| Minsk Theological Seminary |
Minsk Theological Seminary named after Saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom
, a higher educational institution of the Minsk Diocese of the Belarusian Orthodox Church
- Address: Belarus, 231822, Grodno region, Slonim district, Zhirovichi town, st. Sobornaya 55
- Tel./fax +(375) 1562-965-86 (reception), 96-8-22 (office)
- Website:
Since 1793, the Minsk Theological Seminary was called the Slutsk Seminary. In 1840, the seminary was moved to Minsk, where it existed until its closure in 1918. In 1947, the Minsk Seminary was recreated in the Zhirovitsky Monastery, where it existed until 1963 and was reopened in 1989.
Slutsk Theological Seminary (1785 - 1840)
On September 15, 1785, an Orthodox seminary was opened in the Slutsk Monastery. The seminary was taught by mentors from the Kyiv Theological Academy. Initially, there were only two “grammatical” classes: lower and higher, where 25 students studied - children of the clergy.
During the Polish uprising of 1789-1792, the seminary ceased to exist. By July 1790, when this happened, there were about 100 students. Upon release from arrest in July 1792, its rector, Rev. Victor (Sadkovsky), even before leaving Warsaw, ordered his consistory to restore the seminary and gather its students. On January 8, 1793, it was reopened under the same name: “The Pious Slutsk, Most Reverend Victor, Seminary.” There were 31 students in the restored five classes.
On April 13, 1793, according to the second partition of Poland, the seminary began to be called Minsk
, in accordance with the new name of the vast diocese of Rev. Victor. However, the seminary itself was not transferred to Minsk (which happened much later - in 1840) and continued to be located in the Slutsk Monastery.
In the period 1796-1812, under Archbishop Job (Potemkin) of Minsk, the Minsk Seminary was, in accordance with the trends of the times, transformed “in accordance with other Great Russian seminaries.” His successor at the department, Archbishop. Seraphim (Glagolevsky) continued the further establishment of the Minsk theological school “with the goal of elevating it to the highest level of perfection.”
The seminary was significantly damaged during the Patriotic War of 1812 - although the wooden buildings miraculously survived, many books were burned and stolen. After the expulsion of the French, the school resumed its activities (February 20, 1813), but the students gathered extremely slowly. By September there were only a little more than 80. Archbishop. Seraphim ordered priests to send their children to the seminary from the age of 7-8.
In 1817, under bishop. Anatolia (Maksimovich), the Minsk seminary, which hitherto consisted of eight classes, was divided into the following three educational institutions: the parish school (combined two primary classes), the district school (lower and higher “grammatical” classes) and the seminary itself (with three departments - lower, middle and higher). All of them had both common management and common means of maintenance.
How to get there[edit]
Address:
st. Zybitskaya, 27, Minsk, Belarus, 220030. Nemiga metro station
Contact phone numbers:
Office: (17) 226-02-71
Educational and methodological department: (17) 226-02-69
All questions regarding the activities of the Minsk Theological Academy should be sent to these email addresses:
[email protected] (Email address of the office)
[email protected] (Email address of the Academic Council)
[email protected] (E-mail address of the correspondence department)
Theological Seminary in Minsk (1840 - 1918)
On September 1, 1840, under Archbishop Anthony (Zubko), the seminary was transferred to Minsk.
It is interesting that in addition to traditional subjects - such as theology, philosophy, history, logic, languages, etc., new ones were taught - medicine, natural science, agriculture. On the land plot owned by the seminary, new varieties of grain were tested, samples of meadow grasses were grown, and pharmaceutical, garden and other plants were cultivated. The mentors of the Minsk Seminary have written many scientific works in this area.
Much has been done here in studying the history of the long-suffering Minsk diocese. In 1848, the seminary published the “Collection of Ancient Charters and Acts of Cities, Monasteries and Churches of the Minsk Province” (the rector, Archimandrite Gelasius, took part in the preparation of the publication). In 1864, a document compiled by the rector, Archimandrite, was published. Nikolai “Historical and statistical description of the Minsk diocese.”
Students of the seminary studied at St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kyiv theological academies, at Warsaw and Tomsk universities and other educational institutions.
In 1918, on the basis of the decree “On the separation of the Church from the state and the school from the Church,” the Minsk Theological Seminary was closed.
To the applicant[edit]
The Minsk Theological Academy is open to males of the Orthodox faith who have a higher theological education, who are single or married in their first marriage.
Applicants to the Academy are interviewed and take entrance exams in the following disciplines:
- Holy Scripture of the Old and New Testaments;
- Dogmatic Theology;
- Church history (General church history, history of the Russian Orthodox Church, history of the Belarusian Orthodox Church);
- Russian (Belarusian) language: impromptu essay.
Those wishing to enroll in the Academy must submit the following documents to the Academy office from July 1 to July 31:
- Application for admission to entrance exams (written when submitting documents to the Academy office);
- A written blessing from the diocesan bishop or a recommendation from the Seminary Council, certified by the diocesan bishop;
- Autobiography;
- Completed questionnaire (form of the questionnaire, sample of filling out the questionnaire);
- Two photographs (3x4 cm);
- Documents on higher theological education and appendices to them (originals);
- Documents on secular education and appendices to them (originals);
- Birth certificate (original);
- Medical certificate in the form established by the Ministry of Health;
- Certificate of family composition (indicating the number of family members and their relationship);
- Work record book (original or certified copy);
- Military ID or registration certificate (with a mark on military registration);
- Passport (with a mark of registration at the place of residence).
