By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet government closed most of the country's churches and tried to eradicate Christianity, but in the souls of the Russian people the Orthodox faith was warm and supported by secret prayers and appeals to God. This is evidenced by the decayed finds that search engines encounter in our time. As a rule, the standard set of things for a Russian soldier is a party card, a Komsomol badge, an icon of the Mother of God hidden in a secret pocket and a pectoral cross worn on the same chain with a personalized capsule. Rising to the attack, along with the calling cry “For the Motherland! For Stalin!" the soldiers whispered “With God” and were already openly baptized. At the front, cases were passed down from mouth to mouth when people managed to survive only with God’s miraculous help. The well-known aphorism, tested and confirmed over the years, was confirmed in this war: “There are no atheists in war.”
Metropolitan Sergius: a prophecy about the fate of fascism
Patriarch Sergius (Stragorodsky)
The Russian Orthodox Church clearly outlined its position from the first day of the war. On June 22, 1941, its head, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Sergius (Stragorodsky), addressed all Orthodox believers in the country with a written message “To the shepherds and flocks of Christ’s Orthodox Church,” in which he stated that the Church has always shared the fate of its people.
This was the case during the time of Alexander Nevsky, who smashed the dog knights, and during the time of Dmitry Donskoy, who received a blessing from the abbot of the Russian land, Sergius of Radonezh, before the Battle of Kulikovo. The Church will not leave its people even now, blessing them for the upcoming feat.
The Bishop perspicaciously emphasized that “fascism, which recognizes only naked force as law and is accustomed to mock the high demands of honor and morality,” will suffer the same fate as other invaders who once invaded our country.
On June 26, 1941, Sergius served a prayer service “For the Granting of Victory” in the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow, and from that day similar prayer services began in all churches of the country almost until the very end of the war.
Russian Orthodox Church during the Great Patriotic War
Sunday June 22, 1941, the day of the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union, coincided with the celebration of the memory of All Saints who shone in the Russian land. It would seem that the outbreak of war should have exacerbated the contradictions between the Church and the state, which had been persecuting it for more than twenty years. However, this did not happen. The spirit of love inherent in the Church turned out to be stronger than resentment and prejudice. In the person of the Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), the Church gave an accurate, balanced assessment of the unfolding events and determined its attitude towards them. At a moment of general confusion, confusion and despair, the voice of the Church sounded especially clearly. Having learned about the attack on the USSR, Metropolitan Sergius returned to his modest residence from the Epiphany Cathedral, where he served the Liturgy, immediately went to his office, wrote and typed with his own hand “Message to the shepherds and flocks of Christ’s Orthodox Church.” “Despite his physical disabilities - deafness and immobility,” Archbishop Dimitri (Gradusov) of Yaroslavl later recalled, “Metropolitan Sergius turned out to be unusually sensitive and energetic: he not only managed to write his message, but also sent it to all corners of his vast Motherland.” The message read: “Our Orthodox Church has always shared the fate of the people. She endured trials with him and was consoled by his successes. She will not leave her people even now. She blesses with heavenly blessing the upcoming national feat...” In the terrible hour of the enemy invasion, the wise first hierarch saw behind the alignment of political forces in the international arena, behind the clash of powers, interests and ideologies, the main danger that threatened to destroy thousand-year-old Russia. The choice of Metropolitan Sergius, like every believer in those days, was not simple and unambiguous. During the years of persecution, he, together with the entire Church, drank from the same cup of suffering and martyrdom. And now with all his archpastoral and confessional authority he convinced the priests not to remain silent witnesses, much less to indulge in thoughts about possible benefits on the other side of the front. The message clearly reflects the position of the Russian Orthodox Church, based on a deep understanding of patriotism, a sense of responsibility before God for the fate of the earthly Fatherland. Subsequently, at the Council of Bishops of the Orthodox Church on September 8, 1943, the Metropolitan himself, recalling the first months of the war, said: “We did not have to think about what position our Church should take during the war, because before we had time to determine, somehow our position, it has already been determined - the fascists attacked our country, devastated it, took our compatriots captive, tortured and robbed them in every possible way... So simple decency would not allow us to take any other position than the one we have taken, that is, an unconditionally negative attitude towards everything that bears the stamp of fascism, a stamp that is hostile to our country.” In total, during the war years, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens issued up to 23 patriotic messages.
Metropolitan Sergius was not alone in his call to the Orthodox people. Leningrad Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) called on believers to “lay down their lives for the integrity, for the honor, for the happiness of their beloved Motherland.” In his messages, he first of all wrote about the patriotism and religiosity of the Russian people: “As in the times of Demetrius Donskoy and Saint Alexander Nevsky, as in the era of the struggle against Napoleon, the victory of the Russian people was due not only to the patriotism of the Russian people, but also to their deep faith in helping God’s just cause... We will be unshakable in our faith in the final victory over lies and evil, in the final victory over the enemy.”
