Temple rector
(The text is given according to the synodal edition of 1891) 1. The dean must ensure that churches are built with the holy altar facing the east; so that the iconostases in them are beautiful and decorated with icons of ancient Greek imagery; so that there is a lattice near the pulpit and iconostasis; so that the holy antimension is signed by the bishop who consecrated it, not dilapidated, not full of holes, not flooded, not faded; so that the garments and sacral on the throne and altar, vestments, surplices, vestments, stoles, armlets, oraries, and belts are not worn out, not torn, and not made of base material; so that the tabernacle, chalice, paten, star, spoon and proskomid saucers were silver, and the chalice inside was gilded, so that the vessel for the holy world was silver or crystal; so that in the church there are things used during holy baptism, such as: oil, scissors, a sponge and a twig for anointing those enlightened by holy baptism; so that in the church there should be a censer, a dill pot, a silver ladle for giving warmth, a bowl of water, a vessel for the blessing of bread, candlesticks, at least two, a table for blessing the bread and blessing of water; so that in the church there will be books necessary for the service of God, such as: the Altar Gospel, the Apostle, the Missal, the General and Festive Menaion, the Rules (Typikon), the Lenten and Colored Triodion (Pentikostarion), the Octoechos, the Psalter Following, the Book of Hours, the Great and Small Breviary , Irmology, Book of prayer songs, sermons. Finally, so that the churches themselves, both parish and cemetery, and their bell towers and building fences are strong; so that there are iron bars in the church windows, the locks on all church doors are secure, and there are guardhouses at the churches. The dean, if, in his opinion, something will not be replenished or corrected, the dean must report this to the diocesan authorities (see the chapter on church improvement).
Note.
It is very decent and useful for every church to have some books for the guidance of priests and for the instruction of parishioners, such as: the Bible, the Epistle of the Eastern Patriarchs on the Orthodox Faith, the works of the Holy Fathers, the Menaions and Prologues, Long and Short Catechisms and books for admonishing schismatics.
2. The dean must ensure that not only churches, but also bell towers, church and cemetery fences, gravestones and the very places in the fences are maintained in good order and cleanliness. There should not be any buildings near the church that could serve as a temptation and danger for churches, such as drinking houses, markets, baths, etc.
3. If churches are so dilapidated that they are leaning from rottenness, have a leak in the ceiling and threaten to fall, or at least with their dilapidation they make such a holy place indecent, then the dean must exhort the parishioners to make an effort to create a new church or correct the dilapidation and asked permission in writing to do so, and meanwhile the dean must report such churches to the diocesan authorities without delay.
4. If the number of parishioners of any church due to relocation or for any other reasons significantly increases or decreases, then the dean is obliged to report this to the diocesan authorities.
5. If a church burns down somewhere, the dean immediately informs about it, and meanwhile worries the parishioners so that they, without delay, try to build the church again and ask permission to do so, moreover, convince them to build churches predominantly of stone, for durability and for for their own benefit.
6. When permission is given to build a church somewhere, the dean must see to it that the church is built and decorated in accordance with the given bishop’s charter and in accordance with the decorum of other holy churches, and insist that the construction of the church continue without delay, and if this is followed by a stop , then report about it. After the construction of the temple, having made an inventory of the church building, iconostasis, all church utensils, sacristy, books and other things that are necessary for the church, as shown above, submit along with a request from the parishioners for permission to consecrate the newly created temple.
7. The dean is obliged to diligently observe that priests, deacons and clergy, and especially priests, live honestly, sedately, meekly, peacefully and are reverent in correcting their positions; It is also strictly necessary to ensure that they do not go to any more or less shameful houses, and that they do not play any games in their houses, but that in their houses they lead a sedate, sober, edifying life and befitting the houses of the servants of the holy altar. And if someone noticed something indecent to the clergy, then immediately report it to the diocesan authorities without any closure.
Note.
