Hieromartyr Thaddeus (in the world Ivan Vasilyevich Uspensky) was born on November 12, 1872 in the village of Naruksovo, Lukoyanovsky district, Nizhny Novgorod province, into the family of priest Vasily and his wife Lydia, who had seven sons and two daughters. The bishop’s grandfather was a priest, and his family revered him as a man of prayer, a man who had deep faith and a loving, meek and forgiving heart. Of all the grandchildren, grandfather loved Ivan most of all, whom he called bishop. Ivan’s brother, Vladimir, studied at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Alexander, together with Ivan, studied at the Moscow Academy, where they entered in 1892 after graduating from the Nizhny Novgorod Theological Seminary.
Ivan Vasilyevich studied at a time when Archimandrite Anthony (Khrapovitsky) was the rector of the academy, with whom he became close and subsequently became friends. Archimandrite Anthony, during his rectorship at the academy, tried to influence students not so much with rigor as with personal example. He himself was an example of a learned monk and Christian shepherd without any feigned gloom and exceptional asceticism. Therefore, many students were drawn to him, feeling in him the father of the academy, who would help in spiritual matters, to whom they could turn without hesitation for material help.
The end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century was the time when all the spiritual trends that were the result of the thousand-year history of Russia and the last two hundred years of European reforms were determined. And both secular and spiritual intelligentsia were faced with a choice - either Western European culture or Russian culture, rooted in the depths of Orthodoxy and Russian history. Persons who intended to take holy orders had to make their choice on the path of searching for truth, but before that they had to become people enlightened enough for this choice to be conscious.
Once, having gathered the students after dinner in the dining room, Archimandrite Anthony began to talk with them. He spoke about people in the sixties of the nineteenth century who, carried away by “well-known ideas and feelings, expressed dissatisfaction and contempt for the existing order in the state, were proud and impatient with the opinions of opponents, who were called conservatives, who, however, were broader-minded people. Aksakov said that instead of liberal proclamations, one really needs to be a doctor somewhere in the county... and was ridiculed by them... People of the sixties affirmed state-legal liberalism; on the contrary, the Slavophiles said that the people have more dignity and freedom... asserted liberalism for the individual; it is accompanied by personal restrictions, has its root in the struggle with oneself and is based on religion. This idea is important for teachers to remember so as not to strive to expand rights over students, showing liberalism only in relation to the authorities... but, of course, it is necessary remember that the path is so difficult and there is a cross!..”
It was surprising, pleasing and supportive that one could come to the rector on any issue, almost at any time. One day, Ivan Vasilyevich decided to go to his father, the rector, to ask which confessor to turn to in difficult cases.
“I came to talk about the soul,” he said, “sort of to confess... All ascetic writings talk about the need for advice with the spiritual father...
“Contact Father Herman, who is well-read in ascetic literature, you can give him a note,” said Fr. Anthony. – And you really can’t do without advice; one-sidedness can develop, unless for someone who is still, like a child, unsullied or, after strengthening in spiritual life, does not need advice. Apparently, you will become a monk,” the rector suddenly remarked, “and it’s inconvenient for a teacher without holy orders.”
“You can accept it later, without taking tonsure,” answered Ivan Vasilyevich.
Then he began to talk about his conceit and self-aggrandizement.
- Well, do you really have it in you? - Fr. was surprised. Anthony.
– Yes, there is, especially regarding his importance among his comrades.
Father Anthony began to respond by describing the types of conceit that manifests itself in self-indulgence and condemnation of others. Sometimes self-deprecation does not indicate humility - it is contrary to nature to consider oneself less smart than an obvious fool, but one should not revel in one’s merits, one should treat others’ reasoning about our merits and demerits objectively, as if it were not about us, always wanting the best for others through your gift of God, like a mother who forgets about herself when caring for her children, reproach herself for not serving as she could.
“But there is also imaginary conceit,” objected Ivan Vasilyevich, “when comparing oneself with others arises involuntarily, just as a blasphemous thought against Christ, the Mother of God, the Cross can involuntarily arise - and all the more so the more we fight.”
- What, you can’t be offended? – asked Fr. Anthony.
“Nobody offended me,” answered Ivan Vasilyevich.
We started talking about fasting. Ivan Vasilyevich said that in appearance he could call himself abstinent, but not fasting, because he could fast only on Sundays, since fasting during mental activities is very difficult. Father Anthony replied that it was not necessary, although already acquired habits should not be abandoned. Next we started talking about attitude towards comrades. Father Anthony asked where it was better to live - at the academy or at home. Ivan Vasilyevich replied that he was at the academy. Only there are almost no close comrades at the academy, because he is interested in talking about the soul, and this is boring for some.
Ivan Vasilyevich went to consult Fr. Herman, a famous elder who labored in the Gethsemane monastery not far from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Father Herman turned out to be a tall, handsome-looking old man with a white face who rarely smiled. Ivan Vasilyevich identified himself. Father Herman, after listening, asked:
– Do you occupy yourself, for example, when you go somewhere, with thoughts about God? This is the most important thing.
“I’m trying to remember,” answered Ivan Vasilyevich.
Then Fr. Herman asked what was bothering him and began to answer. Just as in external sciences, he said, there is a gradualness in learning, so in spiritual life, and this is already the art of arts, you cannot immediately jump to the top step, only immatures dream of various exploits, such as long-term fasts and solitude. This is not what a Christian needs, because with all these exploits a person can remain a Pharisee; the main thing is self-reproach, constantly reminding oneself of one’s sinfulness. If there are no serious falls, then there may be subtle abuse, and it can destroy a person if he does not have self-reproach. We need constant confession - the discovery of evil both before ourselves and before others (or comrades, or spiritual fathers). It is especially important to read the works of the holy fathers, who present us with a kind of mirror of the soul. Good in this regard are the works of Abba Dorotheus, Ephraim the Syrian, as well as Demetrius of Rostov and Tikhon of Zadonsk, who are our John Chrysostom and Basil the Great. We see the shortcomings of others rather than our own, so first of all we need to see our own shortcomings. You need to try to see the good in others, and see the cause of your misfortunes and troubles in your sins. If self-loving thoughts come that will be difficult to fight, then it is best in this case to read the sixty-ninth psalm.
Father Herman asked about plans for the future. Ivan Vasilyevich replied that he would either become a teacher or a priest, but perhaps he did not feel inclined towards monasticism. In general, as Father Rector says, and he completely agrees with him on this, one should not become a monk arbitrarily, but wait for the indication of circumstances and the Providence of God.
During the entire conversation, which lasted an hour and a half, Fr. Herman spoke about self-reproach, he spoke, returning to this topic many times and from different sides. Ivan Vasilievich, answering questions from Fr. Germana himself, asking him questions concerning spiritual life, tried to make him understand him, so that both the questions and the answers were not abstract, general, but concerned him specifically; I didn’t feel the slightest self-reproach during the entire conversation. I began to look for the reason. “Is it really because I’m kind of an insensitive creature? Well, I’m guilty of insensibility.”
K o. Ivan Vasilyevich went to Herman’s monastery quite often. One day Fr. Herman asked:
– Aren’t you going to become a monk? For example, I left when I was twenty-four.
- No, I would like to become a teacher, and from the age of forty to become a priest. Priests are closer to their flock; they still visit the homes of their spiritual children, but monks do not.
“Well, monks can be close,” Fr. objected. Herman asked: “What, exactly, frightens you so much about monasticism, if in monasticism, as in the priesthood, there is equally no entertainment, but only prayer and caring for the flock?” By the way, priestly labor is sometimes rewarded very poorly. They would supply two bottles of vodka and give forty kopecks to the priest - that’s all the reward, but he had to travel twenty miles. It would be best then to go to the city, where there is a certain salary. But in general,” noted Fr. Herman is serious, it would be better to go where there is a calling.
While studying at the academy, Ivan Vasilyevich arranged his inner world, showing rare patience in this matter. Wanting to know everything about himself exactly, he kept a daily diary. Opening his soul to him, he maintained amazing chastity and refined Christian delicacy, writing down only what was truly significant and important, not allowing himself, when writing about others, to go into unnecessary details that could harm someone. His gentle soul, which retained its childishness and simplicity, strove only for the love of God and the impeccable fulfillment of the commandments, and he vigilantly monitored the moments of weakening of this love, grieving over the cooling and spiritual relaxation, and again and again turned to God for help. The diary was kept daily, and it daily summed up both external affairs and internal spiritual state. After a few years, it was thus possible to compare the day spent with how it was spent a year or more ago.
Then, at the academy, seeing how much our flesh has a depressing effect on the spirit, he decided to limit himself as strictly as possible in food consumption, so as not to allow the tyranny of the flesh to prevail over him.
Ivan Vasilyevich avoided in every possible way comradely meals with wine and cards and cheerful academic feasts, tried to fulfill all the prescribed prayer rules, pray all the time he was awake and even talking with his comrades; He did this in such a way as not to in any way show his prayer activities to others, but his spiritual mood was still felt by everyone. He was the only student in the room who did not drink wine, humbly refusing it. He believed this: since the Holy Scriptures advise drinking wine exclusively for medical purposes, “for the benefit of the stomach,” and he does not need this, then there is no need to drink it. Because of his special behavior, because of his faith, which sought to find its effective embodiment in everyday life, dubious thoughts arose, and he went to consult his father, the rector, about them.
“My relationships with my fellow students at the academy, and especially those in my student room, have developed in such a way that almost everyone loves me, others respect me, and in any case they don’t hate me; and so the thought arises that my way of life has some instructive meaning. And it’s difficult to avoid thoughts that come from comparing yourself with others.
“Comparative thoughts cannot be avoided,” answered Fr. Anthony, - but everything that we succeed and do well, all this must be attributed not to ourselves, but to the grace of God. Reproach yourself for everything, do not become self-indulgent in praise and do not become arrogant.
“You know, Father Anthony, I would also like to consult about my feelings that I experience in a state of loneliness. I would like to talk, especially with those I love, but almost all the time I restrain myself from talking, and it turns out that I seem to be moving away from my comrades.
“You shouldn’t shy away from conversations and communication,” said the rector, “even if only so as not to become proud of your “feat.” But we need to open up to those who need a conversation with us and, above all, our sympathy.
Constant thoughts about the purpose of earthly life, about the frailty of earthly things, about the means of achieving eternal life captured the soul and sometimes passed into the realm of dreams. Ivan Vasilyevich wrote in his diary: “April 3. Sunday. Before waking up, I had a strange dream - as if I had recently died and was now experiencing the state of my soul outside my body. My soul was generally calm all the time, and maybe still careless, had not come into its own. , did not understand her fate and thinks about what the conditions of her life are now. She hovers around the places where she lived, and thinks: what good will I do now and how; when I was in the body, it was possible to easily do good, however, there was no desire for life in the body; it is bad when they reassure (although not for this purpose, and without properly reflecting on the essence of the afterlife state) with the fact that correction is possible even after death, there is more truth in the words of Macarius and those who say that after death there is no repentance, relief is possible through the prayers of the Church (although this is not entirely true, because they also did not think about the essence of the afterlife state). So, my soul thought, how useful prayers for my soul would be now (although what is the use , was not confessed); it’s bad that during my life I did not ask for prayer and now I died suddenly... will my loved ones feel that they have lost something with my death? In fact, I dreamed of connection, what kind of communication is this with others outside the body? However, there was a presentiment that it would hardly remain like this; this communication would be felt not only abstractly, but more vividly. Then I walked onto the porch of a house where, as I assumed, the burial took place..."
Since Ivan Vasilyevich limited himself in everything, especially in food, he, naturally, often experienced attacks from “dinner thoughts.” He wrote in his diary: “April 22. Friday of Holy Easter. After mass, I was struggling with lunch thoughts, and at dinner I was enslaved, at least, I could barely understand about the gall and father of the Master... or “My food is to do the will of the One who sent me.” ". I went to lunch a few minutes after the bell rang and met the rector's father and the inspector; the latter said: “You must be hungry, Ivan Vasilyevich?” How contrary is the idea expressed here about carelessness regarding dinners with my concern for them! But, Lord! we rise!.. There was an all-night vigil... in the end it was not free from dinners; ... it was hard to meet insensibility in the heart, especially because this is the last Easter evening service: it’s a pity to part with the Easter service - it seems somehow the greatest heavenly good, even if it was received with little feeling!..”
Self-restraint and the struggle with thoughts regarding food were sometimes quite painful, and Ivan Vasilyevich once wrote down: “Lunches... but what to do with them?! As much as you have the strength to fight, partly endure... reproach yourself... don’t forget mainly about God and that life is in Christ and love... I stood behind the service... alas! or (it’s actually difficult to say) - to be with Christ, then I fell into fussy thoughts about exams or weaknesses, then in horror because I stood behind the Easter canon like a stone!.. I have fallen and I don’t know how to rise!! "! Lord! heal me. For there is no other life... It would be necessary to mention that I often find myself in a sad mood after dinner, that I cannot overcome the passions of the womb. But the womb takes its toll, despite the ghostly sorrow. On the one hand, that you don’t need to fast for fasting and eat in moderation, that you become proud from not eating... it’s not a matter of distinguishing between eating and not eating; on the other hand, there is a constant inability to observe oneself while eating and forgetting about other bread at this time . It is so difficult to observe yourself and so rarely is the measure found... Lunches appear in thoughts and at the wrong time: sometimes you wake up and have unpleasant thoughts that there is so much left before you eat food and stop some feat (standing at mass, reading) -that, and sometimes you go to bed with thoughts about the duration of such times and their distribution: the days of fasting and fasting and the birth of food seem not indifferent at times: health is sometimes the engine of such mental births... However, let’s not attach great importance to this small thing... . let it not be important for life, as if life were in it... life in God and the Lord Jesus Christ is still so often not understood...".
In the depths of his soul, Ivan Vasilyevich made a firm decision - not to marry, to adhere to a monastic lifestyle. Once at the academy during a prayer service, which was served by Fr. Micah, many monastics have gathered; Ivan Vasilyevich specifically joined them “in that, by the way, thought,” he wrote, “that I do not need to move away from the society of people with such a highly-minded, even if it was called monastics: after all, these are people living a heavenly life; and if I have to to remain in the world and stand out from the monastics, then how to leave their heavenly life? How to arrange life yourself - on the sidelines and not according to the will of God? How... what God forbid!.. think about your advantages and the imaginary, as if realized, combination monastic spirit and living life of people, that is, active love for them!..”
“Of course, you will be a monk, that’s your mood,” answered Fr. Anthony. - Anyone who has studied at the academy is called to teaching, but who has not accepted monasticism, can he really say what I said at the lecture on pastoral theology?
“What keeps me from becoming a monk now is the thought of the impossibility of a close connection with my flock,” said Ivan Vasilyevich.
“It’s unlikely that you will be in such a close connection as a teacher is connected with his students,” answered Fr. Anthony.
Conversations about monasticism arose between Father Rector and Ivan Vasilyevich more than once.
