True Orthodox Church of Raphael

There are articles on Wikipedia about other people with the name Rafail and the surname Motovilov.

Raphael

(secular name
Leonid Semenovich Motovilov
, until 2009 -
Prokopyev
; September 18, 1947, village of Eral, Ashinsky district, Chelyabinsk region) - chairman of the Holy Synod of the Centralized religious organization of the True Orthodox Church, in which he is recognized as the First Hierarch of the True Orthodox Church, the Archbishop of Moscow, Metropolitan of All Russia[1].

Biography

K: Wikipedia: Articles without sources (type: not specified)
Born in 1947. In his autobiography, he says that his father Semyon Andrianovich Malofeev, who fought the entire Great Patriotic War as a company sergeant major, separated from Motovilov’s mother even before his birth. About his maternal grandfather Ivan Grigorievich Motovilov, his autobiography says that he died in 1941 near Leningrad, being a division commander.

Military service

K: Wikipedia: Articles without sources (type: not specified)
In 1969 he graduated from officer school. As a cadet, he joined the CPSU.

He served in the Northern Group of Forces - in Poland, then in Transbaikalia.

After graduating from the Military Academy. Frunze commanded a reduced-strength motorized rifle regiment for two years and a deployed regiment of the Transcaucasian Military District for another two years.

He received the ranks of senior lieutenant, captain and lieutenant colonel ahead of schedule.

From Transcaucasia he was transferred as part of a secret Soviet mission and sent to Lebanon to participate in hostilities. Served as a military adviser.

In 1984, near Beirut, he was blown up by a mine, lost his right leg and injured his left. The operation was performed by French surgeons, after which Syrian President Hafez al-Assad allocated his personal plane to deliver the Soviet GRU lieutenant colonel to Moscow. In Moscow, Leonid Prokopyev was treated at the military hospital named after. Burdenko and the Institute of Surgery named after. Vishnevsky. He received the first group of disability, but by order of the USSR Minister of Defense Dmitry Yazov he was retained in the ranks of the USSR Armed Forces and promoted to the rank of colonel.

1990s

K: Wikipedia: Articles without sources (type: not specified)
In 1991, he retired and organized his own “Healing Center”.

Having created the “Healing Center,” Colonel Leonid Prokopyev turned to the Moscow Patriarchate so that it officially accepted his organization for “spiritual care.” Having received no answer, he turned to Lazar Vasiliev, John of Bereslavsky and Tikhon Filippov, from whom he received “ordination” first as a “deacon,” then as a “priest,” and later as a “bishop.”

In the early 1990s, he was actively involved in the occult in the “Temple of the Archangel Raphael” created especially for this purpose on the street. Radio, 12 in the center of Moscow.

According to some sources, around 1996, Rafail (Prokopiev) entered the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, where he was ordained “Bishop of Krasnoyarsk”. According to other sources, he approached Filaret (Denisenko) with a request for consecration, but was not accepted even for a conversation. Received consecration from the bishops of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

Organized and conducted on December 19, 1996 in the Epiphany Cathedral of Noginsk together with Adrian (Starina), Varukh (Tyshchenkov), Sergius (Sarkisov) “the coronation to the royal throne of the Russian Empire of the autocrat of Great, Lesser and White Rus'” “Emperor Nicholas III” (imposter Nicholas Dalsky, who declared himself the son of Tsarevich Alexei) and the “empress” Natalia[2]. Security was provided by UNA-UNSO militants and the NPF “Pamyat”[3]. The date December 19, 1996 was chosen for the coronation with an eye to the prediction about the restoration of the monarchy in Russia, made in 1995 by the International Foundation for Astrological and Extrasensory Forecasts “Strategy”[4].

In 1997, Rafail (Prokopyev) joined the Russian True Orthodox Church (RosITs), which traces its line of succession to the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. On September 21, 1997, he was re-ordained (consecrated) and given the title of “Bishop of Volokolamsk”, vicar of the Moscow diocese. His re-ordination was attended by “Metropolitan of Krutitsky” Ambrose (Katamadze), “Archbishop of Dmitrov” Stefan (Linitsky) and “Bishop of Gainatsky and Imertinsky” Moses (Khojava).

At the beginning of 1998, “Archbishop” Raphael (Prokopiev) was elected First Hierarch of the Russian True Orthodox Church and given the title of “Metropolitan”.

Already on March 13, 1999, he was removed from office and removed from the staff, and on November 27 of the same year, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church deprived him of his “bishopric” rank for violating church canons and practicing extrasensory perception.

Without recognizing his deposition, Rafail (Prokopyev) in the same 1999 formed a new religious organization, which received the name Orthodox Church of Russia (True Orthodox Church). After a short time, Raphael (Prokopyev) was given the title of “His Beatitude Metropolitan of Moscow, Guardian of the Doors of the Holy Sepulcher.”

2000s

K: Wikipedia: Articles without sources (type: not specified)
In July 2003, he organized and held the Unification Council of Bishops of the True Orthodox Church in Russia, which resulted in the unification of a number of small religious groups of non-canonical (alternative) Orthodoxy into the religious organization “Orthodox Church of Russia” "("True Orthodox Church"). Raphael (Prokopiev) was elected First Hierarch of the said religious organization (Metropolitan of Moscow).

In 2005, he was endowed with the title “Archbishop of Moscow, Metropolitan of All Russia” and the right to wear a white patriarchal doll.

By the decision of the 3rd session of the Local Council of the True Orthodox Church on June 24, 2005, he was elected High Hierarch of the True Orthodox Church with the title “His Holiness Archbishop of Moscow, Metropolitan of All Russia.”

He calls himself a descendant of Nikolai Alexandrovich Motovilov, who was a witness to the life of St. Seraphim of Sarov. In mid-2009, he changed his last name, becoming known as Motovilov. Together with him, both sons changed their surname - Sergius and Anton.

History of the Monastery of St. Raphael

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Troparion (4th tone)

Having suffered for Christ on Lesbos, and having consecrated this land with the appearance of your venerable relics, O Blessed Ones, we magnify you, holy martyrs of Christ, Raphael, Nicholas and Virgin Irina, as our intercessors and intercessors before God

A little far from the village of Termi rises Mount Karei, known as “Panagia Karei”. Once upon a time there were only a few hewn stones on the mountain, from which a fragrance could be felt. Once a year, on Easter Tuesday, a lamp was lit here and the Divine Liturgy was celebrated, kneeling, although they did not know where this custom originated. The mountain was also called Kalogeros - “Good Old Man”.

This was apparently due to the fact that a monk had been met here for many years. Sometimes he walked around the holy place with a censer and suddenly disappeared in a blaze of light, according to eyewitnesses. Not only Christians saw him, but also Turks. So in 1917, the Turkish rulers, who owned an estate with olive trees on Mount Karei, instructed a police officer from Termi, Evstratiy Sitara, to find out this secret through a special investigation. But soon the search was stopped, because... Arif Efendis claimed that he “saw with my own eyes” that this was a supernatural thing.

At this holy site in Kareya there was an olive grove that belonged to the Turkish ruler Khazan Bey, which once housed a small church in the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. All that remained of the temple here was a broken piece of marble, which was used as a sacred throne, and an old evergreen oak. The inhabitants of Termi, following custom, rose here every year on Easter Tuesday to celebrate the Divine Liturgy without hindrance from the Turkish owner.

Miracles to the residents of Termi did not stop for many years. Sometimes shepherds tending flocks of sheep nearby saw a small village church illuminated by Heavenly light, and heard the ringing of unearthly bells and psalmody from within.

One woman told me that her husband tended sheep close to this place, and when he happened to want to send the children, she did not allow it, saying: “You are used to seeing a monk there, but the children are not, and they will be scared.”