In each deanery district, the clergy and church clerks elect a common confessor from priests distinguished by spiritual reasoning, enlightenment and honest life, and the chosen one is presented for approval by the diocesan bishop.
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10. The dean must ensure that the priests in rural churches, except on Sundays, holidays and highly solemn days, perform the Divine Liturgy as often as possible, especially on Lent, they do not omit the presanctified liturgies; in single-venue city churches - certainly three times a week, even if there were no solemn and holiday days during this period, in two-state churches - four, and in four-state churches - daily (for the service of prayers, see the section on prayers).
11. If any of the clergy and clergy or persons and not from the clergy of the church, more than aspirations, violated the decorum in the temple of God and caused temptation, confusion, a stop in worship or a complete cessation with words or actions
The dean immediately reports this, as well as all other important incidents in the church, to the diocesan authorities.
12. The dean observes that the clergy do not serve in quarrels and enmity without reconciliation. He is obliged to reconcile those at war, and if unsuccessful, report them to the diocesan bishop.
13. The dean ensures that deacons and clerics attend services and corrections according to the priest’s summons without delay, and that the deacons serve with preparation on Sundays and holidays.
14. The dean supervises that the spare Holy Gifts
were kept in churches on the holy altars in silver arks, and, if necessary, in tin arks, and instructs the priests to often inspect whether this shrine has been damaged in any way, and in their homes they did not keep spare Holy Gifts, and when need calls for parish houses for the sake of communion of the sick with the Holy Mysteries, they, the priests, would walk with the honor due to such a sacrament, they would wear them on their chests, in monstrances designed for this purpose and vaginas made of decent material.
15. The dean ensures that Baptism is performed in church and certainly in the presence of deacons and clergy, unless some particularly blessed reason sometimes requires that a baby be baptized in the house; Babies should be baptized during the winter in water that is not very cold, so as not to cause any harm to the baby’s health (see the section “Baptism”).
16. The dead should not be allowed to stand in the church for more than a day, and then unless necessary, but after being brought, immediately, with a funeral service, they should be buried where it is legal.
17. The dean must, according to his prudence and as God instructs him, give, if he finds it necessary, instructions to the priests on how to confess their spiritual children, how to bind and loose the human conscience.
18. The dean is obliged to ensure that priests do not solemnize illegal marriages, which are recognized as marriages: a) in certain degrees of carnal or spiritual kinship and property; b) marriages of persons who have not reached civil, much less church age, or, on the contrary, elderly people or those of whom one person is young and the other is old; children under a certain age without the will of their parents or guardians or, conversely, under someone else’s coercion.
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20. The dean must ensure that the service of God is performed reverently, not hastily, and that nothing is read or sung in two voices; so that the clergy are correct in reading and singing; do not allow arbitrary chants in the church based on notes not approved by the clergy.
Processions of the Cross
21. It is by no means allowed to hold processions of the cross again, or to build them again without the permission of the authorities of the chapel.
1. Processions of the cross are supposed to take place on the days of Epiphany and the Origin of the Honest Trees - August 1 (Typikon); In addition, it is the general practice of the Church to make a procession of the cross on the water on the day of Mid-Pentecost. There are also religious processions established by the local diocesan authorities.
2. Processions of the cross can also be carried out at the request of special circumstances, for example, in fields during rainlessness, in the vicinity of cities and villages during an earthquake, pestilence, pestilence, etc.
3. Public prayer during drought and “lack of life” and on the occasion of other public disasters should be performed with caution (decree of the Holy Synod of 1736 on July 9, 1873 on May 31), usually with the knowledge of the diocesan bishop, and can be combined with a public fast (decree of the Holy Synod of 1736, March 17). This rule was due to historical conditions, but is currently not in force.
4. But the almost universal practice is that clergy perform public prayers in their churches and parishes in cases of special manifestation of God’s rebuke (endemic illnesses, lack of knowledge, etc.), according to the rites indicated for these cases in the Book of Prayer Songs, without asking special permission to perform these prayers just in case, but only the time of their performance must be reported to the diocesan bishop.