Another close associate of the Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich), also addressed the flock with patriotic messages, who often went to the front line, performing services in local churches, delivering sermons with which he consoled the suffering people, instilling hope for God’s almighty help, calling the flock to loyalty to the Fatherland. On the first anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War, June 22, 1942, Metropolitan Nicholas addressed a message to the flock living in the territory occupied by the Germans: “It has been a year since the fascist beast flooded our native land with blood. This enemy is desecrating our holy temples of God. And the blood of the murdered, and the devastated shrines, and the destroyed temples of God - everything cries out to heaven for vengeance!.. The Holy Church rejoices that among you, people’s heroes are rising up for the holy cause of saving the Motherland from the enemy - glorious partisans, for whom there is no higher happiness than fight for the Motherland and, if necessary, die for it.”
In distant America, the former head of the military clergy of the White Army, Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov), called upon God's blessing on the soldiers of the Soviet army, on the entire people, the love for whom did not pass or diminish during the years of forced separation. On July 2, 1941, he spoke at a rally of many thousands in Madison Square Garden with an appeal to his compatriots, allies, to all people who sympathized with the fight against fascism, and emphasized the special, providential nature of the events taking place in the East of Europe for all mankind, saying that The fate of the whole world depends on the fate of Russia. Vladyka Benjamin paid special attention to the day the war began - the day of All Saints who shone in the Russian land, believing that this is “a sign of the mercy of the Russian saints towards our common Motherland and gives us great hope that the struggle that has begun will end with a good end for us.”
From the first day of the war, the hierarchs in their messages expressed the attitude of the Church to the outbreak of the war as liberation and fair, and blessed the defenders of the Motherland. The messages consoled believers in sorrow, called them to selfless work in the rear, courageous participation in military operations, supported faith in the final victory over the enemy, thereby contributing to the formation of high patriotic feelings and convictions among thousands of compatriots.
A description of the actions of the Church during the war years will not be complete unless it is said that the actions of the hierarchs who disseminated their messages were illegal, since after the resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars on religious associations in 1929, the area of activity of clergy and religious preachers was limited to the location of the members of the serviced them of the religious association and the location of the corresponding prayer room.
Not only in words, but also in deeds, the Church did not abandon her people and shared with them all the hardships of the war. Manifestations of the patriotic activity of the Russian Church were very diverse. Bishops, priests, laity, faithful children of the Church, accomplished their feat regardless of the front line: deep in the rear, on the front line, in the occupied territories.
1941 found Bishop Luka (Voino-Yasenetsky) in his third exile, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. When the Great Patriotic War began, Bishop Luke did not stand aside and did not harbor a grudge. He came to the leadership of the regional center and offered his experience, knowledge and skill to treat soldiers of the Soviet army. At this time, a huge hospital was being organized in Krasnoyarsk. Trains with wounded were already coming from the front. In October 1941, Bishop Luka was appointed consultant to all hospitals in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and chief surgeon of the evacuation hospital. He plunged headlong into the difficult and intense surgical work. The most difficult operations, complicated by extensive suppuration, had to be performed by a renowned surgeon. In mid-1942, the period of exile ended. Bishop Luke was elevated to the rank of archbishop and appointed to the Krasnoyarsk see. But, heading the department, he, as before, continued surgical work, returning the defenders of the Fatherland to duty. The archbishop's hard work in Krasnoyarsk hospitals produced brilliant scientific results. At the end of 1943, the 2nd edition of “Essays on Purulent Surgery”, revised and significantly expanded, was published, and in 1944 the book “Late Resections of Infected Gunshot Wounds of Joints” was published. For these two works, Saint Luke was awarded the Stalin Prize, 1st degree. Vladyka donated part of this prize to help children who suffered in the war.
Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad carried out his archpastoral labors just as selflessly in besieged Leningrad, spending most of the blockade with his long-suffering flock. At the beginning of the war, there were five active churches left in Leningrad: St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral, Prince Vladimir and Transfiguration Cathedrals and two cemetery churches. Metropolitan Alexy lived at St. Nicholas Cathedral and served there every Sunday, often without a deacon. With his sermons and messages, he filled the souls of the suffering Leningraders with courage and hope. On Palm Sunday, his archpastoral address was read in churches, in which he called on believers to selflessly help soldiers with honest work in the rear. He wrote: “Victory is achieved not by the power of one weapon, but by the power of general uplift and mighty faith in victory, by trust in God, who crowns with the triumph of the weapon of truth, “saving” us “from cowardice and from the storm” (Ps. 55:8). And our army itself is strong not only in numbers and the power of weapons, but the spirit of unity and inspiration that lives the entire Russian people flows into it and ignites the hearts of the soldiers.”
The activity of the clergy during the days of the siege, which had deep spiritual and moral significance, was also forced to be recognized by the Soviet government. Many clergy, led by Metropolitan Alexy, were awarded the medal “For the Defense of Leningrad.”
