“How can we leave Father Innocent, he’s all alone?”

Blessing is an Orthodox publishing house.

Archimandrite Innocent (Prosvirnin) is an outstanding Orthodox pastor who played a huge role in the publishing activities of the Russian Church, the brightest representative of modern scientific monasticism, hagiographer, historian, archaeographer, local historian, prominent church and public figure.

Father Innokenty (in the world - Anatoly Ivanovich Prosvirnin) was born on May 5, 1940 in the city of Omsk, into a believing Orthodox family. From the age of 10 he served at the Omsk Cathedral, was an altar server, then a subdeacon.

After school, Anatoly entered the Moscow Seminary at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, immediately into the second grade. But soon the young man was drafted into the army, and he served for three years in the anti-aircraft missile forces in Azerbaijan. Having graduated from the seminary and the Moscow Theological Academy after demobilization (in 1968), Anatoly was left at the Moscow theological schools as a teacher of the history of the Russian Orthodox Church.

While studying at the MDA, the ascetic’s scientific interests were formed: the history of monasticism, eldership, missionary work, book learning in Rus' since ancient times. He dedicated his first scientific work to the Optina Vvedenskaya Hermitage and was awarded the degree of candidate of theology for it.

His journalistic talent also showed itself early. Bishop Pitirim, with the blessing of the Optina Elder Sebastian (Fomin), while still a seminarian, invited Anatoly to the publishing board of the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, where he worked for more than 30 years.

Father Innocent had a tremendous capacity for work, and his heart burned with love for the Church and his native history. He searched and collected information bit by bit, studied and researched archives. Nikolai Lisovoy, a senior researcher at the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Candidate of Philosophy, who knew him for decades, recalled: “Archimandrite Innokenty became a scientist of the European level both in the field of history and in the field of scientific publishing projects, completely beyond the reach of anyone more than him. God, as it were, created him in order to undertake such works that no one would ever dare to undertake.”

On February 4, 1970, Anatoly Prosvirnin was ordained to the rank of deacon, and on February 22 of the same year - to the priesthood. He served as a priest for seven years and on December 22, 1977, at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, he was tonsured a monk with the name Innocent - in honor of St. Innocent (Veniaminov) of Moscow. A year later, Hieromonk Innocent was elevated to the rank of abbot, and in 1981 he was awarded the rank of archimandrite. The services of Father Innocent to the Church were noted with high awards - the Orders of Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir and the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, II degree.

Father Innocent never tired of repeating that people are cut off from their roots, that it is necessary to form historical thinking. He regularly lectured at advanced training courses for teachers and taught how to work with historical documents. At a conference dedicated to local history in Moscow, the ascetic said: “I hope that the Ministry of Education will find a worthy place for local history, because you cannot build your life on a foundation that you do not know.”

Through the works of Archimandrite Innocent, many names have been returned to our history. For the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', 24 volumes of Liturgical Menaions were published. Father Innocent was the initiator of the inclusion of services to Russian saints in the Menaion corpus, and he himself edited the text of these services. He brought some liturgical texts from Athos. All currently published Menaions are reissues of his work.

There was another grandiose work - the release of a 10-volume Russian Bible, richly illustrated with miniatures taken from biblical books of the Russian manuscript tradition of the 10th-20th centuries. Work on this unique publication lasted 20 years. During the life of Father Innocent, only the 7th and 8th volumes, which included all the books of the New Testament, saw the light of day. The enormous illustrative material accompanying the volumes of the Russian Bible has turned this publication into an invaluable source on the history of ancient Russian art and book culture: researchers can see photographs of many manuscripts only in this publication. The basis of the work is the famous Gennady Bible, published under Archbishop Gennady of Novgorod († 1505).

The book-album of Father Innocent “The Trinity-Sergius Lavra” still remains one of the best materials about the monastery of St. Sergius. The basis is a reproduction of the handwritten facial life of St. Sergius of Radonezh of the 16th century from the collection of the Russian State Library.