“You are a real, ready-made monk,” said Fr. Anthony, - you should not accept monasticism - this is a devilish delusion, a matter of pride, which does not want to sacrifice yourself to God, because, although you want to do good, you do it in your own way. And before accepting monasticism there may be such a state. Many people feel fear and confusion before accepting monasticism, but then joy and help from God always come - the vow strengthens the decision. Shepherding may well be combined with monasticism, you can go from house to house and become a traveling missionary... if you become a teacher, you will not save your soul - those who do not accept the priesthood or monasticism from the academy are sinning against the Church. But of course, if you have a certain conviction not to become a monk, then, of course, you don’t need to go.
“I don’t refuse or renounce being a pastor,” said Ivan Vasilyevich, “but monasticism is also a special way of life, and the choice of a way of life is a free matter, a person must choose it voluntarily.”
In the end, Ivan Vasilyevich decided to prepare himself to renounce everything and pray to the Lord to show him the path that he should follow without weakening.
In the spring, after passing the exams and completing the course, Ivan Vasilyevich got ready to go home to Nizhny Novgorod for the holidays. Before leaving, it was the custom to visit Father Rector. As usual, there were a lot of people with him, and the most varied conversations were held. Saying goodbye, Father Rector, looking at his thinness, said jokingly:
- And you get better, you will be an archimandrite or a bishop.
Upon Ivan Vasilyevich’s arrival in Nizhny Novgorod, many of the clergy and student acquaintances began to ask if he had already put on a hood and whether they were feeding him anything from Fr. Anthony or only spiritual food.
Guests often gathered at home in Nizhny, my grandfather-priest, Evgeny Rozov, and my father’s brothers came. Ivan Vasilyevich was reading a book by Fr. John of Kronstadt “My Life in Christ”, and one day at the table a conversation arose about the superstition of the common people regarding the veneration of Fr. John. Father Vasily said that Fr. John was just passing through Nizhny Novgorod yesterday, he saw him, and he didn’t like that Fr. John furnished himself with decorum, set up a lectern, laid down a cross, the Gospel - is it really not possible to pray so openly? Son Ivan began to object heatedly:
“This is no decorum, but he can’t be locked in.”
Then he remembered this conversation. Everything would be fine, but the tone of his voice was significantly above average. You can speak in such a tone, but you cannot have a shadow of irritation, even if your nerves are trembling.
At home, Ivan Vasilyevich talked with his father about choosing a path - whether he should become a priest. Then they began to talk about the difficulties and features of priestly service, for example, if you serve in a village or in a county town. We talked about daily service. Ivan Vasilyevich asked his father if there were unmarried priests in the Nizhny Novgorod diocese. It turned out that there is none. Ivan Vasilyevich said that everyone talks to him about monasticism.
“Well,” answered the father, “monasticism is a good thing, but you need to accept it thoughtfully, knowing that you are accepting it voluntarily and forever.”
– But in monasticism a person is separated from people, since the monk is closed within the walls of the monastery.
– No, he is not separated from people, only he serves people in a special way.
“Maybe I don’t have an inclination towards monasticism,” said the son and complained that he had no talent for social activities, that he did not participate in anything, even in conversations, even being in the family, he was increasingly silent.
“But you should even engage in empty conversations,” said the father, “with a secular young lady, with a college student, you won’t talk about theology, but you need to find a common subject of conversation.”
Saying goodbye to family before leaving was always touching. On this day, Ivan told his mother that at every farewell, he leaves more, it seems, than before. At dinner I spoke with my father and mother and brother Alexander. He spoke about the importance of external feats, especially those associated with leaving family; for some, external exploits are the only way through which they can tune in to religious feelings... The Savior sometimes demanded that those who wanted to follow Him immediately leave home.
At half past three, Ivan Vasilyevich drank a glass of tea and began to pray. An hour later he began to say goodbye. Thanked everyone. I asked my father and mother for forgiveness for the external separation, that I had to disperse to the ends of Russia, and for internal disagreements.
- Which? - asked the father. – There were no disagreements.
- Yes, from you? - said the mother.
Let's go. The prayerful memory was combined with a sorrowful feeling of separation from beloved family, which should eventually become final. At the academy, academic subjects awaited him, but the main thing was the same feat, the same prayer, tireless work on his soul. “I went to the Trinity Cathedral,” he wrote in his diary. “At times you will see students there, deep in prayer, and your heart will ache for yourself that I am on earth, busy with dinners and earthly affairs!..”
Ivan Vasilyevich wrote the obligatory sermons at the academy for a long time, trying to be precise in his presentation of thoughts, avoiding lifelessness and at the same time eloquence, the external beauty of the style. Given his natural desire for truth, his sermons turned out to be sincere, permeated with personal experience. They listened to them with interest, noting that they bore the imprint of a monastic ascetic spirit. Having finished the sermon, on which he had been working for twelve days, Ivan Vasilyevich wrote in his diary: “I imagined the possibility... of the highest score... and had to do my best to humble the thoughts that arose in my soul about the goodness of the sermon, for almost the same thoughts as in last sermon, but expressed as if in a special way, because it seemed that almost every word once passed through the heart, and almost all the thoughts that revived the heart were included in the sermon..."
In 1894, Ivan Vasilyevich presented his candidate’s work on the topic: “The range of activities and tasks of the pastoral service of the clergy according to the canonical monuments of the pre-Mongol period.” Academy Associate Professor N.A. Zaozersky wrote in his review of this work: “The author put considerable effort into studying primary sources and had almost no aids, basing his depiction of pastoral service in ancient Rus' only on these primary sources.” Ivan Vasilievich was named among the four best students of the course.
On January 18, 1895, the Trinity-Sergius Lavra was visited by Fr. John of Kronstadt. Ivan Vasilyevich saw him for the first time and, as usual, during the services of Fr. John, took communion with many students of the academy. He wrote in his diary: “During the prayer of gratitude I had to see an expression on a face that a weak mind could only contain with embarrassment... it was the face of an angel! Here there is only heavenly life and there is nothing earthly. Touched praise and thanksgiving for the ineffable gift, the meaning of which is so clearly understood and saw... During mass there was no talk about the dream, and other than that I was kept in prayer with Father John, whose image did not leave my mind..."
The word of this righteous man had deep meaning for the future saint-ascetic and martyr. Shortly before taking holy orders, when the remnants of doubts regarding the chosen path were still crowded in the soul of Ivan Vasilyevich, Fr. John, having seen his pastoral path and the feat with which he would glorify Christ, said to him: “If you love Me... feed My sheep... when you were young, you walked, and you walked, even if you wanted: but when you are old , lift up your hands, and he will girdle you and lead you, even if you didn’t want to.” Often, especially at decisive moments in life, I remembered these words of Christ spoken to him through the mouth of the saint. And the further, the more often these words were remembered, which in moments of the most difficult trials became the consolation of God.
In 1896, Ivan Vasilyevich graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy with a candidate's degree in theology and was retained as a professorial fellow. On August 15, 1897, he was tonsured a monk with the name Thaddeus, in memory of the Apostle Thaddeus. In the same month he was ordained to the rank of hierodeacon, a month later - hieromonk and appointed teacher of logic, psychology, philosophy and didactics at the Smolensk Theological Seminary. On November 19, 1898, Hieromonk Thaddeus was transferred to the position of inspector of the Minsk Theological Seminary with the correction of duties as a teacher of the Holy Scriptures in the 5th grade.
With the acceptance of monastic tonsure, holy orders and appointment as a seminary teacher, Hieromonk Thaddeus at every stage of his life intensified his exploits, and especially his fast. What else could he do and how to work, how not to aggravate the feat of fasting, not to increase jealousy on the path of moral improvement, the feat of love for his pets; he looked at them as handed over by God, and at teaching itself as a holy obedience. But this feat of his initially met with neither respect nor sympathy from his fellow teachers. The zealous worker was subjected to mockery and insults, all the more uncontrollably vicious because they encountered meekness and even irresponsibility on the part of the ascetic. Not a single word of murmur or condemnation came from his lips. He had already chosen his ideal - shepherding and monasticism, and he tried to hold fast to it, despite all temptations. He wrote: the shepherd “must be ready not only to lovingly meet those who willingly follow his call, but also to have the courage to face the times when, according to the word of Christ, the shepherd will be smitten and the sheep of the flock will be scattered (Matthew 26:31) , when the heart of the shepherd himself will be tormented by despondency and sorrow, and the sheep of the flock, despite this and as if not feeling the proximity of their destruction, are more and more scattered along the paths of destruction from which the shepherd wants to return them. He must be above ordinary infirmities , characteristic of people, so as not to have the need “all the days ... to offer sacrifices first for their own sins, then for human sins” (Heb. 7:27), so that his prayer, offered for human sins, would be easy. It should be far from him all vanity and remembrance of insults, so that with his meekness the stubbornness of the disobedient can be overcome with greater convenience. He must have such faith that, seeing the complete powerlessness of his word, he places his trust in omnipotent grace, which softens even the most hardened souls, opening to the perception of the shepherd's words even the hearts of people who wanted to “tempt his innocence” (Wis. 2, 19)".
The leadership of the seminary did not like the zeal with which Hieromonk Thaddeus performed his ministry, since she unwittingly denounced others, and they hastened to transfer him to another diocese, demoting him. He was transferred to the position of teacher of basic, dogmatic and moral theology at the Ufa Theological Seminary, where the bishop was the Right Reverend Anthony (Khrapovitsky). Here, in 1901, Hieromonk Thaddeus wrote and defended his dissertation on the topic “The Unity of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah,” for which he was awarded a master’s degree in theology. Reviewers wrote about it as a study distinguished by its thoroughness and completeness, which made a valuable contribution to Russian theological science.
It was a happy time for the Ufa diocese and for the students of the Theological Seminary, when at the head of the diocese was Bishop Anthony (Khrapovitsky), who was distinguished by his tireless concern for theological schools, and in his attitude towards the clergy subordinate to him - by gentleness and simplicity. The rector of the seminary was one of the most enlightened ascetic pastors, Archimandrite Andronik (Nikolsky),[a], and the inspector was Hieromonk Thaddeus.
Everywhere Bishop Anthony came, he tried to revive church life, to encourage church people to be active, to seek enlightenment and knowledge, attracting graduates of theological academies as teachers. In June 1901, the opening of diocesan pedagogical and singing courses for teachers of church schools took place in Ufa, for which Hieromonk Thaddeus was appointed teacher of general didactics, the Law of God and the Slavic language. The courses ran from June 13 to July 15 and were renewed every year.
At the opening of the courses, Hieromonk Thaddeus addressed the audience with the following words: “Looking around the face of the Russian land, with sorrow we see that from the highest, sometimes only in name only, intelligent classes of society, a wave of unbridled thought and will is increasingly coming to the people and threatening to devastate the beloved His heritage is the faith of Christ. Even by tradition and habit, he firmly holds on to this faith, but the cold of passions can destroy the root of his life, making him short of life, just as he is already undermined by doubts in most of the so-called intelligent society. And this can happen to him But what about one of the ancient Christian churches: “you bear the name that you are alive, but you are dead” (Rev. 3:1). Isn’t that why constant disasters befall him: now famine, now drought, now hail, now earthquake, that he leaves the faith of his fathers and does not hold on to it with all his heart. Is this not why the upper classes of society look around in bewilderment where to find a way out of the modern sad order of things, and nowhere do they see human help, for this help turns out to be powerless where the highest is needed? Divine help...
And now all of us, called to be enlighteners of the people, what should we lay as the foundation of this enlightenment if not the faith of Christ?.. Let us preserve within ourselves this light of Christ’s teaching, deeply implanted in our hearts even at our very entry into this world, and we will seek it like a precious treasure for which we would be ready to leave everything, just to acquire it first of all! And we will try to adapt all the heterogeneous material of enlightenment from which a person is spiritually created to the single highest goal of human existence! This goal is to prepare in the soul of everyone an inner temple for the dwelling of Christ, Who would be the eternal and true light, enlightening “every person coming into the world!” (John 1:9)".
The annual teaching of courses prompted Hieromonk Thaddeus to write “Notes on didactics (general and methodology of the Law of God and the Slavic language)” for teachers of parochial schools, which he published in 1902, so that every teacher could use his advice outside of courses; they became the fundamental basis for teaching these subjects in school. Finally, it was clearly stated that the basis of education and true enlightenment is Christianity, that any form of education and teaching of knowledge outside of this foundation corrupts a person, kills his soul and heart.
While teaching pedagogical courses for teachers of zemstvo schools, Fr. Thaddeus looked closely at his students, who were called upon to spread knowledge throughout the cities and villages of Rus', which in the future could have a great influence on the education of the people, since zemstvo schools began to gradually replace parish schools, often falling under the command of unbelieving officials. It saddened him that the teachers of the zemstvo schools, without publicly denying the Orthodox faith, did not attend services even on the Twelfth Holidays and treated such non-attendances very lightly, not seeing anything bad in it.
Saying goodbye to the teachers at the closing of the courses, Fr. Thaddeus addressed them with an edifying word: “Perhaps many will say in response that in return they have acquired such mental treasures, for the sake of which the constraint of the religious demands of the spirit should be considered excusable? Such an answer reflects the ineradicable habit of that foreign, Western European enslavement of free Russian thought and life, which our Russian writers began to point out so long ago. Until now, the Russian people do not feel the need to free themselves from the nihilistic yoke of the West, which falls more and more heavily on the highest needs of the spirit, erasing in the heart the need for faith in God and truth in life. For what acquisitions of the mind can replace that “living soul”, which is so necessary in the matter of learning, especially education? Let children in Russian reading lessons comprehend everything that happens in external nature, the structure of plants, the life of animals, and so on, - Is it really that their soul strives to know this most of all? What will happen to it if, having comprehended all this, it remains in the dark regarding the greatest aspects of its own life and its life does not join the life of the “true Vine” (John. 15:1), to which it would be grafted as one of the branches? What will happen to a child’s soul when its gaze is entirely directed outside itself and does not completely discern what is happening inside?”
And with another word, Hieromonk Thaddeus addressed the teachers of the parochial schools: “Now, on the day of your departure, I must tell you, beloved brothers, in the words of the Apostle, that our preaching to you was not in vain and our entry to you was not ineffective (1 Cor. 15, 14; 1 Thess. 2, 1). Truly we had to see that “the waters burst forth in the desert and the wilds in the thirsty land" (Isa. 35, 6), a call to those who are thirsty to go to the waters (55, 1) found a response in the hearts of many, if not all of you. With what zeal and willingness you were engaged in everything related to the matter of raising and educating children close to your heart! How much and meekly you endured labor and how little you allowed yourself to have fun! With what love and You had confidence in those who were called upon to convey to you the necessary knowledge and instructions, even though he himself was no stranger to many shortcomings! Even though in your own studies with children there was not particularly noticeable any refinement in the methods of teaching and upbringing, but how the living soul was noticeable in them! Even if your singing also had, perhaps, many shortcomings that were unpleasant for an elegant ear, but what animation was heard in the words of the prayers that you sang in church or during school hours, or in the morning and evening!
