Patriarch Tikhon died in 1925. He was buried in the Small Cathedral of the Moscow Donskoy Monastery, writes pravoslavie.ru. And after some time, people were found who reported that the body of the patriarch was secretly taken out of the monastery.
The publication pravmir.ru quotes the words of archaeologist Sergei Belyaev:
“Everyone was sure that the place that <...> is designated as a grave is nothing more than simply a designation of the place where the patriarch was once buried. Because there were witnesses to how on one of the winter nights in the early 30s <…> a sleigh with a coffin drove off towards the crematorium.”
Believers were almost sure that the body of Patriarch Tikhon was destroyed, and not simply transported to another place. After all, the patriarch’s activities ran counter to the interests of the Soviet government. In the issue of Izvestia dated March 28, 1922, he opened a list of enemies of the people “with his entire church council.”
Winter. Religion.
Mikhail Khaustov
Relations between Patriarch Tikhon and Soviet power
In 1918, the patriarch wrote a letter to all Orthodox Christians, where he anathematized (cursed) the atheists. He forbade those who participate in persecution of faith from participating in church sacraments. Patriarch Tikhon stated that for cruel acts they are subject to “the fire of Gehenna in the future life - the afterlife and the terrible curse of the offspring in the present life - earthly.”
When the campaign to destroy the relics of Orthodox saints began, the patriarch made statements to Lenin and Kalinin. According to him, such treatment of shrines not only offended the religious feelings of believers, but also violated the Constitution of the RSFSR.
In 1922, when a terrible famine began in the country, Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow allowed churches to donate church valuables (except for those needed for divine services) to help the hungry. After some time, the authorities adopted a decree that any church valuables would be forcibly confiscated. The Patriarch publicly spoke out against the confiscation of consecrated objects. After this, a case was opened against him, and the head of the church was put under house arrest. He was in captivity for about a year, writes portal-slovo.ru.
Church. Prayer.
CC0
In Donskoy
Donskoy is one of the most picturesque Moscow monasteries. It is surrounded by a stone battlement wall, along the inner side of which, at the height of the loopholes - just like in the Kremlin - there is a covered wooden platform. Near the bell tower of the Holy Gate of the monastery there is a two-story house. From the porch, a steep stone staircase leads to a small hallway, and from it there is an exit to the platform connecting the house with the bell tower. The archimandrites of the Donskoy Monastery lived here, and Patriarch Tikhon was imprisoned here for more than a year. A large crowd gathered at the gate, and he went out onto the historical platform to appear to the people who feared for his life, and silently blessed him. It was forbidden for the Patriarch-prisoner to speak... And after his release, he continued to live in small rooms on the upper floor with his cell attendant, and the lower one was occupied by utility rooms.
The daily needs of the Patriarch - cooking, washing, cleaning - were taken care of by women who lived nearby and came daily to work around His Holiness. All of Moscow took care of him. Doing him some favor, bringing him a modest gift was a joy for everyone. And he lived like a bird of heaven, not caring about tomorrow and giving everything to the poor. Muscovites were especially zealous on the day of His Holiness’s name day, August 26th. Offerings flocked to the Donskoy Monastery from all over the city, not only from individuals, but also from entire artels. Okhotny Ryad sent fish, caviar, mushrooms, and pickles; bakers and confectioners - their products; grocer – tea, sugar and other products; manufacturers - whole pieces of matter; gardeners - luxurious flowers...
In service in Donskoy
His Holiness's last birthday in 1924 was marked by the arrival of an American deputation. Having prayed during the liturgy and prayer service to St. Tikhon of Voronezh, which the Patriarch himself served, the Americans immediately, in the Donskoy Cathedral overcrowded with worshipers, addressed him with a heartfelt speech, pointing to the love that during his nine-year priesthood in America he acquired not only among his own the Russian flock, but also among the Americans themselves. Kneeling before the Patriarch, they presented him, on behalf of all his American admirers, with a golden miter studded with diamonds and vestments.
In Donskoy, the Patriarch received every day from 9 to 12 hours everyone who wanted to see him in person, with the exception, of course, of those days when he was busy with divine services.
In the early autumn of 1924, I also went to see him.
The tiny hallway was crowded and the wait was quite long. Seeing that it would not be my turn soon - we kept the line ourselves - I went out onto the platform near the bell tower, walked along the wall and, having admired the beautiful view, went down to the monastery cemetery.
There, a thin old man dressed in rags came up to me and asked me for alms, and then we started talking. He complained for a long time about the hard times and added:
– We have only one sun left – His Holiness.
When I returned to the hallway, I saw that there were only a few people left before me. Following me, my new acquaintance, a beggar, comes in.
“You have no conscience,” the patriarch’s cell attendant addresses him. - If only you had pity on His Holiness. You see how many people have gathered. And so every day. Everyone has something to do with him, and you’re bothering him in vain. Yesterday you were with him.
“Not yesterday, but yesterday,” the beggar objects offended.
Treasury chambers of the Donskoy Monastery, cell of Patriarch Tikhon
Frees up space on the windowsill. I sit down just opposite the entrance to the patriarch's chambers. The door is ajar, and I see the Patriarch. He is dressed at home - in a dark cassock, his head is not covered. He stands with his hand on the head of the kneeling young man, and he says something passionately and quietly. Tears stream down the young man's sorrowful and emotional face. “He’s probably repenting of something,” I think.
But now it’s my turn. I enter. The Patriarch meets me at the door, to which, as I have already seen, he escorted all his visitors. I'm approaching the blessing. Then he sits down on an antique-looking sofa, in front of which there is a table covered with a carpet tablecloth, and points me to an armchair.
And from his first words I ceased to be embarrassed. I almost forget that in front of me is His Holiness the Patriarch of All Russia, and I see only a gentle old man, to whom, like a relative, I can say everything, being confident that he will understand everything. Our conversation is quite relaxed. He questions me, listens carefully to my answers, and jokes.
Cell of St. Tikhon in the Donskoy Monastery
I tell him that my family is calling me abroad.
His Holiness looks at me and says: “Perhaps it’s good there, but at home it’s better.”
I remember that after he was released at the request of all Christian Churches, he was offered to go abroad, but he replied: “The place of the Russian Patriarch is in Russia.”
And later, when one priest came to him for a blessing to leave Russia, the Patriarch said: “I don’t forbid, it’s your will, but I can’t bless. A shepherd should not leave his flock, and even more so during persecutions and disasters...”
“It must be difficult for you when you are so crowded by the crowd,” I say casually.
“It’s hard,” he replies good-naturedly. – What do you think it would be like for me without this crowd? – and his face lights up with a bright smile.
Yes, the crowd crowded him, lovingly, and he loved this crowd. In the love of the people he found spiritual support and joy, and with his love he gave the people both joy and support. And he accepted each of us, his spiritual children, as his friend.
Where did the relics of Patriarch Tikhon go?
After the death of Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow, none of the believers could say exactly what happened to the body of the head of the church. There were various rumors surrounding the disappearance of the relics, reports pravoslavie.ru
According to one of them, by order of the authorities, back in 1927, the body of Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow was pulled out of the grave and burned. According to another version, the monks secretly reburied the body. People assumed that the relics rested either in the German cemetery in Lefortovo (now the Vvedenskoye cemetery in Moscow) or in the necropolis of the Donskoy Monastery.
Snow. Winter.