5. Holy icons are allowed to be transferred from churches to homes at will, but not otherwise than in the hands or in another appropriate way and without loud singing in the streets.
6. Priests must perform processions of the cross and carry holy icons according to church regulations at the appointed time, with reverence and silence, with intelligible reading and singing, without haste or confusion and without arbitrary changes and innovations.
7. During religious processions, clergy are forbidden to talk to each other and bow to acquaintances (decree of the Holy Synod of 1830, April 28).
22. The dean observes that on the days of the Nativity of Christ and on Holy Week and on church holidays, priests with the life-giving cross go to the houses of their parishioners who wish it with clergy honestly and reverently.
23. It is necessary that priests on Sundays and holidays in church should teach people, reading them sermons approved by the Holy Synod at the Liturgy, and at Matins some of the Prologues and other holy books, as well as the Catechism, interpreting it to the parishioners if possible, and which priests and deacons studied in schools, they would often preach sermons on their own and thus would do honor to their rank and benefit Christians. And whoever preaches how many sermons should notify the diocesan authorities in the clergy register, so that they can distinguish the diligent from the lazy (see “Rules and advice concerning preaching”).
24. Priests, deacons and clerics should know the Catechisms by heart, the former long, and the latter short, and often read their assigned letters and organize their lives according to them; the letters must be kept in the church.
25. Deacons and clerics must honor their priest as the rector of the church and their teacher, also obey him and not insult him in word or deed, and if they were offended by him in any way, they would complain to the dean, and if they wish, to the diocesan authorities, and were awaiting a decision (see Instructions to the abbot § 1).
26. The priest should not offend the deacon and the clergy and should not withhold their income and should not dare to beat them, and if they were found to be faulty or disobedient against him, complain to the dean or diocesan authorities.
27. The priest can fine the deacon and the clergy in private and in front of others with reprimands, in addition to the clergy and bows in the church, and if by these measures they do not come to their senses and do not correct themselves, report to the dean.
28. The dean must confirm to the priests and deacons that they are not self-seeking and impudent and therefore do not solicit payment from parishioners for any demand, and especially do not make an agreement with them, but are content with voluntary alms.
29. I must also confirm that clergy and clergy should not go to visit anyone without being called, and only honest people should go to houses when called; so that they make friends with similar priests, deacons and clerics, and not with everyone indiscriminately; for the clergy, especially those who are venerable by the sacred rank, must behave sedately and thus lead others to honor themselves. In addition, the dean must observe that the clergy do not bring their wives and other strangers into the house of parishioners during spiritual needs, strictly observe that the clergy live in accordance with their rank, do not riot, do not use abuse, which exposes the one who uses it of gross ignorance and depravity of heart , would not be engaged in playing cards and other games indecent to the clergy, would not interfere in worldly affairs, in their free time from worship and household economic activities would be engaged in reading spiritual books in their homes, but would not at all engage in reading seductive books; observe whether the clergy themselves adhere to schism, superstition and heresy, and whether they raise children in the fear of God.
30. Observe about widowed clergy, so that women who are not permitted by the apostolic and conciliar rules are not kept with them under any circumstances.
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32. Supernumerary and unplaced priests and clergy should not be allowed to perform any corrections of demands, except in those cases when the real priest becomes ill or dies or is absent, and the demand cannot be delayed.
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35. The dean, having received notification of the death, removal or transfer of a priest, immediately goes to that parish and, having verified the church property, the amounts on documents and church affairs, transfers them to the newly appointed priest or, until his appointment, to the local clergyman with the church warden. The same applies in the event of the removal or death of a church warden. If there is something missing and no one agrees to fill the missing thing, the dean, indicating the missing thing and the value of the missing thing and the culprit for its loss, informs the bishop.
