Bishop Gennady (in the world Gavriil Danilovich Pavlinsky ; 1834 , Vyazovo village, Tula province - March 31 ( April 12 ), 1889 , Sukhum ) - bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church , bishop of Sukhum .
Biography
Born in 1834 in a family of a hairstylist in the Tula province .
On August 12, 1858, at the end of the course of the Tula Theological Seminary, he was appointed a novice in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra .
On August 3, 1861, he was tonsured a monk .
November 19, 1865 ordained hierodeacon ; February 2, 1869 - in the hieromonk .
On June 5, 1881, he was appointed Assistant Treasurer of the Lavra and Head of the Candle Lavra Shop.
In June 1886 he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite .
On November 29, 1886, the Highest Commandment on Being Gennady Bishop of Sukhumi took place.
On December 28, 1886, Metropolitan of Moscow Ioannikiy (Rudnev) was consecrated bishop of Sukhumi .
The Sukhumi department was just approved for the education of Abkhazia instead of the formerly vacant since 1869 Abkhazian department. Gennady settled in the New Athos Monastery .
The difficulty of his archpastoral ministry was that the population of the region ( Abkhazians ) was completely unenlightened. Almost all the temples of the diocese were in an abandoned state. Only three churches (according to the report of Bishop Gennady) did not require repairs, and the rest became so dilapidated that some of them had to be closed and sealed.
The geographic location of the region itself presented difficulties when traveling around the diocese for the poor health of Bishop Gennady. But there were no obstacles in the performance of his archpastoral duty for Bishop Gennady. From end to end he traveled his diocese on horseback along mountain roads and "always expected a fall from the steep with his horse."
He attached particular importance to the enlightenment of the Abkhazians with the help of Russian schools. His cherished desire was to open a spiritual school in Sukhum . He designed a network of parish schools that, spreading Russian science and Russian culture in the country, would bring the population of the Abkhaz outskirts closer to the population of the Empire. “In two years,” said Gennady, “we will have at least one hundred schools, and in ten years all Abkhazians and Samurzakans will be Russian people.”
The population of the region was well disposed towards its archpastor, seeing his disinterestedness, responsiveness to all needs, and truly monastic life. He received each petitioner with fatherly love, and each left him with a lightened heart. The bishop distributed almost half of his contents to widows and orphans of a spiritual rank.
Gennady was distinguished by strict observance of monastic vows and did not allow himself, being a Lavra monk, to spend the night in Moscow during business trips to the capital.
By the example of his personal life and tireless activity for the benefit of the diocese, Bishop Gennady won the sincere love of his flock. His labors paid off. In two years of the hierarchy, he baptized up to 2 thousand Abkhazians.
Gennady was not distinguished by good health: a local debilitating fever joined his stomach in the Caucasus. In late March 1889, he contracted liver inflammation.
He died on March 31, 1889 in Sukhum. He was buried in the New Athos Monastery, in the church of the Apostle Simon Kananit.
Links
- Sheremetevsky V.V. Gennady (Pavlinsky) // Russian Biographical Dictionary : in 25 volumes. - SPb. - M. , 1896-1918.
- GENNADY // Orthodox Encyclopedia . - M .: Church Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2005. - T. X. - S. 609. - 752 p. - 39,000 copies. - ISBN 5-89572-016-1 .