Church of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in Strogino
AT THE GREAT VESPERS Blessed is the man: 1st antiphon. To the Lord, I cried: stichera, tone 6: The land of Pskov is glorified, / as in the small village of Klin / from the pious root the fruit has grown beautiful, / Basil, a well-behaved youth, / the namesake saint of the Great. / In this same name great, like a royal one, / the path was ordained for him. The pious priest John, your father, was vouchsafed to the saint / a wondrous revelation, / when his mother who had fallen asleep / appeared to him in a dream / and you, still to this youth, / one of the three brothers / was the great foreteller. From early childhood I loved the Church of God / and desired piety, holy, / in the spiritual city / in the word of God / and the paternal and pious writings, / began to study. What then will I do, / in what way of my life / will I serve You, Master and God, / by what deeds will I assist You, / will I cleanse my soul from sin? / - having come to the measure of age, / you tearfully cried out to the Lord, blessed one. Glory, voice 8: You, blessed one, chose the path of virginity, poverty, / cutting off your own will, / taking monastic tonsure, / in which you were named Tikhon, / so that you walked the path of the piety of the saint of Transdon. And now, Theotokos: King of Heaven: Entrance. Prokeimenon in the afternoon. And readings 3. At the litia stichera, voice 3: In the city of Toropets, / in the temple of God, / where your parent served, / you learned piety in your youth, O saint. Quiet in disposition, / meek and humble in heart / you truly appeared before God and people, / having carried the yoke of Christ through all your life for good, / you rested blessedly in the heavenly abodes, / now pray for us, / that we too may have lived well on earth , / Let us be worthy to be heirs of the Kingdom of God. Glory, voice 8: God magnify you, O holy Hierarch Father Tikhon, / having appointed the First Hierarch of His Church, / but you are the lot of this ministry / as we have accepted His good will, / in your high priesthood / you have always been zealous for the glory - / of the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit - / Trinity Consubstantial and Indivisible. And now, O Mother of God, the same voice: To You, O Mother of God, / we all now cry tearfully: / heed the intercession of St. Tikhon for us / and offer up prayers to Your Son / for the salvation of our souls. On the stichera, stichera, voice 2: Just as the candle on the candlestick shines for everyone, / so you, shining with piety, blessed, / were appointed by the Lord to be the bishop of the land of Kholm, / so that the light of Christ’s teaching / shone upon the people living in it. Verse: My mouth speaks wisdom, and my heart teaches understanding. God bless and sanctify you, American land, / given to your Orthodox people in the enclosure of the Russian Church / blessed Bishop Tikhon, / decorate your face with many churches / and like a God-wise priest / lead your flock to Christ. Verse: I preach Your righteousness / to the great church. Holy to all the lands of Yaroslavl, / greet the hierarch of good, / Blessed Tikhon, / who, like you, has endured much labor here, / and now strives, together with you, to pray to Christ our God / to save our souls. Glory, voice 4: The land of Lithuania was glorified / by your coming, blessed one, / but the people of Orthodoxy, / who are in it, / received you as a lamp of faith and piety / and were established by you in the worship of the Triune God, / your holy omophorion / a reliable cover and protection / from evil circumstances thus appearing. And now, Mother of God, the same voice: Look at the prayers of Your servant, All-Immaculate, / quenching the fierce uprisings that come upon us, / changing us from all sorrows, / For You alone are the firm and well-known affirmation of the Imams / and Your intercession by the acquisitive, / Let us not be ashamed, Lady , Those who call upon Thee, / strive to entreat Thee, faithfully crying out: / Rejoice, Lady, Help of all, / Joy and Protection, / and the Salvation of our souls. Troparion, tone 1: Let us praise the zealot of the Apostolic traditions / and the good shepherd of Christ’s Church, / who laid down his life for the sheep, / chosen by God’s lot / All-Russian Patriarch Tikhon / and cry out to him with faith and hope: / through the saintly intercession of the Lord / the Russian Church in Maintain silence, / gather her scattered children into one flock, / convert those who have departed from the right faith to repentance, / save our country from internecine warfare, / and ask for the peace