On January 5, the Church honors the memory of St. Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia . Saint Philip is one of the most significant and tragic figures in Russian history. For the sake of saving people, he was not afraid to go against Tsar Ivan the Terrible. For the sake of establishing the truth, he spoke out against universal lies, against the serving royal shepherds, boyars and other unkind royal entourage. Metropolitan Philip was defrocked, sent to prison and brutally killed. But in his struggle for truth, he emerged victorious.
Origin of the future saint
Philip of Moscow and All Russia came from a noble and ancient boyar family of the Kolychevs, known already in the 13th century. Philip's father, boyar Stefan Ioannovich, was a dignitary at the court of Grand Duke Vasily Ioannovich (1505-1533) and enjoyed his favor and love. However, despite his rank, he was distinguished by rare spiritual qualities: righteousness, courage and mercy. And his wife Varvara, who later took monastic orders with the name Barsanuphia, was a pious woman. On February 11, 1507, their first child was born, whom they named Theodore, this was the future Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia Philip. Theodore's parents made every effort to give their son the best education.
Pious Varvara placed the seeds of goodness and piety into the child’s pure soul. When Theodore grew up, he was immediately sent to learn to read and write. Book teaching in schools of that time was predominantly church. Theodore took up his studies diligently and soon fell in love with it. Theodore was not attracted by any noisy children's games or the fun of his comrades. Indifferent to worldly entertainment, the God-fearing youth had his own attachments. From the very first steps of his teaching, he fell in love with reading the liturgical books of the Holy Scriptures, the works of the Holy Fathers, and especially the biographies of “former and venerable men who lived before,” from where he learned lessons about righteous living. However, while living in his parents’ house, Theodore did not shy away from worldly activities: he delved into everyday economic affairs and soon acquired very great experience in house-building. This can be seen from the fact that he subsequently proved himself to be an exemplary owner on Solovki.
Theodore, as the son of a noble boyar, was destined for high official activity. He needed to serve in military and court positions. But such activities were not to Theodore’s liking; his heart and mind strove for the thought of God, and all his efforts were aimed at fulfilling the commandments of the Lord.
Chaste, modest and courteous to everyone, Theodore could not therefore get along with his peers. He ran like wildfire from flighty and noble young men with their daring and cheerful pastime, preferring to them older and experienced people, from conversations with whom he tried to gain spiritual benefit. Such sedateness beyond his years, extreme prudence in actions and other good qualities of Theodore aroused everyone's surprise and delighted his pious parents.
Escape from home
The future Saint Philip fled from Moscow in his youth.
Himself from the noble Kolychev family, he did not want to participate in boyar squabbles under the teenage Tsar, the future Ivan the Terrible. And he had no inclination towards court life, he loved to sit with a book, not only divine, but also from the science of fortification, and engineering, and history, and agriculture. All this would come in handy later, on Solovki, where he would build the most modern irrigation system for its time, and melons would be grown in greenhouses.
Fyodor Kolychev fled from a rich house without money and secretly, and along the way he hired himself to graze a peasant flock, receiving his bread. He wanted to become a monk. Having reached Solovki, Fyodor Kolychev took monastic vows with the name Philip.
Fyodor Kolychev leaves his parents' home; stamp of a hagiographic icon
Close to the king
When Theodore was twenty-six years old, rumors about the good behavior of a young man belonging to one of the noble families reached the royal court. The name of Theodore Kolychev became known to the Grand Duke Vasily himself (March 25, 1479 - December 3, 1533). But soon the prince died. And only after the accession of his son, John IV (August 25, 1530 - March 18, 1584), Theodore was called to serve at the royal court along with other boyar children.
