How Patriarch Alexy 2 died: the circumstances of the death of His Holiness

Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II died on December 5, 2008 from a heart attack. Before this, he had already suffered two heart attacks and was seen by a cardiologist. Almost 100 thousand people came to say goodbye to the elder. Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev expressed the idea that the patriarch could have been saved if doctors had been called in a timely manner, but his words were rejected.

At the end of 2008, the death of Patriarch Alexy 2 became a heavy loss for the Russian Orthodox Church. His Holiness was preparing to celebrate his 80th birthday next February and had no intention of dying. Alexei Mikhailovich Ridiger (that was the name of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in the world) took holy orders in the middle of the last century. The patriarch devoted the rest of his life to clergy, and in 2000 he ascended the throne of the Russian Orthodox Church.

A few days before his death, Alexy II returned from Germany, where he was undergoing treatment. What was the cause of death? After all, until the very last minute of his life, the patriarch was in satisfactory condition and did not even refuse interviews to correspondents.

Death message

An hour before noon, on December 5, 2008, the head of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate, Vladimir Vigilyansky, announced the sudden death of the patriarch. The Vladyka’s place of exodus was his own residence, not far from the village of Peredelkino. According to the staff, Alexy II went to the bathroom to wash his face at about 7 am. Closer to 8:00, the patriarch did not come out for the ordered breakfast.

Concerned employees went to check on His Holiness's chambers, but found the doors to the bedroom closed. During the inspection of the chambers through the street windows, it was discovered that the old man was most likely in the bathroom. Alexy does not respond to offers of help.

Security was immediately called, whose employees managed to break down the door. Vladyka was found lying on the bathroom floor. The body was already cooling down. The arriving doctors had no choice but to declare the patriarch’s death from a heart attack.

The death of Patriarch Alexy is a string of state secrets

Modernity is surprising. We even know much more about the death of Buddha than about the death of Alexy 2nd, Patriarch of All Rus'. But before Buddha, like before the stars, we are separated by great times and distances. And the Primate, our contemporary, died in the epicenter of a civilization oversaturated with CCTV cameras and metropolitan people. But he gave his soul to God in such an unusual way that to this day the public is speculating as to who sent him to the next world - illness or a team of killers. At the same time, the most implausible version, as expected in post-Soviet Rus', turned out to be the official version, the most deceitful of all, which stated that the patriarch died of heart failure. The head of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate blatantly lied, as befits the head of one or another officialdom. But even before the scandal began, the intelligentsia was shocked by three astonishing facts: For the first time in the history of Orthodoxy, a patriarch was buried with his face covered. For the first time, the public did not see the medical expert’s conclusion and did not hear the statements of the doctors and close friends who cared for Alexia. It was as if death had befallen not a public figure in the capital, but a lonely Robinson on a distant uninhabited island. For the first time in the history of Orthodoxy, the successor of the Primate, Metropolitan Kirill, spoke joyfully about the death of the head of the Orthodox Church, with undisguised satisfaction. The new patriarch had no doubt that death was not an irreparable loss, but a great success for all Orthodox Christianity.

The great wisdom of Karamzin - “nothing is new under the sun” - failed. There were too many of these unpleasant and mysterious “firsts.” Hardline orthodoxies, on top of everything else, added their own: they believed that under this patriarch the church for the first time turned its face to ecumenism, which it had despised for many centuries.

So, in December 2008, a full member of the Russian Academy of Education passed away, who did nothing for public education, an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts, who did not draw a single picture, a doctor of theology, who could not express himself beautifully and did not create a single worthwhile philosophical treatise. His strange death would have been accompanied by deathly public silence, like, for example, the death of any general secretary of Soviet times, if the silence had not been broken by the cry of Stanislav Sadalsky: “The Patriarch was killed!” This indignation of the famous actor became that fatal pebble thrown from the mountain, which gave rise to an information avalanche. And the famous deacon, Andrei Kuraev, appears again on the public platform, who all his life explained to the inquisitive public “what is really going on in the church.” But in fact there was no heart attack. The deacon voiced his own version, very far from the official one. They say that the old man lost coordination of movements, fell and hit the back of his head on the corner of a chair. And then everything was like in the song about King Henry: “From this blow, blood spurted out of the veins, and the old Primate died as he lived.” Kuraev believed that by falling on a chair, you could cut your wrists. And this version was completely useless. It immediately became clear that the deacon did not have to study biology and compromising materials. Even a child knows that wooden chairs have rounded corners and it is impossible to cut yourself on them. Veins are durable tissues. It is possible to cut the vein only if the patriarch's residence had iron chairs with razor-sharp corners. Which is much more incredible than all the voiced versions. I was also struck by another detail, which was told by the famous theologian: bloody traces from the patriarch’s hands remained on the walls of the room. Apparently, the man fought for life, was in agony, and did not die immediately. And the lies of Vigilyansky, the head of the Press Service, finally became obvious. People don't die from a heart attack in a big pool of blood. The only sad thing was that the truth-loving Kuraev was also little informed. He did not present evidence - photographs of bloody marks on the wall, for example. In presenting his hypotheses, he was guided by rumors, but rumors, apparently, more reliable than those that multiplied in the press. One got the impression that it was not the patriarch who died, but a resident of a foreign intelligence service, killed by someone unknown and when. It's not good to lie. Even atheists will not dispute this. But the desire to look beautiful and majestic gave rise to a diametrically opposite result. The lies of the patriarchate gave rise to many rumors and, most importantly, disrespect for the highest church leadership. People racked their brains over the simplest questions. Indeed, where exactly did Alexy die - in an accident, in the bathroom or in the toilet? In the end they found out: in the toilet. But can't we say this right away? Even a righteous person can die in the restroom; this is not a crime; in Heaven they are judged for other actions. The press service cannot understand that true greatness is not generated by beautiful lies and gold leaf, but by sincerity and the bitter truth. Apparently, the church officialdom long ago forgot how to tell the truth, even under Comrade Brezhnev. But there were other simple questions that remain a sealed secret to this day. When Sadalsky stated that there were as many as three holes in the unfortunate man’s head (according to the assurances of the priests and police officers who trusted him), no one began to refute this. Although it would not be difficult to refute the actor: the press service could publish a high-quality photograph of the deceased, for example. But the patriarchy did not do this. One acted in the diametrically opposite way: she buried Alexy with her face covered. Which was contrary to tradition and strengthened the terrible rumors. It's easy for master make-up artists to disguise three bullet holes. But one got the impression that it was impossible to disguise the damage to the skull, as if they had not shot at the patriarch’s head, but hit it with a sledgehammer. Some people who knew the patriarch well even doubted that Alexy’s body lay in the coffin. They saw that the hands of the dead man were not the hands of the deceased patriarch. They did not have the characteristic freckles, but had dirty, uncut nails, something that a true Primate could not have had. It is unlikely that such statements are true, but it is also impossible to refute them at the moment. It is amazing that the Soviet people were intimidated to such an extent that no one had the courage in Peredelkino: not a single person could approach the dead man to kiss his forehead. This is precisely tradition, not covering one’s face. The church leadership, serving not Christ, but his enemies, has achieved its goal: total fear has turned people into puppets. Kissing on the forehead is not a criminal offense, however, everyone was afraid to commit this gesture. Literary and cinematic masterpieces tirelessly educate, show the heroism of both great heroes and ordinary people who find themselves in a critical situation, but all church and school pedagogy failed: fear turned out to be the winner at this funeral. The Church has reforged people not into servants of God, but into slaves of the emperor and the KGB. And yet, not everyone was able to be intimidated. Stanislav Sadalsky tried to uncover the secret of Alexy’s poor health. It wasn't always bad. The illness began suddenly in Astrakhan. A confidential source from Alexy’s entourage told the actor that during a trip to the Astrakhan diocese, something happened that surpasses any fantasy. Theodosius of Pechersk himself, the same great monk who lived in the 11th century and was one of the founders of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, came to the fully healthy Primate. His words struck like thunder the main church bigwig serving the KGB. Theodosius, looking sternly at Ridiger, declared that he and many of his brothers had long ago stopped serving God and began to serve the devil. That Rus' has long had no rulers, but only crooks. And retribution - fiery Gehenna - is not far away. It was from this moment, according to Stanislav, that “affairs of the heart” began - heart attacks and hospitalization of the patriarch. Everyone is free to believe or not believe the actor. Because it is impossible to refute such information. Anything is possible. But if this information is true, then the patriarch’s behavior is quite understandable. It is possible that Alexy himself began little by little to believe that what he saw was not a hallucination, but a vision of a real saint. In this case, his reaction is predictable: Alexy tried to do something good for the church and the people in order to avoid hellish torment. Religion has ceased to be a fun and profitable game for him, where he needs to be an actor on the church stage: swing a censer and flirt with ghouls. He suddenly felt the terrible breath of hell under his feet. The unfortunate man suddenly felt the approach of inevitable retribution for betrayal, for being a leading cog in political monsters. This undermined his psyche and health. And Alexy made a decision: to do something heroic and holy at least once in his life. Perhaps he tried to return to the Orthodox people the shrines “privatized” by Metropolitan Kirill in July 2008, when journalist Vasily Lipsky in the Kommersant newspaper demanded an account of why no one saw these priceless things after they were removed from the royal treasuries of the Kremlin . But another situation is also possible: we will never know about the true actions that led to death. It is impossible to go over to the side of Christ without pain. Demons don't like defectors. Just like everyone else. There are many secrets in this story. For example, the public has no idea where two people disappeared: a personal driver and a nun who served the monk. Maybe a whole group of people had to be buried. But all the remaining dead were not so famous, and therefore only Alexy was buried in the church.

