“The Church of the Belarusian Praise and the city of Mogilev is a decoration. Ministry in Russia

Georgy Konissky
Georgy Konissky

(Grigory Osipovich) - saint, archbishop of Mogilev.

† 1795, commemorated on the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost in the Cathedral of Belarusian Saints.

Graduated from the Kyiv Theological Academy.

In August 1744, he was tonsured a monk at the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

In 1745 he was appointed teacher of pyitika at the Kyiv Theological Academy, where he was ordained to the rank of hieromonk.

Since 1747 - professor of theology and philosophy, prefect of the academy.

On August 20, 1755, in the Kiev St. Sophia Cathedral, Metropolitan of Kyiv, Galicia and All Minor Russia Timofey (Shcherbatsky) and a council of bishops consecrated him bishop of Mogilev.

In 1762 he was present in Moscow at the coronation of Empress Catherine II.

On December 14, 1772 (after the first partition of Poland and the annexation of Belarus to Russia) he began to be called the Bishop of Mogilev, Mstislav and Orsha.

In 1780, he founded the cathedral in Mogilev in the name of the righteous Joseph the Betrothed.

Saint George was richly and variedly gifted by nature. He was a talented teacher who brought a new spirit to the teaching of all academic subjects. As rector of the academy, he showed himself to be a “thorough and respectable ruler and teacher.” He wrote poetry, was the first at the Kyiv Theological Academy to present theology in a systematic manner and, according to Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov), “undoubtedly surpassed all his predecessors and successors.”

A brilliant preacher, he was completely imbued with the consciousness of the high calling of a shepherd. “Teaching the people is the first and most important thing. If I become silent, then God threatens me with death,” he said. He demanded the same from the clergy subordinate to him. In the harshest terms, he condemned careless priests - “dumb dogs, unable to bark, who love to doze.” In his sermons, the Right Reverend boldly denounced vices, untruths, and “unbridled depravity.”

The archpastoral activity of the Right Reverend George began at a time when Belarus was under Polish rule. The Belarusian diocese remained the only Orthodox diocese within the Polish state. Catholics and Uniates used all their strength to seduce its population into the union, without neglecting the most severe measures of coercion.

Archbishop George had to put in a lot of work to keep his flock faithful to Orthodoxy. For this purpose, he first of all took care of the moral and mental enlightenment, first of all, of the clergy, and through him the entire people. In 1757, he opened a school for the clergy in Mogilev and set up a printing house at the archbishop's house.

Present at the coronation of Empress Catherine II, he asked her to protect the persecuted Orthodox population of Poland from the oppression of Catholicism and obtained a promise from her to fulfill his request.

In 1765, Archbishop George introduced himself to the Polish king Stanislav Poniatowski and gave him a speech in defense of Orthodoxy. Then he submitted a note to the Polish government about the situation of Orthodox Christians in all Western Russian dioceses and at the Sejm in 1767 he achieved formal recognition of religious tolerance in Poland.

In order to prove the legitimacy of his claims, he had to study many historical documents and legal acts.

When the Mogilev diocese went to Russia, then, at the request of His Grace George before Catherine I, the transition of the Uniates to Orthodoxy was allowed. Within three years, 112 thousand 578 Uniates joined Orthodoxy.

Concerned about the further improvement of his diocese, he did not forget about the Orthodox Christians who remained in Poland without pastoral leadership. On the recommendation of George, his student and like-minded person, Abbot Victor (Sadkovsky), was appointed archimandrite in Slutsk, and a year later he was ordained bishop of the newly opened Orthodox diocese within the Polish borders.

Among his flock, he sought to destroy all traces of the influence of union and Latinism on Orthodoxy. He expanded the seminary building and called new mentors from the Kyiv Academy.

In his sermons, Archbishop George did not stop at dangerous questions about social inequality, and especially about the relationship between landowners and serfs. He denounced the infidels: Catholics, Jews and Mohammedans, as well as Masons, “who boast in the wisdom of Solomon.” The mystery of Freemasonry—this “enlightenment practiced in darkness”—seemed suspicious to him.

His sermon captivated his listeners with its sincerity. All his life he “blowed the trumpet” as a faithful, vigilant guardian in defense of Orthodoxy, and it was not an exaggeration when they said about him that he “fought for the Holy Church to the point of blood.”

Busy with the thought of the approaching hour of death, the Right Reverend George composed a letter to the archpastor who would replace him, entrusting it to the attention of his relatives and closest servants, he also wrote a spiritual testament and even an epitaph for himself, which he kept carved on a copper board in the form in which it should be was to be placed on his tomb. Here is the inscription:

Cradle Nizhyn, Kyiv my teacher,

At the age of thirty-eight I became a saint.

For seventeen years I fought with wolves.

And twenty-two, like a shepherd, he rested with the sheep.