Mikhail Khaustov
Pilgrimage trip to the Donskoy Monastery
On March 27, parishioners of the Intercession Church in Shchelkovo made a pilgrimage to the Donskoy Monastery.
Led by the rector of the church, Archpriest Alexy (Nikonov), Sunday school students, their parents, and teachers went to Moscow to the walls of the ancient monastery. Donskoy Monastery. Western bell tower with the gate church of St. right Zechariah and Elizabeth
The Donskoy Monastery was founded on the site of the camp of Russian troops who defended Moscow from the invasion of the hordes of the Crimean Khan Kazy-Girey in 1591. In the middle of the camp they then placed a camp church of St. Sergius of Radonezh and installed the Don Icon of the Mother of God in it. As the chronicle testifies, the fierce battle lasted almost a whole day, and at the very height of it, the Tatars suddenly fled in panic. In gratitude for the miraculous help, Tsar Theodore Ioannovich erected a cathedral on the site of the camp in the same 1591 and placed the Don Icon there.
This was the same icon that accompanied Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy on the Kulikovo Field, and has since been revered as the Defender of the Fatherland. Currently, this image is in the Tretyakov Gallery, and only once a year on Memorial Day, September 1, the icon is brought in a procession to the monastery, where the service is performed.
We had to learn all this and much more in an interesting, long two-hour excursion. The first strong impression upon seeing the monastery, even when getting off the bus, was the monastery walls with beautiful towers, somewhat reminiscent of the walls of the Novodevichy Convent.
Donskoy Monastery. Excursion around the territory of the Donskoy Monastery
Church of St. John Chrysostom
Church of St. George the Victorious in the Donskoy Monastery.
The Donskoy Monastery has seen a lot in its lifetime. It was ruined during the Time of Troubles, during the Patriotic War of 1812. After the revolution, the monastery was saved from complete destruction by the fact that it housed a museum of Russian architecture, and fragments of destroyed ancient monuments were brought here. For this reason, the monastery itself began to be called an “architectural cemetery.”
Thus, in one of the walls of the monastery there are high reliefs from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
High relief from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Dmitry Donskoy's visit to Sergius of Radonezh before the campaign against the Tatars
High relief from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Meeting David defeating Goliath
A significant part of the monastery territory is occupied by a necropolis. Outstanding statesmen, participants in the Patriotic War of 1812, famous writers and poets, architects and scientists are buried here. In the 21st century, the ashes of generals A.I. Denikin and V.O. Kappel, the patriotic thinker I.A. Ilyin, and the writer I.S. Shmelev were reburied in the monastery cemetery. We remembered many famous names while walking through the monastery cemetery and prayed for the repose of their souls.
Necropolis of the Donskoy Monastery. Graves of A.I. Denikin, V.O. Kappel, I.A. Ilyin
The grave of Archimandrite Daniil Sarychev
Unfortunately, we did not have a chance to see another important attraction of the monastery - the world pan, which is located in the Small Donskoy Cathedral. During Holy Week they will cook myrrh here, and the temple has already been prepared for this event and for the arrival of the Patriarch. We had to limit ourselves to talking about the process of making the world, which, as we learned, includes 67 different components, many of which are not so easy to acquire. The myrrh is cooked for two days - on Monday and Tuesday, on Wednesday the myrrh cools down, and on Maundy Thursday it is consecrated at the Patriarchal service. After this, the myrrh is distributed throughout all dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church. Myrrh is used in the Sacrament of Confirmation, which is performed immediately after the Sacrament of Baptism over all Orthodox Christians. The saying comes to mind and becomes clear: “We are all smeared with the same world.”
Excursion around the territory of the Donskoy Monastery. At the small Donskoy Cathedral.
The next significant part of the excursion was dedicated to St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. In a small church in honor of Saint Tikhon, a story about his life’s journey was heard; paintings on the walls of the temple accompanied the story with fragments of the life of the saint.
Church of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'
The spiritual feat of Patriarch Tikhon is probably not yet fully realized today. To steer the ship of the Church among the raging waves of those years, to endure persecution and humiliation from the authorities, to save the Church from schism and simply from destruction - this was truly a martyr’s cross. It is worth thinking about the words of the confessor of the Pafnutievo-Borovsky Monastery, Schema-Archimandrite Blasius, very famous among believers, who called the relics of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon the greatest shrine in Russia.
Church of St. Tikhon
The glorification of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', took place in 1989, and in 1992, during renovations in the Small Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery, the relics of the saint were discovered. Today the relics of St. Tikhon rest in the Great Don Cathedral to the left of the Royal Doors.
We had a chance to visit the cell of Patriarch Tikhon, where he spent most of his imprisonment, enduring slander and persecution from the Bolsheviks and “renovationists.” He lived in two cramped cells almost until his death on April 7, 1925.
Cell of Patriarch Tikhon
The cell-museum of Patriarch Tikhon contains the remaining incorrupt vestments in which the saint was buried, documents, and personal belongings. There are photographs on the walls. One of them shows the Patriarch’s cell attendant Yakov Polozov, who took the bullets during the assassination attempt on Patriarch Tikhon and defended him at the cost of his life. Another unique photograph shows Patriarch Alexy II during a prayer service at the relics of St. Tikhon on December 4, 2008, the day before his death...
Behind the house with the cell of Patriarch Tikhon, our active and observant children immediately noticed the deer and ran to look at them. The exotic menagerie of the monastery is also rich in peacocks, and there is a pond with fish. But on a cold winter day, the only people you could see on a walk were the inhabitants of the north - deer.
We completed our acquaintance with the Donskoy Monastery in the main church of the monastery - the Great Donskoy Cathedral. Inside the cathedral, the iconostasis amazes with its splendor. The details of the iconostasis are very unique, and even unusual. There is, for example, an icon series of the Passion of Christ. In the apostolic row, the apostles sit on thrones. In the local row on the right is one of the main shrines of the monastery - a revered copy of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Don. On the left is a shrine with the relics of St. Tikhon.
Great Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery
Once upon a time, this magnificent iconostasis also had a “reverse” side - rows of icons facing the altar. There was some distance between the two iconostases; during services, singers were placed in this gap, and they were located at different heights - they say that the singing was amazing.
I must say that we were greeted very warmly at the monastery, and visiting the monastery left very pleasant memories. The dominant feature of hospitality was the meal in the dining room, where our entire tired, cold and hungry group was fed lunch and provided with pies and gingerbread for the return journey.
On this cold day, within the walls of the monastery, we were warmed by the grace of the holy place, memories of the patriots of the Fatherland and devotees of the Orthodox faith, the simple and kind look of Patriarch Tikhon, behind which the great power of spirit, faith and love was revealed to us.
Photos:
Source: https://homutovo.ru/life_hram/donskoy-monastyr.html
Places: Donskoy Monastery in Moscow
If you liked the review and you also want to visit these shrines, then we invite you to familiarize yourself with the corresponding pilgrimage tours.
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How did you manage to find the relics of the patriarch?
In 1989, at the Council of Bishops, Patriarch Tikhon was canonized (canonized). But even having made such a decision, the church hierarchs did not raise the issue of the holy relics of the patriarch.
In 1991, a fire occurred in the Small Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery. A Molotov cocktail was thrown inside the temple. The temple was seriously damaged by fire; most of the floor had to be opened. And there, at the bottom of the crypt, they found an oak coffin with a marble tablet on which was written: “Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Tikhon.”