There are many stories about this holy place in Kareya. It has long been believed that monks once lived here, later killed by the Turks, but no one could say when; and many years before that, in the same place there was a convent, destroyed by the barbarians. Everything spoke about the holiness of this place, both the custom of climbing the mountain on Bright Tuesday and the stories of eyewitnesses.

After the war between the Greeks and the Turks and the events associated with the resettlement of the Greeks from Asia Minor, the Turkish olive estate came into the possession of the refugee family G. Marangos, who decided to build a small church here in fulfillment of the vow made by their mother Angelica. G. Angel Rallis, applied for permission to His Eminence Metropolitan Jacob.

On the third of July 1959, while laying the foundation, workers together with Doukas Tzolakis discovered a grave with a human skeleton from which a fragrance emanated. His arms were folded crosswise on his chest, and his head rested on a round stone, like on a pillow, at a distance of about 30 cm from his body. Under the stone they found clay tiles from the Byzantine era with crosses on them. The local priest O. Euthymius Tzolos, Metropolitan Iakovos and archaeologist G. Charitonidis were immediately notified. Church marble from the Byzantine era was also discovered. The archaeologist confirmed the importance of this discovery from an archaeological point of view and gave permission to build a small church, prohibiting digging within a radius of 100 meters from the grave and near the roots of olive trees.

Since the discovery of the unknown skeleton, supernatural phenomena began that deeply affected the workers. G. Doukas Tzolakis collected the bones in a bag, but could not tear it off the ground. The bones emitted a fragrance and strange noises.

One of the workers, G. Leonid Sideras, pushed the bag with his foot and suddenly felt that his leg was numb. When another, Doukas Tzolakis, tried to casually lift the bag, his hand froze, not even being able to move it, and the worker remained motionless until he thought to cross himself, overcome with horror. Then they invited a priest to perform a memorial service, but he replied: “Whom will I remember when I don’t even know his name or who he is.”

That same night, the saint revealed in a dream vision to the parish priest and some other persons that his name was Raphael, and that he was born on the island of Ithaca. He appeared to old and young, men and women, children, worthy and even unworthy people in the vestments of a priest, archimandrite or as a simple monk. On the same night, people who did not know each other saw him in a dream, and he said: “I am the holy martyr Raphael, the remains found in Kareia are mine. I suffered martyrdom from the Turks on April 9, 1463. I am the monk you have seen for many years.”

Here is his story, as people were able to piece together from revelations: the monk’s worldly name was George Laskarides. His parents, Dionysius and Maria, were pious people and gave George a Christian upbringing and a varied education. Being very young, he served briefly as an officer. Then he took monastic vows with the name Raphael, and was subsequently ordained a priest.

Raphael served in the parish of St. Demetrius in Acropolis in Athens, and after some time became an archimandrite and bishop in the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople. Being versatile and active, he was sent by the Patriarchate on a mission to France, to the city of Morlaix. Morlaix is ​​a city in France with a historical religious past, in which ancient churches of the 5th - 6th centuries have been preserved. Historical research has shown that in the 15th century, shortly before the Turkish conquest of Constantinople, the Ecumenical Patriarchate sent educated and zealous priests to France for theological conferences.

Here he met a young student, Nicholas, originally from Thessalonica. Nikolai came from the family of a wealthy notary, and his parents sent him to study at a French university. Having met Raphael, and driven by a zealous desire for salvation, the young university student left worldly life and followed Raphael. He returned with him to Greece, chose the monastic path, and, some time later, was ordained a deacon. He became Raphael's devoted companion, and since then they have never been separated.

When the Turks captured Constantinople in 1453, Raphael and Nicholas were in Thrace. In 1454 they sailed from Alexandroupolis along with other refugees and arrived in Lesvos, then still free from the Turks. They sailed on a small ship to the port of Thermi and immediately tried to find out if there was a monastery for solitude. They were shown a monastery located on Mount Karei above the village of Thermi, 14 kilometers from the port of Mytilene.

The sisters once lived there, but on May 11, 1235, the monastery was destroyed by pirates. All 30 of his nuns, led by Abbess Olympia, were martyred; Abbess Olympia drove large nails into the body and head.

By the time St. arrived there. Raphael, there was only one monk in the monastery, named Reuben. Afterwards, a small brotherhood was formed there, headed by the abbot of St. Raphael, which existed peacefully for nine years. When the monk Reuben died, another brother named Stavros took his place. The monastery was rebuilt in 1453 by one pious woman named Melpomene. Fulfilling the vow given to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who miraculously healed her son Akindinos, she dedicated him to serving the Lord in this monastery, and gave part of her fortune to the maintenance of the monastery.

September 17, 1462 Muhammad, after a 17-day siege, captured Fr. Lesbos, despite the greatest resistance of its inhabitants. The Turks did not immediately disturb the monastery. However, after about 6 months, there was unrest in the village of Termi, and its inhabitants went up to Kareya to hide the weaker from the Turkish massacre. The teacher Theodore and the elder Vasily, with whom we are friends, also came to the monastery with their families. Rafail.

St. Raphael celebrated the Divine Liturgy for the last time on Maundy Thursday (Holy Week before Easter). On Good Friday, the Turks came to the monastery and took abbot Raphael, deacon Nicholas, the elder’s family and the teacher. Everyone else managed to hide in the mountain.

Those arrested were subjected to various tortures so that they would reveal where the rest of the Christians were hiding. The 12-year-old daughter of the headman, Irina, was burned in a clay font after her hand was cut off in front of her parents, tied to a tree. Her father - Vasily, mother - Maria, teacher Theodore was tortured inhumanly.

St. Raphael was dragged by his hair and beard, brutally beaten, stabbed with bayonets and finally hanged upside down on a tree, then his jaw was sawed off. This happened on Tuesday after Easter.

St. Nicholas was tied to a walnut tree. Seeing the torment of his beloved abbot, after the first blows with a bayonet, he died of a broken heart. It was April 9, 1463. The Turks then set fire to the monastery and left. The next day, some of the faithful Christians, with Akindinos accompanying them, as well as a third monk and an old priest from the village, secretly buried the martyrs. The abbot was buried among the ruins of the burned church, and others were buried in the courtyard in front of the church.

The holy relics were found in an unusual way, and many miraculous events followed their discovery. The hitherto unknown history of the monastery, told by St. Raphael, amazed everyone, and excavations revealed treasures hidden in the ground and confirmed everything told by the saint.

Saint Raphael also indicated the place where the grave of St. Nicholas, and predicted that she would be found on a rainy Monday. And although the search began on a clear day on July 13, it suddenly became cloudy and began to rain.

On the same day, at the direction of St. Raphael, near the grave of St. Nicholas, a lead seal dating back to the 14th century was found with the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary on one side and the Archangel Michael on the other. The seal, according to the archaeologist who took this find to the museum, belonged personally to the patriarch of Byzantium. The ruins of an ancient church were also discovered.

The saint accurately indicated the burial places of other martyrs: the sacred remains of little Irina, the clay font in which she was burned, and two graves - the teacher Theodore and the elder Vasily.

About a week earlier, an ancient church was discovered with frescoes on the ruined walls and a floor paved with red tiles, as well as a gallery with holy water and an icon of Pantocrator. Along with this icon, parts of an old wooden icon and several precious sheets of parchment with handwritten texts from the Gospel were found, which crumbled when exposed to air.

Also during the excavations, an icon was found - a round, wooden one with the image of Jesus Christ. It resembles a medallion (or panagia), and in its upper part there is a recess with a hole. It was framed in gold, because... small pieces of gold were preserved in its depressions. It depicts Jesus Almighty, as the Lord is usually depicted on the dome of the Orthodox Church. He is dressed in loose, flowing clothing. With his right hand He blesses people, and with his left he presses the Gospel to his chest. This icon is a work of the 14th century, magnificent Byzantine art.

