Mikhail Donskov, Archbishop of Geneva and Western Europe Live lessons in moral theology. Memories of Saint John of Shanghai

I know the Lord. This is a real priest, a noble, intelligent, pro-Russian man, passionate about service... Last summer, at a festive dinner, he blessed my friend to leave for Russia. And his words just stuck with me:
"Go to Russia! I bless you... and everyone. And quickly" - Tatiana MASS

At the same time, one of the reasons for the removal of Archbishop Michael (Donskov) from the administration of the Western European Diocese was his cooperation with the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation...

Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York and Archbishop Kirill of San Francisco and Western America sent an archpastoral message to the clergy and flock of the Holy Cross cathedral, reports the Russian website Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCOR).

In connection with the temporary removal of Archbishop Michael (Donskov) from the administration of the Western European Diocese, the chairman and secretary of the Synod of Bishops addressed a message to the clergy and flock of the Holy Cross Cathedral in Geneva, which was read out in the churches of the Western European Diocese on October 1.

At an emergency meeting of the ROCOR Synod of Bishops, held on October 2, the temporary management of the Western European See was entrusted to Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. Church Abroad. During the investigation of the state of affairs in the Holy Cross Cathedral, the Synod of Bishops determined the Russian convent Martyr Elizabeth in Buchendorf (Germany) seat of Archbishop Michael. Archpriest Pavel Tsvetkov was appointed deputy rector of the cathedral in Geneva, and the cleric of the same cathedral, Archpriest Emelyan Pochinok, was appointed head of the affairs of the office of the Western European Diocese. Archbishop Michael is invited to the meeting of the Synod of Bishops, scheduled to take place on November 19/December 2 of this year. It will take place in Moscow during the work of the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.

“Dear fathers, brothers and sisters in the Lord, we sincerely greet you all on the ongoing holiday of the Exaltation of the Cross, your patronal feast day! - says the message of Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York and Archbishop Kirill of San Francisco and Western America. - These days we prayerfully wish everyone God’s all-strengthening help in their labors and, especially, in bearing the cross - personal and church-public. After all, the Lord gives everyone a vital cross, which, as we believe, leads a person to eternal life. “Where the cross is, there is the resurrection,” writes F.M. Dostoevsky. And now the Lord is presenting a special cross not only to the entire community of the Cathedral in Geneva, but also to the clergy and faithful children of the Western European Diocese of the Russian Church Abroad.”

“Continuing to study the complex issues related to the management of the Exaltation of the Cross Cathedral in Geneva,” it is further noted, “the Synod of Bishops at its recent meeting decided to temporarily release Archbishop Michael from his archpastoral obediences in Western Europe, granting His Eminence a leave of absence. At the same time, Archpriest Pavel Tsvetkov, one of the oldest clergy of our Russian Church Abroad, was appointed temporarily acting as both the rector of the cathedral and the administrator of the Western European Diocese. In his activities, Father Pavel will be subordinate to a special Synodal Commission formed at the Council of Bishops, held in Germany in June of this year. The Synod of Bishops calls on the clergy and parishioners to help Father Paul in his ministry, showing him trust and obedience (from Monday, September 19/October 2, the administration of the Western European Diocese is entrusted to Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York - ed.).”

The bishops emphasized that “the Synod of Bishops does not blame anyone for the current situation. The sole purpose of our decision is to, after comprehensively studying the situation, restore God-ordained peace in the cathedral parish in Geneva, dear to our hearts. According to the words of the Apostle Paul, all believers, forming one body within the Church of Christ, must maintain “the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3), not deepen disagreements, not shy away from prayer and communication with each other, and not separate from Church consent is a manifestation of disobedience to the Hierarchy. Therefore, everyone together must have the high goal of restoring peace, tranquility and fraternal unity in Christ, remembering that temptations in church life are allowed by God for our own good, so that church communities become spiritually strengthened, draw closer to God and to each other so that people together choose the path of the Gospel and the Church. This kind of temptation or trial is, as it were, a call for members of parishes to truly become Christ’s Church together.”

“The first step in our joint work will be a general parish meeting, scheduled to take place on Sunday, October 15. It will be presided over by Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany, a permanent member of the Synod of Bishops,” the document says.

“So, let us show obedience to the Holy Church, the Synod of Bishops and the clergy of the cathedral led by Father Paul, following the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, about whom the Apostle Paul writes that “He was obedient to His Father even unto death” (Phil. 2, 8). And then, God willing, we will jointly find the right path to the further creation of our church life, in which may the gracious power of the Cross of Christ help us. Amen,” concludes the ROCOR hierarchy.

According to the Nasha Gazeta portal, on June 1, 2017, a formal request was sent to the Synod of the ROCOR on behalf of the Geneva Society of the Russian Church, the official owner of the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Cross, and parishioners to remove Archbishop Michael “from his duties as the head of the Western European Diocese or, at least the Archbishop of Geneva." It was called exact date, until which the signatories agreed to wait for a decision - October 1.

The claims against the archbishop, formulated on a little over 11 pages and supplemented by 24 appendices, concerned:

Violations and direct blocking of the activities of the Society of the Russian Church, the owner of the temple, and the Parish Council;

The costly conduct of business in the cathedral, especially in last years when the Society had difficulty finding funds for repairs;

The role of the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, headed by Vladimir Yakunin, as a private but politicized Russian organization and the bishop’s membership in the council of the Swiss representative office of the Foundation (moreover, the letter indicated that the interests of the Foundation often conflicted with the interests of the Geneva church.