On February 22, representatives of the Holy Synod arrived at the Donskoy Monastery, the solemn discovery of the relics took place: the coffin was lifted from the crypt and placed in the temple, writes moseparh.ru. A few more days later, the archbishop and his assistant washed the relics and changed clothes.
Now believers can venerate the relics of Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow in the Great Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery, clarifies Thomas.
Relics of Saint Tikhon
Chapter from the book “Unholy Saints and Other Stories”
Discovery of the relics of Patriarch Tikhon in the Donskoy Monastery
One of the mysteries of church life in Soviet times was the fate of the relics of St. Patriarch Tikhon, buried in 1925 in the Small Cathedral of the Moscow Donskoy Monastery. In 1946, at a memorial service at his tomb, Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) of Krutitsky and Kolomna said with sadness: “We prayed now only over the grave of His Holiness. His body is not here."
There was every reason for such confidence. The fact that the remains of Patriarch Tikhon could be destroyed did not surprise anyone: if the Orthodox treated the deceased head of the Russian Church as a saint, then the hatred of him on the part of the Bolsheviks was exceptional even against the backdrop of frenzied Soviet atheism. In the list of enemies of the Soviet regime, published in one of the issues of the Izvestia newspaper, Patriarch Tikhon was listed as number one.
According to rumors, in 1927, after the closure of the Donskoy Monastery, the authorities, fearing that the relics of the Patriarch would become an object of worship, removed his coffin from the grave and burned it in the crematorium. According to other sources, the remains of His Holiness were secretly taken out by monks and buried in the German cemetery in Lefortovo. Supporters of the third version argued: realizing that the authorities could abuse the remains of the Patriarch, the monks, soon after the burial, reburied them somewhere in the necropolis of the Donskoy Monastery.
These assumptions grew into real conviction when, in 1932, the leader of the church schismatics-renovationists, supported by the Soviet government, “Metropolitan” Alexander Vvedensky, suddenly appeared before his admirers in bishop’s robes, which Muscovites immediately recognized as precious vestments, sewn especially for Patriarch Tikhon at the famous merchants’ factory Olovyanishnikov brothers. Patriarch Tikhon was buried in them.
And yet the hope that the relics of the Patriarch, beloved by the entire Church, would one day be found remained.
***
When monastic life began to be revived in the Donskoy Monastery, one of the first requests that the then small brethren of the monastery addressed to their abbot, Patriarch Alexy II, was a request to search for the relics of St. Tikhon. His Holiness joyfully blessed us for these works. If only we knew then what incidents this would be connected with and how wonderfully everything would end!
Soon an opportunity presented itself. Renovations have begun in the Small Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery. The temple was closed for several months, and at this time the search would have started... but under various pretexts they were postponed, and now the repairs were already completed. Services resumed in the church, but time was lost. And to be honest, we then frivolously and very stupidly neglected the patriarchal blessing, citing various “reasons and circumstances.” For which they paid. And very soon. Although, as always, the Lord guided our mistakes to the common understanding and to the triumph of His faithful holy new martyr Patriarch Tikhon.
It was November 1991. The governor, Archimandrite Agathodorus, having finished the repairs, went on a service trip and left me in charge of the monastery. There weren’t too many worries if it weren’t for the annoying conflict with some strange people who fell on our heads. They presented themselves as priests and laity of the Russian Church Abroad, although, as it later turned out, they had nothing to do with it. With scandals and outrages, they tried at all costs to organize their divine services in the monastery without the blessing of the Patriarch. We persuaded and exhorted them as best we could, and finally, realizing that nothing was helping, we decisively pushed the uninvited guests outside the fence. But they harbored a grudge.
November 18 marked the day when, in 1917, at the Local Council, St. Tikhon was elected Patriarch of All-Russia (the lot then fell on him, one of three candidates). I was sick, but still served the liturgy that day, and then the memorial service: it was also the anniversary of the death of Father Rafail (Ogorodnikov). In general, November 18 is an extraordinary date for me. In 1988, on this day, Father Raphael died, and in 1993, Valentina Pavlovna Konovalova, the “Moscow merchant’s wife,” the spiritual daughter of Father John, died. The story I am telling about also happened on November 18th. But this is by the way.
At the liturgy, for the first time in my priestly life, I prepared spare Holy Gifts for communion with the sick. Although according to church rules this is done on Maundy Thursday, the night before my friend, the sculptor Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Klykov, came to me with a request to urgently administer Holy Communion and Unction to a sick acquaintance. However, it turned out that there are no spare Holy Gifts in our church: it turns out they were never prepared here.
Thank God, everything turned out well with Klykov’s friend. That night I administered unction to him, and the next morning the sick man was given communion by a priest from another church. To prevent this from happening again, under the guidance of our old hieromonk Father Daniel, I prepared spare Holy Gifts and placed them in a special ark on the throne.
After the evening service, my friend Zurab Chavchavadze came to visit me with a jar of raspberry jam. We were drinking tea when the duty officer called and reported with alarm that several fire crews had arrived at the gate and their commander assured us that they urgently needed to put out some kind of fire in our area.
— Is something burning here? - I was surprised.
- Of course not! — the duty officer reassured me. “It’s probably their commander who’s burning inside...
I got it. Not far from us there was a fire department, whose leadership was friends with Father Agathodor. One of the officers was a big fan of sitting with the priest at the table and philosophizing about life. Once, during a period of such philosophical and alcoholic exacerbation, he was already eager to go to the monastery in the middle of the night. Now, apparently, history was repeating itself.
I hung up, but a minute later the call rang again. The duty officer reported that the firefighters were not letting up. This was too much. Zurab and I had to get dressed, and I also had to wrap myself up warmer after the raspberry jam, and go figure things out.
- What's happened? - I shouted so that it could be heard outside the gate.
- Fire! You're on fire! - came from there.
- Maybe you can come up with something more fun? – I asked sarcastically.
- We received a call! – they didn’t let up on that side.
“This is some kind of mistake, you can see for yourself,” I answered, still opening the gate.
There were indeed two fire engines with full crews standing at the monastery walls. Several people in shiny helmets entered the monastery. They themselves were at a loss.
— A woman called, we thought it was from you. She said: there is a fire in Donskoy, leave urgently.
To finally make sure that there was a misunderstanding, I suggested we walk around the monastery together. We headed towards the central square. It was already late twilight, but everything was clearly visible. The usual peace and quiet, nothing caused alarm.
“You see,” I smiled and turned to the firefighters.
And at that moment, a bright flash flashed in the windows of the Small Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery, the sound of breaking glass was heard, and an orange flame with clouds of black smoke burst out of the window frames.
Firefighters rushed to their engines. And Zurab and I froze with our mouths open. Then they shouted like crazy:
- Fire!!! Fire!!! - And they rushed to the temple.
Fire trucks roared past us. But the temple was already in full flames. The fire raged in the window openings, smoke rose in a gloomy billowing column into the Moscow evening sky.
I will not describe this terrible night for a long time. Only at three o'clock did the firefighters allow us to enter the temple. What appeared before our eyes was truly terrible. Black walls and ceiling, charred shrines, icons, everything is flooded with water, an unbearable smell of burning...
One of the firefighters called me to follow him deeper into the temple and along the way he voiced his first conclusions about the cause of the fire. The fire started, as he claimed, right at the tombstone of the Patriarch. Since the walls of the temple were painted with flammable oil paint, the flames spread instantly.
