Weekly orthodox patriotic newspaper Mir. Orthodox newspaper

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1.2 mln visitors/month (statistics [email protected])

« Orthodoxy and the world» - an independent multimedia Internet portal about Orthodoxy and the life of society. It has versions in Russian and English. Created in January 2004.

Story

The idea to create such a site came to Anatoly Danilov, according to Anna Danilova:

One day he decided that there was no mission site on the Internet. There are theological ones, there are for the church-goers, but there is no missionary one - it must be done! Father Alexander Ilyashenko warmly supported him, and both of them already put me before the fact that I should be the chief editor. I resisted for a long time, but they persuaded me. So, on January 20, 2004, Pravmir appeared.

According to Anna Danilova, at the beginning, “Orthodoxy and the World” was essentially the parish website of the Church of the All-Merciful Savior of the former Sorrowful Monastery, “but the approach that was chosen by Father Alexander and Anatoly is a kind conversation, including about complex problems, which somehow absent in ordinary Orthodox discourse - it turned out to be very popular. Our audience began to expand, people began to tell how the materials helped them. And we always knew that if at least one person needs it, then everything is not done in vain. It turned out that this is really necessary, and the process has begun.

He positions himself as "independent" and, according to some clerics, expresses the position of "ecclesiastical liberals"). It soon became a popular Internet resource with an audience that included both church-going Orthodox Christians and unbelievers and doubters. Since 2011, she has been actively covering the political life of the country, periodically speaking from opposition positions. The current editor-in-chief of the portal is Anna Danilova.

On September 12, 2013, Anatoly Danilov, the founder of the site, died. According to Anna Danilova: “a deep bow to all those thanks to whom Pravmir still exists - the editorial board, which mobilized and held the defense, the authors, trustees and donors. We survived together, but in the fall of 2013, almost no one doubted that Pravmir would not survive 2014.

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Confession

The portal was twice included in the "people's ten" of the most popular sites of Runet - the main Russian competition of sites " Runet Prize", where it took 7th place in 2005, becoming the first Orthodox site to enter the top ten, and in 2006 - 6- e place. Since 2007, the portal has not taken part in the competition, like other Orthodox Internet portals.

On October 19, 2010, the Berkman Center for the Study of the Internet and Society at Harvard University (USA) named the Orthodoxy and the World portal one of the most cited Runet sites, along with the Bogoslov.ru portal and the official website of the Moscow Patriarchate Patriarchy.ru.

On January 13, 2017, the editor-in-chief of the portal was awarded the 2016 Government Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of mass media "for a great contribution to spiritual and moral education and the implementation of socially significant projects" . In her speech, Anna Danilova told the history of the publication and shared the problems facing Pravmir: “13 years ago, when we started Pravmir, many colleagues were amazed who would read the publication about the good and eternal, about the Christian view of modernity, when there are so many entertainment media that do not ask these difficult questions about the meaning of life, the meaning of death, the meaning of mercy and service, suffering and joy. Other colleagues said that an independent publication that has no budget other than small donations from readers, no official status and no administrative resource, will never be viable.

Site statistics

According to the survey “To whom, how and why to explore the Orthodox world”, conducted by the research service “Sreda” in 2011 among 50 scholars studying religion, “Orthodoxy and the World” took second place in the top five most visited sites by respondents.

As of April 2014, the total audience of the Orthodoxy and the World portal is about 2,000,000 visitors per month. Site traffic exceeds 80,000 hosts per day.

Notes

1. pravmir.ru at WI. Orthodoxy and Peace. www.informer.com.
2. Global rating of the site "Orthodoxy and the World" (English). Alex Internet. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
3. Orthodoxy and the world (English version)
4. † Anatoly Danilov (07/20/1971 - 09/12/2013) .
5. Nefedova M. Orthodox Internet and its inhabitants: Anna Danilova // “Neskuchny garden”
6. Hegumen Vitaly (Utkin) - My personal point of view on the site "Orthodoxy…. archive.is(February 16, 2013). Archived February 16, 2013.
7. Elections. How it really was. Part 1. .
8. Danilova A. A. Amputation. Year two // Orthodoxy and the world, 09/15/2015
9. Possible models of interaction between Orthodox sites were discussed by Orthodox media journalists at the Faith and Word festival. , November 1, 2006.
10. The materials of the journal "Neskuchny Sad" will be published on the portal "Orthodoxy and the World". Official website of the Moscow Patriarchy, February 17, 2009.
11. Participants of the Christmas Readings shared their experience in creating Orthodox Internet projects / News / Patriarchy.ru . Patriarchy.ru.
12. Winners of the "People's vote" PR-2005. Archived from the original on June 1, 2012.
13. The website of the Valaam Monastery and the website "Orthodoxy and the World" became laureates of the "Runet Prize". Official website of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Instruction on Forgiveness Sunday 5
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Glory to Thee, Lord! We were also honored to live to see St. post; we are still given time to come to our senses from the intoxication of a sinful life; when the Lord is ready to receive us into the paternal arms of mercy.

For three weeks now we have been prayerfully crying out to the Lord: “Open the doors of repentance for me, Giver of Life!”

And now this saving time has come. We stand on the eve of Great Holy Lent - the field of our repentance and mercy towards us repentant sinners, Lord. Let us proceed, my dears, with boldness and enter with desire into this saving field. In the great and saving days of Lent, through deliberate prayers, fasting, the sacrament of repentance, the Savior - the Lord is ready to again raise us from the depths of sin and make us a new creature. And the Holy Church, our mother, as a wise educator, gradually prepared us for the feat of fasting with touching hymns and reading church prayers, transferring us from meat and fish to cheese, and from cheese to vegetable, encouraging us with examples from the Gospel readings and from the lives of the saints . Almost from the first days of the new year, we heard the call of John the Baptist of the Lord: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand” (Matthew 3:2); then the Savior Himself preached about the same repentance... In the parable of the publican and the Pharisee, we heard how we should pray that the Lord would hear our prayer. In the story of the prodigal son, we have before us an example of the inexhaustible mercy of God to the repentant sinner. In reading about the Last Judgment, we learned what awaits us beyond the grave and how we should live here on earth so that the resurrection in eternity does not become belated weeping and torment. And in today's Gospel, we were told about the shortest way of salvation, "forgive and you will be forgiven" (Luke 6:37). All this wise and saving order of life is reminded to us in the Church from year to year. Why, dear ones, are so many of us often deaf to these clear and manifest saving truths? It seems that the reason is that we do not deeply understand and take to heart what is required of us, what it gives us, and what fasting promises.

What does it require? Fasting requires us to repent and correct our lives.

What gives? - Forgiveness and the return of all the mercies of God.

What promises? – Joy in the Holy Spirit is here and bliss is there in Eternity.

As soon as all this is perceived not only with a cold mind, but with a living warm heart, everything in our life will come to life. We ourselves will come to life, zealous for living communion with the living God. And fasting will be the path that will lead us to hitherto unknown bliss. And those sorrows and oppressions that are before us are not obstacles to salvation, but the very path of salvation, commanded to us by Christ. But entering the days of the Holy Forty Days, before you stand before God with repentance for your sins, you must resurrect the saving law in your heart - “forgive and you will be forgiven.” This is the only condition without which we cannot be forgiven. “If ... you forgive a man of their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; If ... you do not forgive a person of their sins, neither will your Father forgive you of your sins ”(Matt. 6: 14-15) Let us treat, my dears, attentively to these words, delving into the meaning, we will carry forgiveness to those who have sinned against us not on the tip of the tongue but let us free our hearts from the burdens and darkness of insults, suspicions that grow like an impenetrable wall between us and God. The heart must pronounce complete and all-perfect forgiveness not only to those who offended us, but also to all those who hate us, condemn, slander, everyone, everyone who does any evil to us. We must be imbued with the thought that the Lord allows us all this for spiritual growth, as a means of testing, perfecting, and corrective. And today, the all-forgiving Love of God is waiting for us, who have forgiven and forgiven, offended and offended, to cover all His children with mercy, so that they feel the breath of the Kingdom of Heaven in themselves.

Seems like such a simple and affordable way to save. And it depends only on ourselves. Tame your non-peaceful heart, move from non-peaceful feelings to compassion, sympathy and love, bind your self and self-love - and that's it. You are saved!

Forgiveness Sunday is God's great heavenly day. St. The Church established on this day to perform the ceremony of forgiveness of each other's sins. And if all of us would take heart to his promise, then on this day, human Christian communities would truly be transformed into heavenly ones, and the earth would merge with heaven. The love of God and human love, having met, would give rise to such Paschal joy on the eve of the Lenten feat that it would become a source of strength for the entire Lenten field.

But can we forgive? Can we really forgive? Do we see our weaknesses and sins against our neighbors in order to sincerely pronounce the words - “forgive me a sinner”? All of us, without exception, must answer these questions for ourselves.

After all, if, according to the words of the Apostle James, “you have bitter envy and strife in your heart, then do not boast and do not lie against the truth. This is not wisdom descending from above, but earthly, spiritual, demonic, for where there is envy and quarrelsomeness, there is disorder and all that is evil. But the wisdom that descends from above is first pure, then peaceful, modest, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and unfeigned. The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace among those who keep the peace” (James 3:14-18).