John IV Vasilievich
Because of his excellent qualities, he was soon brought closer to the sovereign, who soon fell in love with Theodore. And this attachment constantly intensified. What a brilliant career awaited this young courtier later! But Theodore could not be seduced by his successes in court life. Having learned humility, obedience and chastity from early childhood, Theodore was not far from deciding to devote himself entirely to serving God. That is why he did not enter into married life at the age at which, according to the custom of the time, others entered into. And soon the hour came when God himself called him to a better life. The reign of Elena Glinskaya (c. 1508 - April 4, 1538), mother of John IV, was full of unrest and discord among the boyars. The autocracy of her favorite, temporary prince Telepnev-Obolensky (d. 1539), aroused the indignation of the sovereign's uncle, Prince Andrei Ivanovich Staritsky (August 5, 1490 - December 11, 1537).
Some of the Kolychev boyars spoke out in his support along with others. Not only was Prince Andrei’s case unsuccessful, but he was also imprisoned, where he died. His followers were also brutally executed. These unfortunate events could not help but have an effect on Theodore's impressionable soul. He began to regret that he had not earlier secluded himself from worldly life. He immediately decided to retire from the bustle of the world. Even in early childhood he heard about Solovetsky Island. It was there that Theodore decided to go. And he was already thirty years old.
The beginning of the monastic path. Solovetsky Monastery
Since then, Theodore has continually turned to God in prayer, asking for help and spiritual guidance. Having exchanged the attire of a courtier for the clothes of a commoner, Theodore secretly leaves Moscow, taking with him only bread. Meanwhile, his parents, not knowing where their beloved son had disappeared, searched for him throughout Moscow and surrounding towns and villages. And after a vain search they gave themselves up to inconsolable sadness, considering him dead. But Theodore was already far away then. He sailed across the sea to the holy monastery of Solovetsky.
Solovetsky Monastery. Photo by S.M. Prokudin-Gorsky
Once in place, he received a blessing from Abbot Alexy and accepted the obediences entrusted to him. Soon Theodore was tonsured and named Philip as a monk.
Philip's harsh ascetic life could not hide from general attention; everyone began to talk about him as an exemplary monk, and very soon with his humility and piety he acquired universal love and respect. And his mentor, Elder Jonah, rejoicing for his student, prophetically predicted about him: “This one will be the abbot of our monastery.” With the blessing of the abbot, Philip withdrew from the monastery into the depths of the island, into a deserted and impenetrable forest, and began to live there, invisible to people.
Nine years of Philip's monastic life passed. Alexy, due to his old age and illnesses, wanted to transfer the position of abbot to Philip, his decision was supported by the brethren. Soon Philip was ordained a presbyter. A year and a half later, the abbot of the monastery, Abbot Alexy, passed away. Having buried the elder, the brethren of the monastery, by general advice, as before, began to beg Philip to accept eldership over them. And he, recognizing himself as the legitimate abbot of the monastery, with the blessing of Archbishop Theodosius again accepted the abbess. The newly appointed abbot tried with all his might to raise the spiritual significance of the monastery. He found the image of the Mother of God Hodegetria, brought to the island by the Monk Savatius, and found a stone cross that once stood in front of the saint’s cell. The Psalter that belonged to the Monk Zosima and his vestments were found, in which abbots have since been clothed during services on the days of memory of the wonderworker.
The monastery began to revive spiritually. To streamline life in the monastery, a new charter was adopted. Hegumen Philip built two churches on Solovki: the refectory church of the Assumption of the Mother of God, consecrated in 1557, and the church of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The abbot himself helped lay the walls of the Transfiguration Church. Under its northern porch, he dug a grave for himself, next to the grave of his mentor, Elder Jonah. John and Longinus, the Yarenga wonderworkers, Vassian and Jonah of Pertomina were Philip’s disciples and worked with him among the brethren . For secret prayerful deeds, Philip often retired to a deserted place, two miles from the monastery, which later received the name Philip’s Hermitage.