For the labors and bad weather endured

He became an Archbishop and a Member of the Synod,

George by name, I am from the Konis house,

The horse was like a postal horse.

This bastard* (carrion) covered his sinful bones

Year seven hundred five ninety.

The Archbishop died, unashamedly completing forty years of priesthood, filled with exemplary deeds of faith and patience. His life and works, having become the property of history, will forever remain a living testament of love for Orthodoxy, for truth, courage and fidelity to duty.

About the positions of parish elders. Guidance for parish clergy. — 1776. Historical news about the Mogilev diocese. - 1775.

Notes that in Russia until the end of the 17th century there was no union with the Roman Church // Readings in the Society of Russian History and Antiquities. - M., 1847, No. 8. Words and speeches. - Mogilev on the Dnieper, 1892. Rights and liberties of residents who profess the Greek-Eastern faith in Poland and Lithuania. - 1767.

About the resurrection of the dead. Tragedy. Interludes // Ancient and new Russia. - St. Petersburg, 1878, part 3.

The future hierarch was born in 1717 in the city of Nizhyn, which by that time had belonged to Russia for half a century, into an influential and noble family of Ukrainian nobles, the Konisskys. He studied for 15 years at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy, from which he graduated “with special honors.” Within the walls of the academy, Gregory studied foreign (Polish, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German) languages, poetics, philosophy, theology, showing a special talent for versification.

Despite the fact that the Kiev Academy at that time had long since experienced its best times, it provided an excellent education; The level of its graduates is evidenced by the fact that Grigory Konissky studied together with Grigory Skovoroda. After graduating from the academy, he took monastic vows and was left as a teacher at the academy in the department of rhetoric. At that time he developed a course in poetics in Latin; While simultaneously engaged in literary creativity, in 1749 he composed the drama “The Resurrection of the Dead” filled with anti-atheistic pathos, as well as poems in Russian, Latin and Polish. His literary works were admired by A.S. Pushkin. From 1747, for five years he headed the department of philosophy and at the same time was a prefect. Since 1751, he has been the rector of the academy, a professor of theology, and, according to a contemporary, he was considered the best - after Feofan Prokopovich - professor of the academy in the 18th century, and since 1752 he has been the archimandrite of the Kiev-Brotherly Monastery.

In 1755, a new period of his life and activity began: he was appointed Belarusian bishop and moved to Mogilev. Since 1783, Konissky became a Belarusian Orthodox archbishop, a member of the Holy Synod. At that time, on the territory of Belarus, which was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, there remained only one Orthodox diocese with its center in Mogilev. The issue of liquidation of this diocese was discussed in official circles of the Polish-Lithuanian state.
The joyful and solemn meeting of the long-awaited bishop with the Mogilev flock did not hide from St. George the terrible decline that was caused by many years of persecution of Orthodoxy. From the very first days after taking office, he wrote endless reports to the Senate about the oppression inflicted by the Uniates and Catholics, about their seizure of Orthodox churches. At the same time, he also cared about spreading the light of Orthodoxy, for which purpose he opened a printing house at the bishop’s house in 1757 and published the work of Feofan Prokopovich - the Orthodox “Catechism, or a brief elementary Christian teaching for the benefit and salvation of young men, and also of the uneducated old, written in three conversations ", and sent it free to the churches of the dioceses. During this period, he founded a number of schools similar to fraternal church schools.

Constantly concerned about higher education of the clergy, and the archbishop himself, unfortunately, observed enough examples of the opposite during personal inspections, the Mogilev hierarch in 1759 organized a Theological Seminary at the Spassky Monastery, asking the Russian government for 400 rubles per annum. To more successfully resist Uniatism, His Eminence Georgy was engaged in collecting archival documents about the Mogilev Orthodox churches.

Simultaneously with the solution of church-political problems, Archbishop George took care of the welfare and organization of his Mogilev diocese. In 1780, a new building was built for the seminary, the teaching staff of which was replenished from among the graduates of the Kyiv Academy. He cared about the purity of the Orthodox rite. As evidenced by the letter issued against dousing with water during baptism, he was also the author of a letter against the greed of priests, an article against the lack of faith spread by the French thinker Voltaire. Georgy was also engaged in purely literary work, composing welcoming speeches (he read one of them on January 19, 1787 in front of Catherine, who was passing through Mstislavl).

Sick and tired from daily worries, on January 20, 1793, Archbishop George wrote a will, and on February 13, 1795, he gave up his soul to the Lord. Mogilev Saint George of Konis was buried in his cathedral city, in a church not far from the bishop's house. The Lord glorified his remains with incorruption: as reported in Appendix 3 on page 555 of the Complete Monthly Book of the East, in 1875 his body turned out to be incorruptible.” In addition, during the French invasion in 1812, the invaders opened the shrine containing the saint’s body and, having discovered it, witnessed the incorruptible relics.