We all need forgiveness, God's mercy. So that our fasting labor and feat would not be in vain, today we must all realize that our gift can be rejected by God for the only reason - we did not fulfill the call to love, we did not reconcile, we did not forgive from the bottom of our hearts. Again and again I will remind us of the admonition of the Savior Himself to us: “if ... bring your gift to the altar, and remember that, as if your brother had something for you, leave that gift of yours before the altar, and when you go, first make peace with your brother, and then go offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23–24). Forgiveness! But where do they come from these grievances? The root of all our non-fraternal relations: strife, enmity, bitterness - lies in our compassionate heart. Self-love feeds pride and envy… All other passions grow from them. It is not easy to fight them, but it is necessary, otherwise our salvation is impossible. “For there is envy and zeal for that discord and every evil thing” (James 3:16) - the Apostle James reminds us. My dears! Now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation. Today is spring for souls! Let us now yearn for salvation, for the purification of our hearts. Divine grace is waiting for our will to help us weak and infirm. Let us desire salvation, let us respond to Divine love and the call with pleasing God with our very lives. Let us be jealous of having in the memory of our hearts the deeds and fruits of our falls, leading to eternal death.

We have fallen by eating the forbidden fruit - we will force ourselves to rise with the commanded fast;

fallen by arrogance - rise with meekness and self-abasement;

we have fallen away from God through impenitence, let us return to Him with tears of contrition;

we perish in carelessness and forgetfulness of God - let us revive with concern for salvation and the fear of God.

Let us try to free ourselves from all these snares with which Satan traps us alive into his will, separating us from God. Let us listen to the voice of God, awakening us from the sleep of death through the apostle: “It is time for us to rise from sleep... The night [before] has passed away, but the day is drawing near. Let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the instruments of light.” (Rom.13:11-12) “Behold, now is an acceptable time! This is the day of salvation!” (2 Corinthians 6:2)

“Awake, sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will sanctify you!” (Eph. 5:14). Amen.

newspaper Orthodoxy and the world №42

Every Friday you can IS FREE print out the issue of the missionary and educational publication prepared by the editors of the site "Orthodoxy and the World": 8 pages A4. each issue presents the news of the Church, the word of the Patriarch, stories about the holidays, spiritual reading. The wall newspaper is printed in large type. This is an interesting and up-to-date publication that can be hung on a wall or stand wherever it is needed.

An Orthodox stand can be organized, in agreement with the rector, in the porch of the temple, by agreement in the team - at work, with the consent of the residents - in the entrance of the house. By posting an Orthodox wall newspaper, you organize access to fresh information about Orthodoxy for those who are deprived of this opportunity, who have access to the Internet. Portal "Orthodoxy and the World" is a multimedia portal about Orthodoxy and the life of society. News and analytical reviews, audio, video, infographics and numerous subprojects widely cover various events of religious and public life in Russia and abroad. The site has been in existence for 6 years. The materials of the “Orthodoxy and the World” portal are widely used in the Orthodox media, reprinted by a large number of diocesan publications, and included in the books of leading Orthodox publishing houses. The newspaper is issued in .PDF format, to view the files, please download the latest edition of Adobe Acrobat Reader. For questions, please contact the Editorial Board at: [email protected] Discussion of the project "Orthodox Wall Newspaper" on the forum .

On February 21, Wednesday of the first week of Great Lent, Metropolitan Yuvenaly made a traditional visit to Kolomna.
In the Three Saints Church of the Kolomna Theological Seminary, Vladyka celebrated the first Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts this year. He was co-served by the rector of the KDS, Bishop Konstantin of Zaraisky, the dean of the city of Kolomna and the Kolomna region, Bishop Peter Lukhovitsky, teachers, students in holy orders and the clergy of the Moscow diocese. During the divine service the seminary choir sang under the direction of deacon Nikolai Glukhov.
During the Divine Liturgy, Metropolitan Juvenaly ordained a 4th year student, reader Konstantin Bobikov, to the rank of deacon.
According to tradition, during the Liturgy on this day, all students of the Kolomna Theological Seminary took communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
At the end of the service, Bishop Konstantin greeted Vladyka Metropolitan.
Then Metropolitan Yuvenaly delivered the archpastoral word.
The meeting of the ruling bishop with teachers and students took place in the assembly hall of the seminary. The archpastor spoke about the life of the Moscow diocese and answered numerous questions from students.
In the evening, in the Archangel Michael Church in Kolomna, Metropolitan Yuvenaly celebrated Great Compline with the reading of the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete. Bishop Peter of Lukhovitsky and the Kolomna clergy prayed at the service.
At the end of the service, Vladyka addressed the people of Kolomna: “…I am glad that the Lord gave me the opportunity to spend today in my beloved city of Kolomna. I thank the Lord that He gave me the opportunity to pray with you on the day when we reached the middle of the first week of Great Lent, which is filled with special spiritual memories and prayers.
Fasting is an ancient Christian custom that has been going on for centuries. We know from the Gospel that before going out to public service, Christ the Savior withdrew into the wilderness and spent forty days fasting in prayer. The Gospel says that He, "having fasted forty days and forty nights, became hungry at last" (Matthew 4:1-2). And the temptation came from the devil, who offered Him all the kingdoms of the world, if only He would worship him (see: Mt. 4:8).
Beloved brothers and sisters! Of course, we imitate the Lord, strive for this, but how much we are spiritually weaker than Him! And if He, after fasting in prayer, did not escape temptation, then how can we, sinners and the weak, think that if we fasted, did not eat fast, then we are already saved? The Holy Church edifies us, calling in her hymn: "We fast, brethren, in the body; let us fast also spiritually." Therefore, fasting for us does not consist only in eating fast food, but in parallel with this, if we fast, we should pay attention to our spiritual state. And there are so many temptations here that it seems that you can’t cope with them even for the whole post. By fasting spiritually, you need to get rid of condemnation, envy, everything that separates us from the Lord, and here on earth - from each other, and creates enmity, hatred and alienation. Even in families, we notice that sometimes we cannot resist not offending someone even for one day. Therefore, a spiritual fast is also needed, which consists in the fact that we must strain all our strength in order to rip out hatred, envy and everything that separates us from each other from our hearts; not to have malice after on Forgiveness Sunday we forgave each other everything that filled our hearts with unkind feelings.
Today there are many clergy of our Kolomna deanery here, and I would like to appeal to you, beloved brother priests, so that you serve with special reverence. I noticed that the rector of this temple made exclamations loud and clear, and I think that everyone who stood in the temple heard every word. We need to help our parishioners come to Christ, free themselves from the burden of sin, and for this, our priests must patiently perform Divine Services, the Sacrament of Confession, and preach.
All of us during Great Lent should work hard, showing mercy to our neighbors, help the suffering, weak, lonely people and through this fulfill the Lord's commandment about love. And Christ, seeing our zeal and our love for Him, how a loving Father will accept our repentance and our good deeds and give us strength so that not only in this fast, but throughout our lives, we can live according to the commandments of God, manifesting love for all with whom we live, with whom we meet on the path of life.
May the Lord help us all in the following days of Holy Forty Days, in matters of prayer and repentance, and may He vouchsafe us all, having passed this saving field, to reach and bow in spiritual joy to His Bright Resurrection!

IN MEMORY OF THE NEW MARTYRS OF KOLOMENSKOYE

On March 2, celebrations dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the death of Hieromartyr Pavel Kosminkov were held in the Kolomna deanery. The Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Intercession in the village of Lystsevo was celebrated by the dean of the churches in the city of Kolomna and the Kolomna District, Bishop Peter Lukhovitsky. The rector of the Church of the Intercession in the village of Lystsevo, priest Andrey Andreev, the rector of the Church of St. John the Baptist in the city of Kolomna, priest Andrei Zgonnikov, and the rector of the Church of the Intercession in the village of Nikulskoe, priest John Bakushkin, co-served with Vladyka. At the end of the service, Bishop Peter conveyed the blessing of Metropolitan Juvenaly to the audience.
As part of the spiritual and educational project "The Feat of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church", an exhibition was organized for parishioners and guests about the Kolomna New Martyrs. Project coordinator A. A. Kiseleva made a report on the feat of the saints.
***
On March 4, celebrations dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the death of Hieromartyr Vasily Gorbachev were held in the Kolomna deanery. The Divine Liturgy at the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Parfentyevo was performed by the dean of the churches in the city of Kolomna and the Kolomna District, Bishop Peter Lukhovitsky. Archpriest Nikolai Chikunov, rector of the church, served with His Eminence. At the end of the service, Bishop Peter conveyed the blessing of Metropolitan Juvenaly to the audience.
***
On March 6, the Kolomna deanery celebrated the 80th anniversary of the martyrdom of the Hieromartyr Konstantin Pyatikrestovsky, who served in the clergy of the Michael-Archangel Church in the village of Korobcheevo, destroyed in the Soviet era.
On this day, the rector of the Trinity Church in the village of Troitskiye Ozerki, priest Viktor Volkov, performed a prayer service to Hieromartyr Konstantin in the village of Korobcheevo and told the audience about his life and deed.