During the period of his abbess, he drew up the “Charter on Monastic Dress” (“as long as any of the brethren should have clothes and shoes in their cells”). Philip's literary and oratorical talent is evidenced by the accusatory speeches against Ivan the Terrible given in his life. According to researchers, they are based on the authentic speeches of Philip, in which, to give them vivid images, he used quotes from the popular “Teachings of Agapit” in Rus' (a Byzantine monument, known in Russian translation from the 14th century).
Call to monasticism
Once in church, on Sunday, the words of the Savior had a strong effect on him: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be zealous for the one and despise the other” (Matthew 4:24). ). Having heard in them his calling to monasticism, he secretly from everyone, in the clothes of a commoner, left Moscow and went to the Solovetsky monastery. Here, for nine years, he resignedly bore the hard labors of a novice, working like a simple peasant, either in the garden, or in the forge and bakery. Finally, according to the common desire of the brethren, he was appointed presbyter and abbot. In this rank, he zealously cared for the welfare of the monastery in material, and more so in moral terms. He connected the lakes with canals and drained swampy places for haymaking, built roads in places that were previously impassable, started a cattle yard, improved salt pans, erected two majestic cathedrals - the Assumption and Transfiguration and other churches, built a hospital, established monasteries and deserts for those who wished silence, and himself from time to time he retired to one secluded place, known in pre-revolutionary times as the Philippi Hermitage. He wrote a new charter for the brethren, in which he outlined a way of hardworking life that prohibited idleness.
Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus'
In Moscow, Tsar John Vasilyevich, who loved him in his adolescence, remembered the Solovetsky Hermit. He hoped that he would find in Philip a faithful companion, confessor and adviser. The choice of the High Hierarch of the Russian Church seemed to him the best. Philip for a long time refused to take upon himself the great burden of the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, but nevertheless the tsar managed to persuade the Solovetsky abbot to assume the rank of metropolitan. On July 25, 1566, in the Assumption Cathedral, in the presence of the Tsar and the royal family, the entire court and people, Philip was solemnly ordained as Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus'.
Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin
However, Metropolitan Philip did not feel any spiritual closeness with John IV. Philip tried to convince the tsar to stop the repressions and abolish the oprichnina. The tsar, on the contrary, tried to prove to him its state necessity. Finally, Ivan the Terrible and the Metropolitan came to an agreement so that Metropolitan Philip would not interfere in the affairs of the oprichnina and government, not leave the metropolis in cases where the tsar could not fulfill his wishes, and be a support and adviser to the tsar, as the former metropolitans were the support of the Moscow sovereigns .
But a wave of brutal executions that occurred in 1567-1568 led to Philip’s decision to confront Ivan the Terrible. In July 1567, letters from the Polish king Sigismund and the Lithuanian hetman Khotkevich to our most important boyars with an invitation to leave for Lithuania were intercepted. The most terrible executions began. Not only the boyars accused of treason died in terrible agony, but even many citizens suffered. Taking advantage of the unlimited trust of the tsar, armed guardsmen went on a rampage in Moscow under the guise of eradicating sedition. They killed all the people they hated and took away their property.
Ivan the Terrible and Metropolitan Philip. Artist O. Kuzmin
Metropolitan Philip, seeing the incessant atrocities of the guardsmen, finally decided to appeal to the tsar with an exhortation to stop the bloodshed. But before doing this, he tried to attract the shepherds of the Church to this high task, who silently submitted to all the orders of the formidable king. Calling them to self-sacrifice, he told them:
Is this why you, fathers and brothers, have gathered to remain silent, afraid to speak the truth? But your silence leads the princess’s soul into sin and brings the worst destruction to your own soul, and causes grief and confusion to the Orthodox faith. Are you afraid of losing the glory of corruption, but no dignity of this world will save you from eternal torment if we transgress the commandment of Christ and forget our duty to care for the piety of the blessed king, for the peace and prosperity of all Orthodox Christianity. Are you looking at the fact that the royal council is silent? But the boyars are bound by the cares of this life, but the Lord freed us from them. We have been given the right to rule the great truth, even if we lay down our souls for the entrusted flock. You yourself know that you will be tortured for the truth on the day of judgment.
