Chapter II. "Golden Age" and hard times. XI-first half of XIV

Ninth day Lesson 1. St. Martyr Polyeuctus (Lessons from his life: a) do not make friends with the vicious; b) must care first of all about one’s salvation and c) seek the Kingdom of God) I. Now celebrated by the Church of St. Martyr Polyeuctus suffered for Christ in the city of Melitino, in Armenia. His

Ninth day Lesson 1. Holy Hieromartyr Pankratios, Bishop of Tauromenia (Our aspirations to heaven) I. Hieromartyr Pankratios, Bishop. Tauromenia, now glorified by St. Church, came from Antioch and lived during the time of the Lord Jesus Christ. His father, hearing about

Once, in a conversation with one saint, we touched upon the issue of commemorating the dead on holidays. Regarding the opinions I expressed on this issue, my interlocutor reproachfully remarked: “Obviously you did not have to bury your loved ones, which is why you object to the festive commemoration of the dead.” This remark confused me greatly, since, indeed, until that time I had never had to bury my loved ones.

In November 1930, my mother died. This was the first and only irreplaceable loss, all the more difficult because the Lord did not destined me to be either at the bedside or at the coffin of the deceased, and in my involuntary solitude there was no one with whom to share my grief. And the grief was so great, the experiences were so painful that I frightened my friends with my letters. In my loneliness, the only relief from grief, the only consolation, was worship. It was from this time that the Lord gave me the opportunity to perform the liturgy. The news of his death was received on the feast of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos. The beginning of the first fortieth day coincided with the after-feast. Then there were the holidays. Therefore, only at the 9th Liturgy was “Rest with the Saints” sung for the first time and the funeral litany was pronounced. On the 40th day there was no memorial service and no funeral prayers, since it was the first day of the Nativity of Christ. After the first forty, the Lord helped me complete five more. And during all this time, which coincided with the period of singing the Lenten and Colored Triodes, not a single deviation was made from the Charter in the direction of strengthening funeral prayers. With all this, there was no feeling of any dissatisfaction, no damage was noticed, and filial love found complete satisfaction in making a bloodless sacrifice in memory of the deceased and in the secret commemoration of her name at the most important moments of the liturgy. Therefore, now, setting out the church rules of remembrance, I am no longer afraid of a reproach similar to the one that was made to me before, and with all decisiveness I affirm that only obedience to the Holy Church, submission to Her statutes can give true relief from grief, consolation in grief and complete satisfaction the need to pray for loved ones.

I know that regarding my statements in the proposed article they will say to me: “What you say may be true. There may be many things in the modern church liturgical practice of commemorating the dead that are a deviation from the Church Charter. But we are already accustomed to this, and a deviation from the established, even if contrary to the statutory orders, can cause confusion not only among the laity, but also among the clergy and may even threaten a new schism.”

Unfortunately, this is largely true. And our main problem is that we have fewer and fewer experts in the Rule, such as existed in pre-Petrine Rus' not only among the clergy, but also among the laity. Now what is considered statutory is not what actually corresponds to the letter and spirit of the Church Charter, but what they are accustomed to, as ESTABLISHED. But does it follow from this that we must put up with all this, that the fear of Chekhov’s “man in a case”, “that something might happen” must be placed above the need to take urgent measures against the lawless violation and distortion of church and liturgical laws and that we must abandon attempts to return modern church liturgical practice, which has deviated far from it, to the legitimate church channel? Of course not! Unfortunately, the unauthorized experiments of the sad memory of the renovationists slowed down and extremely complicated the necessary, urgent matter of streamlining our worship. Therefore, now it must be started with extreme caution and prudence. Long and thorough preparation is needed both among the laity and among the clergy. A lot of preliminary explanatory work is needed. This article is one of the first steps in this direction.

"Everything should be nice and orderly"

(I Cor. 14:40)

“Love does not act outrageously, it does not seek its own”

(I Cor. 13:5)

Following the leadership of the Holy Church, we confess that not only Orthodox saints of God live after death, but all believers do not die, but live forever in the Lord, What “from the dead by rising Christ's death no longer possesses the godly dead.” that the Lord is only to another life resettles His servants, for according to the word of Christ God is not dead, but alive, for He is the One who lives. Therefore, Orthodox Christians who die in the Lord do not cease to be members of the Holy Church, maintaining with Her and with all the rest of Her children the most real, real, living communion.

Worship and prayer are primarily the sphere where believers enter into the closest, most noticeable for external senses, and at the same time the most sublime and mysterious unity with the Holy Church and with each other. Prayer is the main force of this unity. “Pray for each other” commands the word of God. And the Holy Church, through the rites of its services and the prayers it accepts, persistently and constantly inspires us to pray for everyone, especially for loved ones. Prayer for everyone is the duty of every Orthodox Christian, a duty in the most literal sense of the word, for they pray for him, and he thus becomes a debtor to everyone, both the living and the dead. The debtor is obliged to pay his debt, in turn praying for everyone, not only for his living brethren whom he himself asked to pray for him and who, he knows, fulfill this request with love, whom he often sees next to him praying for him, - but also about the dead, with some of whom, until relatively recently, “we have gone down together many times, and together in the house of God,” and who in general, not only the righteous, but also sinners, continue their prayer for their brethren, for prayer is at the same time an expression of love, the need for love, and true love is never killed. Numerous discoveries of the power of afterlife prayers for the living make the latter even greater debtors to the former.

The Holy Church considers prayer for the living and departed brethren to be a necessary, inseparable part of both public worship and cell and home rule. She herself gives the appropriate prayers and establishes their rites. In particular, she especially encourages us to pray for the departed when, at the last farewell to them, on the day of burial, she puts touching farewell addresses to the living into the mouth of those departing to another world: “I ask and pray to everyone: continually pray for me to Christ God. “Remember me before the Lord”. I pray to all those I know and my other: my beloved brothers, do not forget me when you sing to the Lord, but remember the brotherhood and pray to God that the Lord may rest me with the righteous.”. “I remember you, my brothers, and my children and friends, do not forget me, when you pray to the Lord, I pray, ask and have mercy on you.”, “learn this in memory and cry to me day and night”.