Akathist to St. George, Archbishop of Mogilev and Belarus

Archbishop of Mogilev, Mstislav and Orsha. Philosopher, teacher, theologian and public figure of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and then the Russian Empire.

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Family and education

In 1728, Georgy Konissky entered the Kyiv Theological Academy, the full course of which he graduated with “special praise.” At the academy he studied Latin, Polish, Greek, Hebrew, and German, and wrote poetry.

Monk and Professor

In 1744-1746 - preacher of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

Since 1745 - teacher of pyitika at the Kyiv Theological Academy.

Since 1747 - professor of theology and philosophy and prefect of the academy, he was ordained to the rank of hieromonk.

Will is the active free faculty of the rational soul, relating to good and evil as represented by reason. From this it is clear that the object of the will is good and evil; real good is hereditary, evil is what is avoided. Other authors want to assert that only good is the object of the will, and evil is only an accidental object. This is good, because when we turn away from evil, then we desire good, since aversion and avoidance of evil itself is good... Active (willing will) is divided into absolute and conditional. The first creates its object without any relation to another and without any condition - such is the desire with which God created the world. Conditional desire is that desire that does not create its object unless a condition is first given. This is the desire of Christ to define the entire human race after the fall to eternal life. It contains a condition: if everyone believes in Christ and lives well.”

Bishop

Years of service in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

On August 20, 1755, he was consecrated Bishop of Mogilev. The rite of consecration was performed by Metropolitan Timofey (Shcherbatsky) of Kiev, Bishop Irakli (Komarovsky) of Chernigov and Bishop John (Kozlovich) of Pereyaslavl.

His diocese was located on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where even Uniates (as well as Protestants) were discriminated against, and Orthodox Christians were generally outlawed. He fought for equal rights for subjects of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth who belonged to various faiths. He took care of the education of the clergy under his jurisdiction so that they would contribute to raising the educational level of their flock. In 1757, he opened a theological seminary in Mogilev and organized a printing house at the archbishop's house. Much later, after the annexation of eastern Belarus to Russia, in the year the seminary was reorganized, classes of theological and philosophical sciences were opened in it; in 1785 a new two-story educational building was built.

The activity of Bishop George met with rejection from part of the Catholic gentry. In the summer of 1759, during a service in a church in Orsha, he was expelled from the church and forced to take refuge in a monastery, which was then besieged by a crowd intending to kill the bishop. He managed to secretly escape from the monastery in a peasant cart covered with manure. The bishop's house and seminary were attacked, as a result of which several seminarians were wounded, and the bishop took refuge in the basement.

In 1762, Bishop George (Konissky) was present in Moscow at the coronation of Catherine II, where he asked the Russian Empress to provide assistance to the Orthodox in Poland. In 1765, he made a powerful speech in defense of the Orthodox before the new Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania Stanislav Poniatowski. Sent a note to the government of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth about the situation of Orthodox Christians in all Western Russian dioceses. In his activities he relied on numerous historical documents and legal acts that determined the rights of Orthodox believers on Polish territory.

Formally not being the leader of the Slutsk Confederation, he became one of its de facto leaders and, acting with the support of the Russian authorities (who arrested several ultra-Catholic leaders) and in alliance with Protestants, achieved at the Sejm of 1767-1768 equalization in many rights of Roman Catholics, Uniates, Orthodox and Protestants and recognition of Orthodox Christians as dissidents. However, a significant part of the Rzeczpospolita society did not recognize these decisions made under pressure, and in the context of the outbreak of civil war, Bishop George was forced to leave for Russian territory (to Smolensk), returning to Mogilev only after the first partition of the Rzeczpospolita in 1772.

Ministry in Russia

As a result of the first partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the eastern part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was annexed to Russia, and Bishop George began to be called the Bishop of Mogilev, Mstislav and Orsha.

In 1780, he founded a temple in Mogilev in the name of Righteous Joseph in the presence of Empress Catherine II and Austrian Emperor Joseph II. At the same time, he obtained from Catherine II the publication of a decree allowing the transition of a Uniate parish to Orthodoxy in the event that a priestly position was vacant in the Uniate parish. Over the next three years, 112,578 Uniates joined Orthodoxy. At the same time, Bishop George found a way to circumvent the decree of the Empress, which limited the transition of Uniates to Orthodoxy - if a Uniate priest sympathized with the Orthodox, the bishop first joined him to Orthodoxy. And since, as a result, the Uniate parish became vacant, after this there was an opportunity to join parishioners to Orthodoxy. On September 22, 1783, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop and appointed a member of the Holy Synod.

In 1784, he proposed a project for the creation of an Orthodox diocese in Poland with a center in Slutsk and recommended his longtime collaborator, Abbot Victor (Sadkovsky), who had long led the Mogilev Theological Seminary, to the post of its ruling bishop. In 1785, Bishop George’s proposals were accepted, which strengthened the position of the Orthodox in Poland.