Metropolitan Philip denounces Ivan the Terrible.
Y. P. Turlygin Only Kazan Archbishop German responded to the Metropolitan’s ardent call; he sided with Philip, supporting and sympathizing with him.
Other shepherds were not only frightened, but even tried to interfere and harm the Primate of the Church. It is no coincidence, apparently, that 80 years later the majority of the boyars and archpastors also shut their mouths during the insane church reform of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Patriarch Nikon. And in our years we see how many called to state and spiritual power look indifferently at the lawlessness and suffering of the people.
Socialist writer Alexander Ivanovich Herzen died
Discussion: 17 comments
- Oleg:
01/23/2008 at 00:00Why reprint a false life without thinking about it? Tsar John the Holy Great Martyr, and you are spreading all sorts of Masonic slander against him. Get out of harm's way.
- Gennady:
01/23/2008 at 00:00
There may have been many excesses during the oprichnina, but in this article St. Sovereign John was portrayed just like the devil and an ossified pagan. Many even say that Metropolitan Philip suffered a martyr’s death at the hands of the Tsar. But we honor the saint, and not the hieromartyr! the oprichnina and the Terrible Tsar were well explained by the ever-memorable Metropolitan John (Snychev) in “Autocracy of the Spirit.”
- M.V. Nazarov:
01/23/2008 at 00:00
Well, Fomenkovism begins again in Orthodox packaging. Dear sirs Oleg and Gennady. What is the falsity of this life from an officially recognized canonical church source? Why has the Church been wrong for so many centuries, and you know better? Stop blaspheming the Church.
- priest Pavel Burov:
01/23/2008 at 00:00
And what about blasphemy against the Tsar? Metropolitan John convincingly showed where the dirt is coming from. And now there is enough literature that gives a different perspective. This must be taken into account so as not to offend those who venerate St. King!
- M.V. Nazarov:
01/23/2008 at 00:00
Dear Father Pavel! The above biography of St. Philip is available in all Lives, publications of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. I believe that the compilers of the life - St. Demetrius of Rostov and before him did not intend to blaspheme Ivan the Terrible by this. He should be protected from many slander, but what happened was what happened. Are the false words of St. Philippa? Didn’t the Tsar exile him for this accusation? Thus the King was tempted by demons for his restraining service. He is not without sin. Otherwise, we fall into Orthodox Fomenkovism. Please, oh. Paul opens a link at the beginning of the article to Ivan the Terrible - it seems to me that this is a balanced assessment of him, consistent with church tradition.
- priest Pavel Burov:
01/23/2008 at 00:00
And yet, Mikhail Viktorovich, I think that appropriate reservations are necessary. Of course, the Tsar was not without sin, but much of what was written today is quite reasonably questioned, because. and in those distant times mistakes happened. How, for example, is it known that Malyuta strangled the saint? Even now we can see how easily and firmly the most absurd slander can take root in the mind...
- Irina:
01/24/2008 at 00:00
Works of Metropolitan John and his understanding of the personality of Ivan the Terrible and the history of his reign deserve attention, although it might and are not controversial. In any case, the question requires research. For example, in the “Complete Monthly Book of the East” there is an indication that in the handwritten calendar of 1621 from the collection. Undolsky under June 10 says: “the acquisition of the body of Tsar Ivan” (ed. 1901, p. 357). E. Golubinsky (ed. 1903, p. 358) explains: “Under Tsar Ivan, of course, is Grozny... in any case, it is not entirely expected that Grozny is included in the catalog of saints.” Despite the fact that St. Philip was locally revered already from the end of the 16th century. How could the saint and his alleged killer be venerated at the same time?