The priest also led the work of a group of scholar-archivists on a multi-volume series under the general title “History of the Russian Orthodox Church in documents from regional archives of Russia”; During his lifetime, only the 1st volume of this work was published. After being forced to leave Moscow theological schools, for two years Archimandrite Innocent was a member of the brotherhood of the Dormition Monastery of St. Joseph of Volotsky and was engaged in economic and restoration work there. There he created a scientific research center, under which he continued to be actively involved in publishing activities. The fruit of his work was the “International Volokolamsk Society of Local Lore” on the basis of the Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery. Every year, starting in 1990, on the day of memory of St. Joseph, scientific and theological conferences were held on the history of the Church and Russian culture.

Archimandrite Innokenty was worried about the state of the archives, where he had access as a major scientist. Especially after the fire in the Library of the Academy of Sciences, at every opportunity he raised the issue of creating the so-called. protective fund - color copies of the most valuable manuscripts. It was he who came up with the idea of ​​photographing a document on microfilm and developed an original form of storing microfilms: according to the priest’s sketch, wooden caskets were made in the shape of an ancient book the size of an Alexandrian leaf, inside divided into cells in which the microfilm is placed, with a stylized inscription on the spine.

The ascetic studied the history of Optina Pustyn and the legacy of the Optina Elders until the end of his life. He filmed part of Optina’s archive, stored in the Russian State Library. In 1993, microfilms were transferred to the monastery. Father himself sometimes stood behind the camera - he was a first-class photographer, one of the first among Russian historians to master the practice of scientific work using microfiche (microfiche is a photographic card-frame containing microphotographs of documents in the form of many “cells” and readable using magnifying devices. Before the advent of computers, it was widespread in archival and library science. - Ed.) and became their convinced propagandist.

The range of scientific and social work of the pastor is amazing. He actively participated in the activities of a number of foundations, was a member of the Archaeographic Commission of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the International Foundation of Slavic Literature and Culture, and the Slavic Foundation of Russia. Father Innocent was one of the active organizers and indispensable participants of the international church-secular scientific conferences held in 1988-1989, dedicated to the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', which marked the beginning of mutual understanding and close cooperation between church and secular scientists in the post-Soviet period. Participated in the work of several International Congresses of Slavists, the XVIII International Congress of Byzantinists (Moscow, 1991). He became one of the initiators of a scientific expedition to Mount Athos from September 12 to October 21, 1983, in which the country's leading archaeographers took part. As a result, photographs and photocopies of manuscripts and acts of the library of Panteleimonov and other Svyatogorsk monasteries were made. In addition to scientific and publishing interests, during the expedition the ascetic was concerned with the issue of replenishing the brethren of the Panteleimon monastery. Some of Father Innokenty’s creative and scientific projects remained unrealized.

The priest always combined his feat of labor with his feat of prayer. He was a faithful disciple of Christ, a true servant of the Holy Church. He was given many talents, and he dedicated all of them to the Church. Archimandrite Innokenty served in the church at the Publishing Department, and the believers really loved going to these services. During his life, he was constantly surrounded by people: in Moscow theological schools these were seminarians and students, in a church or monastery - parishioners and brethren, in the Publishing Department - visitors. There were days when the flow of people coming to his editorial office did not stop for a minute. And he himself visited many - relatives, friends, especially the sick and infirm - as a shepherd, as a spiritual mentor, and others as an editor and publisher. He practically did not sleep, his time was scheduled by the minute... He always spoke calmly, measuredly, quietly; did everything without fuss...

The trials of recent years did not at all help strengthen the health of the ascetic and did not add strength to him. Expulsion from Moscow theological schools, eviction from the Water Tower of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where he created a scientific publishing center, then expulsion from the monastery itself, severe beating by two criminals in the Joseph-Volotsk monastery, expulsion from this monastery... It would seem that the monk the worker could count on support from the Publishing Department. But he was expelled from there too...

In the last year of his life, Father Innokenty found refuge in the Novospassky Stavropegic Monastery in Moscow, which also became his resting place. He died as a result of an acute heart attack on July 12, 1994, on the day of remembrance of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, in the cell of the outstanding Russian orientalist, Byzantine scholar and archaeologist Bishop Porfiry (Uspensky; † 1885), whom he considered his spiritual mentor.

