Archbishop Evgeniy Vereisky became the head of the Estonian Orthodox Church

education

He studied at the Kirov Construction College (1973-1977), where he acquired the specialty of construction technician.

In 1980 he entered the Moscow Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1983; continued his theological education at the Moscow Theological Academy (MDA). In 1987 he graduated from the MDA with a candidate of theology degree, which he was awarded for his dissertation “Pastoration in the Russian Church in the X-XIII centuries.” On August 18 of that year, he was approved as a teacher at the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary.

Assistant to the Deputy Rector of the Academy for administrative and economic work[1]. On January 1, 1989, he was appointed deputy rector for administrative and economic work. On November 16, 1990, he was appointed inspector of the Moscow Theological Seminary.

On August 6, 1991, he was appointed rector of the newly opened Stavropol Theological Seminary. On February 28, 1994, he was relieved of his post as rector of the Stavropol Theological Seminary[2].

On July 18, 1995, by decision of the Holy Synod, he was appointed rector of the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary, retaining his position. O. chairman of the educational committee[3].

On April 11, 2004, he was awarded the title of professor at the Moscow Theological Academy (teaching moral theology).

Until July 14, 2021, rector of the IBC, MDA[4].

Russian Orthodox Church

The rector of the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary, Archbishop Evgeniy of Vereisky, tells the correspondent of the Tatyana’s Day portal about himself and about the life of Moscow theological schools.

— Vladyka Evgeniy, were you tonsured in the academic church?

— According to tradition, all tonsures are performed in the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

— Can I ask about how it was?

- Of course, this is a deeply personal memory...

While studying at the seminary, I didn’t think about taking tonsure at all; the realization came already at the academy. The monk submits one petition - for tonsure. The seminary and academy are under the direct authority of His Holiness the Patriarch, therefore issues of tonsure and ordination are resolved with his knowledge. You write a petition and wait for a resolution. Writing a petition itself requires a certain determination.

— I wrote it and that’s it?

- How's everything? In principle, you can refuse monasticism, because you haven’t been tonsured yet.

Waiting for a resolution is such a period of temptation. I either want to run away from all these things as quickly as possible, or for everything to happen as soon as possible. And here’s what’s interesting: as soon as the tonsure was completed, there was calm.

I was tonsured by Archimandrite Venedikt (Knyazev), who at that time was the inspector of the seminary, and now is one of our oldest teachers. My tonsure took place on July 27, and after that there was some kind of spiritual state, especially since soon - on August 3 - I was ordained as a deacon, and on August 28, on the Assumption - as a hieromonk. These three moments followed one after another and were like steps: before I had time to move away from one, another service had already begun. And in this elevated spiritual state there was a temptation: I did not want to study in order to devote myself entirely to service - it was so new and bright. Moreover, I wanted to serve on weekdays, when the clock in the Intercession Church begins to read at 6.20 in the morning.

In the summer there were many services, in addition to the fact that I was also a tour guide in the Church and Archaeological Office.

— After your tonsure, were you at the altar in the Trinity Cathedral?

- No. According to tradition, the tonsure takes place there, and we spend two nights in the Intercession Academic Church.

— Two nights or two days?

- Two days.

- And you don’t go out anywhere? Without food?

“You don’t go out anywhere, but they take you to lunch.” If you somehow want to sit there, you can sit there, and it’s also possible to take a nap in the altar.

That's what I remember. There, when you take your hair, you put on slippers. Regular shearing slippers, black. And so I had them spacious, with plenty to spare. When, after two days, I left the altar (and there, after the Liturgy, the confessor reads a special prayer for the removal of the hood, because all this time after tonsure the hood is not removed), I came to my room, decided to lie down for five minutes and for some reason began to put it on boots. And they turned out to be small - my legs were so numb. But I hadn’t even noticed before: my slippers were spacious.

And so I lay down for what seemed like five minutes, but slept for two hours. Mom had just arrived, sitting on a bench and waiting for me. I came out and said: “Imagine, I just fell asleep...” “Yes, that’s what I understood.”

— When were you told your monastic name?

- They say at the tonsure. As a rule, no one knows the name in advance.

- What about Evgeny?

- Bishop of Chersonesos, martyr.

— Now, after so many years in the Lavra, are the feasts of St. Sergius perceived differently?

- Certainly! Every year the holiday takes place in its own way. Since my student years, it has been perceived primarily as intense prayer, in which you are united with a large number of people. And this perception of the holiday was present, even if on the day of the holiday they were sent to some kind of obedience outside the temple.

Now, in addition to the fact that you certainly participate in the divine service - that is, it seems they shouldn’t send me to harvest potatoes in my current capacity - there is another responsibility: as the rector, I am fully responsible for holding the holiday at the academy, for this site. This is a slightly different perception than it was during the years of study, but still prayer is prayer. Guest bishops always come, and you stand before the Throne and together with them, “with one mouth and one heart,” you offer a prayer.