But no one even hinted at the most important mystery. Who was the capital actually burying: a KGB officer who played the role of the patriarch, or a Primate who was hanging on a hook from the powerful demons? Was he a Patriarch from the point of view of Heavenly Orthodoxy, from the point of view of the holy inhabitants of heaven? This is the main question, the answer to which we do not know. Be that as it may, martyrdom allows one to get rid of a significant portion of the torment prescribed for the sinner. This is a kind of redemption. Let's hope that Alexy will one day reach the heavenly abodes.

Heart disease of Patriarch Alexy II

The official version of the death of Alexy II is a heart attack. Indeed, His Holiness, the bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, had serious complications with blood pressure and the heart muscle. He suffered two heart attacks and was regularly monitored by cardiologists. And literally two months before his death, Alexey Mikhailovich suffered clinical death and cardiac arrest. But German doctors got the clergyman back on his feet.

Actor Stanislav Sadalsky publicly expressed his version of the murder of the patriarch. But his statements were considered seditious and groundless. However, a serious scandal broke out.

New in blogs

At the beginning of the week, Russian media reported that on October 28, Patriarch of All Rus' Alexy II suffered a heart attack, and doctors also suspected a microstroke. He became ill during an archpastoral trip to the Astrakhan diocese. The doctors managed to provide him with qualified assistance, and on Tuesday the patient was transported to Moscow - to the Central Clinical Hospital. Media representatives immediately connected the patriarch’s illness with his experiences of the latest tragic events in Moscow. However, few people know what actually caused the impact.

Information about what actually happened in Astrakhan with the patriarch came to us from a confidential source close to Alexy. Perhaps this information will shed light on the true reasons for Alexy’s sudden illness. Well, who really, of those who know the composure of the patriarch, will believe in the official version.

Let us remember that when the White House was shot up in 1993, Ridiger endured it quite calmly, and he also experienced other equally dramatic events completely serenely. This time, according to our source, the true cause of the attack was a certain vision that visited and shocked the patriarch.

What Alexy saw before he had a stroke, he confessed to several people around him, shortly after the vision, several hours before his health began to deteriorate sharply. Moreover, what struck the patriarch most of all was the supernatural fact itself, for, according to the source, Alexy, despite his high church rank, perceives religion more as a tradition and ritual than actually believes in anything.

However, in a vision that unexpectedly visited the patriarch, a certain handsome old man appeared in a monastic robe, calling himself abbot Theodosius of Pechersk (as is known, this abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, who lived in the 11th century and stood at the origins of Orthodoxy in Rus', was revered by believers during his lifetime as wonderworker, and after his death he was recognized as a saint). Saint Theodosius stood right in front of the patriarch; there was no anger in his bright, piercing eyes, but a cruel reproach was noticeable. Alexy conveyed verbatim what he heard from the elder abbot. “You and many of your brothers have fallen away from God and fallen to the devil,” said the saint. “And the rulers of Rus' are not rulers, but crooks.” And the church condones them. And you should not stand at the right hand of Christ. And fiery torment awaits you, gnashing of teeth, endless suffering, until you come to your senses, you damned ones. The mercy of our Lord is limitless, but the path to salvation through the atonement of your countless sins is too long for you, and the hour of answer is near.” After these words, the vision disappeared, leaving Ridiger completely numb, who had never experienced anything like this, moreover, he was always skeptical about reports of all kinds of miracles.

Soon after this, the patriarch became ill. Those who provided him with first aid claim that the patient whispered barely audibly: “It can’t be, it can’t be!”...

The official diagnosis made by the doctors at the hospital was: “hypertensive crisis with elements of dynamic cerebrovascular accident.” Just before a critical exacerbation of his health, Alexy spoke about his vision, being in a state of extreme depression. According to the source, later, having come to his senses a little, the patriarch said that he had hallucinated. However, what he had previously told about the appearance of Theodosius to several people indicated that the confused Alexy was trying to find support in someone in a moment of deep mental stupor into which Theodosius’s words plunged him. According to the source, “Alexy will never tell anyone else about the vision. However, the words that it was Theodosius of Pechersk, a half-forgotten saint of the Russian Orthodox Church and other details, as well as the shock that the patriarch experienced, indicate that such a fact existed.”

Let us pay attention to the fact that the saint also spoke of the Church’s “indulgence” in the sins of the “rulers of Rus',” whom he calls “crookers.”

In other words, we are talking about the close connection between state and spiritual power in Russia.

Let us also note that the fate of Riediger itself is somehow mystically connected with the current political system. He was elevated to the rank of patriarch at the end of perestroika, when the outlines of modern absurd Russia were already taking shape, when Boris Yeltsin was already fully declaring his claims to supreme power. The patriarch lived with the regime, rose with its establishment, and at the most critical moments for him acted as a support for the regime.

This is exactly what happened, for example, in the early autumn of 1993, when Russian power seemed to be hanging on by a thread. So isn’t the patriarch’s current illness connected with another difficult period for the political system? It seems that the connection between church and state is indeed mystical in nature, but does it come from God in today's Russia?

Farewell ceremony

On December 6, towards the end of the day, the coffin with the body of the late patriarch was delivered to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The farewell ceremony began. Divine services and funeral prayers were read for 3 days. All these days the Temple was open to Orthodox Christians who wanted to say goodbye to Alexy II. Order was ensured by the Moscow Central Internal Affairs Directorate.

According to police estimates, the ceremony was attended by over 100 thousand people. In addition to ordinary citizens, state leaders and high-ranking officials were present.

Alexy II was loved and respected, he was an adamant defender of the Christian faith and traditional moral standards. He was an educated man who spoke Russian, Estonian and German. He came from the Russian noble family of von Ridiger, who had Courland roots. His ancestors accepted Orthodoxy back in the 18th century and did not deviate from the faith.