But just as in everything, according to the instructions of the Holy Fathers, one must observe “MEASURE AND RULE”, the Holy Church is guided by the same principle of measure and rule, establishing a certain order and order of prayers for the living and the dead, giving guidance to a harmonious, consistent system of commemoration.

While multiplying on weekdays repentant and petitionary prayers for and on behalf of its members living on earth, for their spiritual and everyday needs, the Church reduces such prayers on holidays. And the larger the holiday, the fewer requests for the needs of believers, even for the forgiveness of sins. On holidays, the thoughts of those praying should turn mainly to the glorification of the heroes of the occasion. Petitionary prayers should give way to thanksgiving and the highest type of prayers - laudatory prayers. On holidays of universal significance, all private needs should fade into the background. Therefore, the larger the holiday, the fewer requests for the needs of believers, even for the forgiveness of sins, which believers seem to forget about these days. “This is the decision of wisdom - on the day of joy, forgetfulness of evils,”- says Saint Gregory of Nyssa. “Divine services on great holidays are designed for general church, universal thoughts, feelings and needs associated with the fact of our redemption, and evoke a state of that indescribable joy, which, according to the expression of the irmos of the 5th canon of the 2nd canon for Epiphany, is available only to those with whom God is reconciled. Having sufficiently absorbed this state, the human soul begins to experience an extraordinary mood, and majestic prospects for life open up before it, in which it already feels something inherent in the future age. A characteristic feature of this mood, as a consequence of reconciliation with God, is the consciousness of SONSHIP, which, according to the explanation of Bishop Theophan, the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:15, considers the essential content of the order about Christ... Festive worship is predominantly imbued with the spirit of sonship and it is capable of introducing us into a bright state corresponding to sonship... This is the meaning of Christian holidays. In the mood evoked by Christian holidays and their worship with its unearthly joy and more or less living consciousness of sonship, feelings and desires associated with ordinary personal and even national life easily fade and fade into the background. Returning attention to them in such cases means making some people feel some kind of spiritual disharmony within themselves, while for others, weaker ones, lowering their high spirits and even darkening their idea of ​​festive worship.” Thus, naturally, as festive prayers of praise multiply, prayers and petitions for both the living and the departed in the divine service are reduced. With regard to prayers for the dead, there are other circumstances that lead to an even greater reduction in them on holidays compared to prayers for the living.

At Vespers, a brief, general formula is performed on a special litany: about all our departed fathers and brothers, the Orthodox who lie here and everywhere.

The Compline service that follows Vespers, and the entire evening service in general, ends with the litany “Let us pray,” in which the departed are also blessed: pious kings, Orthodox bishops, ktitors, parents,78 and all our previously departed fathers and brothers, the Orthodox who lie here and everywhere.

At the Midnight Office there is a funeral prayer, not repeated anywhere or at any other time, and upon dismissal there is a brief commemoration of the departed at the end of the final litany, “Let us pray.” There is no commemoration by name here; it is performed using a general formula.

In view of such deliberate prayer for the dead, performed before Matins, Matins itself usually does not have special funeral prayers. At it, as at Vespers, only a short petition is offered in a special litany for all our previously deceased fathers and brothers.

at the proskomedia, when removing parts from the fourth and fifth prosphoras and from others, deliberately brought for commemoration. At the Liturgy itself, after the consecration of the Holy Gifts, the living and deceased are commemorated a second time by name.

Funeral prayers are most intensified on the two so-called ecumenical parental Saturdays before the weeks of the Meat and Pentecost. On these two ecumenical Saturdays, according to the Church Charter, the Menaion service is completely abandoned, and the honoring of the saints who happened on that day, even if it is a saint with polyeleos93 or even with a vigil, is always the sixth tone

At Vespers and Matins on Fat Saturday and Pentecost, commemoration is performed mainly of all those who have previously died. The commemoration of our relatives is somewhat postponed, giving way to a general commemoration of the deceased. The Church Charter on two ecumenical Saturdays, in addition to commemoration at Vespers and Matins, also appoints a great requiem after Vespers as an indispensable, along with the prescribed, obligatory service.

The memorial service should be reserved mainly for commemoration of temple synodics and memorials of pilgrims. At Matins, one should limit oneself to the proclamation in the appropriate places only of more or less brief or lengthy general formulas of remembrance. The Typikon, following the Matins of Meat Saturday, contains the full text of the funeral litany, in which the usual “name of the rivers” is completely absent here, being replaced by the general formula: “the forefather, father and brethren of our Orthodox Christians who lie here and everywhere.” Thus, the Charter completely excludes the Matins Ecumenical Saturdays commemoration of the dead by name Particular attention should be paid to the morning canon, the creation of St. Theodora Studita

The most outstanding features of the Saturday memorial service in all cases are: a) the use at Vespers, Matins, Hours and Liturgy of the troparion and kontakion for the repose instead of the completely omitted troparions and kontakions of the menaion119; b) poetry at Matins according to the special rite of the immaculates and c) recitation of funeral litanies at Matins

Naturally, this commemoration of the soldiers was combined with the usual autumn commemoration of all the dead. This is how the Dimitrievskaya parental Saturday appeared, which the Church Charter does not mention, which the Greeks do not have. The memory of the soldiers who fell on the Kulikovo field gradually weakened, and the Saturday before October 26 became an ordinary memorial Saturday,

The commemoration of the dead, known in our country under the name Radonitsa, takes place on St. Thomas Week, most often on Tuesday

3rd, 9th, 40th, annual, no changes are allowed in the main services of the day compared to what is required by the charter,

Saturday, the day of rest, that Saturday is still the day primarily designated for the remembrance of the dead, this is celebrated at Matins with funeral sedals for the first kathisma175, one troparion of requiem for each song of the canon of the Octoechos and a funeral luminary, and at the liturgy one troparion for the blessed. At Compline on Saturday and at the Liturgy on Saturday, the kontakion “Rest with the Saints” is added. The funeral troparion Remember the Lord176 can be at the Liturgy on Saturday only if there is no troparion to the saint at all in the Menaion

But in addition to public worship, the Charter legitimizes for weekdays a special, albeit short, funeral service, lithium after Vespers and after the first hour. Regarding this lithium, the Typikon uses the characteristic expression “Ordinary lithium,” noting its, if not daily, then at least very frequent, almost daily, occurrence.