of God among the people. AT MATTNS On God the Lord: troparion to the saint, twice. Glory, even now, to the Mother of God. According to the 1st verse of Sedalen, voice 2: You boldly took the rod of the High Hierarch, O holy one, / so that, like a good shepherd, walking fearlessly in your ascetic struggle, / you found the lost pea-eating sheep, / you returned the packs that were stolen into the sheepfold, / with many different diseases and ailments heal those who are obsessed with goodness / - and protect all Christ’s flock of verbal sheep / in truth and righteousness. Glory, and now, the Mother of God, the same voice: Cover us with Your all-powerful Protection, / All-merciful Lady Theotokos, / protect us from all enemy snares, / for You have given grace-filled power, / as the one who gave birth to the Lord Christ and the Savior of our souls. According to the 2nd verse of the Sedal, tone 5: Give thanks to God / give thanks, O people of Russia, / for he has added His mercy to you, / set Blessed Tikhon / as First Hierarch of His Church, / so that in the days of trials / you will find in him the image of faith / from slander unshakable from the enemy, / unfalse hope in God’s help / and filled with the love of Christ. Glory, and now, the Mother of God, the same voice: Soothe, O Lady, / the sickness of our souls. / Fill our hearts with grace-filled joy in You, / for whoever trusts in You / we will be partakers of eternal life. According to the polyeleos sedalene, tone 8. Similar to: About the most glorious miracle. Come, faithful ones, / let us accordingly praise the most wonderful saint, / the divine leader of the Russian Church, / the blessed Tikhon, / who is worthy of the yoke of Christ / through all his life, / and now settled in the abodes of the Heavenly Father, / praying for the salvation of our souls. Glory, even now, to the Mother of God: Blessed be the day and the hour, / and the Lord will favor Thee, O Most Pure Mother of God, / to reveal the Savior to the world, / and thus we have Thee as a bold Representative and Intercessor before Thy Son / for the salvation of our souls. Degree, 1st antiphon of the 4th tone. Prokeimenon, tone 4: I have lifted up the chosen one / from My people. Verse: With My oil I anointed him. Every breath: Gospel of John, conceived 36. According to the 50th psalm stichera, tone 6: Love the Church of God and her children most sincerely, / and directing your actions in every possible way for the benefit of you, / sacrificially and boldly, / like Moses of old, / to the Lord You cried out to the saint: / for me, Master, / let my name be forgotten among men, / but Your Church will be saved in my fatherland / and the sweat of the blood of the martyrs, / which has richly stained the Russian land, will dry up. CANON to the Saint, tone 6 Song 1 Irmos: As Israel walked across the dry land, / with footsteps across the abyss, / seeing the persecutor Pharaoh / drowned, / we sing a victorious song to God, crying out. Like the red fruit of God’s saving sowing / you appeared in the Church, to the saint of Christ, / to the pious parents, priest John and Anna, becoming a wonderful branch. The wondrous prophecy in a dream to your father about your future greatness, even to this youth, after many years has passed, has come true, / beforehand, you appeared to the Russian Church as a truly Great Lord, blessed one. Showing an image of meekness, humility and love for the Lord, / you were a good helper as your young friend, blessed one, / for this sake and you, even to this youth, the bishop of God prophesied you. Theotokos: Save us from all troubles, / All-merciful Lady Theotokos, / and through Your prayers to Your Son and our God, / heal our suffering souls from sinful diseases. Song 3 Irmos: There is no one holy, / like You, O Lord my God, / who lifted up the horn of Your faithful, O Good One, / and established us on the rock / of Your confession. In spiritual heirlooms, you learned to speak Orthodox theology and speak the word of God in other languages diligently, O blessed one, / and in your church service you brought forth good fruit. When the Lord Lord opened the arms of the Father and like a beloved son, Tikhon received you in monasticism, / and also was pleased to appoint you as a ruler in the spiritual cities of Pskov and Kazan, / so that the Orthodox youths might teach God-wisdom and Christian piety, blessed one. The Lord Christ has called upon the Kholm flock to guide the flock well, / and also make a beginning with your holy feat, / so that, strengthened in them, a fair bishop of the All-Russian Church may appear, O blessed one. Theotokos: Our souls are fiercely burdened by many