— Is episcopal consecration very different from priestly consecration?

- Of course, it’s different.

— I’m not talking about the external, but about how it is perceived from the inside.

“With every consecration you reach a new level. This step is not that, relatively speaking, they bow to you more, but, first of all, an awareness of greater responsibility. And I would say that this responsibility weighs heavily. In my speech at the meal after the consecration, I thanked His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II for the trust he placed in me. He said, among other things, that he entrusted me with an area - education - that I was afraid to enter. Moreover, it was 1994, the period of reform of theological education. But obedience is obedience, and I “say nothing contrary to the verb,” because the monk writes only one petition - for tonsure, and then they tell him what kind of obedience he needs to perform.

Continuing the conversation about ordination, I will say that when you enter the altar for the first time as a layman and, for example, simply hand over the censer, this is already a feeling of being in a place of the special presence of God. This is one perception. Then, when you already perform some deaconal actions, this is already different, but still you yourself are not yet the performer of the Sacrament, because the priest performs it.

Bishoprics are a completely different ministry. You are moving to a completely different level, which requires even greater responsibility.

— That is, at first, when you are a layman, relatively speaking, all the clergy stand behind you and you have someone to rely on. Then, when the deacon - only priests and bishops. When there is a priest, there is still a ruler. And when the ruler is there no one, only God?

- No, why? God is always before you, even if you are a layman. And we are all before God, even if we serve together with other bishops or with His Holiness the Patriarch.

In general, in pastoral temptations they describe that some priests are afraid to serve, while others are afraid to serve. And in the second case, there may be a certain lethargy, and the service itself may become formal: he worked and left.

I had a great desire to serve. And it’s good that I was at the academy then. The academic environment is special. As hieromonks, we did not receive a salary for divine services, we did not have the feeling of piecework: come, work, receive a salary. In those days, almost a third of the Academy's graduates were ordained priests and deacons. With so many people a month, it was necessary to serve two or three times (our service schedule was drawn up for a month). On Sunday we were sent to confession, but, again, due to the large number of priests, each of us could not be involved so often. Therefore, I always served on Sunday, and also went to work on weekdays, because I wanted to serve.

— Now reforms of religious education are underway again. In your opinion, will the academy change much with the transition to the Bologna system?

— His Holiness Patriarch Kirill correctly said, speaking at the academy on the Feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos last year, that the Bologna system is only a new structure. But our task remains to fill it with content. Now, if we were given new content, then yes, we could talk about serious changes.

Of course, something will change, because we are changing, and different young people are coming. But the core, the core, the internal content remain unchanged. We will fill the content and spiritual component ourselves, using the general church experience and the experience of the academy.

As for the reform itself, there is a lot of talk and debate about it, but there is a certain certainty. Whether we like it or not, Russia has signed an agreement on the transition to the Bologna system. In this case, I don’t see a tragedy, because, in addition to the state standard of theology, we also have our own church standard. And we will issue two documents - the state one and our church one, because in the training of priests there are a number of subjects that go beyond the state standard.

— What is most important in this core, in the internal content? What should a student of theological schools generally strive for?

— What remains in the head, the amount of acquired knowledge, is one thing. They are necessary because a graduate of a theological school must meet certain requirements and have a level of education not lower than average.

Another thing is that the amount of knowledge in itself is neither good nor bad: a person can use it for both good and evil. There is another danger: a person may begin to live by double standards. On the one hand, he will manipulate the acquired knowledge, on the other hand, what he begins to talk about will not correspond to his life. A gap will arise, and this will be both an internal catastrophe for the person himself and a serious test for those around him, because the flock over which such a priest will be placed may, at best, receive nothing, and at worst, they may turn away from the Church altogether.

Therefore, the desire for a certain amount of knowledge in itself is not an end in itself, and our task is to fill this knowledge with internal content. The knowledge gained should be reflected in the personal life of the priest. I would say that he must be a man who is being saved, because he is leading the flock to salvation, and the best option is to testify about Christ and the Church with his very life, and not manipulate words.

The seminary teaches a lot of knowledge about God. But knowing about God is not the same as knowing God. Atheists knew a lot about God, especially those who deliberately fought against the Church. I remember when I was studying, the books “Atheist’s Dictionary” and “Atheist’s Handbook” were brought to the city bookstore. And we all ran to buy them, because there was a lot of information about the Church, history, structure, and the latest statistical data were given. So atheists knew a lot about the Church and about God, but they did not know God. And theological school should teach a person to know God.

And in this regard, the fact that Moscow theological schools are located in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra is very good. Of course, student participation in worship services is a mandatory condition for the existence of a theological school. But it is one thing to have a home church, and quite another when there is a Lavra nearby and there is constant communication with the Lavra confessors. There is a misconception that all our students are being drawn to become monks. Nothing like this! Our academy does not have a monastic charter, and the divine service is close to parish realities, because most graduates will serve in parishes. But the fact that students have the opportunity to communicate with Lavra residents and confessors, and the opportunity to learn from their spiritual experience, is a huge plus.