Classes conducted by Fr. Thaddeus, had a great influence on the course participants. In his speech at their closing, one of the students, addressing him, said: “Accept our utmost gratitude for the bright moral influence that you had on all of us during our stay on the courses through your teachings in church, full of Christian love and truth, through your readings on general didactics, which illuminated a lot for us in our teaching activities and taught us to love Christ and His Holy Church, through your exemplary lessons in the Slavic language, which showed us how to teach the latter so that it has a truly beneficial effect on the child’s soul , and was not limited only to the mechanical side of the matter, as is the case in some schools; finally, through your cordial, simple treatment of us, which allowed us to openly talk with you and use your good advice.
Thank you also for the precious gift - the general didactics that you compiled for teachers of parochial schools, which we will be guided by in our pedagogical activities."
On March 15, 1902, Hieromonk Thaddeus was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and appointed to the post of inspector of the Ufa Theological Seminary...
.................................
Hegumen Damascene (Orlovsky)
“Martyrs, confessors and ascetics of piety
Russian Orthodox Church of the twentieth century.
Biographies and materials for them. Book 3"
Tver. 2001. pp. 481-565
You can read more on the website
Holy Hieromartyr Thaddeus, in the world John, was born on November 12, 1872 in the village of Naruksovo, Lukoyanovsky district, Nizhny Novgorod province, into the family of priest Vasily Uspensky and his wife Lydia. The grandfather of the future Vladyka, priest Evgeny Rozov, loved Vanya more than his other grandchildren, shrewdly calling him a bishop. The family revered Father Eugene as a strong man of prayer, a man who had deep faith and a loving, meek and forgiving heart. In 1892, Ivan Uspensky graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod Theological Seminary, in 1896 - from the Moscow Theological Academy with a candidate of theology degree for the work “The range of activities and tasks of the pastoral service of the clergy according to the canonical monuments of the pre-Mongol period” and was left with it as a professorial fellow.
The young man hesitated for quite a long time in choosing his future path in life. Initially, he intended to become a rural teacher, then to take holy orders and be, as he himself wrote, “closer to the flock.” The rector of the Academy at that time was Archimandrite Anthony (Khrapovitsky; †1936), with whom Ivan Uspensky became close and subsequently became friends. Even during his student years, the future new martyr, Father Anthony recommended that he seek spiritual advice from the ascetic of the Gethsemane monastery near the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Hieromonk Herman.
The rector told his student more than once that he was a real, ready-made monk. However, Ivan Vasilyevich hesitated, awaiting God's instructions regarding tonsure. The final decision was made after a conversation with Saint John of Kronstadt, who visited the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, who reminded the future saint of the Gospel words: “If you love Me... feed My sheep... when you were young, you walked yourself and you walked, even if you wanted: when when you are old, you stretch out your hands, and he will gird you and lead you, even if you did not want to” (John 21:17-18). These words of the great righteous man became not only parting words to the future monk, but also, as it were, a prediction of his future life path as an ascetic saint and martyr.
On August 15, 1897, he was tonsured a monk with the name Thaddeus in honor of the holy apostle of 70, at the end of August he was ordained a hierodeacon, a month later he was ordained a hieromonk and appointed teacher of logic, psychology, philosophy and didactics at the Smolensk Seminary. On November 19, 1898, he was transferred as an inspector of the Minsk Seminary with correction of duties as a teacher of the Holy Scriptures in the fifth grade. Since 1900, he was a teacher at the Ufa Seminary, whose rector in the rank of archimandrite was Saint Andronik (Nikolsky), the future new martyr, Archbishop of Perm (†1918). In 1901, Father Thaddeus defended his master's thesis “The Unity of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.” At every stage of his life, he intensified his exploits and fasts, improving in meekness and gentleness.
Since June 1901, he has been a teacher of pedagogical and singing courses for teachers of church schools. In 1902, Father Thaddeus published “Notes on didactics (general and methodology of the Law of God and the Slavic language),” which emphasizes that Christianity is the basis of teaching and enlightenment. On March 15, 1902, Hieromonk Thaddeus was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and appointed inspector of the seminary. On September 8 of the same year he was transferred to the position of rector of the Olonets Theological Seminary. His duties also included editing the official church organ of the diocese, the Olonets Diocesan Gazette. He speaks at religious and moral readings in Petrozavodsk. Attentive to his soul, he keeps daily entries in a diary.
On December 20, 1908, he was named, and the next day he was consecrated Bishop of Vladimir-Volyn, vicar of the Volyn diocese. He regularly tours the parishes of his vast diocese. In September 1916, he was transferred to the Vladikavkaz See, due to the illness of Bishop Antonin (Granovsky; †1927). On the advice of Bishop Thaddeus, he served the liturgy and, having received communion, recovered.
In 1917, Vladyka returned to the Volyn diocese, which soon began to be occupied by German, Polish, and Petliura troops. In 1919, he became the ruling bishop of the Volyn diocese. After the Bolsheviks seized power, he was arrested in November 1921. On February 25, by decree, the VUCHK was sent to the disposal of Patriarch Tikhon. On March 9, he was released and went to Moscow, where he took part in the work of the Holy Synod.
Back on July 6, 1919, the Bolsheviks shot the Astrakhan bishops - the ruling saint Mitrofan (Krasnopolsky) and the suffragan Leonty (von Wimpfen). From that time on, the Astrakhan see was widowed, so on September 21, 1921, the holy Patriarch Tikhon elevated Bishop Thaddeus to the rank of archbishop and appointed him to the Astrakhan see. After the arrest of Saint Tikhon, control of the Orthodox Church was transferred to Metropolitan of Yaroslavl Saint Agafangel (Preobrazhensky; †1928), who drafted an appeal and handed it over to Vladyka Thaddeus in Moscow. Soon it was printed in a printing house and appeared on the walls of Moscow churches, and therefore, at the end of June 1922, Vladyka Thaddeus and Protopresbyter Dimitry Lyubimov were arrested. In September he was sentenced to a year of exile in the Zyryansk region. Together with the Metropolitan of Kazan, Saint Cyril (Smirnov; †1937), he was transferred to the prison of the city of Vladimir; Metropolitan Kirill recalled that he thanked God “for the gift of consolation that this righteous man possessed.” While imprisoned, Saint Thaddeus distributed food and bedding.
Saint Cyril recalled an incident of Vladyka Thaddeus’s foresight: “Once, when a regular transfer arrived, Vladyka separated a small part from it and put it under the pillow, and handed the rest to the elder. I saw this and cautiously hinted to Vladyka that he had made a reserve for himself.
- No, no, not for myself. Today our brother will come to us, we need to feed him, but will they take him for allowance today?
In the evening, Bishop Athanasius (Sakharov) was brought into his cell, and Vladyka Thaddeus gave him food from the store. I was stunned by the prediction and told the newcomer about it.” Later, Vladyka also gave Saint Athanasius his pillow, and he himself slept with his hand under his head.
In the summer of 1923, the period of exile ended, and Archbishop Thaddeus left for Volokolamsk. Here he lived, and went to serve in Moscow churches. In the fall of 1923, Vladyka was again appointed Bishop of Astrakhan. On December 20, he left for Astrakhan, where he was solemnly greeted by the clergy and believers. Since the bishop's sacristy was captured by the Renovationists, for the first divine service the Vladyka was brought vestments from the Intercession-Boldinsky Monastery, it belonged to Archbishop Tikhon (Malinin; †1793), the staff of the holy hieromartyr Mitrofan (Krasnopolsky), and one of the monks of the St. John the Baptist Monastery gave the Vladyka the stored he has the mantle of the new martyr Bishop Leontius (von Wimpfen).
It is known that the holy Patriarch Tikhon, receiving a letter from Vladyka about the seizure of Orthodox churches by renovationists, said to those who brought it: “Do you know that Vladyka Thaddeus is a holy man? He is an extraordinary, rare person. Such lamps of the Church are an extraordinary phenomenon.” The ministry of Saint Thaddeus was marked by widespread charity and non-covetousness. Vladyka walked in an old patched cassock, in old mended boots, and had only one vestment. On September 3, 1924, on the day of his namesake, Saint Thaddeus was awarded by Patriarch Tikhon the right to wear a diamond cross on his hood.
On October 29, 1926, the GPU arrested the Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky; †1944). Archbishop Joseph (Petrovykh; †1937) assumed the rights of deputy; On December 8, he issued an order in which he appointed his deputies for the management of the Church: archbishops - Cornelius of Ekaterinburg (Sobolev; †1933), Thaddeus of Astrakhan (Uspensky) and Saint Seraphim of Uglich (Samoilovich; †1937). The premonition of arrest did not deceive Vladyka Joseph - on December 29, 1926, he found himself in custody. Archbishop Cornelius was in exile and could not fulfill the assignment entrusted to him, and therefore, in mid-January 1927, Archbishop Thaddeus left Astrakhan for Moscow to begin the duties assigned to him in governing the Church. However, in Saratov, the saint was, by order of the head of the VI department of the GPU SO, E. A. Tuchkov, detained and sent to the city of Kuznetsk, Saratov region, from which he was forbidden to leave. Only in March 1928 did the authorities allow him to leave Kuznetsk. Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), released from prison by that time, appointed Vladyka Thaddeus Archbishop of Saratov and Petrovsk. While in Saratov without the right to leave, Vladyka at this time performs secret monastic tonsure. Several of his sermons from this period have survived. On June 15, 1928, the saint was appointed Archbishop of Tver and Kashin, but until November 1928 he still lived in Saratov.
They say that Vladyka wore chains, received everyone who came to him with love, and had the gift of clairvoyance and healing. On September 29, 1936, the authorities deprived him of registration, and Vladyka continued to serve in the last open church - the Edinoverie church at the Volyn cemetery beyond the Volga. In December 1936, under pressure from the atheists, Saint Thaddeus was retired, but he did not leave service in the temple.
On December 20, 1937, he was arrested. During the search, they confiscated a panagia, crosses, a chalice, a monstrance, vestments, twenty-seven candles, thirty rosaries, spiritual books, notebooks with the archbishop's notes, official circulars of the Moscow Patriarchate, photographs, and two bishop's staffs.
What do you live on? - asked the NKVD officer.
“We live on alms,” answered the Bishop.
In the cell, after numerous mockeries of the Lord, the Mother of God appeared to the leader of the criminals, commanding him: “Do not touch the holy man, otherwise you will all die a cruel death.” The next morning he recounted the dream to his comrades, and they rushed under the bunks to see if the holy elder was still alive. A blinding light shone from under their bunks. Having pulled out the archbishop, they all asked him for forgiveness. From that day on, all ridicule of him stopped. On December 30, 1937, the NKVD Troika sentenced the holy martyr to death. He was executed the next day; There is evidence that instead of shooting, the executioners killed the saint by drowning him in a pit of sewage. The funeral service in absentia at the Patriarchal Epiphany Cathedral was performed by Protopresbyter Nikolai Kolchitsky. Hieromartyr Thaddeus remained in the memory of believers as an ascetic archpastor, an unmercenary, a humble ascetic, glorified by his non-covetousness and illuminated by the Light of Christ.
Thanks to the courage of the prison doctor and the responsiveness of the guards from among the staff of the Tver NKVD prison, it became possible not only to mark the burial place of the martyr, but also over time to rebury him in a separate coffin.
On October 26, 1993, the remains of Vladika Thaddeus were found in an abandoned cemetery in Tver. On December 29, 1994, the relics of the saint were transferred to the Ascension Cathedral in Tver. At the Consecrated Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, held in Moscow on February 18–23, 1997, Archbishop Thaddeus was glorified as a hieromartyr for church-wide veneration. His memory is determined to be celebrated on the day of his martyrdom on December 18 (31), on the day of the discovery of his holy relics on October 13 (26), in the Cathedral of Tver Saints and in the Cathedral of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.
Troparion to the Holy Hieromartyr Thaddeus, tone 1:
Praise be to God and your living sacrifice/life, Hieromartyr Thaddeus, appear. / By fasting, vigil and prayer we have received heavenly gifts, / to be a good helper and comforter to many. / Decorated with pastoral wisdom and quiet disposition, / you have overcome the wickedness of Christ’s enemies. / Glory to Him who gave you strength in your suffering, / glory to Him who crowned you like a martyr, // glory to Him who brings healing to all through you.
Kontakion to the Holy Hieromartyr Thaddeus, tone 4:
The spirit of fearlessness, strength, love and hope / the Chief Shepherd gave to you, Saint Thaddeus, / in your suffering you gave thanks to God / and in persecution you consoled the afflicted, // saying: do not be discouraged, for Christ is with us.
When preparing the material the following were used:
Hieromonk Damascene (Orlovsky). Life of the Hieromartyr Thaddeus, Archbishop of Tver. Tver: Bulat Publishing House, 1997.
Hieromartyr Archbishop Thaddeus (Uspensky). Rejoice! M.: "Eleon", 1998.
Hieromartyr Thaddeus, Archbishop of Tver. Creations (in 2 vols.). Tver: Bulat Publishing House, 2002 – 2003. In the series: “Spiritual heritage of martyrs and confessors of the Russian Orthodox Church.”
(mospagebreak heading= memory of December 18 (31)&title=Akathist to the holy martyr Thaddeus of Tver)
Akathist to the holy martyr Thaddeus,
Archbishop of Tver and Kashinsky
Kontakion 1
Chosen by God to the heights of hierarchal service, a zealous prayer book and a zealot of the purity of the Orthodox faith, the heavenly intercessor of the Tver city and the entire Russian land, the new wonderworker of all will sing:
Ikos 1
A bright angel appeared on earth, blessed Thaddeus, adorned with calmness of disposition and humility, desiring to please the Lord as a child, for this reason we cry out to you:
Rejoice, most honorable branch of the priestly root,
Rejoice, thou who was named from the holy font by the glorious name of John of Damascus;
Rejoice, gentle consolation to pious parents,
Rejoice, reverent surprise of the faithful;
Rejoice, child of obedience, raised in the passion of God,
Rejoice, pure child brought up in the temple of the Lord;
Rejoice, taught piety from relatives and those known,
Rejoice, imitator of good morals, faith and love;
Rejoice, Hieromartyr Thaddeus, prayer book for our souls.
Kontakion 2
Seeing your God-given zeal, I am all amazed at how, having learned the wisdom of God in a small way, your soul thirsted for the ever-flowing source, from which the hearts of the faithful are filled with grace and silently praise God: Alleluia!
Ikos 2
Having striven to understand the unreasonable mind, you have come, O blessed one, under the roof of the Venerable Sergius, not to learn from vain and corruptible things, but to desire to see the Lord face to face, for this reason we cry out to you:
Rejoice, prophetically named bishop from the shrouds,
Rejoice, you have undoubtedly chosen the path of serving the Lord;
Rejoice, having set in your heart a steady march towards Christ from your youth,
Rejoice, having preserved your soul unharmed from the winds of godless teachings;
Rejoice, you who grew the wheat of Christ's faith in thorns and thistles,
Rejoice, you have brought fruit a hundredfold to the Lord Christ;
Rejoice, thou who hasst worked for one's neighbors with ardent lust,
Rejoice, ever having care for immortal souls.