“But this is really strange,” said the fireman, pointing to the iconostasis.
Although the wooden chapels and icons were blackened by soot, they were not even charred. The iconostasis has been completely preserved. With a sinking heart, I entered the altar and saw that here, too, except for soot, nothing had been touched. When I returned to the officer, he explained his bewilderment to me.
“Everything next to the iconostasis is burned out, but for some reason it itself is intact. It's wooden, not metal?
— A very old tree.
- How come it didn’t burn? Marvelous…
Then I remembered and said:
- Ah!.. We placed the Holy Gifts on the throne this morning!
- They put what?
I tried to explain. The officer listened politely and, clearing his throat, asked:
- Do you seriously think that this has something to do with keeping the tree safe from fire?
- Don't know. I'm just saying that in the morning we placed the Holy Gifts on the throne.
“M-mm... I see,” the officer said incredulously. - However, this happens sometimes. Everything around is burning, but some objects remain. In our business, everything happens.
The investigation began on the same day. It turned out that the fire actually started near the tomb of St. Tikhon. The window here is always kept ajar, and, as investigators suggested, the attacker threw a simple petrol bomb into the temple. The walls, painted with oil paint, immediately began to work. Moreover, the criminal had enough time to leave the monastery unnoticed, with the last visitors.
The circumstances due to which the fire was discovered so quickly were also revealed. One of our parishioners, who lives opposite the Donskoy Monastery, used to read evening prayers on the balcony. It was she who saw the flash in the window of the temple and immediately called the fire department.
A day later, we served an all-night vigil in memory of the Archangel Michael in the burnt cathedral. The choir sang “Praise the name of the Lord,” I performed the festive incense, and people, standing among their relatives, walls blackened by soot and arks burnt to the hilt, could not hold back their tears. We did not want to move the service to another monastery church: we could not allow people to think that this difficult test was simply a game of blind chance and the Lord would not turn our confusion and sorrow into joy, into the triumph of faith and hope in His all-good Providence, incomprehensible to us. This is exactly what I spoke about that evening in my sermon to our parishioners.
It was necessary to begin repairs in the temple. We served here for less than a week after the restoration, and now the Lord again provided us with the recently missed opportunity to begin the search for the relics of St. Tikhon.
We turned to His Holiness again, and he confirmed his blessing for the excavations, only instructing us to act carefully and prudently. We understood his concern. Some people generally tried to persuade the Patriarch not to allow the search, since the possibility of finding the remains of the saint was very small. But if a rumor spreads that they were looking for the relics of Patriarch Tikhon and did not find them, then, cautious advisers warned, there will be no problems: schismatics and ill-wishers of the Church will immediately spread the rumor that Saint Tikhon himself did not want to have his relics in the Patriarchal Church. But, thank God, Patriarch Alexy firmly said: if we find the relics, there will be a great holiday; if they are not there, we will not hide it from anyone.
The people who committed the arson were never found. The brethren of the monastery and some parishioners imagined who it could be, but they even somehow pitied them and in their souls handed them over to the merciful court of God. Moreover, now, with the passage of time, it is clear how providentially this atrocity was allowed to happen. It was during the second, protracted renovation of the Small Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery that the relics of the saint were discovered.
In the evening on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, we performed a prayer service at the tomb of Patriarch Tikhon and began excavations. Few knew about this: His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, several monks, two elders - Archimandrite Kirill from the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite John from the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery and those whom we asked to help us: Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Klykov with his apprentices and the artist Alexey Valerievich Artemyev. We were led by archaeologist Sergei Alekseevich Belyaev. Previously, he took part in the discovery of the relics of St. Ambrose of Optina, and was engaged in excavations in Diveyevo and Chersonesos.
First, the tombstone was removed. Its marble became almost brown after the fire. Having gone thirty centimeters deeper, we discovered a massive marble slab with the inscription: “His Holiness Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.” This was precisely the title of Russian Patriarchs at the beginning of the twentieth century. The find greatly inspired us. We began to dig further and at a depth of about a meter we saw what we were looking for - the stone vault of the crypt. Taking up the work with tripled energy, by morning we carefully cleared the entire crypt. When I managed to remove several stones from the vault, I inserted a lit candle into the resulting hole and looked inside. The crypt was empty. The candlelight caught only dusty shreds of old cobwebs.
When I announced this to my friends, everyone, exhausted, sank to the floor in all directions and, with their heads down, sat in silence for some time. Then one after another they rushed to check: what if I was mistaken, maybe there were at least particles of relics or chips of the coffin left in the vast crypt, dropped during the opening of the Patriarch’s grave? However, nothing, nothing happened... Our worst fears were justified.
Having come to our senses a little, we decided to at least document the size and condition of the crypt. But when someone began to measure its length, the two-meter-long rod unexpectedly completely went both to the right and to the left. The same thing happened with the eight-meter rod. We hastened to explore the underground structure and soon realized that we had not discovered a crypt, but part of the temple’s heating system - stone pipes located under the floor, through which hot air from the furnace passed. For some reason, at the site of the Patriarch’s grave, the heater was significantly expanded, so that a semblance of a crypt actually formed. And the masonry here looked new compared to other parts of the stone underground pipe. Perhaps it really was a ruined crypt. But perhaps the grave was located much deeper. And what we discovered was a false crypt, designed to confuse the Bolsheviks and lead them to believe that the coffin with the body of the Patriarch had already been removed and reburied somewhere.
And then Father Daniel brought one old man who claimed that he supposedly knew for certain: St. Tikhon was buried five meters east of his supposed tomb. Opinions were divided, and the next morning we went to His Holiness to ask for blessings on what to do next. Having found out all the details, the Patriarch gave his blessing to continue the search in the same place.
Finally, closer to night, the real crypt of the Patriarch appeared before us. There was no doubt about it. It was a powerful structure, covered with a huge slab, which, fortunately for us, turned out to be not solid, but consisting of several massive stone sections. We picked up one of these boulders. I lay down on my stomach and lowered the candle inside. I remember being immediately struck by the aroma of spring freshness emanating from the underground tomb. Everyone crowded around. In front of me was a fine, exquisitely carved oak coffin, the description of which I knew well. On it lay a marble tablet. As the candle flickered, I read: “Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Tikhon.”
We couldn't believe our luck. Father Agathodor immediately left to call Patriarch Alexy. It was already late, around midnight, but the meeting of the Holy Synod had just ended in the Patriarchate. About twenty minutes later His Holiness was in Donskoy. Before his arrival, we raised the remaining slabs above the crypt and greeted the Patriarch with a festive ringing of bells. At midnight it sounded like Easter.
It is difficult to convey what feelings we experienced that night, standing at the open grave of St. Tikhon. I couldn’t believe that everything was over and the relics were in front of us. Patriarch Alexy probably had the same feeling. But still he told me:
- Still, we should see if the relics are here?
I put on the stole, because the relics can only be touched in sacred clothing, and went down to the crypt. Having pryed the nails and lifted the carved lid of the coffin, with a sinking heart I put my hand inside. My fingers felt first the fabric, then the shoulder...
- Here!!! - I shouted at the top of my lungs.
- All! Back, back! Close it quickly! — I heard the excited voice of the Patriarch from above.