- M.V. Nazarov:
01/24/2008 at 00:00
The fact that the saint was strangled by Malyuta is mentioned in the indicated canonical lives. If this is a mistake that our holy ancestors believed in from that very time and repeated from generation to generation, then distrust of them (and therefore of the church text of life) and its refutation should actually be justified by specialists (and not zealous amateurs) and officially approved, simple doubt or denial is not enough for this. I did not deal specifically with this issue, because... I trust the established church text compiled by our ancestors. This applies to an even greater extent to the modern apologetics of Sovereign Ivan the Terrible, in which, from my point of view, many zealots, with good intentions to clear his name from slander, go too far, denying the obvious in the spirit of Fomenkovism.
- Gennady:
02/02/2008 at 00:00
Mikhail Viktorovich, no one blasphemes the Church. I also did not specifically study this issue (Ivan the Terrible), and therefore am not an expert in this matter. But Irina is right: “How could the saint and his alleged killer be venerated at the same time?” And what I wrote at first: St. Philip is revered precisely as a Saint, and not as a Hieromartyr, such as Patriarch Hermogenes. This is also not a mistake of our holy ancestors?
- M.V. Nazarov to Gennady:
02/02/2008 at 00:00
“How could the saint and his alleged killer be venerated at the same time?” - Is his murderer revered? "St. Philip is venerated precisely as a Saint, and not a Hieromartyr” - this is not so. He is often called a holy martyr (you can easily find it on the Internet), although the inaccuracy here, apparently, is that martyrs are called martyrs of those of other faiths, which is not seen in this case. I don’t understand why dispute the canonical Life of St. Philip, where is it said about his denunciations of the Terrible and his strangulation by Malyuta? Why dispute what the Church has considered to be the truth for centuries and has not revised it?
- Hope:
02/02/2008 at 00:00
Hieromartyr and confessor Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow: https://www.sedmitza.ru/index.html?sid=320&did=7942&p_comment=national ; https://www.solovki-science.ru/hystory.htm
- Gennady:
02/05/2008 at 00:00
“How could the saint and his alleged killer be venerated at the same time?” “Is his murderer revered?” - here I meant that many consider Ivan the Terrible to be the direct killer of the Saint. It is possible that Malyuta killed him without the knowledge of the Tsar. I do not want and am not trying to dispute the canonical lives and holiness of the ascetics of the Church. here the question was that a lot of lies and dirt are being poured out on Grozny to this day, while even many believers do not know about the acquisition of his body back in the 17th century.
- Gennady (continued):
02/05/2008 at 00:00
Of course, one cannot hush up the many wrong actions of the Tsar (many of which were possibly without his knowledge; it is true that he was tempted by demons), but within the framework of the confrontation between the world forces of good and evil, the position of the ever-memorable Metropolitan John (Snychev) seems to me to be the most correct. and in general, the Lord will not forget any of His people in His Kingdom. Save me, God! / I still couldn’t understand why the message was not sent - the size was too large
- timetohelp:
04/20/2008 at 00:00
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- * * *:
04/21/2008 at 00:00
It is quite possible that Malyuta Skuratov overdid it - Tsar John did not at all instruct him to kill the saint. But his exile is also not a laudable thing.
- Alexey Gennadievich:
01/23/2009 at 00:00
“The obscene slanderous “Solovetsky life” was composed by “elder Semyon” (bailiff Kobylin. Yes, yes! This is exactly the same bodyguard of St. Philip, exiled to Solovetsky, due to an oversight, or with whose direct participation, unknown people managed to kill the Saint) in collaboration with The Solovetsky monks, who in 1568 acted as the main false witnesses at the trial against the Saint. Good company, isn't it?! The fact that these Judas-Monnets completely lied clearly follows from the fact that Saint Philip was killed 3 days before the arrival of his faithful Royal Servant - monk Gregory (Malyuta-Skuratov), - who arrived in Tver only on the THIRD DAY, on burial of the Saint. And therefore, well, under no circumstances could he personally kill the Saint. It is very noteworthy that this “life” is NOT included in the chetiy-menaion of St. Demetrius of Rostov! At the beginning of the 20th century, when translating into Russian, Masonic professors (under the pretext of “correcting” “errors”) distorted the work of St. Dimitri. These eternal “friends” of Orthodoxy “transported” many of the lives of the Saints into their own (Masonic way), including including the obscene “Solovetsky life.”
