Archpriest Konstantin Ostrovsky: I think we raised our sons well

Konstantin (Ostrovsky)
(born 1977), Bishop of Zaraisky, vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, rector of the Kolomna Theological Seminary, chairman of the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis and the Attestation Commission, and member of the liturgical commission of the Moscow Diocese, head of missionary catechetical courses and Biblical theological courses named after St. Sergius of Radonezh of the Moscow Diocese, member of the diocesan council of the Moscow Diocese, chairman of the commission of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church on worship and church art in the world Ilya Konstantinovich Ostrovsky, was born on August 3, 1977 in the city of Moscow in the family of Konstantin Ostrovsky, a future priest.

In 1990-1995 he performed various obediences in the Assumption Church in the city of Krasnogorsk, Moscow region.

In 1994 he graduated from high school and children's church music school at the Assumption Church in Krasnogorsk.

In 1995 he entered the Moscow Theological Seminary, after which in 1999 he entered the Moscow Theological Academy, from which he graduated in 2003.

In 1997-2002 he was a subdeacon with Metropolitan Juvenaly (Poyarkov) of Krutitsy and Kolomna.

On October 9, 1998, he was made a reader by the rector of MDAiS, Archbishop Evgeniy (Reshetnikov) of Vereisky.

On January 6, 2001, he was tonsured a monk and given his name in honor of the holy martyr Konstantin Bogorodsky.

On February 15 of the same year he was ordained to the rank of deacon by Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsy.

On December 2, 2002, he was ordained to the rank of presbyter with the laying on of a vestment by Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsy.

In 2002, he was appointed vice-rector of the Kolomna Theological Seminary for educational work.

Since 2003, he directed the choir of the Kolomna Theological Seminary and taught comparative theology there, and since 2007 - church singing.

From December 22, 2003 to 2006, he was a member of the diocesan council of the Moscow diocese [1].

On January 12, 2004, he was included in the Liturgical Commission of the Moscow Diocese and appointed its secretary [2].

On October 19 of the same year he was enrolled in the clergy of the Vvedensky Church of the Kolomna Theological Seminary [3].

In 2005, he was appointed chairman of the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis of the Moscow Diocese and a member of the coordinating council for interaction between the Ministry of Education of the Moscow Region and the Moscow Diocese.

On December 11, 2009, he was appointed regent of the clergy choir of the Moscow diocese [4].

On June 14, 2011, he was appointed head of the newly established Missionary and Catechetical Courses of the Moscow Diocese [5].

On July 26, 2012, he was elected Bishop of Zaraisk, vicar of the Moscow diocese, and also appointed rector of the Kolomna Theological Seminary [6].

On July 29 of the same year, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite by Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsky and Kolomna in the Smolensk Cathedral of the Moscow Novodevichy Convent, and on the same day he was relieved of the post of vice-rector of the Kolomna Theological Seminary, secretary of the diocesan liturgical commission, leaving in its composition the regent of the choir of clergy of the Moscow diocese [7].

On July 31, 2012, he was named, and on August 12 of the same year, he was consecrated Bishop of Zaraisk, vicar of the Moscow diocese. The ordination in the newly consecrated Church of the Three Hierarchs of the Kolomna Theological Seminary was led by Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill (Gundyaev). Concelebrating with him were: Metropolitans of Krutitsky and Kolomna Yuvenaly (Poyarkov), Saransk and Mordovian Varsanuphiy (Sudakov); Archbishops of Mozhaisk Grigory (Chirkov), Vereisky Evgeniy (Reshetnikov); Bishop of Solnechnogorsk Sergius (Chashin).

On December 20, 2012, he was elected to the diocesan council of the Moscow diocese [8].

Since March 12, 2013 - Chairman of the newly established certification commission of the Moscow diocese [9].

On June 25 of the same year he was appointed head of the Biblical and theological courses named after St. Sergius of Radonezh of the Moscow diocese [10].

On June 2, 2014, at the Moscow Theological Academy he defended his candidate’s dissertation on the topic “History and teaching of the “Church of the Last Testament” (Vissarion’s sect).” Based on the results of the defense, he was awarded the degree of Candidate of Theology.

On October 23, 2014, he was included in the membership of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church and appointed a member of the Inter-Council Presence commissions on theology and on issues of spiritual education and religious enlightenment [11].

On August 25, 2021, he was appointed chairman of the Inter-Council Presence Commission on Liturgy and Church Art.