During the excavation work, many clay objects were found: bowls, lamps, censers, oil jugs, a broken font with crosses on it, as well as fragments of wall paintings dating back to the life of St. Raphael, as well as several coins from the Byzantine era. One of them depicts Archangel Michael.

St. Raphael pointed out the place under the tree where his jaw, sawn off by the Turks, was thrown, saying that the Christians buried him at night and, in fear, did not notice it. And, in fact, she was found exactly in the indicated place and placed in a shrine along with the body.

The grave of Abbess Olympia was also found, who suffered martyrdom in 1235, when the former monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary was destroyed by pirates and all its nuns were killed. The abbess had 3 large nails in her head, two in the area of ​​the ears, and one in the place of the jaw. Her incorrupt remains and nails in her chest have been preserved.

During excavations of the church that existed during the life of St. Raphael, at a fairly great depth under the ruins of this church, the foundation of a huge wall was found, which, according to the archaeologist, belongs to the great ancient church destroyed by pirates in 1235. Thus, the excavations confirmed everything. The saint revealed that they were executed by the Turks on April 9, 1463, Easter Tuesday, at dawn, and this day was revered as a holiday by local residents for centuries.

They climbed the mountain on Bright Tuesday to celebrate the Divine Liturgy under a large evergreen oak tree, on the ruins of a small church in the name of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, which existed here in ancient times, following an ancient custom, not knowing the origin of this holiday. The found Paschal for 1463 showed that, indeed, Easter in 1463 fell on April 8, and on the night of April 9 the martyrs were killed. The memory of the martyrs is celebrated on Bright Tuesday every year, since April 9 usually falls during Lent (Holy Week). When His Eminence, the Metropolitan of Mytilene was convinced that all these amazing facts and revelations were confirmed and turned out to be true, he decided, according to the will of the Lord, to build a nunnery here. By decision of the Ministry of Education and Religion, decree No. 346 of September 29, 1963, FEK founded a convent at the site of the martyrdom at the proposal of Metropolitan Iakovos Cleombrutou of Mytilene. The rebirth of the monastery was proclaimed on September 12, 1963, exactly 500 years after the tragedy in Kareya.

Majestic image of St. Raphael. He attracts the hearts of people and directs them to spiritual ascent. It awakens in us nostalgia for Divine love. It is impossible to describe His spiritual beauty. Wonderworker St. Raphael follows unwaveringly his great and wonderful path of service. He was filled with Heavenly Light, which today scatters to all ends of the earth. Trust in Him has already spread widely and there are countless examples testifying to His gracious help. In our time, especially when apostasy from faith creates a chasm between people, in today’s difficult, despairing life, when all guidelines are lost, in the confusion of nations, immeasurable Divine Love opens the Gates of Heaven. The new messenger of God, Saint Raphael, who came to earth at our turning point, saves the desperate. “God works miracles through his Saints.”

Views

In one of his interviews he stated that “Why did it [the Moscow Patriarchate] usurp the right to own the truth? Everyone goes to God in their own way: Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus...”[5]. Believes that “God does not punish, especially eternally”[5]; that “God does not fight with Satan”[5], since “Satan is His instrument”; He calls Judas “the best of the Apostles”[5], into whom Satan entered “at the will of God”[5], and Judas himself accomplished “the work of God” by betraying the Savior[5].

According to critics[6], he is engaged in occult practices that in no way correspond to the rank of an Orthodox clergyman.

When asked whether Christians can practice agni yoga, he answered: “If you like it, if you reveal yourself at the same time, please! There are so many ways. We accept everything.”[7].

At the same time, on July 13-14, 2014, under the chairmanship of Rafail (Motovilov), the Local Council of the Central religious organization of the True Orthodox Church was held, at which the confession of the True Orthodox Church was approved[8], which condemns any kind of occult opinions, teachings and practices, as having nothing in common with Christianity, as well as teachings that distinguish in the composition of nature, in addition to the natural forces of the soul and body, the so-called subtle energy “bodies”, “fields”, “and offering influence on them through the so-called work with energies , with the help of meditations, breathing exercises, etc. In addition, at the council, name-wrestling, ecumenism, Cyprianism (the teaching of Cyprian (Koutsoumbas)) and Sergianism were condemned as heretical.[9]

In the spring of 2014, in an interview, Rafail (Motovilov) commented on his healing activities: “I don’t know what a healer is, I’m a priest. And I don’t consider it shameful for me to pray for a specific person according to a certain rite. I'm glad that people contact me about this. And I’m glad that people receive healings by their faith.”

[10]

Essays

• “An historical glance at the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher”, 1893 (translation from Arabic into English by Mikhail Najim):
• “Articles and translations into Arabic: “Orthodox analysis of the encyclopedia of Pope Leo XIII.”
• "On the Errors of the Roman Catholic Church."
• “Abridged Church History,” the work of Archpriest B. Mikhailovsky, translated into Arabic with many additions.” “Right. Social security.” 1897, May, p. 164.
• “The Book of True Consolation in Holy Prayers” (Servant in Arabic, 1898)

Notes

1. [ipckatakomb.ru/pages/998 Composition of the Holy Synod] on the website of the TRC TRC
2. [klimovo.org/index.php/component/content/article/106-articles/788-lzhesvjaschennik.html Web 32RUS | Attention! Danger! False priest!]
3. Maxim Kuzevanov
   [rusk.ru/st.php?idar=1000084 Church unrest or universal schism?]
4. [www.flb.ru/info/8738.html Dossier on impostors]
5. ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6
   [lib.eparhia-saratov.ru/books/02b/berestov_pecherskaia/berestov_pecherskaia1/19.html 9. Conversation with the “metropolitan”-occultist, or “Judas (Iscariot) - the best of the apostles” - Orthodox sorcerers - who are they - Hieromonk Anatoly (Berestov), ​​Alevtina Pecherskaya]
6. [www.anti-raskol.ru/pages/1920 Sect “Prois” by Rafail Prokopyev] // New religious organizations of Russia of a destructive, occult and neo-pagan nature: Directory. — Third edition, expanded and revised. — Volume 2. Occultism / Compiled by I. Kulikov. - Moscow, 1999. - 596 p. - pp. 379-384.
7. [www.gumer.info/bogoslov_Buks/okkultizm/Berest/09.php library of occultism - Berestov A., Pecherskaya A. “Orthodox sorcerers” - who are they? Behind the Orthodox props]
8. [www.ipckatakomb.ru/?s=news&newsgroup=2&nid=1505 News - Centralized religious organization True Orthodox Church (official website)]
9. [www.ipckatakomb.ru/?s=news&newsgroup=3&nid=1507 Site updates - Centralized religious organization True Orthodox Church (official site)]
10. [www.ipckatakomb.ru/pages/981 Interview with the Credo-ru Portal - Centralized religious organization True Orthodox Church (official website)]

About the eternal and the transitory

Preface

Chapter I. Searching for God About eternity What is true life The mystery of time The sin of demon-likeness The mystical essence of sin The mystery of death About the memory of death Time is fire About time and eternity What attracts us to sin? Demonism of sin - the secret of eternal torment Chapter II. Virgin - Apostle Caucasus - throne of the Deity Abba of the monks Ray of spiritual light The power of prayer Royal lily The beauty of silence Mountains - the kingdom of the monk The path to hesychia Royal crusaders of Georgia Eagle from Bagrationi's nest Warriors of the Iveron land Chapter III. The evolution of human culture and the involution of the soul Why does the Lord tolerate us? How to resist external information About the diseases of dispute and discussion About apocalyptic times and “apocalyptics” Reasons for the loss of spirituality About the word The Seal of Cain and Abel Worldview and morality Regicide – an excess of the revolution? Chapter IV. About demonism in poetry Reflections on Roerich's paintings Black music of Blok Modern psychology and Christianity About the occult About demonic communication among drug addicts, alcoholics and smokers Advice for those who came to the Church from the occult About lies Chapter V. About modern monasticism Meeting in Bargany About forms of spiritual relationships Be careful, guru! About gratitude About recitation in the temple Eastern and Western monasticism Intelligentsia and Catholicism About spiritual entropy Where to start a spiritual life?