36. The dean must induct a newly promoted priest into office.
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38. The dean must ensure that priests, deacons and psalm-readers wear clothes appropriate to the clergy, namely: priests and deacons in dark-colored cassocks, and clergy in a dress of a cut suitable for the clergy.
39. The dean carefully delves into all the instructions he receives from his superiors, compiles a guideline from them for himself and carries them out exactly in a timely manner, in the literal sense, without making his own interpretations and conjectural conclusions, and resolves the bewilderment of the priests and clergy himself; in case of personal doubts, seeks permission from the Eminence.
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41. Priests should not perform services in someone else’s parish. This is allowed to them only in the event of illness of the local priest or his legal absence, but not without the invitation of the local clergy. They are also allowed to perform baptism and admonish the sick with the Holy Mysteries
and bury the deceased.
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43. Supervise the church elders, so that no expenses are incurred without the knowledge of the priest, and large ones and without the consent of the parishioners. Ensure that those elected to church elders are honest people who have not been fined or tried.
44. The dean, reviewing the churches and clergy, audits the state of church documents and reports the consequences to the bishop, reports on those who have joined the Orthodox Church from the schism and other faiths.
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46. The dean, visiting churches, must exhort the parishioners to regularly, out of Christian duty, confess the Holy Mysteries
they communed and, especially on Sundays and holidays, came to the temple of God, leaving their work, and lived honestly, according to the Gospel commandments.
47. The dean must report to the diocesan authorities about the state of the churches entrusted to him.
48. The dean must oversee the education of children, inspire parishioners that they either themselves (if they can) teach their children the basic rules of faith and piety, or give them for training to priests and clergymen, who, for their part, should make an effort to do so every effort.
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50. He has the power, in the absence of his church due to his position, to entrust the priesthood and correction of services to one of the priests subordinate to him, whomever he pleases.
51. For summonses and dispatches, the dean always has with him one of the clerks assigned to him on a weekly basis; and when a lot of things happen, he can take another one. For writing, he may require one of the deacons.
Note.
The dean is appointed, dismissed from office and subjected to discipline only as determined by the bishop.
52. The dean is elected from among the most worthy priests and appointed by the bishop to preserve order in the Church and service in its servants, for the benefit of Christians and for the glory of God.
“I realized that I couldn’t leave the parish even for a day.”
– What responsibilities does the abbot’s ministry entail? – When you are the rector of two parishes, you feel a constant internal mobilization: the phone is always on, someone will ask for communion, someone wants to confess. Often you have to come to confess a person before death, to admonish the dying, to see them off on their last journey. The only trouble is that relatives, unfortunately, sometimes hold out until the last minute, when they have to do everything in a hurry. In such a fast pace, it is impossible to calmly prepare a person for the transition to another life. When you are the rector of two parishes, you feel constant internal mobilization. It happened like this: I went to pick up my mother from an Orthodox boarding house, and then they called me and informed me that a person was dying in our village and we urgently needed to give him communion. I ask: “Where have you been before?” They answer: “We were afraid to scare our grandfather: we would invite a priest to him, and he would think that we were preparing him for death, seeing him off on his last journey.” By the grace of God, I managed to do it then, but this was a lesson to me that you cannot leave the parish for a long time, even for a couple of days, you need to be somewhere nearby all the time, be prepared for such cases.
And another conclusion: if you want to restore the church and lead an active parish life, you cannot go with the flow, you need to constantly take the initiative, come up with and conduct various youth events, and actively participate in them yourself. In a large metropolis, after serving, you can be free or do parish affairs, but if you come to a store or walk down the street, they won’t always recognize you, they won’t always say: “Hello!” But here in the village, everyone knows you. And they treat you accordingly. And greetings and signs of attention impose a special responsibility on the rector of a rural parish. Both his appearance and his internal state must be special: he must set an example for others.