On holidays with doxology and polyeleos, funeral prayers are canceled at all main services, except for the Midnight Office.

Blameless - this is the 17th kathisma of the psalter, psalm 118. Usually this psalm is considered primarily a funeral psalm. This view of him is wrong, incorrect. The church charter considers immaculate - this majestic biblical song in honor of the law that saves a person in life and after death - as a solemn, festive kathisma, mainly Sunday. The same 17th kathisma is recited in all cases at funeral matins, at all rites of burial, except for an infant, and at a memorial service.

For no deliberate commemorations, nor for any “funeral” or “custom” liturgies, the Church Charter does not provide for the possibility of making any deviations in the direction of multiplying funeral prayers. The Liturgy becomes funereal not from the singing of the funeral troparion and kontakion, not from the reading of the funeral apostle and the Gospel, not from the proclamation of the funeral litany. The liturgy is funeral when it is combined with the prayerful work of clergy and laity, raised for the sake of the departed and out of love for them, when it is accompanied by alms done in memory of those commemorated. Understood in this way, the funeral liturgy can take place both on great holidays and on the first day of Easter, although nothing funeral will be proclaimed at it.

The church charter stipulates that all prayers that may take place on a given day must be completed before the liturgy or postponed until the end of Vespers. After the entire daily cycle of services, worshipers need rest and refreshment with a meal. At the end of the liturgy there can only be a ceremony over the Kutia in honor of the holiday or in memory of the deceased. But, firstly, this is a very short prayer, and secondly, this is, as it were, the beginning of the meal, part of the meal.

Funeral hymns at Vespers and Matins, as has already been said, can only take place on funeral Saturdays

Reading the Psalter over the deceased in almsgiving is work.

A. Creation of new national Orthodox Churches. Creation of an independent Greek Church. Relations with the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The situation of the Bulgarians under Ottoman rule. The desire for church autonomy. The establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate and the opposition to the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Hellenic (Greek) Orthodox Church. Christianity appeared on its territory under the ap. Pavle. From the 4th century Greek episcopal sees were part of either the Roman or the K-Pla Church. In 1453, Greece was conquered by the Turks and came under the jurisdiction of the K-Pla Patriarchate. Only in 1830 did Greece achieve independence and begin the fight for autocephaly, which it received in 1850. But, barely freed from Constantinople, it became dependent on the king . Only under the Constitution of 1975 was the Church finally separated from the state. At the same time (in the 1960s), the so-called True Orthodox Church of Greece (old style) broke away from the Greek Orthodox Church.

With independence in 1822 and the formation of the Kingdom of Greece in 1832, such a situation became politically impossible; in 1833, by decision of the Bavarian regents, on behalf of the young king Otto I, a special declaration of July 23 proclaimed the autocephaly of the Church in the territory of the kingdom. The king was declared the head of the Church. Such a unilateral declaration of jurisdictional independence, in violation of church law, was not recognized by the kyriarchal Church of Constantinople, as well as by other local Churches. A schism arose that lasted 17 years.

On June 29, 1850, by the tomos of Patriarch Anthimus IV, the Church in Hellas was recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which, however, recorded a number of conditions ensuring the special status of the “Mother Church” (Ecumenical Patriarchate) in Hellas.

In 1924, the church switched to the New Julian calendar, which caused protest among some parishioners and clergy.

On September 4, 1928, a joint agreement was drawn up between the Greek and Constantinople Churches regarding the 36 dioceses that ended up in Greece after the Treaty of Lausanne. According to the Patriarchal and Synodal Acts, the dioceses of the “new territories” (Epirus, South Macedonia, Western Thrace and most of the islands of the Aegean archipelago), formally remaining under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, became part of the Greek Church (that is, they were administratively subordinate to it), according to the already accepted state Greek Law No. 3615 of July 15, 1928

Includes 81 dioceses, 30 of which in Northern Greece and the large islands of the North (the so-called “New Territories”) are nominally under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople. 6 of the 12 metropolitans of the Permanent Synod represent the New Territories.

The dioceses of Crete and Dodecanese, as well as all the monasteries of Athos, are under the direct jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople and are not considered part of the Church of Greece.

Has 200 monasteries; has about 8 million members (out of 10.6 million of the total population of Greece).

As of December 31, 2010, the number of clergy in Greece was 10,368, of which 9,117 belonged to the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Church, 1,007

Church of Crete, 228 to the metropolises of the Dodecanese Islands and 16 to the Patmos Exarchate, belonging to the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

At the end of the 14th century, Bulgaria was conquered by the Ottoman Empire. At first it was a vassalage, and in 1396 Sultan Bayazid I annexed it after defeating the crusaders at the Battle of Nicopolis.