He is the author of a number of books, the most famous of which is the manual for priests “On the Positions of Parish Presbyters,” which went through four editions during his lifetime. He was a collector of literary monuments; his personal library consisted of 1269 books and 241 copies of manuscripts and documents.

The historical work “History of the Rus” has long been associated with his name, but modern historical science refutes his authorship.

Preacher

He was known as an outstanding preacher who sharply criticized human vices and addressed acute social problems in his sermons:

Although the courts bear the name of inviolable altars, they are called the refuge and protection of the offended, the throne of God Himself, but in them the one who resorts often finds the council of the wicked, the seat of robbers. Although the laws themselves are sacred and just, they, too, often suffer torture in these seats, when they are drawn to untruth, like a torture string.

He sharply criticized the sins of not only secular, but also clergy, including careless priests who do not want to preach to their flock (“dumb dogs that cannot bark, who love to sleep”), and hypocritical monastics (“who promised with an oath to lead a fasting life, We eat more than others and celebrate.” According to A. S. Pushkin (who considered the bishop “one of the most memorable men” of the 18th century),

George's sermons are simple, and even somewhat rude, like the teachings of the early elders; but their sincerity is fascinating. His political speeches are of great dignity.

Graduated from the Kyiv Theological Academy.

In August 1744, he was tonsured a monk at the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

In 1745 he was appointed teacher of pyitika at the Kyiv Theological Academy, where he was ordained to the rank of hieromonk.

Since 1747 - professor of theology and philosophy and prefect of the academy.

On August 20, 1755, in the Kiev St. Sophia Cathedral, Metropolitan Timofey Shcherbatsky and a council of bishops consecrated him bishop of Mogilev.

In 1762 he was present in Moscow at the coronation of Catherine II.

from December 14, 1772 (after the 1st partition of Poland and the annexation of Belarus to Russia) he began to be called the Bishop of Mogilev, Mstislav and Orsha.

In 1780 he founded the cathedral in Mogilev in the name of rights. Joseph.

Georgy Konissky was richly and variedly gifted by nature. He was a talented teacher who brought a new spirit to the teaching of all academic subjects. As rector of the academy, he showed himself to be a “thorough and respectable ruler and teacher.” He wrote poetry, was the first in Kyiv to set out theology in a systematic manner and, according to Metropolitan Makarii Bulgakov, “undoubtedly surpassed all his predecessors and successors.”

A brilliant preacher, he was completely imbued with the consciousness of the high calling of a shepherd. “To teach the people is the first and most important thing. If I become silent, then God threatens me with death,” he said. He demanded the same from the clergy subordinate to him. In the harshest terms, he condemned careless priests - “dumb dogs, unable to bark, who love to doze.” In his sermons, the Right Reverend boldly denounced vices, untruths, and “unbridled depravity.”

Archbishop George had to work hard to keep his flock faithful to Orthodoxy. For this purpose, he first of all took care of the moral and mental enlightenment, first of all, of the clergy, and through him the entire people. In 1757, he opened a school for the clergy in Mogilev and set up a printing house at the archbishop's house.

In order to prove the legitimacy of his claims, he had to study many historical documents and legal acts.

When the Mogilev diocese went to Russia, at the request of His Eminence George before Catherine II, the transition of the Uniates to Orthodoxy was allowed. Within three years, 112,578 Uniates joined Orthodoxy.

Concerned about the further improvement of his diocese, he did not forget about the Orthodox Christians who remained in Poland without pastoral leadership. On the recommendation of George, his student and like-minded person, Abbot Viktor Sadkovsky, was appointed archimandrite in Slutsk, and a year later made bishop of the newly opened Orthodox diocese within the Polish borders.

Among his flock, he sought to destroy all traces of the influence of union and Latinism on Orthodoxy. He expanded the seminary building and called new mentors from the Kyiv Academy. I wrote a lot. In his sermons, Archbishop George did not stop at dangerous questions about social inequality and especially about the relationship between landowners and serfs. He denounced the infidels: Catholics, Jews and Mohammedans, as well as Masons, “who boast in the wisdom of Solomon.” The mystery of Freemasonry - this "enlightenment done in darkness" - seemed suspicious to him.

Busy with the thought of the approaching hour of death, the Right Reverend George composed a letter to the archpastor who would replace him, entrusting it to the attention of his relatives and closest servants, he also prepared a spiritual testament and even an epitaph for himself, which he kept carved on a copper board in the form in which it should be was to be placed on his tomb. Here is the inscription:

"The cradle of Nezhin, Kyiv is my teacher,
At the age of thirty-eight I became a saint.
For seventeen years I fought with wolves.
And twenty-two, like a Shepherd, rested with the sheep.
For the labors and bad weather endured,
He became an Archbishop and a Member of the Synod,
Name George, I am from the Konis house,
The horse was like a postal horse.
This bastard covered his sinful bones.
Year seven hundred five ninety.

