Patriarch Hermogenes. Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Hermogenes

Saints in Russia became for the first time god-fearing simple peasant peasants, well-to-do merchants, and virtuous women of virtue, and renowned rulers. The Russian Orthodox people piously honor their patrons of God, trusts in the protection of the heavenly righteous, seeks and finds support in their own way of spiritual development.

Brief Biography of the Sovereign Lord

Christianity in Russia has many great holy defenders. Patriarch Hermogen undoubtedly is one of the most significant personalities of the history of Russian Christianity. Much of the biography of this man remained to the end unclear. Until now, historians are tense disputes over significant milestones of his life and fate.

The biography of Patriarch Hermogenes is full of conjectures. It is known for certain that he was born in Kazan, was named after Yermolay. The exact date of his birth is unknown, historians refer to it by 1530. On the social origin of the patriarch of unambiguous information is also not available. According to one version, Hermogenes belongs to the genus Rurikovich-Shuisky, on the other - he comes from the Don Cossacks. Historians are more inclined to the opinion that the future Prelate Hermogenes, the Patriarch of Moscow was of a non-simple origin, most likely he is a simple "out of the people".

The first steps of Hermogen in Orthodoxy

Ermolai began his service in the Kazan Savior-Transfiguration Monastery as an ordinary cleric. He becomes a parish priest of the Church of St. Nicholas of Kazan in 1579, takes part in the ceremony of finding the face of the Kazan Mother of God and writes "The Legend of the Appearance and Miracles of the Image of Our Lady of Kazan" sent subsequently to the Tsar Ivan the Terrible.

A few years later, Hermogenus takes monasticism and soon becomes first hegumen, and later an archimandrite of the Kazan Savior-Transfiguration Monastery. The erection of Hermogenes to the rank of bishop and his appointment as Metropolitan of Kazan and Astrakhan took place in May 1589.

In this incarnation for a long time, and this is almost 18 years old, Hermogen is working hard. With his assistance, a burial vault for local clergymen is being created, active popularization (often with the use of violence) of Christianity among the peoples of the Volga region. Entire families converted to special settlements under the supervision of Russian Orthodox.

Christianity in Russia was implanted, to put it mildly, not very loyal and humane means, the disobedient "pagans" were allowed to use physical punishments, pads and imprisonment in jails. In a letter dated January 1592, the metropolitan expounds to Patriarch Job the insistence that in all Orthodox churches the commemoration of Christian martyrs and soldiers who folded their heads during the defense of Kazan in 1552 was established.

Father Hermogenes took part in the ceremony of transferring the holy relics of Herman of Kazan from the capital to the city of Sviyazhsk, which was held in 1592. The story of the patriarch Hermogenes Will not be complete without mentioning his enormous contribution to the erection of Orthodox churches and monasteries on the Kazan land, his participation in the coronation of Boris Godunov and the public, with the participation of a huge number of people praying at the walls of the Novodevichy Convent.

Becoming a Patriarch

In 1605, the Russian throne was briefly occupied by False Dmitriy I - a straggler who pretended to be Tsarevich Dmitri, but in reality he was a deacon Grishka Otrepiev who escaped from Chudov Monastery. Metropolitan Germogen was called to the newly appointed "sovereign" to court for work in the rank of senator, but was subjected to disgrace because he demanded the baptism of the Polish mistress False Dmitri Marina Mnishek, before the "sovereign" marries her.

May 17, 1606, after a brief reign, False Dmitry was deposed from the Russian throne and his place was taken by the last of the Rurikovich family - Vasily Shuisky. One of his first decisions was the deposition of Patriarch Ignatius (by the way, a former Polish protege) and the construction of the Metropolitan of Kazan and Astrakhan into the rank of Patriarch of All Russia. The Patriarchs of Moscow and All Russia did not attempt to repair this decision. In this post, Patriarch Hermogenes led an active church and political activity aimed at strengthening Orthodoxy in the Russian state.

A great protege of the Christian faith, alone confronting a whole host of enemies of Russia, Patriarch Hermogenes, whose brief biography is incapable of describing his whole life, great deeds, undertakings, his great unshakable faith in God, his impregnable firmness in his convictions, rightly named Historians "hard diamond" and "new prophet" of the Russian land.

Political situation in Russia

Patriarch Hermogenes, a photo of the icon of the lightest:

The political situation in the Russian state at that time was very unstable. The royal throne passed from one source to another, with catastrophic speed. Until one of the Mayan nights of 1606 the highest boyar nobility led by Basil Shuisky (a representative of one of the noble princely families, descendant of the princes of Suzdal, the last representative of the Rurikovich family) did not organize a secret conspiracy.

Its purpose was the deposition of the False Dmitry I from the Russian throne and the erection of Vasily Shuisky on the throne. To accomplish this task, prisoners were secretly released from all the capital casemates, they distributed weapons to them, and early in the morning an alarm bell rang over Moscow calling people to Red Square.