Alexei visited the Valaam Monastery as a child and was an altar boy in the Tallinn church, where his father Mikhail served as a deacon. He graduated from the Leningrad Theological Seminary and then from the Theological Academy. His whole life was connected with the church.

Religion

The future Patriarch Alexy (Alexey Mikhailovich Ridiger) was born in 1929 in Estonia. His father was a priest, a descendant of German nobles who converted to Orthodoxy.

Since childhood, the young man himself dreamed of becoming a priest. He survived the war in Tallinn. After the war, Alexey went to study at the Theological Academy in Leningrad.

In 1950 he became a deacon, and then his career in the church developed rapidly. Already in 1968 he was elevated to the rank of metropolitan.

During perestroika, Metropolitan Alexy was elected people's deputy of the USSR. He voted for the abolition of the CPSU monopoly, for the publication of the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and called for independence for the Baltic countries.

He did not support the State Emergency Committee and called for the removal of Lenin's mausoleum from Red Square. At the same time, Alexy was not a fan of the West and its values.

Patriarch Pimen died in 1990. Not only Alexy, but also Metropolitan of Kiev Philaret claimed his place. Having lost the vote of the Local Council, he returned to Ukraine and created a schismatic church there, which was recognized by Constantinople in 2021.

Alexy II was the head of the Russian church during the difficult 1990s. For his modesty, he enjoyed the respect and love of Russians. Under him, the main temple of the Russian Church, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, was restored in Moscow. It was the patriarch who approved the installation of a monument to Tsar-Liberator Alexander II on his territory.

Shortly before his death, in August 2008, the patriarch refused to support the war with Georgia and did not include Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church. These lands remained under the church authority of the Georgian Patriarch Ilia II.

In 2007, under Alexy, the unification of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, a foreign Russian church that broke away from Moscow after the 1917 revolution, took place. He repeatedly expressed his distrust of the conclusion from the US military department about the authenticity of the “remains” of the Royal Family.

On December 4, he served the Liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin and a prayer service in the Donskoy Monastery, then went by car to Peredelkino. According to those around me, I felt great. His participation in the Russian People's Council was planned for December 5.

But in the 80th year of his life, Patriarch Alexy II was killed in his residence on the night of December 5th.

The doors of the patriarch's chambers were broken into at 8.30, after which the body of Alexy II was found in the bathroom. Everything was covered in blood, and there were even handprints on the walls.

TV presenter and blogger Stas Sadalsky in an interview with the Sobesednik newspaper said:

This was perceived as a scandal when applied to the patriarch. In this regard, a version was spread about the death of the Patriarch as a result of an accident. Later, the official version was a heart attack.

By the way, there was an accident. The patriarch's car and his driver actually got into an accident: a KAMAZ flew towards them in the classic way. The driver died.

Some will write in the comments: “Another nonsense from the author.” But let's look at the situation again and from a slightly different angle. Questions arise.

Why is there still no medical report on the death of Patriarch Alexy II? Why isn't it being done? We don't even know the exact time of death; All we know is that the guards broke down the door to the patriarch’s chambers at 8:30 am on December 5th. But excuse me: when did death occur: December 4th or 5th? After all, this is fundamentally important to know. Why have the films of the external and internal surveillance cameras of the patriarch’s chambers not been made public yet? Where are they? If the cameras were turned off, then this means that the crime was carefully planned and prepared in advance. Where did the nun on duty, who was constantly with him, day and night, disappear? She disappeared without a trace on December 5, 2008, and to this day no one has information about her whereabouts. Patriarch Alexy II attended the funeral service with his face covered. Very convenient to hide signs of violent death. Why did Kirill Gundyaev behave so strangely and speak wildly about the deceased in a television interview on December 6? On live television he allowed himself to make open hateful statements about the deceased. “It happens that sometimes the Lord gives the Church some kind of test for some time, when at its head there is an elderly person and practically no longer capable of governing. This is a very difficult time for the Church. His Holiness the Patriarch left, protecting our Church from this difficult time.”

For the first time in the history of Orthodoxy, the successor of the Primate, Metropolitan Kirill, spoke joyfully about the death of the head of the Orthodox Church, with undisguised satisfaction. The new patriarch had no doubt that death was not an irreparable loss, but a great success for all Orthodox Christianity.

This interview shocked the Russian people with its unprecedented cynicism, “rational” approach to the death of a person and, in essence, was the self-confession and self-exposure of the killer.

The famous ancient Roman lawyer Cassian Longinus Ravilla, while investigating the case, recommended looking for someone who might benefit from the crime.

Obviously, the one who was impudently rushing to the patriarchal white doll, no matter what, was interested in the death of the patriarch.

On December 9, 2008, more than 100 thousand people came to say goodbye to the patriarch at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. No state mourning was declared.

Funeral service and funeral

On Monday, December 8th, it was time for the funeral liturgy. 200 priests and bishops took part in it. Then Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople conducted the funeral ceremony.

On December 9, the coffin with the Vladyka was taken out into the street and a religious procession was made around the cathedral, as the deceased himself had bequeathed. At the end of the procession, the funeral procession followed the hearse to the Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhov. There, in the Annunciation chapel, the burial of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy took place.

A word of memory about Patriarch Alexy II

Yesterday I watched with great pleasure the video - the last interview of Patriarch Alexy II, three months before his death. Date of interview: September 12, 2008; death occurred on the night of December 4–5, 2008.

Shortly before this interview, filming began for the 80th anniversary of His Holiness (which, as you know, he did not live to see for almost three months) and the authors of the film managed to record the first interview for the film and the very last in the life of the Primate of the Russian Church, in which he was asked and the question, which seemed ridiculous at that moment, to whom, after his death, his personal diary would go... So, the first and last interview of Patriarch Alexy II, which was taken by Elena Pisareva, Evgeny Baranov and Alexander Zamyslov. It is on YouTube.com, but it was posted only 11 years after his death...

There is quite a lot of evidence indicating that the death of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II was a murder (he was prohibited from providing medical assistance at that moment), but it is impossible to legally prove this.

Yes, he was wrong, but he also admitted his mistakes. His Holiness was accessible to many, despite the fact that those who seized power in 1993 (who, by the way, are under anathema) began to erect a wall between him and the people.

It is worth remembering the words of Alexy II, spoken by him at the Moscow annual diocesan city meeting on December 15, 2004: “War against Russia.” Now this text is almost impossible to find. Here is this text (with abbreviations), which was preserved by pious people in Nizhny Novgorod:

“War against Russia.

We must realize that a well-planned, bloodless war is being waged against our people, with the goal of destroying them.

In Western countries there is a powerful corruption industry that supplies Russia with pornographic publications, manuals for so-called sex education programs that advertise debauchery in all forms...

In Russia today, a huge market for alcohol, drugs, and pornography has been created, enriching foreign firms and mafias, whose activities have caused an unprecedented demographic crisis in our country and are leading to the degeneration and extinction of our people at an unprecedented pace.

We do not see anyone other than the Church seriously confronting this mortal threat.

This obliges us, the clergy, the monastics, all the faithful children of the Russian Orthodox Church to fight for the salvation of our people, to organize national resistance.”

I recently talked with one of the famous priests of the Russian Orthodox Church, who retained his face and priestly dignity, despite his dismissal from the Moscow Patriarchate and the subsequent slander against him from the lips of high church officials (to avoid misunderstandings, I will not voice his name), who confirmed, that at the time of his death Alexy II was virtually isolated, and it is impossible to legally prove the fact of murder.