Preface

This collection of articles by the famous church writer and polemicist Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin) includes, perhaps, the best works of the author - both previously published and published only on the website of Fr. Raphael or never seen before. Archimandrite Raphael's great erudition and erudition, excellent mastery of style, and ability to present a subject in a popular, colorful, visual and intelligible manner are undoubted. The most captivating thing about the book is that the author does not flaunt erudition and, as often happens, superficially acquired information, but the information has been experienced and processed by Fr. Raphael in accordance with the spiritual criteria of Orthodoxy, he brought them into certain correspondence with the value scale. The publication of such a book can only be welcomed, given the undoubted shortage in the modern Russian Church of authors capable of addressing a wide audience and being heard by them.

The book is devoted to reflections on spiritual, historical and topical topics. The second part of the book, dedicated to the presentation of key moments in the history of Georgia, presented through the fate of Georgian saints - monks and kings, is especially distinguished by its unified compositional and thematic integrity. In general, the material is similar to the well-known collection of lives of the priest M. Sabinin*.

However, Fr. Rafail omits some episodes, adds others. Leaving aside the traditional literary rhetoric inherent in the hagiographic genre, the author draws such parallels and finds such images that make an indelible impression and better help to understand the essence of the events and deeds of the saints. Unfortunately, the rich spiritual heritage of the Georgian Church is little known to wide Orthodox circles in Russia. The inclusion of this section in the book should be greatly welcomed. Allow me to make one remark. If the exploits of kings and warriors are described by Fr. Raphael throughout the history of Georgia, the monastic-ascetic roots are represented by the lives of only the so-called Syrian fathers. However, the hesychast tradition of Georgia was much richer in subsequent centuries - with ascetics both from Athos and other places**.

The most vulnerable aspect of the book is the presentation of history and people in black and white, without “grayscale”, in a two-dimensional plane. However, in real life, good and evil, the merits and demerits of people, “seeds and tares” are mixed in different proportions at different moments***.

For example, the author calls the priest Pavel Florensky an “occultist” and claims that he “writes about Christ as a dead man.” The reproach of Gnosticism and occultism is often heard against Fr. Paul, and to some extent it corresponds to reality. However, we must not forget that the rector of the Moscow Theological Academy, Bishop. Theodore (Pozdeevsky) believed Fr. Pavel is a deeply religious person - much more religious than other professors of the Academy. Martyrdom of Fr. Paul and a number of other facts indicate the same. Despite the fact that Fr. Paul showed interest in mysticism and occultism in its various forms; to a certain extent, he was even more harshly disposed towards contemporary mystical-occult movements than Archimandrite Raphael, who criticized 0. Paul. Yes, oh. Pavel has a very sharp assessment of Blok’s work as purely demonic****.

In this assessment Fr. Pavel is more categorical than Fr. Rafail. Outside the book, the author’s criticism of the Moscow Theological Academy professor A.I. Osipov and his student A.A. Zaitsev remained; the criticism is in many ways very, very fair, for Fr. Raphael was the first to raise a more than justified alarm about the distortion of Orthodox dogmatic theology in the speeches and works of the named individuals, as well as a polemic with Deacon A. Kuraev. However, even in critical works, the author remains a master of pen drawing, but not pastel. Their echoes, as well as the corresponding techniques, are felt in this book, when Fr. Raphael joins in anti-Catholic polemics.

The book is supplemented with brief comments, without which it is difficult to perceive and assimilate a large number of specific concepts and terms that the erudite author generously bestows on his reader, who is not always ready for such an abundance. A similar style often gives archimandrites numerous opponents. Raphael is another reason to attack him. However, such “little things” are easily forgiven by the reading audience, who has earned the warm love and gratitude of Fr. Raphael, and the secret of this love is not in the greatest human wisdom of words,
but in the manifestation of the spirit and power (1 Cor. 2:4).
It remains to wish the courageous zealot for the purity of the Orthodox faith God’s help in his standing in love and truth.

Cand. ist. Sciences A. G. Dunaev

Links

• 	National	Bulgarian Alternative Synod • Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church • Gregorian Schism • Catholic Orthodox Church of Portugal • Lubensky Schism • Macedonian Orthodox Church • Holy Metropolis of Abkhazia • Turkish Orthodox Church • Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church • Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (renewed) • Ukrainian Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate • Croatian Orthodox Church • Montenegrin Orthodox Church
  	Reformist and syncretic	Apostolic OC • Mother of God Center • TOC (Raphael) • Catholic OC of France • Renovationism • Patriarchate of the Russian IP Catacomb Church • Russian Catacomb Church of True Orthodox Christians • Ukrainian Autocephalous OC-canonical • Ukrainian Reformed OC • Church of St. John the Evangelist
  	Old Believers	Russian Old Orthodox Church • Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church • Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church in Romania • Old Orthodox Church of Russia (Apollinarians) • Old Orthodox Church of Christ of the Belokrinitsky hierarchy • Neokruzhniki • Old Orthodox Pomeranian Church • Eastern Old Believer Church

Excerpt characterizing Rafail (Motovilov)