Rejoice, Hieromartyr Thaddeus, prayer book for our souls!
Kontakion 3
We strengthen with the power from above, painfully for the salvation of my soul, you sought good teachers, according to the word of the holy fathers, as inconvenience is saved without a mentor to God, and you found them, like a valuable treasure. You diligently heeded those godly teachings, singing to God in gratitude: Alleluia!
Ikos 3
Have an unceasing sickness in your heart, at what hour you hear the voice “Behold the Bridegroom is coming,” wondering, you have prepared your ever-burning lamp, having filled it with the oil of grace. We, desiring to win over some of the wise virgins, sing to you:
Rejoice, faster, oppressed for Christ's sake,
Rejoice, thou who has not tasted the wine of youth;
Rejoice, imitating the ancient desert father from his youth;
Rejoice, you who fought against soul-destroying passions;
Rejoice, thou who hast attained the fulfillment of love,
Rejoice, thou who continually plucketh away the seeds of sin from thy heart;
Rejoice, you have cast down the thought of exaltation through self-reproach,
Rejoice, you who crushed the proud neck of vain thoughts with humility.
Rejoice, Hieromartyr Thaddeus, prayer book for our souls!
Kontakion 4
Storms of doubtful thoughts troubled your soul, about the good warrior of Christ, you always desired to serve God and your neighbors with all your heart, but perplexed about the path of monasticism, you prayed to God with tears: “Tell me, Lord, the way, in it I will go, as if to You take my soul,” singing to Him with hope: Alleluia!
Ikos 4
Having heard from the righteous man of Kronstadt, whom you saw like an earthly angel, the words of Christ: “If you love Me, feed My sheep...”, you understood God’s saving will. This is how your martyrdom was predicted, with which the Lord crowned you, for this reason we cry out to you:
Rejoice, on the day of the Dormition of the Most Pure Lady you were enlisted in Her army,
Rejoice, by the wondrous sight of God the name of the apostle, prophesied in his youth, was received;
Rejoice, beloved of the heavenly angelic title more than all earthly ones,
Rejoice, you who have desired to become like the bodiless forces in everything;
Rejoice, honored by the grace of the priesthood,
Rejoice, reverent primate of the Throne of God;
Rejoice, having accepted the teaching of the young as holy obedience,
Rejoice, you abiding in the struggle of love and care for your flock.
Rejoice, Hieromartyr Thaddeus, prayer book for our souls!
Kontakion 5
Like a godly star, showing the way to the faithful, the Chief Shepherd raised you up in the firmament of the church to enlighten the darkness of ignorance and bring perfect people to the Lord, so that everyone may joyfully sing with you to God: Alleluia!
Ikos 5
Seeing people the talent of good shepherding, bestowed upon you by the Lord, which you did not accept as a heavy burden, but as a light yoke you bore, covering everything with love, being embarrassed by nothing, having firm trust in the Lord; We, marveling, cry out:
Rejoice, wondrous imitator of the meek Shepherd,
Rejoice, like your heavenly patron;
Rejoice, you who have apostolic boldness,
Rejoice, O thy sorrowful Fatherland, covered with the darkness of unbelief;
Rejoice, O scattered on the paths of destruction, ever sick,
Rejoice, having received your call with love;
Rejoice, for resentment and memory of malice are far away from you,
Rejoice, for you are above the infirmities of men.
Rejoice, Hieromartyr Thaddeus, prayer book for our souls!
Kontakion 6
The land of Volyn preaches your exploits and labors, to Saint Thaddeus, as you considered the hierarchal service to be true death for the world and the grave of selfishness, steadily making the procession to Christ and singing to Him everlastingly: Alleluia!
Ikos 6
The light of your holy service has risen, O vigilant shepherd, for you have been consumed by the fire of love for Christ. Your soul thirsts for the grace of God, to boast in the Lord, teaching: “I am the wheat of God,” crying out like a God-bearer. We, seeing such zeal of yours, sing to the sitsa:
Rejoice, you received the naming on the day of the Hieromartyr Ignatius,
Rejoice, having become like this God-bearer through love for Christ;
Rejoice, you who did not seek vain glory on earth,
Rejoice, perfect image of purity and humility;
Rejoice, you who placed an omophorion like a cross on your shoulder;
Rejoice, Great Bishop, who passed through the heavens, who followed,
Rejoice, having your piety, like a rod for the sheep of words,
Rejoice, for your head is crowned with the crown of long-suffering.
Rejoice, Hieromartyr Thaddeus, prayer book for our souls!
Kontakion 7
Although you showed everyone the beauty of the Orthodox faith, you worked tirelessly, so that you won new people to Christ, attracting people to yourself with meekness and quietness of disposition, singing to God: Alleluia!
Ikos 7
New Chrysostom showed you the Lover of mankind, Christ, vigilant because the city of the Lord, dried up by the heat of atheism, watered your words with life-giving moisture. For this reason we cry out to you:
Rejoice, you who give the faithful water to drink from the Source of living water,
Rejoice, bright lamp, illuminating the path of salvation for us;
Rejoice, you who completely turn away from carnal wisdom,
Rejoice, expounder of the Divine Scriptures;
Rejoice, joyful one for true enlightenment,
Rejoice, thou who opened the eyes of the child’s heart with thy teaching;
Rejoice, instruct young souls on the path of salvation,
Rejoice, good co-worker of Christ and His faithful disciple.
Rejoice, Hieromartyr Thaddeus, prayer book for our souls!
Kontakion 8
A strange miracle comes to you, blessed Thaddeus, for with the grace of God given to you in days of sorrow and sorrowful circumstances, with a bright face you proclaimed the Easter joy to everyone, singing to God: Alleluia!
Ikos 8
All praise to God and a living sacrifice were you, Saint Thaddeus, for he said, for the grace of God fills the path of salvation on the cross with joy, even though the world is not known. For this reason, from Saint Tikhon, your holiness was known, and in praise, we sing to you:
Rejoice, Master of the journeys, follower,
Rejoice, thou who have enjoyed the immortal table of Christ;
Rejoice, for in the sufferings of the Lord you became like Him,
Rejoice, for you have suffered slander, condemnation and imprisonment;
Rejoice, for you comforted those who were in prison with you,
Rejoice, for you have cast away despondency and sorrow far from them;
Rejoice, you who have received the gift of clairvoyance from the Lord,
Rejoice, you who gave alms in prison too.
Rejoice, Hieromartyr Thaddeus, prayer book for our souls!
Kontakion 9
Assuaging all sorts of sorrows, the wonderful mercenary appeared, distributing everything to the orphans and the poor, and completely fulfilling the vow of non-covetousness. The people of the land of Astrakhan marveled greatly at this, when they saw the essence of your free poverty, singing to God with a tender heart: Alleluia!
Ikos 9
We see the wise and wicked Bethas put to shame by your life, O god-wise Thaddeus; Having trampled upon the canons of the church and patristic traditions, you brought them to Christ, not denouncing the lost with menacing words, but with your God-imitating morals. For this reason we cry out to you:
Rejoice, you who offer prayers every day at the Throne of the Lord,
Rejoice, you who tirelessly taught your flock with God-bearing words;
Rejoice, you who have all-covering love,
Rejoice, enlightening those who have gone astray with the light of Christ;
Rejoice, faithful follower of the Fathers of the Ecumenical Councils,
Rejoice, even in earthly life revered for holiness;
Rejoice, growing seed of Divine truth,
Rejoice, glorious intercession of the Russian land.
Rejoice, Hieromartyr Thaddeus, prayer book for our souls!
Kontakion 10
May everyone who comes to you be saved, O good mentor, who accepted the suffering as a servant of Christ, healing their sinful wounds and revealing the will of God to them, singing to God: Alleluia!
Ikos 10
You are a wall to all who come running to you, God-enlightened Thaddeus, in the days of the fierce persecution of Tver, protecting the city with your prayer, you called on your people to be faithful to Christ even to death, and to live according to the words of the Gospel: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul.” " Strengthen us too, the faint-hearted and sad, who call you like this:
Rejoice, thou who humbly endured all reproaches,
Rejoice, for neither sorrow, nor distress, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor the sword frightened you;
Rejoice, for all this has not separated you from the love of Christ,
Rejoice, thou branch of the vine of Christ, which has brought forth fruit a hundredfold;
Rejoice, you who have covered your soul with prayer and love,
Rejoice, in a world of great turmoil, as if you were alive in the quiet desert;
Rejoice, most luminous adornment of the saints,
Rejoice, joyful consolation to all the faithful.
Rejoice, Hieromartyr Thaddeus, prayer book for our souls!
Kontakion 11
We offer a song of praise to you, Hieromartyr Thaddeus; Having ended the course, you kept the faith, walking closely in your life, you prepared your soul with prayer and fasting, and by bloodless self-sacrifice you acquired the crown of martyrdom before your death, singing to God: Alleluia!
Ikos 11
You visibly, holy, shone with the light of heavenly grace, enduring strangulation and spitting in prison, when the Most Pure Lady interceded for you and brought the tormentors to repentance. In the same way, the vale of weeping was transformed into a holy mountain, but we sing to thee:
Rejoice, you who shone with the light of Tabor before your death,
Rejoice, having devoted yourself entirely to God;
Rejoice, you who rejoice the angels with your exploits,
Rejoice, for your sorrow has been transformed into joy;
Rejoice, for you have made your soul a temple of the Living God,
Rejoice, for thou hast been vouchsafed the triple crown of veneration, holiness and martyrdom;
Rejoice, mentor and teacher, who laid down your life for your friends,
Rejoice, and humbly pray to the Lord for your enemies.
Rejoice, Hieromartyr Thaddeus, prayer book for our souls!
Kontakion 12
Grace from above given to you in full knowledge, we praise your martyrdom, blessed Thaddeus, for you glorified Christ on earth with your life, and even more so with your death, and after your death you shone with heavenly glory, flowing currents of healing to us. We, glorifying God, who is wondrous in His saints, will cry out to Him: Alleluia!
Ikos 12
We sing praises to you, the new and glorious wonderworker, most praiseworthy Thaddeus, for through Christ you entered into eternal joy through your suffering, and now you dwell in the unapproachable light, enjoying the sight of the Ever-Essential Trinity, and rejoicing with the angels and all the saints at the Throne of God, where remember us too, crying out you are like this:
Rejoice, martyr of ancient times, diminished to nothing,
Rejoice, holy saint of God, shining with the power and spirit of the ancient fathers;
Rejoice, included in the host of new Russian martyrs,
Rejoice, you have revealed your holy relics to us, the unworthy;
Rejoice, for your honest relics exude healing to everyone,
Rejoice, for your might is a strong intercession for the city of Tver and the entire Russian land;
Rejoice, you who call upon everyone to proclaim joy everlastingly,
Rejoice, for according to your name your life was made.
Rejoice, Hieromartyr Thaddeus, prayer book for our souls!
Kontakion 13
O our intercessor at the throne of the Heavenly King, the glorious hieromartyr Thaddeus, a steadfast champion of the Orthodox faith and a constant prayer book for our Fatherland! Accept our present offering, so that through your prayers we will be delivered from eternal torment, and we will be worthy of Heavenly joy, singing to God: Alleluia!
This kontakion is read three times, then ikos 1 and kontakion 1 are read.
Prayer
O great and glorious servant of Christ, Hieromartyr Thaddeus! Most luminous lamp, lit in the candlestick of the Orthodox Church, a vessel of purity and the chosen dwelling of the Holy Spirit! We pray to you: preserve our Orthodox Fatherland and the flock you have gathered under the roof of your prayer wings, so that we do not become rigid in the petrification of our hearts and negligence about our salvation.
O good shepherd and close friend of Christ! Grant us, as we walk the path of repentance, to love God with all our hearts and thoughts and our neighbor as ourselves, and thus, according to the untrue word of the Apostle: draw near to the Lord, and he will draw near to you - to be vouchsafed the coveted villages of paradise, where you abide with the faces of the saints, glorifying in the Trinity glorify God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
(mospagebreak title=At the Entry into the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
Holy Martyr Thaddeus, Archbishop of Tver and Kashin
memory 18 (31) December
Animated temple
Why does the Holy Church so joyfully celebrate the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple? Why does he rank this holiday among the greatest annual holidays, equating it with such great events as the Nativity of Christ, the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary? It would seem, what is special about entering the temple of the Most Holy Theotokos? The Holy Church gives the answer to this in the words of her chant: “Today the Temple is animated and the great King enters the temple, prepare for the Divine dwelling: people, rejoice.” The Church invites believers to have fun, seeing in the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos the greatest, most important event in the matter of our salvation. And we can understand its meaning if we remember why man was created, what he should most strive for in his life.
When the Lord Jesus Christ, departing from the world to the Father, had a farewell conversation with His disciples, and one of them, Judas, not Iscariot, asked why He wants to reveal Himself to the disciples and not to the world? The Lord answered: “Whoever loves Me will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode with Him” (John 14:23).
This means that much more important than the visible glorious appearance of Christ in the world is His appearance in souls, which have become His abodes, temples. In His prayer after his farewell conversation with his disciples, the Lord said: “That they all may be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, so may they also be one in Us” (John 17:21). This is the main goal of human life - to become the abode of the Divine, to become one with Him, just as the branches are one with the vine. And in fact, how can a branch live on its own without being on the vine, without having a common life with it? She will inevitably wither and die. Can a stream, separated from its source without being replenished from it, flow continuously? Thus, a person cannot live a spiritual life, separated from the Divine, in Whom is the inexhaustible Source of his life. Man is the breath of Divine life, because he became a living soul only when God breathed into his face the breath of life. (Genesis 2:7). And therefore, he cannot maintain spiritual life within himself without constantly inhaling it, just as the human body cannot live without constantly inhaling air.
But how can a fallen person become a temple of the Divine, a branch of the Vine-Christ, merge his life with the Divine life, make it the breath of the Divine? Indeed, in the state of the fall, man moved away from God so much that many rarely remember God, many stopped completely living in God, feeling His existence, they even doubted the existence of God and the words: “there is no God,” which the psalmist considers to be by no means spoken from reason. (Ps. 13:1), are repeated more and more often. How can one, whose spiritual life is entirely woven from thoughts, feelings, desires with the Divine life that are not related to God, anger God, become closer to God, much less become a temple of the Divine? It is not without reason that the more people moved away from God because of their sins, the more they realized the impossibility not only of approaching Him, but even of looking at Him. For a sinner, approaching God is the same as approaching fire for hay. It is unbearable for a sinner to look at God, just as a person with sick eyes cannot look at the sun.