At the beginning of his patriarchal service, Alexy II was accessible to the people, held a personal reception, gave blessings personally (for example, he blessed Anna Vsevolodovna Ilyinskaya, whom I know, for writing), but after one of his interviews (in which he confirmed the fact cooperation with the KGB of the USSR and explained the reasons), most especially after the tragic events of September-October 1993 (when Patriarch Alexy II was in the hospital for several days with a stroke), a wall began to be erected between him and the people, which became larger and larger over time . This is how the FSO security appeared in the Moscow Patriarchate and its structural divisions, in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior...

And one last thing. A little-known fact from our time.

A clergyman from the city of Shakhunya, Nizhny Novgorod region, Sergius Tsepov, who called the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill a heretic, became a defendant in a criminal case. The priest is accused of embezzlement under Part 3 of Article 160 of the Criminal Code. He announced this in a video message published on his page on the VKontakte social network.

As Tsepov said, in 2021 he stopped commemorating the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill, in his prayers and services. He did this as a sign of disagreement with the words of the patriarch that Orthodox and Catholics are brothers, said after a meeting with the Pope. Tsepov takes the opposite position.

According to the priest, Catholics are heretics. He spoke about this many times to his parishioners during his sermons. In his opinion, Patriarch Kirill himself became a heretic after his statement. Tsepov complained that repressions have been unleashed against those priests who share his position.

Meanwhile, until last year (2018), Tsepov was not touched. Apparently, information that the priest was rebelling against the patriarch did not reach the church authorities. However, after this became known, he was summoned to the diocese to give an explanation. The priest laid out his position on paper in detail, after which he was demoted from the priesthood.

After some time, a criminal case was opened against Tsepov, and a search was carried out in his apartment. He is accused of embezzling church property. The priest considers his case to be fabricated, based on “slanderous testimony,” but hopes that “the Lord will judge.” There is a trial ahead.

Patriarch Alexy II was a man with an open heart and in most cases admitted his mistakes openly, if they occurred. No comments needed.

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This was stated by the famous Russian actor, TV presenter and public figure Stanislav Sadalsky in an interview with the Sobesednik newspaper.

“It’s crazy to me: they killed His Holiness - and they are silent! I want to know the truth about how Alexy’s earthly life actually ended. Familiar priests and the police told me that the patriarch was found with his head broken in three places, that his gaze was fixed on the door. I ring all the bells - no one seems to hear me. Many priests, forced people, have become afraid to communicate with me publicly - the security service of the current patriarch is monitoring their contacts,” Sadalsky is indignant.

According to him, the other day Kuraev was the first to react - he admitted in a blog that the Patriarchate “was embarrassed to tell the unseemly truth about the circumstances of the death of Alexy II.” “Dear deacon, I am appealing to you through the Sobesednik newspaper: explain to people what the truth is. How did three holes form in the head of His Holiness? Why was Alexy's face covered during the funeral? It’s a lie, according to the Orthodox tradition. When Patriarch Tikhon was seen off, nothing was hidden. Maybe because there was nothing to hide?” asks the actor.

Stas Sadalsky writes that he does not recognize Kirill. “Elections in the church should be the same as those that resulted in my friend, Bishop of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, Archimandrite George (Stransky), coming to power. They prepared three notes with the names of the candidates and said: “To whom will God send...” But we are not having elections - they are staged. I like Clement, he’s my neighbor, he’s amazing. I would like him... I watched him - he is a man of prayer, a man without double morals. A real priest. And Kirill is disgusting to me. He says in Sevastopol that we are two fraternal peoples. This is all correct, but I cannot believe him, because he has been lying since the death of His Holiness.”

Sadalsky recalls that he posted on his blog a piece of speech from the “Word of the Shepherd” program, where Kirill responded to Alexy’s departure. This fragment was cut from the air. In it, Kirill reports the sudden death of the patriarch and says that by his departure Alexy “protected our church from a difficult test, when at its head is an elderly man and practically no longer capable of governing.”

After Stas Sadalsky’s speech on his LiveJournal blog, circles began to swim. The rumor that the death of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II was “accelerated” is sweeping across Rus' at the speed of rumor.

The Russian Orthodox Church, although reluctantly, is forced to reveal the secrets of the death of Alexy II.

Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev told the details of the death of the Patriarch, thus responding to rumors about the violent death of His Holiness the Patriarch.

Deacon Andrei Kuraev’s explanations leave even more questions than there were before Sadalsky’s monstrous assumption. For example, visitors to Kuraev’s blog rightly ask: “Why did the Patriarch close himself and no one had the keys to his inner (!) chambers? I see only one option (if I’m wrong, tell me another): I was afraid of an assassination attempt. And this actually killed him (but it saved someone from the sin of murder, if such a thing happened in real life).”

Another blog visitor writes: “Yes, there was an unhealthy atmosphere of mistrust there, judging by these keys. There can be only one meaning for closing oneself to a single key - the Patriarch did not trust those closest to him. Gives me bad thoughts..."

But what’s even worse is that, hiding behind the eternal “ethical problem” that lies in the area of the toilet and human functions, the Church begins to lie. And this is a sin. Sin is everywhere. And here it is sin, and so it is sin.

We are confident that the Russian Orthodox Church will get out of a difficult situation by referring to the biblical Ham, to whom Stas Sadalsky was likened. You had to believe, not notice, not interfere where you weren’t asked.

And in response: I had to think, I had to come up with a more truthful explanation for the bandaged head of the deceased Holy One. Or was it necessary to tell such a sad and inconvenient truth?

Exactly 4 years ago, in the early morning of December 5, 2008, Patriarch Alexy II went to where everyone, both sinners and righteous, went to the toilet when they woke up. To repose there before the Lord. There is nothing shameful or unusual in such a death, and I have already recalled two similar deaths: and. And you can also remember that kings George III and Louis XIV, billionaires Paul Goette and John Rockefeller, and many others also passed into another world. But the Russian Orthodox Church only remembered how one of the first heretics of Christianity, Arius, accepted death, and was afraid. .

John Rockefeller. I dreamed of earning $100 thousand, living to be 100 years old and dying in my sleep. Earned $192 billion, lived to 97 years old and died in the toilet. Not all dreams come true.

They grabbed the Patriarch at about 8 o'clock in the morning - he did not come out at the usual time for the ordered breakfast. They began knocking on locked doors and shouting, but no one responded. They called the guards, who broke down the door to the chambers, and discovered the already cold body of the Patriarch in the restroom. He lay in the middle of a spacious restroom, decorated with artistic tiles and marble, on which bloody traces from Alexy’s hands could be seen. Most likely (either from a heart attack, or from loss of coordination of movements), the Patriarch fell and hit the back of his head on the back of a hard chair, and then tried to get up. Since Alexy had two cardiac stimulators, they expelled blood from his wound for a long time until he died. There was a lot of blood in the restroom, the back of my head was covered in blood, and my face was as pale as a sheet. With such an injury, even one associated with a heart attack, the Patriarch could have been saved. If only someone knew that he needed help. But the double doors to the inner chambers, with complete sound insulation, were always locked by the Patriarch from the inside at night. And no one had a duplicate of this key, not even the security. I repeat - there is nothing obscene in such a death, and none of us knows how and where he will meet his last hour. The obscenity began later.