Archimandrite Innocent left behind not only his works, but also a grateful memory in human hearts. Patriarch Alexy II, Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov), numerous spiritual children and a huge number of secular people came to his burial. The grave of the ascetic is located opposite the Transfiguration Cathedral of the monastery and is revered by believers.

WORDS OF FATHER INNOCENT

Returning to the path of our fathers, following in the footsteps of our fathers is the main task of our time. This is how we understand patriotism... Language largely determines a person’s morality. Therefore, it is important that every nation knows the fundamental sources of history, culture, and even more so - the holy heritage of Holy Rus'.

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The era itself of a particular time speaks for itself. And now, of course, it is important to re-calibrate the guidelines of life, to once again test our experience with the experience of our fathers. What did our fathers read, what were they guided by, what did they guide their successors - subsequent generations. What are we called upon to orientate towards when working with the younger generation in this age of omnivorousness, an age of special spiritual hunger, when it is important to check the guidelines and take all the best that has been crystallized by a thousand years of history...

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If we talk about the characteristic tone of Russian book literature and national culture, it was defined very clearly in the words of the great-grandmother of Rus', the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga. Many people have not noticed these words, preserved in the chronicles. And they sound like this: “God’s will be done!” If God desires to have mercy on my family of the Russian land, may He place it on their hearts to turn to God, just as God has given me this gift.” These words express devotion to the will of God: “If God pleases...” And this synergy - the interaction of the human will and the will of God - runs through all of history...

Prepared by Ksenia MIRONOVA

Based on materials: https://pravenc.ru/text/468751.html; https://tayninskoye.ru/voskresnye-besedy/besedy-2010-god/arhimandrit-innokentii-prosvirnin.html and other online media

Source:

https://www.pkrest.ru/205/205-12.html

Prayers

From the service in the book. “Services to the Odessa Saints” [8]:

Troparion, tone 4

From your youth, diligent in the teaching of piety and the fear of God,/ thriving in the grace of Christ,/ you acquired verbal gifts/ and you appeared as a tireless preacher of salvation,/ the souls of the faithful illuminating with saving meanings / and leading everyone to correction. / Sainted Father Innocent, / pray to Christ God // grant us forgiveness of sins and great mercy.

Kontakion, tone 3

The south of our land is in bloom, / the Russian Church is a decoration, / the most glorious teacher of Orthodoxy, / the zealous defender and prayer book of the Fatherland, / the new Russian Chrysostom, / the godly saint Inno Kentie,/ pray to Christ God // to save our souls.

From the Internet page “About the Cathedral of Voronezh Saints” [9]:

Troparion, tone 4

Today the city of Kherson rejoices, / the land of Taurida rejoices, / in the possession of the prayer book of St. Innocent of Christ, / the shepherd of goodness and the fair righteous, / like the Mother of God, the image of Kasperovsky has passed on You declared,/ You established the right faith in the land of New Russia./ Also, to the holy hierarch Father Innocent,/ pray Christ God // our souls will be saved.