Interviewed by Olga Bogdanova

see also: Archbishop Eugene of Vereya: “A monk writes a petition only once” (part 1)

hierarchy

Since 1979, subdeacon of Bishop Chrysanthus (Chepil) of Kirov. Since 1980, subdeacon of the rector of Moscow theological schools, Bishop Alexander (Timofeev) of Dmitrov.

On July 27, 1986 he was tonsured a monk; On August 3 he was ordained a hierodeacon, and on August 28 - a hieromonk. On January 1, 1989, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.

On April 16, 1994, he was consecrated Bishop of Vereisky, vicar of the Moscow diocese. On February 25, 2000, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop[5].

On May 29, 2021, the Council of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate elected Archbishop. Evgeniya Primate of the Estonian Orthodox Church[6].

On June 3, 2021, he was elevated to the rank of metropolitan and awarded the right to wear the second panagia within the Estonian Church[7].

church positions

Since 1979 he worked in the Kirov diocesan administration.

On February 28, 1994, by decision of the Holy Synod, he was appointed acting chairman of the educational committee of the Russian Orthodox Church[2].

On February 22, 1995, the Holy Synod formed a special working group on the basis of the Educational Committee, chaired by Bishop Eugene of Vereisky, to develop a detailed concept of a new system of theological education[8].

On July 18, 1998, the Holy Synod decided to confirm Bishop Eugene as chairman of the Educational Committee[9].

On July 18, 1999, he was appointed deputy chairman of the Synodal Theological Commission.

He became a member of the commission formed on December 26, 2003 at the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church for dialogue with the ROCOR.

On December 10, 2008, by decision of the Holy Synod, he was included in the commission for the preparation of the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, held from January 27 to 28, 2009[10].

On February 1, 2021, by decision of the Holy Synod, he was included in the organizing committee for the implementation of the program of church-wide events for the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the era of persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church[11].

Until July 14, 2021, Chairman of the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church[4].

[edit] Biography

Secondary specialized education.[4]

It was not by chance that Evgeniy Reshetnikov ended up in one of the sabotage battalions of the airborne troops, located in the suburbs of Ryazan. By his own admission, from his school days he was interested in pyrotechnics and designing weapon models. The love of weapons was instilled in him by his father, a professional gunsmith who worked all his life at a defense enterprise in Volgograd. In December 1999, it was noted that law enforcement officials now call Reshetnikov one of the best underground gunsmiths in the city.[5]

After serving the required two years in the army, Evgeny Reshetnikov returned to Volgograd and got a job at the same defense plant where his father worked. However, the low salary did not suit him, and he soon left the factory and started an auto repair business. In parallel with repairing cars, according to local police officers, Reshetnikov repaired, altered and designed “trunks” for Volgograd bandits. They even gave him the nickname Kalashnikov. But for a long time the police were unable to catch the gunsmith red-handed. Reshetnikov was caught in the mid-1990s for car theft and theft of personal property. For this he was given two years in prison, with the sentence suspended for five years.[6]

In the summer of 1998, local crime boss Gennady Shevtsov visited Reshetnikov’s auto repair shop. He brought the master a homemade Borz machine gun with a detachable barrel and said that “the gun was acting up.” A few days later, Reshetnikov repaired the Borz, but told the customer that the machine was unimportant, when firing in bursts it would start to move upward - it would be more reliable with a butt.[7]

In the summer and autumn of 1998, Reshetnikov and Shevtsov traveled to Moscow frequently on Reshetnikov’s Niva.[8]

On November 13, 2000, he was convicted by the Moscow City Court under Art. 30 part 3, 105 part 2 part 2 paragraph “z” of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to 11 years in prison.[9]

pathological speech

Vision stamps

: “The strategic development plan itself includes: the current and target status of the theological education system; vision of development and social effect”[13].

Openness to the world: “Openness to the world, the ability to perceive simple joys with all my heart as a gift from God, benevolence and tolerance, respect for people of a different tradition and firm rootedness in the tradition of native Orthodoxy - all these qualities characteristic of the majority of participants in the movement were learned by their younger contemporary so as to be in demand in the new era of our church life”[14].

swear words

Ghetto

: “We have recently witnessed a number of public speeches that indicate that some people would really like to drive the Church, including spiritual education, into a ghetto”[15].
slogans
Conquer the hateful strife of this world

: “The spirit of the era, the spirit of unity in Christ, the spirit of like-mindedness and brotherly love, realized in the face of mortal danger, was reflected in the famous creation of the Rev. Andrei Rublev - the icon of the Life-Giving Trinity, so that,
looking at this image, they would overcome the hated “discord of this world”
" [16].
aphorism
Russia was baptized, but not enlightened