Proceedings:

“On the positions of parish elders” (guidance for parish clergy), 1776.
"Historical news about the Mogilev diocese", 1775.
"Notes that in Russia until the end of the 17th century there was no union with the Roman Church." ("Reader in general history and ancient Russia.", 1847, No. 8).
"Words and Speeches". Mogilev on the Dnieper, 1892.
"Rights and liberties of residents professing the Greek-Eastern faith in Poland and Lithuania", ed. 1767.
"On the Resurrection of the Dead" (tragedy), interludes. ("Ancient and New Russia", 1878, part III).

Literature:

Runkevich S. G. "History of the Minsk Archdiocese 1793-1832" St. Petersburg, 1893, pp. 8-392.
Pyatnitsky I., "George Konisky, Archbishop of Mogilev." Mogilev on the Dnieper, 1908.
Solovyov S. M. "History of Russia", book. V, pp. 829-830, 1079, 1080, 1123, 1372, 1373, 1395; book VI, pp. 53, 142, 418, 343, 490, 514, 515, 528.
Livotov, "George of Konissky, Archbishop of Belarus." ("Russian Review.", 1895, N 3, 4, 5).
Macarius, "History of the Kyiv Academy", pp. 143-148.
Kolosov N. A., “George Konissky” (on the occasion of the centenary of his death). M., 1895.
Edlinsky, priest, “Ascetics and sufferers for the Orthodox faith and the Holy Russian land.” St. Petersburg, 1903, vol. III, pp. 215-232.
Soloviev, "The History of the Fall of Poland", pp. 32, 33, 35, 82.
Vishnevsky D., "Kiev Academy in the 1st half of the 18th century." pp. 142, 203.
Askochensky, "Kyiv", vol. II, pp. 118, 126.
Zavedeev P., "History of Russian preaching." Tula, 1879, pp. 107-121.
Prostorzhinsky M.A., archpriest, "History of Russian church sermons." Ed. 2, Kyiv, 1891, pp. 513-531.
Golubinsky, pp. 301, 570.
Bulgakov, p. 1404.
Tolstoy Yu. N 90.
Denisov, p. 299.
Stroev P., pp. 11, 493.
Gatsuk, "Calendar for 1883", p. 13..
Pushkin, “Works”, vol. V, (edited by Morozov), pp. 287-291 (Review of works by George).
Lists of bishops, No. 90.
Chronicle of E. A., pp. 724, 733, 757.
"Collection of historical philological society at the Institute of Prince Bezborodko", vol. I, pp. 41-77; 113-127.
"Guide for rural shepherds", 1871, I, II, NN 25, 26, 27, pp. 266, 298, 348, 418 (articles by Malinowski).
"Portraits of eminent men of the Russian Church." M., 1843, pp. 39, 40.
"Proceedings of K. D. A.", 1868, July, pp. 109-146.
-"- -"- 1870, August, pp. 450-464; September, pp. 359-538.
-"- -"- 1873, March, p. 164.
-"- -"- 1893, I, pp. 133-143.
-"- -"- 1894, I, pp. 127-143.
"Approach to Ts.V.", 1894, N 32, p. 1109.
-"- -"- 1895, N 6, pp. 213-217; N 45, pp. 1628-1629.
"Christian Reading", 1873, January, pp. 1-46; 309-339.
"The Wanderer", 1868, No. 3, (article by Grigorovich).
"Mogilev. Diocesan Gazette", 1892 (the newest and most complete collection of Prop. George of Konis).
"Russian Pilgrim", 1895, N 6, pp. 86-88; N 7, pp. 102-105.
"Legal. Interviews", 1909, p. 438; July-August, p. 210.
"Historical Bulletin", 1885, vol. 21, p. 448.
-"- -"- 1890, March, p. 705.
-"- -"- 1906, August, p. 617.
-"- -"- 1908, March, p. 779.
"Russian Antiquity", 1871, August, pp. 99-100 pp. pp. 114-116, pp. 120, 129, 191-192.
-"- -"- 1877, vol. 19, p. 130.
-"- -"- 1880, January, p. 125.
"Russian Archive", 1889, book. I, p. 407, ("From the notes of Field Marshal Prince Peskevich").
-"- -"- 1893, book. I, pp. 225-226, (“Letters from M. Filaret, to S. D. Nechaev”).
-"- -"- 1895, book. 1st, No. 3, cover; book 2nd, N 6, p. 158; book 2nd, N 7, p. 400.
-"- -"- 1903, book. 3rd, N 10, p. 258 p/p. 2.
-"- -"- 1910, book. 2nd, N 8, pp. 355-357
"J. M. P.", 1945, N 1, p. 44.
-"- -"- 1946, No. 2, pp. 20-29.
"ZhPB", vol. XI, pp. 409-502, 504, 505.
BEL, vol.IV, p. 228.
BES, vol. I, pp. 631-632; vol. II, p. 1582.
ES, vol. XV-a, p. 954.
RBS, vol. IV, pp. 432-437.