Persons who do not have holy orders:
- Baptismal certificate (original);
- A copy of the wedding certificate (for married people);
- A copy of the marriage certificate (for married people);
For clergy:
- Certificate from the place of service, certified by the dean;
- Copies of letters of ordination to the priesthood.
All accepted students are provided with food and accommodation, and are given a scholarship. Training is free.
Entrance exams take place in August.
The document acceptance committee works:
Monday–Friday: from 9.00 to 17.00; pre-holiday days: from 9.00 to 13.00;
Weekends – Saturday, Sunday and holidays.
Theological Seminary in the Zhirovitsky Monastery (1839 - 1845, 1947 - 1963, since 1989)
The Uniate Zhirovitsky Theological Seminary was opened through the efforts of the Uniate bishop. Joseph (Semashko) at the Holy Dormition Zhirovitsky Monastery in 1828. The priest (later Archbishop) Anthony (Zubko), already mentioned by us in connection with the history of the Slutsk Seminary, became its rector. As Father Anthony himself recalled, the Uniate seminary at that time was “an oasis in the so-called Lithuanian provinces. We developed and matured an independent view of life, of Rus' and Poland, of Orthodoxy, of Roman Catholicism and of our union.”
The Zhirovitsky seminary was established and teaching there was conducted on the model of the St. Petersburg seminary. The best students were sent to complete their education at the St. Petersburg and Moscow Theological Academies.
In 1839, in connection with the reunification of the Uniates, the seminary became Orthodox.
In 1845, when the Vilna province was formed, the seminary and diocesan administration were transferred to Vilna (see Vilna Theological Seminary). Instead of a seminary in Zhirovichi, a theological school was formed, which was closed after the 1917 revolution.
In 1945, after the liberation of Belarus, Archbishop. Minsky Vasily (Ratmirov) received the consent of the Soviet authorities to open pastoral and theological courses in the diocese. The Zhirovitsky monastery was chosen as their place of existence, and its leadership was entrusted to Abbot Leonty (Bondar).
In 1947 the courses were transformed into a seminary. A new three-story building was built on the territory of the monastery for the seminary.
In 1959, with the beginning of the “Khrushchev” persecution of the Church, the admission of applicants to theological schools was limited. In 1960, the Minsk Seminary was unable to conduct entrance exams because the authorities did not allow applicants to enter the Zhirovitsky Monastery, denying them temporary passes. In 1963, the last graduation took place (5 students) and the Minsk Seminary “died away without official closure”
Renewed on September 1, 1989.
Since the 1990/1991 academic year, a correspondence education department has been opened for priests who do not have a systematic theological education.
In the spring of 1991, the seminary was transferred to a five-year term of study and was granted the status of a higher educational institution.
The charter of the Minsk Theological Seminary as a higher educational institution of the Belarusian Orthodox Church was registered on June 24, 1993 by the Council for Religious Affairs under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus, re-registered on October 11, 2004 by the Committee on Religious Affairs and Nationalities under the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus.
In 1994, the first graduate of the revived seminary took place.
In 1995, the Minsk Theological Seminary joined the World Orthodox Youth Organization SINDESMOS, of which it is still a member.
On the basis of the previously operating Regency Class, the Regency School was opened in 1996, in which well-known specialists in the field of music and graduates of the Ministry of Music are involved.
Graduates of the Minsk Theological Seminary can continue their studies at the Theological Academy, which is currently located at the same address as the seminary, and in the future will be moved to Minsk.
At the Minsk Theological Seminary there are the following forms of training (the duration of training is indicated in brackets):
- Full-time education (5 years).
- Department of correspondence education (6 years).
- Regency Department (4 years).
- Preparatory department (1 year).
Statistics
- con. 2011 - the teaching corporation of the Minsk Theological Academy and Seminary numbers 64 people, of which 37 have an academic degree (of which 6 are professors, 8 are associate professors); 328 students are studying at the theological and pastoral department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [1].
Temple[edit]
Patronal Feast: Cyril of Turov, Saint
— May 11
The history of the academic church begins on June 20, 2015, when His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' consecrated the complex of buildings of the Spiritual and Educational Center of the Belarusian Orthodox Church and the house church of the Minsk Theological Academy in honor of St. Kirill of Turov.
At the present stage, the rector of the temple is the first vice-rector of the Minsk Theological Academy, Archpriest Vladimir Dolgopolov.
Divine services in the academy’s house church have been held daily since November 2021. Periodically, the Divine Liturgy is celebrated in the church in the Belarusian language. Both students of the academy and students of the Minsk Theological School sing during the service.
There is a parish art lecture hall at the academic church. Every Sunday after the Liturgy, Maria Valentinovna Netsvetaeva, chairman of the Synodal Department for Church Art, Architecture and Restoration of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, gives public lectures on the history of Christian art.
Minsk Theological Academy
Rectors
Slutsk Theological Seminary
- Victor (Sadkovsky) (September 15, 1785 - 1796)
- …
Minsk Theological Seminary
- Lazar [2]
- Ioannikiy (Obraztsov) (August 16, 1821 - 1825)
- Arkady (Fedorov) (June 1824 - no later than 1827)
- Platon (Rudinsky) (1826 - 1830)
- Evgeny (Dobrotvorsky) (1829 - 1836)
- Gelasius (Princely) (1836 - 1853)
- Nikolai (Truskovsky) (1853 - December 10, 1863)
- Samuil (Zubarevsky) (September 16, 1864 - ?), i/d
- Gury (Apalko) (September 3, 2012 - July 17, 2020) acting
- Slesarev Alexander Valerievich (July 17 - September 2020) acting
- Vasilevich Viktor Andreevich (since September 2020) acting [7]