In order to use fire to maintain and not destroy life, in order to perceive life-giving light and warmth from the radiance of the sun, it is necessary to moderate the effects of light or fire, to perceive them through some kind of cover that allows light and warmth to pass through, but at the same time weakens their power. The Old Testament temple was such a cover for a spiritually weak person. If Moses could, after cleansing his soul with long-day fasting and prayer, talk with God, as if openly mouth to mouth (Num. 12:8), then the Jewish people were afraid to approach God, who had descended on Mount Sinai to speak the law, and asked Moses to be a mediator in a conversation with God (Ex. 20, 19). It was then that Moses received a command from God to make a tabernacle, the first Old Testament temple (Ex. 25: 9 - 40).
Moses saw God Himself on the mountain, and the tabernacle was supposed to be a reflection of Divine things, the life of the Divinity Himself, but under the cover of images and canopies, so that a weak person could look harmlessly at the radiance of the Divine, unbearable in itself for him, dwelling in impregnable light (1 Tim. 6:16), to perceive the life-giving warmth of Divine love without being scorched by the Divine fire (Deut. 4:24; Heb. 12:49). Thus, the temple is the most necessary step in a person’s spiritual life in approaching God, in order to become the temple of the Divine. Then a person will unite with God directly through prayer, directing all his thoughts, feelings, desires towards Him, and unite his entire life with the Divine life.
That is why the Entry into the Temple of the Mother of God is so important in the matter of our Salvation. And the Most Holy Virgin entered the temple not for a short visit only, but also for permanent residence in it, so that through dwelling there, where no impurity of the world could penetrate, she could be preserved from all worldly filth, live for God alone, and become the purest Temple of the Divine. Eating in the temple the heavenly bread of constant communion with the Divine, the Most Pure Virgin more and more perceived in herself all the properties of Divine life, ready to become the Receptacle of the Bread of God, Which descends from heaven and gives life to the world (John 6:33), just as The Old Testament container contained manna, bread that came down from heaven in the image of the True Bread of Jesus Christ.
Through her stay in the temple, the Blessed Virgin was preparing to become the animated Temple of the Divine. Spiritual unity with the Divine is not enough for a person. It is necessary that God, who dwells at the inaccessible heights of heaven, should appear on earth in the flesh and unite with man through the acceptance of human nature, otherwise the spirit of man would rush to God, and the flesh would again and again attract him to the passions characteristic of it, dissolving him in itself spirit, as was the case with people before the flood, who became one flesh and in whom the Spirit of God could not dwell (Gen. 6:3). Which of the people could become an animated temple for God incarnate? Only the Most Pure Virgin, who is gracious and contains all the glory of virtues. This is why She was raised, according to God’s vision, inside the temple. Only She, who entered the Holy of Holies, could become the animated temple of the great king, “He is prepared for the Divine dwelling.”
Her entry into the temple is not simple, like the entry of other people, but special, serving not only the spiritual union of people with God, but also the bodily incarnation of God the Word. The Old Testament Temple was to be replaced by an “animate Temple” of the Divine, the Old Testament canopy and images - by the truth. This entry is unique in its significance, since without it the preparation of the “Corporal Temple” for God the Word could not have been accomplished. The entry of the Most Pure Virgin into the temple is a pre-image of the Nativity of Christ, about which the Holy Church now begins to sing: “Christ is born, give thanks! Christ from heaven, come down.” The Most Pure Virgin, entering the Temple, announces Christ to everyone.
To the verbal celebration we must add celebration in the deeds of life, so that it is not just the beating of the air, the singing of the lips about what the heart is far from. How worthily could we honor the glorious Entry into the Temple of the Mother of God? Of course, this is only possible if we ourselves want to become, like the Blessed Virgin, pure temples of the Divine. But do our souls represent any comfortable and pleasant dwellings for the Divine? After all, our souls often harbor thoughts and desires so vile that we are ashamed of them and ourselves, especially people and God, from whom, like Adam who sinned, we would like to hide in shame, fearing our spiritual nakedness. But we know that nothing can hide from the Almighty, and that in all the nakedness of our shameful deeds we will one day appear before the face of God for judgment if we do not take care to remove everything shameful from ourselves.
You need constant attention to your soul so that nothing unclean enters the door of your heart. You need constant work and spiritual feat in order to drive away shameful thoughts and desires from yourself, leaving in your soul only those with which you would not be ashamed to appear before the Face of Christ. A person is powerless to drive away bad thoughts and desires that take possession of the soul against the will. But let him take care of this driving away not when they have become stronger in the soul and have dominated it completely, but from the days of early childhood. Let parents take every care to ensure that impure thoughts and images do not enter the souls of their children, so that impure desires do not inflame them. Let them be reminded more often that only Christ is true Life and the only valuable Treasure. Feeling powerless in the fight against bad thoughts and desires, let a person pray more and call for help from above. Whether a person is constantly surrounded by the harmful fumes of the passions of the world, let him strive to the house of God, to breathe in the breath of Divine life. Let a person confess his sins to God more often, for Christ gave the priests the power to bind and decide in heaven what is bound or permitted on earth. Through repentance what is impossible for men is possible for God (Luke 18:27) - the souls of countless people were miraculously cleansed and changed through repentance. Not having Divine life within himself, let man more often unite with its Source through Communion of the Holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ, becoming a living branch of the Divine Vine. May love for Christ be the life juices in us, which especially through Holy Communion flow from the Vine into the branches.
May the current holiday remind us of this purpose of ours - to be the temple of the Living God (2 Cor. 6:16). If we do not become such temples, then our souls will turn into a dwelling place for passions and demons, who inhabit us through passions. A person will withdraw from the breath of Divine life and will inhale the harmful breath of spiritual death. A person will withdraw from the fire of Divine life and will be engulfed in the flames of passions, the beginning of the flames of hell. If he does not want to dwell with God, in God, he will live with demons forever. May the Most Holy Virgin, who at the age of three entered the temple for permanent residence, always remain before our mental eyes, to become a heavenly Village, bright and joyful, just as the visible heavens are bright and joyful. The Mother of God surpasses these heavens, as spiritual heaven, the dwelling of God and Angels, immeasurably surpasses the dumb heavens created.
Notes
(mospagebreak title=On the 26th Sunday after Pentecost (based on the parable of the foolish rich man))
Holy Martyr Thaddeus, Archbishop of Tver and Kashin
memory 18 (31) December
Sermons delivered in the Saratov diocese
How do you need to “grow rich in God”?
The Lord's parable about the foolish rich man represents an eternal lesson of what you need not for yourself, but to “grow rich for God” (Luke 12:21), to collect treasures not only for a better structure of your earthly life, but for spiritual, eternal life, in God . The rich man thought only about how best to use the rich harvest. He planned to build new granaries instead of the old ones, which did not contain his goods, but still use the goods to rest, eat, drink, and have fun. It never occurred to him that earthly things are so of little value to the soul, that the soul needs to be enriched with completely different treasures, and moreover, enriched with great care, labor, diligence, for no one knows the day on which his soul will be taken from him. Who will then have everything that was collected on earth? With what will the soul appear before the face of God, enter into eternal, endless life, if reserves of spiritual riches were not made on earth, which would be enough for eternity?
Who is this foolish rich man of the Gospel?
Hearing about his granaries, each person usually thinks to himself: “It’s not me, because I didn’t intend to build new granaries, and there would be nothing to collect in them.” None of those listening, perhaps, relates the Lord’s parable to himself. Meanwhile, in reality there is no person to whom she does not belong. Not only those who build new granaries for collecting material wealth become rich for themselves, and not for God, but also everyone who lives for themselves, and not for God and eternal life. Every selfish person gets rich for himself. Which person is free from selfishness? Everyone knows how to live for themselves; only a few can live for God and their neighbors. Others sacrifice themselves for God and their neighbors, but only in order to increase their own well-being, or at least not to upset it in any significant way. Anyone who sets one goal only for their earthly happiness, pleasure, is concerned only with the organization of earthly well-being with oblivion about the fate of their soul, puts aside a penny for the rainy day of earthly life, without collecting the treasures of spiritual, eternal life, does not want to voluntarily part with any joys and benefits earthly life for the sake of saving the soul - like the foolish rich man of the Gospel, who built barns to collect and preserve his earthly goods, who did not think about the soul, about life in God, who gave his soul only to violent torturers.
But if there are so many people who want to get rich “for themselves,” then how few people live wholly in God, who think above all else about the salvation of their souls! These are almost the only saints of God, who are as difficult to find among the people around us as to find a precious stone among the rubbish of the street. If you look closely at the lives of most people, won’t it turn out that they live as if they had no soul at all, as if no eternal life awaits them?
What it means to care about the salvation of the soul, many do not even know how to “grow rich in God”; they do not even think about it. Deliberate care for the soul seems strange to most, funny, characteristic only of some people “not of this world,” and untimely at almost all ages of life.
They say about a child: “He is early, he will grow up, he will understand, he will begin to take care of his soul.” Those experiencing the age of adolescence say: “Is it time to think about saving the soul in these years? We will live to old age, we will live out this earthly age, then we will begin to take care of both the soul and the afterlife.” Those who have reached maturity almost always refer to the vanity, affairs and worries of everyday life that interfere with the care of the soul: “If you fix your eyes on heaven, earthly things will slip away from your hands and will not settle on their own.” If you don’t take care of your daily bread, you might end up hungry. Old age, it would seem, is the only time for which concerns about the salvation of the soul are rightfully postponed. But even in old age, the more a person has been attached all his life only to earthly joys, the more he clings only to these same joys, he only understands them. Moreover, the old ones do not have the same strength: the mind does not think, feelings become dull, the will weakens. And if a person in his youth referred to old age, then in old age he begins to refer to youth, saying: “If only I could regain youthful strength, it would be easy to take care of my soul, otherwise I would like to, but I don’t have the strength.” Thus, a person is likened to the rich man of the Gospel, who before the violent “torture” did not want to give the life of his soul to God, who gave man the spirit. How few are ready to give the life of their soul to God voluntarily, calmly, with a peaceful consciousness, with the bold confidence that they go into that life with treasures acquired in God, in the possession of which eternity is not terrible. How and with what to enrich the soul in order to rest and have fun not only on earth, but also in eternal life? The first and main means of enrichment may seem completely strange to the people of this world: in order to become rich spiritually, you need to become poor in spirit, according to the word of the Lord: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for of them is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:3). The riches of the Kingdom of Heaven are promised to the poor in spirit.
For enrichment - poverty, what a strange combination of concepts for the people of the world! Meanwhile, all the saints of God acquired “high humility, rich in poverty.” A proud person is likened to a mountain or hill from which water easily flows or evaporates. His virtues are easily lost and are likened to disappearing steam. A humble soul is like a valley that gathers water; she easily attracts the grace of God. In the deep womb of humility all virtues are retained. The lightweight tends to rise, the heavy falls down; so the virtues of lofty pride are lightweight, the virtues of a humble soul that humbles itself to the ground have significant weight and value. The source of a person’s spiritual life is not in himself, who is like a small stream, but in the boundless world of Divine life, and only humility opens the soul to the free influx of Divine riches, while pride closes it, because it is characterized by self-sufficiency, in which the need for enrichment is not recognized spiritual: “I am rich, I have become rich, and I have no need for anything,” says the proud one, but the Lord answers him: “But you do not know that you are unhappy and pitiful, and poor, and blind, and naked. I advise you to buy from Me gold purified by fire, so that you may become rich, and white clothing, so that you may be clothed, and so that the shame of your nakedness will not be visible” (Rev. 3:17-18).
Humility, attracting the grace of God, at the same time, of itself, strongly pushes a person towards rapid spiritual enrichment. If a person is sincerely aware of his shortcomings, then he cannot help but think about correcting them; if he grieves, suffers in soul, at the sight of these shortcomings, then he cannot help but try to remove them, just as a person seeks to drown out a disturbing pain by all means. That is why the saints of God, the more they humbled themselves, the more they applied labor to labor in order to get rid of their shortcomings and become spiritually enriched. On the contrary, the carelessness of the people of the world is the stronger, the more increasing pride prevents them from delving into themselves, realizing their shortcomings without any self-justification. The saints of God were often more concerned with acquiring sincere, deep humility than with strengthening their abstinence, fasting, vigils, and prayers; they considered the virtue of humility so valuable. Pride deprives a person of value and virtue, because pride does them for its own sake, and not for God. The proud man is virtuous not because he loved God, but because he loved himself, his glory, so that he becomes rich in virtues for himself, and not for God.
What virtues can most conveniently enrich a person, God teaches this to everyone through the circumstances of his life, for everyone must please God in the rank and state in which he is called (1 Cor. 7:24), and God shows everyone his own path of virtue. A person can make every word, every everyday deed a means to spiritual enrichment. Why should you speak empty words, “idle” words, for each of which you will give an answer on the day of judgment (Matthew 12:35)? It is better to remain silent if, when speaking, you cannot avoid idle words, and silence itself will be counted to you as wisdom (Job 13:5). Even a good word is equivalent only to silver, while timely silence is equivalent to gold. If you speak, let your word be seasoned with the salt of love with its grace (Col. 4:6). Words of love are very valuable.
Is it really impossible for you to avoid the condemnation of your neighbor, which is so harmful to many and to yourself, according to the word of the Lord: “With the judgment you judge, you will be judged” (Matthew 7:2). Why not, instead of words of condemnation, speak to you about your neighbor with compassionate, caring love, so that you yourself can be constantly enriched with such ease by the invaluable spiritual treasure of Christ’s love? Why do you, like a bitter spring, constantly pour out from your heart the anger that torments both yourself and others, if you can block the outlet for anger and let it freeze in your soul? Isn’t it better for you to try to bring out streams of love from your heart, which, when they begin to break through, do not dry up, but intensify.
Love has a wonderful property: the more it gives, the more it enriches itself. That is why the Lord commanded us to be enriched most of all by love, this unfailing treasure in heaven (Luke 12:33), by virtue, the deeds of which follow a person into the future life. In order to acquire this priceless treasure of love for God and neighbor, the saints of God performed all their labors, feats of unceasing prayer, fasting, vigils, surpassing the human measure, since the measure of love for God in the saints infinitely exceeded its measure among ordinary people. These spiritual exploits had value not in themselves, but insofar as they killed selfishness, the source of all passions, and made the soul capable of Divine love. The most perfect color of love can grow freely only in a heart cleared of the thorns of passions. Without love for God, even charity, which is often considered equivalent to love, loses its value. But how can charity, sometimes driven not by real love for God and people, but by ambition, various worldly expectations, benefits and other offspring of self-love, be of equal value?
So, in order to enrich yourself not for oneself, but “into God,” it is necessary first of all to deepen in oneself humility, which attracts the grace of God, inciting to the feats of self-correction, cleansing from selfishness, with its offspring passions, to cleansing the soul with spiritual virtues, the pinnacle of which is love . Those days of life in which no deeds of love are performed must be considered lost for eternal life. And the days in which a person achieved great success in achieving selfish happiness were the days of the destruction of the soul for eternity, according to the word of Christ: “Whoever wants to save his soul will lose it, and whoever loses his soul for My sake will find it; What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what ransom will a man give for his soul?” (Matt. 16:25-26). On the contrary, how full and joyful is the earthly life of a person who, with every word and deed, spreads around him the life-giving light and warmth of love, of which life around him is so poor! How does such a person enrich himself in earthly and eternal life?
