Nikolai of Japan: agent of Russian influence on distant islands

One of the most famous missionaries of the 20th century is St. Nicholas of Japan. He was the creator and first hierarch of the Japanese Orthodox Church, who devoted all his mental and physical strength to the development of his brainchild.

The author of the book about the saint, A. Platonova, argued that every Russian person should know the life of Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas - one of those who constitute the greatness and pride of Russia.

Childhood

The future saint was born in a village in the Smolensk region in 1836, now in this place is the village of Bereza, Tver region. At baptism the boy was named Ivan in honor of John the Baptist. At the age of five, Ivan lost his mother, who was only 34 years old at the time of her death. The boy's father, Deacon Dmitry Kasatkin, was left alone with three children.

The family’s life passed in poverty and hardship, which from childhood instilled in Ivan resistance to life’s challenges. Subsequently, Nikolai takes care of his father until his death, transferring part of his salary home.

Teenage years and early life

The young man graduated from the Belsk School, and then decided to continue his studies at the Smolensk Seminary. Ivan walked many kilometers to the educational institution, since there was no railway, and there was not enough money for a horse. Having demonstrated remarkable abilities, the young man graduated from the seminary in 1856. For further studies he is sent to St. Petersburg to the Theological Academy, where Ivan studies at public expense.

Graduating from the Academy, the young man still has no idea of ​​his future fate, much less thinks about the monastic path.

One day, within the walls of the Academy, he accidentally comes across an advertisement inviting him to travel to Japan with the goal of taking the place of rector of the temple at the Russian embassy. The young man is eager to go to a distant country for Christian preaching.

Acceptance of monasticism

Having made a firm decision to go to Japan, and in the monastic rank, Ivan comes to the rector with a petition. The young man’s wish was conveyed to the metropolitan, and soon the blessing to leave was received.

In 1860, Ivan took monastic vows, receiving a new monastic name - Nikolai.

A few days later the monk was ordained a hieromonk. After spending several days in his native village, Nikolai hit the road.

Due to the end of navigation, he had to endure the winter in Siberia, where he met Bishop Innocent. This archpastor in the future will be known as the enlightener of Siberia. Innocent admonished the hieromonk, advising him to start studying the Japanese language as quickly as possible. He sewed a velvet cassock for the future missionary and presented his award cross. In the summer of 1861, Nicholas arrives at the port of Hakodate.