In the Ottoman Empire, the population was divided into religious communities of “believers” and “infidels,” united in millets: the Muslim millet and the Orthodox millet (or Greek millet). The Orthodox millet included various peoples united on the basis of religious affiliation under the supremacy of the Greek Patriarchate in Constantinople. Along with the transition to the subordination of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Greek church books also appeared in the Bulgarian lands; the Slavic liturgy partially remained only in the villages. Two independent Orthodox churches - the Patriarchate of Pec and the Archdiocese of Ohrid - subsequently became victims of the Phanariots

At this time, a partial Islamization of the Bulgarian ethnic group was carried out, due to the Bulgarians who converted to Islam and converted to the Muslim millet. Some Bulgarians of the Orthodox faith remained loyal to the Patriarchate of Constantinople after the restoration of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. These were the so-called “Grecomans”. However, the majority of Bulgarians have preserved their native language, faith and traditions. The Bulgarian clergy and monasteries played a particularly positive role in this.

Since the 1820s, in dioceses populated predominantly by Bulgarians, against the background of the general growth of nationalism and the liberation movement, there was a church-social movement for the wider use of the Church Slavonic language in worship (instead of Greek), for the right of the people to elect persons of Bulgarian origin to episcopal sees. (the episcopate was Greek) and the transfer of bishops to salaries (instead of taxes and fees). Such aspirations could not but conflict with the pan-Hellenism of the Phanariots, who largely controlled the Patriarchate and dreamed of an evolutionary restoration of Byzantium in the place of the Ottoman Empire.

Patriarch Kirill VII of Constantinople (1855-1860) made certain concessions to the Bulgarians: in 1858, the national figure Hilarion (Stoyanov) was consecrated bishop, heading the Bulgarian community of Constantinople with the title of Bishop of Macariopolis.

On Sunday, April 3, 1860, Bishop Hilarion (Mikhailovsky) of Makariopolis, who had been a member of the church of the Bulgarian folk courtyard in Constantinople since 1858, performed a solemn service in this church; when, according to custom, he began to commemorate the name of the Patriarch of Constantinople, the people present in the church, by prior agreement, demanded that the elevation of the name of the patriarch be abandoned. Soon Bishop Hilarion began to perform divine services without asking for the prior permission of the Patriarch of Constantinople, which is prohibited according to church rules, since no bishop should officiate in the diocese of another bishop without his consent and blessing. Bishop Hilarion was joined by the former Metropolitan of Veles Auxentius (Cheshmedzhiysky), a native Bulgarian, and Metropolitan Paisiy (Zafirov) of Philippopolis, a native Albanian.

Bishop Hilarion was proclaimed the “Bulgarian clergyman,” that is, the head of the Bulgarian church. This is how the so-called Greek-Bulgarian church question was determined, which had many twists and turns and has not yet received a complete resolution. The indignant bishops were exiled to Asia Minor, and a fierce struggle broke out between the Bulgarians and Greeks.

The struggle with the Patriarchate of Constantinople continued and became increasingly fierce. The people did not accept the Greek clergy, in many places children remained unbaptized, weddings were celebrated without priests, and the dead were buried without farewell. All projects drawn up for the agreement of the parties did not achieve the goal. The main stumbling block was the question of delimiting the Bulgarian and Greek dioceses.

On February 28 (March 12), 1870, Mehmed Emin Ali Pasha presented the Bulgarian electors with a firman on the establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate.

Firman formed a special Bulgarian district under the name of the Bulgarian Exarchate, which included the metropolises and bishoprics listed in the firman; in addition, Orthodox residents of other dioceses could join the exarchate if they wished to do so unanimously or at least by a two-thirds majority. The administration of the exarchate was entrusted to the highest rank of the Bulgarian metropolitans, who was given the title of Exarch; the Synod was held under the exarch; the firman eliminated any interference of the Patriarch of Constantinople in the management of the spiritual affairs of the exarchate,

After unsuccessful attempts to obtain an affirmative letter from the Patriarch of Constantinople, Exarch Anthimus proclaimed on May 11 (23), on the day of remembrance of the first teachers of the Slovenian Cyril and Methodius, the independence of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, about which an act was drawn up in advance, signed by a council of seven Bulgarian bishops. Schism from KP

In April 1945, Patriarch Benjamin of Constantinople notified Moscow Patriarch Alexy I that on January 21, 1945, the newly elected Bulgarian Exarch Metropolitan of Sofia Stefan (Shokov) “asked to lift the declared excommunication from the Bulgarian clergy and people and restore peace and unity in the body of our Holy Orthodox Church.” Churches". Metropolitan Stephen's request was granted on February 22 of the same year by the Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople; On February 25, in the Church of St. George in Phanar, the Synod of the Patriarchate and the sent bishops of the exarchate jointly celebrated a liturgy. On March 13 of the same year, the tomos of autocephaly of the Bulgarian Church was solemnly signed in the Patriarchate.

3b. The invasion of the Mongols and its influence on the formation of a new center of church life. Invasion of Batu (1237-1240). Establishment of Mongol dominance. The attitude of the Mongols to Christianity. Reasons for religious tolerance of the Horde. Martyrs for the faith: Sts. Michael and Theodore, St. Roman Ryazansky, St. Mikhail Tverskoy. Outflow of population from southern Rus'. Khan's labels. Christianity among the Tatars. Establishment of the Sarai diocese (1261). St. Peter, Tsarevich of Ordynsky.

In 1237-1240 something happened that, due to the sins of people, should have happened. The princes and feudal boyars remained deaf to the “voice of the earth,” to the groans of simple people’s hearts, to the voice of the Church, which through the mouth of its saints begged for an end to bloody civil strife and called for unity.

In 1236, the huge Tatar-Mongol hordes of Khan Batu (Batu) crossed the Ural ridge. They moved slowly. Only in the summer of 1237 Batu crossed the Volga and invaded the Ryazan principality. There was enough time to organize a resistance; Rus' could have put up forces no less than Batu had. But each appanage prince thought only of himself.