August 10, 2017

This year 2017 marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of St. George (Konissky) Archbishop of Mogilev (1717-1795). This outstanding shepherd occupied the Mogilev See for forty years. He was destined to serve in difficult conditions of the aggravated confessional situation during the period of the divisions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, when, in his own figurative expression, he had to walk among the wolves. The saint was not only able to preserve his Orthodox flock in these difficult times, but also to return the Uniates captured by violence and deception to the church fence.

The future saint was born in the Chernigov region in the city of Nizhyn in the family of a Cossack constable and received the secular name Gregory. Among his ancestors there were examples of service not only in military rank, but also in spiritual rank (monk of one of the Kyiv monasteries - Job of Konissky). After studying at the Kyiv Theological Academy, Gregory took monastic vows with the name George. He showed himself as a talented teacher within the walls of his native academy, where he taught philosophy and theology. In the spiritual hierarchy, he went through the ranks from hierodeacon to archimandrite, and through the ranks from lecturer to rector of the academy.

In 1755, Georgy (Konissky) was consecrated to the vacant Mogilev department. It should be noted that this diocese was created by decision of the Polish Sejm in 1632 and its existence was guaranteed by the Polish government in the articles of the Eternal Peace of 1686 with the Muscovite Kingdom. However, under the conditions of Catholic domination and state anarchy of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the number of Orthodox churches was constantly decreasing. Of the four Orthodox dioceses designated by the Eternal Peace, only Mogilev or, as it was also called, Belarusian, remained. But here too, ser. XVIII century already more than half of the churches and monasteries were converted to the union. When St. Gerogy entered the cathedra, there were only a little more than 150 Orthodox Christians left. The usual means for spreading the union were travel of Catholic missionaries, coercion of serfs (“claps” in the terminology of that time) by lords of the Catholic confession, obstacles to the construction and repair of Orthodox churches, Catholic baptism and raising children in mixed marriages, and finally, open attacks and the seizure of temples by armed force.

In such difficult conditions, St. had to begin his ministry. Georgy Mogilevsky. Like some of his predecessors, he first counted on the support of Russian envoys at the Polish court. However, he soon became convinced of their indifference to the oppression of the Orthodox. The Holy Synod of the Russian Church could not directly provide its support. At the initial stage of his ministry, the saint was forced to act, relying only on a small number of his closest collaborators. With no hope that his complaints would be heard, he resolutely stood up to defend his flock by word and example of fearlessness. A church school was opened at the department, which was later transformed into a seminary. The newly established printing house began to publish the necessary church books, the first of which was the “Short Catechism.” The archive at the Mogilev See, where the most important documents about the foundation and property of Orthodox churches and monasteries were written out, began to be restored. The results of this painstaking activity showed up soon.

In 1762, Catherine II ascended the Russian throne and was determined on the “Polish question.” Speech of St. George about the needs of the Orthodox Christians of the Belarusian diocese at an audience with the new empress made a strong impression. For several years he prepared legal arguments for the defense of Orthodoxy in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1765, before King Stanisław Poniatowski, St. George gave a brilliant speech, which was later translated into other languages and became known in Europe.

“Our faith is the only crime of which we are accused... We are Christians, but we are oppressed by Christians... because we do not dare to interpret God’s eternal laws in accordance with human traditions, and, so to speak, do not confuse heaven with earth - for then, I say, they call us schismatics, apostates. Because we are afraid to shamelessly contradict the voice of conscience, they condemn us to imprisonment, to wounds, to shameful execution and burning!”
(From the Speech of St. George (Konissky) before King Stanislav Augustus)

At the same time, Konissky presented the king with a list of grievances against the Orthodox, listing approx. 200 churches taken away by the Uniates. During his three years in Warsaw, St. George prepared and published a collection of laws of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, guaranteeing the rights of the Orthodox faith (“Rights and liberties of residents of the Greek confession in Poland and Lithuania”), submitted to the Sejms through the Russian envoy demands for the return of the taken away churches, sought the publication of laws guaranteeing the freedom of the Orthodox confession (rights non-Catholics to hold government positions, restore Orthodox departments, do not interfere with the opening of theological seminaries, the repair of old and the construction of new churches, etc.). When, under pressure from the Russian envoy, diplomatic techniques and a show of military force, these demands were satisfied on paper, a Catholic reaction began in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. One after another, Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant confederations arose. The state plunged into the chaos of internecine struggle. Life of St. Georgia was in danger. After a number of attacks on his life, he was forced to leave the country, and remained in Smolensk until the First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian State in 1772.
In order to win over the gentry of the annexed regions, Empress Catherine II declared in 1772 guarantees of class privileges and freedom to practice the Catholic faith. Meanwhile, a large number of those converted to the union wanted to return to Orthodoxy in entire parishes, for which corresponding petitions were submitted to St. who returned to Mogilev. George. Only in 1780 was permission given, which marked the beginning of the reunification of the Uniates with the Orthodox. In 1795, the Empress finally lifted all restrictions on the return of Uniates to Orthodoxy. In a short period, 1.5 million people were reunited. Residents of Ukraine predominated among them. By this time, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had already ceased to exist. According to the Second and Third Sections, almost the entire territory of Ukraine, all of Belarus and Lithuania went to Russia. Through the efforts of St. George, an Orthodox department was established in Slutsk, to which his close assistant Archimandrite was appointed in 1785. Victor (Sadkovsky). In 1793, the bishop's see was moved to Minsk, which served as the beginning of the Minsk diocese.

