Metropolitan Philaret (in the world George N. Voznesensky ; March 22 ( April 4 ), 1903 , Kursk - November 8 (21), 1985 , New York ) - Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR); since May 27, 1964, the third First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia , Metropolitan of New York and East America .
Metropolitan Philaret | ||
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May 27, 1964 - November 21, 1985 | ||
Church | Russian Orthodox Church Abroad | |
Predecessor | Anastasius (Gribanovsky) | |
Successor | Vitaly (Ustinov) | |
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May 26, 1963 - May 27, 1964 | ||
Predecessor | Athanasius (Martos) | |
Successor | Konstantin (Essensky) | |
Birth name | George N. Voznesensky | |
Birth | March 22 ( April 4 ) 1903 Kursk | |
Death | November 21, 1985 (82 years) New York | |
Buried | ||
Deacon's ordination | May 18, 1930 | |
Presbyter consecration | January 4, 1931 | |
Adoption of monasticism | December 12, 1931 | |
Episcopal consecration | May 26, 1963 | |
Biography
Born March 22, 1903 in Kursk. His mother, Lydia Vasilyevna, died when the boy was 18 years old, and his father, Nikolai Fedorovich, who later became a monk with the name of Dimitry , was a presbyter, then an archbishop.
The Voznesensky family in 1909 moved to Blagoveshchensk-on-Amur , where Georgy graduated from an eight-year gymnasium in 1920. After moving with his family to Harbin , he entered the Russian-Chinese Polytechnic Institute and graduated with the title of an electrical engineer in 1927 .
On May 18, 1930, he was ordained deacon by celibacy [1] , and on January 4, 1931, [2] Bishop Nestor (Anisimov) consecrated a new side-chapel of the church of the House of Mercy and ordained George to priesthood. Father George was numbered to the temple and was to perform the early liturgies in the new chapel [3] .
On December 12, 1931, Bishop Nestor (Anisimov) was tonsured a monk named Philaret in honor of St. Philaret the Merciful , leaving the House of Mercy at the temple [3] .
At the same time, the position of the Bishop of Kamchatka Nestor (Anisimov), and, as a result, hieromonk Filaret subordinated to him in the Harbin diocese for some time remained canonically uncertain. The ruling bishop, Archbishop Meletius (Zaborovsky) , in a letter to Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) wrote: “I ask you to give one explanatory answer. The priest [e-consecrated] Nestor, on the instructions of Metr [the opolite] Methodius, and, in part, by his own will, placed the priest and deacon. How to treat them ordained. And whether he has the right, being in a foreign diocese, to ordain for the needs of his Kamchatka diocese, to which he considers the church of his orphanage - the House of Mercy, located in Harbin. He calls this shelter the “Kamchatka Compound”, permission to build such farmsteads, it seems, must be given by the Supreme Church Authority. How to look at all this? The ordinations performed by Bishop Nestor in Harbin, as well as the status of the Kamchatka monastery, were recognized by the ROCOR Synod of Bishops [3] .
In 1931 he graduated from the Pastoral Theological Courses at the Institute of St. Prince Vladimir . He served in the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All the Afflicted" at the "House of Mercy" of the Kamchatka monastery in Harbin. In 1933 he was elevated to the rank of hegumen , and in 1937 - in archimandrite .
After the Soviet occupation of Manchuria, the aged Metropolitan of Harbin Melety (Zaborovsky) recognized the power of the Russian Orthodox Church and his clergy, Archimandrite Filaret went to the clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate , but decisively refused to accept the Soviet passport and to remember the atheistic power during the divine service [4] . The father of Archimandrite Filaret in 1946 returned to the USSR, where he soon died.
The Synod of Bishops of the Church Abroad long and stubbornly bothered to get an exit visa for him. Only by 1962, the Synod was able to secure the arrival of Archimandrite Philaret to Hong Kong , from where he soon moved to Brisbane . By that time, almost all of his flock had left Harbin.
On March 29, 1962, at a meeting of the ROCOR Synod, they listened to a letter from Archimandrite Filaret (Voznesensky) to the Chairman of the Synod about his arrival in Hong Kong and repentance that he had been under the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate since 1945, as well as a repentant statement signed by him Cathedral of the Bishops [5] .
By that time, a large part of the former flock of Archimandrite Philaret had gathered in Australia, and very soon upon his arrival there, with numerous signatures, a petition had been submitted to the Synod about his appointment as bishop to this city. This petition was eagerly supported by Archbishop Savva (Rajewski), who was already sick then.
On May 26, 1963, Archimandrite Philaret was ordained bishop of Brisbane, vicar of the Sydney diocese . Archbishop Savva (Rajewski) and Bishop Anthony (Medvedev) committed consecration in the presence of the Bishop of the Constantinople Orthodox Church Dionysius (Psiachas) [6] .