- Wounded by a bayonet, I remained at the front. Remember, Your Excellency. Tushin's battery was forgotten, and only at the very end of the matter, continuing to hear the cannonade in the center, Prince Bagration sent there the officer on duty and then Prince Andrei to order the battery to retreat as quickly as possible. The cover that stood near Tushin's guns left, on someone's orders, in the middle of the case; but the battery continued to fire and was not taken by the French only because the enemy could not imagine the audacity of firing four unprotected cannons. On the contrary, based on the energetic action of this battery, he assumed that the main forces of the Russians were concentrated here, in the center, and twice tried to attack this point and both times was driven away by grape shots from four cannons standing alone on this eminence. Soon after the departure of Prince Bagration, Tushin managed to light Shengraben. - Look, they're confused! It's burning! Look, there's smoke! Clever! Important! Smoke this, smoke that! – the servant spoke, perking up. All guns fired in the direction of the fire without orders. As if urging them on, the soldiers shouted to each shot: “Dexterously! That's it! Look, you... It’s important!” The fire, carried by the wind, spread quickly. The French columns that had marched for the village retreated, but, as if in punishment for this failure, the enemy placed ten guns to the right of the village and began firing at Tushin with them. Because of the childish joy excited by the fire, and the excitement of successful shooting at the French, our artillerymen noticed this battery only when two cannonballs, followed by four more, struck between the guns and one knocked down two horses, and the other tore off the leg of the box leader. The revival, once established, however, did not weaken, but only changed the mood. The horses were replaced by others from the spare carriage, the wounded were removed, and four guns were turned against the ten-gun battery. The officer, Tushin's comrade, was killed at the beginning of the case, and within an hour, out of forty servants, seventeen dropped out, but the artillerymen were still cheerful and animated. Twice they noticed that the French appeared below, close to them, and then they hit them with grapeshot. The little man, with weak, awkward movements, constantly demanded another pipe from the orderly for this, as he said, and, scattering fire from it, ran forward and looked at the French from under his small hand. - Crash it, guys! - he said and he himself grabbed the guns by the wheels and unscrewed the screws. In the smoke, deafened by continuous shots that made him flinch every time, Tushin, without letting go of his nose warmer, ran from one gun to another, now taking aim, now counting the charges, now ordering the change and re-harnessing of dead and wounded horses, and shouted in his weak, thin voice, in a hesitant voice. His face became more and more animated. Only when people were killed or wounded did he wince and, turning away from the dead man, shout angrily at the people, as always, who were slow to raise the wounded man or the body. The soldiers, for the most part handsome fellows (as always in a battery company, two heads taller than their officer and twice as wide as him), all, like children in a difficult situation, looked at their commander, and the expression that was on his face remained unchanged reflected on their faces. As a result of this terrible hum, noise, need for attention and activity, Tushin did not experience the slightest unpleasant feeling of fear, and the thought that he could be killed or painfully wounded did not occur to him. On the contrary, he became more and more cheerful. It seemed to him that a very long time ago, almost yesterday, there was that minute when he saw the enemy and fired the first shot, and that the patch of field on which he stood was a long-familiar, familiar place to him. Despite the fact that he remembered everything, understood everything, did everything that the best officer in his position could do, he was in a state similar to feverish delirium or the state of a drunken person. Because of the deafening sounds of their guns from all sides, because of the whistle and blows of the enemy’s shells, because of the sight of the sweaty, flushed servants hurrying around the guns, because of the sight of the blood of people and horses, because of the sight of the enemy’s smoke on the other side (after which everyone once a cannonball flew in and hit the ground, a person, a weapon or a horse), because of the sight of these objects, his own fantastic world was established in his head, which was his pleasure at that moment. The enemy cannons in his imagination were not cannons, but pipes, from which an invisible smoker released smoke in rare puffs. “Look, he puffed again,” Tushin said in a whisper to himself, while a puff of smoke jumped out of the mountain and was blown to the left by the wind in a stripe, “now wait for the ball and send it back.” -What do you order, your honor? - asked the fireworksman, who stood close to him and heard him muttering something. “Nothing, a grenade...” he answered. “Come on, our Matvevna,” he said to himself. Matvevna imagined in his imagination a large, extreme, antique cast cannon. The French appeared to him like ants near their guns. The handsome and drunkard number two of the second gun in his world was his uncle; Tushin looked at him more often than others and rejoiced at his every move. The sound of the gunfire, which either died down or intensified again under the mountain, seemed to him like someone’s breathing. He listened to the fading and flaring up of these sounds. “Look, I’m breathing again, I’m breathing,” he said to himself. He himself imagined himself to be of enormous stature, a powerful man who threw cannonballs at the French with both hands. - Well, Matvevna, mother, don’t give it away! - he said, moving away from the gun, when an alien, unfamiliar voice was heard above his head: - Captain Tushin! Captain! Tushin looked around in fear. It was the staff officer who kicked him out of Grunt. He shouted to him in a breathless voice: “Are you crazy?” You were ordered to retreat twice, and you... “Well, why did they give me this?...” Tushin thought to himself, looking at his boss with fear. “I... nothing...” he said, putting two fingers to the visor. - I... But the colonel did not finish everything he wanted. A cannonball flying close caused him to dive and bend over on his horse. He fell silent and was just about to say something else when another core stopped him. He turned his horse and galloped away. - Retreat! Everyone retreat! – he shouted from afar. The soldiers laughed. A minute later the adjutant arrived with the same order. It was Prince Andrei. The first thing he saw, riding out into the space occupied by Tushin’s guns, was an unharnessed horse with a broken leg, neighing near the harnessed horses. Blood flowed from her leg like from a key. Between the limbers lay several dead. One cannonball after another flew over him as he approached, and he felt a nervous shiver run down his spine. But the very thought that he was afraid raised him up again. “I cannot be afraid,” he thought and slowly dismounted from his horse between the guns. He conveyed the order and did not leave the battery. He decided that he would remove the guns from the position with him and withdraw them. Together with Tushin, walking over the bodies and under terrible fire from the French, he began cleaning up the guns. “And then the authorities came just now, so they were tearing up,” the fireworksman said to Prince Andrei, “not like your honor.” Prince Andrei did not say anything to Tushin. They were both so busy that it seemed they didn’t even see each other. When, having put the surviving two of the four guns on the limbers, they moved down the mountain (one broken cannon and the unicorn were left), Prince Andrei drove up to Tushin. “Well, goodbye,” said Prince Andrei, extending his hand to Tushin. “Goodbye, my dear,” said Tushin, “dear soul!” “goodbye, my dear,” said Tushin with tears that, for some unknown reason, suddenly appeared in his eyes. The wind died down, black clouds hung low over the battlefield, merging on the horizon with gunpowder smoke. It was getting dark, and the glow of fires was all the more clearly visible in two places. The cannonade became weaker, but the crackle of guns behind and to the right was heard even more often and closer. As soon as Tushin with his guns, driving around and running over the wounded, came out from under fire and went down into the ravine, he was met by his superiors and adjutants, including a staff officer and Zherkov, who was sent twice and never reached Tushin’s battery. All of them, interrupting one another, gave and passed on orders on how and where to go, and made reproaches and comments to him. Tushin did not give orders and silently, afraid to speak, because at every word he was ready, without knowing why, to cry, he rode behind on his artillery nag. Although the wounded were ordered to be abandoned, many of them trailed behind the troops and asked to be deployed to the guns. The same dashing infantry officer who jumped out of Tushin’s hut before the battle was, with a bullet in his stomach, placed on Matvevna’s carriage. Under the mountain, a pale hussar cadet, supporting the other with one hand, approached Tushin and asked to sit down. “Captain, for God’s sake, I’m shell-shocked in the arm,” he said timidly. - For God's sake, I can't go. For God's sake! It was clear that this cadet had more than once asked to sit somewhere and was refused everywhere. He asked in a hesitant and pitiful voice. - Order him to be imprisoned, for God's sake. “Plant, plant,” said Tushin. “Put down your overcoat, uncle,” he turned to his beloved soldier. -Where is the wounded officer? “They put it in, it’s over,” someone answered. - Plant it. Sit down, honey, sit down. Lay down your overcoat, Antonov. The cadet was in Rostov. He held the other with one hand, was pale, and his lower jaw was shaking with feverish trembling. They put him on Matvevna, on the very gun from which they laid the dead officer. There was blood on the overcoat, which stained Rostov's leggings and hands. - What, are you wounded, darling? - said Tushin, approaching the gun on which Rostov was sitting. - No, shell-shocked. - Why is there blood on the bed? – Tushin asked. “It was the officer, your honor, who bled,” answered the artillery soldier, wiping the blood with the sleeve of his overcoat and as if apologizing for the uncleanness in which the gun was located. Forcibly, with the help of infantry, they took the guns up the mountain, and having reached the village of Guntersdorf, they stopped. It had already become so dark that ten steps away it was impossible to distinguish the uniforms of the soldiers, and the firefight began to subside. Suddenly, screams and gunfire were heard again close to the right side. The shots were already sparkling in the darkness. This was the last French attack, which was answered by soldiers holed up in the houses of the village. Again everyone rushed out of the village, but Tushin’s guns could not move, and the artillerymen, Tushin and the cadet, silently looked at each other, awaiting their fate. The firefight began to subside, and soldiers, animated by conversation, poured out of the side street.

War in the Middle East

Yakov Krotov: This episode of the program is dedicated to war and peace.

Our guest is Metropolitan Rafail Motovilov , who is also the Archbishop of Moscow (after all, a metropolitan is rather an administrative position, and an archbishop is a sacred one) and his assistant, secretary and bibliographer Olga Zagorodnyaya .

Vladyka Raphael has a dual attitude towards war. Firstly, he is a victim of hostilities waged against him by ill-wishers, mainly, as is now customary, on the Internet, because he is a bishop not of the Moscow Patriarchate, but of the truly Orthodox Russian Church, the Catacomb Church, and you can read anything about him to the point that he is involved in the occult, waking up, trampling on the crucifix and spitting on holy icons...

Rafail Motovilov: God forbid!

Yakov Krotov: Vladyka, this is now called an information war.

Rafail Motovilov: But some people make such terrible conclusions, of course, not out of purity of thoughts.