Metropolitan Nikolai of Krutitsky and many representatives of the Moscow clergy were awarded a similar award, but for the defense of Moscow. In the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate we read that the rector of the Moscow Church in the name of the Holy Spirit at the Danilovsky cemetery, Archpriest Pavel Uspensky, did not leave Moscow during the troubled days, although he usually lived outside the city. A 24-hour watch was organized in the temple; they were very careful to ensure that random visitors did not linger in the cemetery at night. A bomb shelter was set up in the lower part of the temple. To provide first aid in case of accidents, a sanitary station was created at the temple, where there were stretchers, dressings and the necessary medicines. The priest's wife and his two daughters took part in the construction of anti-tank ditches. The energetic patriotic activity of the priest will become even more significant if we mention that he was 60 years old. Archpriest Pyotr Filonov, rector of the Moscow church in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “Unexpected Joy” in Maryina Roshcha, had three sons who served in the army. He also organized a shelter in the temple, just like all citizens of the capital, in turn he stood at security posts. And along with this, he carried out extensive explanatory work among believers, pointing out the harmful influence of enemy propaganda that penetrated the capital in leaflets scattered by the Germans. The word of the spiritual shepherd was very fruitful in those difficult and anxious days.
Hundreds of clergy, including those who managed to return to freedom by 1941 after serving time in camps, prisons and exile, were drafted into the ranks of the active army. Thus, having already been imprisoned, S.M. began his combat journey along the war fronts as deputy company commander. Eternally, the future Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Pimen. Viceroy of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery in 1950–1960. Archimandrite Alipiy (Voronov) fought for all four years, defended Moscow, was wounded several times and was awarded orders. The future Metropolitan of Kalinin and Kashin Alexy (Konoplev) was a machine gunner at the front. When he returned to the priesthood in 1943, the medal “For Military Merit” glittered on his chest. Archpriest Boris Vasiliev, before the war a deacon of the Kostroma Cathedral, commanded a reconnaissance platoon in Stalingrad, and then fought as deputy chief of regimental intelligence. In the report of the Chairman of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church G. Karpov to the Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks A.A. Kuznetsov on the state of the Russian Church dated August 27, 1946, indicated that many members of the clergy were awarded orders and medals of the Great Patriotic War.
In the occupied territory, clergymen were sometimes the only link between the local population and the partisans. They sheltered the Red Army soldiers and themselves joined the partisan ranks. Priest Vasily Kopychko, rector of the Odrizhinskaya Assumption Church in the Ivanovo district in the Pinsk region, in the first month of the war, through an underground group of a partisan detachment, received a message from Moscow from the Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius, read it to his parishioners, despite the fact that the Nazis shot those who had the text appeals. From the beginning of the war until its victorious conclusion, Father Vasily spiritually strengthened his parishioners, performing divine services at night without lighting, so as not to be noticed. Almost all residents of the surrounding villages came to the service. The brave shepherd introduced parishioners to the reports of the Information Bureau, talked about the situation at the fronts, called on them to resist the invaders, and read messages from the Church to those who found themselves under occupation. One day, accompanied by partisans, he came to their camp, became thoroughly acquainted with the life of the people's avengers, and from that moment became a partisan liaison. The rectory became a partisan hangout. Father Vasily collected food for the wounded partisans and sent weapons. At the beginning of 1943, the Nazis managed to uncover his connection with the partisans. The Germans burned the church and the rector's house. Miraculously, they managed to save the shepherd’s family and transport Father Vasily himself to the partisan detachment, which subsequently united with the active army and participated in the liberation of Belarus and Western Ukraine. For his patriotic activities, the clergyman was awarded medals “Partisan of the Great Patriotic War”, “For Victory over Germany”, “For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War”.
Personal feat was combined with fundraising from parishes for the needs of the front. Initially, believers transferred money to the account of the State Defense Committee, the Red Cross and other funds. But on January 5, 1943, Metropolitan Sergius sent a telegram to Stalin asking him to allow the Church to open a bank account into which all the money donated for defense in all churches in the country would be deposited. Stalin gave his written consent and, on behalf of the Red Army, thanked the Church for its labors. By January 15, 1943, in Leningrad alone, besieged and starving, believers donated 3,182,143 rubles to the church fund for the defense of the country.
The creation of the tank column “Dmitry Donskoy” and the squadron “Alexander Nevsky” with church funds constitutes a special page in history. There was almost not a single rural parish on the land free from fascists that did not make its contribution to the national cause. In the memories of those days, the archpriest of the church in the village of Troitsky, Dnepropetrovsk region, I.V. Ivleva says: “There was no money in the church treasury, but it was necessary to get it... I blessed two 75-year-old old women for this great cause. Let their names be known to people: Kovrigina Maria Maksimovna and Gorbenko Matryona Maksimovna. And they went, they went after all the people had already made their contribution through the village council. Two Maksimovnas went to ask in the name of Christ to protect their dear Motherland from rapists. We went around the entire parish - villages, farmsteads and settlements located 5-20 kilometers from the village, and as a result - 10 thousand rubles, a significant amount in our places devastated by German monsters.”