- MVN:
01/22/2012 at 00:00
Let's respect Russian historical science and church tradition, and not repeat “pious” rehashes of the same “zealous” inventions. There is a topic on our forum about Tsar Ivan the Terrible. There, various arguments and facts are presented in the discussion. It is advisable to familiarize yourself with them so as not to repeat what does not correspond to the truth (for example, the calendar of the Koryazhemsky Monastery, and the Complete Monthly Book of the East, and Prof. Golubinsky do not give any reason to consider the Tsar the Terrible a “saint”). See the discussion: https://rusidea.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=1577 And there, in particular, about the opinion of prof. Golubinsky, who did not consider Grozny a “saint”: https://rusidea.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=38685#p38685
Exposing the Tsar's lies
In the fall of 1567, the tsar set out on a campaign against Livonia, and it was then that he became aware of the boyar conspiracy. The traitors intended to capture the king and hand him over to the Polish king, who had already moved troops to the Russian border. Ivan the Terrible dealt harshly with the conspirators, and again a lot of blood was shed. On the Week of the Worship of the Cross, March 2, 1568, when the Tsar and the guardsmen came to the Assumption Cathedral, as usual, in monastic vestments, Metropolitan Philip refused to bless him and began to openly condemn the lawlessness that the guardsmen committed: “Metropolitan Philip taught with the sovereign in Moscow to be at enmity about oprichnina." The Bishop’s denunciation interrupted the splendor of the church service. Tsar Ivan the Terrible said in anger: “Are you resisting us? Let's see your strength! “I was too soft on you.”
Metropolitan Philip refuses to bless Ivan the Terrible. V. V. Pukirev
Ordination to the priesthood of priesthood
Ivan the Terrible knew Philip from childhood and called him to Moscow, offering to become a metropolitan. When first introduced to the Tsar, Philip only asked to be released back to Solovki. With tears, he begged John: “Do not separate me from my desert; do not entrust a small boat with a great burden.”
John was adamant and instructed the bishops and boyars to convince Philip to accept the metropolis. Philip agreed, but demanded the abolition of the oprichnina. No one dared to tell the king the truth; one Philip said: “I obey your will, but leave the Oprichnina, otherwise it is impossible for me to be a metropolitan. Your work is not pleasing to God; The Lord himself said: if the kingdom is divided, it will be desolate! You do not and will not receive our blessing for such a thing... Set an example for us with good deeds, but sin drags you into fiery hell. Our common ruler Christ commanded to love God and love your neighbor as yourself: this is the whole law.”
The bishops and boyars persuaded Philip not to insist strenuously on this demand out of respect for the tsar’s autocracy and to humbly accept the rank. Philip yielded to the will of the king, seeing in it God's election.
Apparently, the king gave him some hope for correction. Philip gave a letter not to interfere with the royal household and was made metropolitan on July 25, 1566. During the first time of Philip’s priesthood (1567-1568), the oprichnina really became easier, but it didn’t last long. For some time the tsar indeed refrained from being too harsh in his rule, but then everything returned to normal. Philip often appeared to the tsar as an intercessor for the disgraced and tried to instruct him. The king explained the harsh measures by the fact that he had secret enemies all around. Philip tried to call him to peace. Several times in private conversations with the king, he tried to reason with him, but then decided to act openly.
“Be silent, father,” said John, “be silent, I repeat to you, and bless us according to our will!”
“Our silence,” answered Philip, “leads you to sin and national destruction. The Lord commanded us to lay down our lives for our friends.”
“Do not contradict our power,” said the king, “or else my anger will befall you, or leave your rank!”