Bishop Raphael is engaged in healing the sick, and he is reproached for this

​Yakov Bishop Raphael is still involved in healing the sick, and he is also reproached for this. When Patriarch Nikon was overthrown, he treated people who came to him in captivity, and they also said that he was doing something that a bishop should not do, they accused him of witchcraft, and so on. But the entire Gospel, all the “Acts of the Apostles” are filled with stories of healings! There are accounts in Scripture of healing through the laying on of hands, and it is even described as a sign of real, deep faith. I don't have this gift. But in any case, I prefer a person from whom people leave healed, to a person from whom corpses are taken away.

Vladyka Raphael also has a different relationship to the war: he was a combat officer. As far as I understand, you are now a reserve colonel.

Rafail Motovilov: Retired colonel. This means that it is no longer any good. And in reserve - this is if it can still be used during the war.

Yakov Krotov: Vladyka Raphael was seriously wounded in 1984 in Syria. Did you become a believer after this?

The beginning of my search is precisely on the military path

​Rafail A person is what he really is, and any person must go through what he went through. My efforts, the difficulties that I carried through my career, allowed me to become the person you just described perfectly. But everything starts somewhere, and the beginning of my search is precisely on the military path. At one time I enjoyed studying the basics of military affairs and the things that I had to carry out. And I was good at it, since childhood I loved to do the work that was entrusted to me, well, diligently and completely.

By doing things well and thoroughly, I came to those difficult times in my life, which were in the 80s. I asked to go to Afghanistan at a time when there were already few volunteers for this terrible massacre, but our command decided differently, and I was sent to a country with a dry and hot climate, as was said in my direction. As always, I went there without thinking. There I met many people: Lebanese, Syrians, and representatives of other nationalities who inhabited and now inhabit this land, and at that time I formed a good opinion about them. It has survived to this day.

In 1984, it was unthinkable for a priest to come to you and bless weapons or some kind of launchers, but now this is done

​Yakov Over the past 25 years, something has happened that was unthinkable in the 80s, when you served in the army. In 1984, it was unthinkable for a priest to come to you and bless weapons or some kind of launchers, but now this is being done. I remember there was such a wave of anti-church indignation in the newspapers - how is it conceivable that the Metropolitan would consecrate a rocket called “Satan”? What's happening? Do you like this line of development?

Rafail Motovilov: Well, there is a contradiction here even in words, in terminology. If you look deeper, the circumstances of the destruction of people are sanctified.

Yakov Krotov: There are not many military saints in Russia. Perhaps only Alexander Nevsky is well known. Although now there is a temple on Lubyanka, in the back of the “Children’s World”, and there are entirely military icons there. But few people know that Saint Alexander Nevsky, before his death, became a monk, changed his name, became Alexy, and this is a gesture of repentance for his entire previous life, including what we call military exploits. When you experienced a meeting with God, did you have a feeling of a turning point and that you had to renounce everything related to military affairs?

Rafail Motovilov: The place where I felt myself: whether in the body, whether without the body, in that place, or in another place... I can only say that I really didn’t like the circumstance that I felt. Most likely, due to my beliefs at that time, I visited not the place that is called the place with God, but, probably, something slightly different, and maybe some kind of borderline. I heard from many people that they had been there and didn’t want to go back, but I didn’t want to stay there. And I prayed - perhaps for the first time in my life I so tearfully asked God for forgiveness. I felt that I was sinful, but how sinful I could not imagine. And the state that was there, the position that was highlighted there - I realized that I had no right to be anywhere else, only here. In this regard, I remembered everything and prayed, saying: “I will serve you, Lord, until the end of my last days, as you say. I entrust my will to you, Lord, and give me, Lord, the opportunity to correct the sins that I have committed.”

Yakov Krotov: In this sense, your fate is similar to the fate of the Catholic saint Ignatius of Loyola, who was a combat officer and was seriously wounded, so seriously that he was forced to leave the army. His spiritual conversion was associated with such an experience of despair, almost death, and the order that he created differed from all previous orders and monastic gatherings in such a military character in the sense of strict discipline - like the army of the Pope, first of all, unquestioning obedience. When I visit you occasionally, I have the feeling that you also have such an atmosphere. Olga Dmitrievna, do you have a military atmosphere or not?

We have an atmosphere around the ruler, the Moon-Sun, and we all listen to him, take his blessing

​Olga We have an atmosphere around the ruler, the Moon-Sun, and we all listen to him, take his blessing. Without the ruler, nothing will happen - I think so.

Yakov Krotov: The Catacomb Church is a common name for dozens and even, probably, hundreds of different Orthodox communities that live freely, often anarchically, autonomously. This has advantages - not being connected with the state, lack of hypocrisy, but there are also disadvantages, because there are a lot of adventurers and scoundrels like Ostap Bender, and members of the Catacomb Church often suffer from this. And the bishop, it seems to me, has a tough barrier.

Olga Zagorodnyaya: Internally, the ruler has this discipline, military training - everything is there. But in fact, he is a very kind person, he worries about everyone, and you can always approach him and ask him anything, ask for advice. He is like a friend to all of us, there is no such line when they are afraid to turn. There is no such thing as you say.

Yakov Krotov: How do you manage to maintain order and build the Church in conditions that are, to put it mildly, unfriendly and fight against adventurers?

Rafail Motovilov: I don’t understand the combination of words “church discipline”. I understand the words “respect and love for a person” and “building relationships with people”, whom I do not call my subordinates, but call comrades...

Yakov Krotov: Companions is a military word, lord.

I don't understand the combination of the words "church discipline." I understand the words “respect and love for a person”

​Rafail But a good word. This means standing together, shoulder to shoulder, and not allowing the enemy to find a gap through which to pass. And if everyone thinks so, then it will be a fortress.

If a person responds to my reasoning, to my disposition towards him, he is my person, about whom I show the care that he wants to see in relation to himself. I'm probably wrong in many ways...

Yakov Krotov: Well, you, Vladyka, are some kind of fake bishop! A bishop cannot say like that: “I’m wrong.” (laugh)

Olga Zagorodnyaya: He is simply an Orthodox person.

Yakov Krotov: And even any Orthodox sexton would never say that.

Rafail Motovilov: When they come to me and ask: “Vladyka, I want to be with you, I want to be with you,” I ask: “Write a little about yourself.” And the man writes. And then those who know him tell me: “He’s a drunkard, an alcoholic.” And the person may be in rank. And I ask him: “But they say about you that you drink alcohol, and immoderately; you, as people say, are an alcoholic.” - “What are you saying, never!” And I can't help but believe him. I believe him, I don’t believe the person who may be telling the truth. And we take it. But when it is revealed that he lied, in connection with this we part with him no longer because he is an alcoholic, but because he is a liar!

I prefer to believe that bishops fly than that a Christian can lie

​Yakov This reminded me of one Catholic saint of the 16th century, who was a weakling, thoughtful, and in the seminary everyone laughed at him. One day his classmates push him and say: “Look, the bishop is flying!” He raises his head, everyone starts laughing, and he says: “I prefer to believe that bishops fly than that a Christian can lie.” (laugh)

Vladyka, let's get closer to the hot topic. When you listen to news from Syria now, I think you remember what it was like.

Rafail Motovilov: I traveled a lot around Syria, saw many holy, Orthodox places not only in Syria, but also in Lebanon. I met with Druze, and with representatives of various other religious movements, including Christians, and visited churches. I was not yet a churchgoer at that time, for me it was just an internal interest, I was interested in listening, participating in worship, simply being imbued with the spirit that was present in these churches. I saw these buildings, these blooming gardens, people, optimistic, despite the fighting (then the Israeli invasion of Syria, into Lebanese territory, had just ended). I liked this optimism in them, and on the other hand, the desire to be in peace, in kindness, in honesty. I liked the good principles that I observed in them. I met with many military leaders, including major ones, and there was such a bit of self-praise...