Since April 13, 2021 - vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.

Angel Day - September 19 (October 2 N.S.).

Awards

Church:

• anniversary metropolitan letter (2000)
• Gaiter (2002)
• medal of St. Sergius of Radonezh I Art. (2003)
• pectoral cross (2006)
• medal "1020 years of the Baptism of Rus'" (2008)
• Order of St. Innocent of Moscow III Art. (2008)
• blessed metropolitan letter dedicated to the Year of the Teacher “For hard work in the field of spiritual and moral enlightenment and education” (2010)
• Medal of the Moscow Diocese “For Sacrificial Labor” III class. (2011)
• medal "In memory of the 200th anniversary of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812" (2012)
• patriarchal sign (2014)
• Medal "For Sacrificial Labor" 1st class. (2020, Moscow regional diocese).

Secular:

• sign of the governor of the Moscow region “Thank you” (2005)
• Badge of the Governor of the Moscow Region “For Labor and Diligence” (2007)
• Certificate of honor from the Ministry of Education of the Moscow Region (2010)
• sign of St. Sergius of Radonezh (2016, Moscow region)

Archpriest Konstantin Ostrovsky: I think we raised our sons well

Archpriest Konstantin Ostrovsky, rector of the Assumption Church in Krasnogorsk, dean of churches in the Krasnogorsk district, has 4 sons and 6 grandchildren. Three sons followed in his footsteps, and one chose the monastic path and today is already a bishop, rector of the Kolomna Seminary. Father Konstantin told “Bata” about what he considers most important in raising children, how a family can cope with life’s difficulties, about his family and about the division of the roles of husband and wife.

Archpriest Konstantin Ostrovsky. Photo: bg.ru

Roles – male and female

– Father Konstantin, you grew up without a father from the age of ten. Did you feel like you lacked male education?

– I realized this in hindsight. My mother and grandmother raised me with love, but, of course, the fact that there was no man in the house except me, a boy, is not very good. It is important that the child sees good, orderly relationships between parents, a boy is an example of fatherly behavior, a girl is an example of maternal behavior, and when the family is incomplete (no matter for what reasons), there is no such example. Then this can be compensated for - everything is possible with God.

I think in my life this was compensated by God Himself at the moment of joining the church. My ideas about how a family should be built have changed dramatically. Its inviolability, the obedience of children to their parents, the division of roles entered my soul so deeply, as if I had grown up in such a family, although I had never seen anything like it, and I had never read about it anywhere. But it became clear to me that the husband is the head of the family, everyone must obey him, he must provide for the family, and the wife must take care of the housework. True, her fourth pregnancy was difficult, and then I had to do a lot of housework, but I explained to her: I am helping you not as a husband, but as a brother.

– And it happens that the wife usually cooks, but the husband has his own signature dishes, which he does not trust her with.

- The details don't matter. If the father cooks pilaf or dumplings, this is a family ritual.

I want to clarify that I am not imposing anything on anyone. Moreover, I don’t want anyone to conclude from my words that his wife should leave her job. My wife is not a fan of social activities; it was natural for her not to work, but to take care of the children, and we both agreed that the most important thing for children is home education. I think it’s more natural this way: the husband is the leader, he bears responsibility for the family (in every sense: material, mental, spiritual), and the wife is a reliable rear supporter, supports her husband and takes care of the children. But if a husband forces his wife to stay at home, it will not do anything good.

And when both spouses work, come home in the evening, the wife cooks dinner, and the husband watches TV or sits at the computer, this is ridiculous. It’s even more absurd, and this also happens, when the husband is unemployed, doesn’t lift a finger to find at least some work, and doesn’t do anything around the house, but the wife earns money and is “obliged” to serve him. This shouldn't happen.

I'm just saying how, in my opinion, it should ideally be. How I accomplished this is another question - I don’t want and can’t boast. It’s just very important to understand that we are different, and I only began to realize this at the institute. We were taught that all people are the same, men and women have only anatomical differences. In this sense, Soviet education was liberal - the idea that there are no other differences is popular both in the West and in the United States. Not true, there are other, equally important differences. We are equal before God, because we are all created in His image and likeness, but not only do adult men and women have different psychology, but also boys and girls. That’s why we have different roles in life and in the family.

– In raising children, you probably also had a division of responsibilities?

