Innocent (Nechaev)

He was born in 1722 in the family of a yard man of the Naryshkins nobles.

He graduated from the Moscow Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy and was left as a teacher of rhetoric in it ^[1] .

In 1758, he was tonsured a monk at the Zaikonospassky Monastery in Moscow and appointed a preacher, and later received the position of professor of philosophy. Since August 1759 - Prefect of the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy ^[2] .

On August 8, 1761, Hieromonk Innokenty was issued a synodal decree to the archimandrites of the Novgorod Anthony Monastery and the rectors of the Novgorod Theological Seminary . A great prospect of career growth opens before him, but Archimandrite Innocent refuses, referring to the disease. His petition was respected, and he settled in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra , which, however, a month later, on September 17, 1761 he headed, becoming governor ^[2] .

February 23, 1763 he was appointed bishop of Kexholm and Ladoga , vicar of the Novgorod diocese. Like the two previous Novgorod vicars, he received the Varlaamo-Khutynsky Monastery ^[2] .

On April 6 of that year, his episcopal ordination took place. His immediate responsibilities included spiritual nourishment of the flock of the Karelian Isthmus ^[2] .

I didn’t have time to visit the department ^[3] , since on May 28 of the same year he was appointed bishop of Tver and Kashisky ^[1] .

In Tver, in June 1763, he met Empress Catherine II , who, having spent the winter in Moscow after the coronation, returned to St. Petersburg.

In the same year, October 4, moved to the Pskov Department ^[1] .

Catherine II in her essay “Antidote” ([St. Petersburg], 1770) in refutation of the slander about the unenlightenedness of the Russian clergy, pointed to three archpastors - Gabriel (Petrov) , Plato (Levshina) and Innokenty (Nechaev) ^[1] .

September 22, 1770 was elevated to the rank of archbishop . He lived mostly in St. Petersburg ^[2] .

Archbishop Innocent was proclaimed an honorary member of the Russian Academy on the very day of its opening on September 30 (October 11), 1783. He took an active part in compiling the first part of the Academic Dictionary . He presented to Catherine II his thoughts regarding the plan of the “Explanatory Dictionary of the Slavic-Russian Language” ^[4] . He reviewed the “provision on theological educational institutions” and, together with Metropolitan Gabriel and Plato, examined the “Punishment” of Catherine II, when the Empress reported her work to the most respected people ^[1] .

The sermons of Archbishop Innocent were once considered exemplary; of which they were separately printed during his lifetime: “On the wedding day of Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich”, “On the opening of Riga governorship” (St. Petersburg, 1783) and “On the birthday of Empress Catherine II” (St. Petersburg, 1788). In addition, several sermons of him were included in the “Collection of teachings” published by the Synod in 1775 ^[4] .

November 10, 1796 awarded the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky .

On October 9, 1798, he was fired “for old age and illness” from managing the diocese ^[1] , with the retirement of the entire salary of 6959 rubles and his stay in the Pskov Compound.

He died on January 24, 1799. Buried in the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra . During his burial in the Lavra, the tombstone was not spoken, and therefore Derzhavin wrote an epitaph ^[1] :

Vitya did not praise you:
The voice of eloquence is small for the righteous.

• Word on the birthday of Empress Catherine II. M., 1766;
• Chin confession lad. SPb., - 1st ed. - 1769; 2nd ed. - 1795; 3rd ed. - 1814 .;
• The word on the solemn wedding day of their imp. Highnesses ... Pavel Petrovich and ... Natalia Alekseevna // Description of the triumph of the highly-married combination of their imp. Highnesses ... Pavel Petrovich and ... Natalia Alekseevna. St. Petersburg, 1773.S. 47-59 (Ott.: St. Petersburg, 1773);
• A collection of Sunday and holiday teachings. St. Petersburg, 1775; [Word] // Description of the action from the side of the Most Holy Governing Synod of the member, Rev. Innocent, archbishop. Pskov and Riga, and his Seminary, which took place during ... the arrival, of her Imperial Majesty ... the Empress ... All-Russian Catherine the Second, in Pskov. St. Petersburg, 1780.S. 9-14;
• Speech at the Coming of Her Imperial Majesty in Polotsk // Ibid. S. 26-27;
• The word for the opening of governorship in Riga. Speech at the opening of public places in Riga. [St. Petersburg, 1783];
• The instruction from the archpastor to the priest when sending him to the post. - SPb., 1790; SPb., 1795.
• Preparing for death, or a Brief Guide to How Every Christian Should Prepare Himself for a Blissful End: [Transl. with lat.]. St. Petersburg, 1793;
• Advice from the archpastor to the priest. St. Petersburg, 1790, 1796; 2; [Letter to G. A. Potemkin] // RA. 1879. Prince 3. No. 9. P. 25.

• Galkin A.K., priest A. Bertash . Innocent (Nechaev) // Orthodox Encyclopedia. T. XXIII. M., 2010. S. 14-17