sins. / But You, Most Pure Mother of God, through Your prayers to Whom was born of You, deliver us from this sinful captivity and guide us on the path of salvation. Sedalen, voice 1: Imitating the good shepherd of the Gospel, / you boldly entered the sheepfold, O saint, / and calling out your sheep by name, / you kept safe within the church fence. Glory, and now, the Mother of God, the same voice: To You, O Mother of God, / we now resort in prayer / and Your intercession before Your son / we earnestly ask / from sinful entrapment, save us / and guide us on the path of salvation. Song 4 Irmos: Christ is my strength, / God and Lord, / the honest Church sings divinely, crying out / with pure meaning, celebrating in the Lord. Following the guidance of God, / obeying the command of the Mother Church, / you reached the distant American lands / and there a new flock - Aleut, Creole, Canary people - in the fence of the Church of Christ, like a good shepherd, you watched over, / Blessed Tikhona. Rejoice and be glad, faithful children of the Russian Church, in Pennsylvania, California, Florida and other American lands, / Saint Tikhon now stands before the throne of God and prays for the salvation of our souls. The Kronstadt shepherd / interlocutor was honored to be with you, blessed one, / still the bishop of the city of Yaroslavl, / and to you the all-Russian shepherd was foreordained. / Even now, standing before the throne of God with him, / pray for our souls to be saved. Theotokos: It is worthy to glorify Thee, the Lady, / who always saves the Russian land. / Behold, Saint Tikhon in the Yaroslavl Church of Your Dormition, / Sovereign Nicholas, as God’s true anointed one, / and brought prayers of thanksgiving along with him for the intercession of our fatherland / to You and Your Son. Song 5 Irmos: With God's light, O Blessed One, / Illumine the souls of You in the morning with love, I pray, / Lead You, the Word of God, / the True God, / calling out from the darkness of sin. When, because of our sins, the Lord allowed the invasion of foreigners, / and the Russian land was stained with blood, / you, the saint, preached repentance, / and promoted the healing of the soul and body of the afflicted, / stood stronger for the Orthodox faith, / you called upon the blessed king and the holy fatherland. Standing before the enemy militia at the walls of the city of Vilna, / you reverently carried the holy relics of the holy martyrs Anthony, John and Eustathius from the monastery of the Holy Spirit, O saint, / and in the city of Moscow / you preserved unharmed from the desecration of foreigners. By the favor of God and the people of God, / you were appointed archpastor of Moscow, holy one, / and you also appeared as a worthy successor to the Moscow saints. Theotokos: The Council of Angels and the human race rejoice in You, O Blessed Mary, / Mother of the Inexperienced, / For You contained the inconceivable in your womb / and You gave birth to the Savior of the world. Song 6 Irmos: The sea of life, / raised in vain by misfortunes by the storm, / flowed to Thy quiet refuge, crying to Thee: / lift up my belly from aphids, / O thou of much mercy. The desert-dwelling elder prayed fervently before the image of the Lady, / with trepidation drew lots from the ark, / on which your name, / as the High Hierarch chosen by God, was inscribed, / for this reason we now, as then the hierarchs of the Council, silently “axios” you, to our archpastor, we cry, / make us like verbal sheep worthy of being your pasture. O the depths of the riches and wisdom of God! / It pleased the Holy Spirit from the hierarchy / to establish you, blessed one, as Patriarch of the Russian Church, / so that in the days of the test of faith / testifying to your strong standing in it / and your flock unharmed / from the slander of the enemy, you will protect well. O ineffable love and mercy of God! / Saint Tikhon is placed at the head of the Russian Church / and many people / find a good shepherd, / and are respected within the church fence. Theotokos: The people of Russia rejoice and rejoice, Ever-Virgin, / Celebrating Your Entry into the Temple, / and the erection of St. Tikhon as Patriarch of Russia / on this same day gratefully remembering, / earnestly crying out to Thee: / O Sovereign Lady, / through the prayers of St. Tikhon / Church and land Save the Russian / from all the slander of the enemy / and bring all the faithful into the palaces of heaven. Kontakion, tone 2: Decorated with quietness of disposition, / showing meekness and mercy to those who repent, / you remained firm and unyielding in your confession of the Orthodox faith and love for the