Russian people, tired of Polish oppression, crowded into the streets of the city to the boyars waiting for them with weapons. While the huge, blood-thirsty crowd rushed to the brink of the Poles, the main backbone of the conspirators, led by Shuisky, burst into the Tsar's quarters and brutally murdered False Dmitry I. On June 1, 1606, Shuisky officially took over the Russian throne with unconditional support from the Russian Orthodox Church. In order to finally convince the people of the correctness of this decision, the Patriarchs of Moscow and All Russia gave permission for the export from Uglich to the capital of the relics of the present Tsarevich Dmitry, who were on display for general review on June 3 of the same year.

Troubled Times

However, this measure did not bring the desired result. Less than three months after the events described, as in Russia began to spread the rumor about the miraculous rescue of Dmitry, that he allegedly managed to escape from the hands of the conspirators. Again, the Russian land was buzzing with displeasure. The troops gathered in the north of the state refused to obey the tsar. Only Patriarch Hermogenes, in troubled times for the Russian land, remained close to the anointed of God, King Basil.

The situation surrounding the new Russian sovereign was becoming increasingly unstable, many boyars and clerics supporting Shuisky had turned away from him and only Hermogenes, the Patriarch of Moscow, who himself was often attacked and humiliated, continued to stoically defend the tsar. An example of this is the incident that occurred in the winter of 1609, when, during the attempt to overthrow Shuisky, the crowd poured into the Kremlin to persuade the boyars to remove the prince Vasily, Patriarch Hermogenes was seized and escorted to the Execution Ground.

And even now, in the midst of a mobless crowd, this elder tried to reassure the people with the word of God's righteousness, to convince "not to succumb to diabolical seduction." This time the coup failed, largely due to the wisdom and firmness of the word spoken by the patriarch. But still the order of three hundred people treacherously managed to escape to the station of the new impostor in Tushino.

Fracture in the Russian Troubles

Meanwhile, events began in the state that contributed to the change in the current of the Troubles. In one of the cold winter February days of 1609, Vasily Shuisky concludes an agreement with the Swedish ruler Charles IX. A detachment of Swedish soldiers was sent to Novgorod and given to the command of the nephew of the governor of the governor Skopin-Shuisky.

Combined in this way, the Russian and Swedish military forces successfully attacked the army of the Tushino impostor, expelled them from the north-west of Russia. The signing of the agreement by Shuisky and Karl IX and the entry into the Russian land of the Swedish armed forces gave impetus to the beginning of open military offensives of the Polish King Sigismund to Russia. In the autumn of the same year, the Polish army approached Smolensk, counting on an easy capture of the city. But it was not there!

Smolensk courageously and valiantly, almost two long years, resisted the onslaught of the Poles. In the end, most of the Polish army relocated from Tushin to besieged Smolensk, and at the end of the year, an impostor fled from Tushino to Kaluga. In the early spring of 1610 the camp of rebels was finally defeated and on March 12 the metropolitan people enthusiastically met the Skopin-Shuisky army. A threat The capture of troublemakers of Moscow passed, but that did not mean the end of the war immediately with two aggressors - the impostor in Kaluga and Sigismund, densely settled under Smolensk.

The situation of Shuisky at this time somewhat strengthened, when suddenly his nephew-hero Skopin-Shuisky died suddenly. His death leads to truly catastrophic events. The Russian army, nominated to Smolensk against the Poles, under the command of the brother of the sovereign, was completely routed near the village of Klushino. Hetman Zholkiewski led the Polish troops marched on Moscow and occupied Mozhaysk. The impostor, having collected the remnants of the army, moved swiftly towards the capital from the south.

The deposition of Tsar Vasily. Opal of the Patriarch

All these fatal events finally decided the fate of Vasily Shuisky. In the middle of the summer of 1610 rebels penetrated the Kremlin, captured the boyars, Patriarch Hermogenes, shouting about the deposition of the tsar, was forcibly removed from the Kremlin. Unsuccessfully Lord of the Church again to calm the raging crowd, this time she did not hear it. The last king belonging to the most ancient Rurikovich family was thrown from the Russian throne, severally tonsured as monks and "exiled" to Chudov Monastery, which is (until its destruction) in the eastern part of the Moscow Kremlin on Tsarska Square.

Germogen, the Patriarch of Moscow, and now did not deny service to God and Tsar Basil, who despite everything considered true anointed to the Russian throne. He did not recognize tonsuring in the monks of Shuisky because the indispensable condition for the tonsure is the pronunciation of the words of the vow out loud directly to those who become monks.

In the case of Vassily's tonsure, Prince Tyufyakin pronounced the words of renunciation of all worldly things, one of the rebels who forcibly threw the tsar off the throne. By the way, Patriarch Hermogen later called it Tyupyakina monk. At the demolition of Shuisky, according to historians, the state-political activity of Vladyka ends and his earnest service to Orthodoxy begins.

Power in the capital completely captured the boyars. The Patriarch falls into disgrace, the government that received the nickname "Semiboyarschina" is deaf to all requirements, initiatives, advice and recommendations of Hermogen. And yet, despite the suddenly deafened boyars, it was at this time that his calls sounded most loudly and firmly, which gives a strong impetus to the awakening of Russia from the "devil's sleep."