On May 14 (27), 1964 , being the vicar and the youngest in ordination of the hierarchs of the ROCOR [7] , he was elected the Council of Bishops of the ROCOR and nastolan on the same day as the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
May 31, 1964 in the Znamensky cathedral church he was presented. After the Liturgy with the participation of all the hierarchs, a white cowl was entrusted to Metropolitan Philaret, and Archbishop Ioann (Maksimovich) of San Francisco, as the oldest hierarch, handed him a rod, and the second panagia was entrusted to Metropolitan Anastasia [8] .
In the same year, the first canonization in the history of ROCOR took place - John of Kronstadt was glorified in the face of saints. In 1970, the Russian Church Abroad canonized Reverend German of Alaska , and in 1978 the blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg [9] .
The newly elected first Hierarch of the ROCOR, Metropolitan Philaret, had to react to such unprecedented acts in the Orthodox world as the removal of Patriarch Michael Kerullia’s anathema to the Roman Church by the Patriarch of Constantinople Athenagoras. Copies of the mournful message of Metropolitan Philaret to Patriarch Athenagoras were sent to the heads of other local churches. None of them responded to this letter, but on the initiative of the Athenian Archbishop Chrysostom, the message became widespread among the Hellas Church [10] .
On July 27, 1969, Metropolitan Philaret addressed with a mournful message to the bishops of the entire Orthodox Church, in which the first hierarch expressed his concern that the Orthodox who participate in the work of the World Council of Churches ceased to declare their missionary assignment. Speaking about the assembly of the WCC held in Uppsala in 1968, the metropolitan expressed regret that no one mentioned the millions of Christians tortured in the USSR [10] .
In September 1974, the Third All-Diaspora Council was held [11] .
In 1981, the new martyrs and confessors of Russia were canonized; however, no list of canonized names was compiled.
He died on November 21, 1985 in New York .
In 1998, the remains of the deceased First Hierarch were transferred from the crypt of the cemetery Dormition Church to the new tomb of the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville (USA). When the tomb was opened, the relics of Metropolitan Philaret were incorruptible. [12]
Views
He was extremely negative about ecumenism , wrote three “Mournful Epistles” addressed to the hierarchs of Orthodox churches, in which he urged to abandon ecumenism [13] .
He was critical of the contemporary Russian Orthodox Church . In a private letter addressed to Archpriest Viktor Potapov , he wrote:
What is the "Soviet Church"? O. Archim. Konstantin many times and insistently said that the worst thing that God-fighting power did in Russia was the appearance of the “Soviet Church”, which the Bolsheviks presented to the people as the true Church, driving the Orthodox Church into the catacombs and concentration camps. This false church is twice anathematized. His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon and the All-Russian Church Council anathematized the Communists and all their employees. This formidable anathema has not yet been removed and remains in force, since only the same All-Russian Church Council, as the canonical supreme church authority, can remove it. And a terrible thing happened in 1927, when the head of the church Metropolitan. Sergius, with his shameful apostate declaration, subordinated the Russian church to the Bolsheviks and announced cooperation with them. And the expression of the pre-confession prayer came true in the most accurate sense: “under its anathema padosha!” For in 1918 the Church anathematized all the co-workers of communism, and in 1927 she herself joined the company of these employees and began to praise the red God-worshiping power — to praise the red beast, of which the Apocalypse speaks ... Of course, we cannot recognize the church of the deceitful people as the bearer and keeper of grace. For outside of Orthodoxy there is NO grace, and the Soviet church deprived itself of grace [14] .
Transfer of vestments
After the death of Metropolitan Philaret in 1985, 4 sets of his vestments were kept with his cell-mate, Protodeacon Nikita Chakirov, and after his death, with the archpriest of the Epiphany in Boston, Archpriest Roman Lukyanov. On November 6, 2006, Archpriest Roman handed over these vestments to Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) [15] .
On November 29, 2006, the Patriarch's residence in the St. Daniel Monastery hosted the transfer of the episcopal vestments of the late First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, Metropolitan Philaret, to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II. Patriarch Alexy II heartily thanked Archpriest Roman for the gift he received and especially noted that Father Roman, despite his serious illness, was able to perform his obedience. Patriarch Alexy II noted that “the Russian Orthodox Church in the Fatherland knows about the trials and the way of the cross, which the post-revolutionary Russian emigration went through, one of whose distinguished representatives was the third First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky)” [15] .
Grades and Honor
Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose) commented on Metropolitan Philaret:
Like sv. To the fathers of antiquity, he puts the purity of Orthodoxy above all and, faithful to the spirit of the Ecumenical Councils, remains in the midst of universal confusion a lone defender of truth ... Vladyka Philaret’s great merit at this critical stage in the history of the Church is precisely that he, without a hint of Pharisee deification of a different letter of the church law, and without the slightest inclination to creep out "evidence of heresy" from the statements of the ecumenist bishops, clearly revealed the very heretical, anti-Orthodox spirit that IT for modern ecumenism in all its manifestations, and warned of the danger they are today and what kind of catastrophe is prepared in the future. However, to the greatest regret, only a few of the Orthodox clergy and laity fully realized the seriousness of the warning of Vladyka Filaret. He is not understood by either the “left” or the “right”.