Life with God
IN MEMORY OF ARCHBISHOP GREGORY

Burial in Bobrenev

On February 25, Archbishop Gregory of Mozhaisk, vicar of the Moscow diocese, reposed in the Lord. Two days later, the clergy and laity of Muscovy saw off Vladyka on the path of all the earth.
On February 27, Metropolitan Yuvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna celebrated the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts at the Dormition Church of the Novodevichy Convent. Metropolitan Leo of Novgorod and Staraya Rus’, Bishop Ilian (Vostryakov) and vicars of the Moscow diocese co-served with Vladyka: Bishops Vidnovsky Tikhon, Serpukhovskoy Roman, Zaraisky Konstantin, Lukhovitsky Petr, Secretary of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia for the city of Moscow Protopresbyter Vladimir Divakov, Secretary of the Moscow Diocesan Administration Archpriest Mikhail Yegorov, deans of church districts and clergy of the Moscow diocese.
The service was attended by: Hero of the Soviet Union, Chairman of the All-Russian Organization "Combat Brotherhood" B.V. Gromov, Chairman of the Moscow Regional Duma I.Yu. Bryntsalov, Minister of Education of the Moscow Region M.B. Zakharova, Honorary Builder of Russia A.V. Gornostaev, businessman I.O. Parkhomenko, relatives of Archbishop Gregory, clergy, abbesses of monasteries and laity who came to say goodbye to the archpastor.
At the end of the Liturgy, Metropolitan Yuvenaly addressed everyone with an archpastoral word: “Beloved brothers, archpastors, distinguished distinguished guests, all-honorable fathers, monastics, relatives of Bishop Gregory, beloved brothers and sisters! The memory of Vladyka Gregory has gathered us today in this monastery. Early in the morning on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, he went to the Lord. For quite a long time, as we remember, he was very unwell, but always, overcoming various ailments, he zealously continued to serve the Church of Christ. For more than forty years he has been my closest and faithful assistant in managing the Moscow diocese. Sometimes it turned out that he knew the diocese and the clergy better than I did, because he was in daily contact with the clergy and believers of the Moscow region. He ordained priests and deacons, led the celebrations of memorable days in parishes and monasteries, and consecrated many restored destroyed shrines. Never referring to his weakness, Vladyka Gregory continued his ministry. Until his last days, he was daily in the Moscow diocesan administration, taking part in meetings of the Diocesan Council, and doing other current affairs.
Last week he told me that he was in unbearable pain. He spent the last two or three days at home, and when he got worse, he was taken to the intensive care unit of the First City Hospital. Early in the morning at 5:10 am, on Sunday, when we celebrated the feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, he passed away to the Lord. This morning I arrived at the monastery when the early Divine Liturgy was being held here, and during the communion verse, I announced to the faithful the death of Vladyka and performed the first memorial service for him. On this day, we also celebrated the celebration in honor of our miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Iberian". I prayed in front of this icon and headed to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, where His Holiness Patriarch Kirill led the service that day. His Holiness commemorated Vladyka Gregory at the Divine Liturgy and conveyed to me a request to pray for his repose.
When we bury a person, we sometimes lose our minds, being in an inconsolable sob. But standing at the tomb of Vladyka, we are filled with spiritual joy, remembering the feat that he accomplished throughout his life. He grew up as an orphan because his father died during the Great Patriotic War. He lived in poverty and at first, having received a higher education, he strove to bear his witness to his children, and then, having received a calling from God and completed his higher theological education, he devoted his whole life to serving the Moscow diocese. Today, at the Divine Liturgy, we offered fervent prayers for his repose, and now we will perform the funeral service.
I remember how some time ago, complaining about his state of health, Vladyka jokingly said that he should retire. I, too, as if jokingly, shamed him and said: “Where do you spend this peace?”, To which he replied: “In the Bobrenev monastery. It's so good there." Remembering these words of Vladyka, we decided that we would bury him in Kolomna, in the Bobrenev monastery, because with his phrase he, as it were, chose the place of his rest…”
Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk announced Patriarchal condolences on the death of Archbishop Gregory of Mozhaisk.
Then Metropolitan Yuvenaly led the funeral service for the newly-departed Archbishop Gregory. He was co-served by the archpastors who took part in the Liturgy, as well as the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Metropolitan Joseph of Kurgan and Belozersky, and numerous clergy of the Moscow diocese.
At the end of the funeral, the faithful began to say goodbye to Bishop Gregory. Then, under the funeral ringing of the bells of the Novodevichy Convent, the coffin with the body of the deceased Vladyka was surrounded by the clergy around the Assumption Church.
*****
On the same day, the coffin with the body of Bishop Gregory was delivered to the Bobrenev Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos. On the territory of the monastery, Metropolitan Yuvenaly was met by the head of the urban district of Kolomna, D.Yu. Lebedev, and the Kolomna clergy. After the funeral litia, Archbishop Gregory of Mozhaisk was buried behind the altar of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin of the Bobrenev Monastery.
In the evening of the same day, a memorial meal was held in the bishop's house on the territory of the Novo-Golutvin Monastery.
Metropolitan Yuvenaly, the archpastors, clergymen and laity who were present shared their memories of the late Bishop Gregory. They spoke about the exceptional modesty and humility of the deceased archpastor, about the inexhaustible mercy and love for his neighbors, which especially distinguished him, about his devotion to the Holy Church and sacrificial service to the Lord.
Metropolitan Yuvenaly, in conclusion, thanked all the participants in the funeral of the ever-memorable Archbishop Gregory and announced his intention on Maundy Thursday, when forty days have passed since the death of Vladyka, to arrive at the Bobrenev Monastery to celebrate the Divine Liturgy and memorial prayer for his brother.
May the Lord give rest to the newly-departed Archbishop Gregory in the villages of the righteous! Eternal memory to him!
BIOGRAPHY OF THE LORD
Archbishop Grigory of Mozhaisk (in the world Yuri Sergeevich Chirkov) was born on January 1, 1942 in the village of Kozly, Kumensky District, Kirov Region, into a peasant family.
In 1960, after graduating from high school, he entered the Faculty of History and Philology of the Kirov State Pedagogical Institute. A year later, he moved to the correspondence department of this institute and at the same time taught Russian language and literature at an eight-year school with. Upper Bystrica, Kumensky district.
Since 1963, he worked as an inspector at the Kirov State Control Laboratory. In 1966 he was drafted into the Armed Forces.
In 1969 he entered the Leningrad Theological Seminary, then the Leningrad Theological Academy, from which he graduated in 1975 with a degree in theology for his work Anthropogenesis of Chapters I and II of the Book of Genesis as interpreted by the Holy Fathers and Christian theologians.
On March 15, 1973, Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod Nikodim (Rotov) was tonsured a monk with the name Gregory in honor of St. Gregory the Dialogist. On March 25 of the same year, he was ordained a hierodeacon, on December 4 a hieromonk, and was appointed assistant inspector of the Leningrad Theological Academy.
In 1975-1978. - postgraduate student at the Moscow Theological Academy and at the same time referent of the Department for External Church Relations.
In 1976 he was elevated to the rank of hegumen.
In 1977 he was appointed secretary of the Moscow diocesan administration.
In 1978 he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.
In 1981 he was appointed rector of the Dormition Church of the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow.
As a priest, he had all the awards, including the second cross with decorations and the Patriarchal Cross.
By the decree of His Holiness Patriarch Pimen and the Holy Synod of September 10, 1987, he was appointed Bishop of Mozhaisk, Vicar of the Moscow Diocese.
He was named bishop on September 12, 1987 in the White Hall of the Moscow Patriarchy. Hirotonisan on September 13 at the Divine Liturgy at the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow.
On February 25, 1997, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop.
Passed away to the Lord on February 25, 2018

FOR THE BURNING OF Vladyka GREGORY

The snow shone behind the crimson fence,
the sky burns blue.
... And flows with sad joy
dirge mysterious move,

like celestial faces
in the old temple, over the tomb of the lord.

He was the guardian of the holy stronghold
that stood over the river of the world.
But now the worries are forgotten
and the worker retired;

in that peace where time is unknown,
where there is no pain, no sorrow...
And Bobrenev shines under the sun,
and a dazzling light burns.