Funds were collected for the tank column and in the occupied territory. An example of this is the civic feat of priest Feodor Puzanov from the village of Brodovichi-Zapolye. In the occupied Pskov region, for the construction of a column, he managed to collect among the believers a whole bag of gold coins, silver, church utensils and money. These donations, totaling about 500,000 rubles, were transferred by the partisans to the mainland. With each year of the war, the amount of church contributions grew noticeably. But of particular importance in the final period of the war was the collection of funds that began in October 1944 to help the children and families of Red Army soldiers. On October 10, in his letter to I. Stalin, Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad, who headed the Russian Church after the death of Patriarch Sergius, wrote: “May this concern on the part of all the believers of our Union for the children and families of our dear soldiers and defenders facilitate their great feat, and may it unite us even more.” closer spiritual ties with those who do not spare even their blood for the freedom and prosperity of our Motherland.” The clergy and laity of the occupied territories after liberation were also actively involved in patriotic work. Thus, in Orel, after the expulsion of fascist troops, 2 million rubles were collected.
Historians and memoirists have described all the battles on the battlefields of World War II, but no one is able to describe the spiritual battles committed by the great and nameless prayer books during these years.
On June 26, 1941, in the Epiphany Cathedral, Metropolitan Sergius served a prayer service “For the Granting of Victory.” From that time on, similar prayers began to be performed in all churches of the Moscow Patriarchate according to specially compiled texts “A prayer service for the invasion of adversaries, sung in the Russian Orthodox Church during the days of the Great Patriotic War.” In all churches there was a prayer composed by Archbishop Augustine (Vinogradsky) in the year of the Napoleonic invasion, a prayer for the granting of victories to the Russian army, which stood in the way of civilized barbarians. From the first day of the war, without interrupting its prayer for a single day, during all church services, our church fervently prayed to the Lord for the granting of success and victory to our army: “O give unabated, irresistible and victorious strength, strength and courage with courage to our army to crush our enemies and adversaries and all their cunning slander...”
Metropolitan Sergius not only called, but he himself was a living example of prayerful service. Here is what his contemporaries wrote about him: “On his way from the northern camps to the Vladimir exile, Archbishop Philip (Gumilevsky) was in Moscow; he went to the office of Metropolitan Sergius in Baumansky Lane, hoping to see Vladyka, but he was away. Then Archbishop Philip left a letter to Metropolitan Sergius, which contained the following lines: “Dear Vladyka, when I think of you standing at night prayers, I think of you as a holy righteous man; when I think about your daily activities, I think of you as a holy martyr...”
During the war, when the decisive Battle of Stalingrad was nearing its end, on January 19, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens in Ulyanovsk led a religious procession to the Jordan. He fervently prayed for the victory of the Russian army, but an unexpected illness forced him to go to bed. On the night of February 2, 1943, the Metropolitan, as his cell attendant, Archimandrite John (Razumov) said, having overcome his illness, asked for help to get out of bed. Rising with difficulty, he made three bows, thanking God, and then said: “The Lord of the armies, mighty in battle, has overthrown those who rise up against us. May the Lord bless his people with peace! Maybe this beginning will be a happy ending." In the morning, the radio broadcast a message about the complete defeat of German troops at Stalingrad.
The Monk Seraphim Vyritsky accomplished a wondrous spiritual feat during the Great Patriotic War. Imitating St. Seraphim of Sarov, he prayed in the garden on a stone in front of his icon for the forgiveness of human sins and for the deliverance of Russia from the invasion of adversaries. With hot tears, the great elder begged the Lord for the revival of the Russian Orthodox Church and for the salvation of the whole world. This feat required from the saint indescribable courage and patience; it was truly martyrdom for the sake of love for one’s neighbors. From the stories of the ascetic’s relatives: “...In 1941, grandfather was already 76 years old. By that time, the disease had weakened him greatly, and he could practically not move without assistance. In the garden behind the house, about fifty meters away, a granite boulder protruded from the ground, in front of which a small apple tree grew. It was on this stone that Father Seraphim raised his petitions to the Lord. They led him by the arms to the place of prayer, and sometimes they simply carried him. An icon was fixed on the apple tree, and grandfather stood with his sore knees on the stone and stretched out his hands to the sky... What did it cost him! After all, he suffered from chronic diseases of the legs, heart, blood vessels and lungs. Apparently, the Lord Himself helped him, but it was impossible to look at all this without tears. We repeatedly begged him to leave this feat - after all, it was possible to pray in the cell, but in this case he was merciless both to himself and to us. Father Seraphim prayed as much as he could - sometimes an hour, sometimes two, and sometimes several hours in a row, he gave himself completely, without reserve - it was truly a cry to God! We believe that through the prayers of such ascetics Russia survived and St. Petersburg was saved. We remember: grandfather told us that one prayer book for the country could save all the cities and towns... Despite the cold and heat, wind and rain, and many serious illnesses, the elder insistently demanded that we help him get to the stone. So day after day, throughout the long, grueling war years...”