We can say that St. Due to the breadth of his activities, George restored Orthodoxy not in his own diocese, but throughout Belarus. He is known for his theological works, historical writings, sermons, and even various polemical treatises, for example, against the letters of Voltaire, which spread unbelief and circulated in secular society. The Lord vouchsafed him to see many of the fruits of his tireless labors on the eve of his peaceful death, which followed in 1795.
During the stay of the French in Mogilev during the Patriotic War of 1812, the incorrupt remains of the saint were discovered.

Canonization took place in 1993, and commemoration takes place according to the new style on February 26 (the day of repose) and August 6 (the day of glorification). “Rejoice, Our Father Saint George, praise to the Belarusian Church and adornment of the city of Mogilev!”

In 1755, a new bishop was appointed to Mogilev - Georgy Konissky, a famous church and cultural figure who actively took up the restoration of the church. He summoned from Vilna one of the best architects of that time, a prominent representative of the Baroque school Johann Glaubitz (1700–1767), a master of his craft who built palaces and monasteries not only in Vilna, but also far beyond its borders. The choice was not random. G. Konissky believed that he was “an artist in his work and a constant in contracts.” In 1762, the architect completed the construction of the Transfiguration Church in the city. Later, a stone bell tower was erected between the church and the town hall, which was called the “astronomical tower”. During the time of G. Konissky, astronomical observations were carried out from it. Bishop George ordered to install on the dome of the bell tower of the Spassky Monastery, instead of a cross, an image of the Archangel Gabriel with a sword in his right hand made of copper coated with gold. This image stood on the Spasskaya bell tower for more than half a century, until in 1825 it was again replaced by the Mogilev Archbishop Paul with a cross.

In 1762–1785, a beautiful and original bishop’s palace was erected on the territory of the Spassky Monastery (architect I. Glaubitz). It housed the residence of the Orthodox Archbishop G. Konissky.

The building has been well preserved to this day and is a unique monument of residential architecture. It is located in such a way that, together with the former Transfiguration Church, it formed a single panorama, which opened up both from the Dnieper and from the street. Leninskaya (Vetryanka), from where the main approach to the palace opened. Perpendicular to the palace, creating an elongated courtyard, there were monastery cells, which formed the bishop's courtyard (partially preserved).

The monumental, strict volume of the palace and its decorative decoration combine features of Baroque and early classicism. During Soviet times it was used as a residential building, now it is transferred to the Mogilev-Mstislav diocese. After restoration in the late 1990s, the internal layout was changed.

There is a memorial plaque on the building with the text: “He lived and worked in this house in 1785–1795. a famous cultural figure of the Eastern Slavs, educator, writer and politician - Archbishop George of Konissky.”

“George is one of the most famous figures of the last century. His life belongs to history,” noted A. S. Pushkin in notes for the 1835 publication of the collected works of the Belarusian Archbishop G. Konissky. Forty years of his life and work are associated with Mogilev.

Grigory Osipovich was born on November 20, 1717 in the city of Nizhyn in the Chernihiv region. He came from a noble family of Cossack circles, the so-called “new people”, who, as a result of the reforms of Peter I, had the opportunity to move forward through the ranks.

After graduating from regimental school at the age of 11, he entered the Kiev-Mohyla Academy, which at that time was considered the largest center of science and education in the entire Slavic world. Grigory Konissky studied at the academy during the peak of the educational institution, when its best graduates Stefan Kalinovsky, Mikhail Kazachinsky, Simeon Tatarovsky taught there. At the same time, he studied with F. Prokopovich and G. Skovoroda.

After graduating from the academy, he became one of the selected graduates who annually joined the teaching staff of the educational institution. In 1744, Konissky was tonsured a monk at the Bratsky Monastery in Kyiv and took the spiritual name George. With him he entered Russian history.