After the death of His Holiness, the highest hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, out of harm’s way, agreed to remain silent about the real circumstances and cause of the death of the patriarch, and at about 11 o’clock on December 5, 2008, through the mouth of the head of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate, they voiced a streamlined official lie about “the cause of death is heart failure.” It became clear immediately that there was something fishy about the circumstances surrounding the death of Patriarch Alexy. The patriarch lived according to a clear schedule - and no one noticed that he did not get up? As they wrote in the media, a team of doctors was constantly on duty with him - and they did not have access to him? A version immediately appeared in Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Novaya Gazeta that the Patriarch died in an accident, and the Patriarchate immediately denied these reports: “The versions that appeared in a number of media outlets that the Patriarch was in an accident are in no way true.” .

photo Sergey Ilnitsky/EPA

However, for almost a year, rumors surrounding the death of Patriarch Alexy continued to circulate and multiply, up to the version that Patriarch Alexy was ritually killed on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. And their culmination was the sensational version of Stas Sadalsky, according to which the Patriarch was killed at the hands of Ossetian militants because he did not support Russia’s military actions against Georgia in August 2008. It became clear that the Russian Orthodox Church found itself in a disadvantageous position, which in chess is called “zugzwang” - no matter what move a chess player makes, it will be unwinnable for him. Continuing to lie is bad, revealing the true circumstances of the Patriarch’s death is also bad. And only almost a year after the funeral of His Holiness, his former assistant and very close to Patriarch Kirill, Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev, finally received the blessing to tell the truth about the head injury as the cause of death, and about the toilet, and about the blood in it, and about the locked doors to the bedroom . As Kuraev said, the church leadership refused to immediately publish the real picture of the death of His Holiness for moral and ethical reasons: “It is clear that it was difficult for the Patriarchate to say that the Primate met with death in the restroom. What would be bitterly ordinary for a simple person could be perceived as a scandal when applied to the Patriarch.”

But what was perceived as a scandal when applied to the Patriarch was not the truth about the circumstances of his death, but the official lie of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Kuraev then said: “Afraid to tell the unseemly truth about the circumstances of the death of His Holiness, the Patriarchate received a vile rumor.”

But he did not say that by lying about the circumstances of the death, the Patriarchate received not one vile rumor, but many vile rumors. Which immediately stopped as soon as the truth emerged about the details of the last hours of Alexy’s life. Well, a person died one way and not another - there is nothing shameful in that, no one is free to choose the place where he will suddenly die. People are often better and smarter than clergymen think of them... .

Within the clergy, it’s probably not the evil wolf fighting against the good one, but the Devil fighting against God.

The highest hierarchs of the Church were also once children, and their mothers probably also told them: “Son, it’s not good to lie. The lie will be revealed, and then it will be a shame.” Well, okay, older people may not remember what they were taught in childhood. But life constantly teaches them the same thing - whenever the Church hierarchs lie, they get “vile rumors” and scandals. And small lies sometimes grow like a snowball, turning into a huge lie. Well, it’s like in the story with “Kirill’s watch”: 1. If you wear an expensive watch, don’t lie that you don’t wear it. 2. If you were caught lying with the help of photographs, do not try to commit a new deception by editing them. 3. Caught with inept editing - don’t call it a “ridiculous mistake”, and persecution of the Church. After all, if Patriarch Kirill had not lied the first time, denying the obvious, he would not have had to lie further. And there would not have been a scandal with the watch, and there would have been no shame before God and people, and the Church would not have lost its authority. Because telling the truth is not always pleasant, but sometimes it is useful.

On December 5, 2008, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II died at his residence in Peredelkino near Moscow. According to the official version, the patriarch died of heart failure. At least, this is how the press service of the Patriarchate reported about this sad event. However, on the same day, another version appeared in the media - allegedly the patriarch died in an accident. The Patriarchate immediately denied these reports: “The versions that appeared in a number of media outlets that the patriarch was involved in an accident are in no way true.” However, rumors surrounding the death of Patriarch Alexy continued to multiply.

And some time ago a sensational version appeared on the Internet, according to which the patriarch was killed. The authors of the “sensation” claimed that Alexy II was allegedly killed because he did not support Russia’s military actions against Georgia in August 2008. True, the sources of the “murderous version” did not inspire much confidence. In particular, the actor Stanislav Sadalsky, known for his shocking antics, made a lot of noise about the murder of the patriarch: “It’s crazy to me: they killed His Holiness - and they are silent!.. Familiar priests and the police told me that the patriarch was found with his head broken in three places, that his gaze was directed towards the door. How did three holes form in the head of His Holiness?” It is noteworthy that those who picked up the version of the murder did not hide their hostile attitude towards the current patriarch, Kirill, and spoke flatteringly about Kirill’s rival, Metropolitan Clement, head of the Publishing Department of the Russian Orthodox Church, calling him a “prayer book” and “a man without double morals.” " But the most interesting thing was yet to come: it turned out that not everything in the “murder version” was untrue. The Patriarch was really found in his chambers with a broken head... IS THE WHOLE TRUTH?

A detailed refutation of the “version of murder” was made by the former assistant of His Holiness, Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev. However, at the same time, he actually refuted the official version of the patriarch’s death. “As such, a heart attack would not have killed the patriarch,” the archdeacon wrote. “It just happened in the most inconvenient circumstances for help.” Moreover, Kuraev did not rule out that there was no attack at all. What happened, in his opinion?

“It’s just that an elderly man, during some kind of turn or sudden movement, lost coordination of his movements for a second - and fell. But as he fell, the back of his head hit the corner of a chair. And this angle interrupted the vein. The Patriarch regained consciousness. I tried to get up - there were bloody marks from his hands on the walls,” Kuraev further writes in the text posted on his page on LiveJournal.

“Even with such an injury, he could have been saved,” he continues, “if only someone had known that he needed help. But the point was in the patriarch’s inner chambers, which he himself locked from the inside at night. The doors are double, the sound insulation from the rest of the building, where the nuns are bustling about, is complete. No one heard the patriarch's groans. Even the guards didn’t have the keys to his chambers... When he didn’t come out at half past eight (for breakfast - “Profile”), they began to worry... Through the bathroom window they saw him lying. The door was broken into. But the body was already cooling down.” As Kuraev makes it clear, the church leadership refused to make public the real picture of the death of His Holiness for moral and ethical reasons: “It is clear that it was difficult for the Patriarchate to say that the Primate met his death in the restroom. What would be bitterly ordinary for a simple person could be perceived as a scandal when applied to the Patriarch.”

Subsequently, the “Kuraev version” was indirectly recognized by the press service of the Patriarchate. “Regardless of the specific circumstances of his (Alexy II. - Profile) death, this was a kind of “payment” for the freedom that he “bargained” from those around him,” the head of the press service of the Patriarchate, the priest, told Interfax in early September Vladimir Vigilyansky. “The Patriarch was always in sight, surrounded by people, and the only thing he conquered from his entourage was the night. He did not allow anyone into his chambers at night so that he could pray and be alone... There was no panic button in the patriarch’s chambers, because the patriarch, as they say, was against it.”

"SAVORY THE DETAILS"

So, the picture of the patriarch’s death has become clearer. Another question is why the details of the last hours of Alexy II’s life suddenly surfaced several months after his death, despite the initial position of the church leadership to adhere to the “official version” (heart failure)? After all, by and large, as priest Vladimir Vigilyansky put it, “all this savoring of details is from the evil one.”

Apparently, this was the case. After the death of His Holiness, the highest hierarchs of the church agreed to remain silent about the real reasons for the death of the patriarch. However, subsequently someone did not fulfill their obligations. As political scientist Alexei Makarkin believes, the emergence of rumors, and primarily the clearly anti-Kirill “version of the murder” of Patriarch Alexy, are echoes of an unprecedentedly tough internal church struggle that unfolded during the election of a new patriarch and, apparently, has not yet ended. It is quite possible that one of the hierarchs, dissatisfied with the way things were going under the new patriarch, Kirill, “leaked” a “version” to the masses, which was later picked up on the Internet.

The source of information could be people close to Metropolitan Clement. Everyone understands that he has every reason to dislike the new patriarch. Firstly, Clement himself set his sights on this place. Secondly, through the efforts of Kirill, already six months after the elections, Clement lost his key position as manager of the Patriarchate, becoming only the head of the Publishing Department of the Russian Orthodox Church. Now, instead of resolving personnel and financial issues, Bishop Clement publishes soul-saving literature. And they say that this is just a temporary position: the new patriarch plans to continue the demotion of his former rival.