Literature

• Orthodox Encyclopedia, vol. 22, p. 686-707
• Pogodin M.P., Wreath on the grave of the Most Reverend Innocent, Archbishop of Tauride
  , M., 1867.
• Butkevich T.I., priest, Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson
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  , Tula, 1879, 210.
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  , 1884.
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  , 2 vols., 1887.
• Tuzov, Catalog
  , 104-105.
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  II department Academician Sciences , XXXVIII-IV.
• Arkhangelsky N., Innocent Archbishop of Kherson, as a teacher of Christian morality
  , Kazan, 1889.
• Polimpsestov I., My memories
  , St. Petersburg, 1888.
• Nilus Sergius, Servant of the Mother of God and the Seraphim
  .
• Savva, archbishop, Chronicle of my life
  , Serg. Posad, 1902, vol. IV, p. 67, pr. 1, 261, 801; 1904, vol. V, p. 12, 58, 110-704.
• Tolstoy, Yu., No. 293.
• Bulgakov, 1397, 1403, 1416.
• Stroev, P., 10, 20, 489, 733, 966.
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  , 17, 96, 249-252.
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  , Tver, 1888, part I, p. 128, pr. 1; Part II, p. 36.
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  description of the Kharkov diocese , dep. I, M., 1812, 27.
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  St. Michael's Monastery , Kiev, 1889, 136.
• “Athos Chronicle,” Soulful Interviews
  , 1898, October, 303, 304.
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  , 1884, June, 258; August, 583, 593; September, 132; 1885, June, 314; July, 472; August, 671; September, 156, 311; 1886, January, 119; February, 261; April, 603; May, 142; August, 640; September, 178; October, 32; November, 542; December, 732; 1888, November, 118-127; 1889, August, 632-646.
• Izv.
  Kazan diocese , 1887, No. 17, 429; 1907, No. 24, 721-722 pp.; 1903, No. 3, 21; No. 9, 652 pp.
• Samara Diocesan Gazette
  , 1886, № 11, 226; № 12, 250; 1901, № 2, 99.
• Orthodox Review
  , 1888, May, June, 498, 499.
• Missionary Review
  , 1901, 146.
• Wanderer
  , 1887, May, 3; 1888, September, 113.
• Christian Reading
  , 1872, June, 183-229; 1884, January-February, 188-220; March, April, 489; July-August, 99-161; 1885, May-June, 732-740, 798.
• Historical Bulletin
  , 1884, February, 336, 342; November, 454; 1885, May, 3, 75; December, 35; 1888, January, 1; March, 726; November, 10; 1890, August, 408; 1895, February, 650; 1900, June, 795.
• Russian Antiquity
  , 1874, January, 137, 138; 1876, October, 309; 1878, February, 203 pp. 203; April, 547-549 pp. 552, 562; November, 373-376 pp., 396, 367-398; 1879, April, 651-708, 795; May, 189-204; June, 367-370; September, 137-150, 161, 350; 1880, January, 112, 123, 126; February, 434; June, 225; November, 789; September, 215; 1881, June, 204, 205, 318; April, 781, 791, 794; October, 346; November, 575-581; 1882, April, 187; 1883, June, 671, 673; July, 191-194; 1886, January, 183, 184; 1887, April, 139 pp. 1; 1910, July, 86.
• Orthodox Review
  , 1871, vol. 3, I-XII, 614; 1872, vol. 1, I-VI, 262.
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  , 1891, № 25, 392; 1908, № 31, 970.
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  , 1900, parts 3, 4, 6, 607-623.
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  , 1900, № 52, 618.
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  , 1945, № 4, 70; 1957, № 4, 61-67; 1958, № 2, 38; № 4, 29-31; № 9, 52, 54; 1959, № 4, 61, № 11, 39.
• ZhPB
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  to Ts.V. , 1889, No. 17, 464 notes; 1897, no. 8, 299; 1900, No. 31, 1223-1236; No. 52, 2167-2173; No. 50, 2072-2076; 1903, No. 37, 1421.
• Orthodox Interlocutor
  , 1874, January, 119; 1885, February, 201-214; 1897, July, 6-13; 1898, May, 192; 1899, February, 334; April, 425-442; May, 701; 1902, September, 125, 312; 1913, April, 184.
• Russian Pilgrim
  , 1900, № 50, 842-844; 862-866.
• Russian Monk
  , 1911, February, issue. 4, 65; September issue 41-42, 24; 1912, issue. 49, 46-51.
• Russian Archive
  , 1871, No. 7 and N, 1136, 1307; 1887, book. 3rd, 245, 246, 249, 282 pp. 2, 287, 362, 369, 374, 381 (“Filaret Archbishop of Chernigov”); 1888, book. 2nd, 365 (“From the notes of Senator K.N. Lebedev” 1854); book 3rd, 592-597 (“Stories of Metropolitan Philaret, recorded by A.V. Gorsky”); 1889, book. 1st, 149, 521 (“From the notes of Senator K. Lebedva”); book 3rd, 425 (“From the paper of N. P. Gilyarov-Platonov”); 1893, book. 1st, 144 p/page. 1, 216 ps. 2, (“Letters from Metropolitan Philaret to S. D. Nechaev”); book 2nd, 177-182 (“A few words about the Most Reverend Innocent of Kherson”); 1895, book. 2nd, No. 6, 178; No. 7, 277-278; 1897, book. 2nd, 176, 596 (“Notes of Count M.D. Buturlin”); 1898, book. 1st, 303-304 (“Two letters from Archimandrite Vitaly to Archimandrite Philadelph Puzyna”); book 2nd pp. 116, 117, 121 (“Count Osten-Sacken - his letters”); 1899, book. 1st, 662 (“Memoirs of N. D. Bogatinov”); 1900, book. 1st, No. 1, 25; 1903, book. 1st, No. 2, 220, 246; No. 3, 372; book 3rd, 91 (“Diary of I.M. Snegirev”); 1904, book. 2nd, No. 5, 50; 1912, No. 7, 444.
• BEL
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  , vol. VIII, 110-115.