Roman SLAVATSKII

To the 80th Anniversary of the Death of the Hieromartyrs Paul, Constantine, Joasaph and the Monk Martyr Mstislava

ARCHPRIEST PAVEL KOSMINKOV

Father Pavel was born in 1875 in the village of Novinki, Serpukhov district, in the family of the priest Vasily Kosminkov. After graduating from the Moscow Theological Seminary, he was ordained a priest and from 1900 served in the Church of the Intercession in the village of Lystsevo, Kolomna district. After the revolution, Father Pavel was elevated to the rank of archpriest and appointed dean.
It is known that on June 1, 1918, he met His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon in Kolomna.
On November 25, 1929, Archpriest Pavel was arrested for the first time and imprisoned in the Kolomna prison. On December 5, he was charged with the fact that "he openly delivered counter-revolutionary sermons from the pulpit ... Being in close relations with the former Bishop Theodosius, he provided him with material support and, with his assistance, conducted counter-revolutionary activities." On this document, Father Pavel wrote: “He was in official relations with Bishop Theodosius, he delivered sermons only regarding the truths of the faith without counter-revolutionary goals.”
On February 3, 1930, the collegium of the OGPU sentenced Archpriest Pavel Kosminkov to imprisonment in a forced labor camp for three years. From there, the priest returned to Lystsevo. For diligent service in 1933 he was awarded with a club.
In July 1934, Father Pavel was assigned to the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Stolpovo, Zaraisk District.
On the night of November 16-17, 1937, NKVD officers came to Father Pavel's house, presented a search warrant and an arrest warrant. Breaking the whole house, they seized the monstrance, and Father Pavel was taken to the Kolomna prison and interrogated. “I don’t plead guilty to anti-Soviet and counter-revolutionary activities,” was his reply.
On November 25, 1937, the NKVD troika sentenced Father Pavel to ten years in labor camps. While imprisoned, Archpriest Pavel Kosminkov died from unbearable conditions of detention on March 2, 1938 and was buried in an unknown grave.
In the Intercession Church in the village of Lystsevo, an icon of the Holy Martyr Paul is kept.

ARCHPRIEST KONSTANTIN PYATIKRESTOVSKY

Icon of father Constantine

Father Konstantin was born on May 31, 1877 in Moscow into the family of Deacon Mikhail Pyatikrestovsky.
The Pyatikrestovskys received their surname from their great-grandfather Stepan, the first priest in their family. He was a peasant, a native of the churchyard of the Five Crosses near Kolomna (the village of Tsemgiant is now built on this site). According to legend, the crosses were erected in memory of five brothers who died in the Battle of Kulikovo. Upon entering the Kolomna Theological School, Stepan was asked: “Whose are you? Where?" He answered that Yakovlev, but lives in Five Crosses. Since that year already two Yakovlevs were enrolled in the school, they decided to name Stepan Pyatikrestovsky.
Konstantin received his initial education at a religious school. In 1897, he graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary with the second category and worked as a teacher at St. George's Parish School.
In 1899, Konstantin Mikhailovich married the daughter of the Moscow priest Sergius Miropolsky, Lyudmila. They subsequently had four sons.
In 1899, Konstantin was ordained a priest at the Archangel Michael Church in the village of Korobcheevo, Kolomna district. After serving here for two and a half years, he became seriously ill (housing there was unsuitable) and in 1902 left the state.
In 1903, the priest was appointed to the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Letovo, Podolsky district; served here for ten years. In 1913 he became rector of the Vvedensky Church in Konyushennaya Sloboda near Dmitrov.
In 1926, the priest was awarded a pectoral cross, in 1932 he was elevated to the rank of archpriest. In 1936 he was awarded with a club.
Father Konstantin served in the Temple of the Introduction for twenty-four years. He was arrested on the night of November 26, 1937. The priest was charged with anti-Soviet activities, spreading counter-revolutionary slander against the existing system, expressing hostile views against the Communists, and agitating the population against elections to the Soviets. Father Konstantin rejected all this fiction. At the end of the interrogation, he said: “I do not plead guilty to anti-Soviet agitation. In private conversations, I said: “The Orthodox faith and faith in God in general with the arrests of priests and the closing of churches will not stop, it will not stop, this faith, due to the fact that it is immortal.”
On December 5, 1937, the NKVD troika sentenced Father Konstantin to ten years in prison. Subsequently, one of the eyewitnesses of those events said: “After the arrest, all the prisoners were gathered in the police, good fellows appeared with scissors and razors and, mocking, mocking, they cut everyone’s hair, shaved, tore off their cassocks. There was no investigation, no trial, they were taken to Siberia.”
The father was sent to the Mariinsky camps (Kemerovo region) for logging. The family did not know where the father was. But one day a letter came from him - a small paper square: “Dear Lyuda! I am writing from the city of Mariinsk Sib. distribution lag. NKVD. Greetings to my dear children and grandchildren ... If you want to inform me about anything, then write to the indicated address. If they take it from here soon, then your letter will still reach me through Sib. distribution lag. NKVD. This was the only news from him. He did not respond to letters from his family.
On April 7, 1938, his son Panteleimon wrote to him: “Hello, dad! It has been four and a half months since you left Dmitrov, and meanwhile only one letter has been received from you from Mariinsk. Why don't you write? Are you sick? We look forward to your letter. Write, how is your health, where are you at the moment, what are you doing? Tell me - did you receive a letter from your mother, as well as money and a package? Write more often. We are all alive and well. We wish you vivacity, health and tranquility. Maybe you need something from clothes, shoes, food - write, and we will immediately send you.
On the back of this letter, one of the prisoners wrote a reply and sent it to the priest's wife: “Dear mother L.S.! I want to tell you and not hide from you, I am the same as your husband K.M. Don't be scared, he's dead... I feel sorry for you that you keep writing to him and writing, finally, I see Pantyush's son is writing. I still have two of your letters... We wept bitterly, I decided to work hard and answer. Here is my most humble request: do not write any more and do not look for him, he rested by the grace of God, and you can check the parcels at the post office ... "
Archpriest Konstantin Pyatikrestovsky died in the hospital of the Mariinsky camp on March 6, 1938 and was buried in an unknown grave.
Prayer singing to Hieromartyr Konstantin is regularly performed at the worship cross on the site of the destroyed church of the Archangel Michael in the village of Korobcheevo near Kolomna.

NUN MSTISLAV (FOKINA)

Matushka Mstislava (in the world Maria Semyonovna Fokina) was born in 1895 in the village of Maloe Uvarovo, Kolomna district, in the family of Semyon Fokina, a Kolomna factory worker. Maria graduated from a rural school and from 1908 worked at a silk-rolling factory in Kolomna.
In 1913, she had to leave work, because. At this time, her mother became seriously ill, and she began to take care of her. After the death of her parents, Maria first lived with her brothers. But they were unbelievers, communists, and wanting to devote her life entirely to the Lord, she left them in 1921 and settled in Kolomna at a church belonging to one of the men's monasteries. She lived here until 1931.
On April 15, 1930, in Izhevsk, Maria was tonsured a monk with the name Mstislav and returned to Kolomna, continuing her obedience in the church. In December 1930, she went to the Ryazan region and settled near the St. John the Theologian Monastery in the village of Poshchupovo.
On May 31, 1931, the godless authorities arrested the brethren of the monastery, as well as the monks and laity who had gathered around the monastery - a total of 40 people, and among them - mother Mstislav. During an interrogation in a Ryazan prison, she said: “I boldly declare: the authorities oppress religion; freedom is given, but it turns out the opposite - monasteries and churches are closed. When asked about who tonsured her, she refused to name the clergyman, and as to why she became a monk, she answered that she had gone to the monastery to save her soul, so that “having renounced this world, I would give myself entirely to the service of God, in whom I believe.” and no persuasion or oppression will kill my faith in God.”
On September 3, 1931, the OGPU troika sentenced the nun Mstislav to three years in a concentration camp. After serving the entire term in hard labor in Svirlag, in 1934 she returned to Kolomna and began to serve at the Church of the Intercession. When the temple was closed, in 1936 she entered the gramophone factory as a storekeeper.
Again, nun Mstislava was arrested on February 24, 1938, and imprisoned in the Kolomna prison. She rejected all accusations of counter-revolutionary activities, as well as all false evidence.
On March 2, 1938, the NKVD troika sentenced the nun Mstislav (Fokina) to death. On March 9, 1938, she was executed at the Butovo training ground.

IGUMEN IOASAF (SHAKHOV)

Icon of Father Joasaph

Hegumen Ioasaf (in the world Iosif Ivanovich Shakhov) was born in 1870 in the village of Ilyinsky, Yaroslavl province, into a peasant family. He graduated from the parochial school. Deciding to choose the life path of a warrior of Christ, in 1896 he entered the Nikolo-Peshnoshsky Monastery as a novice, where he labored until 1904.
In 1904, the Russo-Japanese War began, and the rector of the monastery, hegumen Savva, blessed the novice to go to the front in order to serve the Church and the Motherland with a feat of arms. After the conclusion of peace with Japan, he returned to the monastery, was tonsured a monk with the name Joasaph and ordained a hierodeacon, and in 1910 a hieromonk.
When the First World War began, additional army units began to be created, for the spiritual guidance of which it was necessary to increase the number of regimental priests; they were especially needed on the front lines, where suffering and death became commonplace. In 1915, Hieromonk Joasaph was sent to the German front as a priest of the 461st regiment. He went into battle with the soldiers, carried the wounded from the battlefield, confessed and communed them, and buried the dead.
Hieromonk Joasaph stayed at the front until the summer of 1917, returned to his monastery and labored in it until it was closed in 1928.
Then the priest came to Kolomna with the intention of entering the Epiphany Golutvinsky Monastery, but the rector of the monastery, Archimandrite Nikon, knowing that the days of the monastery were numbered, blessed him to serve in the parish. Bishop Yegoryevsky, vicar of the Moscow diocese Pavel (Galkovskiy) sent him to the Church of the same faith of the Life-Giving Trinity in the village of Popovka (now Oktyabrskoye) in the Kolomna region. The zealous shepherd saw that things in the parish were in the most deplorable state, many schismatics and sectarians lived in the region, who did not receive the slightest opposition from the Orthodox. And at the very time when the godless state mercilessly persecuted the Church, Hieromonk Joasaph energetically took up missionary activity, trying to enlighten the lost, and in this field he achieved considerable success, people began to move away from sects and return to the Orthodox Church. Hieromonk Joasaph served in this parish for ten years. In 1930 he was elevated to the rank of hegumen.
On March 8, 1938, the authorities arrested him and imprisoned him in the Kolomna prison.
“You are exposed that you have repeatedly called on the collective farmers to defend the faith,” the investigator said.
- Yes, - the priest answered, - I demanded from the believers that they go to church, pray to God and protect the faith from desecration.
- The investigation established that in your sermon on the feast of the Nativity of Christ, you expressed the idea of ​​the coming of Christ, who will lead the fight against enemies.
- Yes, in my sermon it was said about the Second Coming of Christ, and I told the believers that they need to be ready to meet Christ. And in this regard, I reminded them of the Last Judgment.
On March 13, the Troika of the NKVD sentenced Father Joasaph to death. Hegumen Ioasaf (Shakhov) was killed on March 22, 1938 and buried in a common unknown grave in Butovo.