: As one wise theologian said: Rus' is baptized, but not enlightened. In our country, a huge mass of people were baptized, and they became members of the Church?[17].

pathological vocabulary

Theologian, Vision, Influence, Ghetto, Openness to the world

essays

Candidate's dissertation: “Pastoration in the Russian Church in the X-XIII centuries” (1987)
Word at the solemn meeting of the teaching staff and students of Moscow Theological schools on September 1, 1996 // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. M., 1996. No. 12. pp. 38-40.
Greetings from the Educational Committee at the Holy Synod and the MDA [anniversary. conf. SPbDAiS. 25-26 Dec. 1996] // Christian reading. M., 1997. No. 14 (KhCh). pp. 18-19.
Problems facing theological schools: [Doc. for the anniversary conf. SPbDAiS. 25-26 Dec. 1996] // Christian reading. M., 1997. No. 14 (KhCh). pp. 42-46.
Report at the Council of Bishops // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. M., 1997. No. 6. pp. 28-32.
Saint Innocent and the Trinity-Sergius Lavra // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. M., 1997. No. 11. pp. 49-55.
Interaction between the Educational Committee and the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis of the Moscow Patriarchate // Christmas Readings, 6th. M., 1998. pp. 64-70.
Education and culture. On the issue of historical experience // Collection of plenary reports of the VII International Christmas educational readings. - M.: Department of Religious Education and Catechesis of the Russian Orthodox Church, 1999. - 288 p. - pp. 87-94.
Evgeniy (Reshetnikov), archbishop.
Current problems of theological education: Dokl. on Bogosl. conf. "Orthodox theology on the threshold of the third millennium." Moscow, February 7-9. 2000] // Church and time. - 2000. - No. 2 (11). — P. 222-236.
Evgeniy (Reshetnikov), archbishop.
New concept of educational activities of the Russian Orthodox Church // Historical Bulletin. - 2000. - No. 7 (11). — P. 65-73.
Evgeniy (Reshetnikov), archbishop.
Religion and Science: The Path to Knowledge // Christmas Readings, 8th. - 2000. - P. 123-129.
Report of Archbishop Eugene of Vereisky, Chairman of the Educational Committee at the Holy Synod // Patriarchy.ru. — 2008.
On the state and prospects of spiritual education: Report at the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow, August 13-16, 2000) // Bulletin of Higher School. 2000. No. 8
Some problems of the history and current state of education in Russia // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. M., 2000. No. 12. pp. 45-50.
Revival of classical education // Collection of plenary reports of the IX International Christmas educational readings. - M.: Department of Religious Education and Catechesis of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2001. - 304 p. — P. 104—110
Church Russian education system: conceptual foundations of relationships // Collection of plenary reports of the X International Christmas educational readings. - M.: Department of Religious Education and Catechesis of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2002. - 352 p. pp. 74-88
Theological education in Russia: History, modernity, prospects (collection). Moscow, 2004.

sources

EUGENE // Orthodox encyclopedia. - M.: Church-scientific, 2008. - T. XVII. — P. 82-83. — 752 p. — 39,000 copies. — ISBN 978-5-89572-030-1.
Evgeniy, Archbishop of Vereisky, vicar of the Moscow diocese (Valery Germanovich Reshetnikov) // Patriarchy.Ru

Footnotes

↑ 1,01,11,2 https://old.mpda.ru/persons/rector/index.html
↑ 2.02.1 Definitions of the Holy Synod 1994.02.26: i. O. Appoint Archimandrite the Chairman of the Educational Committee of the Holy Synod. Evgeniy (Reshetnikov), rector of the Stavropol Theological Seminary, with ordination to the rank of bishop with the title “Vereisky”, vicar of the Moscow diocese // Official Chronicle. Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. 1994. No. 1-3. page 39
Definitions of the Holy Synod 1995.07.17: to appoint Bishop Evgeniy of Vereya as rector of the Moscow Academy of Arts and Sciences, retaining his title. O. Chairman of the Educational Committee // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. M., 1995. No. 6-8. page 15.
↑ 4,04,1 Journals of the meeting of the Holy Synod of July 14, 2018 // Patriarchy.ru. – 2021. – July 14. – Date of access: 15.7.2018.
Elevation of metropolitans and archbishops // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. M., 2000. No. 4. p. 33
Archbishop Eugene of Vereya was elected Primate of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate // Patriarchia.ru. – 2021. – May 29. – Date of access: 29.5.2018.
On the 1st Sunday after Pentecost, the Primate of the Russian Church celebrated the Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and led the consecration of Archimandrite Theoktistus (Igumnov) as Bishop of Gorodishche. Patriarchia.ru (June 3, 2018). Retrieved June 3, 2021.
Definitions of the Holy Synod [1995.02.22: on the creation of a special working group on the basis of the Educational Committee, chaired by Bishop Eugene of Verei, acting. O. Chairman of the Educational Committee, to develop a detailed concept of a new system of theological education] // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. M., 1995. No. 1-4. page 6.
https://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=archive&div=6779
JOURNALS of the meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church dated December 10, 2008 / Official documents / Patriarchy.ru
JOURNALS of the meeting of the Holy Synod of February 1, 2021 / Official documents / Patriarchy.ru
The full composition of the Public Chamber of the Central Federal District has been formed. Archived on December 14, 2013.
Archbishop of Vereisky Evgeniy: It is always more difficult to create than to destroy // Patriarchia.ru. – 2012. – September 5. – Date of access: 31.3.2018.
Evgeny Vereisky, archbishop.
The Russian Orthodox Church in the era of the Primate ministry of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II // Orthodoxy and the world. – 2008. – December 10. – Date of access: 13.5.2018.
Archbishop of Vereisky Evgeniy: “So far we have just begun our path to state accreditation” // Patriarchy.ru. – 2008. – March 5. – Date of access: 20.2.2018.
Report of Archbishop Eugene of Vereisky at the anniversary conference dedicated to the Battle of Kulikovo // Patriarchy.ru. – 2005. – October 6. – Date of access: 7.3.2018.
Archbishop of Vereisky Evgeniy: The position of rector constantly teaches something new // Patriarchia.ru. – 2012. – February 10. – Date of access: 03/16/2018.