Metropolitan Hilarion (Corporal) said about him:
Everyone who remembers him knows Vladyka Philaret as an ascetic, a prayer book, a youth mentor whom people loved very much for his sermons and edifying conversations. He was a special person, the people felt this and still retain a good memory of him [16] .
According to the memoirs of the perennial elder of the Znamensky Synodal Cathedral in New York, Prince Vladimir Kirillovich Golitsyn: “Metropolitan Philaret was a strict ascetic, but he was interested in youth problems, he worked with young people, and he helped the Russian school a lot at the Synod. Vladyka Filaret was very fond of music and was himself a talented church composer ” [17] .
April 30, 2001, canonized by the non-canonical Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church ; Commemorated November 8, according to the Julian calendar. [18] [19] [20]
May 20, 2001, was canonized by the non-canonical “ Holy Orthodox Church of North America ” [21] .
November 20, 2008, was canonized at the “V All-Diaspora Sobor” of the non-canonical Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, under the omophorion of Metropolitan Agathangel (Pashkovsky) .
October 23, 2009, was canonized by the non-canonical Russian Church Abroad under the omofor of Archbishop Vladimir (Tselishev) .
On December 14, 2012, with the blessing of the First Hierarch of the ROCOR, Metropolitan Hilarion (Corporal) , the Diocesan Commission of the Eastern American Diocese for canonization was established, whose task is to collect information and raise awareness of the righteous life of Metropolitan Philaret, as well as brother Joseph Muñoz-Cortes, [15] [23] .
Notes
- Essay on the early years of the life of our First Hierarch, Metropolitan Philaret
- ↑ Archpriest Arkady Makovetsky "Belaya Tserkov: Far from Atheistic Terror: The History of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad." Publishing house "Peter". 2009
- ↑ 1 2 3 S.N. Bakonin. The Declaration of Metropolitan Sergius of 1927 and jurisdictional conflicts abroad in the light of events in the Far East (End)
- ↑ Is Bernard Le Caro True Orthodoxy or Self-Saving?
- ↑ Chronicle of Church History (1961-1971)
- ↑ Michael Protopopov A Russian Presence: A History of the Russian Orthodox Church in Australia , pp. 256-257
- ↑ Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia: 1918-1968 / Edited by Gr. A. A. Sollogub . - Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, 1968, T. I, Collected Arts. 320.
- ↑ A brief history of the Russian Church Abroad
- ↑ On the issue of preparing the canonization of the royal family in the Russian Church Abroad - the topic of a scientific article on history and historical sciences is to read the text of a free scientific research ...
- ↑ 1 2 Russian Orthodox Church Abroad - Official Page
- ↑ MESSAGE OF THE THIRD ALL-ABROAD SESSION OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH BY THE BORDER OF THE ORTHODOX RUSSIAN PEOPLE IN THE HOMELAND
- ↑ Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky): “Orthodoxy is not looking for truth, it has it”
- ↑ On the 40th day after the death of the fifth First Hierarch of the ROCOR, His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus (Skurly) // Bogoslov.Ru
- ↑ Letter about. Viktor Potapov about the church in Russia
- ↑ 1 2 The vestments of the First Hierarch of the ROCOR, Metropolitan Philaret, were transferred to His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia / Orthodoxy.Ru
- ↑ Russian line / Library of periodicals / Right edit
- ↑ Russian Orthodox Church Abroad - Official Page
- ↑ Filaret (Voznesensky)
- ↑ Glorification of St. Philaret by the Russian Orthodox Church . www.romanitas.ru. The appeal date is April 15, 2016.
- ↑ VERTOGRAD number 1 (70) 2001 . vertograd.narod.ru. The appeal date is April 15, 2016.
- “The Holy Orthodox Church of North America” (“Boston Synod”, True Orthodox Church of Greece) (Not available link) . The appeal date is April 11, 2012. Archived March 8, 2013.
- ↑ Jordanville: Metropolitan Hilarion led the requiem at the tomb of Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky) (not available link) . The date of circulation is March 7, 2013. Archived March 11, 2013.
- ↑ Howell, NJ: Minutes of the Winter Session of the Diocesan Council . The appeal date is April 19, 2013. Archived April 20, 2013.
Literature
- Archbishop Nathanael (Lviv) "Outline of the Early Years of Our First Hierarch Metropolitan Philaret"
- Pillar of fire. Metropolitan New York and East American Filaret (Voznesensky) and Russian Church Abroad (1964-1985). Compilation and commentary of the nun Cassius (T. A. Senina) (St. Petersburg, 2007) (Scriptorium: History of the Church, 1). 608 p., 62 ill.
Links
- Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky): “Orthodoxy is not looking for truth, it has it”
- Words and other materials
- Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky) Sermons
- Answer to Mr. A. I. Solzhenitsyn , Orthodox Russia. 1974. no. nineteen
- Svt. Filaret (Voznesensky). The free part of the Russian Church. (interview)