“I was in the service - first as an altar boy, then as a priest, and my wife spent all her time with the children, and she was never bored with them. Now it’s fashionable to talk about self-realization, but she saw her self-realization in raising children, and I’m happy that she and I have the same ideas about female self-realization.

All the years of my altar work, our common spiritual father, Archpriest Georgy Breev, paid for us in the summer for a dacha at the 43rd kilometer, I went to services from there, spent my vacation there, and then I could devote more time to them. And when we lived at home in Moscow, I took the children to church for liturgy 2-3 times a week.

– At the dacha, did you play football and badminton with them, did you go fishing or pick mushrooms?

- Almost not. Since I myself am not an athlete (except for classical wrestling in my youth), not a fisherman or a mushroom picker, I could neither introduce my sons to fishing nor keep them company in games. But it happened, of course, to run around and tinker with them.

Archpriest Konstantin Ostrovsky with his grandson

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– Did you have any ideas about what they definitely need to teach them as future men? Many believe that no matter who the boy becomes later, no matter what brilliant abilities he has in mathematics, languages ​​or music, he, as a man, must be able to do something with his hands, and also stand up for himself in order to protect the weak if necessary .

“All this, of course, is good, but I couldn’t teach them any craft, because I’m not handy myself.” The faucet could be changed, but nothing more. And the ability to stand up for yourself, if you have character, will come by itself.

Like all parents, we probably made some mistakes, but I think that on the whole we raised our sons well, since they grew up to be real men: they can stand up for themselves and feel responsible for their families. The eldest chose monasticism, he is already a bishop, rector of the Kolomna Seminary, this is also a huge responsibility.

Bishop of Zaraisky, vicar of the Moscow diocese Konstantin (Ostrovsky), Archpriest Georgy Breev, Archpriest Konstantin Ostrovsky

To keep in the Church: education, will, Providence

– You have said more than once that by nature you are a pressurer and, especially in the neophyte period, sometimes you went too far, you even decided that children do not need fairy tales.

– There were neophyte excesses. Indeed, I decided that neither children nor adults need anything spiritual, only spiritual things are needed. Father George, when he learned about this, explained to me that if the child is not Sergius of Radonezh or Seraphim of Sarov, he needs healthy spiritual food, including fairy tales, to prepare for life.

As for the pressure on children in general, it is more difficult to talk about this now than 10-15 years ago. The atmosphere in society has changed, and these changes are affecting the church environment. Previously, people more easily accepted thoughts about obedience, about paternal authority, about the admissibility of strict punishments. Many people do not understand the difference between “so that the child feels good” and “so that the child is good.” And these are different goals and they require different means.

To make a child comfortable, you need to do without demands, obedience, or punishment - just negotiate. And at work, the boss, if he wants his subordinates to feel comfortable, must negotiate with them. And this approach can give visible success... But external. And the philosopher Konstantin Leontyev wrote that external pressure is useful for the spiritual life of the people. Who cares about external pressure? No one, but it is useful for developing will, patience, and humility. And it is all the more useful for a child when something is demanded of him.

There are, although not so often, children who are soft and compliant - it would seem that you certainly can’t demand anything from them, you don’t need to force them to do anything. But how then will the child’s will be formed, the ability to humble himself and forgive? There is always a danger of going too far. It's like in weightlifting - if a person is overloaded, he will get injured, he may even become disabled, but if he is underloaded, he will remain weak. Cultivating will and courage without demandingness, without some kind of pressure is impossible.

But in spiritual life, pressure is of little use. It is possible and necessary to demand that a child fulfill some spiritual orders, but it is impossible to demand prayer and love. Of course, if the family is church-going, the child is for the time being included in the Orthodox tradition: he observes fasts, goes to church with his parents, confesses, takes communion, and reads the morning and evening rules with them. While our children were little, they read with pleasure, but the older they got, the less they liked it. (And it can be difficult for you and me to stand at work, attention is scattered). But while they lived together, the rule continued.

Once my wife and I had an argument. She says: we taught them the rule, but we didn’t teach them to pray. But I say that everything is exactly the opposite: they didn’t teach the rule, but they taught how to pray. All of them remained believers. And she agreed with me. Here a very deep and important paradox emerged, which relates not only to our educational experience: external pressure always causes protest, but at the same time it can have a life-giving effect on the soul.

Archpriest Konstantin Ostrovsky. Photo: georg-hram.ru

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“And three of your sons became priests.” One of the biggest problems in believing families today is that children grow up and leave the Church. How to keep them?