“You should always set yourself a maximum program”
– What are your future plans? – Further plans are to restore the temple. Not only the external appearance of the temple, not only painting the walls, restoring the iconostasis, restoring the bell tower, but also restoring full-fledged temple life. After all, 2,000 people live in the village of Nikonovskoye, which is a large village even by the standards of the Moscow region, but very few people come to the temple. Even on major holidays 100 people come, on Easter – 150 people, this is very little. Out of 2000, even if 1500 of them are Orthodox, wear a cross, at best 100 people go to church, and no more than 50 regularly.
To restore the temple, it is necessary to restore liturgical and liturgical life - this is precisely my task. And I would like to bring the territory of the temple into a beautiful appearance, especially since I have before my eyes a living example of the history of the restoration of the Sretensky Monastery, the beautiful Vladimir Cathedral; before my eyes a new seminary building was being built, before my eyes the Cathedral of the New Martyrs and Confessors on the Blood was being built on Lubyanka - and all this is not only an example, but also an incentive and gives strength. I think this: if Bishop Tikhon succeeds, then through the prayers of the brethren of the monastery, the bishop, dear readers and subscribers, with God’s help, I will succeed. You must always set yourself a maximum program in order to accomplish at least something. We were given a building that needs to be restored and put in order: the roof is leaking, the floors are destroyed, but in itself it is still strong. And we would like to make it a pilgrimage center, a large Sunday school, and a center for working with youth. When the temple began to take on its proper appearance, when we installed the dome on the temple and the cross, the residents perked up and began asking whether the temple would continue to be restored (then there was some hitch, some problems). It is very happy to see that the village residents care about our temple.
“You need to learn to ignite people with energy”
– What problems and difficulties did you have to face? “At first, people were very suspicious of me. There were few parishioners. So, there was not a single man in the temple, it was very difficult to find a local altar server. And the altar servers who were before me at this parish, for some reason, left their obedience; others, for various reasons, cannot enter the altar. There are other problems, all of them are connected with the fact that people do not perceive the temple as a place of common prayer to God, as a shrine of the village, as a common property; everyone treats the temple as a kind of private project, as an organization that is in no way connected with their personal lives. But the life of every village resident, be he a believer or an atheist, cannot be outside the church, cannot be in any way unconnected with the Church. The vast majority of residents have been baptized, and all of them will have funeral services in our church. Many of them are regular parishioners. But the service is over, you need to clean the temple, and the same people remain - three or four grandmothers, who diligently clean the temple as far as their health allows, clean the candlesticks, wash the floors... The rest disappear.
So we organized a Sunday school, believing that children should definitely receive communion at the Liturgy, and organized meals for children, breakfasts for students, although this was expensive for the parish, and we encountered some kind of alienation from parents. Usually they bring small children to church, give them communion and try to leave the church as soon as possible, go about their business, and take care of their everyday problems. We were asked: “How long will Sunday school classes last? Can I go for a walk somewhere while classes are going on?” And all our requests and proposals for parents to organize breakfast themselves, to happily come to class, to bring their children, to invite friends, do not meet with a response. Of course, all this is my responsibility and my obedience, but still, the life of the community is the participation of every parishioner in it, and without the response of parishioners, the full life of the community is impossible. So these are the problems: the coldness of the parishioners, their non-participation or little participation in the life of the parish.
Although now there have been some changes. Thus, a Sunday school teacher devotes his day off to teaching children. But there is still a lot of work to be done; we need to learn how to ignite people with energy, service to the Church, to God.