The struggle for the Russian throne

After the deposition of Basil before the boyars arose the most important question - who to make the new tsar of Russia. To solve this issue, the Zemsky Sobor was convened, the points of view on which the rulers divided. Hermogen persisted in the opinion of the return to the throne of Basil Shuisky, well, or if this is impossible on anointing the kingdom of one of the princes of the Golitsins or the son of Metropolitan of Rostov, Mikhail Romanov.

On the instructions of the patriarch in all Orthodox churches, they are praying to God for the election of the Russian Tsar. Boyars in turn advocate the election on the Russian throne of the son of the Polish ruler Sigismund, Prince Vladislav. The Poles seemed to them the least evil in comparison with the self-styled False Dmitri II and his Tushino "army." Only the Patriarch realized how destructive for Russia would be the path chosen by the boyars.

Germans who did not listen to Germogen began to negotiate with the Polish government. The result of these negotiations was the consent of Semiboyarschina to the anointing of Prince Vladislav for reign. And then the patriarch showed all the firmness of his character. He put forward a few harsh conditions - Vladislav can not become a Russian tsar without accepting the Orthodox faith, the baptism of the prince must occur before the arrival of that in Moscow, Vladislav should be married only to a Russian girl, to cease all relations with the Catholic Pope and Catholicism in all its manifestations. The ambassadors sent to the Poles with these demands returned without a clear answer, to which the patriarch said that in the event of the refusal of the prince to be baptized, no further negotiations for anointing him for the throne of the king would be conducted.

Betrayal of Semiboyarism

Again, the embassy headed by Metropolitan Philaret and Prince Golitsyn goes to Sigismund with a clear instruction from the Patriarch to urge Vladislav to accept Orthodoxy. Germogen blessed the ambassadors, giving the order firmly to stand on this demand and not succumb to any contrivances of the Polish king.

And then the Patriarch was subjected to a new blow. September 21, at night, the boyars treacherously opened the capital's gates to the Polish army under the leadership of Hetman Zholkiewski. Vladyka tried to resent this action. But the boyars responded to all the indignation with the patriarch, that there is no need for the church to interfere in the affairs of the world. Sigismund decided to occupy the Russian throne himself, in fact, simply adding Russia to the Commonwealth. A considerable number of boyars wished to swear allegiance to the Polish king. In turn, the Russian ambassadors firmly obeyed the patriarch's order, unswervingly defending the state interests of the state of Russian and Orthodox Christianity.

One day Vladika Hermagen addressed the Russian people, exhorting the laity to oppose the election of the Polish ruler as tsar of Russia. The Patriarch's hot, filled with righteousness, reached its goal, found a response in the soul of the Russian people.

Boyars sent another letter with the consent to the throne of King Sigismund, but because of the absence of the signature of the Most Serene Patriarch, the Russian ambassadors spoke about the fact that from time immemorial on the Russian land any business, whether state or secular, began with the council of the Orthodox clergy. And so Kolya in the current difficult times left the Russian state without the tsar, then be the chief arbiter except as the Patriarch no one else and without his order to resolve any business can not be. Angry Sigismund stopped all negotiations, the ambassadors returned to Moscow.

On the winter evening of 1610, Falsdmitry II was brutally murdered, which caused genuine jubilation among Russian people. More and more often, appeals were sent to expel the Poles from the Russian land. To this day, some evidence of the Poles themselves about this time. They say that the Patriarch of Moscow secretly distributed the cities in the cities in which he urged the people to unite and rather move to the capital to protect the Christian Orthodox faith and expel foreign invaders.

Monument to Patriarch Hermogen on Red Square in Moscow:

The firmness of faith and the feat of the Patriarch

And again a threat crept up to Patriarch Germogen. Traitors and Polish henchmen decided to separate the patriarch from the whole world in order to stop the report of the Patriarch's appeals to the people.

On January 16, 1611, troops were entered into the patriarchal court, the courtyard was plundered, and Vladyka himself would be humiliated and ridiculed. But despite the almost complete isolation, the calls of the Holy Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church spread among the people. The cities of Russia, which have already been raised to protect the state. The people's militia poured into the walls of the capital to free it from the Polish invaders. In February 1611, the traitors deposed the Patriarch and imprisoned him in the dark casemate of Chudov Monastery, where they starved and in every way degraded his dignity.

Lord Metropolitan Hermogenes received martyrdom on January 17, 1612. Although historians in this matter do not have a common opinion. According to one testimony, the Patriarch died of hunger, on the other - he was deliberately poisoned with carbon monoxide or severely strangled.

Some time after the death of the elder, Moscow was spared the presence of Poles in it, and on February 21, 1613, the Russian throne was occupied by Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, for whom Hermogen certainly implored the Lord God.

Initially, the patriarch was buried in the Chudov Monastery. Subsequently, the body of Vladika was decided to be transferred to the Assumption Cathedral - a pantheon for the higher clergy of Moscow. At the same time it turned out that the relics of the saint remained imperishable, therefore the remains were not let down into the ground. The canonization of the patriarch occurred in 1913.