Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, saving Moscow from Nazi capture. Stalin's secret visit to St. Matrona of Moscow. "Air procession" on the orders of the Supreme Commander. These and other miracles are considered by many descendants of the victors to be part of the history of the Great Patriotic War. But how can you tell truth from myth?
A widespread legend says: at the end of 1941, in the midst of the Battle of Moscow, by order of Stalin, an "air procession" was performed over the city - a plane with an icon of the Virgin flew around the capital and thereby saved the city. It is also known about other religious miracles that allegedly occurred during the Second World War, among which is the prophecy of Matrona of Moscow, sounded during a meeting with Stalin, and the special role of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in the defense of Leningrad and the Battle of Stalingrad. Naturally, in Soviet historiography all this was not and could not be mentioned. So how do we know about miracles during the Great Patriotic War today? And why do some believe in them, while others deny?
Kazan icon and the salvation of Russia
Even in the late USSR, stories about the Great Patriotic War were circulating in samizdat, entitled "The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God - a blessing to Russia and St. Petersburg" or "Miracles from the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God". Their authorship remained unknown until the beginning of the 90s, but after the collapse of the Union, it turned out that the compiler was Archpriest Vasily Shvets. Since 1993, these stories have become widely known, having entered the collection "Russia before the Second Coming" by the Orthodox journalist and writer Sergei Fomin.
“When the Great Patriotic War began,” Shvets wrote (a quote from Fomin’s book), “Patriarch Alexander III of Antioch addressed a message to Christians all over the world about prayer and material assistance to Russia … God's providence for expressing the will of God and determining the fate of the country and the people of Russia was a friend and a prayer book for her was chosen from the fraternal Church - the Metropolitan of the Lebanese mountains Elijah (Patriarchate of Antioch) … After three days of vigil, the Mother of God herself appeared in a pillar of fire and announced that he, a true prayer book and friend of Russia, was chosen in order to convey the definition God's for the country and the people of Russia. If everything that has been determined is not fulfilled, Russia will perish."
“Churches, monasteries, theological academies and seminaries should be opened throughout the country. The priests must be returned from the fronts and prisons, must begin to serve. Now they are preparing for the surrender of Leningrad - they cannot surrender, - the Mother of God allegedly said. - Let them take out the miraculous icon of the Kazan Mother of God and carry it around the city with a procession of the cross, then not a single enemy will set foot on its holy land. This is the chosen city. Before the Kazan icon, you need to perform a prayer service in Moscow; then she must be in Stalingrad, which cannot be surrendered to the enemy. The Kazan icon must go with troops to the borders of Russia. When the war is over, Metropolitan Elijah must come to Russia and tell about how she was saved."
“Vladyka,” Shvets continues, “contacted representatives of the Russian Church, the Soviet government and gave them everything that had been determined … Stalin summoned Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) of Leningrad, the locum tenens of the Patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), and promised to fulfill everything, what Metropolitan Elijah conveyed, for he saw no more opportunity to save the situation. Everything happened as predicted. There was no strength to deter the enemy … The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was taken out of the Vladimir Cathedral and walked around Leningrad with a procession of the cross - the city was saved … After Leningrad, the Kazan Icon began its march across Russia. Yes, and Moscow was saved by a miracle … this is a true miracle, manifested by the prayers and intercession of the Mother of God … Then the Kazan icon was transported to Stalingrad. There, an incessant service was held in front of her - prayers and commemoration of the dead soldiers. The icon stood among our troops on the right bank of the Volga, and the Germans could not cross the river, no matter how hard they tried."
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“20,000 churches of the Russian Orthodox Church were opened at that time. All of Russia was praying then! Even Joseph Stalin prayed (there is evidence of this),”the archpriest says.
Air procession
The story, according to which at the end of 1941 a plane with the icon of the Mother of God flew around Moscow, was also widely spread thanks to the writer Fomin and Archpriest Shvets. Here is another quote from the story mentioned above: "The defeat of the Germans near Moscow is a true miracle, manifested by the prayers and intercession of the Mother of God … Volokolamsk highway was free, and nothing prevented the Germans from entering Moscow."