DEDICATED TO THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE MASTER

Abakumov readings

February 25 marked the 70th anniversary of the birth of our countryman, Honorary Citizen of Kolomna Mikhail Georgievich Abakumov.
Kolomna people remember and love their painter.
For the anniversary, in the halls of the Cultural Center "Ozerov's House" there is an exhibition "Window to Eternity", which presents works by M. Abakumov from private collections and previously unexhibited graphic works.
The artists of the Kolomna branch of the VTOO “Union of Artists of Russia” called their XXIV reporting exhibition: “Dedicated to Abakumov”, thereby expressing deep respect and admiration for the master, confirming their commitment to the realistic school of painting.
On February 16 and 17, the Ozerov House hosted participants and guests of the All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference "VIII Open Abakumov Readings", also dedicated to the anniversary.
This year, the theme of the conference "Artist and Time" allows you to reveal such important areas as understanding the role of art in modern society, preserving and promoting the traditions of Russian culture, the role of the artist in the cultural and historical space, the role of museums in preserving traditions, studying the unique artistic heritage of Moscow .G. Abakumova...
The conference was attended by art historians, artists, culturologists, historians, philologists, teachers, music workers - more than forty people in total.
On the first day, a round table was held, in which N.V. Panin, the head of the Kolomna Department for Culture and Tourism, took part; Natalia and Andrei Abakumov (children of Mikhail Georgievich) and O. L. Kondratiev - organizers of the exhibition "Window to Eternity"; SA Gavrilyachenko - People's Artist of Russia, Professor of the Surikov Institute, Secretary of the Board of the Union of Artists of Russia; VE Kalashnikov - candidate of art history, head. Department of the Institute of Arts of the Russian State University named after Kosygin; V.A.Orlov - Honored Artist of Russia, leader of the Abakumov Plein Airs; YD Gerasimov - Chairman of the Union of Russian Artists, Moscow; M. Stoyanovich - artist, author of the project "Serbia from the palette of Russian artists."
On the second day, there was a discussion about the role of museums in modern conditions, about the problem of capitalization of art, about the mechanisms for promoting artists, about the relationship between the painter and the viewer.
The following reports aroused general interest: people's artist, professor S.A. Gavrilyachenko (Moscow), honored artist, sculptor R.A. Lysenin (Ryazan), candidate of art criticism V.E. Kalashnikov (Moscow), doctor of philological sciences, professor V.A. .Viktorovich (Kolomna), culturologist, head of the sector of the St. Petersburg Museum-monument "St. Isaac's Cathedral" A.E. Korchagina, associate professor of the Institute of Arts I.Yu.
Based on the materials of the forum, a scientific collection will be published.
*****
On February 26, friends and admirers of the talent of M.G. Abakumov gathered in the Central City Library named after V.V. Korolev to once again remember this wonderful artist.
"The Sunny Brush of Russia" is not only the name of the meeting, but also a statement of the fact of the extraordinary talent of our fellow countryman and contemporary.
The intimate atmosphere of the evening was organically woven into the story of its presenter T.A. Forisenkova, and the film of the Prima art gallery about Mikhail Georgievich, and the video sequence of the master’s paintings shown on the screen and the memories of him by K.V. Bukrinsky and Yu.V. Nikandrov , and a video with the words of V.V. Korolev about the paintings of Abakumov and about himself, and the performance by K.V. Bukrinsky of the artist’s favorite songs.
OS Koroleva in her memoirs dwelled on the ability of Mikhail Georgievich and Asya Georgievna to be friends not in words, but in deeds, to be support in difficult moments of life. And also - on a wonderful role, MISSION, which people like M.G. Abakumov and V.V. Korolev bring to the world, teaching us to see the beauty of God's creation through the eyes of an artist, to hear and listen with our inner ear to the word created by the writer, music, written by the composer.
And great gratitude to them and our memory for this.
Olga KOROLYOVA

A WORD ABOUT REPENTANCE AND SALVATION

I mean the word about repentance and salvation, so that everyone who is wounded in the struggle with the devil, with diligence, would flow to the treasure of healings.
Venerable Ephraim the Syrian
The Monk Ephraim the Syrian calls saving repentance a treasure of healings. Truly, this treasure is priceless! Any terrible ulcer, any disease of the soul or body, any grave sin, except for the pride of the devil, is healed by this fire-like medicine.
What would have happened to us if the All-Merciful Lord had not granted us the Sacrament of Penance? There is none righteous, not one, and by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight (Rom. 3:10,20). We are all mired in sin, and without the possibility of being cleansed by repentance, we would all be subject to eternal damnation in the judgment of the Supreme Justice.
But the Lord is good, giving hope to sinners and giving salvation to the repentant! And so, on the last Week before the Great Passion Week, the Holy Church remembers the Monk Mary of Egypt, who, by the power of repentance, rose from the stinking hellish abyss to the fragrant peaks of holiness.
In her youth, Mary of Egypt was insatiable for sin and unstoppable in the pursuit of vile pleasures. Looking at her, the demons laughed merrily and her Guardian Angel sobbed bitterly. But the Lord did not leave with His mercy this seemingly hopelessly lost soul. Having heeded the sign sent by God, Mary found the strength in herself for an unprecedented feat of repentance, from the depths of sin she ascended to the heights of equal angels.
Someone, reflecting on the sins of the youth of Mary of Egypt, will consider that the Lord will certainly forgive his relatively small sins. Alas, this is a soul-destroying delusion! The Most High Judge Himself says thus: you show yourselves to be righteous before people, but God knows your hearts, for what is high among people is an abomination before God (Luke 16:15).
There are no sins big and small, there are sinners repentant and inveterate. Reverend Mary of Egypt fought in the desert with the terrifying dragon of her dark past. But the human soul can equally die from the breath of such a dragon, and from the bite of a small poisonous snake or an insignificant-looking tarantula.
How did the Monk Mary of Egypt redeem her soul from slavery to sin? For about half a century, the righteous woman struggled in unceasing prayer and cursed tears, almost without food and drink, under the scorching sun of the desert, so that her previously snow-white skin turned black, and her hair burned white. And only after seventeen years of such deeds did the Lord grant her perfect purification and the power of His grace - Mary in prayer rose to an elbow from the ground, she was served by a lion, she walked on water as if on dry land.
Of course, most mortals are incapable of accomplishing such feats and can only marvel at them. But the merciful Lord, who knows our weaknesses, does not demand from us beyond our strength.
Elder Paisius Velichkovsky says: “It is impossible for everyone to have one rule and one feat; because some are strong, others are weak; some are like iron, others are like copper, others are like wax.” Everyone must strive, measuring his strength. However, one should not, referring to weakness, not at all take care of the deeds of piety.
Each person has his own sins, and all of them, like snakes, ulcerate his heart. In the Sacrament of Penance we must put to death these internal enemies of our salvation before they plunge our souls into perdition. The Lord, who does not want the death of a sinner, forgives the sins of those who sincerely repent. But an abomination in His eyes is our crafty self-pleasing.
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ!
Alas, lukewarmness, neglect in the matter of saving one's own soul is especially common in our modern society. Yes, behind decades of lack of spirituality, moral decay, alienation from church rituals and institutions. But this does not serve us, the current one, as an excuse. On the contrary, we should strive with increased zeal in the field of the Lord in order to redeem the gloomy past, to make up for precious time wasted in sin, to gain hope for the future ...
A heavy legacy was left to us by previous generations, and the sin of our time is also burdensome. But in this twilight, the voice of the Lord is clearly audible, calling us not to despondency and despair, but to cheerfulness and spiritual deeds. The commemoration of St. Mary of Egypt, now celebrated, is also a lesson of hope, living evidence that the most grievous sins are forgiven by the Loving Lord to those who seek Him.
Let us, too, from the abyss of falling, with faith and hope, cry out to our Lord Jesus Christ, for the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). Amen.
Vladimir, Metropolitan of Tashkent and Central Asia