Then many ordinary people, military personnel, and those who had left God during the years of persecution also turned to God. Their prayer was sincere and often bore the repentant character of a “prudent thief.” One of the signalmen who received combat reports from Russian military pilots over the radio said: “When pilots in downed planes saw their inevitable death, their last words were often: “Lord, accept my soul.” The commander of the Leningrad Front, Marshal L.A., repeatedly publicly demonstrated his religious feelings. Govorov, after the Battle of Stalingrad Marshal V.N. began visiting Orthodox churches. Chuikov. The belief became widespread among believers that throughout the war Marshal G.K. carried the image of the Kazan Mother of God with him in his car. Zhukov. In 1945, he again lit the unquenchable lamp in the Leipzig Orthodox church-monument dedicated to the “Battle of the Nations” with the Napoleonic army. G. Karpov, reporting to the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on the celebration of Easter in Moscow and Moscow region churches on the night of April 15-16, 1944, emphasized that in almost all churches, in varying numbers, there were military officers and enlisted personnel.
The war re-evaluated all aspects of the life of the Soviet state and returned people to the realities of life and death. The revaluation took place not only at the level of ordinary citizens, but also at the government level. An analysis of the international situation and the religious situation in the occupied territory convinced Stalin that it was necessary to support the Russian Orthodox Church, headed by Metropolitan Sergius. On September 4, 1943, Metropolitans Sergius, Alexy and Nikolai were invited to the Kremlin to meet with I.V. Stalin. As a result of this meeting, permission was received to convene the Council of Bishops, elect a Patriarch at it and resolve some other church problems. At the Council of Bishops on September 8, 1943, Metropolitan Sergius was elected His Holiness the Patriarch. On October 7, 1943, the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church was formed under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, which indirectly testified to the government's recognition of the existence of the Russian Orthodox Church and the desire to regulate relations with it.
At the beginning of the war, Metropolitan Sergius wrote: “Let the thunderstorm approach, We know that it brings not only disasters, but also benefits: it refreshes the air and expels all sorts of miasma.” Millions of people were able to rejoin the Church of Christ. Despite the almost 25-year dominance of atheism, Russia has transformed. The spiritual nature of the war was that through suffering, deprivation, and sorrow, people eventually returned to faith.
In its actions, the Church was guided by participation in the fullness of moral perfection and love inherent in God, by the apostolic tradition: “We also beseech you, brothers, admonish the disorderly, comfort the faint-hearted, support the weak, be patient with everyone. See to it that no one repays evil for evil; But always seek the good of one another and of everyone” (1 Thess. 5:14-15). Preserving this spirit meant and means remaining the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
Sources and literature:
1
. Damaskin I.A., Koshel P.A. Encyclopedia of the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945. M.: Red Proletarian, 2001.
2
. Veniamin (Fedchenkov), Metropolitan. At the turn of two eras. M.: Father's House, 1994.
3
. Ivlev I.V., prot. About patriotism and patriots with big and small deeds // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. 1944. No. 5. P.24–26.
4
. History of the Russian Orthodox Church. From the restoration of the Patriarchate to the present day. T.1. 1917–1970. St. Petersburg: Resurrection, 1997.
5
. Marushchak Vasily, protod. Saint-Surgeon: Life of Archbishop Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky). M.: Danilovsky blagovestnik, 2003.
6
. Newly glorified saints. Life of the Hieromartyr Sergius (Lebedev) // Moscow Diocesan Gazette. 2001. No. 11–12. pp.53–61.
7
. The most revered saints of St. Petersburg. M.: “Favor-XXI”, 2003.
8
. Pospelovsky D.V. Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th century. M.: Republic, 1995.
9
. Russian Orthodox Church in Soviet times (1917–1991). Materials and documents on the history of relations between the state and the Church / Comp. G. Stricker. M.: Propylaea, 1995.
10
. Seraphim's blessing/Comp. and general ed. Bishop of Novosibirsk and Berdsk Sergius (Sokolov). 2nd ed. M.: Pro-Press, 2002.
11
. Tsypin V., prot. History of the Russian Church. Book 9. M.: Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery, 1997.
12
. Shapovalova A. Rodina appreciated their merits // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. 1944. No. 10.S. 18–19.
13
. Shkarovsky M.V. Russian Orthodox Church under Stalin and Khrushchev. M.: Krutitskoye Patriarchal Compound, 1999.
The situation of the Church on the eve of the war
Annunciation Church in the Smolensk region without crosses. Photo from 1941. Photo source
The country's leadership did not immediately appreciate the patriotic spirit of the Moscow Patriarchate. And this is not surprising. Since the beginning of the revolution of 1917, the Orthodox Church in Soviet Russia was considered an alien element and experienced many difficult moments in its history. During the civil war, many clergy were shot without trial, churches were destroyed and looted.
In the 20s, the extermination of the clergy and laity continued, and, unlike previous atrocities, in the USSR this process took place with the help of show trials. Church property was confiscated under the pretext of helping the starving people of the Volga region.