So-so entrepreneur

“For more than twenty years I was engaged in construction, trying to acquire icons and icon cases.
Now it’s time for solitude.” Natalya Pisklova is the coordinator of the St. Luke’s Nursing Home. Previously, she was a “so-so entrepreneur” - she sold clothes at the market.

– For an entrepreneur, the main thing is revenue, and I have never chased money.

I learned that you could come and help back in 2008: I saw an advertisement in the church. There was a desire, but one thing or another got in the way. I decided in 2013. She came to the nursing home and stayed to help people.

Someone helped me too. I was alone with my child (my daughter was born in the 90s), but miraculously there were people who helped me. They gave things, helped with advice, supported. I couldn’t have done it without them,” says Natalya.

She coordinates the work of the sisters of mercy. At first my daughter took all this skeptically, but over time she changed her point of view.

“Then I started helping too, volunteering—together we cut out stars for Christmas, for example.

Father Innokenty is the most difficult patient of the hemodialysis center: completely immobile, with concomitant diseases.

“When we first met him, Father Innokenty was in the hospital and his leg had already been amputated,” says Natalya. “He said that he needed to undergo hemodialysis three times a week, and asked if we could transport him. My sisters and I decided that we would give it a try.

Literature[ | ]

• Schmidt S. O.
  In memory of Archimandrite Innocent (Prosvirnin) // “Domestic Archives”, 1994. - No. 6. - P. 117-120.
• Innocent // Orthodox Encyclopedia. - M.: Church-Scientific, 2010. - T. XXIII: “Innocent - John Vlah.” — P. 19-21. — 752 p. — 39,000 copies. — ISBN 978-5-89572-042-4.
• Solomina O. L.
  Archimandrite Innocent (Prosvirnin) and the publication of the Russian Bible he undertook.
• Ovsyannikov V.P.
  A word in memory of Archimandrite Innocent (Prosvirnin) // Theological Bulletin: anniversary issue. 2010. - No. 11-12 - P. 963-981.
• Tsurikov A. A.
  Archimandrite Innocent (Prosvirnin) and the study of the Athos heritage in Russia // Theological collection of the Novosibirsk Orthodox Theological Seminary. 2021. - No. 1 (11). — P. 41-44.

Publications[ | ]

Articles

• Celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Patriarchate of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Rus' // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. M., 1965. - No. 3. - P. 17-22 (co-authored with V. Borozdinov and A. Osipov).
• Saint John, Metropolitan of Tobolsk and All Siberia (on the 250th anniversary of his death) // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, 1965. - No. 6. - P. 73-77; Saint John, Metropolitan of Tobolsk and all Siberia (on the 250th anniversary of his death) // Blessed are the pure in heart: Sat. articles... - M.: IHTIOS, 2008. - P. 168-170.

Books

• Rossikon. Booklet (in English and Russian languages). M., 1984. Rossikon // Blessed are the pure in heart: Sat. articles... - M.: IHTIOS, 2008. - P. 370.