At this point, Fomin gives a footnote: “As the Moscow legend says, the miraculous icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God from the Tikhon temple in Alekseevsky was surrounded by an airplane around Moscow. The capital was saved, and on December 9, 1941 Tikhvin was liberated."
And then Shvets writes: "Then the Kazan Icon was transported to Stalingrad."
Perhaps it was because of this presentation of material in the story of the "air procession" of 1941 that so much confusion subsequently arose. To this day, the Tikhvin icon, the Kazan icon appears in it.
Orthodox writer Nikolai Blokhin claimed that as a child he had personally heard the story about flying around Moscow with the Tikhvin icon - such a story sounded in a conversation between Father Blokhin and Chief Marshal of Aviation Alexander Golovanov. “He (Golovanov) said that, to put it mildly, he was surprised to hear Stalin’s order,” Blokhin said in his interviews. - The snowstorm is terrible, you can't see anything a few meters away - and he has to fly around Moscow in the American "Douglas" … I decided not to take the navigator: he'd rather be smashed alone. And why navigate there when you still can't see anything? But he was given very interesting passengers - a priest with an icon and three women. Then he says to the priest: “Actually like this: our flight is unpredictable - do you understand? I know that you are volunteers, but …”. - “Darling,” Dad answers, “what unpredictability? The Queen of Heaven is with us!”… He took off. And suddenly he noticed that the plane was unusually quiet. I looked: the motors are running, but there is almost no noise … The voices of the priest and the singers are clearly audible: "My queen is good, my hope is to the Mother of God …". And on the radio a voice from the Kremlin: "Sasha, turn it up …". Stalin loved church singing, his entourage told about it after the death of the leader."
According to Blokhin, this conversation was attended by Vasily Stalin, who “confirmed the story of flying around Moscow with the miraculous icon that Golovanov was telling; probably heard about her from my father or his entourage."
Today in the press you can also find references to the memoirs of Valentin Vladimirov, who in 1941 served in the protection of the Kremlin. “When I once stood at the post at the Borovitsky Gate,” he recalls, “a car with three priests with beards and crosses drove past, and only later it became clear why. A few days later the Douglas plane took off with the icon of the Kazan Mother of God and flew around Moscow three times. Then a religious procession took place along the fortifications. Either by an accidental change in the weather, or really at the behest of higher powers, but then a sharp cold snap began and a thick snow fell."
On the eve of the 72nd anniversary of the Victory, news agencies circulated the story of 92-year-old Great Patriotic War veteran Vladimir Kindyuk, who said that he personally took part in Stalin's secret mission - flying over Moscow with icons on board. True, according to the veteran's version, the mission involved six I-16 training "three-seat" aircraft and twelve priests with small icons in their hands.
Prophecy of Matrona of Moscow
Let's turn again to Sergei Fomin's collection Russia before the Second Coming. It first saw the light of day in 1993, was printed at the publishing house of the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, was subsequently reprinted many times and all editions were published, as indicated in the author's biography, with the blessing of Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) and Archpriest Nicholas (Guryanov). That is, we have before us a completely solid Orthodox publication, which explains the increased attention to it.
This work, in particular, says: “Blessed Matrona Dimitrievna Nikonova in 1939-1940. she said: “Well, now you are all swearing, sharing, but the war is the day before. Of course, many people will die, but our Russian people will win. " An indisputable fact is the visit to her in Tsaritsyno in October 1941 by JV Stalin. The blessed one said to him: “The red rooster will win. Victory will be yours. You won't leave Moscow alone from the bosses."
Fomin refers to the "Legend of the Life of the Blessed Eldress Matushka Matrona" (compiled by ZV Zhdanova, 1993) published by the Holy Trinity Novo-Golutvin Monastery. There is a recollection of one of Matrona's relatives: “My uncle, Nikita Ermakov, worked in the Kremlin during the war, brought food. When the Germans approached Moscow, they were about to take it, Stalin was preparing to leave Moscow. My uncle managed to come up to him and say that there is such a blessed mother Matrona, perspicacious, who can tell you what to do: to leave or not. And he gave the address. He came to her, she said: “The Russian people will win, victory will be yours. You won't leave Moscow alone from the bosses."