Lord, / to Saint Tikhon of Christ. / Pray for us, that we may not be separated from the love of God, / which is Christ Jesus our Lord. Song 7 Irmos: The angel / made a dew-bearing furnace / for the venerable youth, / but the Chaldeans scorched / the command of God, / admonishing the tormentor to cry out: / Blessed art thou, O God of our fathers. Weeping, groaning and great grief, / you foresaw the coming to the Russian Church, O High Hierarch, / we strengthen you with the love of Christ, / you courageously cried out: / blessed are you, O God of our fathers. In a fierce time / you received the high priest’s staff with fear and trembling, blessed, / you steered the Russian Church like a ship not made by hands, / you taught the faithful to cry out: / blessed are you, O God of our fathers. The ancient prophet Elijah, / seeking those who did not bend the knee to Baal, / you imitated the high priest, / so that you sought, / even if you did not bow your neck to the prey of the godless, / even raised up those who had fallen from the depths of sin, / and taught the faithful in sorrowful situations / to cry out to the Lord: / Blessed are you, O God of our father. Theotokos: The reliable helper of the Imam, Theotokos, / many times in sorrowful circumstances / intercession for the Russian people / appeared before Thy Son. Song 8 Irmos: From the flames of the saints you poured out dew / and you burned the righteous sacrifice with water: / you did everything, O Christ, only as you willed, / we exalt you to all ages. In the image of your zealous imitation / of the service of the High Hierarchs of Moscow, / you were worthily clothed in their sacred clothes, O blessed one, / and pray with them for us, so that we too may be worthy of exalting the Lord forever. The rod of High Hierarch Peter / you took with boldness, O blessed one, / and you raised up the image of the primate’s power in the Russian Church. / We, knowing God’s mercy to us, / exalt the Lord to all ages. Our sin has multiplied, / the Lord allows fratricide / and internecine warfare to exist in the Russian lands. /You, O Saint, / called upon people who were hostile to repentance and reconciliation, / teaching them to exalt Christ forever. Theotokos: In Thy house, Most Pure Virgin, / the temple of Thy Dormition, / the installation of Blessed Tikhon as High Hierarch of Russia was accomplished. / Likewise, the prayers of that one, / as Thy faithful chosen servant, / lift up to God and save our souls. Song 9 Irmos: It is impossible for man to see God / The Angels do not dare to look at the Worthless One, / By You, All-Pure One, having appeared as a man / The Word Incarnate, / Who is magnified, / with the heavenly howls we please You. With weeping and lamentation / the Russian land was declared, / the blood of the holy martyr and confessor of Christ poured out across it, / the temples of God were desecrated and trampled upon. / Woe to me, my Earth! / - you cried out to the saint, / what healing is due to you, / so that you can get rid of them all. Alas for me, people of Russia! - You cried, O blessed one. / We have forgotten the Lord, / we have become fussy in our affairs, / we have no care for our souls. / I tell you, / we will not find God’s favor, / unless we try to cleanse our souls with tears of repentance before the Lord. I languish in prison for you, O saint, / you were greatly troubled by the Church, / for the hierarchy and priests did not / step on the path of Judas the traitor / and unrighteously seize power in the Church, / your evil deeds, as if they had discredited the good renewal; / and thus brought the Russian flock into confusion / and was to blame for the discord in the church. Neither sorrow, nor oppression, nor persecution, / nor famine, nor nakedness, / lower misfortune, nor sword will be able to separate the faithful children of Christ from His love / - you apostolically declared to the saint. Theotokos: Let us shout praises to You, Most Pure One. / With these words / we will glorify Your greatness, / for You gave birth to the Savior of our souls. Luminary, tone 1: Today we glorify the High Hierarch Tikhon of Russia, / we piously honor his memory, / for he, like a bright lamp, shone / and in the image of his most luminous life / he teaches people to zealously serve God. Glory, even now, to the Mother of God: Rejoice, Virgin Mother of God, / Sovereign Lady, / Who gave birth to the Light of Christ to the world; / Rejoice, praise of the whole universe; / Rejoice, Blessed Most Pure Mother of God. To praise those stichera, tone 4: Faith in people has become impoverished, / love has become exhausted, / hope has dried up, / the Lord allows / cruel