Seminar lessons
– What did Sretensky Seminary and the monastery give and teach you? – Looking back, remembering the joyful years of studying at the seminary, being within the walls of the Sretensky Monastery, you understand that the seminary and the monastery laid a strong foundation and the basis for all the best that I can do now. Seminary taught me to trust God. It often happened that it was necessary to devote a lot of time to educational subjects, and this time was not enough. And I thought: when will I have time to do everything? The seminary taught me how to manage time correctly. Be happy that you have time to do everything, thank God. Well, the main thing that seminary life taught me was to understand other people and communicate correctly with each other. “Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). All the guys from different parts of not only Russia, but also the world lived together at the seminary. We confessed together, received communion, and performed various obediences. One way or another, whether you like it or not, you become more sociable, more compassionate, and begin to feel people. This was partly facilitated by the fact that there was often a change in environment: one year you live in the same cell, communicate closely with the same people, the next year you live with other seminarians, often not even from your course - and this teaches proper communication, mutual understanding, somewhere mutual compromises, and somewhere some kind of strength of character. This is what immediately comes to mind when remembering the seminary.
Sretensky Monastery helps me even now. I can always come to the monastery, I will always be welcome here, both the bishop and the dean, and the brethren. People are always invited to take part in services on important holidays of the monastery. It is a great honor to serve at Sretensky Monastery. The monastery and seminary gave me friends. We still communicate and share experiences. Many are now rectors and are in a more difficult situation, because they serve in distant dioceses. Many people help our parish out of old friendship. I would especially like to remember Father Andrei Tikhonov. When I was in my first year, he was in his fifth, he helped me in every possible way, gave advice, we communicated closely. Then they began to see each other less often. But when I became rector, he came to visit me, and we served together. He saw that my vestments were very shabby and gave me a new vestment. Being responsible for youth ministry in the Eastern Vicariate of the Moscow Diocese, he came with the youth to work for the benefit of our parish.
Guys also came from several Moscow churches, including from the church where I went as a child, where I taught Sunday school for some time, guys from the “Forty Forty” movement. We met them, and after some time they came again, having already gathered themselves. I especially remember this second visit - I have already spoken about it: for their arrival, I gathered local youth, schoolchildren, and, having worked together, the visiting children were able to leave the locals for worship.
Turn your heart to people
– Is the strength of the abbot enough to unite a strong community, or are assistants needed? – The abbot cannot cover everything, because physically one person is not enough to do everything. By the grace of God you succeed in some things and not in others. That's why we need helpers. So that, while helping the rector, they themselves participate in parish life. This is the cohesion of the community: when the community itself proposes some events, participates in their organization, and conducts them. If you do everything yourself, then, firstly, it may be out of pride, and secondly, it is ineffective to take everything upon yourself. Even to organize a meal after the service, we plan in advance the number of products where we will celebrate some church holiday - all this is decided by the most active parishioners, who, of course, exist, but we would like there to be more of them.
Together we renovated the parish building, carried out cosmetic repairs, putty on the walls, hung wallpaper, installed a new stove, benefactors installed windows for us in the church - I could not have done all this alone. But there is also another problem: some parishioners are especially zealous about their service and do not allow other parishioners to get close to the activities of the community. This is due to the fact that here we have a village, there are some intra-village problems, relationships, everyone knows each other, conflicts once arose between someone or are now arising... But, of course, the temple should reconcile people and not be a place for contention. – Can you clearly outline the methodology of the abbot’s work with the community? What is important to pay attention to first? – It will not be easy to outline the methodology of the abbot’s work with the community; I will only list those aspects that I myself pay attention to. The first place in working with the community is occupied by confession and communication with parishioners during worship. You can confess coldly, you can simply read a prayer of permission, you can talk with a person - and for this you need to organize confession in advance, before the start of the service, and strive to ensure that parishioners come in advance if they want to talk with the priest. Stay after the service to talk with parishioners.
After all, you can even teach the application of a cross in different ways: you can simply give a cross, or at the same time you can address everyone with one or two words, smile at someone, congratulate them on the holiday especially heartily... And the sincerity of the abbot is also very important. The community feels very strongly if you do something formally or coldly. And when you treat people as family, as your brothers and sisters in Christ, you receive a return, you receive the same attitude in return. When fatigue takes its toll or reluctance to do something, then the warm attitude of the parishioners towards you as a shepherd or rector disappears.