In the early 30s, when collectivization and “dekulakization” of the peasants began, the Church was declared the only “legal” counter-revolutionary force in the country. The Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow was blown up, and a wave of destruction of churches and their transformation into warehouses and clubs swept across the country under the slogan “The fight against religion - the fight for socialism.”
The task was set - during the “godless five-year plan” of 1932–1937, to destroy all temples, churches, synagogues, houses of worship, mosques and datsans, covering all residents of the USSR, primarily young people, with anti-religious propaganda.
Hieromartyr Peter Polyansky). Icon. azbyka.ru
Despite the fact that all monasteries and the vast majority of churches were closed, it was not possible to complete the task. According to the 1937 census, two-thirds of villagers and one-third of city residents called themselves believers, that is, more than half of Soviet citizens.
But the main test was ahead. In 1937–1938, during the “Great Terror,” every second clergyman was repressed or shot, including Metropolitan Peter (Polyansky), who, after the death of Patriarch Tikhon in 1925, was entrusted with the duties of Patriarchal Locum Tenens.
By the beginning of the war, the Russian Orthodox Church had only a few bishops and less than a thousand churches, not counting those that operated in the territories of western Ukraine and Belarus and the Baltic countries annexed to the USSR in 1939–40. Metropolitan Sergius himself, who became the Patriarchal Locum Tenens, and the remaining bishops lived in constant anticipation of arrest.
Quiet Prayer Book
The quiet prayer of St. Seraphim Vyritsky during the days of the war did not stop for a minute. From the first days, the elder prophesied victory over the Nazis. He prayed to the Lord for the salvation of our country from the invaders day and night, in his cell and in the garden on a stone, placing in front of him the image of Seraphim of Sarov. Indulging in prayer, he spent many hours asking the Almighty to see the suffering of the Russian people and save the country from the enemy. And the miracle happened! Although not quickly, four painful years of war passed, but the Lord heard quiet pleas for help and sent mercy, granting victory.
How many human souls were saved thanks to the prayers of the unforgettable elder. He was the connecting thread between Russian Christians and heaven. Through the prayers of the monk the outcome of many important events was changed. At the beginning of the war, Seraphim predicted that the inhabitants of Vyritsa would escape the troubles of the war. And in fact, not a single person from the village was injured; all the houses remained intact. Many old-timers remember an amazing incident that occurred during the war, thanks to which the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, located in Vyritsa, remained unharmed.
In September 1941, German troops intensively shelled the Vyritsa station. The Soviet command decided that for the correct targeting the Nazis would use the high dome of the church and decided to blow it up. A demolition team led by a lieutenant went to the village. Approaching the temple building, the lieutenant ordered the soldiers to wait, and he himself went into the building for a familiarization inspection of the facility. After some time, a shot was heard from the church. When the soldiers entered the temple, they found the lifeless body of an officer and a revolver lying nearby. The soldiers left the village in panic, the retreat soon began, and by the Providence of God the church remained intact.
Before taking holy orders, Hieromonk Seraphim was a famous merchant in St. Petersburg. Having taken monastic vows, he became the head of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The Orthodox people greatly revered the clergyman and came to him from all over the country for help, advice and blessings. When the elder moved to Vyritsa in the 30s, the flow of Christians did not decrease, and people continued to visit their confessor. In 1941, St. Seraphim was 76 years old. The reverend's health condition was not important; he could not walk on his own. In the post-war years, a new stream of visitors poured into Seraphim. During the war, many people lost contact with their loved ones and, with the help of the elder’s superpowers, wanted to find out about their whereabouts. In 2000, the Orthodox Church canonized the hieromonk.
The fate of the church message: only after Stalin’s speech
It is characteristic that the authorities allowed the message of Metropolitan Sergius of June 22 to be read out in churches only on July 6, 1941. Three days after the de facto head of state, Joseph Stalin, who had been silent for almost two weeks, addressed his fellow citizens on the radio with the famous address “Brothers and Sisters!”, in which he admitted that the Red Army had suffered heavy losses and was retreating.
One of the final phrases of Stalin’s speech: “All our forces are in support of our heroic Red Army, our glorious Red Navy! All the forces of the people are to defeat the enemy!” became a letter of protection for the Russian Orthodox Church, which was previously considered by the NKVD authorities almost as a fifth column.
The war, which Stalin called the Great Patriotic War, unfolded completely differently from what was expected in Moscow. German troops rapidly advanced in all directions, capturing large cities and important regions, such as Donbass with its coal.
In the fall of 1941, the Wehrmacht began advancing towards the capital of the USSR. The conversation was about the very existence of the country, and in these difficult conditions the dividing line lay between those who rose to fight the formidable enemy and those who cowardly avoided it.
The Russian Orthodox Church was among the first. Suffice it to say that during the war years, Metropolitan Sergius addressed the Orthodox people with patriotic messages 24 times. Other hierarchs of the Russian Church did not stand aside either.