This happened on February 19, and three days later His Holiness the Patriarch, members of the Synod, confessors of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Kirill and Archimandrite Naum, arrived at the monastery. When they lifted the dilapidated lid of the coffin with the carvings crumbling before our eyes, the incorruptible relics of St. Tikhon appeared before us, covered with a velvet patriarchal robe.
A few more days later, we washed the holy relics according to the ancient rite, dressed them in new holy clothes and placed them in a specially made shrine. The Patriarch wore those same famous vestments made at the Olovyanishnikov factory. We then puzzled for a long time about how these same vestments ended up in the hands of the false Metropolitan of Vvedensky.
Transfer of the relics of Patriarch Tikhon, or the Annunciation in the Donskoy Monastery. Fragment. Artist: F. Moskvitin
Despite the fact that there was very high humidity in the crypt, the body of Patriarch Tikhon, after lying in the ground for sixty-seven years, was preserved almost completely. It is noteworthy that one of the panagias - pectoral icons, symbols of episcopal power, which rested on the chest of St. Tikhon, was made from mammoth bone, but completely turned to dust. Only the silver frame remained. We then involuntarily remembered a line from the Psalter: “The Lord guards all their bones.” Although not only the bones of the holy Patriarch were preserved, but also most of the body. And also the great patriarchal paraman, rosary, monastic paraman, pectoral cross, precious golden panagia, donated when the Patriarch was Archbishop of Yaroslavl by the clergy and parishioners of this diocese. Even a branch of willow was discovered (St. Tikhon was buried on Palm Sunday) and a bottle of fragrant rose oil, which was poured on the body of the Patriarch before burial.
***
After some time, our archaeologist Sergei Alekseevich Belyaev finally got to the bottom of why the false metropolitan Alexander Vvedensky was wearing patriarchal vestments. At the Olovyanishnikov factory they made not one, but two. Now the one that actually belonged to St. Tikhon is exhibited in the museum of the Moscow Donskoy Monastery.
Selected
The spiritual pearl of the Don Monastery is the holy relics of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of All Russia, resting in a gilded shrine in the Great Cathedral of the monastery.
At the beginning of 1992, an arson was committed in the Small Cathedral, as a result of which almost the entire refectory part of the temple burned out. During restoration work after the fire, the relics of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of All Russia, buried here in 1925, were discovered almost by accident. The find became a real miracle and another evidence of the revival of the cathedral. Shortly before the discovery of the relics, in 1989, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized Patriarch Tikhon and canonized him.
Saint Tikhon
Patriarch Tikhon (in the world Vasily Ivanovich Belavin) was born on January 19, 1865 in the city of Toropets, Pskov province, into the family of a priest. After graduating from the Toropets Theological School, he entered the Pskov Theological Seminary, and upon graduation, the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, which he graduated in 1888. It is noteworthy that his fellow seminarians jokingly called the modest, good-natured and always ready to help friends Vasily Belavin “Bishop” , and at the academy, as if foreseeing his future service, the students nicknamed him “Patriarch” for his seriousness and sedate disposition.
After the academy, he taught dogmatics, moral theology and French at the Pskov Theological Seminary for three and a half years. In 1891, the young teacher took monastic vows with the name of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk. Ordained to the rank of hieromonk, a year later he was appointed inspector, and subsequently rector of the Kholm Seminary with elevation to the rank of archimandrite.
Since 1894, he was the rector of the Kazan Theological Academy, and three years later (8 and a half years after graduating from the St. Petersburg Academy) he was already a bishop, first of Lublin, and then of the Aleutian and North American. During this period of his life, spanning almost a decade, he streamlined the life of Orthodox parishes in the United States and Alaska, erected new churches, and among them - the Cathedral in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in New York, where he moved it from San Francisco department of the American Diocese, organized the Minneapolis Theological Seminary for future pastors, parochial schools and orphanages for children. In the United States, His Grace Tikhon gained the glory of a true apostle of Orthodoxy.
His role in the establishment of the Orthodox Church in America is truly enormous. And it is not limited to calm paternal leadership and even the reunification with the Russian Orthodox Church of a large new flock made up of immigrants from areas of Eastern Europe. Under him, for the first time in America, Christians of other faiths began to become acquainted and closer to Orthodoxy. Before the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, Bishop Tikhon defended the need to meet non-Orthodox brothers halfway. Many pastors turned to him on a number of problems: from the question of the possibility of Eucharistic communion to the reunification of divided Churches. Bishop Tikhon took an active part in translating liturgical books into English. In Canada, at his request, a vicar see was opened. In 1905, Bishop Tikhon was elevated to the rank of archbishop.
After successful but difficult work in America, Archbishop Tikhon in 1907 was appointed to the ancient Yaroslavl see. During the years of his bishopric in Yaroslavl, he brought the diocese into a state of spiritual unity. His leadership was patient and humane, and everyone fell in love with the approachable, reasonable, affectionate archpastor, who willingly responded to all invitations to serve in the numerous churches of the Yaroslavl diocese. It seemed to the people of Yaroslavl that they had received an ideal archpastor, with whom they would never want to part. But in 1914, the highest church authorities appointed him Archbishop of Vilna and Lithuania, and on June 23, 1917, Archbishop Tikhon was elected to the Moscow See and elevated to the rank of Metropolitan.
On August 15, 1917, on the feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the All-Russian Local Council opened, restoring the Patriarchate. After four rounds of voting, the Council elected as candidates for the First Hierarchal Throne Archbishop Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kharkov, Archbishop Arseny (Stadnitsky) of Novgorod and Metropolitan Tikhon of Moscow - as the people said, “the smartest, the strictest and the kindest.” The Patriarch was to be chosen by lot. By Divine Providence the lot fell on Metropolitan Tikhon. The enthronement of the new Patriarch took place in the Kremlin Assumption Cathedral on November 21, the day of the celebration of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Difficulties immediately arose on the church path of the new Patriarch. First of all, he was the first to resolve the issue of relations with the new state system, which was hostile to the Church, and also had to do everything possible to preserve Orthodoxy during the difficult period of hard times in the conditions of the revolution, civil war and general devastation that swept Russia.
In his first address to the all-Russian flock, Patriarch Tikhon characterized the era the country was experiencing as “the time of God’s wrath”; in a message dated January 19 (February 1), 1918, he expressed archpastoral concern for the position of the Church and condemnation of bloody riots. The Patriarch fearlessly denounced the godless authorities who persecuted the Church, and even pronounced an anathema on those who committed bloody reprisals on behalf of the authorities. He called on all believers to defend the insulted Church: “... and you resist them with the power of your faith, your powerful nationwide cry... And if it becomes necessary to suffer for the cause of Christ, we call you, beloved children of the Church, we call you to these sufferings along with us... »
When famine set in in the summer of 1921 after the horrors of the civil war, Patriarch Tikhon organized the Committee to Relief the Starving and issued an appeal for help to the starving, exceptional in its power of thought and feeling, addressed to Orthodox Russia and to all the peoples of the universe. He called on parish councils to donate precious church decorations, unless they had liturgical use. The committee headed by the Patriarch raised large funds and greatly alleviated the situation of the hungry.
Patriarch Tikhon was a true defender of Orthodoxy. Despite all his gentleness, goodwill and good nature, he became unshakably firm and unyielding in church affairs, where necessary, and above all in protecting the Church from her enemies. The true Orthodoxy and strength of character of Patriarch Tikhon came to light especially clearly during the time of the “renovationism” schism. He stood as an insurmountable obstacle in the way of the Bolsheviks before their plans to decompose the Church from within.