“I,” answered Philip, “did not ask you for rank, did not send intercessors to you, did not bribe anyone; Why did he take me from the desert? If you dare to act against the law, do as you want, and I will not weaken when the time of heroism comes.”
The king became angry with the persistent metropolitan and did not allow him to come to him. Metropolitan Philip could only see the Tsar in church. Many of the sovereign's favorites disliked Philip and plotted intrigues against him.
Confrontation
On March 31, 1568, on the week of the Cross, Ivan the Terrible came to mass at the Assumption Cathedral with a crowd of guardsmen. The Metropolitan stood on a raised platform in the middle of the church. Suddenly John entered the church with a crowd of guardsmen. All of them and the king himself were dressed rather warlike. John approached the saint from the side and bowed his head three times for blessing. The Metropolitan stood motionless, fixing his gaze on the icon of the Savior.
Finally the boyars said: “Holy Lord! The king requires your blessing." The saint turned to John, as if not recognizing him, and said: “In this strange clothing, I do not recognize the Orthodox Tsar, nor do I recognize him in the affairs of the kingdom. Pious one, whom were you jealous of, thus distorting your splendor? Since the sun has been shining in the sky, it has not been heard of pious kings disturbing their own power... The Tatars and pagans have law and truth, but we do not have them. We, sir, offer a bloodless sacrifice to God, and behind the altar the innocent blood of Christians is shed. I do not grieve for those who, by shedding their innocent blood, are honored with the share of holy martyrs; I suffer for your poor soul. Although you are honored in the image of God, you are nevertheless a mortal man, and the Lord will exact everything from your hand.”
John angrily exclaimed: “Philip! Or do you dare to resist our power? Let’s see, we’ll see how great your fortress is.” “Good King,” answered the saint, “it is in vain that you frighten me. I am a stranger on earth, struggling for the truth, and no amount of suffering will silence me.” On July 28, on the feast of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, called Hodegetria, Saint Philip served in the Novodevichy Monastery and performed a religious procession around the walls of the monastery. The Tsar was there, surrounded by guardsmen. While reading the Gospel, the saint noticed a guardsman standing behind the Tsar in a Tatar hat, and pointed him out to John. But the culprit hastened to take off and hide his hat. Then the guardsmen accused the Metropolitan of telling a lie in order to humiliate the Tsar in front of the people. Then John ordered Philip to be tried. Slanders were found with false accusations against the saint, who was not given the opportunity to expose them, and he was condemned to deprivation of his see.
Church trial of Metropolitan Philip
The king began to show even greater cruelty in persecuting everyone who opposed him. The executions followed one after another. The fate of the Metropolitan Confessor was decided. But Ivan the Terrible wanted to maintain the canonical order. The Boyar Duma obediently made a decision on the trial of the Head of the Russian Church. A cathedral trial was held over Metropolitan Philip in the presence of the thinned Boyar Duma. It was November 4th.
Arrest of Metropolitan Philip. Artist Sergey Shelkovy
At the appointed hour, the sovereign himself and the innocently accused high priest arrived; dressed in holy robes, he appeared for trial. The reading of denunciations began, but there were no accusers, for the king was afraid to confront the saint with the slanderers. After reading the denunciations, they stopped to listen to the accused. Philip, considering it unnecessary to justify himself, for he knew that his fate had already been decided in advance, turned to the king with the following words:
Sovereign and Grand Duke! Do you think I'm afraid of you or death? No! It is better to die an innocent martyr than to silently endure all these horrors of lawlessness in the rank of metropolitan. Do whatever you want. Here is the pastoral staff, here is the hood and mantle with which you wanted to exalt me. And you, servants of the altar,” the saint continued, turning to the bishops, “faithfully shepherd the flock of Christ: prepare to give an answer to God and fear the Heavenly King more than the earthly one.