During the summer, the Ryazan principality was completely devastated. Batu, breaking the heroic resistance of scattered defenders, moves north. Kolomna and Moscow are burning, Vladimir on the Klyazma is captured. Prince Yuri of Vladimir at the last moment called on the princes to take up arms against the people, but the Russians were defeated, the prince died, his nephew Prince. Vasily was captured, where he was tortured for refusing to renounce Christianity. Batu moves to Novgorod; the spring thaw stops him 200 miles from Novgorod, and the hordes turn south. Having entered the steppe lower reaches of the Volga, the Tatars founded here in the form of a semi-nomadic state of the Golden Horde with its capital - the new city of Sarai (on the fishing bank of the Volga, southeast of present-day Stalingrad).

In 1240, part of the Tatar army went west and caused colossal damage to Kyiv, turning it into an insignificant place where about 200 houses remained, and the Tithe Church was also destroyed. Then the horde passed through the southern part of the Galician-Volyn principality with fire and sword, crossed into the Carpathians, invaded Hungary, but from there, under the counter attack of Czech knights clad in armor, retreated to Rus'.

The entire Russian territory from the middle Dnieper to the Volga was under the Tatar yoke. The Novgorod land retained its independence, although it had to pay a ransom to the Horde.

The Galician-Volyn principality had to recognize partial, vassal dependence on the khan.

The church suffered enormous damage. The beauty of Rus' - Kyiv - was destroyed, the Pechersk monastery was destroyed, the monks fled. True, North-Eastern Rus' was less devastated. As a result, the population and church life in general move north - to Moscow, which becomes the center of church life. Of course, after the Russian lands captured by the Golden Horde were made completely dependent on it, mass atrocities and robberies stopped: the khans understood the disadvantage of “cutting the hen that lays the golden eggs.” The lands were subject to tribute, collected in kind, money and people

When they conquered Rus', the Mongols were pagans. They recognized one God, but they also worshiped various other gods - the sun, the moon, water, fire, idols, the shadows of dead khans, they believed in the purifying value of fire, in witchcraft, and kept whole crowds of shamans and spellcasters. There was hardly even one dominant religion in the Horde. The horde included warriors of various faiths (mostly Buddhists and Muslims), and the khans did not interfere with the performance of various religious rituals. In his book “Yase” (book of prohibitions), Genghis Khan ordered to respect and fear all gods, no matter whose they were.

Metropolitan Kirill, the first in Mongol times, established an Orthodox bishopric in the very capital of the khans, Sarai, appointing Mitrofan as bishop (in 1261), and asked Khan Mengu-Temir for a label for the clergy. Even during the first taxation of Rus', the clergy were exempted from paying it. Han Mengu in his label also exempts all white and black clergy from all their tributes and duties. Church lands and lands, church people, wax, books, icons, etc. declared inviolable; according to another label from the Khan of Uzbek to Metropolitan Pot, the clergy were freed from any khan's court; all church people were subject to the metropolitan court and, moreover, in all cases, not excluding criminal ones

In reality, however, the practice of the khans took little account of labels and their “Yasa”. Let's give two examples for now.

In 1246, Batu summoned the Chernigov prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich to the Horde. The prince, together with his boyar Theodore, refused to perform pagan rituals in the Horde. After suffering and torture, the prince and boyar were beheaded and thrown to be devoured by dogs.

In 1270, Khan Mengu-Temir summoned the Ryazan prince to the Horde. Roman Olegovich for an explanation regarding the accusation by some Baskak of defamation of the Muslim faith. The “tolerant” Mengu-Temir suggested that he renounce Christianity. Instead of renouncing, the prince began to profess the Christian faith, then they tore out his tongue, gouged out his eyes, tore off his skin and only then beheaded him.

Under Khan Uzbek in 1313, Mohammedanism, known for its fanaticism, became the dominant faith in the Horde.

All kinds of religious services were freely performed in the Horde, and the khans themselves participated in the performance of Christian, Mohammedan, and Buddhist rituals, and respected the clergy of all faiths.

In areas subject to the Golden Horde, missionary activity was carried out even among Buddhists and Muslims - the enslavers of Rus'.

In 1261, the Sarai diocese was established for this purpose. In 1276, the Sarai bishop Theognostus at the Council of Constantinople proposed questions about the baptism of the Tatars.

At the same time, Christianity spread in the North, thanks to the preaching of ascetics who were fleeing in the northern deserts. So, at the end of the 13th century. Christianity spreads among the Chuds, thanks to the works of St. KIRILL, who founded the Chelmogorsky monastery there (not far from Kargopol). For 52 years Rev. Kirill illuminated all of Chud.

In 1329, the famous Valaam Monastery was founded by the Monks SERGIUS and HERMAN on Lake Ladoga on the island. Thanks to the activities of the Valaam ascetics, St. The Karelians were enlightened by faith.

In the 14th century Rev. LAZARUS founded the Murmansk monastery on Lake Onega, whose monks enlightened the Lapps.

On the Solovetsky Island of the White Sea, the Solovetsky Monastery arose, founded by St. ZOSIMA AND SAVATIY. This monastery is an educational center for Northern Pomerania.