For about two years, the young hieromonk diligently prepared for teaching and in 1745 became a professor at the department. eloquence academy, where he teaches an original course in poetics that he himself developed. Since 1751, he has been the rector of the academy, where he established himself as a supporter of progressive science, an excellent orator and a zealous, irreconcilable fighter against the Vatican and the Union of Brest of 1596. Konissky valued the natural sciences and in some issues departed from theology. He highly valued the teachings of Copernicus, Galileo, Descartes, and respected the human mind. This is precisely why he carried out astronomical observations in Mogilev from the bell tower of the Church of the Savior. Konissky argued that Belarusians should have the right to speak and write in their native language and preserve their national customs.

His progressive qualities were most clearly manifested during his stay in Belarus, where he gained fame as a widely known social and political figure. On May 23, 1755, King Augustus III, despite the resistance of the pope and the Polotsk Metropolitan of Grabnitsky, granted Konissky the privilege of “the bishopric of Belarus, Mstislav, Orsha and Mogilev with all the rights of episcopal power and jurisdiction and with the right to own various localities and lands.”

On August 20, 1755, he was ordained bishop by Kyiv Metropolitan Timofey Shcherbatsky, and two months later he came to Mogilev. At that time, it was the only Orthodox diocese on the territory of Belarus and the entire Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The head of the Orthodox Church, Georgy Konissky, finds himself at the center of a political struggle and begins active civic activities. Despite the persecution and threats of the Jesuits, he gives sermons exposing the political motives of the Uniate clergy in Belarus. He saw the main goal of his activities in strengthening and protecting the Orthodox faith, for which he used any means, which, naturally, aroused the anger of the Jesuits, who repeatedly made attempts on his life. A. S. Pushkin gave the following assessment of the activities of Konissky the preacher: “George’s sermons are simple and even somewhat rude, like the teachings of the ancient sages, but their directness is captivating. His political speeches have great dignity.”

The first big thing he accomplished in Mogilev was the opening in 1757 of a theological seminary modeled on the Kyiv one, and later the creation of a printing house at the bishop's house. Among other books, it contained the manuscript of the famous writer and educator Feofan Prokopovich “On Poetic Art.” George also devoted a lot of effort to the construction of the Spasskaya Church in 1756–1762.

Since 1781, in many cities of the Belarusian diocese, including Bykhov, Mstislavl, Krichev, Konissky opened schools at churches to teach children Russian writing, spelling and catechism. To provide schools with literature, he prints a number of scientific works, publishes works of art, teaching aids and consistently implements his ideas. By personal decree of Catherine II on September 23, 1783, G. Konissky was elevated to the rank of Archbishop of Belarus and member of the Holy Synod.

St. George of Konissky, Archbishop of Mogilev and Belarus, died on February 13, 1795 and rested in the Transfiguration Church of Mogilev, which he had once built. Today, the location of the relics of George is unknown, since the church was destroyed during Soviet times, and a building of a construction trust was erected in its place. It is believed that in the 1930s, during the struggle against religion, the coffin with the body of the saint was thrown out of the cathedral.

He succinctly described his life’s path in an epitaph, which in 1793 he ordered to be engraved on a copper plaque and installed on a tombstone after his death:

Cradle - Nezhin, Kyiv - my teacher;

At the age of thirty-eight I became a Saint.

For seventeen years I fought with wolves,

And twenty-two, like a Shepherd, rested with the sheep,

For the labors and bad weather endured

He became an Archbishop and a Member of the Synod.

George by name, I am from the Konis house,

The horse was like a postal horse.

The bones of my corpse are buried here

In the year seven hundred and five ninety.

On August 5, 1993, in the Onufrievsky Church of the St. Nicholas Monastery in Mogilev, a historic meeting of the Synod of the Belarusian Orthodox Church was held, headed by the Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, Metropolitan Philaret, at which it was decided to canonize St. George (Konissky), Archbishop of Mogilev and Belarus, as a locally revered saint. . On the same day in the evening, the rite of canonization of St. George of Mogilev took place in the Three Hierarchs Cathedral.

The cross, located on the rampart opposite the archbishop's palace, was unveiled on August 6, 1993 to commemorate the canonization of the first Mogilev saint. On it are the words of George: “What I believe, that is what I confess.” Every year on August 6, on the day of canonization of St. George of Mogilev and in commemoration of his colossal creative educational activities, a solemn religious procession is sent here from the St. Nicholas Convent.

Mogilev residents can be proud of finding a bas-relief of St. George of Konissky among a group of educators at the “Millennium of Russia” monument in Veliky Novgorod. The multi-figure monument, erected in 1862 in the Novgorod Kremlin, presents 106 historical figures who became most famous over the thousand years of the existence of the Russian state. Archbishop George is located next to the enlighteners of the Slavs, Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius, Nestor the Chronicler and Feofan Prokopovich.

Material used from the book “Mogilev Land” = The Mogilev Land / author. text by N. S. Borisenko; under Z-53 total. ed. V. A. Malashko. – Mogilev: Mogil. region enlarged type. them. Spiridon Sobol, 2012. – 320 p. : ill.