However, it is possible that the leak occurred on the initiative of other hierarchs belonging to the opposition forces in the Russian Orthodox Church. After all, as Alexey Makarkin claims, “the opposition in the church is something amorphous, there is hardly anyone who leads it, but this does not make the number of people who do not want any changes and are able to resist Kirill any less.” The fact that the source of the “drain” is located inside the church is confirmed by the head of the public organization “Russian Christian Democratic Perspective”, which is close to the Russian Orthodox Church, and former State Duma deputy Alexander Chuev. “If only secular people were talking about the circumstances of the death of His Holiness, it would not be so bad, but church people are doing this, and that’s what makes it scary and painful.”

ZUGZWANG

As soon as the “version of the murder” began to wander from one online media to another, it became clear that the “Kirillovites” were at a disadvantage. In chess, this situation is called zugzwang - no matter what move you make, it will be unwinning for you. Remaining silent is bad, revealing the true circumstances of the death of the patriarch is also bad. This was probably the calculation of those who started the rumors: after all, people close to the current patriarch could not help but refute the accusations of murdering the deceased patriarch. At the same time, refuting it, they would inevitably be forced to voice the real course of events of that ill-fated morning. Which, in a church where discussion of such details is not accepted, will inevitably be taken extremely painfully.

This is exactly what happened: the version of what “really happened” was voiced by Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev, close to the current patriarch. The directness with which Father Andrei informed “the city and the world” about the true state of affairs was met with ambiguity within the church itself. According to Alexander Chuev, “it is deeply immoral to discuss the death of His Holiness in such detail: we must honor him, pray for him, so I do not share the position of Andrei Kuraev, and it is strange to me that he joined this discussion.”

It turns out that, like the “murder version,” its refutation, albeit indirectly, dealt a blow to Kirill’s positions. “Now the old women at the church will discuss whether the patriarch was killed or he himself died in the bathroom: neither one nor the other will add to the authority of the church and its current primate,” Alexei Makarkin is sure. For the laity, this story will give reason to think that in the community that is directly related to the celebration of the sacraments, as it turns out, the same morals reign as in the world of big politics, where the principle “the end justifies the means” is professed, albeit tacitly, very much by many. As sad as it may be, some churchmen are trying to use the mystery of the death of their recent pastor to solve current, momentary interests.

Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II was killed with three shots to the head (or was his skull broken with an ice pick?).

Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II was killed. This was stated and continues to be stated by the famous Russian actor, TV presenter and public figure Stanislav Sadalsky.

“It’s crazy to me: they killed His Holiness - and they are silent! I want to know the truth about how Alexy’s earthly life actually ended. Familiar priests and the police told me that the patriarch was found with his head broken in three places, that his gaze was fixed on the door. I ring all the bells - no one seems to hear me. Many priests, forced people, began to be afraid to communicate with me publicly - the security service (Security Security of the Church and FSB) of the current patriarch is monitoring their contacts,” Sadalsky is indignant.

According to him, Kuraev was the first to react - he admitted in a blog that the Patriarchate “was embarrassed to tell the unseemly truth about the circumstances of the death of Alexy II.”

“Dear deacon, I am appealing to you through the Sobesednik newspaper: explain to people what the truth is. How did three holes form in the head of His Holiness? Why was Alexy's face covered during the funeral? It’s a lie, according to the Orthodox tradition. When Patriarch Tikhon was seen off, nothing was hidden. Maybe because there was nothing to hide?” asks the actor.

Commenting on Sadalsky’s link, the archdeacon admits the version of a heart attack is “partly true.” “As such, a heart attack would not have killed the patriarch,” writes Fr. Andrey. “It just happened in the most inconvenient circumstances for help.” At the same time, he admits: “It is possible that there was no attack at all. It’s just that an elderly man, during some turn or sudden movement, lost coordination of movements for a second - and fell. But as he fell, he hit the back of his head on the corner of a chair.

.
And this corner broke a vein
«.

Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev also reports that “bloody traces from his hands” remained on the walls of the room in which the Patriarch was at the time of his death. The professor testifies that Alexy II himself created the conditions that prevented help to him: “It was in the internal chambers of the Patriarch, which he himself locked from the inside at night (and why did he lock the key, because his cell attendants never entered without his blessing? Apparently , he had something to fear... - Ed.). The doors are double, the sound insulation from the rest of the building, where the nuns are bustling about, is complete. No one heard the Patriarch’s groans. Even the guards didn’t have the keys to his chambers.”

According to Fr. Andrei, the doors of the patriarch's chambers were broken open only at 8.30, after which the body of Alexy II was found in the bathroom. Explaining the lack of a clear official version of the death of the Patriarch, the protodeacon lists possible confusion: “It is clear that the procurator had many questions. Why wasn't there a panic button in the bathroom? Why was the elderly man alone? Why didn't the security have the keys? How could there be furniture next to him that was not upholstered and high-impact? Why didn't the nun-housekeeper immediately inform the guards? It is clear that it was difficult for the Patriarchate to say that the Primate met with death in the restroom. What would be quite ordinary for an ordinary person could be perceived as a scandal when applied to the Patriarch. And schismatics outside and within the church would happily lament about the “death of Arius.” In this regard, the version about the death of the Patriarch as a result of an accident, which was actively disseminated on the day of his death, Fr. Andrey calls it “camouflage”.

From the Editors of M3R.
Firstly, it is clear to any sane person that, even if we accept the scenario of the patriarch’s fall, in which he hit the back of his head on a chair, then it is definitely incredible that he broke a vein and cut the skin of the back of his head so that the blood flowed like a “fountain” .
Secondly, those who were at the patriarch’s residence know very well what luxurious chairs he had in his offices. Cutting your head off while falling with your body is simply unrealistic. But Sadalsky’s “political” argument – that Alexy II could have been killed for refusing to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and accept their dioceses into the Russian Orthodox Church MP – is not correct.

The further from this tragic event, the clearer the motives for the possible murder of Patriarch Alexy become. The fact is that he made compromises with the Russian leadership and participated in ecumenical meetings, etc. But he was not a “locomotive” in these matters. They always had to push him. It is likely that at a certain moment, feeling the approach of death, he simply abandoned the next betrayal of Christ. And this sealed his fate.

As eyewitnesses of the growing apostasy in the Russian Orthodox Church MP, which is actively initiated by the current patriarch, we can say with a high degree of confidence that the death of Patriarch Alexy II is beneficial specifically to the ecumenical apostasyists in the Russian leadership, who are under the direct patronage of the World Government and some of the Judaizing hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church MP. In this matter, P. Kirill is right, Patriarch Alexy, apparently, was “practically incapable of governing” ( from the outside

Of course, if he was killed, then this crime could only be committed on the initiative and instructions from the very “top”, because people from outside would not be able to enter the territory protected by the Federal Security Service (FSO, i.e., actually presidential) under any circumstances.

When Kuraev began to say that the FSO employees did not have the keys to the patriarch’s chambers, allegedly because they did not want to contradict him, this makes me smile. The FSO is not a structure that is burdened with any emotions. She always follows instructions exactly.

Why could they kill using such a stunt? Hard to say. Perhaps the matter was urgent. It would be quite difficult to poison him, because... the food was prepared by people devoted to him to death.

It is always virtuous to think of people as better than they
actually are. Perhaps, feeling the approach of death, the patriarch wanted to repent for his sins before God (ecumenism, etc., etc.), which could become public. This could have served as a signal for the enemies of Orthodoxy and Russia to quickly eliminate him .
In any case,
Lord rest the soul of Your Alexy and forgive him all his sins, voluntary and involuntary, and grant him the Kingdom of Heaven!
Sadalsky posted on his blog a piece of speech from the “Word of the Shepherd” program, where Kirill (the new patriarch) responded to the departure of Alexy II.