In 1223, the noble prince Mikhail was a participant in the congress of Russian princes in Kyiv, who decided on the issue of helping the Polovtsians against the approaching Tatar hordes. In 1223, after the death of his uncle, Mstislav of Chernigov, in the Battle of Kalka, Saint Michael became the Prince of Chernigov. The ambassadors informed Prince Mikhail that he, too, needed to go to the Horde to confirm his rights to reign as a khan's label. Together with Saint Prince Michael, his faithful friend and associate, boyar Theodore, went to the Horde. When the noble prince Mikhail and the boyar Theodore arrived in the Horde in 1246, they were ordered, before going to the khan, to go through a fiery fire, which supposedly was supposed to cleanse them of evil intentions, and to bow to the elements deified by the Mongols: the sun and fire. In response to the priests who ordered the pagan rite to be performed, the noble prince said: “A Christian bows only to God, the Creator of the world, and not to creatures.” Khan was informed about the disobedience of the Russian prince. Batu, through his close associate Eldega, conveyed a condition: if the demands of the priests are not fulfilled, the disobedient will die in agony. But even this was met with a decisive response from Saint Prince Michael: “I am ready to bow to the Tsar, since God entrusted to him the fate of the earthly kingdoms, but, as a Christian, I cannot worship idols.” The fate of the courageous Christians was decided. Strengthened by the words of the Lord, “whoever wants to save his soul will lose it, and whoever loses his soul for the sake of Me and the Gospel will save it” (Mark 8:35-38), the holy prince and his devoted boyar prepared for martyrdom and communed The Holy Mysteries, which their spiritual father prudently gave them with him. The Tatar executioners grabbed the noble prince and beat him for a long time, cruelly, until the ground was stained with blood. Finally, one of the apostates from the Christian faith, named Daman, cut off the head of the holy martyr. To the holy boyar Theodore, if he performed the pagan rite, the Tatars flatteringly began to promise the princely dignity of the tortured sufferer. But this did not shake Saint Theodore - he followed the example of his prince. After the same brutal torture, his head was cut off. The bodies of the holy passion-bearers were thrown to be devoured by dogs, but the Lord miraculously protected them for several days, until faithful Christians secretly buried them with honor. Later, the relics of the holy martyrs were transferred to Chernigov.

Romana Ryazansky. One day one of the Baskaks reported to Khan Mengu-Temir that the noble prince Roman was blaspheming the khan and blaspheming his pagan faith. There were people who confirmed the slander. Believing the slander, Temir became angry with the prince and ordered him to immediately appear in the Horde. Khan Mengu-Timur summoned Roman Olgovich to the Horde in 1270 and told him to choose one of two things: either martyrdom or the Tatar faith. The prince replied that he, submissive to the will of God, obeyed the khan's authority, but no one would force him to change his faith. The Tatars began to beat the prince, and then threw him into prison in chains. On the morning of July 19, he was taken to execution. Roman Olgovich began to speak to the assembled people, among whom there were many Russians, about the holiness of the faith of Christ - they cut out his tongue. Then they cut out the eyes, chopped off the fingers and toes, cut off the ears and lips, nose, and cut off the arms and legs. “And as only the corpse remained, they peeled off the skin from its head and lifted up the spear.”

Peter of Ordynsky. On the way home, as they say in “The Tale of Blessed Peter...”, Tsarevich Dair Kaydagul, the nephew of Batu and Berke, caught up with him and begged him to take him with him to Rostov. Probably, the boy was captivated by stories about miracles, about the large and rich city of Rostov - in those days Rostov the Great was one of the main cities of North-Eastern Rus'.

In Rostov, Dair received Orthodox baptism and was named Peter. One day he had a vision: the apostles Peter and Paul appeared. After which Peter built a monastery on the shores of Lake Nero, also called the Petrine Monastery.

At the same time, a friendship arose between the Horde prince Peter and Boris, the prince of Rostov. Archbishop Ignatius, the successor of St. Cyril, publicly declared them to be called brothers under the arches of the church. Boris's children, young princes, called Peter uncle. Prince Boris chose a wife for Peter, the daughter of a prominent Rostov nobleman. Peter had numerous offspring.

After the death of his wife, he took monastic vows at the Petrovsky Monastery he founded.

Ticket 4

A. Book of Exodus: name, time, place and purpose of writing. Features of the composition, basic theological ideas. The connection between the book of Exodus and the New Testament. The problem of dating the events of the Exodus. Jews in Egypt; the birth of Moses and his upbringing in the palace; Moses' flight to the land of Midian and his life with Japhor (Ex. 1–2). Calling of Moses; revelation of the Name of God (Ex. 2–4). Moses and Aaron with Pharaoh; Egyptian plagues (Gen. 5–11). Establishment of the Passover holiday (Ex. 12).

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ calls Exodus the book of Moses (Mark 12:26; cf. 7:10), and there is no compelling reason to doubt this. Jewish tradition also consistently (down to the present day) confirms this. Considering that the author of the book of Exodus is Moses, the date of its writing cannot be later than 1406 BC. - the year of Moses' death.

Features of the composition, basic theological ideas.

First of all, this is a description of how the Lord freed Israel from Egyptian slavery in order to fulfill His covenant with the patriarchs. The second main theme of the book is the revelation of the covenant at Sinai. The third theme, continuing the first two, is their completion - this is the theme of the restoration of God's communication with man.

The connection between the book of Exodus and the New Testament.

The symbolism of the book of Exodus becomes reality in the New Testament (Jer. 31:31-34). The blood of the sacrificial animal is replaced by the blood of Christ (24:8; Matt. 26:27.28; 1 ​​Pet. 1:2; Heb. 12:24). The symbolic substitutionary death of the Passover lamb was realized in Christ, the Lamb of God, our Passover sacrifice (John 1:29; 1 Cor. 5:7). His “exodus” to Jerusalem (Luke 9:31) brought true salvation to the people of God. The New Testament people are united with Jesus Christ, in which the pagans also become the people of God, members of the community of Israel and fellow citizens of the Old Testament saints (19:5.6; Eph. 2:11-19).

Moses in the history of redemption is a type of Christ, the Mediator of the new covenant.

The problem of dating the events of the Exodus.

There are at least two points of view on this topic, Christian and traditional Judaism. On many issues of biblical chronology before the birth of Jesus Christ, these points converge, and after the birth of Jesus Christ they diverge.

Differences in translations: Septuagint, Vulgate, Samaritan Bible.

The timing and route of the exodus are the subject of considerable disagreement among scholars. According to biblical chronology, the exodus from Egypt occurred 480 years before the reign of Solomon (1 Kings 6:1), i.e. around 1440 BC. (see 12.40.41; Judges 11.26). In this case, the pharaoh reigning at the time of the exodus was either Thutmose III or Amenhotep II.