- No way. I like Pasternak’s line: “But to be alive, alive and only, alive and only to the end.” Parents can be guilty when they don’t take care of their children - they throw them at grandmothers, at clubs and sections, or, as often happens nowadays, they simply give them an iPad in their hands, so that, on the one hand, they don’t have to worry about where the child is, on the other hand. another, he did not interfere with them going about their business. The father abandons the family - it is also his fault. And if the father and mother try to raise their children, this is their merit. And when the parents are believers, there is some kind of church structure at home, the children join it, but this also does not guarantee anything.

Childhood religiosity passes, and a person must make a choice himself, and making it can be difficult. As far as I understand, it is impossible to help this, you can only not interfere with your pressure and not injure the person. But even with the most reasonable behavior of parents, there are no guarantees. When the calling grace touches the human heart, only the Lord knows. The will of man and the Providence of God are of great importance.

How I raise my children also matters, but more so for the salvation of my soul. Parental education is the soil, the seed is the will of the person himself, and the sun and rain are from God. Everyone must try, but everything is in God’s hands.

– And you also don’t see your merit in the fact that three sons followed in your footsteps?

– I am very happy, as I think any father is happy if he does what he loves, and then his sons also choose this business. As soon as I began to become a church member, I immediately fell in love with the priesthood, I wanted to serve myself, and it didn’t matter whether in a cathedral or in a rural church. My dream did not come true right away, but when the children were still growing, it is not surprising that they liked their father’s ministry. But my mother and I had no intention of raising them to be priests. After all, the priesthood is a personal calling; the Lord called three of them; if he calls a fourth, he will serve.

Until recently, two of them served with me, and even now they are rectors in our deanery. Well, the eldest, after much thought - he consulted with me and with Father Georgy Breev, went to the Lavra to see Father Kirill (Pavlov), talked with him - chose monasticism. I am pleased that my three sons are serving, but I understand that it was the Lord who called them.

Baptism. Archpriest Konstantin Ostrovsky, Bishop Konstantin (Ostrovsky), Nikita Ostrovsky

Living a common life

– One can guess that you lived very modestly, and in the nineties, when they were all still children and teenagers, a strong stratification began in the country, and the rich appeared. Have they ever grumbled that one of their peers has something they don’t have?

“I don’t remember them ever being upset about this.” It seems to me that a lot here depends on the attitude of the parents themselves to their financial situation. We really lived modestly (and when I was an alarnik, simply on alms - both the priests and parishioners helped), but we never considered ourselves deprived.

In their self-esteem, boys are guided by their mother, girls by their father (I read about this from Freud, but, in my opinion, this is the general opinion in psychology). If a mother is upset by the way her son looks, he begins to feel complex, but if his mother likes the boy, he feels confident. It was important for both of us that the children were dressed for the season, and we never even thought about whether it was fashionable or unfashionable, whether it was better or worse than the neighbor’s children or classmates. Accordingly, they didn’t care either.

Priest Konstantin Ostrovsky, photo from the family archive.

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– You were ordained in Khabarovsk, you and your family moved there, but then your sons started having health problems due to the climate, and your wife returned with them to Moscow, and you remained in Khabarovsk for another year. Such a long separation is always a test for a family.

– I had no choice. If I had returned to Moscow then, I would have been banned. Perhaps forever. I don’t know what to do for a man whose wife argues in such a situation and demands that he immediately return home, otherwise she will divorce. God had mercy on me - my wife supported me, she understood that I could not quit my service. I sent them money, my mother helped as much as she could.

And another very important thing is that we wrote letters to each other every day. There was no Skype at that time, long-distance calls were expensive, so we rarely called each other, but we wrote letters and, accordingly, received them every day. And this helped us maintain constant spiritual communication.

– As a priest, they probably often tell you about family difficulties and troubles? What do you see as the main problem of the modern family, fatherhood?

– I won’t say that any specific problems of fatherhood are highlighted. As for general problems, I see in almost everyone a desire for comfort, but even many church people do not have a sense of family as a single whole. It’s not that they don’t love each other - most Christian families, thank God, do not break up, but the feeling of a family as a small church, which, like the Church itself, as a parish, is organized in the image of the Kingdom of Heaven, is very rare today. The Christian family is called a small church for a reason - it also has its own way of life, its own hierarchy, obedience, common prayer, common meal. Now they live under one roof, but each lives their own lives, many even pray separately. And common life is very important.