Metropolitan Evgeniy (Bolkhovitinov)

And here we see Evgeniy -

Lover of Russian antiquity...

He is the most famous of writers,

History preserves his work.

Bishop of Kaluga and Borovsk Makariy

Metropolitan Evgeniy (in the world Evfimy Alekseevich Bolkhovitinov) was not only a high-ranking hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. He went down in the history of Russian culture as a church historian, a prominent Slavic archaeographer, archaeologist, bibliographer, researcher of Voronezh, Vologda, Novgorod, Pskov, Kiev antiquities, a tireless collector of historical documents on the history of Rus', Ukraine, Georgia - the diversity of his works is amazing. He was an honorary member of more than 20 Russian and foreign universities, scientific societies: Moscow, Kazan, Vilna, Kiev, Kharkov universities, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the St. Petersburg Medical-Surgical Academy, the Moscow Society of Medical and Physical Sciences, the St. Petersburg Society of Lovers of Science, Literature and arts, the St. Petersburg Society for the Conversation of Lovers of the Russian Word, the Society of Russian History and Antiquities, the Moscow Society of Lovers of Russian Literature, a member of the Royal Copenhagen Society of Northern Antiquaries and a number of others. During his long and fruitful life, he published about 100 different works. His scientific activity contributed to the formation of a number of scientific directions, such as bibliography, paleography, onomastics, toponymy, historical local history, etc. Bishop Eugene is a highly educated person, a polyglot who spoke many European languages. He was a contemporary of important events in Russian history: the war with Napoleon, the Decembrist uprising.

Metropolitan Evgeniy was born on December 18 (31), 1767 in the family of a poor parish priest of the Elias Church in the city of Voronezh. In 1776 the father died; the mother was left with three children. Even in early childhood, Euthymius showed a good ear for music, and at the age of nine he was enrolled in the bishop's choir, with which in 1783 he participated in the funeral service for St. Tikhon of Zadonsk. Since the age of 10, Evfimy has been an orphan. After graduating from the Voronezh Theological Seminary in 1785, as the best graduate, he was sent to continue his education in Moscow, to the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, where he graduated from philosophical and theological classes, studied Greek and French. Simultaneously with his studies at the Academy, he attended lectures on general philosophy, politics, experimental physics and French eloquence at Moscow University. The development of Bolkhovitinov’s scientific interests was facilitated by his acquaintance with the famous scientist, archivist and archaeographer N.N. Bantysh-Kamensky, who had a noticeable influence on the scientific interests of the future bishop; he instilled in Euthymius a taste for researching historical sources. Years of study in Moscow contributed to the formation of the former seminarian as a real scientist. In 1788 he published the “New Latin Alphabet” in Moscow, to which he attached a dictionary of Latin and Greek expressions.

After graduating from the Academy in January 1789, he returned to his hometown and was appointed as a teacher at the Voronezh Theological Seminary; at various times he taught courses in rhetoric, French, Greek and Roman antiquities, philosophy, theology, and church history. From September 1790 - prefect of the seminary and head of the seminary library, which he replenished with a huge number of books; from 1794 he began to serve as rector of the seminary. In 1793 he publishes “Discourse on the need for the Greek language for theology and its special benefit for the Russian language” (Moscow, 1793), “Discourse on ancient Christian liturgical singing and especially the singing of the Russian Church” (Voronezh, 1800), “On the difficulties of natural knowledge of God "; in Voronezh, he wrote the first biography of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk: “A Complete Description of the Life of the Right Reverend Tikhon,” as well as “Historical, Geographical and Economic Description of the Voronezh Province” (1800) - a major work based on a mass of archival material. In 1793, Evfimy Bolkhovitinov married the daughter of Lipetsk merchant A.A. Rastorgueva and accepted the priesthood.