An excerpt characterizing Nikolai of Japan

The comrade soldiers walking next to Pierre did not look back, just like him, at the place from which a shot was heard and then the howl of a dog; but a stern expression lay on all faces. The depot, the prisoners, and the marshal's convoy stopped in the village of Shamsheva. Everything huddled around the fires. Pierre went to the fire, ate the roasted horse meat, lay down with his back to the fire and immediately fell asleep. He slept again the same sleep that he slept in Mozhaisk after Borodin. Again the events of reality were combined with dreams, and again someone, whether he himself or someone else, told him thoughts, and even the same thoughts that were spoken to him in Mozhaisk. “Life is everything. Life is God. Everything moves and moves, and this movement is God. And as long as there is life, there is the pleasure of self-consciousness of the deity. Love life, love God. It is most difficult and most blissful to love this life in one’s suffering, in the innocence of suffering.” “Karataev” - Pierre remembered. And suddenly Pierre introduced himself to a living, long-forgotten, gentle old teacher who taught Pierre geography in Switzerland. “Wait,” said the old man. And he showed Pierre the globe. This globe was a living, oscillating ball that had no dimensions. The entire surface of the ball consisted of drops tightly compressed together. And these drops all moved, moved and then merged from several into one, then from one they were divided into many. Each drop sought to spread out, to capture the greatest possible space, but others, striving for the same thing, compressed it, sometimes destroyed it, sometimes merged with it. “This is life,” said the old teacher. “How simple and clear this is,” thought Pierre. “How could I not know this before?” “There is God in the middle, and every drop strives to expand in order to reflect him in the greatest possible size. And it grows, merges, and shrinks, and is destroyed on the surface, goes into the depths and floats up again. Here he is, Karataev, overflowing and disappearing. “Vous avez compris, mon enfant, [You understand.],” said the teacher. “Vous avez compris, sacre nom, [You understand, damn you.],” a voice shouted, and Pierre woke up. He rose and sat down. A Frenchman, who had just pushed aside a Russian soldier, sat squatting by the fire and was frying meat that had been put on a ramrod. Veiny, rolled-up, hairy, red hands with short fingers deftly turned the ramrod. A brown gloomy face with frowning eyebrows was clearly visible in the light of the coals. “Ca lui est bien egal,” he grumbled, quickly turning to the soldier standing behind him. -...brigand. Va! [He doesn’t care... a robber, really!] And the soldier, twirling the ramrod, looked gloomily at Pierre. Pierre turned away, peering into the shadows. One Russian soldier, a prisoner, the one who had been pushed away by the Frenchman, sat by the fire and ruffled something with his hand. Looking closer, Pierre recognized a purple dog, which, wagging its tail, was sitting next to the soldier. - Oh, did you come? - said Pierre. “Ah, Pla...” he began and didn’t finish. In his imagination, suddenly, at the same time, connecting with each other, a memory arose of the look with which Plato looked at him, sitting under a tree, of the shot heard in that place, of the howl of a dog, of the criminal faces of two Frenchmen who ran past him, of the filmed a smoking gun, about the absence of Karataev at this halt, and he was ready to understand that Karataev was killed, but at the same moment in his soul, coming from God knows where, a memory arose of the evening he spent with the beautiful Polish woman, in the summer, on the balcony of his Kyiv house. And yet, without connecting the memories of this day and without drawing a conclusion about them, Pierre closed his eyes, and the picture of summer nature mixed with the memory of swimming, of a liquid oscillating ball, and he sank somewhere into the water, so that the water converged above his head. Before sunrise, he was awakened by loud, frequent shots and screams. The French ran past Pierre. - Les cosaques! [Cossacks!] - one of them shouted, and a minute later a crowd of Russian faces surrounded Pierre. For a long time Pierre could not understand what was happening to him. From all sides he heard the cries of joy of his comrades. - Brothers! My dears, my dears! - the old soldiers cried, crying, hugging the Cossacks and hussars. Hussars and Cossacks surrounded the prisoners and hurriedly offered them dresses, boots, and bread. Pierre sobbed, sitting among them, and could not utter a word; he hugged the first soldier who approached him and, crying, kissed him. Dolokhov stood at the gate of a ruined house, letting a crowd of disarmed French pass by. The French, excited by everything that had happened, spoke loudly among themselves; but when they passed by Dolokhov, who was lightly whipping his boots with his whip and looking at them with his cold, glassy gaze, promising nothing good, their conversation fell silent. On the other side stood the Cossack Dolokhov and counted the prisoners, marking hundreds with a chalk line on the gate. - How many? – Dolokhov asked the Cossack who was counting the prisoners. “For the second hundred,” answered the Cossack. “Filez, filez, [Come in, come in.],” Dolokhov said, having learned this expression from the French, and, meeting the eyes of passing prisoners, his gaze flashed with a cruel brilliance. Denisov, with a gloomy face, having taken off his hat, walked behind the Cossacks, who were carrying the body of Petya Rostov to a hole dug in the garden. From October 28, when frosts began, the flight of the French only took on a more tragic character: people freezing and roasting to death at the fires and continuing to ride in fur coats and carriages with the looted goods of the emperor, kings and dukes; but in essence, the process of flight and disintegration of the French army has not changed at all since the speech from Moscow. From Moscow to Vyazma, out of the seventy-three thousand strong French army, not counting the guards (which throughout the war did nothing but plunder), out of seventy-three thousand, thirty-six thousand remained (of this number, no more than five thousand died in battles). Here is the first term of the progression, which mathematically correctly determines the subsequent ones. The French army in the same proportion melted and was destroyed from Moscow to Vyazma, from Vyazma to Smolensk, from Smolensk to Berezina, from Berezina to Vilna, regardless of the greater or lesser degree of cold, persecution, blocking the path and all other conditions taken separately. After Vyazma, the French troops, instead of three columns, huddled together in one heap and continued like this until the end. Berthier wrote to his sovereign (it is known how far from the truth the commanders allow themselves to describe the situation of the army). He wrote: “Je crois devoir faire connaitre a Votre Majeste l'etat de ses troupes dans les differents corps d'annee que j'ai ete a meme d'observer depuis deux ou trois jours dans differents passages. Elles sont presque debandees. Le nombre des soldats qui suivent les drapeaux est en proportion du quart au plus dans presque tous les regiments, les autres marchent isolement dans differentes directions et pour leur compte, dans l'esperance de trouver des subsistances et pour se debarrasser de la discipline. En general ils regardent Smolensk comme le point ou ils doivent se refaire. Ces derniers jours on a remarque que beaucoup de soldats jettent leurs cartouches et leurs armes. Dans cet etat de choses, l'interet du service de Votre Majeste exige, quelles que soient ses vues ulterieures qu'on rallie l'armee a Smolensk en commencant a la debarrasser des non combattans, tels que hommes demontes et des bagages inutiles et du materiel de l'artillerie qui n'est plus en proportion avec les forces actuelles. En outre les jours de repos, des subsistances sont necessaires aux soldats qui sont extenues par la faim et la fatigue; beaucoup sont morts ces derniers jours sur la route et dans les bivacs. Cet etat de choses va toujours en augmentant et donne lieu de craindre que si l'on n'y prete un prompt remede, on ne soit plus maitre des troupes dans un combat. Le 9 November, a 30 verstes de Smolensk.” [It is my duty to inform Your Majesty about the condition of the corps that I examined on the march in the last three days. They are almost in complete disarray. Only a quarter of the soldiers remain with the banners; the rest go on their own in different directions, trying to find food and get rid of service. Everyone thinks only about Smolensk, where they hope to relax. In recent days, many soldiers have thrown away their cartridges and guns. Whatever your further intentions, the benefit of Your Majesty’s service requires gathering corps in Smolensk and separating from them dismounted cavalrymen, unarmed ones, excess convoys and part of the artillery, since it is now not in proportion to the number of troops. Food and a few days of rest are needed; the soldiers are exhausted by hunger and fatigue; In recent days, many have died on the road and in bivouacs. This distress is continually increasing, and makes us fear that, unless prompt measures are taken to prevent the evil, we will soon have no troops at our command in the event of a battle. November 9, 30 versts from Smolenko.]

Mature age

At the Russian consulate in Hakodate there was a wooden Church of the Resurrection, which later burned down and was replaced by a stone one. Its former rector is Fr. Vasily Makhov - after a year of service, he fell ill and returned to Russia.

After this, Consul Goshkevich was forced to ask the Synod for a new clergyman with a higher spiritual education. Goshkevich quickly became friends with Nikolai, because they were united by the years of study spent at the St. Petersburg Academy.

Life in Hakodate

At first, the saint only held church services for consulate workers and random sailors from Russian ships that entered the port. This meager activity was due to local law prohibiting the preaching of Christianity among the Japanese.

The attitude towards Christians and foreigners in general was extremely negative and hostile.

The new policy, which opened the country to foreigners, caused a storm of protest among the samurai. They waged an open struggle against foreign influence, not disdaining intimidation and even murder. Local residents treated the new priest with caution, considering him a spy from Europe.

The hieromonk suffered bitter disappointment. He decided that missionary work in Japan was impossible. In addition, he was tormented by the thought of the wrong path in life, and he felt a lack of family. Ignorance of the local language and culture, the hostility of the Japanese, and homesickness made Nikolai’s life unbearable. These tests lasted for several years.

From the first days of his stay in Japan, the saint studied the complex Japanese language and culture of the country; it took about 8 years to master the language perfectly. Thanks to hard and persistent work, daily studies for 14 hours a day, Nikolai was able to read the originals of ancient Japanese literature.

Subsequently, the press wrote about the saint as a person who knew Japanese culture and language better than the Japanese themselves.

Gradually, Hieromonk Nikolai won the favor of the local residents with his kindness and responsiveness. They began to invite him to visit, and his first friends appeared among the Japanese. This cordiality was partly explained by the fact that the saint never condemned or ridiculed Buddhism and the religious traditions of the local population.

