Archbishop Leonty (in the world Mikhail Pavlovich Smirnov ; May 20, 1876 , Novgorod province - January 28, 1953 , Arkhangelsk ), figure of the Russian Orthodox Church , Archbishop of Arkhangelsk and Kholmogorsky .
| Archbishop Leonty | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| ||
| May 6, 1944 - January 22, 1953 | ||
| Church | Russian Orthodox Church | |
| Successor | Gabriel (Ogorodnikov) | |
| Birth name | Mikhail Pavlovich Smirnov | |
| Birth | ||
| Death | ||
| Buried | ||
| Monasticism | May 4, 1944 | |
| Episcopal consecration | May 6, 1944 | |
Biography
Born in the family of the hairstylist of the Novgorod province . He graduated from the Novgorod Theological College, the Novgorod Theological Seminary in 1897 , after graduation, was appointed an assistant inspector. On April 19, 1900 he was ordained a priest .
In 1931, he was arrested in a church during divine denunciation of a local communist and sentenced under article 58-10 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR for a term of five years in forced labor camps. He served his term at Solovki and in the Kem camps . After his release, he first served in the village of Ilyinsky, Yaroslavl Region , and then was transferred to the Nekrasovskoye district center with the rank of deanery in the temple “Satisfy My Sorrows”. He managed to restore the destroyed main dome of the church and erect a cross on it.
In everyday life outside the temple, he never took off his well-worn cassock , sewn from simple dark material. When he appeared on the street, it happened that passersby laughed at a strange priest, and some even insulted and mocked him. At that time, the clergy were "outlawed", subjected to general mockery and ridicule. Therefore, most of them wore secular clothes outside the temple, cut their hair short, which made it impossible to distinguish them from other people. Vladyka Leonty, in his cassock, with long hair, looked like an alien. One day, one of the teenagers who laughed at the bishop threw a stone at him, which hit the lord in the eye and knocked him out. According to family tradition, he did not get angry with the frightened bully, but blessed him and even reassured him that it all happened. Then he brought to his commemoration and prayed for his health.
After the death of his wife on May 4, 1944, he was tonsured a monk .
On May 5, in the meeting room of the Holy Synod under the Moscow Patriarchate, the priest Leonty (Smirnov) was baptized as Archbishop of Archangel.
May 6, 1944 in the Moscow Epiphany Cathedral Patriarchal Cathedral was ordained bishop of Arkhangelsk and Kholmogorsky . The rank of consecration was performed by Patriarch Sergius , Archbishop Vitaly (Vvedensky) and Bishop Hilarion of Dmitrov (Ilyin) .
He arrived in Arkhangelsk when only three priests served in the diocese. During his administration, the diocese consecrated 35 Orthodox churches. During the Great Patriotic War he blessed raising funds for the needs of the Red Army . Under his leadership, more than 233 thousand rubles were collected and contributed to the State Bank and the Red Army Family Fund.
February 25, 1952 was elevated to the rank of archbishop .
He was a surprisingly humble and gentle archpastor. He lived very modestly and had only one panagia , he traveled from the house to the services on foot.
He was buried at the altar of the St. Elias Cathedral in the Ilyinsky Cemetery in Arkhangelsk. On the monument, made in the form of a lectern , the dying words of the archpastor were sealed: "My children, love the Church, pray to God, pray for those who offend you."
Parishioners of the cathedral venerate him as a saint. Materials related to the life and work of Archbishop Leontius were presented by the Archangel diocese to the Holy Synod for canonization in the host of new martyrs and confessors of Russia .
Family
Wife - Julia Alexandrovna (nee Speranskaya) - from the family of the clergyman. The family had seven children: Lydia, Vera, Elena, Ekaterina, Nadezhda, Olga and Nikolai.