In 1799, a terrible tragedy occurred in the Bolkhovitinovs’ house: the priest’s wife and three of his children died almost simultaneously. Having buried his wife and children, Evfimy came to St. Petersburg in 1800 and became a monk with the name Eugene. Simultaneously with his tonsure, he was appointed prefect of the Alexander Nevsky Academy and ordained archimandrite of the Trinity Zelenetsky Monastery of the St. Petersburg diocese, and in 1802 he was elevated to archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage near St. Petersburg. At the Alexander Nevsky Academy, he lectured on philosophy, general church history, and eloquence, supervised student classes, and settled disputes. In St. Petersburg, he compiled the “Design for the Transformation of Theological Schools,” according to which theological academies were to become centers of spiritual districts, endowed with the functions of book publishing and censorship. In 1800, regarding the machinations of the Jesuit Gruber, who proposed to Paul I a project for the reunification of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, Eugene, on behalf of the St. Petersburg Metropolitan, wrote a study “On the illegitimacy and groundlessness of papal power in the Church of Christ,” which destroyed all the plans of the Jesuit: the Jesuit project did not receive the support of the emperor. “There was a lot of grumbling against me then,” noted His Eminence Eugene himself on this occasion, “but, thank God, there was no misfortune.” In 1804-1806. published articles in the magazine “Friend of Enlightenment.” During the St. Petersburg period, Fr. Eugene compiled the “Historical Image of Georgia” (St. Petersburg, 1802) - the result of conversations with the Georgian bishop Varlaam and the study of archival materials. In 1804, the future bishop was consecrated Bishop of Starorussky, Vicar of Novgorod (1804-1809). For 19 years, he sequentially occupied the following departments: Vologda (1808-1813), Kaluga (1813-1816), Pskov (1816 - 1822), Kyiv (1822 - 1837).

In Novgorod, he began researching Novgorod history. Whole carloads of archival materials were delivered to the bishop's house from all over the diocese. As a result of the work of the tireless worker, “Historical Conversations about the Antiquities of Veliky Novgorod” appeared. When he was the Novgorod vicar, the Right Reverend accidentally found there the manuscripts of the “Lives of the Saints,” which he dated to the times of the first Rurikovichs; scraps of columns with economic records of the 16th century, and most importantly - one of the oldest Russian written monuments: “Certificate of Grand Duke Mstislav Vladimirovich and his son Vsevolod Mstislavich to the Yuryev Monastery” (now dated 1130). The outstanding historian, academician Izmail Ivanovich Sreznevsky would later (1867) say at a meeting at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences dedicated to the memory of Evgeniy Bolkhovitinov: “Mstislav’s charter not only at the time when Bolkhovitinov discovered it and worked on it, but also after many discoveries made through Russian antiquities later, worthy of special attention of the archaeologist as the oldest of the Russian letters that has survived in the original.”

In Vologda, Bishop Eugene began writing his main work, “The History of the Russian Hierarchy.” Here he also wrote “A General Introduction to the History of the Monasteries of the Greco-Russian Church”, compiled a detailed description of the monasteries of the Vologda Diocese, articles: “On personal proper names among the Slavic Russians”, “On different types of oaths among the Slavic Russians”.

In 1813, forty-five-year-old Bishop Eugene, Doctor of Theology, was appointed to serve in Kaluga. Upon his arrival in Kaluga, Bishop Eugene, this tireless shepherd, first of all inspected the local seminary, in which 167 students were studying at that time; Soon, at his insistence, a new statute for the seminary was introduced, and teachers were brought in from St. Petersburg. In 1814, through the efforts of Bishop Eugene, a district theological school was opened to prepare the children of clergymen for entering the seminary in Kaluga.

The new shepherd brought in his chests a huge number of books and manuscripts of spiritual and historical content. While still in Vologda, he completed his famous “Dictionary of Russian secular writers and compatriots and foreigners who wrote in Russia,” which he considered as a great patriotic undertaking, aimed at capturing the history of Russian literature. In the first year of his stay at the Kaluga See, the bishop sent this “Dictionary of Writers” of 1,100 pages to the Moscow Society of History and Russian Antiquities at Moscow University for review. The manuscript presented 720 biographies of scientists, writers, composers, and church leaders.1 Although the “Dictionary” was not published at the same time, it was appreciated, and its author, Kaluga Bishop Eugene, was elected an honorary member of the Society of Russian History and Antiquities . During the Kaluga period of his life, he was elected a member of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy (1814) and a member of the Moscow Society of Medical and Physical Sciences (1815), as well as an honorary member of the Kazan Society of Lovers of Russian Literature. In Kaluga he is working on the article “On different types of oaths among the Slavic Russians” (“Bulletin of Europe”, 1813, No. 13). In Kaluga, he continued to write “The History of the Slavic-Russian Church,” which he began in Vologda.