Church service

In 1869, Nicholas asked the Synod for a blessing to organize a Russian spiritual mission, for which he personally visited Russia and stayed there for almost a year. The document approved by Alexander II determined the composition of the mission, which included a chief and three hieromonks with a cleric.

The saint was appointed head of the mission and elevated to the rank of archimandrite. Funds were allocated from the state treasury and the ecclesiastical department for the needs of the missionaries. The mission was subordinate to the Kamchatka Orthodox diocese and bishop.

Mission centers were located in the following cities:

• Tokyo;
• Hakodate;
• Nagosaki;
• Kyoto.

Arriving back in Japan in 1871, the saint was pleased to discover that the number of Christian converts had increased. This was facilitated by the hard work of Japanese Orthodox priests, in whose care the flock was left. In 1872, Nikolai moved to Tokyo, leaving his faithful assistant priest Anatoly (Tikhaya) in Hakodate.

In 1873, the Japanese government adopted a decree ending the persecution of Christians and lifting some prohibitions regarding Christianity. This event opened up enormous opportunities for the saint in missionary work. Subsequently, he created the first Orthodox seminary in Japan and founded the Resurrection Cathedral in Tokyo.

War years

In 1900, hostility towards Russians intensified again, which also affected the perception of the Orthodox Church. After the conclusion of an alliance between England and Japan, conflict with Russia becomes almost inevitable. At the beginning of February 1904, diplomatic relations between the countries were broken at the initiative of Japan.

Some Russian priests who served in the mission are sent back to their homeland. Nikolai is forced to stop written communication with Russian friends.

He feels deeply about the military conflict and stops attending public events, not wanting to hold prayer services for Japan's victory.

After Russian prisoners began to be brought to Japan, the number of whom amounted to about 73 thousand during the entire war, the saint asked permission to organize the Society of Spiritual Consolation. The organization is intended for the Christian care of those who are in captivity.

Thanks to the tact and wisdom of Nicholas during the war, the Japanese began to appreciate and respect the saint even more.

The Russian side also expressed high praise for his activities. In 1906, Nicholas was elevated to the rank of Archbishop of Tokyo.

However, due to the difficult post-war situation, the flow of funds allocated for the mission dried up. This led to the closure of the catechetical school. The situation was saved by the arrival of Bishop Sergius (Tikhomirov). He immediately launched active missionary activity, which served as a great consolation to Saint Nicholas.

last years of life

In 1911, in honor of the archpastor’s fifty years of service in Japan, many clergy and children of the elder, their spiritual father, gathered. After the celebration, having received many guests, Vladyka Nikolai felt severe nervous tension, which worsened his heart disease.

In 1912, a few days after the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, the saint went to the hospital in Tsukiji. However, after some time, the tireless archpastor seeks discharge in order to continue his work. That same night the Japanese elder died.

Many people saw off Archbishop Nicholas on his final journey; a procession followed the coffin, which stretched for 10 km.

Among other farewell wreaths, a wreath from the Japanese emperor was laid on the saint’s grave—a great honor for a foreigner.

Saint Nicholas of Japan as a missionary

Saint Nicholas of Japan

We will not retell his biography here, but let us recall that through the works of the saint, about 40 thousand Japanese were converted to Orthodoxy (for example, let’s say that the Korean mission, which existed at approximately the same time, converted less than a thousand people). A giant missionary—that’s what Archbishop Nicholas was called by the heterodox missionaries who worked in Japan at the same time as him. It is no coincidence that Nicholas was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as “equal to the apostles”: after all, having come to a completely empty field, he left behind a national Church that had such a margin of safety that allowed it to survive both the many-year separation from the Mother Church and the anti-Christian policy of the Japanese authorities in 1930 -40s, and the anti-Russian policy of the period of American occupation. Since 1970, the Japanese Orthodox Church has been autonomous.

Saint Nicholas had a serious influence on the development of Russian-Japanese relations. In the conditions of Japan, where every Russian was looked upon as an enemy, he inevitably had to carry out extensive activities to overcome anti-Russian sentiments. Without this, the success of the mission would have been impossible. The Orthodox seminary in Tokyo created and led by him laid the foundations of a translation school; as a result of its activities, Tolstoy and Chekhov, Turgenev and Dostoevsky became for the Japanese as an integral part of their inner world as their domestic classics.

Saint Nicholas made a serious contribution to both Russian Japanese studies and Japanese philology. But, undoubtedly, social and scientific activities were not the main thing for him. Both the first and the second were subordinated to what became the goal, meaning and main task of his life - the mission. That is why this article will attempt to outline the basic principles of the missionary activity of Archbishop Nicholas.

It is worth noting that in the case of St. Nicholas, we have a unique (compared to other outstanding Russian missionaries) source base that allows us to conduct a deep and comprehensive study. These are not only dozens of reports and hundreds of letters from the saint, but, most importantly, his detailed diaries (partially already deciphered and published).

The shortage (or rather, almost complete absence) of worthy missionaries was one of the most pressing problems that St. Nicholas faced. The saint’s dream of real Orthodox missionaries in Japan runs like a red thread throughout the diary. “And so I wait, I wait for another comrade. A loving groom doesn’t look forward to meeting his bride as impatiently as I look forward to him!” (1872). “What a disgusting thing! ...what is better, more sublime... missionary service! And... at the age of 20, which employees did you acquire? Or weather vanes, or half-crazy, or completely crazy! I'm almost in despair! Hardly anything will come of the Japanese Mission!” (1881). “Lord, when will Russia rise to the cause of Orthodoxy? When will Orthodox missionaries appear? Or will Russia forever produce the same tyrants and moral imbeciles that it was full of before and of which it has sent many here? - forever, until she perishes in her moral and religious insignificance to her terrible condemnation at the Judgment of God for burying her talent? (1896)[1].

The Lord consoled the saint by sending him a worthy successor - Bishop Sergius (Tikhomirov). What happened, however, only in 1908. But, despite the fact that for 40 years St. Nicholas was often the only foreign missionary in the mission, the Church in Japan continued to grow and strengthen.