Notes
(mospagebreak title=In memory of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called)
Holy Martyr Thaddeus, Archbishop of Tver and Kashin
memory 18 (31) December
Sermons delivered in the Saratov diocese
First-Called
This day encourages us to praise St. Apostle Andrew, one of the twelve apostles. Very little information about him has been preserved in the Holy Gospel. Only about the vocation of St. Andrei is said in a little more detail, other information about him is brief. But even a little said is enough to decorate the memory of St. the Apostle Andrew, together with the Church, which glorified him with many and great praises.
Already the name “first” (John 1:41), which is given to him in the Gospel, that is, the first by calling to Christ, the first-called, says so much to the mind and heart. After all, it is especially difficult to be the first to start any business, to pave the way somewhere. Following others is easier than starting. And now the praise of the first called disciple belongs to the apostle. Andrey.
Coming to Christ was not easy, especially for the first disciples. If now, when countless people have followed Christ for many centuries, following Him not in words, but in deeds seems so difficult, even impossible, then what can we say about the first followers?
True, God prepared people for the coming of Christ to earth through the prophets, and just before the coming, John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lord, but many of the people and prophets did not understand and did not want to understand! And many treated the sermon of John the Baptist, who was revered as a great prophet, frivolously; they only seemed to admire this burning and shining lamp for a short time (John 5:35), and then moved away from the stern preacher of repentance, who does not eat, drink, promises the joys of earthly life, preaching only about the Kingdom of Heaven! The hope of earthly joys from the coming Christ blinded the minds and hearts of the crowd. She, hearing the prophetic predictions about the suffering and death of Christ, did not want to understand them, repeating that the days of Christ should be days of royal glory and earthly prosperity, that Christ should not die forever (Luke 19, 34-38, 44). How difficult it was to throw off the veil of these heart-flattering prejudices, to part with the aspirations that captivated the heart, to become a faithful disciple first of the stern preacher of truth, John the Baptist, and then to follow Christ! Ap. Andrey did it first. He followed Christ without looking back until the end of his life. Such is the glory of the First-Called.
To follow Christ in this way, it was necessary to have in the heart a fiery love for God, which overcomes all love, to be inflamed with a Divine thirst, an irresistible attraction of the heart to that which is pure, truly beautiful, Divine, drowning out the thirst for earthly pleasures, not free from the admixture of sin. To app. The wonderful words of the psalmist apply to Andrew with all their might: “As the deer longs for streams of water, so does my soul long for You, O God; My soul thirsts for the mighty, living God: when will I come and appear before the face of God? My tears were bread for me day and night, when they said to me every day: “Where is your God?” (Ps. 41:2-4). With this thirst for Divine love, the ap fell. Andrey’s heart is towards the Source of living water, Christ. And his thirst did not weaken after the first meeting, but intensified until the end of his life. “Many are called, but few are chosen” for the sake of their ardent love for God. Those who were called after, it would seem, should have been filled with such love more than the first called, since they saw more benefits of Divine love. However, they often turned out to be the last to be elected. St. ap. Andrei, the first called, was also the first chosen for the sake of his fiery love, which justified the calling.
The Lord said to the ap. Andrew and Peter: “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). “And they,” the evangelist continues, “immediately, leaving their nets, followed Him.” How much is said in these few words, and what praise is worthy of the apostle about whom such words were spoken! Christians who bear His name from the first days of life cannot leave little for the sake of Christ! They hesitate, put off for whole years until the very end of life what their heart and conscience inspires them to do for the sake of Christ! And ap. Andrei immediately left his networks, and with them all his wealth. From now on, he had neither a secure piece of daily bread, nor a permanent home, nor a certain means of subsistence, nor the joys of earthly life to which his heart was attached. Leaving all this behind is a feat that exceeds the measure of human strength. Without the help of Christ, no one can leave everything, meaning by this the renunciation not only of property, but also of everything that a person lived, treasured, loved, from all the affections of the heart for the sake of Christ. This is the spiritual height to which the greatest ascetics of Christ ascended after many tears, sighs and the labors of a lifetime. But only those who have left everything can become true “fishers of men.” How can anyone call upon others when the heart of the fisher himself is not caught? They will always tell him: “Doctor, heal yourself, show in practice, through the example of your own life, what you teach.”
Ap. Andrei, having left everything for the sake of Christ, became the most wonderful “catcher” of human souls. According to tradition, he preached about Christ through many countries, suffering persecution from Jews and pagans. He passed through many countries of Asia and Europe: Greece, the Caucasus, Scythia. According to legend, he reached Kyiv, where he planted a cross and predicted that the glory of the light of Christ would shine in the Russian country. They, therefore, laid the foundation for the “catching” of our souls, therefore praise to him as a “fisher of men” from our lips should rise especially zealously, warmly, and heartily.
Noteworthy are the words of the Forerunner of the Lord, which prompted the apostle. Andrew to follow Christ: “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:36). It was not so surprising when crowds subsequently flocked to Christ, hearing the sermon about the Kingdom of Heaven with its joys, as following Christ the Lamb of God, who came to suffer for the sins of the world. Quite a lot of people respond to the call to joy and pleasure. And there would be no end to the number of those who come to Christ if the call to the joys of the Kingdom of Heaven were not darkened in the minds of the crowd by the call of the Forerunner of the Lord and the Lord Himself: “Repent, enter through the narrow gate,” and not through the “broad” path of the pleasures of earthly life that are so alluring to you. , purifying suffering for the sake of truth, which reigns entirely in the Kingdom of God. Therefore, the crowds, attracted by the expectation of joy, soon left when they realized that the Kingdom preached by Christ was not earthly, but heavenly. That his joys are not ordinary, earthly, but special, spiritual, so little understood by those living on earth. That before joy, suffering awaits those who seek the Kingdom of Christ. That Christ Himself is not the king of the earth, but first of all the Lamb of God, suffering for the sins of the world, and He calls everyone to participate in His redemptive suffering.
Ap. Andrew followed Christ the Lamb of God, not as a lover of the pleasures of earthly life, but as a faithful disciple who loved the Cross of Christ. When the ruler of the city of Patras in Asia began to blaspheme the Cross of Christ, which was considered shameful among the pagans, and threaten the Apostle with death on the cross, St. Andrei began with faith and love to explain to the ruler the mystery of the Cross, through which the redemption of people was accomplished. Then the governor subjected the apostle to imprisonment, beatings and other tortures. St. Andrew called himself a slave of the cross and said that he was not afraid of temporary suffering, even desired it for the sake of Christ Crucified. When the apostle saw the cross already prepared for him, he exclaimed: “Rejoice, cross, sanctified by the flesh of Christ. Before Christ was crucified on You, you were terrible for people, but now you are accepted with love and joy... O cross, beloved for a long time! O cross, long desired! Take me from people and give me to my Teacher!” When the people demanded that the innocent righteous man be taken down from the cross and the ruler Epat wanted to give in to the wishes of the people, the apostle prayed that the Lord would not allow this, would not deprive him of his likeness to Him in the image of death, would not allow the believers to waver, then peacefully surrendered his spirit without leaving the cross like his Teacher. Having received the light of Christ from his first calling, the apostle ascended to the cross to unite forever with God.
May the Lord grant us to sum up the praises of St. Andrew in our hearts, so that the memory of his wondrous spiritual virtues would at least partially drive away our slowness in following Christ, in fulfilling His commandments, so that love for Christ would kindle in our hearts, constantly cooled by worldly self-love, watered with the ashes of passions, so that readiness would intensify in us for the sake of Christ, if not to leave everything, then to leave at least the shameful passions that humiliate us, so that love is inflamed not only for the pleasures of earthly life, which the pagans seek (Matthew 6:32), but also for the truth of the Kingdom of Christ, the joy of which is inexpressible and indescribable. comparable to any joys on earth that separate us from Christ.
(mospagebreak title=For the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker)
Holy Martyr Thaddeus, Archbishop of Tver and Kashin
memory 18 (31) December
Sermons delivered in the Saratov diocese
The Rule of Faith and the Image of Meekness
“The day of bright celebration has arrived: the city of Barsky rejoices and everyone has fun with it, rejoices with spiritual songs and stumps: today is a sacred celebration in the bringing of the honest and multi-healing relics of the Holy Hierarch and Wonderworker Nicholas, like the unsetting sun shining with radiant rays” - this is what he says about the current holiday in honor of St. Nicholas Holy Church. The name of Saint Nicholas was glorious in the Myra of Lycia even during his lifetime, which shone with great virtues, deeds of mercy, and wondrous miracles. His relics from Myra Lycia at the end of the 11th century were transferred to distant Bargrad, Italy. At that time, the Lycian Worlds were devastated by the Saracens. And so Saint Nicholas, appearing in a dream to one presbyter in the city of Bari, ordered his relics to be taken to this city, for the Lord did not want the relics of the Saint to remain in a devastated place. Perhaps the transfer of the relics of the saint from the devastated region was a sad reminder to the Christians of Asia Minor that their spiritual life had weakened, that they had to correct many things in their lives that were close to death (Rev. 3:2). Perhaps the very invasion of the Saracens was in fulfillment of the prophetic warnings to the Churches of Asia Minor, which we read in the Apocalypse. But Saint Nicholas’s resettlement to Bargrad did not take place with the approval of the Latins, for he moved to Christians of the Orthodox confession, declared the will of God about his resettlement to the Orthodox priest, and ordered the Orthodox people to carry out the transfer of their relics.
If the saint became famous for many miracles in the West, it was not for the sake of the correctness of the faith of the Latins, but so that the name of Christ would be glorified before those of other believers. After all, the Lord has always performed many miracles to convert non-believers to faith. The presence of the Saint in his relics in Bargrad is, as it were, a constant reminder and calling of Western Christians to unity with Orthodox Christians. Moving to Bargrad, the saint was, as it were, an apostle of Orthodoxy in the West. But soon the Latins began to gradually oust Orthodoxy from Italy, taking churches, monasteries, and the very relics of the saint into their own hands.
Not only the Orthodox, but also many pagans were honored with the wondrous help of St. Nicholas, to whom he appeared, saving them from troubles, who then, coming to Orthodox churches and looking at the icon of St. Nicholas, placing candles in front of it, testified that the one depicted on the icon was their deliverer . Truly, from the east of the sun to the west, the name of the Lord was glorified through St. Nicholas, when “the power of the saint rose like a star from the east to the west, the sea was sanctified by his procession.” The whole world learned about the wonderful saint of God, who did not want to stay in a devastated place, but wanted to spread his mercies throughout the world. In every nation, even pagan ones, the best souls are drawn to God, the common Father of all people, to Christ, in whom the god-like soul recognizes the radiance of the image of God, and in itself, imprinted and dimmed, erased, polluted.
The miraculous mercies of the Saint are still being poured out everywhere on those who call on him with special faith. And on the feast of the Saint, we praise his spiritual virtues and virtues. “Rejoice, mirror of all virtues,” the Holy Church sings in it. But human words are not capable of depicting all the virtues of the great Saint, and therefore must dwell only on a few: “The rule of faith and the image of meekness,” - that’s what we call him. And these words evoke a whole series of memories about the Saint, about his deeds, testifying that he truly was the rule of faith and the image of meekness, which still attracts the hearts of countless people in the universe to him.
St. Nicholas, still a baby, stood in the baptismal font for 3 hours, signifying his future presence before the Holy Trinity. “Rejoice, illumination of the three-solar light, Rejoice, star of the never-setting sun, Rejoice, luminary, kindled by the divine flame; Rejoice, for through you we have trampled upon the worship of creation; rejoice, for through you we learn to worship the Creator in the Trinity.” And weren’t his love for the Holy Scriptures and his lazy stay in church from childhood the earliest, already conscious manifestation of life by faith? His fiery desire to go to Jerusalem - to worship the places of Christ's suffering - did not testify that the soul of the saint lived by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ the Savior, burned with love for Him, kindled by faith. The election of a saint to the bishop of Myra in Lycia by the special instructions of God to the bishop is marvelous: “The chosen one is the one whom you first see entering the church for morning singing,” says the Lord. Here you can see God's providence for His chosen one. Doesn’t one remember here the voice that was once addressed to the father of the believers Abraham: “Go to the land that I will show you” (Gen. 12: 1).
There are numerous miracles that the Saint began to perform during his lifetime, taming a storm, resurrecting a dead shipman, appearing in a dream to Tsar Constantine demanding the release of governors innocently condemned to death, saving those dying of hunger, healing the sick, etc. All these are works of the great faith of the Saint. . The imprisonment of the innocent saint in prison, combined with suffering from hunger, thirst, and overcrowding during the persecution of Diocletian, was a confession of faith and spoke of the saint’s readiness to endure everything for it. He zealously exterminated the remnants of paganism, zealously defended the Orthodox faith at the First Ecumenical Council, where he opposed Arius, who rejected the Divinity of Christ. That is why we call the Saint “the rule of faith.”
“Rejoice, great pillar of piety, Rejoice, refuge of the faithful in the city, Rejoice, firm strengthening of Orthodoxy, Rejoice, you who issue fiery words, Rejoice, instruct your flock well, Rejoice, for by you the faith is confirmed, Rejoice, as by you the heresy is overthrown.” The Lord Himself with the Gospel and the Mother of God with the Omophorion, whom some of the fathers of the council saw near the Saint, showed how honest his zeal in faith was, how worthy he was of the rank of bishop.
Of course, we all remember the image of the meekness of the merciful Saint. And many experienced his deeds. Who does not remember how he saved three virgins from a bad marriage through secret mercy? Who doesn’t know how the Saint saved three innocently convicted men from execution, then freed from prison three governors slandered before Emperor Constantine? However, it is impossible to count all the works of mercy of St. Nicholas, open and secret, which he began to do immediately after the death of his parents, distributing the property he received from them to the poor. “Rejoice, great treasure of mercy; Rejoice, friend of industry for people. Rejoice, food and joy for those who come running to you; Rejoice, uneaten bread of the hungry. Rejoice, God-given wealth to the poor living on earth; Rejoice, speedy exaltation of the poor. Rejoice, quick hearing of the poor; Rejoice, pleasant care for those who mourn. Rejoice, immaculate bride of three virgins; Rejoice, zealous guardian of purity. Rejoice, unreliable hope; Rejoice, joy of the whole world." “Rejoice, you who are overwhelmed by a quiet refuge. Rejoice, drowning famous repository. Rejoice, driving those who are into a whirlwind; Rejoice, warmer of those who are in darkness"; “Thou art truly a helper to all, God-bearing Nicholas, and thou hast together all those who come running to you, as a liberator, a nourisher and a quick doctor to all earthly people.”