His Grace Eugene was the initiator and co-author of the book published in Moscow in 1807-1815. Penza Bishop Ambrose (Ornatsky) “History of the Russian Hierarchy” (6 volumes in 7 books, the 7th volume has not been published). The uniqueness of this work lies in the fact that this is the first description of all Russian monasteries. This work is traditionally considered the work of Ambrose of Ornatsky, but in fact it is the fruit of the joint work of two eminences: Fr. Evgenia and Fr. Ambrose. It was Bolkhovitinov who took the initiative to create “History”; he collected a lot of material in Voronezh, St. Petersburg, and Novgorod. “History” was written under his leadership, and through his efforts it was published and corrected. In 1807, the first part of the “History of the Russian Hierarchy” was published, in 1810. The second part was published, next year the third part was published, in 1812 the fourth part was published, in 1814 the fifth part was published, in 1815. - sixth and last, in two books. In Kaluga he continued to develop this topic and acquired a new assistant in the person of V.G. Anastasevich, later an outstanding bibliographer. A lively correspondence begins between them. Sending printed volumes of “History” from Kaluga to Anastasevich, he asked him “to notify... about errors that cannot be avoided with such extensive compilations.” Anastasevich immediately began to fulfill the request of the Eminence. As a result, all amendments and comments made by V.G. Anastasevich, included in the “Additions to the History of the Russian Hierarchy”. In Kaluga, Bishop Eugene decided to start a new edition of the History, correct and supplement its first part. To do this, he continued to collect new data and write new articles for History.2 By 1815. Eugene and Ambrose compiled the seventh volume of the History, but this volume remained in manuscript. Thus, Metropolitan Eugene can rightfully be considered the first creator of the historical code of Russian monasteries.

Bishop Evgeny's ministry in Kaluga came at a difficult time. The Kaluga diocese suffered greatly from the Napoleonic invasion. During the battles near Moscow, “Kaluga for several weeks was the main artery from which our army was fed and supplied with everything necessary,” wrote the famous Kaluga local historian D.I. Malinin about that terrible time. “This was the main store where provisions were brought from all over Russia for further distribution to the army. Kaluga became significantly poorer after this, but honorably fulfilled the patriotic assignment that fell to its lot... The Kaluga clergy did not remain alien to serving the homeland at a critical moment. At this time it carried its calling high and took an active part in events. Despite their poverty and meager funds, the clergy (there were about 600 churches) also made their contribution - they donated 10 thousand rubles. and various silver and gold things.”

After the end of the war, the Church and the state carried out a number of measures aimed at restoring destroyed church and monastery buildings. The main source of funds for the restoration of shrines was 3,500 thousand rubles allocated by the Commission of Theological Schools “for the repair of cathedrals, churches, monasteries, school buildings” and for “assistance to clergy and clergy in those provinces where enemy troops passed through. Most of the parish churches were restored at the expense of parishioners - voluntary benefactors. In 1813, the Kaluga diocese was allocated almost 64 thousand rubles, of which more than 15 thousand went to the restoration of monastery, church and cathedral buildings and almost 50 thousand rubles for benefits to the clergy. In a separate line, the Holy Synod allocated 30 thousand rubles for the restoration of the Maloyaroslavets Kazan Cathedral, Borovsky Pafnutiev and Maloyaroslavets Nikolaevsky Chernoostrovsky monasteries. The new ruler was engaged not only in restoring the ruined churches and monasteries of the Kaluga diocese, but also in establishing church administration and caring for the impoverished clergy.

In 1813, a typhus epidemic broke out in Kaluga due to the mass of soldiers sick with it. In 1814, a new disaster befell the Kaluga land - smallpox. Two years earlier, the Right Reverend published the “Pastoral Exhortation on Vaccination of Preventive Cowpox” (M., Synod. typ., 1811), which showed the archpastor’s deep knowledge of medical science. The shepherd begins to actively exhort his flock to get vaccinated. This admonition was sent to all churches for parishioners to read. The bishop himself traveled hundreds of miles, explaining to his flock the need for vaccinations. The abundance of administrative worries distracted him from scientific work, and this is probably why the Kaluga diocese was the only one about whose history he wrote nothing.