What was this growth based on?

First of all, it should be noted that thanks to St. Nicholas, the Japanese Church from its very inception had national features. It did not bring Russification and national leveling to Japan. Archbishop Nicholas attached great importance to the translation of the Holy Scriptures and Divine Services and spent a significant part of his invaluable time on this. The mission published many books in Japanese: for example, in 1909, 25 books were published, 20 of which were works by Japanese Orthodox authors. In Orthodox churches, according to Japanese custom, people walked barefoot, listened to sermons while sitting on the floor, etc. However, there was no Japaneseization of Christianity here, that is, an admixture of pagan and Buddhist beliefs. At the same time, the archbishop never offended the religious feelings of the Japanese, never condemned the followers of Buddhism, and therefore even among the Buddhist clergy he had many friends.

The mission was not involved in “catching souls,” which was common for Catholics and Protestants. As Archimandrite Sergius (Stragorodsky) noted, “their first goal, especially among Catholics, is to recapture several Christians from someone else’s mission, and then to take on the pagans. Hence the disputes, the strife, hence the abusive direction of their preaching. We don't have that. They come to us from heterodoxy, we accept, but the preaching of our mission is always directed at the pagans. If any of these latter asks our preacher about heterodoxy, he is advised to go to a heterodox preacher and learn from him, and then compare.”

The truly national character of the Japanese Church allowed it to withstand such a difficult test as the Russian-Japanese War. Saint Nicholas, at the request of his flock, remained in Japan. He compiled a “District Letter”, in which he wrote: “So, brothers and sisters, do everything that the duty of loyal subjects requires of you in these circumstances. Pray to God that He will grant victories to your Imperial army... whoever has to go into battle, fight without sparing your life, not out of hatred for the enemy, but out of love for your compatriots, remembering the words of the Savior: “There is no greater love than that which someone lays down his soul his own for his friends” (John 15:3). In a word, do everything that love for the fatherland requires of you... But, in addition to the earthly fatherland, we also have a heavenly fatherland. People belong to it without distinction of nationalities... This Fatherland of ours is the Church, of which we are equally members, and according to which the children of the Heavenly Father truly constitute one family. That is why I do not separate from you, brothers and sisters, and remain in your family, as in my own family. And we will fulfill together our duty regarding our heavenly fatherland, which is due to whom.

I will, as always, pray for the Church, take care of church affairs, translate services; You, priests, shepherd your verbal flock entrusted to you by God; you, preachers, preach the Gospel zealously... Let us all fervently pray together that the Lord will quickly restore the broken world. May the Lord help us in all this!”[2].

However, during the war, the saint was forced to stop his participation in public services, since, of course, he could not pray for the victory of Japan. Bitterly worried about his Fatherland, Saint Nicholas still did not allow national feelings to prevail over religious ones, which allowed him to bring the Church out of the difficult ordeal completely unharmed (even at this time about 600 baptisms were performed annually). Let us note that the Japanese even created the “Orthodox Association for the Spiritual Consolation of Prisoners of War.” Japanese priests who knew Russian left their parishes and went to prisoner-of-war camps: to serve, confess, and give communion. And on Easter 1905, not a single one of the 72 thousand Russian prisoners of war in Japan was left without a gift. Such active care of Japanese Christians for Russian prisoners of war led to the fact that the activities of the saint during the war were highly appreciated not only in Japan, but also in Russia.

Greek researcher Jacob Stamoulis notes two fundamental points that ensured the success of the mission. The first is the active involvement of local residents in the mission, the second is the method of forcing those who have not yet completed the course to train others[3]. Thus, success in work was ensured, among other things, by the enthusiasm of neophytes, who, not having yet had time to master much, willingly and tirelessly shared with others the knowledge they had already acquired. The evangelization of Japan from the very beginning became the work of the Japanese themselves.

Archimandrite Sergius (Stragorodsky), who spent several years in Japan as a collaborator with St. Nicholas, wrote: “Alienated from all kinds of political and cultural tasks, our mission has set itself the goal of preaching Christ and His teaching to Japan in its purest form... That is why the grace of God... does not leave us missions. This latter is strong not materially and not by the number of its workers... but directly by the grace of Christ and by that alone. What are mission forces? Zero compared to Protestant and Catholic. Against entire armies of their European missionaries, we have only Japanese, converts, only superficially educated. True, at the head of everything is the Rev. Nikolai, raising preachers, but he is all alone. It is not people who win here, but grace and truth... The bishop gave me many cases from his practice... where this independence of missionary work from human considerations and calculations is positively visible. The most eloquent, polished sermons are sometimes like ringing brass; and sometimes a completely careless, illogical, generally unsuccessful sermon (during which, the Vladyka said, it’s a shame to look at the listeners) has an amazing success. For the most part, it happens that success occurs where there was no hope, and where everything is calculated almost with mathematical precision, nothing comes of it. So everything says that there is a Master of this matter, Who Himself directs it as He pleases.

Therefore, the very methods of our mission bear a special, purely apostolic imprint[4]. Catholics and Protestants usually decide in advance where they will preach... A missionary camp is set up in the chosen city, and European missionaries settle. A school and a hospital are being opened. Japanese catechists are sent to all the streets; Religious brochures are distributed among the people. In a word, all available means are used... Having outlined a point, they forcibly impose themselves on the city, not retreating from anything.

Meanwhile, in our mission this approach is recognized as incorrect. Our churches, now scattered throughout Japan, began and developed spontaneously, independent of missionary plans and considerations. Several Christians come to the city to earn money and trade. They make acquaintances... They begin to gather together on holidays for prayer and mutual edification in the Word of God - and the church is open. Some of the pagans ask them about faith, conversations and disputes begin, some are inclined to believe. Christians write a general letter to the bishop or more often to the council... with a request to send them a catechist.

...Of course, sometimes catechists are sent and just try to see if it is possible to found churches in this or that city. But the mission never tried to put its will in place of God’s will, it never persisted in preaching when it was convinced that preaching in a given place was useless, that God’s will was not there yet.”[5].