Yakov Krotov: Is there no fanfare in the Russian army?

Rafail Motovilov: Of course, it happens. The desire to self-exalt is present in some people, perhaps even in many people.

Yakov Krotov: Fanfrontism as a kind of careerism, personal posturing or... After all, the way Hitler painted prospects for the Germans - to conquer half the world, this is no longer career fanfare, he was at the top of his career.

I don’t understand how you can make a career while serving your homeland, fatherland

Rafail I think this is more about career fanfare. No one will deny that there is a desire to get a higher position and title - they do not suffer from this. Everyone is suffering! And that's okay. Another thing is how this is achieved. One person wants to buy this, and in the penultimate time it was for gifts, for some handouts... I don’t understand how you can make a career while serving your homeland, your fatherland. They make a career out of this in a different way - through their devotion and deeds, through their official activities. I don’t know how it was, I was very rarely at home, I was always at the training ground and in the unit, and I received three out of five ranks ahead of schedule: captain, lieutenant colonel and colonel, and not because I was being nice to anyone. And such fanfare, if someone has it, is nothing to worry about.

Yakov Krotov: And if you had no desire to go to either Afghanistan or Syria, would the order be overridden? Is it possible today that a Russian soldier or military officer could refuse to go to Syria, Ukraine, Uganda, or somewhere else? To what extent is unquestioning obedience to orders and personal choice combined in the life of a military man?

Rafail Motovilov: It seems to me that in life every person makes a choice, and everyone chooses their own.

Yakov Krotov: We often see in newspapers, in the press, that people who visited Chechnya, for example, complain that they were underpaid and so on, the journalist asks: “But you could have refused?” And he says: “I couldn’t, because then they would have killed me.” He says he had no choice, he was forced to go.

Rafail Motovilov: I'm not talking about ordinary soldiers, but about the officer corps. A person could have entered some humanitarian or technical university, but he entered a military school.

Yakov Krotov: And left free will forever in a folder in the General Staff?

In life, every person makes a choice, and everyone chooses their own

​Rafail No, a person who makes such a choice chooses not only shoulder straps, but also his own life. He chose his future, his attitude, chose the slogan: “Who, if not us?” This is the core of his attitude to the situation in which he finds himself. Another thing is that there are different times: peaceful, difficult, revolutionary times, conflict situations, and at each time a person with the initial choice that he made, if you will, with an oath, is obliged to confirm his own choice, or not to confirm and leave. Nobody forbids a person to leave if he made a mistake in this choice. This happened with us, and when I was a cadet at a military school, and during my service in the early days. Well, things didn’t work out for the man, he wants to leave. And in peacetime the man did a lot of stupid and hateful things in order to get away: through the courts of the officer unit, and drinking, and so on...

Yakov Krotov: So, in order to leave, a person becomes an alcoholic? Can't he just write the paper and leave?

Rafail Motovilov: This was not accepted. I had to ruin my own career.

Yakov Krotov: What does it mean - accepted or not accepted?

Metropolitan Rafail Motovilov

​Rafail I don’t know, I didn’t understand what papers there were about this, but the Ministry of Defense was very reluctant to part with its officers. And not because there was little or a lot of something, but it was believed so, and I thought so, and probably did the same when I was a unit commander, the commander of a deployed regiment - there were 2 thousand officers and their wives, and all these conflicts had to be somehow resolved and conditions created so that there would be no slander.

In this sense, both the environment itself and the officer corps are a collective that helps people feel themselves, become themselves. This is the same as what is happening in the Church now. Many people come, completely different in their level of perception, and in their level of church involvement, and in their level of attitude towards family life, towards war, and so on. And if we find the right position, if we understand those people who want to serve God and not become spiritually depraved, God forgive me, then in this sense the collective can help people become different. That is, it is necessary that the desire that is present at the beginning no longer becomes a desire, but an action.

Yakov Krotov: This, Vladyka, is straight from Anton Semenovich Makarenko’s “Pedagogical Poem”...

Rafail Motovilov: But all this is done out of love! We want to keep people not because we like them, but because we dare to hope that we will help them, and they will take the path where they will become better.

The army is not to learn to be friends, to become a man, but to kill, this is the highest goal

​Yakov If we talk about the Church - amen, amen, amen. And war is such an activity... I remember the advertisement of American recruiting centers: “If you want to see the world, meet an interesting person and kill him, join our army.” The army is not in order to learn to be friends, to become a man, but in order to kill, this is the highest goal.

Olga Zagorodnyaya: Defend the fatherland, not kill. Defending the fatherland is the sacred duty of every citizen; this is why they join the army.

Yakov Krotov: Is the word “sacred” applicable to military service? After all, “sacred” is something that has to do with the creator, with prayer, with the worship of God. Theology gives us this definition. The sacred is that which is separated from people and given to God. A holy war is a war when all the weapons taken from the enemy are piled up instead of dividing them among the victors and burned, they are God's, they are forbidden to me, I do not take them. But a person who has dedicated himself to God, his will is with the Lord...

At the heart of any war lies the relationship between God and Satan

​Olga War is, first of all, a battle; the basis of any war is the relationship between God and Satan. Those who are on the side of God and those who are on the side of Satan are at war against each other. Why do wars start? Greed, envy... And even many historians write that many wars are based on the relationship between Christians, Christ and opponents of Christianity, so to speak.

Yakov Krotov: And many write that the basis of war is lust, the desire of a man to somehow incorrectly realize his masculine power. But then it all slides down to a subhuman, animal level, when some male deer fight with their antlers.

Olga Zagorodnyaya

​Olga Our military protect Christ!

Rafail Motovilov: I didn’t think that lust could be the basis of some serious military conflict, if we are talking about liberation wars.

Yakov Krotov: And from whom are we liberating Syria, Vladyka?

Rafail Motovilov: We are not liberating Syria for anyone. The current situation does not stand alone, but we have probably never seen such wars before.

Yakov Krotov: Well, Afghanistan - and there we helped the legitimate government, although we had previously overthrown a couple of governments.

Rafail Motovilov: Yes, first they overthrew, and then they helped. Here it is difficult for me to somehow categorically express my attitude. I was there and saw these people, I saw the leadership. We did not meet with Hafez al-Assad, but we were, if not friends, then very well acquainted with his political leadership at the ministerial level.

Yakov Krotov: Is Syria really the front line of the struggle, as Olga Dmitrievna said, between Christians and Muslims?

There has never been a question of persecution of Christians in Syria

​Rafail I don’t think that this is some kind of clash between Christianity and Islam, everything here is much more prosaic. It seems to me that there is oil here and everything connected with it. Perhaps I, as a clergyman, should not talk about this topic, but in Syria the question of the persecution of Christians has never arisen. Back then, in the early 80s, I didn't hear this. And on the part of the Syrian government, Orthodoxy and Christianity have never been persecuted, spread rot or humiliated. Temples were opened, Christians went and celebrated their holidays, there were pilgrimages, and so on.

I want to give an example not from Syria, but from Turkey. I went there on a pilgrimage at the invitation of the Turkish authorities, to the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra. We were strongly told: “You don’t wear priestly clothes, because the Turks don’t like it. Even local clergy do not wear priestly robes outside of worship." I said: “Well, how can I, being a metropolitan, wear a jacket? This is impossible!" And I always wore a cassock, a hood, and so on, even though it was hot. This temple of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was then in a miserable state (now it has been tampered with a little), however, we lived there for three days, and all this time we constantly had prayer, we held divine services there. We arrived there at 8 o’clock, and up to a thousand people met and saw us off when our delegation, 12-15 people, walked from the hotel to the temple. And it’s not like throwing a stone, but no one even said a bad word! They even tried to clap for us.