Saint Luke: from exile to the Stalin Prize
Saint Luke Voino-Yasenetsky in the sculptor’s workshop, 1947
At the beginning of the war, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Mikhail Kalinin received a telegram from Archbishop Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky), in which the clergyman, who was in exile in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, reported that he was a specialist in purulent surgery, “I am ready to provide assistance to soldiers at the front or in the rear, wherever I am entrusted.”
The telegram ended with a request to interrupt his exile and send him to the hospital, while after the war the bishop expressed his readiness to return back to exile.
His request was granted, and from October 1941, 64-year-old Professor Valentin Voino-Yasenetsky was appointed chief surgeon of the local evacuation hospital and became a consultant to all Krasnoyarsk hospitals. The talented surgeon, who was ordained in the 1920s, performed 3-4 operations a day, setting an example for his younger colleagues.
At the end of December 1942, without interrupting his work as a military surgeon, he was entrusted with the management of the Krasnoyarsk diocese. In 1944, after the hospital moved to the Tambov region, this unique person, who combined the abilities of a venerable doctor and an outstanding confessor, headed the local diocese, where many churches were subsequently opened and about a million rubles were transferred for military needs.
Alfred Rosenberg and the true attitude of the Nazis towards Christians
In the Nazi camp, Alfred Rosenberg, who headed the Eastern Ministry, was responsible for church policy in the occupied territories, being the governor-general of the “Eastern Land,” as the territory of the USSR under the Germans was officially called. He was against the creation of territorial unified national church structures and was generally a convinced enemy of Christianity. As you know, the Nazis used various occult practices to achieve power over other nations. Even the mysterious structure of the SS “Ananerbe” was created, which made voyages to the Himalayas, Shambhala and other “places of power”, and the SS organization itself was built on the principle of a knightly order with the corresponding “initiations”, hierarchy and represented the Hitler oprichnina. His attributes were runic signs: double lightning bolts, a swastika, a skull and crossbones. Anyone who joined this order clothed himself in the black vestments of the “Fuhrer's Guard”, became an accomplice in the sinister karma of this satanic semi-sect and sold his soul to the devil. Rosenberg especially hated Catholicism, believing that it represented a force capable of resisting political totalitarianism. He saw Orthodoxy as a kind of colorful ethnographic ritual, preaching meekness and humility, which only played into the hands of the Nazis. The main thing is to prevent its centralization and transformation into a single national church.
However, Rosenberg and Hitler had serious disagreements, since the former’s program included the transformation of all nationalities of the USSR into formally independent states under the control of Germany, and the latter was fundamentally against the creation of any states in the east, believing that all Slavs should become slaves Germans. Others must simply be destroyed. Therefore, in Kyiv, at Babi Yar, machine gun fire did not subside for days. The death conveyor here worked smoothly. More than 100 thousand killed - such is the bloody harvest of Babyn Yar, which became a symbol of the Holocaust of the twentieth century.
The Gestapo, together with their police henchmen, destroyed entire settlements, burning their inhabitants to the ground. In Ukraine there was not just Oradour, and not just Lidice, destroyed by the Nazis in Eastern Europe, but hundreds. If, for example, 149 people died in Khatyn, including 75 children, then in the village of Kryukovka in the Chernihiv region, 1,290 households were burned, more than 7 thousand residents were killed, of which hundreds of children.
In 1944, when Soviet troops fought to liberate Ukraine, they everywhere found traces of the terrible repressions of the occupiers. The Nazis shot, strangled in gas chambers, hanged and burned: in Kyiv - more than 195 thousand people, in the Lviv region - more than half a million, in the Zhytomyr region - over 248 thousand, and in total in Ukraine - over 4 million people. Concentration camps played a special role in the system of Hitler's genocide industry: Dachau, Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald, Flossenburg, Mauthausen, Ravensbrück, Salaspils and other death camps. In total, 18 million people passed through the system of such camps (in addition to prisoner of war camps directly in the combat zone), 12 million prisoners died: men, women, and children.
Tanks and planes from the Orthodox Church
Love for the Motherland and its defense from enemies has always been the covenant of all Orthodox Christians. Therefore, believers responded especially warmly to the call for help to meet the needs of the front and to support wounded soldiers. They carried not only money and bonds, but also precious metals, shoes, towels, linen; a lot of felted and leather shoes, overcoats, socks, gloves, and linen were prepared and handed over.
“This is how the attitude of believers to the events they are experiencing was expressed outwardly and materially, for there is no Orthodox family whose members did not directly or indirectly take part in the defense of the Motherland,” Archpriest A. Arkhangelsky reported in a letter to Metropolitan Sergius.
In total, during the war years, believers sent 300 million rubles to the country’s defense fund. With this money, 40 T-34 tank columns “Dimitri Donskoy”, as well as the fighter squadron “Alexander Nevsky” were built and transferred to the active army.
Considering that by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War the Orthodox Church in the USSR was almost destroyed, this can truly be called a miracle.