Let us remember the virtues of the great Saint, praying that he, who are so poor in spirit, will spiritually enrich us, so that he, being the rule of faith, will not allow us to waver in faith amid the troubles of life until death, so that he, a strong prayer book and intercessor before God, will not He allowed us to waver in our faith through weakness, strengthened us when we were close to falling, and soon saved us from the storms of life, when he suddenly appeared to those floating on the sea and calling on him. Let us call on him, as always close in faith, although distant by the place and time of his life, so that, while his body rests in Bari, he spiritually visits us and with his miracles reaches us everywhere, so that the source of his mercies, pouring out from him like an inexhaustible sea of miracles, is not closed. and for us. And although we are unworthy of the Saint’s mercies, just as the Lord calls not the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Matthew 9:13), so the saint would have mercy on the good and the evil, the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45), “bringing the honest out of unworthy, precious from worthless things” (Heb. 15:19).
Notes
(mospagebreak title=On the Day of the Holy Trinity)
Holy Martyr Thaddeus, Archbishop of Tver and Kashin
memory 18 (31) December
Sermons delivered in the Saratov diocese
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Having ascended to heaven, the Lord left His apostles alone in the world, and they must have felt their orphanhood, therefore for a long time they could not take their eyes off the sky, which hid their beloved Lord from them. The angels who appeared drove away their sadness with the joyful news that this Jesus, who had ascended from them into heaven, would come in the same way as they saw Him ascending into heaven (Acts 1:11).
Having received this news, the apostles returned to Jerusalem “with great joy” (Luke 24:52), but they knew that they were separated from the Second Coming of the Lord by “times and seasons,” unknown to anyone, “which the Father has appointed in His power.” (Acts 1:7). It was necessary to fill the void that had formed in their souls, to give the apostles, as it were, reserves of life that would help them survive long times and periods without the feeling of loneliness and orphanhood. For this purpose, the Lord promised the apostles, even after ascending into heaven, to abide with them “always until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20), to abide, of course, invisibly, spiritually, in His Spirit, whom He promised to send to them as “another Comforter.” ", but also one with Him in Divine nature, so that through the Spirit of the Comforter He Himself will be in them (John 14: 16-20). The apostles now concentrated on waiting for the Comforter, whose coming was to take place in a few days (Acts 1:5).
Waiting a few days is not at all like whole centuries, and these days of waiting should have passed all the more unnoticed because the disciples of Christ with the Mother of the Lord, His brothers and others remained in unanimous prayer and supplication (Acts 1:13-14). Joyful expectation, combined with complete confidence in the fulfillment of the promise of Christ, did not allow sadness to squeeze into their hearts. They were in constant “praise and thanksgiving” to the Lord, absorbing the sadness of separation from Him (Luke 24:53).
In this state, the souls of the apostles were like clean, unfilled vessels, ready to receive the promised Comforter. No worldly thoughts, worries, earthly passions or desires filled the souls of the apostles. Their souls were filled with one desire, which flared up more and more - to receive the Comforter of the Spirit, about whom Christ spoke so much joyfully in His farewell conversation, departing from the world to the Father. The souls of the apostles were completely occupied with the memories of the words of Christ and the joyful anticipation of their fulfillment in the days after the Ascension of the Lord. They became like the earth thirsting for rain, and especially since waiting itself tends to intensify spiritual thirst. And so, when the great holiday of Pentecost arrived, the day the law was given to the Jews at Sinai, their fiery expectation was fulfilled: the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles in the form of tongues of fire, pouring out like heavenly rain on a thirsty land.
The ancient prophecy of Joel was fulfilled: “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17). The Holy Spirit was poured out not only in an image visible to the physical eyes, but also so palpably for the soul that there could be no doubt about His coming, which was predicted long ago.
Hieromartyr Thaddeus of Tver
Hieromartyr Thaddeus of Tverskoy, in the world - Ivan Vasilyevich Uspensky, was born on November 12, 1872 in the village of Naruksovo, Nizhny Novgorod province, into the family of a priest
Father - Uspensky Vasily Fedorovich, dean, archpriest
Mother - Uspenskaya Lidiya Andreevna
- Graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod Theological Seminary.
- In 1896 he graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy with the title of Candidate of Theology. In 1896-1897 was a professorial fellow at the academy.
- In August 1897, he was tonsured a monk with the name Thaddeus and ordained to the rank of hierodeacon.
- Since September 21, 1897 - hieromonk, teacher of logic, philosophy and didactics at the Smolensk Theological Seminary.
- From November 19, 1898 - inspector of the Minsk Theological Seminary with correction of duties as a teacher of the Holy Scriptures.
- Since 1900 - teacher of basic dogmatic and moral theology at the Ufa Theological Seminary.
- From March 5, 1902 - inspector of the Ufa Theological Seminary.
- On March 15, 1902 he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.
- Since January 8, 1903 - rector of the Olonets Theological Seminary.
- On December 21, 1908, he was consecrated Bishop of Vladimir-Volyn.
- From the autumn of 1916 to January 28, 1917, he temporarily ruled the Vladikavkaz diocese (during the illness of Bishop Antonin of Vladikavkaz.
- In 1919, after the ruling bishop of Volyn, Archbishop Evlogii was forced to leave his see and go abroad, he began to fulfill his duties.
- In November 1921, he was arrested in Zhitomir on charges of participating in the insurrectionary movement in Volyn. Believers asked to release him from prison: “Bishop Thaddeus has been known for many years in the city of Zhitomir, where there is no church in which he does not worship and preach. We also know his personal life as a man of prayer and a pastor. Bishop Thaddeus never interfered in politics, did nothing against the Soviet regime, and never called anyone to do anything illegal.” The Bishop was transported to Kharkov, where, after interrogation, the local VUCHK decided: “... to send Bishop Thaddeus to the disposal of Patriarch Tikhon with the right to reside only in one of the central northern provinces of the RSFSR and Western Siberia with the taking of a subscription to register with the Cheka authorities...”.
- On March 13, 1922, he was appointed by Ptariarch Tikhon to the Astrakhan See, with his elevation to the rank of archbishop. However, he was soon arrested and accused of facilitating the printing of an appeal to the flock of Patriarch Tikhon, Metropolitan Agafangel, who temporarily ruled the church after the arrest, calling on him to keep the foundations of the Church pure and beware of the renovationist movement. He was kept in Vladimir prison.
- In 1923 he went to Astrakhan, where he took up the duties of the ruling bishop. He led an extremely modest lifestyle. He often held services and preached a lot. He opposed the “renovation” movement. Patriarch Tikhon told one of the residents of Astrakhan: “ Do you know that Bishop Thaddeus is a holy man? He is an extraordinary, rare person. Such lamps of the Church are an extraordinary phenomenon. But it must be taken care of, because such extreme asceticism, complete disregard for everything in life affects one’s health. Of course, the bishop chose a holy, but difficult path; few are given such strength of spirit. We must pray that the Lord will strengthen him on the path of this feat».
- In 1926, after the arrest of the Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), Metropolitan Joseph (Petrovykh) temporarily assumed his duties, who, in turn, appointed three archbishops, including Thaddeus (Uspensky), as his successors in the event of the arrest. After the arrest of Archbishop Joseph, he went to Moscow to begin temporary leadership of the church, but in Saratov he was detained and exiled to the city of Kuznetsk, Saratov province.
- In March 1928 he was released and appointed Archbishop of Saratov.
- In November 1928 he was transferred to Tver (Kalinin), Archbishop of Kalinin and Kashin. As in Astrakhan, he preached a lot and enjoyed the love of his flock, which irritated the authorities.
- On September 29, 1936, the authorities deprived Archbishop Thaddeus of registration and banned him from serving, but the bishop continued to serve.
- December 20, 1937 arrested. During interrogations he behaved courageously and did not admit himself guilty of counter-revolutionary activities. During his imprisonment he was placed with criminals. The following story is given in the life of the saint. One night, the Mother of God “appeared to the leader of the criminals and threateningly told him: “Do not touch the holy man, otherwise you will all die a cruel death.” The next morning he recounted the dream to his comrades, and they decided to see if the holy elder was still alive. Looking under the bunks, they saw that a blinding light was pouring out from there, and they recoiled in horror, asking the saint for forgiveness. From that day on, all ridicule stopped, and the criminals even began to take care of the ruler. The authorities noticed a change in the prisoners’ attitude towards the bishop, and he was transferred to another cell.”
- At the end of December 1937, he was sentenced to death on charges of leading a church-monarchist organization. According to some sources, he was shot, according to others, he was drowned in a pit of sewage. The prison doctor warned the believers about the time of the bishop's funeral (like others executed, he was buried without a coffin). In the spring of 1938, believers secretly opened the grave and transferred the body to a coffin. A cross with an inscription was placed at the site of the grave, but it was soon destroyed. Later, the exact location of the burial was forgotten and found only in 1990.
- On October 26, 1993, the relics of St. Thaddeus were found, which are now in the Ascension Cathedral in Tver.
- In 1997, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church canonized him as a new martyr.
Feasts of the Saint
Portrait of the Hieromartyr Thaddeus Uspensky, made from a photograph.
The future martyr Thaddeus (1872-1937) was born into a large family of a hereditary priest. His grandfather was revered by people as a man of prayer. Of his nine grandchildren, he was closest to Vanya, whom he affectionately called “bishop.” Which, in the end, came true.
While studying at the Theological Academy, Ivan once asked his father: “Everyone tells me about monasticism, but in monasticism a person is separated from people, since a monk is closed within the walls of the monastery...” The father-priest replied: “No, he is not separated from people, only he serves people in a special way.”
Ivan Uspensky was lucky enough to attend the liturgy served by Saint John of Kronstadt. “During mass there was no talk about sleep and other things were kept in prayer with Fr. John, whose image never left his mind...,” he later wrote in his diary.
After completing his studies, Ivan took monastic vows. In 1908, at the age of 36, he became a bishop.
Married "groom"
Bishop Thaddeus helped with good advice and prayer. People noticed that if you ask the Bishop for anything, help comes. One day the mother of the bride came to Vladyka Thaddeus on the eve of the wedding to ask for a blessing. She proudly shared that her daughter met a rich groom who presented him with expensive gifts.
In response to the mother’s request, the archpastor said: “Wait a little. Wait two weeks." The woman was indignant, since the table had already been prepared and guests had been invited. But the bishop asked to wait. The mother of the family was afraid to disobey the archbishop and postponed the celebration for two weeks.
On the fourteenth day, the “groom’s” wife arrived with two children and took her husband home.
Eyewitnesses from the life of Saint Archbishop Thaddeus recall many other cases of miraculous help to people. One day, when the Volga overflowed its banks and threatened to flood the fields, the residents of these places turned to Archbishop Thaddeus for help.
The Bishop went with the peasants to the river bank, served a prayer service, blessing the waters. And the waters receded.
One girl made a bet (!) that she would receive communion without confession. She approached the Chalice, but the serving Bishop Thaddeus stopped her with the words: “Do not sin. Confess first.” Such foresight of the bishop, who somehow “learned” about her “brave act,” so amazed the girl that she sincerely repented.
In one family, the son, who held a major party post in the 1920s, went crazy and was hospitalized. The mother came to him, the son knelt before her, begging to take him away from here. The woman went to consult Archbishop Thaddeus. He said:
“Take it immediately: it will not bring harm to any of you, and endure it until your death.”
The couple did as the Bishop blessed. The patient died during the war; Before his death, he turned to God and took communion.
Bishop of Vladimir-Volynsky Thaddeus (Uspensky). 1908 Photo from the site kizhi.karelia.ru
Repentance of a Renovationist
After the revolution, Bishop Thaddeus defended Orthodoxy from renovationists who wanted to create a “Red Church” in alliance with the communists. To protect the bishop, sometimes he did not need to say a word of sermons: the mere fact of his presence was enough.
The ideologist of renovationism in Astrakhan, priest Ksenophon Tsendrovsky, wrote: “My conscience was calm, because it seemed to me that I was doing some necessary and right thing. But then I saw Bishop Thaddeus; I looked at him and felt some kind of revolution taking place in my soul. I could not bear the pure look that convicted me of sin and warmed me with all-forgiving love, and I hastened to leave.”
Patriarch's review
St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. Photo: liveinternet.ru
With such direct influence on people, Archbishop Thaddeus was not an “administrator”; he did not even have an office and did not have a secretary. He never said any disciplinary sanctions or even harsh words to anyone in his life.
In the morning and evening, Bishop Thaddeus served in the church, and when he did not serve, almost anyone could come to the reception. One day, the village priest came to him straight from the road, at six in the morning, and was received.
The bishop also did not collect any bishop’s fees for his “accommodation.” One parish took upon itself to provide him with food, another - as a cab driver, the third was responsible for the “condition of the vestments”, for which the owner himself. Thaddeus didn't pay attention.
Once, when Vl. Thaddeus was in Moscow, Patriarch Tikhon, who loved him very much, gave him a red (the color of martyrs) velvet vestment, made especially for him, exactly according to the bishop’s measurements - so that he, as usual, would not immediately give the gift to someone.
“This is an extraordinary person. But it must be taken care of, because such extreme asceticism, complete disregard for everything in life affects one’s health. The Bishop chose a holy but difficult path; few are given such strength of spirit. We must pray that the Lord will strengthen him on the path of this feat,” Patriarch Tikhon said about him.
"Present Christian Time"
Title page of the sermon of Archbishop Thaddeus, delivered in the church in the name of St. Athanasius of Athos, Astrakhan.
In 1919, Bishop Thaddeus was first arrested and placed in Vladimir prison. Sitting on the bunk with him was Metropolitan Kirill (Smirnov), the third candidate for the patriarchal see according to the will of Patriarch Tikhon. One of the most intelligent and persistent hierarchs of the Russian Church wrote this in his memoirs about Arch. Thaddee:
“The terrible prison situation among thieves and murderers had a depressing effect on me... Vladyka Thaddeus, on the contrary, was calm and, sitting in his corner on the floor, thought about something all the time, and prayed at night. One night, when everyone was sleeping, and I was sitting in melancholy and despair, Vladyka took me by the hand and said:
“This is a real Christian time for us. Not sadness, but joy should fill our souls. Now we must open ourselves to heroism and sacrifice. Don't be discouraged. Christ is with us!”
My hand was in his hand, and I felt as if some kind of fiery stream was running through my hand. At some point, everything changed in me, I forgot about my fate, my soul became calm and joyful.
I kissed his hand twice, thanking God for the gift of consolation that this righteous man possessed.”
How Bishop Thaddeus hid the bread under his pillow
The prison where Archbishop Thaddeus (Uspensky) died a martyr. Photo from the site kuz1.pstbi.ccas.ru
When parcels were brought to Bishop Thaddeus in prison, he gave everything to the head of the cell, who divided the parcel among all the cellmates. But there was a case when the archbishop hid some of the food under his pillow, and only after that he gave the rest to the warden and asked him to divide it among the prisoners.