AT GREAT LENTEN SERVICES

What are “biblical songs”, what prophecies are read, why there are twice as many psalms at services, when prostrations are made - we talk about the features of the services of Great Lent.
From the evening of Forgiveness Sunday, temple vestments become dark. The time of lengthy unhurried church services begins. Anyone who wants to attend Lenten services (especially the first week) must be patient. For a modern person, drawn into the whirlwind of business life, these divine services will become a kind of feat.
Pious priests try to celebrate the church services of Great Lent without any abbreviations. And that means that the psalms will be read twice as many during the service (the entire Psalter for the week of fasting should be read twice).
Another rare opportunity for attending Lenten services. At the morning service, the canon is read (a lengthy prayer text, a hymn). Outside of fasting, we hear between fragments of the canon (troparia) the refrains “Glory, Lord, to Thy holy Resurrection”! or "Most Holy Theotokos, save us"! Now the order is changing. During Great Lent, they try to fulfill the canons in the same way as they did in ancient times. The troparia alternate with biblical songs, which in their meaning set the content of the troparia of the canon. There are nine songs in total, according to the number of canon songs.
The first is the song of the prophet Moses, dedicated to the passage of the Jews through the Red Sea. The second song from Deuteronomy, the speech of Moses can be heard only during Great Lent, at other times it is not sung. This is due to its accusatory content, with a call to repentance. The third song is laudatory, the prophetess Anna, the mother of the prophet Samuel, the fourth and fifth - the prophets Habakkuk and Isaiah, who prophesied about the Savior. The sixth - the prophet Jonah, who, with his three-day stay in the belly of a whale, foreshadowed the three-day stay in hell of Jesus Christ. The seventh and eighth biblical songs included in the canon make you think about praying to God in difficult circumstances. These are the songs of the prophet Daniel and the three youths in the Babylonian oven. The ninth song - the Mother of God, is already a New Testament text, indicating the completion of the Old Testament history.
This forms a chant that is very deep in content and meaning, with the help of which we can experience the history of salvation: from the flight of the Jews from Egypt to the Good News.
* * *
Great Lent has its own special liturgical sign. This is the prayer of Ephraim the Syrian. During it, four earthly bows and twelve waist bows are laid with prayer petitions: "God, cleanse me a sinner."
* * *
These days you can discover what small services called hours are dedicated to. And if someone was weary of them, was late in the morning by the third and sixth hours, or, on the contrary, was in a hurry to run away from the first in the evening, and did not suspect the existence of the ninth at all, he may during fasting be imbued with the importance of these services.
The meaning of the first hour is expressed by its troparion, which they begin to perform in a special way, making prostrations while singing this text.
Usually the priest proclaims: “Tomorrow hear my voice, my King and my God,” and bows to the ground. The choir sings these words and also bows to the ground, while the priest proclaims special verses: “Inspire my verbs, Lord, understand my calling”, “I will pray to You, Lord.” To these verses, the choir sings the troparion “Hear in the morning ...”, all this is accompanied by bows. When you hear the hymns of the first hour of Great Lent, you immediately understand that this is the morning invocation of God.
At the third hour, they sing in a similar way, recalling the event of Pentecost: “Lord, even Thy Most Holy Spirit at the third hour sent down Thy Apostle: Him, Good, do not take away from us, but renew us, praying to You.”
The sixth is a recollection of the terrible moment of the Crucifixion of Christ: “On the sixth day and hour, on the cross, nail the bold Adam’s sin into paradise, and tear apart the handwriting of our sins, Christ God, and save us.”
The ninth hour is no less terrible in meaning, this is the time of the death of Jesus Christ: “Even at the ninth hour you tasted death for the sake of the flesh, put to death our wisdom in the flesh, Christ God, and save us.”
* * *
During Great Lent, during different moments of worship, three books from the Old Testament should be read: Genesis, Proverbs of Solomon and the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. In the ancient Church, people preparing for the Sacrament of Baptism listened to the texts that every Christian should have known during the services of the Forty Day.
* * *
And Bible songs, and hours, and readings of the Holy Scriptures, and the prayer of Ephraim the Syrian - all this will remain with those who pray for almost the entire post.
But in the first and fifth weeks, in addition to liturgical openings, a call to deep repentance awaits a person. Four days (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) of the first week and on Wednesday of the fifth week in the evening a special service is performed - Great Compline with the reading of the penitential canon of St. Andrew of Crete.
It begins with the words: “Where shall I begin to weep for my accursed life of deeds? How shall I begin, O Christ, the present weeping? But, like a merciful one, give me forgiveness of sins.
The content of the canon is a conversation between the penitent and his own soul. In his words, a retrospective of the long and painful path of mankind to salvation unfolds. I remember many biblical characters (Moses, Aaron, Abraham, Joseph, "the charioteer Elijah"), whose example should move the human soul to purifying repentance.
The example of Christ himself should serve the soul as an image of firmness in spiritual deeds: soul, do not become lazy, if an enemy attacks you, by prayer and fasting, let it be reflected from your feet.
* * *
During the days of Great Lent, you can take communion at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. The usual Eucharist is celebrated during Lent only on Saturdays and Sundays. And on Wednesday and Friday, Christians partake of the Gifts consecrated the previous Sunday. That is why it is called the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. This service is quiet and reverent. Only on it you can hear the wonderful kneeling chants “May my prayer be corrected, like a censer before You…” and “Now the powers of heaven serve us invisibly…”.
Thus, at everyday Lenten services, the Holy Church calls us to repentance. Let's answer this call!

History pages
FUNERAL BROTHERHOOD

Even in ancient times, there was a pious tradition of partnerships in which people united to jointly commemorate the dead, to bury members of the brotherhood, and to care for the graves. Such associations were especially valuable for Christians in the era of persecution. They made it possible to legally gather for joint prayer.
Today we are living in a completely different era. Official persecution of the Church has ceased, however, even now a certain disunity sometimes persists among believers. And yet there are opportunities to recognize Kolomna not only as the sum of disparate communities, but as a single spiritual community. One of these wonderful opportunities can be a common prayerful remembrance.
KOLOMENSKOYE MOSCOW
It is no secret that our city has been inextricably linked with Moscow since 1300. And it will hardly seem like a paradox that the basis of our spiritual and cultural glory was created by the “Moscow Kolomna” and “Kolomensk Muscovites”. The first, like Valery Korolev, came from the capital to the provinces in search of inspiration, and here they found their creative flourishing. And the latter, like Lazhechnikov, left their small homeland for their close Moscow, and there, having gained all-Russian fame, they glorified the Kolomna Territory.
So there are places in the metropolitan necropolises that are especially dear to us.
And the championship here is, of course, the Novodevichy Convent. The administrative center of the Moscow diocese is located here, from where the Metropolitan of Krutitsy and Kolomna governs Orthodox Muscovy. But here, right in the monastery, there are two expensive graves of remarkable people, the founders of the “Kolomensk text”. Near the cathedral, under a modest monument, Ivan Ivanovich Lazhechnikov found eternal rest. And on the central path we are met by the marble tombstone of Nikita Petrovich Gilyarov-Platonov, whose priceless memoirs “From the experience” made a huge contribution to the formation of the artistic image of Kolomna.
But after all, the New Territory is also close to the people of Kolomna! The descendants of Gilyarov, and the Shervinskys, about whom we wrote a lot in recent issues, and other people close to us are buried there. Wouldn't it be worthy to come to Novodevichy, pray in its shrines, serve a funeral litia, bow to the memory of fellow countrymen? And who knows, maybe in the future a pilgrimage route will appear, useful not only for acquiring historical knowledge, but also for the soul!
HEAVENLY PATRONS
There is another reason, perhaps even more significant, to visit the capital. The relics of our beloved saints, Demetrius of the Don and Evdokia-Evfrosinia, rest in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Blessed Prince Dimitri, according to legend, was born in the Kolomna region and during his lifetime, as is known, he felt great attachment to our city. Here in 1366 the marriage of the princely couple took place ...
So isn’t it our moral duty to pray to the saints who were so close to Kolomna during their lifetime, and, we hope, who have not left the city under their care to this day?
And what about St. Philaret (Drozdov), whose relics lie today in the revived Cathedral of Christ the Savior? Many Kolomna residents have visited this shrine, but how many bowed to the tomb of our glorious countryman and heavenly patron? Does everyone remember where his honest relics are today? And it would be necessary that they remember and turn for help to the heavenly intercessor of Kolomna!
There are other places that would be useful for a Kolomna resident to visit. For example, the Danilov Monastery, founded by the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow, who annexed Kolomna to his principality. Or the Donskoy Monastery, dedicated to the miraculous icon so dear to us, the heavenly patroness of both our city and the entire Russian army ...
Let's remember our past, because it contains the origins of our present life and the guarantee of our future!