Saint Nicholas paid special attention to the development of education. He created a seminary, catechetical, priestly, women's and several children's schools. The best graduates of the seminary were sent to Russia to continue their education at theological academies (in total, 18 Japanese received such education).

One of the first undertakings was the establishment of a mission library - not only theological, but also broadly scientific. In the “Regulations for the Russian Spiritual Mission in Japan,” St. Nicholas wrote: “Missionaries, in addition to their studies, are obliged to devote hours to maintaining and expanding their education... Reading books and treatises of theological content is necessary for the success and understanding of Orthodox teaching and in order to be always ready to resolve questions, objections and confusion. Scientific reading is also necessary in a country where missionaries will be looked upon not only as representatives of religion, but also as representatives of European education”[6].

Saint Nicholas also paid considerable attention to women's missionary work. The Faith of Christ will only be firmly established in the country, he wrote, when it becomes the basis of family life; it is mainly a woman who can bring it into the family... But in order for Japanese women to become zealous and pious, they need to see real Christians, and learn from a living example of life and from oral conversations the responsibilities of true Christians. In addition, deaconesses are absolutely necessary ... for the introduction of female Christian education”[7].

The Apostle of Japan attached great importance to visiting churches. It took him up to two months to travel around the country every year. His visits were a real holiday. Narrating how these trips went, Archimandrite Sergius noted that usually Saint Nicholas stayed in each church for a day or two, but sometimes more. He got acquainted with the life of the community, visited the homes of Christians, and spoke teachings. “And the day ended, the Christians went home, the priest and the catechist also lay down to rest; and the bishop opens his notebook, writes down everything in detail, what he saw, what he said to whom, what he ordered, so that later he could remember all this in Tokyo. I’ve finished writing, I need to read the emergency letters and messages sent from Tokyo or somewhere else, and after reading, write a response. And so until deep, deep into the night he sits with his work and with a heartfelt sad thought about his infant flock. And tomorrow at first light you need to get up and go to the homes of Christians... This requires a lot of strength, and most importantly, faith and love.

Much later, the Reverend Nicholas tried to find out for me the secret of church government in a letter...

In this letter, Bishop Nicholas raises the question of what it means to have the ability to lead, to govern the church. “What is needed here is the heart—the ability to penetrate into the needs of one’s neighbor or neighbors, to feel the sorrows and joys of one’s neighbors exactly as one’s own—and at the same time, cool-blooded reflection on how to eliminate sorrows and strengthen joys—and the determination to act in the direction indicated by the heart and mind, and firmness and the authority to make an action a rule for others, etc., etc., depending on the circumstances. When I visit a church, no matter how small it is, for that time I become a completely member of it, so for me at that time other churches, and indeed the whole world, seem to not exist (if letters arrive from other churches, to me and It doesn’t occur to me to read them among the affairs of that church, but I read them at night, freed from all other matters). Naturally, the entire state of that church, with all the local needs, sorrows and joys, down to the smallest detail, will all flow entirely into my soul - and is it then difficult to discuss, advise, convince, insist, etc.? It’s all so simple, it all flows naturally from the tongue, from the heart. You just need to have prudence, not to turn everything into splashes that disappear without a trace; systematicity and constancy are needed, one must not forget where and to whom it was said what was decreed, and ensure that it is fulfilled. To do this, I keep records in churches, and different ones at that: about churches, about catechists, about houses of prayer, about sermons and instructions given, carefully writing everything down in four notebooks in each church.”[8].

These words of St. Nicholas make it clear that it is not enough to understand the general principles of missionary activity (and follow them); what is even more important is the personal qualities that the missionary possesses.

What was Saint Nicholas like?

Even A. Kazim-Bek[9] drew attention to the fact that by the time of his tonsure, Saint Nicholas was a seasoned, hardy and strong-willed man beyond his years, who had long ago decided to devote his life to serving the Church. He was born into the family of a poor rural deacon, and to enter the seminary he had to walk 150 miles, because there was no money for transportation. And even after admission, he endured hardship and hunger for years (until he was admitted to the theological academy at public expense).

The experience adopted from other prominent Russian missionaries turned out to be extremely important for St. Nicholas. Thus, he first encountered Saint Innocent (the Apostle of Alaska and Siberia) back in 1860, on his way to Japan. It was on the advice of Saint Innocent that Saint Nicholas began, first of all, to thoroughly study the Japanese language and culture.

It took him seven years. And if the Apostle Paul, delivering a speech in the Areopagus, referred to the Hellenic poet, then Saint Nicholas prepared himself for preaching on Japanese schooners and in Japanese society, in the Japanese capital and in a northern fishing village. “He had to learn both the techniques of Japanese eloquence and the very manner of Japanese thinking. Therefore, he breaks away from his books to go to “talking shops”, dines in cheap canteens, and goes to shrines. He had to find out how these people live mentally and physically and how they pray in the city and in the countryside.”

Therefore, “if the Apostle Paul became a Hellene for the Greeks, then St. Nicholas became a Japanese for the Japanese”[10]. His many years of hard work caused the Japanese periodicals to repeatedly write about him as a person who knew Japan and its culture better than the Japanese themselves. The saint mastered the Japanese language perfectly; his speech, bright and figurative, was distinguished by strength and expressiveness, thanks to which his sermons became famous throughout Japan.

The will and determination of the saint (reaching the point of harshness when it came to the interests of the Church) were combined in him with gentleness, cordiality and tact. Emotional mobility and some hot temper of St. Nicholas was compensated for by his enviable self-control. But, probably, his rarest quality, a truly divinely inspired quality, was the spiritual enlightenment that distinguished him, which was consciously or unconsciously experienced by everyone who came into contact with him.

“His face revealed energy, strength and extraordinary will, but at the same time his eyes shone with such meekness, kindness, gentleness and humility that it became clear to me how this man conquered and subjugated the masses of pagans...”, wrote about Saint D .I.Shrader[11].