This fragment was cut from the air. In it, Kirill reports the sudden death of the patriarch and says that by his departure Alexy “protected our church from a difficult test, when at its head is an elderly man and practically no longer capable of governing.”

Here is this fragment (Ed.M3R)

From the Editors of M3R

“
It’s hard to imagine that when the 95-year-old (!) Serbian Patriarch Pavel died, the Serbs could say such a thing about him.
Despite the fact that he was very advanced in age and was often ill, and in recent years he was “hopelessly in the military medical academy in Belgrade,” all Orthodox Serbs worried about him as if they were their own father, considering him “a true righteous man of our time.” "and "a symbol of the spiritual unity of the Serbian people." In addition, Patriarch Alexy was not a frail old man and did not suffer from senile dementia for Metropolitan Kirill to characterize him that way. He was sick, like any elderly person, but even on the eve of his tragic death he served the festive liturgy of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple.

All the more obvious is the cynicism of Patriarch Kirill, who spoke in this way about the deceased 79-year-old Primate of the Church, and now publishes books in his memory and sings panegyrics to him.

Why do people on the Internet demand that Stanislav Sadalsky and Andrei Kuraev be anathematized?

A scandal has been raging on the World Wide Web for the second week. People's Artist of Russia Stanislav SADALSKY stated on his website that the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Alexy II, was killed, and attacked its ardent apologist, Protodeacon Andrei KURAEV, demanding the truth. The missionary answered. As a result, the Internet is full of curses against each of them.

On that mournful Friday, December 5, 2008, from 10 am, that is, two hours before the official announcement of the death of First Hierarch Alexy II

, the Patriarchate website was subject to a hacker attack. Meanwhile, rumors about the death of the patriarch have already spread throughout Moscow. In the 12 o'clock news, all radio stations and television channels reported that His Holiness died at his residence in Peredelkino an hour and a half ago. The terse message prompted millions of people - believers and atheists - to flock to the Internet to offer their condolences or find out more details. It would be most appropriate to do this on the Patriarchate website. But the site didn't work! And there was already a version circulating on the Internet that the highly revered patriarch died in an accident.

The word is not a sparrow

This can't be true! - some assured. — The patriarch drives in an armored Mercedes, made to special order with a raised roof, since the patriarch is not supposed to take off his headdress. Remember, the armor of the same Mercedes saved Shevardnadze’s

.
And when the patriarch’s limousine rushes along Smolensky Prospekt, accompanied by security jeeps, traffic police officers block the streets. “Once the patriarch’s Mercedes got into an accident,” others argued. “It was an ordinary collision of two cars, but television viewers were shown footage of the evacuation of the saint. The guards carried the uninjured patriarch out in their arms and put him in another car, which immediately sped off. And now everyone is silent, apparently because it was not possible to save? Naturally, journalists in such a situation attacked Andrei Kuraev. And at some point, he wrote fatal words on his blog that ridiculous rumors were multiplying, since the Patriarchate “was embarrassed to tell the unseemly truth about the circumstances of the death of Alexy II.” And then… the unthinkable speculation began! The excellent polemicist Andrei Kuraev
was let down by his excellent knowledge of the Russian language.
He used the word “unseemly” in the first meaning - as unpleasant at first glance, and people perceived it in the common, second meaning - as shameful. But the patriarchy immediately responded. But even those who remembered that the patriarch suffered from atrial fibrillation had little faith in her “heart attack” version. And Stas Sadalsky
too.
The words of the current Patriarch Kirill, allegedly said by him in the program “The Word of the Shepherd” and cut from the air, added fuel to the fire of the passionate nature of the artist beloved by the people. Their point is this: by his departure, Alexy “protected our church from a difficult test, when at its head is an elderly man and practically no longer capable of governing.” Stas Sadalsky found them outrageous. But he did not take into account what many in the church environment knew. Alexy II loved Cyril for his sincere words and appreciated the reasonable straightforwardness of his future successor. Sadalsky began to look for the truth wherever he could. And ultimately, in his blog he revealed the unthinkable for an Orthodox person: “I like Clement, he is my neighbor, he is amazing. I would like him... I watched him - he is a man of prayer, a man without double morals. A real priest. And Kirill is disgusting to me.” And he told the world the results of his investigation, based on the fact that the patriarch was buried with a veil over his face: “Familiar priests and the police told me that the patriarch was found with his head broken in three places, that his gaze was fixed on the door. I ring all the bells - no one seems to hear me. Many priests, forced people, began to be afraid to communicate with me publicly - the security service of the current patriarch is monitoring their contacts.”

Autumn of the Patriarch

Andrey Kuraev again had the honor of answering. But instead of facts, he also gave an assumption: “As such, a heart attack would not have killed the patriarch. It just happened in the most inconvenient circumstances for help. It is possible that there was no attack at all. It’s just that an elderly man, during some kind of turn or sudden movement, lost coordination of movements for a second - and fell. But, falling, the back of his head hit the corner of a chair. And this angle interrupted the vein. The Patriarch regained consciousness. I tried to get up - there were bloody marks from his hands on the walls (this is important from a religious point of view: it means that the death of the patriarch was not instantaneous and he had time not only for the last struggle for life, but also for realizing the inevitability of the upcoming final Transition and preparing for it ). Even with such an injury, he could have been saved. If only someone knew that he needed help. But the point was in the patriarch’s inner chambers, which he himself locked from the inside at night. The doors are double, the sound insulation from the rest of the building, where the nuns are bustling about, is complete. No one heard the patriarch's groans. Even the guards did not have the keys to his chambers. The Patriarch ordered breakfast for 8 am the night before. When he didn’t come out at half past eight, they began to worry. Knocking and calling brought no answer. They began to look into the windows. And through the bathroom window they saw him lying. The door was broken into. But the body was already cooling down.”

It is clear that the prosecutors had many questions.
Why wasn't there a panic button in the bathroom? Why was the elderly man alone? Why didn't the security have the keys? How could there be non-soft and high-impact furniture next to him? Why didn't the nun-housekeeper immediately inform the guards? It is clear to Orthodox people even without explanation that the patriarch, who knows that without the will of God not a single hair will fall from anyone’s head, simply does not need all these buttons and comfortable bells and whistles. And he did not give the keys to anyone in order to meet his death hour without fuss, alone with the heavenly powers. But, trying to honestly answer these questions for secular people, Kuraev finally reports: “It is clear that it was difficult for the Patriarchate to say that the primate met with death in the restroom.
What would be quite normal for a simple person could be perceived as a scandal when applied to a patriarch. And schismatics outside and within the church would happily lament about the “death of Arius.” To mere mortals, the last words mean little. But the theosophically savvy people began to go hysterical here. The fact is that the heretic Arius was excommunicated from the church back in 318 for not accepting the Holy Trinity and considering Christ to be a man. But, wanting to return to the fold of the Church, Arius agreed to sign the Creed, which every Orthodox Christian knows by heart and repeats in the morning at every liturgy. However, when signing, he cheated: Arius held the text in tune with his beliefs under his arm and mentally pronounced it. For which he was punished by God. The day before joining the Church, Arius left the royal palace, and the fear of conscience took possession of him so much that a few minutes later he died from extreme relaxation of the stomach, during which his spleen and liver fell out with blood. Admirers of Alexy II considered Kuraev’s very idea of the possibility of such a comparison with Arius to be blasphemy. As well as Sadalsky’s seditious statement about the murder of the patriarch and its imaginary reason. And then everyone who was not too lazy began to demand on Internet forums that one or another worthy person be anathematized. Philosophical truth is important to the first, intellectual truth is important to the second, but both, and Express Gazeta obviously, pursue one goal - to do everything in their power to strengthen Orthodoxy in Rus'. The patriarch, beloved by the people, also cared about this, on the eve of his death in the morning he received communion and in the evening he served a prayer service in the Donskoy Monastery to the holy Patriarch Tikhon, who did not collude with the Bolsheviks and in prison stoically endured slander and persecution until his death in 1925. And these two facts are the only thing that matters from the point of view of people who believe that God has everyone alive. And those who are sincerely sad about what an unseemly autumn it was for the deceased patriarch, who, in tribute to tradition, was buried with his face covered, like his predecessors - Patriarchs Pimen and Alexy I.