Metropolitan Kirill was surprised at such a “concealment” of the product, and Bishop Thaddeus immediately explained: “No, no, not for myself. Today our brother will come to us, we need to feed him, but will they take him for allowance today?”
That same evening, Bishop Afanasy (Sakharov) arrived to serve his sentence, and he was placed in a cell with Bishop Thaddeus. So the archbishop’s stock made in advance came in handy! The unsentimental Metropolitan Kirill immediately told Bishop Athanasius about how Bishop Thaddeus “predicted” his arrival.
Architects were imprisoned and arrested. Thaddeus more than once. And in the intervals between arrests and prison, he served selflessly. When the authorities deprived him of registration, and Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) appointed him to the Tver See, which had previously been occupied by Arch. Thaddeus, Archbishop Nicephorus (Nikolsky), recognition and veneration of arch. Thaddeus was so unconditional that the clergy of the diocese continued to communicate with him as with their ruling bishop.
The Mother of God interceded
Cross at the site of the murder of Saint Martyr. Thaddeus. Photo from brooklyn-church.org
In 1937, Archbishop Thaddeus was arrested again. After painful interrogations, he was placed in a cell with criminals, who began to mock him. And at night the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to the leader of the criminals and commanded: “Do not touch the holy man, otherwise you will all die a cruel death!”
In the morning, the frightened leader told the criminals about what he saw at night. They decided to see if the ruler was still alive after their torment. We looked under the bunk and saw that an unusual glow was emanating from the old “priest.” The criminals rushed to ask for forgiveness and no longer offended the saint. They all lived to a ripe old age and died a natural death.
Finding the relics
Reliquary with the relics of the holy martyr Thaddeus in the Ascension Cathedral in Tver. Photo from brooklyn-church.org
Saint Thaddeus was executed on December 31, 1938. There were rumors that he was drowned in a pit of sewage. The prison doctor warned the believers that the bishop would soon be taken to be buried. There were two women in the cemetery at that time. Seeing the sleigh, they asked: “Who did you bring?”
They've brought your Thaddeus! - answered one of the guards.
The bishop’s body was wrapped in a tarpaulin, but he was lowered into a shallow hole dug in his underwear.
In the spring after Easter 1938, several brave women opened the grave and transferred the archbishop's body to a simple coffin. One of the women placed an Easter egg in the bishop’s hand. A cross was placed at the site of the grave and an inscription was made on it, but it was soon destroyed by the authorities.
Many years later. The temple standing in the cemetery was destroyed, most of the monuments and crosses were demolished and destroyed, and for a long time they could not determine the exact location of the archbishop's grave. Only on October 26, 1993, the honest remains of St. Thaddeus were discovered. Now they are in the Ascension Cathedral in Tver.
From the records of the saint. Thaddeus:
At moments when the trials encountered along the way exceed the measure of patience, the priest “must have such faith that, seeing the complete powerlessness of his word, he places his trust in omnipotent grace, which softens even the hardest souls, opening even the hearts of people to receive the words of the shepherd, who wanted to “tempt his goodness.”
Sources used:
Hieromonk Damascene (Orlovsky). Life of the Hieromartyr Thaddeus, Archbishop of Tver. Tver, 1997.
"I interviewed witnesses." Father Damascene - about the mystery of finding the relics of the holy martyr Thaddeus, Archbishop of Kalinin and Kashinsky.Tver regional weekly "Caravan+Ya"
Number 51 (1132) from 12/27/2017
Past and present
On the eve of December 31, we are publishing an article about the great Tver saint, holy martyr Thaddeus, Tver bishop, who was martyred on the eve of 1937 in an NKVD prison near the present Gagarin Square. It so happened that it was this saint who became the patron saint of the New Year in Tver.
Each time, Bishop Thaddeus himself tells us which side to approach the topic of his life and death. The relics of the saint are now in the very center of Tver, in the Ascension Cathedral. And this time we were lucky: the man who made this great event happen tells us about the history of the discovery and transfer of the relics of the holy martyr Thaddeus.
An outstanding church scientist, Russia's main specialist in studying the fates of the new martyrs who suffered for their faith in God from the godless Soviet regime, Archimandrite Damascene (Orlovsky) answers questions from the newspaper "Karavan+Ya".
– How and when did you come to the topic of the new martyrs?
– I began researching the life and confessional feat of the new martyrs in the late 1970s. Meetings with witnesses and participants in the events of the first decades after the establishment of Soviet power in the country, evidence of the ascetic, sacrificial life of people who preserved the purity of the Christian ideal - all this called me to take a closer look at the past era and at the people whose lives were closely connected with this tragic era.
It was also significant that the new martyrs - clergy and laity who suffered during the years of repression - were not just one of the social groups of citizens, they were bearers of moral and religious values that were recognized in Russia and in the European world for 1000 years.
The theme of the new martyrs made it possible to study the history of Russia in the twentieth century in its main parameters. Without studying and analyzing the history of the country, it is impossible to act wisely today; the doom of making serious mistakes becomes inevitable.
I considered the study of the life and exploits of the saints of modern times to be my duty - to church society and to the country, a field to which the Lord called me and from which I could not shirk. I began to interview witnesses to the events and analyze all publications on this topic - Russian and foreign, including rare periodicals. Only documents stored in state and departmental archives, which were closed at that time, could not be used. But since 1991, it has become possible to include in research about the new martyrs the study and analysis of these documents, the importance of which is difficult to overestimate.
The Mystery of the Abandoned Burial Ground
– Tell us how you learned about the Tver ruler Thaddeus and the place of his burial?
– In the course of studying the lives of confessors and martyrs of the twentieth century in the first half of the 1980s, I interviewed witnesses who knew clergy and laity who suffered during the persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1920s and 1930s. And among others, Archimandrite Spiridon (Lukich), who was living retired in Zhitomir, was himself interested in the fate of the confessors, especially those whom he personally knew. He treated the Hieromartyr Thaddeus (Uspensky), who lived in Zhitomir for quite a long time, with great reverence. Maintaining close relations with parishioners in Tver, he collected everything that related to the archbishop.
Then, in Tver itself, almost everyone who knew Archbishop Thaddeus during his lifetime was interviewed. Some pointed to the place of his burial. However, as it turned out later, a change in the appearance of the area and the destruction of the Church of the Burning Bush Icon of the Mother of God, which had long been an important landmark, led to the loss of the exact location. In the mid-1980s, excavations were carried out in this area, which showed that the burial site was indeed inaccurately marked.
Having no new witnesses, I began to study this section of the cemetery more carefully and came to the conclusion that one of the places was still somehow different from the others, as if a person’s hand was still touching it, but just enough so as not to mark it for others, as if wanting to keep this place a secret. Considering that the Soviet era had not yet ended, such a desire was quite natural.
Convinced that the place was identified correctly, I decided to wait until it was no different from the others. In the end, this happened, all signs of visiting this place disappeared and were no longer renewed, which made it possible to make the assumption that the person who visited the grave had died. By this time, the political life of the state had already changed. However, to begin work aimed at finding the relics, it was necessary for the will of God to become clear, which could manifest itself, in particular, through the believing residents of Tver, in their desire to find the relics of the holy martyr.
More than six years had passed since the location of the supposed burial had been determined, when in the summer of 1993 Yulia Efimovna Toporkova (later the abbess of the Kashin Klobukov Monastery Anna, who was tonsured into the schema with the name Stefanida before her death) approached me and asked me to begin research to find the burial place of the Hieromartyr Thaddeus. It was necessary to take the blessing of the diocesan bishop for this research. At the beginning of October 1993, I met with the ruling bishop of the Tver diocese, who also wished to begin the search.
Employees of the archeology department of the Tver State United Museum were involved in the research. Work began on October 24, 1993. I outlined three possible burial sites so that, after conducting official research, I could discard all versions. I described to Yulia Efimovna where the excavations should begin. The first day yielded results that were more of an archaeological nature - the remains of ancient buildings were discovered. Then I indicated the second place. The excavations carried out during the second day did not give the desired results. As often happens, at the first setbacks people lose faith. The littered edge of the cemetery next to the road and the absence of any landmarks really did not inspire much hope for success.
But I was confident that the relics of Archbishop Thaddeus would be found. I knew that the burial took place in the presence of witnesses, and two witnesses knew exactly what day the body of Archbishop Thaddeus would be brought to the cemetery, the third ended up here largely by accident, having come that day to pray at her father’s grave. It was also known that Archbishop Thaddeus was buried without a coffin, in his lower clothes.
In the post-Easter days of 1938, the prison grave was secretly opened by admirers of the righteous man, the body of the archbishop was transferred to a hastily knocked together coffin, and a painted Easter egg was placed in his hand. The death of the archbishop was reported at the same time to the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), who performed the funeral service in absentia.
Finding the relics of Bishop Thaddeus: how it happened
“I explained to Yulia Efimovna in detail where we should dig this time. Indeed, on October 26, 1993, workers came across a burial site. Archaeologists were invited and completed the work.
The remains of a man buried in the 1930s were discovered in a grave that bore all the hallmarks of a prison burial where generally accepted burial customs were not followed. This was evidenced by a coin from that time that was placed in the grave. The remains were in a coffin that looked like a box made of thin and narrow boards. The hands were tied with wire, one of them contained shells from a painted Easter egg. All this coincided with archival documents indicating the time of the archbishop’s death (December 31, 1937), and the stories of witnesses who indicated the circumstances and date of burial (January 2, 1938).
On the same day, a memorial service was celebrated for the martyred archpastor. After this, the remains were transported to the archeology department of the Tver State United Museum, as Yulia Efimovna informed me about. She asked me to come because the diocese did not know what to do next with the remains.
The next day, October 27, I arrived in Tver, at the archeology department, where I served a litany for the archpastor who had suffered martyrdom. Archaeologists suggested seeking assistance from the head of the Department of Forensic Medicine of the Tver State Medical Institute, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Viktor Sergeevich Chelnokov. After examining the found remains, he suggested contacting his teacher, Doctor of Medical Sciences, head of the forensic medical examination department located in Moscow, Viktor Nikolaevich Zvyagin, who agreed to conduct a study based on an analysis of historical research and methodology used by experts in these cases. Viktor Nikolaevich conducted the research brilliantly; it was conducted from November 2, 1993 to March 15, 1994. It was concluded that the remains found on October 26, 1993 are the relics belonging to the holy martyr Thaddeus (Uspensky), Archbishop of Tver.
After completing the study, the Tver diocese proposed to transfer the relics privately, which I considered unworthy of the great archpastor. I proposed making the transfer of the relics to the city of Tver an official event open to the believers of Tver, scheduling it for December 30, on the eve of the celebration of the memory of the holy martyr. The diocese agreed and agreed with the city authorities on the meeting place of the relics and the route to the Ascension Cathedral. The bus for transferring the relics from Moscow to Tver was provided by Alexander Vasilyevich Burenkov, publisher of the first in the series of books “Martyrs, confessors and devotees of piety of the Russian Orthodox Church. Biographies and materials for them,” published in 1992.
– As far as we know, Alexander Burenkov has been assisting you in publishing books for a long time. How did you meet? Are you in a relationship today?
– I was introduced to Alexander Vasilievich in 1991, when there was an urgent need to publish the first book in the series “Martyrs, confessors and devotees of piety of the Russian Orthodox Church. Biographies and Materials for Them" - the first non-reprint book based on original research conducted within the country. Alexander Vasilyevich’s interest in this topic was based on the fact that he himself showed a deep interest in the history of our Fatherland, our society, in social processes in our country, and discovered an approach to the social phenomena under consideration, which can be described as state. On his initiative, a presentation of the first book of biographies of the new martyrs was organized in Tver.
Alexander Vasilyevich’s help was not limited to this publication; it continues to this day. On his initiative, in 1997, the Foundation “Memory of the Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Orthodox Church” was established, which became a scientific laboratory for the study of this topic, and even more broadly - for the study of the history of Russia of the late 19th and 20th centuries, as well as the development of methodological approaches to the study of Russian history and history as a scientific discipline.
Veneration of the New Martyrs
– What is the situation with the canonization of new martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church at the present time?
– The process of adding new names to the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church continues. However, every phenomenon has measures and boundaries. It cannot continue indefinitely or until it is stopped by objective historical circumstances in the form of various kinds of disasters, wars and revolutions.
More than 1,500 new martyrs were canonized. Can church and civil society, with all their even special efforts in this direction, assimilate the confessional life of such a number of canonized saints? He can’t, even if he tried to do it. Therefore, before adding a new name to the calendar, one should consider not only the fact that the person was killed during the period of repression, but the church significance of the event.
When adding a new name, it would be necessary to answer the questions: what outstanding confessional, Christian feat is seen in the life of this particular victim, what was his sacrificial service? After all, repressions in Russia were widespread, and it is absurd to glorify only because the violent death of a person occurred as a result of his belonging to a certain social group. Maybe a person would like to change his color and leave this social environment, but he didn’t have time. And such cases have happened. This is evidenced by the presence in our church history of a host of renovationists.
But the most important thing is that recently, due to changes in legislation, we have truncated information about that era and about the people who suffered then, and in the most important aspects for canonization. Therefore, today’s hasty inclusion of the names of the victims in the Council of New Martyrs may lead to the fact that the names of Renovationists, Grigorievites and people who, together with the NKVD bodies, were participants in the persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church, may be included there.
– What can you say about the process of venerating the new martyrs in church society?
– The theme of the new martyrs has firmly taken its place in the consciousness of church society. Books are published on this topic, both scientific and educational works are written. The lives of the new martyrs are translated into foreign languages. If we talk about the extent to which the new martyrs are revered by church society as models that should be imitated and from whom they should learn, then this already depends on the quality of the society itself and on individual people - whether they strive to realize the ideal in their lives, do they have this ideal themselves, do they want to be like our saints, or is this outside the main interests of their life. But then the saints have nothing to do with it.
Today, on the site of the grave of Bishop Thaddeus in the abandoned Neopalimovskoye cemetery near the Eastern Bridge, a wooden chapel has been built. True, the trucks during its construction mixed up the dirt so much that it is still impossible to approach it either from the side of the bridge or from Rosa Luxemburg Street. Unfortunately, everything we do is done without thinking about people, in a formal way. But we hope that over time the dirt will settle and the chapel at the Eastern Bridge will become a place of pilgrimage - like the shrine with the relics of the holy archbishop in the Ascension Cathedral.
Reference
Archimandrite Damascene (Orlovsky) - since 1996, member of the Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints of the Russian Orthodox Church, from 2011 to 2015 - secretary of the Synodal Commission for Canonization. Since 2012 - executive secretary of the church-public council under the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' for perpetuating the memory of new martyrs and confessors of the Russian Church, scientific director of the regional public fund "Memory of Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Orthodox Church", Doctor of Historical Sciences. Author of more than 200 publications on the topic of repression in the twentieth century, canonization of saints, canonization of new martyrs and confessors of the Russian Church.
Prepared by Maria Orlova
The original material is located