Proponents of a later date for the exodus appeal to the name Raamses (Ramses), which was borne by one of the stone cities built by the Israelites (1:11). According to this version, the pharaoh who ruled during the exodus should be considered Ramses II (1304-1236 BC), and the approximate date of the beginning of the exodus is 1270 BC. However, this version, based solely on the name of the city, contradicts much more significant facts (including biblical chronology). Moreover, it is known that Moses died approximately in 1406 BC, and this circumstance alone does not allow us to date the time of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt later than 1440 BC.

The Mosaic Law, as presented in Exodus, is divided into three parts: the Decalogue (Ex. 20:1-21), the book of the Covenant with its civil and religious rules and regulations (20:22-24:11), and the ceremonial rules. of ten are repeated in the New Testament, with the addition of a number of conditions and provisions that are spiritually and morally even higher than those presented in Exodus 20:3-17.

The only commandment that is not repeated in the New Testament is that of keeping the Sabbath; however, the first day of the week is at all times set aside for the worship of God - in memory of the resurrection of the Savior.

The Lord gave the people rules by which they were to be guided in serving the true God and in erecting an altar to Him.

According to the Book of Exodus, Moses was born at a time when his people were increasing in number and the Egyptian Pharaoh was concerned that the Israelites might help Egypt's enemies. When Pharaoh ordered all the newborn boys to be killed, Moses' mother Jochebed hid him in a basket and floated it along the waters of the Nile. The basket was soon discovered by the pharaoh's daughter, who decided to adopt the child.

As Moses grew up, he saw the oppression of his people. He killed the Egyptian overseer who was cruelly punishing the Israelite and fled from Egypt to the land of the Midianites. Here, from a burning but unburnt bush (the Burning Bush), God addressed him and commanded Moses to return back to Egypt to ask for the liberation of the Israelites. After the ten plagues, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt through the Red Sea, after which they stopped at Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments. After 40 years of wandering in the desert, Moses died.

6 The priest of Midian [had] seven daughters [who tended the sheep of their father Jethro]. They came and drew water and filled troughs to water the sheep of their father [Jethro].

17 And the shepherds came and drove them away. Then Moses stood up and protected them, [and drew water for them] and watered their sheep. They said: some Egyptian protected us from the shepherds, and even drew water for us and watered [our] sheep.

20 He said to his daughters, “Where is he?” why did you leave him? call him and let him eat bread.

21 Moses liked to live with the man; and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses.

22 She [conceived and] gave birth to a son, and [Moses] called his name Gersham, because, he said, I have become a stranger in a strange land. [And having conceived again, she gave birth to another son, and he called his name Eliezer, saying: The God of my father was my help and delivered me from the hand of Pharaoh.]

And the Lord said [to Moses]: I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry from their leaders; I know his sorrows

8 And I go to deliver him from the hand of the Egyptians and bring him out of this land [and bring him] into a good and spacious land, where milk and honey flow, into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the [Girgashites,] the Hivites and the Jebusites. And Moses answered and said: What if they do not believe me and do not listen to my voice and say: The Lord has not appeared to you? [what should I tell them?]

2 And the Lord said to him, “What is this in your hand?” He answered: a rod.

3 The Lord said, Throw him to the ground. He threw it to the ground, and the rod turned into a serpent, and Moses fled from it.

4 And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand and take him by the tail. He stretched out his hand and took it [by the tail]; and it became a rod in his hand.

5 This is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.

After this, Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and said to [him], “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Let My people go, so that they may celebrate a feast for Me in the wilderness.”

2 But Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice and let the [children of] Israel go? I don’t know the Lord and I won’t let Israel go

Ten Plagues:

Punishment by blood

Execution by frogs

Invasion of blood-sucking insects (midges, lice, bedbugs)

Punishment by dog ​​flies

Cattle pestilence

Ulcers and boils

Thunder, lightning and fiery hail

Locust invasion

Unusual darkness (Egyptian darkness)

Death of the firstborn

Moses and Aaron did all these [signs and] wonders before Pharaoh; but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel leave his land.

Establishment of Easter

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying:

Let this month be for you the beginning of months, let it be the first for you between the months of the year.

3 Say to all the congregation of Israel, “On the tenth day of this month, let each one take for himself one lamb according to his family, one lamb per family;

4 But if the family is so small that it will not eat the lamb, then let it take from its neighbor, the one closest to its house, according to the number of souls: according to how much each one eats, pay for the lamb.

5 You shall have a lamb without blemish, a male, one year old; take it from the sheep, or from the goats,

6 And let it be kept with you until the fourteenth day of this month: then let all the congregation of the congregation of Israel slaughter it in the evening.

7 And they shall take some of his blood and put it on both the doorposts and on the lintel of the doors of the houses where they eat it;

8 Let them eat his meat this very night, roasted on the fire; let them eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs;

9 Do not eat it half baked, or boiled in water, but eat it baked over the fire, the head with the legs and entrails;

10 Do not leave it until the morning [and do not break its bones], but what remains of it until the morning you shall burn in the fire.

11 So eat it this way: let your loins be girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staffs in your hands, and eat it with haste: this is the Passover of the Lord.

12 And this very night I will go through the land of Egypt and will strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to beast, and will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.

13 And the blood will be a sign among you on the houses where you are, and I will see the blood and pass by you, and there will not be a destructive plague among you when I strike the land of Egypt.

14 And this day shall be remembrance for you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast of the Lord throughout all your generations. Celebrate it as an everlasting institution.

15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; From the very first day, destroy leaven from your houses, for whoever eats leaven from the first day until the seventh day, that soul will be cut off from among Israel.

16 And on the first day you shall have a holy convocation, and on the seventh day a holy

Today, traditions and beliefs that indicate how to remember the dead, to do this without violating existing canons, are strongly intertwined and represent the remnants of pagan and folk beliefs and church rules.