However, there is one more important quality of a missionary, which no researcher of the life of St. Nicholas has ever written about, but which the latter put in first place. This is what he wrote in his diary: “What qualities should a real missionary have? Yes, first of all, humility. He will arrive humble, unnoticed, silent. “What and how is it here? Teach, please,” - yes, in a year, much in two, he will master the language, win the sympathy of all Christians, enter into all the affairs of the Mission, learn everything inside and outside; with all this, not even an inch of effort will be noticeable in him to manifest himself, to let himself be noticed. On the contrary, it will be eliminated and faded away everywhere. “I’m just learning”; but the strength will speak for itself, and will arouse confidence and sympathy. Little by little he will say: “Let me manage this and that (for example, publishing a newspaper, teaching such and such a subject, such and such a preaching point).” "Do me a favor." The department is doing much better than before; everyone sees it and appreciates it; Perhaps in some people envy is aroused, and ill will stirs, and the snake of opposition and enmity is born, but the circumstances speak for themselves - they cannot be changed, nor can they be cut down (as now, for example, it is impossible to destroy the phenomenon that Fr. Paul is truly an excellent priest and preacher, but how many would like to erase this!); the missionary is silent, does not attribute anything to himself, simply does not notice if there is ill will; and more and more things are opening up. To whom? Yes to him - he is a hunter to do; and little by little things are pulled into his hands, including other hands, and are happy to release everything, there only the tongue is strong enough to chatter. And lo and behold, the missionary, without noticing it out of modesty, turns out to be the center around which everything revolves, the power flows from it and rotates everything and gives life and rapid movement to everything. One could imagine a lot, but where is he? Will it happen when?... Why aren’t you like that yourself? Where are we going!”[12]

Alas, it was extremely difficult to find a person with such qualities. “In my two personal searches for those wishing to come here in all academies, I found quite a few; but, after listening, he either outright refused or led to refusal. Another asks: “What are the benefits of service?” to such a person directly: “you are no good.” Another: “What salary?” almost exactly the same. Another: “It’s interesting to see the country,” - you are not needed, etc. I have not met a single one who, after listening, thought deeply, then said: “I wish to serve the glory of God and the salvation of the brothers who do not yet know the way of salvation.” But this is exactly what is needed. And such, first of all, must be a humble servant of God, with a fresh soul, excellent mental abilities, a strong will, a pure heart, but not noticing any of this in himself, but considering himself an inextricable servant of God,” wrote the saint[13].

So, the example of St. Nicholas shows what a real missionary can and should be. The missionary’s education, gift of speech and willpower must be complemented by love for his flock, gentleness and, most importantly, humility.

And the enormous success of the saint’s apostolic preaching allows us to hope that the principles he laid as the basis for missionary activity remain in demand today.

Missionary activity of the saint

It is not for nothing that the archpastor was glorified among the saints as equal to the apostles, because thanks to his vigorous activity and tireless labors, approximately 40 thousand Japanese were baptized into the Orthodox faith. The saint is the creator of the Japanese Orthodox Church, which did not become a copy of the Russian one, but from the very beginning had national features.

Father Nikolai did not try to Russify the Japanese church, adapting worship and scripture to Japanese culture and traditions.

The archpastor spent the lion's share of his time on translation works, wanting to convey to his flock the treasury of Christian texts.

A special feature of the saint’s mission was that the Japanese converts themselves were actively involved in educational activities. They conveyed to their fellows the essence of the Christian faith, attracting them to the church.

Much attention was paid to education. A seminary and a number of specialized theological schools were created, and there was a good library at the mission.

Literature

In Russian

• Seoji, Sergei, “On the Orthodox Mission and the Church in Japan,” Supplement to the Church Gazette
  , 1891, March, No. 13, p. 403-410.
• Sergius (Stragorodsky), archimandrite, in the Far East.
  Letters of a Japanese missionary , Sergiev Posad, 1897.
• "Our Captives in Japan", Supplement to the Church Gazette
  , 1905, May, No. 21, 878-879.
• Znamensky, F., prot., “On the twenty-fifth anniversary of the archpastoral ministry of the Right Reverend Nicholas, Bishop of Revel,” Supplement to the Church Gazette
  , 1905, May, No. 22, 895-899.
• Sergius (Tikhomirov), bishop, “Celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the evangelistic labors of the Most Reverend Nicholas in Japan,” Supplement to the Church Gazette
  , 1911, No. 40, 1699-1702; No. 41, 1752-1758.
• Pozdneev, Dimitri, Archbishop Nicholas of Japan (Memoirs and characteristics)
  , St. Petersburg, 1912.
• “The Most Reverend Nicholas, Archbishop of Japan,” in the book: Biography of Russian ascetics of piety of the 18th and 19th centuries
  , Additional volume, part 1. book. 2. July-December. Moscow, 1912, 35-61.
• Konishi, professor at Doshisha University (Kyoto), “Memoirs of a Japanese about Archbishop Nicholas,” Christian
  , vol. 1, January-April, 665-669.
• Sergius (Tikhomirov), bishop, “In memory of the Right Reverend Nicholas, Archbishop of Japan (on the anniversary of his death on February 3, 1912)”, Christian reading
  , 1913, part 1, 3-76.
• Sergius (Tikhomirov), bishop, In memory of His Eminence Nicholas, Archbishop of Japan
  , St. Petersburg, 1913.
• Platonov, A., Apostle of Japan.
  Essay on the life of Archbishop Nicholas of Japan , Petrograd, 1916.
• Kazem Bek, “Apostle of Japan Archbishop Nicholas (Kasatkin). (To the 100th anniversary of Orthodoxy in Japan)", Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate
  , 1960, July, 43-58.
• Mark (Lozinsky), abbot, professor, “St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Japan,” in the book: Reports and articles
  , (typescript), T. 1, Zagorsk: Lavra, MDA, 185-230.
• Anthony (Melnikov), Archbishop of Minsk and Belarus, “Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Archbishop Nicholas of Japan,” Theological Works
  , collection 14, Moscow: Publication of the Moscow Patriarchate, 1975, 5-61:
• Georgy (Tertyshnikov), Archmadrite, Holy Equal to the Apostles Nicholas Archbishop of Japan
  , Edition prepared with the participation of the Athos Compound in Moscow, 1995:
• 　

• (republished in the portal sedmitza.ru on 16.II.2007 under the title “95 years since the death of St. Nicholas of Japan.”)