Alexy II died like a saint - kneeling before icons

The XV Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church “rested in God” - “fell asleep in God”, on December 5 - in the bright Nativity Fast, the day after one of the main Orthodox holidays - the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos. He missed his 80th birthday by only two months.

In recent years, His Holiness has been very ill. His heart was failing (the Patriarch suffered from ischemia and suffered several heart attacks), and he was overcome by problems with blood pressure. And two months before his death, his condition was critical: he experienced clinical death and cardiac arrest.

Despite all this, the news of his death came as a complete surprise to people. For four days, while the patriarch’s body was in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, lines of many kilometers lined up day and night. People, not holding back their sobs, went to bow to the great shepherd for the last time.

Everyone was sure that the holy man had left the earth. Indeed, it is difficult to overestimate what the patriarch did during the years of his reign. Thousands of restored monasteries and churches, dozens of farmsteads were returned to the Russian Orthodox Church.

The last minutes of the patriarch's life and death were kept in the strictest confidence. A year after the death of His Holiness, we managed to lift this curtain.

FAITHFUL FILARETA

The day before, Alexy II served the Divine Liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin. Then he came to Peredelkino - his favorite residence, where he lived for the last 13 years, since 1995. This is where he considered his home.

Two hectares of land for construction were allocated three years earlier. Over time, the territory was increased to 30 hectares. At the request of the patriarch, Gazprom allocated money for construction and improvement. The residence was called the “Orthodox Heritage Center.”

On the day of his death, his devoted housekeeper, Abbess Philareta, was the first to feel something was wrong. Mother had been managing the household affairs of His Holiness for more than 40 years; she was sent to manage the household from the Pukhtitsky Assumption Convent, so beloved by the patriarch. During the Khrushchev rule, they tried to close it, and it owed its salvation precisely to the intercession of Alexy II, who was then the Bishop of Tallinn and Estonia.

She had about 12 other nuns as assistants. And they were in awe of her - they understood not at a glance, but at a glance.

Gradually, from a simple housekeeper, she became the most devoted friend, adviser, and guardian angel for His Holiness. He trusted her endlessly.

As one of the most striking examples of how much Alexy II valued his assistant, this is the case.

“When I and the rector of the patriarchal estate in Peredelkino, Archimandrite Vladimir Zorin, brought the master plan of the residence to His Holiness for approval, he immediately called Mother Filareta,” says one of the developers of the patriarchal estate in Peredelkino, Alexander Bugaevsky. — He asks her: do you like the project? She looked carefully and approved. The patriarch says: “Well, if you like it, mother, then I do too.” And only after that he gave his blessing for the start of construction.

THIS IS HOW THE SAINTS DIE

Alexy II got up after dark. I prayed, washed my face and at 8 o’clock went down to the hall for breakfast. Philaret’s mother almost always served the same meal: rolled oats, fried eggs (when there was no fasting), tea. There was always a coffee pot on the table. His Holiness loved to cheer himself up with a cup of strong coffee, if his blood pressure allowed.

The clock struck ten, the patriarch did not come down. The alarmed mother knocked on the bedroom door. There was no answer. Filareta sent for a worker and ordered to immediately break down the door. His Holiness always locked himself at night.

Alexy II was found in the bedroom, he was kneeling with his head bowed. His heart stopped beating for about an hour.

There was not a single free space on the walls of his bedroom - just one continuous iconostasis. They became mute witnesses to the death of the saint.

As a source in the prosecutor’s office told a KP correspondent, information about the death of Alexy II was not announced for several hours.

The frightened nun tried to provide first aid to the patriarch.

“I laid the body on the floor and put a pillow under my head,” says the investigator. “And since the body was moved from its place and we established its original position, this delayed the inquiry process.

After the death of the patriarch, Filaret's mother was heartbroken. She practically did not sleep for 40 days. She prayed and cried incessantly.

“The head of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate, Vladimir Vigilyansky, tried to console her,” recalls an eyewitness to the events. “He told her not to kill herself like that, the patriarch is a saint and will go straight to heaven.” She answered him: “He was a good man!”

The fact that the patriarch died on his knees began to be considered in his circle as a special sign of being chosen. Many canonized saints, such as Dmitry of Rostov and Seraphim of Sarov, passed away this way.

NEW PATRIARCH, NEW ORDER

As it should be according to the church charter, after the death of the patriarch, the residence passes to the newly elected first hierarch. It is he who decides what to do with the farm of his predecessor.

As people who knew him well and sincerely loved him say about Alexy II, “the saint had a big heart and treated God’s dumb creatures with love,” the animals felt this and “reciprocated him with mutual love.”

One of the workers at the residence told me a case of how the patriarch saved a kitten that had climbed a tree, was afraid to get down and was meowing pitifully. Alexy II asked Archimandrite Vladimir to go to the road and try to find a car with a tower, although where would it come from there? Father Vladimir did not argue, he went obediently. The patriarch remained near the tree to insure the poor furry fellow if he decided to jump down. Literally a few minutes later, the archimandrite returned on the aerial platform.

“I prayed and found it,” he reported.

The kitten became the patriarch's latest pet.

After the death of His Holiness, a dozen beloved cows, calves and horses in the barnyard were orphaned. Three dogs - Pekingese Pusha, pug Kesha and toy poodle Tusya. The patriarch treated the latter with special warmth. In January 2005, it was presented by children from Beslan. The guys handed Alexy II Tusk from hand to hand during a personal meeting. The patriarch’s beloved red cat and the canary, which was also given to the saint by children - orphan girls from the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, were orphaned. In addition, Alexy II had peacocks, swans and a goat.

“The animals suffered for the first time after the death of His Holiness,” said one of the nuns who lived at the residence at that time. “You can’t say it any other way.” Now there are none of the former animals left there.

According to mother, all the “ungulates” were transported to the Borisoglebsky convent in Anosino, near Moscow. The new Patriarch Kirill instructed the rector of the patriarchal farmstead located there, Archimandrite Spiridon (Ivanov), to overhaul the cowshed and buy modern milking machines so that the cows would feel comfortable. The abbess of the monastery, nun Varakhila (Buchelnikova), visits them daily.

All the pets of the late patriarch were taken in by Mother Philareta. After the forties, she moved from the Peredelkino residence to Moscow to the Mother of God Nativity Convent and lives there to this day. The housekeeping of the current Patriarch Kirill is handled by the new housekeeper, Mother Jonah.

The only one who remained in the residence after the death of the patriarch was his confessor, Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov). This year, on October 8, he turned 90 years old. The elder is very weak and rarely leaves his cell.

“The residence in Peredelkino will grow and develop,” says Alexander Bugaevsky. “It will become one of the largest scientific, theological, museum and spiritual centers in the country. Patriarch Kirill gave me a written blessing, according to which I will continue to work on its improvement. Now a baptismal church, a parish school, and a chapel are being built on the territory of the residence.

As the Patriarchate said, the memoirs and correspondence, which were initially planned to be published on the anniversary of the death of Alexy II, have been sealed and gathering dust on the shelves of the archive.

Alexy II: “Studying at the seminary was the happiest period in my life”