His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon took the most important steps towards normalizing relations with the state. The messages of Patriarch Tikhon proclaim: “The Russian Orthodox Church ... must and will be the One Catholic Apostolic Church, and any attempts, no matter from whose side they come, to plunge the Church into a political struggle must be rejected and condemned” (from the Appeal dated July 1, 1923 G.)
A new important step towards establishing a positive dialogue between the Church and the victorious social system was the document known as the will of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon dated January 7, 1925: “In the years of civil devastation, by the will of God, without which nothing happens in the world,” wrote His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, - Soviet power became the head of the Russian state. Without sinning against our faith and the Church, without allowing any compromises or concessions in the area of faith, in civil terms we must be sincere towards the Soviet government and work for the common good, conforming the order of external church life and activities with the new state system... Together with By this we express confidence that the establishment of pure, sincere relationships will encourage our authorities to treat us with complete confidence.”
So firmly and clearly, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon defined the purely canonical position of the Russian Orthodox Church in relation to the Soviet state, thereby helping the Orthodox Russian people understand the meaning of revolutionary changes. The change in the political position of Patriarch Tikhon and most of the Orthodox episcopate was determined not only by tactical calculations, but also by considerations of a fundamental nature: the civil war ended, state power ceased to be the subject of bloody internecine warfare, there was one legal government in the country - the Soviet one, which created the opportunity for building a legal state in which the Orthodox Church could take its rightful place.
With his personal preaching and firm confession of Christian Truth, and tireless struggle against the enemies of the Church, Patriarch Tikhon aroused the hatred of representatives of the new government, which constantly persecuted him. He was either imprisoned or kept under “house arrest” in the Moscow Donskoy Monastery. The life of His Holiness was always under threat: an attempt was made on his life three times, but he fearlessly went to perform divine services in various churches in Moscow and beyond. The entire Patriarchate of His Holiness Tikhon was a continuous feat of martyrdom. When the authorities made him an offer to go abroad for permanent residence, Patriarch Tikhon said: “I will not go anywhere, I will suffer here along with all the people and fulfill my duty to the limit set by God.” All these years he actually lived in prison and died in struggle and sorrow. At this time, vested with the highest powers, he, by the election of the Church and the lot of God, was a victim doomed to suffer for the entire Russian Church.
His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon died on March 25, 1925, on the feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, and was buried in the Moscow Donskoy Monastery.
In 1981, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia glorified in the cathedral the new martyrs and confessors of the Russian Church, Patriarch Tikhon. And in 1989, in the year of the anniversary of the establishment of the Patriarchate in Russia, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon was glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. His memory is celebrated on March 25/April 7 and September 26/October 9.
Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhov
27 years ago, on November 18, 1991, he set fire to the Small Donskoy Cathedral in the Donskoy Monastery. The Lord can turn evil deeds to the benefit of believers. As a result of this event, the relics of Patriarch Tikhon were discovered.
Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Pskov and Porkhov recalled how this happened. On February 19, 1992, the relics of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia were found in the Donskoy Monastery. I, at that time the hieromonk of the Donskoy Monastery, had the opportunity to take a very direct part in those events. The eyewitness accounts were recorded back then “on fresh tracks” and reflect the mood of those years.
One of the tragic mysteries of church life in Soviet times for Orthodox people was the fate of the relics of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
They said that in 1927, after the closure of the Donskoy Monastery, security officers removed the body of the saint from the grave in the Small Donskoy Cathedral and burned it in the crematorium. According to another version, Saint Tikhon was reburied by the monks at the German Cemetery with the consent of the Cheka. There was another version: the monks reburied the saint’s body somewhere in the Donskoy Monastery. The fact that the remains of St. Tikhon could be destroyed was not surprising: the hatred of the Patriarch of the Soviet regime was exceptional - in the notorious Izvestia article, he was number one on the list of enemies of the Soviet regime. The opinion that the body of the patriarch was not in the grave was so persistent that even Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich), who served the memorial service for St. Tikhon in the Small Donskoy Cathedral in 1948, said after the end of the service: We prayed now only over the grave of His Holiness, his body is here No.
And there were reasons for such confidence. In 1932, the renovationist false Metropolitan Vvedensky began serving the liturgy in bishop’s vestments, which Muscovites immediately recognized as the very ones in which His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon lay in the tomb. It was believed that these sakkos, omophorion, epitrachelion - amazingly crafted bishop's vestments - were made at the Olovyanishnikov factory especially for Patriarch Tikhon and only in one copy. To this day, in the church-archaeological office of the Moscow Theological Academy there hang vestments that were recognized as the vestments of Patriarch Tikhon, which were somehow returned to the Orthodox Church after Vvedensky after the war.
There is no need to say much about how all Orthodox Rus' loved and loves Saint Tikhon, what spiritual help millions of Orthodox Christians experience when turning to his prayerful help, and how the unknown about the fate of his holy relics weighed on many.
In May 1991, monastic life was resumed in Donskoy. And one of the first blessings that the monks asked from their abbot, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy, was a blessing to search for the relics of St. Tikhon. Soon after the celebration of the four-century anniversary of the Donskoy Monastery, a convenient opportunity for searching presented itself: repairs began at the Small Donskoy Cathedral. But no matter how much we wanted to start excavations, this time we didn’t succeed: we were distracted by a lot of worries about restoring the monastery.
On November 18, two weeks after the completion of the repairs, the Small Donskoy Cathedral was set on fire. Having broken the window, the attackers threw a Molotov cocktail next to the Patriarch's grave. In a few minutes, almost the entire temple burned out. And only a miracle saved it from complete destruction: one woman saw the moment of the explosion from the window of her house and immediately reported it to the fire department. And one more thing: on the same day, during the Divine Liturgy in the Small Donskoy Cathedral, the Lord admonished the hieromonks to prepare spare Holy Gifts - they were placed in the tabernacle on the Holy Throne. Before this, the reserve Holy Gifts were not prepared here. The refectory part of the temple burned out completely, only four miraculous icons survived. But the most surprising thing was that the fire did not touch the altar. It seemed as if an invisible wall was blocking the path of the fire. Fire experts were perplexed why the raging flames stopped when they reached the entrance to the altar. We explained that on the throne were the Holy Gifts. They agreed with this, but could not understand why the flames did not go further.
There is no need to talk about the people who committed this atrocity. At one time, it was Patriarch Tikhon who was entrusted with the heavy cross of the fight against church schism. And today Saint Tikhon, with his grave and his relics, took upon himself one of the first blows from those who, rationally or foolishly, are helping to further deepen the schism in the Russian Church. Both the brethren of the monastery and our parishioners bear no ill will towards these people and hand them over to the merciful court of God. Moreover, today, with the passage of time, it is clear how providentially this evil was allowed to happen: it was during the period of the second protracted repair of the Small Don Cathedral that the relics of the saint were found. And the day of the arson - November 18 according to the new style (November 5 according to the old style) - is especially significant. It was on this day in 1917 in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior that the lot of the patriarchate fell on St. Tikhon.
To be continued.