In Japanese

• (Peter Shiba Yama Junko, Prot., Daishukyo Nikorai-shi Jiseki
  (
  Achievements of Archbishop Nicholas
  ), Tokyo: Nippon Harisutosu Seikyo-kai soomukyoku) 1936。
• (Nakamura Kennosuke, Senkyoshi Nikorai to Meiji
  (
  Missionary Nicholas and Japan Meiji
  ), Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten) 1996。
• Nakam hurray Kennosuke, Nikorai - Kati ga aru no wa, hoka o awaremu kokoro dake da ( Nikolai - Only a
  merciful
  heart has value
  ), Kyoto: Iwanami Shoten) 2013。

In English

• Van Remortel, M. and Chang, Peter, eds., Saint Nikolai Kasatkin and the Orthodox Mission in Japan: A Collection of Writings by an International Group of Scholars about St.
  Nikolai, his Disciples, and the Mission (
  St. Nicholas Kasatkin and the Orthodox Mission in Japan: Collection of Works of the International Group of Scholars on St. Nicholas, his Disciples, and the Mission
  ), Point Reyes Station, California: Divine Ascent Press, Monastery of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, 2003.

Canonization and veneration

Archbishop Nicholas was canonized by the Russian Church in 1970, and the foreign Orthodox Russian Church glorified the saint in 1994.

In Japan, Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas began to be venerated immediately after his death.

Already at the funeral of the archpastor, people tried to preserve at least a sliver from the coffin of their beloved shepherd, which was considered a shrine.

In China, the memory of Nicholas is honored, associating him with Saint Mitrofan, the first priest on this land. The archpastor performed the ordination of this Chinese martyr. Orthodox Koreas preserve the memory of the care of their shepherds by Bishop Nicholas.

Temples in the name of Nicholas

In the Resurrection Cathedral in Tokyo, there is a chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas, the first church named after the saint. Its consecration took place in 1970; this church is popularly known as “Nikolai-do”. Subsequently, temples named after him began to appear in other cities of Japan.

In the 90s, churches named after the saint also appeared in Russia. At the moment there are 7 such churches in different regions of the Russian Federation. There are temples in honor of the saint in Belarus, the USA and even South Africa.

Secret students

The 24-year-old hieromonk Nikolai (Kasatkin) first set foot on Japanese soil in 1861. “The Japanese of that time,” he would write later, “looked at foreigners as animals, and at Christianity as a harmful sect to which only notorious villains could belong.” and sorcerers." It is not surprising that the Russian priest almost died at the hands of the Japanese priest Sawabe . Another thing is surprising: it was this priest, who more than once publicly threatened Father Nicholas, who became the first to convert to Orthodoxy. Father Nicholas took this miracle as a sign from God that it was necessary to continue preaching Christ among the pagans. The sermon could have cost him his life, because according to local law it carried the death penalty. His students also kept the secret. “I couldn’t openly read the Gospel,” Savabe later recalled. “I came up with the idea of ​​reading the Gospel while I was performing services in a miia (pagan temple). He put the Gospel in front of him instead of a pagan service book and read, tapping on an ordinary drum. Nobody thought that I was reading a foreign “heresy.”

Article on the topic Great Mother. How the granddaughter of the Queen of England became a Russian saint

It took Father Nikolai great effort (he studied 14 hours a day) to master both spoken and written Japanese. Studying the history and culture of the country, he was eventually able to read even ancient Buddhist manuscripts, which earned him the respect of the bonzes (the highest ranks in Buddhism). Once it was the intercession of the bosses that saved Father Nicholas from deportation from the country. After the next secret baptism of his disciples, a denunciation was written against him. A familiar Buddhist monk showed a document with detailed drawings to Father Nikolai: “We and two other elders did not set this matter in motion.”

Only in 1873, almost 13 years after the arrival of Father Nicholas, was the old decrees against Christianity abolished. This made it possible to ordain the “first-born” father Nikolai, Savabe, to the priesthood, who received the name Paul in baptism. Three years later there were already 6 priests among the Japanese. Father Nicholas himself, who during this time managed to become an archimandrite, was elevated to the rank of bishop by the Holy Synod, for which he had to travel to Russia. Having returned, Vladyka founded a seminary in Tokyo. In addition to clergy, brilliant translators from the Russian language were produced here, thanks to which translations of Pushkin, Tolstoy, and Lermontov appeared in Japan.

History of the relics of the saint

The saint is buried in Tokyo, in a cemetery called Yanaka, where the burials of many people held in esteem by the Japanese are located. After the canonization of the archpastor, the spiritual children wanted to take the relics of the saint and place them in the Tokyo Cathedral. However, the city authorities did not give permission for this, citing the refusal by the fact that Elder Nicholas is revered by many people of different faiths.

Particles of the relics of the ruler are located in the temples of Tokyo and Hakodate, in the St. Nicholas Church in the city of Washington. In Russia, since 2003, some of the relics have been open for veneration in the village of Mirny, and since 2008 - in the Assumption Church in Vladivostok.

Works of Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas

The archpastor devoted a lot of time to studying Japanese history and culture, and many scientific articles on Japan were published from his pen. However, the letters and diaries of the great missionary enjoy greater love and popularity among the reader.

Diaries and notes

The saint kept a diary for about 40 years; the records that have reached us cover the period from 1870 to 1911. Until 1979, the diaries were believed to have been destroyed in a 1923 fire that started in the Tokyo Cathedral during an earthquake. However, notebooks with diary entries were discovered in the Leningrad Historical Archives by Professor Nakamura.

It turned out that the diaries and letters of the saint were transferred to Russia by Metropolitan Sergius (Tikhomirov) back in 1912, but during the years of the revolution they ended up in the archives and were forgotten.

The diaries represent the archpastor's reflections on paper about the emergence and development of the Japanese Church, memories of travel and communication with people of different ranks and walks of life. The diaries were published several times in Russia and also translated into Japanese.

Missiology

The main and main work of the life of Saint Nicholas was missionary work. All the efforts and efforts of the archpastor were directed towards ensuring that as many Japanese as possible learned about Christ. This required hardworking and competent assistants.