People respect a believer

People respect a believer. And they saw us as believers. The kindness and respect that they showed to us simply settled in me as a basis for reconsidering my attitude towards Islam. I have no contradiction towards them, as well as towards any other believer. No. If people want to believe that, for God's sake. It’s another matter when you get extremism, a desire to offend the inferior, to humiliate the weak - this is bad.

Yakov Krotov: Vladyka then lost his leg in Syria, if I’m not mistaken, and the second one was seriously wounded...

Rafail Motovilov: Both.

Yakov Krotov: You are like Maresyev - it’s impossible to guess!

I do my job the way the Lord wanted me to.

Rafail These words confuse me. I do my job the way the Lord wanted me to.

Yakov Krotov: And if you had done things like Maresyev, I would not have called you. I don't care at all what power you use to heal people. I think that God gives the power of healing, and Satan takes that power away. A person who flies a fighter or bomber and kills people is one thing... And my great embarrassment in connection with the current situation in Syria and yours then, in 1984, is that this is still a war, not a pilgrimage. Olga Dmitrievna said that there is the leading edge...

Olga Zagorodnyaya: No, I said theoretically what war is - this is the relationship between God and the Devil, this lies at the core. What matters is not who is fighting with whom, but who is pursuing what goals.

Yakov Krotov: The end justifies the means?

Olga Zagorodnyaya: Nothing like that! You can't say that.

Rafail Motovilov: No way! This is a completely demonic statement - “the end justifies the means.”

Yakov Krotov: This expression was attributed to the Jesuits.

Olga Zagorodnyaya: All the evil in the world comes from the Jesuits, by the way, that’s what they said before.

Russian involvement in the current war in Syria began by joining the campaign against the Islamic State.

​Yakov Russian participation in the current war in Syria began with joining the campaign against the Islamic State. So they may have destroyed the Arc de Triomphe in Palmyra (I have not yet seen a photograph of the destroyed arch, and I have reason not to trust such reports that are not supported by photographs). Well, let’s say that these opponents of Assad destroy ancient monuments (by the way, the fact that they are in such a dilapidated state - the same Palmyra and other monuments - is our, Orthodox work).

One and a half thousand years ago, we Orthodox Christians destroyed the pagan temples of Dionysus, Venus, and Artemis, because we considered it ungodly. Today we seem to have forgotten this. But we know that it was still there in Orthodoxy, and perhaps it has not gone away. We praise the Perm archbishops of the 15th century, who took an ax and chopped down the oak trees on which the Perm people hung offerings to pagan deities; we still believe that this was a good deed. According to the Gospel, the golden rule of ethics is to do to others what you want them to do to you, that is, know how to mirror the situation, know how to take the position of another, do not profess the morality “it’s good if I steal a cow, bad if they steal my cow.”

You talked about respect for Islam. Is Islam the same as you saw it in Syria? Do you only respect the Islam that claps its hands when you go to pray, or do you respect the Islam that can grab a saber, a sword, a machine gun and fight Russian soldiers?

This is a completely demonic statement - “the end justifies the means”

Rafail Your question contains the answer. I cannot agree with those perverts of Islam who gather people to kill.

Yakov Krotov: So you incorrectly extracted the answer from my question. You are against those Muslims who, as you see it, distort Islam because they begin to kill, and many Russian atheists are against Orthodox Christians who distort Orthodoxy when they also begin to kill under Orthodox slogans and go to defend Orthodoxy from the Islamic threat. When Russian volunteers went to Serbia 20 years ago, it was good, but when an Uzbek or Kyrgyz goes to defend Islam in Syria, for some reason it’s bad. Although, from the point of view of a religious scholar, these are absolutely identical actions.

Rafail Motovilov: We read the Bible, and there are many examples there that speak about this. There are people who arm themselves and seek to defend their fatherland, and there are people who go to seize it. And someone is right and someone is wrong.

Yakov Krotov: I feel that now I will begin to speak on behalf of atheists... All three great world religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - from a theological point of view (and they sometimes call themselves that), these are religions of the Bible, religions of the Book. Few of us Orthodox understand that Uraza Bayram is a holiday dedicated not to some event from the life of the Prophet Muhammad, but a holiday dedicated to the history of Abraham, remembering how Abraham was ready to sacrifice his only one in the name of faith and obedience to God. son, but instead of a son he was given a kid. And so, following Abraham, we sacrifice a kid - wonderful, the child survived! But this is a joyful event for both us, Orthodox, and Jews, so we have common origins. And then the atheist asks: how does a Muslim who wants to create his own “Islamic State” differ from the Jews who invaded Palestine, won a piece between Lebanon and the south and created their own state? They did not hide the fact that they were invaders, but this was the will of God, the Holy Scriptures speak about this. From the point of view of a Buddhist, a Chinese Confucian... He will not understand. Can you explain to him how the behavior of Joshua, who conquers Palestine, differs from the behavior of Alexander Nevsky, who conquers something for Russia, or from the behavior of an Arab, a Muslim, who conquers something for his Islamic community? Is this all aggression or what?

I cannot agree with those perverts of Islam who gather people to kill

Rafail The Lord said: “I came and brought a new commandment: love one another.” And we say: how to love You? Through those people who surround us? We say: service to God through service to man. And that’s right, it’s impossible any other way. How will I see your love? And you keep the commandments! After all, not a single commandment of ours speaks of murder or anything else that could bring death. Another thing is that He says: “There is no greater righteousness than to lay down your life for your friends.”

Yakov Krotov: I will still interrupt you on behalf of the angry listener. And who chooses friends? God showed us that Syria is a friend of Russia, and so let's? Laying down your life (after all, in the Gospel, soul is synonymous with life) for others is very good on paper, but we live in a ravine, where I choose my friends myself. It’s still a free choice to help this or that.

But with the army, Vladyka, something else really confuses me. After all, it was not you, Colonel, a subordinate person, as said in the Gospel (“they tell me - I’m coming,” as the centurion who came to the Savior said), who decided who was your friend and who was your enemy, but Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, apparently, personally decided and Comrade Ustinov, that “here are our friends.” It turns out that you, as a military man, were deprived of the first human right - to be friends and love at your own discretion, and loved the one whom Leonid Ilyich loves.

Rafail Motovilov: But you can love your neighbor, your wife, your fatherland, God, and these are multi-level concepts.

Yakov Krotov: Are “God” and “fatherland” different-level concepts?

Rafail Motovilov: Multi-level. I do not serve our state, I serve my fatherland.

Yakov Krotov: Is there a contradiction between the heavenly fatherland and the earthly fatherland? Is such a contradiction possible?

The Fatherland that I serve is the Fatherland that the Lord blessed, created, accepted, and I am called to defend this Fatherland

​Rafail No, perhaps. In my understanding, the fatherland that I serve is the fatherland that the Lord blessed, created, accepted, and I am called to defend this fatherland, His fatherland on earth.

Yakov Krotov: So, if necessary, you will pick up a sword and go?

Rafail Motovilov: For the fatherland that the Lord gave me.

Yakov Krotov: With a sword? Bishop? Back to Syria again, sir?

Rafail Motovilov: “Sword” is a complex concept. The Word of God is sharper than the sword.

Olga Zagorodnyaya: Whoever came to us with a sword will die by the sword.

Yakov Krotov: A sword would be welcome, but the ruler was in Syria not with a sword, but with something more massive.

Rafail Motovilov: I wasn’t there with a sword, I was a mentor, an adviser.

Yakov Krotov: This is even worse.

The Word of God is sharper than the sword

Rafail Of course, this is not great. But I taught them not to kill, but to do on the battlefield what I was taught. Maybe there is a small line between these concepts - killing and teaching to kill, but, nevertheless, I taught them to build defensive structures, to defend themselves. I was probably lucky, I was present there at a time when the acute actions had already passed and defensive circumstances began. I taught them not to move, but to hold the defense.