Wedding.
Priest Pavel Ostrovsky /p>

How can children not lose their reverence for “church life”?

So that children in priestly families do not lose reverence, the parents themselves (priest and mother) must be pious people: love worship, honor God and treat the service with reverence. Then the children will be treated with reverence. And even if the child, perhaps at some point in his life, falls into temptation, then at least he will not despise his parents: “Mom and dad are crazy, of course, but they are decent people.” And when a child sees that dad is alone in church and in public, and another at home, then he may feel disgust, and then it’s good if: “I want to be with God, but I don’t want to be like dad,” but maybe and say: “I don’t want to be a hypocrite like dad” - and generally reject everything.

Priests, good priests, zealous ones, are tempted to become completely involved in parish activities. But we must remember that the family is a small church, and the attitude towards it should be as zealous as towards the Church. You should be no less attentive to your home than to your parish.

education

After graduating from high school, he worked at a factory as a mechanic[1].

In 1974, he graduated from the medical faculty of the Vinnitsa Medical Institute and worked as a local doctor, then as a senior doctor in the intensive care team at a regional hospital.

In 1980-1982 he worked at the Bryansk Pedagogical Institute as an assistant, then as a senior teacher.

In 1981, he defended his thesis at the Smolensk Medical Institute: “The influence of lithium salts on kidney function.” After that, he took the position of senior lecturer at the Smolensk Medical Institute.

In 1982, he quit his job at the institute and got a job as a railway worker, then as a watchman at the Zhirovitsky Assumption Monastery.

In 1983, with the blessing of Metropolitan of Minsk and Belarus Philaret (Vakhromeev), he entered the 2nd grade of the Moscow Theological Seminary and continued to practice medicine.

In 1989 he graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy and was retained as a professor's fellow. He taught the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament at the Moscow Theological Seminary. In 1990, he defended his PhD thesis on the topic: “Russian religious and philosophical anthropology at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries: V. S. Solovyov and V. I. Nesmelov.”

On March 20, 1990, he was appointed rector of the Minsk Theological Seminary.

From July 17, 1996 to October 6, 2008 - Rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and Seminary with the title Bishop of Tikhvin, vicar of the St. Petersburg diocese.

Since 1999 - professor, head of the department of theological disciplines of St. Petersburg theological schools.

In 2005, on the initiative of Bishop Constantine, the People's Orthodox University (NPU) was created in St. Petersburg.

hierarchy

On April 14, 1986, he was tonsured a monk and given the name Konstantin. On May 4, 1986, he was ordained to the rank of hierodeacon, and on June 12 of the same year - to the rank of hieromonk.

On March 2, 1990, he was elevated to the rank of abbot, and on March 3, he was enrolled in the brethren of the Zhirovitsky Monastery.

On September 2, 1990, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.

On June 16, 1991, in the Assumption Cathedral of the Zhirovitsky Monastery, he was consecrated Bishop of Novogrudok, Vicar of the Minsk Diocese.

On February 19, 1992, he was appointed manager of the Novogrudok and Lida diocese.

On February 25, 2003, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop.

On October 6, 2008, he was appointed Archbishop of Kurgan and Shadrinsk [Archbishop Konstantin of Tikhvin was appointed ruling bishop of the Kurgan diocese. // Patriarchy.Ru].

On May 5, 2015, the ruling bishop of the Petrozavodsk diocese with the title “Petrozavodsk and Karelian”, head of the Karelian Metropolis[2], was elevated to the rank of metropolitan[3].

Participated in Local Councils in 1988, 1990 and 2009.

Used materials

• Biography on the official website of the Moscow diocese:
• Biography on the official website of the Moscow Patriarchate:

Circular No. 46 dated January 12, 2004, official website of the Moscow diocese, -

Decree No. 2855 of October 19, 2004, official website of the Moscow diocese, -

Journals of the meeting of the Holy Synod of July 26, 2012, magazine No. 67,

Decree No. 4381 of December 20, 2012, official website of the Moscow diocese, -

Order for the Moscow diocese. Circular No. 1133 dated March 12, 2013, official website of the Moscow diocese, -

Decree No. 2929 of June 25, 2013, official website of the Moscow diocese, -

“Composition of the Inter-Council Presence for 2014-2018 by commission”, official website of the Moscow Patriarchate, -

Transitional age

Saint Theophan the Recluse writes that during adolescence, hypogastric vapors strike the head. And for all young people, except those who decided to be Christians even before puberty - they decided on their own, and not on parental guidance - these couples sweep away everything.