pestilence, illness and famine on the people of our fatherland. / But you, saint, / defended the shrines of God from the desecration of the infidels, / you were sick for the suffering / and you called upon the all-Russian flock to greater mercy and sacrifice / from your generosity for them. The words of wisdom / are not measured by years, but by good deeds / the fullness of human life before God is measured / fulfilled on you by the saint. / Having also enriched your soul with virtues, / you have settled in the heavenly abodes, / where you pray for us continually. Pay attention to yourself, / people of Russia! / For the Lord now grant us His mercy: / the streams of blood of the martyr have dried up, / we are freed from captivity from the power of the godless, / the trampled temples of God are being restored / - we flee in every possible way from the attacks of sin, / so that we may not bring the wrath of God upon us, / and we will not have the last first pot. Glory, voice 8: the blood of the saints martyr / Church of Christ is anciently established, / such in your days, the saint of Tikhona, / in our fatherland, like the flowering of the water, / the blood of the saints martyr, / they are a viewing of God / this seed, / from the inequal The vegetable of the benevolent tree of Rus' Orthodox. And now, the Mother of God: the Most Holy Girl Mati, / Evil Saint Tikhon on the day of the gospel of Ty Archangel Gabriel / The field of the earthly path of his end / and like your chosen one in the heavenly drama of the drama. / The same, about the Mother of God, / Prayers of St. Tikhon / about the suffering of the country of the country and the people of Her / to your son and the God of the Ascension / and save our souls. Great doxology and dismissal. At the liturgy the Service service
The kindest - Patriarch
He became the first All-Russian Patriarch after the 200-year synodal period. This happened in those days when the God-fighting Bolsheviks had just come to power, and cannon salvoes were constantly reminding us of this, as they fired at the Kremlin. It was this circumstance that put an end to doubts and disputes - it became clear to most participants in the council that with such a threat to Orthodoxy and the Church, autocracy became simply necessary.
And so, by a majority vote, three candidate bishops were chosen: Anthony Khrapovitsky, Archbishop of Kharkov, Arseny Stadnitsky, Archbishop of Novgorod, and Tikhon Bellavin, Metropolitan of Moscow. The first was called the smartest, the second - the strictest, and the humble Tikhon - the kindest. And when on November 5, according to church style, 1917, Hieroschemamonk Alexy from the Zosimova Monastery, after a long prayer before the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, took out the lot for Patriarchal service, it turned out that he fell on “the good one.”
Portrait of Patriarch Tikhon
Many remember how, shortly after the resumption of our Don Monastery in 1991, there was a fire in the Small Cathedral, in which the grave of Patriarch Tikhon was located with a tombstone. After this, it was not possible to begin repairs for a long time, and the idea arose to take advantage of the time and try to find the relics of the saint. The first tonsure of our renewed monastery, Father Tikhon Shevkunov, on whose initiative, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, these relics were acquired, made the following discovery: the arson occurred precisely on the day of the election of St. Tikhon to the patriarchate. The attackers wanted to cause harm, and this, it turns out, was providential...
God Himself, the Mother of God, Who accepted Russia, deprived of a monarch, under Her sovereign omophorion, chose the kindest Patriarch for the Russian Church. Only such a Primate could preserve the Church in that terrible time.
The “smartest” of the candidates - Bishop Anthony Khrapovitsky - subsequently, in a circle of people close to him, according to some witnesses, admitted that, having become Patriarch, he would have taken a tougher position, which could have led to steeper retaliatory measures from the Bolsheviks in relation to the Church, fraught with disastrous consequences for it.
Scene from the life of St. Tikhon Fresco
He was an adamant monarchist, proud of the greatness of the former Russia, shortly before the revolution he dreamed aloud about the conquest of Constantinople and Jerusalem “under the nose” of the Russian Tsar and about the spread of Russian culture to these areas...
So, the kindest, meekest and most humble of the candidates was elected to the Patriarchal Throne by the Providence of God. Submissive to the will and providence of God.