The archpastor compiled the “Regulations for the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Japan,” where he outlined the requirements for a missionary and his main responsibilities.

So, for example, a monk at least 33 years old, who understands Japanese and devotes enough time to self-education, could become a missionary. One of the rules was tolerance towards other Christian denominations.

The main goal of the Russian missionaries was to prepare catechists from the local population.

The Bishop devoted many articles to mission issues. For example, in an article entitled “In Japan the harvest is plentiful...” the saint criticizes the methods of the Catholic mission, which passed off technical devices as miracles, keeping the Japanese in fear.

Letters and messages

Almost all his life the saint wrote letters to friends and mentors in Russia and Japan, his spiritual children. In the letters one can find many interesting details of the daily life of the Japanese parish, the problems that the saint faced in a foreign country.

In the messages you can learn about Father Nikolai’s communication with prisoners of war during the war and their spiritual nourishment. Many of the letters were published, for example, the book “The Will of God to Enlighten Japan is Visible” contains a selection of the archpastor’s most interesting messages.

Sermons and words

The bishop's sermons were filled with such vivid images and had such power that they repeatedly drew applause from the audience. The saint easily constructed phrases, possessing a rich vocabulary. He used succinct, short sentences and unusual turns of phrase in his speeches.

Translations

Saint Nicholas devoted about 30 years of his life to translating Christian texts and Holy Scripture into Japanese. He worked on translations every day for 4 hours. First, the liturgical books that Father Nikolai had worked on while still in Hakodate were translated.

The saint initially translated the New Testament from Chinese into Japanese, but soon noticed inaccuracies and errors in the Chinese version. After this, the archpastor used the Russian text of Scripture for translation. Gradually, the saint translated the entire Holy Scripture, all the texts necessary for worship, and a number of Christian literature for catechesis.

Proceedings

Diaries

:

• Nakamura, K., Nakamura, Y., Yasui, R., Naganawa, M., comp., Diaries of St. Nicholas of Japan
  , Sapporo: Hokkaido University Press, 1994 - selected years, with an appendix of the saint’s early article “And in Japan the harvest is plentiful... Letter from a Russian on Hakodate" (according to:
  Christian Reading
  , 1869, part 1, 239-258):
• Nakamura Kennosuke, comp., Diaries of St. Nicholas of Japan.
  In 5 volumes , St. Petersburg: Hyperion, 2004. - complete edition:
• - Vol. I, 1870-1880.
• - Vol. II, 1881-1893.
• - Vol. III, 1893-1899.
• - Vol. IV, 1899-1904.
• - Vol. V, 1904-1912

Letters

:

• “I am completely the only Russian here...” (Letters of Reval Bishop Nikolai (Kasatkin) from Japan)
  , St. Petersburg: Kolo Publishing House, 2002.
• Saint Nicholas of Japan.
  Letters to priest Sergius Suzuki (from unpublished) , special issue of the magazine
  Christian Reading
  , 2012, No. 5.
• “St. Nicholas of Japan on the end of the world and the future destinies of Russia,” Archbishop. Nikon (Rozhdestvensky), Orthodoxy and the future destinies of Russia.
  From the Diaries of 1910–1916. :
• - part 1
• — part 2

• — about the translation of church texts

Words

:

• (Peter Shiba Yama Junko, Prot., Daishukyo Nikorai-shi Jiseki
  (
  Achievements of Archbishop Nicholas
  ), Tokyo: Nippon Harisutosu Seikyo-kai soomukyoku) 1936 - contains a rich collection of the saint's sermons.
• “Prepare your soul for temptation” - Word of St. Nicholas of Japan at the Council of the Japanese Church in July 1887 (translation from Japanese):
• “Greetings from Archbishop Nicholas of Japan to the Missionary Congress in Irkutsk,” Orthodox Evangelist
  , 1910, vol. 2, no. 16, August, book. 2, 146-149.

Prayers and troparia

Saint Nicholas is considered the patron saint of missionaries. They pray to him for unbelieving friends and relatives, for those who have fallen into sects, for those who study foreign languages.

A troparion is a short prayer dedicated to a holiday or saint.

This type of prayer is one of the most ancient. In the troparion to Saint Nicholas, his main feat is revealed - the enlightenment of the Japanese land. The saint is also compared to the apostles of Christ. The troparion is often used during divine services on the day of remembrance of the saint. But it can be read at home any day along with other prayers to this ascetic.

In prayers addressed to the saint, petitions are offered for the preservation of peace and prosperity in Russia and Japan, for deliverance from hunger, disaster and disease. The prayer contains separate petitions for the preservation and salvation of the priesthood, monasticism, widows, orphans, and infants.

Prayers

Troparion, tone 4

The Apostles are equal and co-throne, faithful and God-wise servant of Christ, chosen priest of the Divine Spirit, overflowing vessel of the love of Christ, enlightener of the Japanese land, Saint Nicholas, hierarch equal to the apostles, pray to the Life-Giving Trinity for all your flock and for the whole world.

Kontakion, tone 4

The country of Japan, equal to the Apostles with St. Nicholas, welcomed the stranger and the stranger, in it you first recognized yourself as a stranger, both exuding the warmth and light of Christ, you turned your enemies into spiritual sons, distributing the grace of God to them, you built the Church of Christ, about it Now pray, and to you her sons and daughters cry: Rejoice, our good shepherd.

Canons and akathists

A canon is an ancient genre of prayer used in Orthodox worship. The canon consists of 9 songs, and each song in turn consists of troparia and irmos. Canons can be dedicated to the Lord, the Mother of God, any holiday or saint. Reading the canons is also blessed at home.

In the canon of Saint Nicholas, Equal to the Apostles, a parallel is drawn between his exploits of enlightening the Japanese people and the exploits of the Old Testament righteous, and the most significant events from his life are recalled.

Akathist is a prayer of praise consisting of 24 short parts (ikos and kontakion).

Akathists are usually not included in the liturgical cycle; they are read at water-blessing prayers or at home.

If the canons can be repentant or prayerful, then the akathists are joyful and grateful.

The Akathist to the Saint reveals to the reader the life of the ascetic, praising his Christian virtues and good deeds.