Using the example of not only my family (four people is not such a large sample to draw conclusions), but also Sunday school, I see that this is the case. The overwhelming majority of guys at this very transitional age get carried away, many commit some unworthy acts.

More or less smoothly - not entirely without temptations and falls, but without big ones - this goes through only a few. I can name hardly ten from our Sunday school, but I won’t, so as not to confuse anyone. The rest did penalty loops. Like in biathlon - if you shoot wide of the target, you take a penalty loop. I’m no longer afraid, I just know that this, with rare exceptions, is inevitable.

Specifically, my sons did not so much rebel against the Church as resist my paternal pressure. The relationship was saved because at some point I realized that they had grown and putting pressure on them was ineffective, and I stopped putting pressure on them.

Personal choice

But a person living in a priestly family does not always have a calling; this is very important. There is such a mistake, no matter how much we talk about it, it is repeated many times by many priests. This is a “pious” pressure on their sons to continue their father’s work. Moreover, this pressure is not always obvious. Literally, we say that you have freedom, but we create such conditions that a person who, in principle, is not called to this, becomes a priest. And then tragedy happens. There are obvious tragedies for everyone when a person stops serving or even removes his rank. It’s even worse when a person does not formally renounce God, performs divine services, but does not live by faith in his heart.

Therefore, everyone has their own calling, not just to the priesthood, but to the Christian life. And people living in church families come to God on their own. We bring children to the knowledge of God, we introduce them to church life, but this certain “borderline”: from some moment he knew about God, and from some moment he saw God and felt Him - everyone has it mine.

The story of the prudent robber should be very indicative for us. A bandit sentenced to death, who saw another robber next to him (after all, in his eyes, Christ was also a robber), and at that moment he saw God in him and said, “Remember me, Lord, when You come in Your Kingdom!” - this was his calling. Everyone has their own, every priest can tell amazing cases when people were called in very different ways.

So, especially in church families, we must do everything for our children so that they become Christians. Pray for them and don’t put pressure on them. Because this is squeezing, “breaking”, it is not effective. There are many real examples of people broken by such a “pious” Christian upbringing.

This is a very delicate question, here you need to understand these boundaries, in which cases, of course, you need to put pressure, especially on a small child, and where you need to be able to stop, give him freedom of choice.

organizations

• Vice-President of the Academy of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Union. S. P. Koroleva (ANIS).
• Member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (RANS).
• Member of the board of the IOO "Society Knowledge".
• Full member of the Academy of Russian Literature.
• Member of the Academy of Vocational Education and Business (AONO APOB).
• Member of the Academy of the Petrovsky Academy of Sciences and Arts.
• Member of the International Academy of Sciences of Ecology, Nature and Human Safety (MANEB).
• Member of the St. Petersburg Academy of the History of Science and Technology.
• Honorary member of the International Academy of Integrative Anthropology.
• Honorary Chairman of the Council of Orthodox Intelligentsia.
• Chairman of the Church and Public Council on Biomedical Ethics of the Moscow Patriarchate.
• Member of the Russian Writers' Union.
• First President of the Pokrov Association, uniting civilian and military universities in St. Petersburg and other cities of Russia.

essays

• Archbishop Konstantin (Goryanov)
  And you will know the truth. - St. Petersburg: Rodnaya Ladoga, 2011. - 568 p. — 1000 copies. — ISBN 978-5-905657-01-6.
• Archbishop Konstantin (Goryanov)
  20 years of the Kurgan and Shadrinsk diocese. 1993—2013. - Kurgan: Print-express, 2013. - 121 p.
• Archbishop Konstantin (Goryanov)
  20 years of the Kurgan and Shadrinsk diocese. 1993—2013. — 2nd ed., rev. and additional.. - Kurgan: Print-express, 2014. - 194 p. — 3000 copies.
• Archbishop Konstantin (Goryanov)
  Get up and go to your house. - St. Petersburg: Rodnaya Ladoga, 2014. - 512 p. — 500 copies. — ISBN 978-5-905657-08-5.
• Konstantin (Goryanov), bishop. Orthodoxy and culture. Dokl. to the International Russian forum intelligentsia "Culture and society: mutual obligations on the threshold of the new millennium." St. Petersburg, May 18-21, 2000 // Christian reading. M., 2000. No. 19 (KhCh). 3-20.
• Konstantin (Goryanov)
  . Life and work of Nesmelov. // Human. - 1992. - No. 2.
• Konstantin (Goryanov), bishop. Life and religious-philosophical anthropology of Viktor Nesmelov // Christian Reading. M., 1998. No. 16. 5-25.
• Konstantin (Goryanov). The life and work of Viktor Nesmelov // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate 1996. No. 7. P. 55-62.