In Orthodoxy, some folk holidays, left over from the times when the Slavs were pagans, organically entered the church canons and were enshrined in church rules.

At funerals and on memorial days, they serve alms and food, and after the repose, they distribute clothes and money of the deceased to the poor, with a request to remember the deceased and pray for his soul.

The best remembrance, according to the church, will be prayer and alms, and not only on the day of the funeral, but also on any other. In order to pray for all loved ones of deceased people, notes should be submitted in churches, memorial services and prayer services should be ordered. And not just submit notes, but attend services.

You can and should pray at home, according to the prayer book, as long as the appeal to God is sincere, and the words come from the heart.

What are memorial days in the Orthodox calendar

The Orthodox Church has established special days when the deceased are remembered. This:

• Ecumenical Parental Saturday before Maslenitsa week;
• Ecumenical Parental Saturday before Trinity (in 2018 it falls on May 26);
• Lenten Saturdays on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th weeks of Lent before Easter;
• Radonitsa (celebrated on the 9th day after Easter);
• May 9 and September 11 are the days when the church serves a memorial service for all deceased soldiers;
• November 3 – Demetrius Parents' Saturday and Memorial Day of Demetrius of Thessaloniki, the Great Martyr.

According to tradition, rooted since time immemorial, on Easter they only rejoice and celebrate the Church Holiday, and the deceased are remembered exactly on the 9th day - on Radonitsa.

Why is the remembrance of the dead performed?

The eternally living soul of the deceased experiences a great need for constant prayer, for it cannot itself do good deeds with which it would be able to appease the Lord.

Commemoration of the deceased is performed to determine their future path.

Everyone knows that the path of life, depending on how it is lived, leads a person to the threshold of eternal torment or eternal bliss, and there the soul awaits the resolution of its fate.

During this period, much depends on the prayers offered for him by the living, so it is necessary not only to celebrate funerals, which are essentially not needed by the dead, but also to pray, asking the Lord God and the Holy Saints to mitigate the fate and forgive the sins of the deceased.

Commemoration of the departed on the 3rd, 9th, 40th day - what to do

On the 3rd, 9th and 40th day, it is imperative, as church rules dictate, to order a Memorial Service for the deceased in order to facilitate the successful resolution of his fate.

It is necessary to give alms in the form of money, food and things, this will also be counted in the intercession of the living for the immortal soul of the deceased.

You should always remember the deceased, spend the first 40 days in especially fervent prayer, and order a memorial service on the 3rd, 9th and 40th days.

Folk custom prescribes these days to gather loved ones at funeral tables, and the church does not interfere with this, but the main thing that Christians bring for their loved ones during this period is their fiery and sincere prayer.

How does the remembrance of the dead take place according to the charter of the Orthodox Church?

On the 3rd, 9th, 40th day, a service is performed at which the Bloodless Sacrifice is performed by removing the prosphora and the name of the deceased is mentioned 40 times on these days. The same number of times a particle of the Bloodless Sacrifice is dipped into the Blood of Christ with a prayer for the forgiveness of the soul of the deceased.

How to properly remember deceased relatives

After the death of a loved one, you need to order a memorial service in the church as soon as possible, defend it and, preferably, take communion yourself, forgiving the deceased for his earthly grievances.

In this way, prayer for the deceased will reach the Lord faster and thereby ease the fate of the deceased. They also order a magpie for a newly deceased servant of God.

All Saturdays of the year that do not fall on church holidays are considered funeral ones. On this day, you can remember the deceased with kind words and pray to God for the repose of his soul in the evening, and in the morning, and during the day, and not only in Church, but also at home, in front of icons.

Whether or not a wake is held for six months

There are no prohibitions or special instructions on this matter in the Orthodox canons. However, church ministers believe that it is necessary to remember the dead every day, and the church does not see anything wrong in speaking and remembering the immortal soul in prayers and among themselves for six months.

People mark those dates on which they feel the need to remember the deceased and mentally be with him.

Is the deceased remembered on his birthday?

Birthdays and Angel's Day are days when in Orthodoxy it is not only allowed, but also required to remember the dead. This can be done later than the date, and on the day of the spouses’ wedding anniversary, but for proper remembrance it is necessary to submit a note to the church indicating the name of the deceased.

Is it possible to remember on Sunday

According to church canons, you can pray, submit notes in church and order memorial services on any day.

Funerals for the deceased cannot be held on Sunday, Easter, they are transferred from Week to Radonitsa.

Is it possible to have a funeral service before the date of death?

Church ministers believe that there is nothing special about postponing the date of the funeral, and on major religious holidays there are even special instructions not to hold them (Christmas and Easter).

The main thing is to submit the memorial note to the church on time and pray, and on what day to sit at the memorial table is no longer so important.

How to properly remember the dead in a cemetery

Many people bring wine and vodka to the cemetery on memorial days, put food and leave it on the grave.

The Church does not approve of such actions, and suggests distributing food to the hungry and suffering.

You can pass it from hand to hand with a request to pray for the repose of the soul of the deceased, mention him in daily prayers, or even just remember him with a kind word.

You should not drink vodka at the grave, much less pour it onto the resting place - this is considered a blasphemous act.

The correct way to remember the deceased in a cemetery is to go to the Church, submit a note and pray for the soul of the deceased. Only after this you need to go to the grave, but under no circumstances should you grieve or cry out loud there. This will not help him, but will only aggravate the mutual bitterness of loss.

By and large, the deceased only needs the sincere prayers of the living, and not magnificent tombstones, loud funeral speeches and tables set for hundreds of people. Leaving food on graves is allowed for the purpose of alms for the poor and homeless; one should behave decently in the cemetery, because this is the place of the future resurrection from the dead.

You need to pray, light a candle, clean the grave and mentally talk to the immortal soul of the deceased.