Roman SLAVATSKII

CHERKIZOV CHRONICLE
(End. Beginning at No. 5-12-2017, No. 1-2-2018)

It seemed that a veil of oblivion and desecration covered Cherkizovo forever. But still, in secret ways, at first glance, without intersecting, spiritual springs began to break through in the Kolomna land. In the 1970s, the interest of local historians in literary history revived, and finally, the Shervinskys were remembered. In 1977, on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of Kolomna, a public literary and art museum was opened in the city, in which a significant part of the exposition was devoted to the Cherkizovsky literary circle.
And in 1984, the disgraced priest Dimitri Dudko was assigned to the church of St. Nicholas in Starki. A lot of trials befell this amazing man! Gifted with excellent preaching talent, he dared not only to write down his sermons, but also to publish them abroad. For the word of God, for his extensive spiritual activity, Father Demetrius was arrested more than once, then released, moved from one parish to another.
And finally, he ended up in the Kolomna Territory, so that in the mid-80s, not only the district, but the city as well, perceived the bright educational work of Archpriest Dimitri. He gives lectures in libraries and cultural centers, not only spiritual children from Moscow come to him. Residents of Kolomna also reached out to Cherkizovo.
The writer Valery Korolyov, Abbess Anastasia (Pechenkina) knew the Cherkizovsky priest even before she took the tonsure. The surroundings of Cherkizovo will later be reflected in Korolev's story "The Adventures of the Boyar's Son Eropkin". Kolomna motifs can also be found in Father Dimitri's book "At the Crossroads".
As long as there was strength, Father Dimitri labored in Cherkizovo. The elder died in Moscow in 2004...
Meanwhile, the creative work in the village continued. In 1988, a memorial plaque was opened at the Sherwin School in memory of the famous writers who visited Starkey in different years and left their mark on the history of the village.
The Shervinskys were not forgotten in Cherkizovo. There are people left who have saved grateful memories, keeping personal items associated with the famous family. And when in 2002 an exhibition dedicated to the 110th anniversary of the birth of Sergei Vasilyevich Shervinsky opened at the Shervin School, people responded, brought valuable materials, furniture, things, photographs, letters ...
After the restoration, a cultural center was opened in the building and an exposition was opened, the basis of which was genuine objects, many of which were transferred by the Shervinsky family.
In recent years, several books have been published on the history of the ancient village, and major publications have appeared in periodicals.
A synthesis of Cherkizovsky history is taking place before our very eyes. Previously disparate events, from the Middle Ages to our time, are combined into a common chronicle.
Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done before the famous “Akhmatov trail” is revived - the path along the banks of the Moscow River from the Church of St. Nicholas in Starki to the Shervin School. The ugly buildings of the psycho-neurological boarding school are also striking, the Assumption Church is still in ruins ...
But the Lord gives us hope for a better future, gives us strength to continue the spiritual path, which began in the time of St. Demetrius of the Don. And it is quite possible that this Cherkizovsky chronicle will continue with new and worthy chapters!

Roman SLAVATSKII

HOUSE TEMPLE

House churches in Russia have existed for a long time, this was especially characteristic of Moscow, where almost every wealthy estate had its own church. House churches were dedicated both in honor of the saint revered in the family, and in honor of the saint, on the day of whose memory one or another regiment won. Outwardly, the house church, located in the building, was distinguished by a small cupola or simply a cross above the roof. Until 1917, house churches were created for people who, due to age or illness, did not have the opportunity to attend the parish church, if they had special merit. And in the future, in pre-revolutionary Moscow and St. Petersburg, institutions of various specializations (hospitals, educational institutions, railway stations, post offices, military units) had their own churches. In Moscow, before the 1917 revolution, there were at least 230 house churches.
After the Bolsheviks came to power, it was from this category of churches that the struggle against religion began. In pre-revolutionary Russia, the property of parish churches belonged to the state. House churches that did not have parishes were difficult to control. Their new government planned to close by September 1918. The entire campaign dragged on until 1923.
House churches at institutes are an old tradition that carries the idea of ​​spiritual education of students. The history of the house church at Moscow State University is noteworthy. January 25 (January 12) - the day of memory of the Roman martyr Tatiana. In 1755, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna signed a decree on the founding of Moscow University. Since the memory of the martyr Tatiana was celebrated on this day, her memorial day - Tatiana's Day - later became the birthday of the University, and then a general student day. Once in the university church there was a funeral service for N.V. Gogol, whose coffin was carried in the arms of his friends, professors of the university; T.N. Granovsky, S.M. Solovyov, V.O. Klyuchevsky and many other professors of Moscow University were buried here; the daughter of Professor I.V. Tsvetaeva, the future poetess Marina Tsvetaeva, was baptized right there.
No less interesting is the history of the Church of Mary Magdalene Equal-to-the-Apostles in the building of the Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages ​​(now MSLU). The old mansion belonged to lieutenant-general P.D. Eropkin, and after his death, the Commercial School was founded here, the patroness of which was the august Maria Feodorovna, widow of Emperor Paul I. The church was consecrated in honor of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene - the heavenly patroness of the Empress. The rector of the church of the Commercial School and the teacher of the law of God in it for forty-three years was the priest, later archpriest, Mikhail Vasilyevich Solovyov. Father Mikhail lived with his family in the school building, and here his son Sergei, the future great Russian historian, was born. In 1917, the Imperial Commercial School was liquidated, the church utensils were taken out, the marble-like walls were painted over, the murals were plastered ...
Now this temple has been restored and consecrated, the service of God is again performed there.
So the tradition of building house churches continues. Whether it is the Belorussky railway station, the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation or an institute - a church building that protects a shrine within its walls, reminds a person of the most important thing in the midst of fussy events.
Daria Mikhalevich

spiritual reading
A.P. CHEKHOV
STUDENT

Lent is a time of a different, rich, deep life. This is not only a time of refusing food of animal origin, but a special period in the life of a believer, when he tries to throw off everything unworthy, obsolete, renew himself, become different, lighter and brighter. It is not for nothing that fasting is called “spring” (the period of rebirth, flowering) and “merry time” in hymns.
This was well felt by the Russian classics. An example of this is the story of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.
The weather at first was good, quiet. The thrushes were calling, and something living in the swamps nearby hummed plaintively, as if blowing into an empty bottle. He held out one woodcock, and a shot at it sounded booming and cheerful in the spring air. But when it got dark in the forest, a cold piercing wind inappropriately blew from the east, everything was silent. Ice needles stretched through the puddles, and it became uncomfortable, deaf and unsociable in the forest. It smelled like winter.
Ivan Velikopolsky, a student of the theological academy, the son of a deacon, returning home from draft, walked all the time along the path along the flood meadow. His fingers were numb and his face flared up from the wind. It seemed to him that this sudden onset of cold had disturbed the order and harmony in everything, that nature itself was terrifying, and therefore the evening darkness thickened faster than necessary. All around it was deserted and somehow especially gloomy. Only in the widow's gardens near the river did the fire glow; far away around and where there was a village, four versts away, everything was completely immersed in the cold evening mist. The student remembered that when he left home, his mother, sitting on the floor in the entryway, barefoot, was cleaning the samovar, and his father was lying on the stove and coughing; On the occasion of Good Friday, nothing was cooked at home, and I was agonizingly hungry. And now, shrugging from the cold, the student thought that exactly the same wind blew under Rurik, and under Ivan the Terrible, and under Peter, and that under them there was exactly the same severe poverty, hunger, the same leaky thatched roofs, ignorance, melancholy, the same desert all around, darkness, a feeling of oppression - all these horrors were, are and will be, and because another thousand years pass, life will not get better. And he didn't want to go home.
The gardens were called widow's because they were kept by two widows, a mother and a daughter. The fire burned hot, crackling, illuminating the plowed land far around. The widow Vasilisa, a tall, plump old woman in a man's sheepskin coat, stood beside her and gazed thoughtfully at the fire; her daughter Lukerya, small, pockmarked, with a rather stupid face, was sitting on the ground washing the cauldron and spoons. Apparently they just had dinner. Men's voices were heard; it was the local workers on the river who watered the horses.
- So winter has come back to you, - said the student, approaching the fire. - Hello!
Vasilisa started, but she recognized him at once and smiled kindly.
“I didn’t know, God is with you,” she said. - Be rich.
We talked. Vasilisa, a seasoned woman who once served as a mother to the masters, and then as nannies, expressed herself delicately, and a soft, sedate smile never left her face; her daughter Lukerya, a village woman, downtrodden by her husband, only squinted at the student and was silent, and her expression was strange, like that of a deaf-mute.
“In the same way, on a cold night, the Apostle Peter warmed himself by the fire,” said the student, stretching out his hands to the fire. So it was cold back then. Oh, what a terrible night it was, grandmother! Extremely dull, long night!
He looked around at the darkness, shook his head convulsively, and asked:
- Probably, was on twelve gospels?
- Was, - answered Vasilisa.
- If you remember, during the Last Supper, Peter said to Jesus: "With you I am ready both for prison and for death." And the Lord answered him: “I tell you, Peter, the noose will not crow today, that is, the rooster, how will you deny three times that you do not know me.” After the supper, Jesus mortally yearned in the garden and prayed, but poor Peter was weary of soul, weakened, his eyelids became heavy, and he could not overcome sleep in any way. Slept. Then, you heard, Judas kissed Jesus that same night and handed him over to his torturers. They led him bound to the high priest and beat him, and Peter, exhausted, tormented by longing and anxiety, you know, not getting enough sleep, foreseeing that something terrible was about to happen on earth, followed ... He passionately, without memory, loved Jesus, and now I saw from afar how he was beaten ...
Lukerya left the spoons and fixed her fixed gaze on the student.
“They came to the high priest,” he continued, “they began to interrogate Jesus, and in the meantime the workers lit a fire in the courtyard, because it was cold, and warmed themselves. With them, Peter stood by the fire and also warmed himself, as I am now. One woman, seeing him, said: “And this one was with Jesus,” that is, that he, they say, should be taken to interrogation. And all the workers that were near the fire must have looked at him suspiciously and sternly, because he was embarrassed and said: "I don't know him." A little later, again, someone recognized him as one of the disciples of Jesus and said: "You are one of them." But he again denied. And for the third time someone turned to him: “Isn’t it you that I saw with him in the garden today?” He recanted for the third time. And after this time, the rooster immediately crowed, and Peter, looking at Jesus from a distance, remembered the words that he had said to him at the supper ... He remembered, woke up, went out of the courtyard and wept bitterly and bitterly. The Gospel says: "And he went out, weeping bitterly." I imagine: a quiet, quiet, dark, dark garden, and muffled sobs are barely heard in the silence ...
The student sighed and thought. Continuing to smile, Vasilisa suddenly sobbed, tears, large, abundant, flowed down her cheeks, and she shielded her face from the fire with her sleeve, as if ashamed of her tears, and Lukerya, looking motionlessly at the student, blushed, and her expression became heavy, tense, like a person holding back intense pain.
The workers were returning from the river, and one of them on horseback was already close, and the light from the fire trembled on him. The student wished the widows good night and moved on. And darkness fell again, and hands began to chill. A fierce wind was blowing, winter was really returning, and it didn't look like the day after tomorrow was Easter.
Now the student was thinking about Vasilisa: if she cried, then everything that happened that terrible night with Peter had something to do with her ...
He looked back. A lone fire quietly blinked in the darkness, and no one could be seen near it anymore. The student again thought that if Vasilisa began to cry, and her daughter was embarrassed, then, obviously, what he had just told about, what happened nineteen centuries ago, had to do with the present - with both women and, probably, with this deserted village, to himself, to all people. If the old woman began to cry, it was not because he knew how to tell a touching story, but because Peter was close to her, and because she was interested with all her being in what was going on in Peter's soul.
And joy suddenly stirred in his soul, and he even stopped for a minute to take a breath. The past, he thought, was connected with the present by an uninterrupted chain of events that flowed one from the other. And it seemed to him that he had just seen both ends of this chain: he touched one end, as the other trembled.
And when he crossed the river on a ferry and then, climbing the mountain, looked at his native village and to the west, where a cold crimson dawn shone in a narrow strip, he thought that truth and beauty, which guided human life there, in the garden and in the courtyard of the high priest, have continued uninterruptedly to this day and, apparently, have always been the main thing in human life and in general on earth; and a feeling of youth, health, strength - he was only 22 years old - and an inexpressibly sweet expectation of happiness, unknown, mysterious happiness took possession of him little by little, and life seemed to him delightful, wonderful and full of lofty meaning.