During the time of the Antichrist
Saint Tikhon ascended the cross of the Patriarchal service during the turbulent days of the atheistic captivity of Russia. And he was fully aware that it was not the glory and honors bestowed upon the bishop that awaited him, but the cross.
His first words were: “The news of my election to the Patriarchate is for me that scroll on which is written: “crying, and groaning, and grief.” And what kind of scroll was the prophet Ezekiel supposed to eat?
The Lord said about the last, Antichrist times before the end of the world: “Because of the increase of iniquities, the love of many will become scarce, and when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Love will become scarce, and this means that the Grace of God will leave the hearts of men - namely, the saving grace that saves. That is, according to the word of St. Seraphim, the acquisition, accumulation of grace - Divine energy - is the goal of Christian life, because it is the abundant grace accumulating in the heart that brings salvation to a person, the Kingdom of Heaven within us. This is precisely the return of God to the human heart, the return of the lost paradise. And the impoverishment of grace means God’s abandonment of man, his deprivation of this Blissful Eternity.
Scene from the life of St. Tikhon
It is precisely in moments of general mutual embitterment and bitterness that the danger of this impoverishment of love, and with it the saving grace in human hearts, increases.
And what the Lord said about the last, Antichrist times also applies to those times of multiplying iniquities, and as a result of this - general mutual embitterment and bitterness, which can be called rehearsals for the coming of the Antichrist, when from time to time the forerunners of the Antichrist come, about which the holy Apostle John The theologian said that there are many antichrists. They existed at the beginning of the 20th century. - in the time of St. Tikhon, they still exist now...
Co-heirs
Of the same spirit of love as Saint Tikhon, who led the host of new martyrs and confessors of the Russian Church, was the Hieromartyr Hilarion, Archbishop of Verei, who died in prison from typhus. He had such a close spiritual closeness with His Holiness Tikhon that the latter made him a co-author of some of his messages to the people and authorities.
Hieroschemamonk Valentin (Gurevich)
Hieromartyr Hilarion’s involvement in divine love was expressed not in words, but in deeds, in particular, in the next episode. Once, while imprisoned on Solovki, he, at the head of a small group of civilians, former inhabitants of the Solovetsky monastery, went to certain death in order to save from death a security officer in distress in the White Sea, who was distinguished by phenomenal atrocities towards prisoners of the Solovetsky camps. So that the human soul, which was in terrible demonic darkness, does not perish, but still has the opportunity to repent. In the eyes of the witnesses to this act, who were old-timers of Solovki, it was a true miracle that, as a result, both the rescued person and the rescuers survived. After this, the rescued security officer, one day passing by the Crucifixion, which he had recently shot with a revolver, this time took off his cap and crossed himself...
The new martyrs and confessors of the Russian Church, led by Saint Tikhon, are bearers of that love commanded to all Christians, which has the miraculous power of converting enemies and even atheists into admirers of the name of Christ.
The topic of the day
The words of Saint Tikhon that in difficult times of bitter strife one should first of all fulfill the commandment of love for enemies are becoming increasingly relevant in our time. We know that mutual bitterness during the time of the Antichrist will intensify and reach its most extreme degrees. This includes the words of the Savior: “...from the increase of iniquity the love of many will become scarce, and when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” For in those hearts where there is no love, there is no God. But the adversary who has taken possession of such hearts destroys faith. Therefore, at an extreme degree of mutual hardness, when the temptation to become hardened yourself is great, you need to be vigilant and guard your heart from this hardness, so as not to lose the Grace of the Holy Spirit and, consequently, the Kingdom of Heaven.
To do this, each of us, especially in these non-peaceful times, needs to protect our hearts precisely by fulfilling the commandment to love our enemies. We should wish for them not the eternal fire of Gehenna, but saving repentance - a “change of mind” that restores the pristine beauty of the soul, restoring its likeness to God. As the Monk Silouan of Athos bequeathed, “if someone offends you, or dishonors you, or takes away what is yours, or persecutes the Church, pray to the Lord, saying: “Lord, we are all Your creation; have pity on your servants and turn them to repentance.” And then you will tangibly carry grace in your soul.”
Hieroschemamonk Valentin (Gurevich), confessor of the Donskoy Monastery (published in abbreviation)