Not a swastika, but a cross
During the Great Patriotic War, for the first time in their reign, the authorities allowed the Russian church to hold a religious procession. On the holiday of Great Easter in all major cities, Orthodox people gathered together and performed a great procession of the Cross. The Easter message written by Metropolitan Sergius contained the following words:
“It is not the swastika, but the Cross that is called upon to lead our Christian culture, our Christian life.”
The request to perform a religious procession was submitted to Marshal Zhukov by the Leningrad Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky). There were fierce battles near Leningrad, and there was a threat of the city being captured by the Nazis. By a wonderful coincidence, the day of Great Easter, April 5, 1942, coincided with the 700th anniversary of the defeat of the German knights in the Battle of the Ice. The battle was led by Alexander Nevsky, who was later canonized and considered the patron saint of Leningrad. After the religious procession, a miracle truly happened. Part of the tank divisions of the North group, on Hitler's orders, was transferred to help the Center group for an attack on Moscow. Residents of Leningrad found themselves in a blockade, but the enemy did not penetrate the city.
The hungry days of the siege in Leningrad were not in vain for both civilians and the clergy. Along with ordinary Leningraders, clergymen died of hunger. Eight clergy of the Vladimir Cathedral were unable to survive the terrible winter of 1941-1942. The regent of St. Nicholas Church died during the service. Metropolitan Alexy spent the entire blockade in Leningrad, but his cell attendant, monk Evlogy, died of starvation.
Some churches in the city that had basements set up bomb shelters. The Alexander Nevsky Lavra donated part of the premises for a hospital. Despite the difficult times of famine, divine liturgies were held in churches every day. The clergy and parishioners prayed for the salvation of soldiers who were shedding blood in fierce battles, remembered the untimely departed soldiers, and asked the Almighty to be merciful and grant victory over the Nazis. They remembered the prayer service of 1812 “during the invasion of adversaries,” and included it in the service every day. Some of the services were attended by the commanders of the Leningrad Front along with the Commander-in-Chief Marshal Govorov.
The behavior of the Leningrad clergy and believers became a truly civil feat. The flock and priests united and together steadfastly endured hardships and hardships. There were ten active parishes in the city and northern suburbs. On June 23, churches announced the start of collecting donations for the needs of the front. All funds in reserve were given away from the temples. Expenses for maintaining churches were reduced to a minimum. Divine services were held at those moments when there were no bombings in the city, but regardless of the circumstances, they were held daily.
Deputy commander of a rifle company, future Patriarch Pimen
Senior Lieutenant S. M. Izvekov (future Patriarch Pimen), 1940s.
Unprecedented in the history of mankind in its scope and ferocity, the war imperiously demanded military participation. Unlike the First World War, when priests were officially allowed to fight in the ranks of the Russian army, in 1941–1945 many clerics fought as ordinary soldiers and commanders.
Hieromonk Pimen (Izvekov), the future Patriarch, was the deputy commander of a rifle company. Deacon of the Kostroma Cathedral Boris Vasiliev, who became an archpriest after the war, fought as a reconnaissance platoon commander and rose to the rank of deputy commander of regimental reconnaissance.
During the Great Patriotic War, many future clergy were in the thick of the war. Thus, Archimandrite Alipiy (Voronov) in 1942–1945 participated in many military operations as a rifleman as part of the 4th Tank Army and ended his military career in Berlin. Metropolitan of Kalinin and Kashinsky Alexey (Konoplev) was awarded the medal “For Military Merit” - for the fact that, despite being seriously wounded, he did not abandon his machine gun during the battle.
Priests also fought on the other side of the front, behind enemy lines. Like, for example, Archpriest Alexander Romanushko, rector of the church in the village of Malo-Plotnitskoye, Logishinsky district, Pinsk region, who, together with his two sons as part of a partisan detachment, more than once participated in combat operations, went on reconnaissance and was rightfully awarded the medal “Partisan of the Patriotic War” I degrees.
Battle award of Patriarch Alexy I
Priests of the Russian Orthodox Church, awarded the medal “For the Defense of Leningrad.” 10/15/1943. First on the right is the future Patriarch, Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod Alexy
Representatives of the Church fully shared with their people all the hardships and horrors of the war. Thus, the future Patriarch, Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) of Leningrad, who remained in the city on the Neva throughout the terrible period of the blockade, preached, encouraged, consoled the believers, administered communion and served often alone, without a deacon.
The Bishop repeatedly addressed his flock with patriotic appeals, the first of which was his appeal on June 26, 1941. In it, he called on Leningraders to take up arms to defend their country, emphasizing that “the Church blesses these exploits and everything that every Russian person does to defend his Fatherland.”
After breaking the blockade of the city, the head of the Leningrad diocese, together with a group of Orthodox clergy, was awarded a military award - the medal “For the Defense of Leningrad”.
By 1943, the attitude of the USSR leadership in the person of Stalin realized that the people were fighting not for the world revolution and the Communist Party, but for their relatives and friends, for the Motherland. That the war is truly Patriotic.