Having said these words, Saint Philip took off the signs of his dignity and wanted to leave, but the king stopped him, saying that he should still await a council decision, and not be his own judge. He forced him to take back the saint’s clothes and still serve mass on November 8th. It was the feast of Archangel Michael. Metropolitan Philip, in full holy vestments, was serving the Liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral, when suddenly the church doors opened with a noise and the Tsar’s favorite Alexei Basmanov entered the cathedral with a crowd of soldiers and guardsmen. Basmanov ordered the royal decree and the council’s verdict on the deposition of the metropolitan to be read aloud in front of all the people, and all the slander against him was read out. At the end of the reading, those who came furiously rushed at the saint and began to tear off his sacred clothes. Metropolitan Philip was not disturbed in spirit and tried to calm his clergy. Throwing the tattered and dirty cassock of a simple monk over Philip's shoulders, the guardsmen dragged him out of the temple, beat him on the head with brooms, put him on a log and, showering him with abuse and beatings, took him to the Epiphany Monastery. Before the gates of the monastery, Saint Philip addressed the flock around him for the last time with comforting words:
I accepted all this for your good, so that your confusion may be pacified. If it were not for my love for you, I would not have wanted to stay here for a single day, but the word of God held me back: The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11).
At the same time, the metropolitan’s prophetic words about the fate of the Russian Church were heard:
O children, this separation is sorrowful, but I rejoice that I acquired this for the sake of the Church; the time has come for her widowhood, for shepherds, like mercenaries, will be despised. They will not hold their pulpit here and will not be buried in their cathedral church of the Mother of God.
This prophecy was finally fulfilled several decades later. During the reforms of Patriarch Nikon, when most of the archpastors behaved like “mercenaries”, fell away from the right faith and a period of widowhood began in the Church. Having accepted the last blessing from the saint, the people went home in confusion, and Philip was imprisoned in the monastery. “The martyr was languished for a long time in the basements of Moscow monasteries, the elder’s legs were driven into stocks, he was kept in chains, and a heavy chain was thrown around his neck.” Finally, they were taken to captivity in the Tverskaya Otroch Monastery.
Tverskoy Assumption Monastery
Murder of the disgraced Metropolitan
About a year passed since Saint Philip was in captivity. In December 1569, Tsar Ivan the Terrible moved with an army to Novgorod to punish him for imaginary treason. When he approached Tver, he remembered Metropolitan Philip, imprisoned here, and sent the most evil of his guardsmen, Malyuta Skuratov, supposedly for a blessing.
Metropolitan Philip is in captivity. Fragment of an icon
Philip, anticipating his death, said to those around him: “The time has come to accomplish my feat; my departure is near.” And, having received the Holy Mysteries, he calmly awaited his end. Malyuta entered the cell and, humbly bowing, said to the saint: “Vladyka, give your blessing to the king to go to Veliky Novgorod.”
A. Novoskoltsev. The last minutes of the life of Metropolitan Philip
Knowing why the royal messenger came, Saint Philip answered him: “Do what you came to me for, and do not tempt me by flattery asking for the gift of God.” Immediately the disgraced metropolitan turned to God in prayer.
Metropolitan Philip and Malyuta Skuratov. Nikolai Nevrev, 1898
Malyuta took a pillow and strangled Saint Philip with it. Then he hastily left the cell and, having informed the abbot and the brethren of his death, began to reproach them for neglecting the prisoner, who allegedly died from excessive intoxication in the cell. Malyuta ordered to dig a deep hole behind the altar of the cathedral church and bury the long-suffering body of Saint Christ there. At the same time, there was neither the ringing of bells, nor the fragrance of incense, nor, perhaps, the very singing of the church, for the evil guardsman was in a hurry to hide the traces of his crime. And as soon as the grave was razed to the ground, he immediately left the monastery.
Malyuta Skuratov kills Metropolitan Philip. Fragment of the icon of St. Philip
But soon the wrath of God befell the persecutors of the martyred metropolitan. Malyuta Skuratov was soon killed. The king's wrath befell all the shepherds who slandered Philip, tormented him, and turned away from him in the days of grave trials.