In Kaluga, the Right Reverend Eugene delivered a sermon at the St. John the Baptist Church on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the expulsion of Polish invaders from the Moscow state in 1613 and on the occasion of the expulsion of the French from the Kaluga land. Here is an excerpt from this sermon: “Now we celebrate the deliverance of our city in such an ill-fated time, when, by God’s permission, our Fatherland was tormented by the universal enemy, from the enemy of humanity, from the enemy of faith and piety... Many famous Russian cities fell, the temples of the Lord were desecrated, destroyed altars, our elders and our young were desecrated, and finally, all the horrors that befell our Fatherland, the mother of Russian cities experienced in herself collectively... And the villain, not satisfied with the destruction of the Capital, the desecration of its shrine, the shame of unfortunate citizens and the languor of the suffering, turned his greedy gaze to others cities, directed daring steps towards our city, extended predatory hands to our property, thought about the destruction of these walls, and was already triumphant on the way to two of our cities... But words to the Most High! You have resorted to God and the Intercessor of the Christian race, the Mother of our Lord; and suddenly the hope of salvation dawned not only for your city, but also for the whole of Russia. You have worthily and righteously wished to commemorate this Sign of God’s mercy towards us in the memory of posterity! Your promise before this gracious image of the Mother of God to remember annually Her miraculous intercession for us is worthy and righteous...”3

During the Kaluga period of the Bishop's stay, for many years of fruitful work in educating the laity, he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, second degree (August 1814).

February 7, 1816 Bishop Evgeny Bolkhovitinov was elevated to the rank of archbishop and appointed to Pskov. In Pskov, he began writing “The History of the Principality of Pskov” (1831), wrote “On Russian Church Music,” and compiled “Description of Six Pskov Monasteries.” At the same time, he published his “Historical Dictionary of the writers of the clergy of the Greek-Russian Church who were in Russia” (1818), which was met with interest by society and was subsequently reprinted several times. It has not lost its significance even today.

Since 1822, Metropolitan Eugene at the Kyiv See and a member of the Holy Synod. And in Kyiv he does not stop scientific work. Here he wrote articles: “On antiquities found in Kiev in 1821”, “Description of the Kiev-Sophia Cathedral” (Kiev, 1825), “Description of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra” (1826), as well as “Kiev month book with the addition of various articles related to Russian history and the Kyiv hierarchy" (Kyiv, 1832). In Kyiv, he led church archaeological excavations, as a result of which the foundations of the Tithe Church, the Golden Gate and other remains of pre-Mongol architecture were discovered.

In 1824, after 15 years of service in Kyiv, Metropolitan Eugene was summoned to St. Petersburg, where for more than a year he was engaged in the affairs of church administration at the Holy Synod. On December 14, 1824, he, together with Metropolitan Seraphim (Glagolevsky) of St. Petersburg, fearlessly went out to Senate Square and called on the rebels to lay down their arms. Eugene was against the Bible Society created in 1813 in Russia, which was closed in 1826. He was also an active assistant to Metropolitan Seraphim in the fight against Masonic lodges and mysticism, which had a great influence on the then St. Petersburg aristocracy.

Bolkhovitinov was familiar with many outstanding people of Russian culture and corresponded with them, for example, with the poet G.R. Derzhavin and Count N.P. Rumyantsev, a Russian bibliographer and philanthropist of the first third of the 19th century, whom he supplied with manuscripts and rare books on Russian history.

At the beginning of 1827, Eugene returned to Kyiv, where, after 10 years of fruitful and pastoral activity, he ended his life on February 23 (March 8), 1837. According to his will, his body was buried in the Sretensky chapel of the Kyiv St. Sophia Cathedral.

Metropolitan Eugene was distinguished by his exceptional diligence. “One cannot help but be surprised at,” said the Right Reverend Philaret of Kiev, “what a multitude of ancient manuscripts, acts and books he went through and what diligence and learning he possessed.” According to historian M.P. Pogodin, “he was a man who could not spend a single day without being marked by his work for the benefit of history.” The founding of St. Vladimir University in Kyiv and the Rumyantsev Museum in St. Petersburg is associated with his name. By the end of his life, he had collected 12 thousand titles of manuscripts and rare publications, about 8.5 thousand different volumes of literature. The creation of the collections of the Russian State Library in Moscow is also associated with the name of the Metropolitan. Contemporaries rightly called Bolkhovitinov “a living archive, a living library” and even “Lomonosov of the early 19th century.”

The Dictionary was published only in 1838, after the death of Metropolitan Eugene. In 1845, historian M.P. Pogodin published it again.
The first part of the “History of the Russian Hierarchy” in a revised form was published in the printing house of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra in 1827. Bishop Eugene himself continued to work on “History” until the end of his life.
“A word on the day of solemn remembrance and thanksgiving to the Lord God about the defeat of the enemies of the Fatherland and about driving them out of the Kaluga province, preached in the Kaluga Church of St. John the Baptist in October 1813 by Bishop Evgeniy of Kaluga and Borovsk.” It was then printed in Moscow, in the Synodal Printing House, and reprinted in 1814 in the St. Petersburg magazine “Son of the Fatherland” and in the “Collection of Exemplary Russian Works of 1823.” It was also included in the “Collection of Instructive Words of Metropolitan Eugene”, Kyiv, 1834, part 4.