Another story about this event sounds like this: “Even Matrona once told me and all the people who were around (and this was in 1939-1940):“Well, now you all swear, divide, but the war the day before. Of course, many people will die, but our Russian people will win. " People say that Stalin was at Matrona's, she did not tell him to leave Moscow, patted him on the right shoulder and said: "The red rooster will win." She lived in Tsaritsyno during the war."
The third mention of Stalin in the life of Matrona Moskovskaya sounds like this: “There were other predictions … She once said:“Who knows, maybe the Lord will forgive Stalin! He is a prisoner himself. " I asked: "Who?" She: "At Kaganovich and all those!" … This was said by Mother in 1943. Then she often said to me: “Do not grieve, soon the entire 58th article will be dismissed, there will be no what it was” … I asked: “Mother, when will it be?” - After the war! First, they will remove Stalin, then after him there will be rulers one worse than the other. They will take Russia apart."
In 1999, Matrona of Moscow became a locally revered saint of the Moscow diocese, and in 2004 her church-wide glorification took place. Then it turned out that, in the words of a specialist in ancient Russian lives, Andrei Zaitsev, "she was catastrophically unlucky with her life." “The popular veneration for Matrona was enormous,” wrote Zaitsev. - Miraculous healings and help contributed a lot to this. But a canonical life with a verification of the facts of life and an explanation of the spiritual meaning of the feat of the blessed one before canonization was not compiled."
"The Legend of the Life of the Blessed Eldress Matushka Matrona" was sharply criticized by the Synodal Commission for Canonization. As a result, the canonical text of the life was compiled, in which "historically inaccurate and theologically distorted information about the saint was eliminated." In particular, all references to Stalin have disappeared.
And again about Stalin
Even in the Orthodox media, you can find many critical (and within the framework of blogs - sharply critical) publications about the meeting of Matrona of Moscow with Stalin, about the secret operation to fly over Moscow with the icon of the Mother of God and about the story told at one time by Archpriest Vasily Shvets.
The Orthodox magazine Foma correctly reports: “One of the myths says that in the fall of 1941 the“father of nations”Joseph Stalin himself secretly came to Blessed Matrona … Historians of the Moscow Theological Academy specially studied this hypothesis and came to an unequivocal conclusion: there was no such event … Here are the words on this topic of the respected pastor and theologian, inhabitant of the Sretensky Monastery in Moscow, Hieromonk Job (Gumerov): "… An attempt to present the cruel persecutor of the Church as a believing Christian and a benefactor of the Church is dangerous and can only bring spiritual harm."
Numerous publications with practically the same words assert that flying around Moscow with the icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God was simply impossible: “It is known for certain that in 1941 the Orthodox shrine was in the Tikhvin Museum of Local Lore, since all city churches were previously closed by the Bolsheviks. The Germans captured Tikhvin on November 8, 1941, before leaving the city, they took the icon to the rear and handed it over to the head of the Pskov Orthodox mission in Riga, Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky). After the final retreat of the Nazis, the icon left our country and returned to Russia only in 2004”.
In online publications, correctness is sometimes completely forgotten. The headlines say a lot. For example, this: "Exposing the national-communist myths of history: flying around Moscow with the Tikhvin icon on December 8, 1941".
Indeed, the "Miracles" of Archpriest Vasily Shvets, and the stories about the "air procession" by the order of the "father of nations", and the life of Matrona of Moscow from Zhdanova can, if desired, be interpreted as creating a certain image of Stalin. Not necessarily positive, just complex and not unequivocally negative. And this gives rise to acute controversy in church and near-church circles.
Was it so or not?
Priest Nikolai Bulgakov, the first, or at least one of the first publishers in the print press (back in 1991) of Vasily Shvets's Miracles, wrote in 2011: “The word about the Kazan icon has begun to be published widely. But even today one can hear arguments that this legend is supposedly a “pious myth”. Moreover, the "basis" for such statements is only: "it is impossible", "no documents" … Tradition cannot have documents by definition. However, the scripture also may not have them. As is known, many historical sources did not have any seals, signatures, or 'storage units'."
Indeed, there are no documents. Historical science is not an assistant here. It's a matter of faith.
Dmitry Lyskov