Serbs, Slavs. Having received the rank of Archbishop of the Aleutian and North America, Tikhon transferred his residence to New York.
Disunited Orthodox communities held services in residential buildings in the absence of churches. Vladyka Tikhon organized a fundraiser and, at the expense of donations from Nicholas II and wealthy Americans, founded the cathedrals - Holy Trinity in Chicago and St. Nicholas in New York.
St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York. / Photo: 1.bp.blogspot.com
Under Archbishop Tikhon, the number of parishes increased from 15 to 75; a monastery was built on the territory of the purchased farm, and the evening school was transformed into a theological seminary. But in 1907, Vladyka Tikhon was recalled to Russia and appointed to lead the Yaroslavl department. As the first order, Tikhon decreed: “not to send anonymous denunciations” and not to bow down to him. After Yaroslavl, where Tikhon earned popular love, he was sent to Lithuania. There, Vladyka is caught in the First World War. He donates funds to hospitals and goes to the front line to bless the troops.
Election of the Patriarch
In June 1917, His Grace Tikhon, by decision of the Holy Synod, headed the Moscow See. Two months later, the All-Russian Local Council was opened in the Kremlin. Sessions in the Assumption Cathedral continued until the spring of 1918. On October 28, the Council decided to restore the patriarchate, abolished by Peter I. Meanwhile, revolutionary events were taking place in the city. The Kremlin was captured by the Bolsheviks. When the hierarchs of the church went there to inspect the shrines, they were stopped at the entrance: "Why do you need it?" “We'll let them through, and then we'll shoot them,” one of the Red Army men suggested.
All-Russian local council 1917-1918 / Photo: rusorel.info
The election of the Patriarch took place on November 5 (19). Earlier, three candidates were chosen by voting: Archbishop Anthony was considered the smartest, Archbishop Arseny the most strict, and Metropolitan Tikhon - the kind. After the liturgy in front of the face of the miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, the reclusive elder hieromonk Alexy pulled out a piece of paper with lots from the ark. Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev announced the elected patriarch of Russia: Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Tikhon.
Three proclamations
On January 20, 1918, with the adoption of the Decree on the separation of church and state, the new government began to persecute religion. Churches are ruined, monasteries, deprived of funding, are transformed into artels. The blasphemous action to uncover the relics of the holy saints caused a wave of protest. In 1918 alone, over 15 thousand clergy and laity were tortured and killed for their faith.
The last straw was the expulsion of the brethren from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Tikhon declares anathema to the enemies of the truth of Christ, exhorts them to come to their senses and stop the bloody reprisals, and calls on believers to resist the atheists by the power of faith and "a nationwide cry."
N. Kurguzova-Miroshnik. Patriarch Tikhon in 1917.
In the fall of 1918, the Patriarch appealed to the Council of People's Commissars: "You divided the entire people into warring camps and plunged them into fratricide, unprecedented in cruelty …" In this message, he asked the godless authorities to stop the bloodshed and oppression of faith in honor of the anniversary of the revolution and to free the prisoners.
However, he refused to those who came for a written blessing for the Kornilovites. On the contrary, the peaceful patriarch called on the clergy not to publicly support the White Guards.
Pomgol and retribution for good deeds
When a terrible drought struck in southern Russia, V. I. Lenin instructed Gorky to invite Patriarch Tikhon to a meeting of the "Committee to Aid the Famine," which put the writer in a difficult position: "Writing a comrade is not suitable, writing your Holiness is also not suitable, and I do not want to." Tikhon immediately joined the work of the committee. His letters to the United States with a call to save the starving in the Volga region led to an immediate result: the American Relief Administration (ARA) deployed a network of food outlets in Russia, reaching up to eleven million Russians with food aid.
ARA poster. / Photo: img-fotki.yandex.ru
Patriarch Tikhon appealed to the flock with an appeal to give the church utensils not involved in rituals in favor of the starving. But this was not enough for the Soviet authorities. In February 1922, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee issued a decree “On the procedure for the seizure of all church valuables,” which operations were carried out “with the most furious and merciless energy,” as V. I. Lenin. At the same time, Ilyich himself considered it expedient not to touch Tikhon.
Soon, however, His Holiness was put under house arrest, and then in a cell on the Lubyanka. Under the pretext that the Patriarch cannot manage the church from the jail, the so-called renovationists Vvedensky and Belkov, by agreement and deception, entice Tikhon for permission to temporarily transfer Synodal affairs. They declare themselves to be the head of the Living Church, which is secretly controlled by the GPU NKVD. The schismatics convoke a Council and announce the dethronement of Patriarch Tikhon. They even dared to appear before him and demanded to change their monastic attire for a secular one, to which His Holiness proudly refused: “I don’t know the competence of the Council, but I will go to the court dressed as befitting a Patriarch”.
Tikhon faced a terrible charge: a call to overthrow the Soviet regime. However, being aware of the disastrous situation with church affairs, the Patriarch speaks in court with a repentant speech: "From now on, I am not an enemy of the Soviet regime." Subsequently, he will explain that the benefits to the church are more valuable than his name in history. The struggle against the renovationists, coupled with complete apoliticality, is his credo.
The night will be long …
Patriarch Tikhon had to endure arrests and assassination attempts, pacify church turmoil and schism. These events severely damaged his health. “Tall, gray-haired and very thin and seemed much older than his real age,” the doctor Emilia Bakunina recalls about His Holiness. In the private clinic of the Bakunins, the 61-year-old Patriarch treated a sick heart. Late in the evening of March 25, 1925, he told his cell attendant: "The night will be long, dark, dark." At a quarter to midnight, Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow and All Russia died.
Icon "Saint Tikhon with his life".