Reading, listening, watching...
How the merchant's wife fasted
Fathers and teachers of the Church have repeatedly said that the spiritual component of the fast is higher than the physical one. However, one should not forget about abstinence in food. Who and how to fast is an occasion to consult with your confessor, the main thing is that it does not happen like in the story of the Russian storyteller Stepan Pisakhov.
Is the merchant's wife so pious, so correct in her life, that one is touched!
This is how the merchant's wife sits down on Shrovetide in the morning and eat pancakes. And he eats and eats pancakes - and with sour cream, with caviar, with salmon, with mushrooms, with herring, with small onions, with sugar, with jam, various baking, he eats with sighs and with a drink.
And it eats so piously that it is even scary. Eat, eat, breathe and eat again.
And when the fast came, well, then the merchant's wife began to fast. In the morning she opened her eyes, she wanted to drink tea, but tea is not allowed, therefore fasting.
During fasting, they did not eat either dairy or meat, and whoever fasted strictly did not eat fish either. And the merchant's wife fasted with all her might: she didn't even drink tea, and she didn't eat any chopped or sawn sugar, she ate special sugar - lean, like sweets.
So the pious woman drank five cups of boiling water with honey and five cups of lean sugar, five cups of raspberry juice and five cups of cherry, but don’t think that with tincture, no, with juice. And ate black crackers.
While drinking boiling water, and breakfast is ripe. The merchant’s wife ate a plate of salted cabbage, a plate of grated radish, small mushrooms, mushrooms, a plate, dozens of salted cucumbers, washed it all down with white kvass. Instead of tea, Sbiten began to drink molasses. Time does not stand still, it has come by noon. It's time to dine. Lenten Lenten Lunch! On the first - liquid oatmeal with onions, mushroom bowl with cereals, onion stew.
On the second - milk mushrooms are fried, rutabagas are baked, soloniks are juicy-bent with salt, porridge with carrots and six other different porridges with jam and three jelly: kvass jelly, pea jelly, raspberry jelly. I ate everything with boiled blueberries with raisins. She refused poppy seeds:
- No, no, I’m not going to make poppy seeds, I want there to be no poppy dew in my mouth during the whole post!
After dinner, the fasting woman drank boiling water with cranberries and apple marshmallow.
And time goes on and on. For the afternoon boiling water with cranberries, with marshmallow, here is the pauzhna.
The merchant's wife sighed, but there was nothing to be done - it was necessary to fast!
She ate soaked peas with horseradish, lingonberries with oatmeal, steamed swede, flour flour, soaked apples with small pears in kvass.
If an impious person cannot endure such a fast, he will burst.
And the merchant's wife drinks boiling water with dry berries until the very dinner. Work hard - fast! So dinner was served.
What she ate at dinner, she ate everything at dinner. Yes, she could not resist and ate a piece of fish, a bream for nine pounds.
The merchant's wife went to bed, looked into the corner, and there was a bream. I looked into the other, and there is a bream!
I looked to the door - and there is a bream! From under the bed bream, bream all around. And they wag their tails. The merchant screamed out of fear.
The cook came running, gave a pie with peas - the merchant's wife felt better.
The doctor came - looked, listened and said:
- For the first time I see that I overate to delirium tremens.
The matter is clear, doctors are educated and understand nothing in pious matters.
Stepan PISAHOV

IN RUSSIA AND ABROAD
Kashira
In Kashira near Moscow, the Nikitsky convent will be restored. Restoration work in the temples of the monastery will be carried out at the expense of the Fund of destroyed shrines, and the creation of infrastructure in the adjacent territory will be undertaken by the city and regional budgets.
The road to the territory of the monastery will be updated, an observation deck will be equipped, and landscaping will be carried out.
The work is scheduled to be completed by the end of June this year.
Kizlyar
On Forgiveness Sunday, February 18, an armed criminal opened fire on the parishioners of the local church of the Great Martyr George the Victorious, who were leaving the church after the evening service.
Four women died on the spot, three more were injured and were taken to the hospital in serious condition, where one of them later died.
By the beginning of the shooting, there were about 500 people in the temple. After the first shots and screams, the doors were urgently closed, while the criminal "broke, knocked, shot." Soon a police squad arrived, and a gunfight ensued.
During the arrest, the offender wounded two law enforcement officers and was killed. The killer was a resident of the village of Rassvet, Tarumovsky district of Dagestan, 22-year-old Khalil Khalilov. A gun, bullets and a knife were found on him.
Belgrade
On February 22, a solemn ceremony of handing over to the Serbian Orthodox Church of the mosaic decoration of the main dome of the Temple of St. Sava took place.
Patriarch Irinej of Serbia thanked Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin for their help in restoring the temple.
The central plot of the dome - the mosaic panel "Ascension of Christ" - was made by 70 artists from Russia and Serbia, the work was supervised by the People's Artist of Russia Nikolai Mukhin.
On behalf of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, since 2015, Rossotrudnichestvo has been the general coordinator of work on the design of the interior of the temple. Financing comes from extra-budgetary funds provided by Russian companies doing business in Serbia. It is assumed that all the main work on the design of not only the dome, but also the altar of the temple will be completed by 2019, when the 800th anniversary of the autocephaly of the Serbian Orthodox Church will be celebrated.
Kolomna artist Maxim Kharlov takes the most active part in the installation of unique mosaics of a giant format.
Geneva
The Korsun diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church was given a church at the monastery of St. Mauritius in Switzerland.
The Abbey of the Holy Martyr Mauritius, who suffered at the end of the 3rd century along with his retinue during the persecution of Emperor Maximian, is the oldest monastery in Western Europe, continuously existing since 515.
With the blessing of the ruling bishop of the Korsun diocese, Bishop Nestor, and with the consent of the abbot and the spiritual council of the monastery, divine services have recently been held in the monastery, led by clerics of the Moscow Patriarchate.
On February 28, an agreement was signed on the transfer to the use of the Korsun diocese of the monastery church in the name of the holy Apostle James.
According to the agreement on gratuitous use, the temple is transferred for holding regular Orthodox services in the jurisdiction of the Korsun diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate for a period of 20 years (the maximum period for a one-time provision of religious buildings under the laws of the Swiss Confederation) with the right to automatically renew this agreement.
According to news agencies