ST. TIKHON, PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL Rus'
MESSAGE OF HOLY TIKHON PATRIARCH OF ALL RUSSIA
THE DON ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD AND THE DON MONASTERY
LETTER TO LENIN
I HATE CHRISTIANS
REFORMERS OF ORTHODOXY
Holy prisoner: photo report from the cell of Patriarch Tikhon
On November 18, the Church remembers the election of St. Tikhon (Belavin) to patriarchal service. Few people know, but in Moscow there is a cell-museum of the first Russian patriarch after the two-hundred-year synodal break. This cell is located in the Donskoy Monastery, where from 1922, almost until his death, Saint Tikhon was kept in custody.
The Donskoy Monastery, located near the modern Shabalovskaya metro station, was founded in 1591 on the site where the Russian archers stood preparing for the battle with the Crimean Khan Kazy-Girey. Just before the battle, the Crimean Khan unexpectedly fled from the battlefield - such a miraculous deliverance from enemies was explained by the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, since the miraculous Don Icon of the Mother of God was in the Streltsy camp. On the site of the tent where the icon resided, the Small Donskoy Cathedral of the future monastery was built in 1593. A hundred years later, the second Don Cathedral, the so-called Bolshoi Cathedral, appeared nearby. Later, a brick wall with twelve towers was erected around the temples of the monastery, and a bell tower was built above the western gate according to the design of Andrea Trezzini, the author of the Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress. In 1918, the Donskoy Monastery was officially closed. Monastic life lingered there for several more years, although anti-religious exhibitions had already been held on the territory and even an anti-religious museum had been opened. In the building of the former guardhouse, which is adjacent to the northern gate of the monastery, since 1922, St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow, was kept in custody. Almost until his death, he lived here in two cramped cells under the constant supervision of Komsomol members. Going out onto the monastery wall, through the lattice fence, the saint could communicate with the flock standing below. There were repeated attempts on the life of the saint. During one of these attempts, in 1924, Yakov Polozov, the Patriarch’s cell attendant, was killed. When the killers climbed the wall, Yakov came out to meet them and, taking three bullets, defended the patriarch at the cost of his life. The saint insisted that Polozov be buried on the territory of the monastery. His grave is now located near the southern wall of the Maly Donskoy Cathedral. Immediately, a few years after the glorification of St. Tikhon, in 1989, his incorruptible relics were miraculously discovered: the burial was discovered by accident during repair work after a fire in the Small Cathedral. Now the shrine with the relics of St. Tikhon is in the Great Cathedral, to the left of the Royal Doors. In the house where the holy patriarch lived, in his cell, a house museum has now been created. It contains the remaining incorrupt vestments in which the saint was buried, photographs, documents, and personal belongings of the patriarch.
The nearest metro station to the monastery is “Shabolovskaya”. From the monastery walls you can clearly see the famous Shabolovskaya Tower.
Entrance to the building where the cell of Patriarch Tikhon was located
The two upper windows are the patriarch's cell.
The roof from which Patriarch Tikhon looked at his flock
Through this grille Saint Tikhon communicated with parishioners
Monastery walls
Frescoes: Arrival of St. Tikhon in the Donskoy Monastery
Burial of Saint Tikhon
Finding relics. The fresco, among others, depicts Patriarch Alexy II, Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov, to the right of Patriarch Alexy II, with a hood on his shoulder) and Archimandrite Daniil (Sarychev, in a phelonion in the group of clergy on the right). The lid of the coffin of St. Tion is removed by Hieromonk Tikhon (Shevkunov, now archimandrite, abbot of the Sretensky Monastery, and at that time a monk of Donskoy).
Cell of Patriarch Tikhon in the Donskoy Monastery
The cell consisted of two rooms, apparently there was a dining room here
The incorrupt vestments in which the saint was buried
Miter of Patriarch Tikhon
These panagia were found when the relics of the saint were found
The famous necropolis of the Donskoy Monastery.
Before the revolution, the necropolis was the main cemetery of the highest Russian nobility and wealthy merchants. On many tombstones you can see such surnames as: Vyazemsky, Golitsyn, Grushetsky, Dolgoruky, Trubetskoy, Cherkassky.
Prominent writers, poets, architects and scientists are buried in the necropolis: A. P. Sumarokov, P. Ya. Chaadaev, V. F. Odoevsky, V. I. Maikov, O. I. Bove, V. I. Sherwood, V. O. Klyuchevsky, V. V. Grushetsky. One of the latest graves belongs to the writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
Text and photo: Ekaterina Stepanova
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One of the mysteries of church life in Soviet times was the fate of the relics of St. Patriarch Tikhon, buried in 1925 in the Small Cathedral of the Moscow Donskoy Monastery. In 1946, at a memorial service at his tomb, Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) of Krutitsky and Kolomna said with sadness: “We prayed now only over the grave of His Holiness. His body is not here." Finding the relics of Patriarch Tikhon in the Donskoy Monastery Finding the relics of Patriarch Tikhon in the Donskoy Monastery There was every reason for such confidence. The fact that the remains of Patriarch Tikhon could be destroyed did not surprise anyone: if the Orthodox treated the deceased head of the Russian Church as a saint, then the hatred of him on the part of the Bolsheviks was exceptional even against the backdrop of frenzied Soviet atheism. In the list of enemies of the Soviet regime, published in one of the issues of the Izvestia newspaper, Patriarch Tikhon was listed as number one. According to rumors, in 1927, after the closure of the Donskoy Monastery, the authorities, fearing that the relics of the Patriarch would become an object of worship, removed his coffin from the grave and burned it in the crematorium. According to other sources, the remains of His Holiness were secretly taken out by monks and buried in the German cemetery in Lefortovo. Supporters of the third version argued: realizing that the authorities could abuse the remains of the Patriarch, the monks, soon after the burial, reburied them somewhere in the necropolis of the Donskoy Monastery. These assumptions grew into real conviction when, in 1932, the leader of the church schismatics-renovationists, supported by the Soviet government, “Metropolitan” Alexander Vvedensky, suddenly appeared before his admirers in bishop’s robes, which Muscovites immediately recognized as precious vestments, sewn especially for Patriarch Tikhon at the famous merchants’ factory Olovyanishnikov brothers. Patriarch Tikhon was buried in them. And yet the hope that the relics of the Patriarch, beloved by the entire Church, would one day be found remained. *** When monastic life began to be revived in the Donskoy Monastery, one of the first requests that the then small brethren of the monastery addressed to their abbot, Patriarch Alexy II, was a request to search for the relics of St. Tikhon. His Holiness joyfully blessed us for these works. If only we knew then what incidents this would be connected with and how wonderfully everything would end! Soon an opportunity presented itself. Renovations have begun in the Small Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery. The temple was closed for several months, and at this time the search would have started... but under various pretexts they were postponed, and now the repairs were already completed. Services resumed in the church, but time was lost. And to be honest, we then frivolously and very stupidly neglected the patriarchal blessing, citing various “reasons and circumstances.” For which they paid. And very soon. Although, as always, the Lord guided our mistakes to the common understanding and to the triumph of His faithful holy new martyr Patriarch Tikhon. It was November 1991. The governor, Archimandrite Agathodorus, having finished the repairs, went on a service trip and left me in charge of the monastery. There weren’t too many worries if it weren’t for the annoying conflict with some strange people who fell on our heads. They presented themselves as priests and laity of the Russian Church Abroad, although, as it later turned out, they had nothing to do with it. With scandals and outrages, they tried at all costs to organize their divine services in the monastery without the blessing of the Patriarch. We persuaded and exhorted them as best we could, and finally, realizing that nothing was helping, we decisively pushed the uninvited guests outside the fence. But they harbored