Publications

• Consequence of bishop's services: Practice of the Moscow diocese // Moscow Diocesan Gazette. 2002. - No. 5/6. - pp. 52-67;
• Instructions for proteges as priests and deacons: Practice of the Moscow diocese // Moscow Diocesan Gazette. 2002. - No. 7/8. - pp. 75-79;
• On the commemoration of the deceased during the singing of the Colored Triodion // Moscow Diocesan Gazette. 2005. - No. 3/4. - pp. 110-112;
• In memory of Fr. Matthew [archim. Matthew (Mormyl)] // Meeting. MDA. Sergiev Posad, 2009. - No. 1 (29). - pp. 62-64;
• Message from Hieromonk Konstantin (Ostrovsky), Chairman of the Diocesan Department of Religious Education and Catechesis at a meeting of deans and chairmen of departments of the Moscow Diocese // official website of the Moscow Regional Diocese, March 11, 2010
• “It’s nice to see that among the applicants there are no random people in the church...” // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. 2012. - No. 9. - P. 22;
• Hymns for the meeting and vestment of the bishop // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. 2013. - No. 2. - P. 99-103.
• The problem of “good” and “evil” in the teachings of the Vissarion sect (“Church of the Last Testament”) // bogoslov.ru, May 13, 2014
• Presentation of the founder of the “Church of the Last Testament” sect Vissarion about the Old and New Testaments // bogoslov.ru, May 30, 2014
• Bishop Konstantin of Zaraisk: The document on the Eucharist only records traditions // “Orthodoxy and Peace”, February 1, 2015

Children and altar

In my opinion, it is very stupid for children to be brought into the altar and cherished there. This is especially true for the abbot. He sat his son down, kissed him, and gave him a prosphora. And what? And nothing good.

It happens that there is an ungodly, irreverent atmosphere in the altar. Moreover, this does not always depend on us. There may be a situation where the abbot cannot do anything. We also need to protect the child from this so that he is not tempted.

When my children were little, I was an altar server, I went with them to services, but I did not take them to the altar. They stood in front of the Royal Doors, this is the most convenient position.

But if the atmosphere in the altar is reverent, and if the children themselves want to be there, then it is necessary that they not only be present at the altar, but serve. If he is so small that he can’t do anything yet, let him not go there. At the age of 7 (some at 5) he can already do a lot of things, then he can carry out obedience there on an equal basis with everyone else.

The requirements should be the same for adults as for children.

He's already a big boy, he can walk through with candles. In that case, I think this could be very useful. Moreover, this can be useful not only as an introduction to worship (although this, of course, too), but also from the point of view of education.

When I was the rector of a small church in Khabarovsk, my eldest son (now Bishop Konstantin, then he was 10 years old) read, and the second (he was in charge of the altar, preparing everything for the service. The eldest still sometimes remembers how I reprimanded him once, when I forgot that alleluary. But there is nothing wrong with that, the main thing is not to overdo it, not to scold unnecessarily. It is good and very valuable that the sons and their father did the same thing.

Unfortunately, this is almost completely absent in our society now.

honorary titles

Vice-President of the Academy ANIS Member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (RANS) Member of the Board of the IOO "Society Knowledge" Full member of the Academy of Russian Literature Member of the Academy of APOB Member of the Academy of the Petrovsky Academy of Sciences and Arts Member of the International Academy of Sciences of Ecology, Nature and Human Safety (MANEB) Member St. Petersburg Academy of the History of Science and Technology Honorary Member of the International Academy of Integrative Anthropology Honorary Chairman of the Council of Orthodox Intelligentsia Chairman of the Church-Public Council on Biomedical Ethics of the Moscow Patriarchate, etc. Signs his archpastoral messages: “Archbishop of Kurgan and Shadrinsk, professor, academician.”