a grudge. November 18 marked the day when, in 1917, at the Local Council, St. Tikhon was elected Patriarch of All-Russia (the lot then fell on him, one of three candidates). I was sick, but still served the liturgy that day, and then the memorial service: it was also the anniversary of the death of Father Rafail (Ogorodnikov). In general, November 18 is an extraordinary date for me. In 1988, on this day, Father Raphael died, and in 1993, Valentina Pavlovna Konovalova, the “Moscow merchant’s wife,” the spiritual daughter of Father John, died. The story I am telling about also happened on November 18th. But this is by the way. At the liturgy, for the first time in my priestly life, I prepared spare Holy Gifts for communion with the sick. Although according to church rules this is done on Maundy Thursday, the night before my friend, the sculptor Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Klykov, came to me with a request to urgently administer Holy Communion and Unction to a sick acquaintance. However, it turned out that there are no spare Holy Gifts in our church: it turns out they were never prepared here. Thank God, everything turned out well with Klykov’s friend. That night I administered unction to him, and the next morning the sick man was given communion by a priest from another church. To prevent this from happening again, under the guidance of our old hieromonk Father Daniel, I prepared spare Holy Gifts and placed them in a special ark on the throne. After the evening service, my friend Zurab Chavchavadze came to visit me with a jar of raspberry jam. We were drinking tea when the duty officer called and reported with alarm that several fire crews had arrived at the gate and their commander assured us that they urgently needed to put out some kind of fire in our area. — Is something burning here? - I was surprised. - Of course not! — the duty officer reassured me. “It’s probably their commander who’s burning inside... I understood everything.” Not far from us there was a fire department, whose leadership was friends with Father Agathodor. One of the officers was a big fan of sitting with the priest at the table and philosophizing about life. Once, during a period of such philosophical and alcoholic exacerbation, he was already eager to go to the monastery in the middle of the night. Now, apparently, history was repeating itself. I hung up, but a minute later the call rang again. The duty officer reported that the firefighters were not letting up. This was too much. Zurab and I had to get dressed, and I also had to wrap myself up warmer after the raspberry jam, and go figure things out. - What's happened? - I shouted so that it could be heard outside the gate. - Fire! You're on fire! - came from there. - Maybe you can come up with something more fun? – I asked sarcastically. - We received a call! – they didn’t let up on that side. “This is some kind of mistake, you can see for yourself,” I answered, still opening the gate. There were indeed two fire engines with full crews standing at the monastery walls. Several people in shiny helmets entered the monastery. They themselves were at a loss. — A woman called, we thought it was from you. She said: there is a fire in Donskoy, leave urgently. To finally make sure that there was a misunderstanding, I suggested we walk around the monastery together. We headed towards the central square. It was already late twilight, but everything was clearly visible. The usual peace and quiet, nothing caused alarm. “You see,” I smiled and turned to the firefighters. And at that moment, a bright flash flashed in the windows of the Small Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery, the sound of breaking glass was heard, and an orange flame with clouds of black smoke burst out of the window frames. Firefighters rushed to their engines. And Zurab and I froze with our mouths open. Then they shouted like crazy: “Fire!!!” Fire!!! - And they rushed to the temple. Fire trucks roared past us. But the temple was already in full flames. The fire raged in the window openings, smoke rose in a gloomy billowing column into the Moscow evening sky. I will not describe this terrible night for a long time. Only at three o'clock did the firefighters allow us to enter the temple. What appeared before our eyes was truly terrible. Black walls and ceiling, charred icons, everything was flooded with water, an unbearable smell of burning... One of the firefighters called me to follow him deeper into the temple and along the way he voiced his first conclusions about the cause of the fire. The fire started, as he claimed, right at the tombstone of the Patriarch. Since the walls of the temple were painted with flammable oil paint, the flames spread instantly. “But this is really strange,” said the fireman, pointing to the iconostasis. Although the wooden chapels and icons were blackened by soot, they were not even charred. The iconostasis has been completely preserved. With a sinking heart, I entered the altar and saw that here, too, except for soot, nothing had been touched. When I returned to the officer, he explained his bewilderment to me. “Everything next to the iconostasis is burned out, but for some reason it itself is intact. It's wooden, not metal? — A very old tree. - How come it didn’t burn? Amazing... Then I remembered and said: - Ah!.. We placed the Holy Gifts on the throne in the morning! - They put what? I tried to explain. The officer listened politely and, clearing his throat, asked: “Do you seriously think that this has anything to do with saving the tree from fire?” - Don't know. I'm just saying that in the morning we placed the Holy Gifts on the throne. “M-mm... I see,” the officer said incredulously. - However, this happens sometimes. Everything around is burning, but some objects remain. In our business, everything happens. The investigation began on the same day. It turned out that the fire actually started near the tomb of St. Tikhon. The window here is always kept ajar, and, as investigators suggested, the attacker threw a simple petrol bomb into the temple. The walls, painted with oil paint, immediately began to work. Moreover, the criminal had enough time to leave the monastery unnoticed, with the last visitors. The circumstances due to which the fire was discovered so quickly were also revealed. One of our parishioners, who lives opposite the Donskoy Monastery, used to read evening prayers on the balcony. It was she who saw the flash in the window of the temple and immediately called the fire department. A day later, we served an all-night vigil in memory of the Archangel Michael in the burnt cathedral. The choir sang “Praise the name of the Lord,” I performed the festive incense, and people, standing among their relatives, walls blackened by soot and arks burnt to the hilt, could not hold back their tears. We did not want to move the service to another monastery church: we could not allow people to think that this difficult test was simply a game of blind chance and the Lord would not turn our confusion and sorrow into joy, into the triumph of faith and hope in His all-good Providence, incomprehensible to us. This is exactly what I spoke about that evening in my sermon to our parishioners. It was necessary to begin repairs in the temple. We served here for less than a week after the restoration, and now the Lord again provided us with the recently missed opportunity to begin the search for the relics of St. Tikhon. We turned to His Holiness again, and he confirmed his blessing for the excavations, only instructing us to act carefully and prudently. We understood his concern. Some people generally tried to persuade the Patriarch not to allow the search, since the possibility of finding the remains of the saint was very small. But if a rumor spreads that they were looking for the relics of Patriarch Tikhon and did not find them, then, cautious advisers warned, there will be no problems: schismatics and ill-wishers of the Church will immediately spread the rumor that Saint Tikhon himself did not want to have his relics in the Patriarchal Church. But, thank God, Patriarch Alexy firmly said: if we find the relics, there will be a great holiday; if they are not there, we will not hide it from anyone.
Patriarch Tikhon (in the world Vasily Ivanovich Bellavin January 19 (31), 1865 Klin Toropetsky district Pskov province - April 7, 1925 Moscow. Bishop of the Orthodox Russian Church, and from November 21 (December 4), 1917 - Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. First after restoration of the patriarchate in Russia. Canonized as a Saint by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church on October 9, 1989.
PS I have been interested in the fate of Patriarch Tikhon for a long time. Ever since I learned that my great-grandfather, professor of church archeology Vasily Ivanovich Troitsky, was personally acquainted with the Patriarch. And he was even arrested several times because of his support for the disgraced Patriarch. But I’ll tell you about this some other time.
ilyaevteev