Rudeness and rudeness towards clergy and laity; bans and expulsions of dissenters.

In an interview with a Geneva publication, the President of the Bureau of the Society of the Russian Church, Francois Moser, expressed satisfaction with the decision of the Synod of the ROCOR. According to him, the return of Bishop Michael to his previous positions is “inappropriate.”

Of course, conflicts in the Church are not uncommon, including between bishops and priests, bishops and parishioners. But in this case, two things are surprising.

Firstly, the owners of the temple achieved the dismissal of Archbishop Michael. O this sacred property right for the West! The whole life of a Western person revolves around it. The owner is the master of life. And if the bishop interferes with him, then the bishop can be fired.

Secondly, one of the main complaints against Bishop Michael is his cooperation with the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, a well-known Orthodox organization that is engaged not only in educational activities, but also in promoting a positive image of Russia in other countries. It turns out that Vladyka defended the interests of the Foundation to the detriment of the interests of the Geneva temple. I wonder what interests of the Foundation could conflict with the interests of the temple?! Certainly not material. There is some kind of anti-Russian smell here. And it’s not surprising, because Russophobic hysteria in the West is now in full swing.

It is also noteworthy that Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev was one of the first to publish the news about the removal of Archbishop Michael. He, as you might guess, is happy with this decision.

Editorial office of the Russian People's Line

Archbishop Michael:- Firstly, there was no reunification, two different organisms are reuniting. The unity of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate was simply confirmed. Each of us understood that the fragmentation was not caused by the Church, but by external events that destroyed the best part of the Russian people, and one part of it generally remained abroad. The bishops, with the blessing of Patriarch Tikhon, made the canonical decision to care for this flock. That's what happened. The Russian Church was split into three parts, if not four. The enemy of the human race actually programmed the destruction of the Russian Church. It did not happen, because spiritual unity was preserved both in Russia and abroad, and even in other units; it was not a complete split. When I was born in Paris, there were three jurisdictions that did not officially communicate with each other. But in human terms we all knew each other, we studied in the same Russian schools and French lyceums. We had our own Russian microcosm, we had the understanding that we are all Orthodox, that we are not different from each other, that this is not some other religion. Of course, certain parts of the emigrant society suffered, but in Paris, starting from the 60s, all this somehow settled down, it was no longer experienced so painfully, people communicated and each calmly went to their own church. And the services there are quite similar, only the wrong hierarchs were commemorated, that’s all. This was the situation in reality, but it was still painful for us, because we understood that the house of the Lord was ruined. And the enemy of the human race bares his teeth in the hope that everything will finally break apart. But according to God's providence, the opposite happened. And not on our initiative, the Lord arranged everything. This is absolutely clear. We humanly could not solve this problem. Even when the commissions met, they continued to argue ad infinitum.

When I was sent to Russia as a representative of the Church Abroad in 1993, I went obediently, and at the same time began to communicate and meet people in all cities. I was constantly looking for an opportunity to worship shrines that we did not have. Abroad we had and still have the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God, and the relics of the Martyr Elizabeth and the nun Varvara. We had nothing else. Except for the particles that are included in the icons, or parts of the vestments of John of Kronstadt. We had shrines, but it was all so modest!

The first time I bowed to a shrine in Russia was in 1967, when we arrived there as students. I was overcome with incredible trepidation when the elder of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra opened the window so that I could venerate the head of St. Sergius, and he whispered in my ear: “Are you a seminarian?” But I didn’t intend to, I was pursuing medicine, and I answered: “No, I’m not a seminarian.” - “Yes, yes, you are a seminarian.” - “No, I’m not a seminarian.” - “Yes, you are a seminarian.” Then I told him: “So I’m from Paris.” - “The Lord will help you.” And I left the Trinity Church from St. Sergius as if on a cloud; it was already evening, in August. Of course, this is difficult for someone to understand, but when they venerate the relics of a great saint, a venerable one for the first time, it is so shocking! Although we, one might say, lived in the church, and never missed a single liturgy, so in fact I was born in the church and lived in the church, but we were deprived of what I felt in the Lavra, knowing that all this was in Russia. Our stay abroad rooted us completely in the Church. We had statutory services, there were wonderful youth choirs that gathered, as we called them, “our old people,” who brought their memories from Russia, and wrote notes from memory, reconstructed scores from memory. Therefore, we sang the entire routine of the Russian Church, we already knew the most complex scores by heart, because they gave it all to us, directed it. And I, of course, feel deep gratitude to this generation who built the Church when they had nothing. They had an expression that any fool would do something with money, but no one had anything.

E.Nikiforov:- We had a common misconception in Russia that our counts, princes, and rich people left and lived freely in the free world, and here we disappeared in the Soviet Union, behind the Iron Curtain in poverty - is it not justified?

Archbishop Michael:- It was instilled by godless authorities. Everyone knew the state of emigration very well. They even hoped that she would not be able to stand it and would fall into drunkenness out of despondency. Today, to be honest, no one would agree to work under those conditions. Two grand duchesses in Paris swept apartments and hid their names, but people still recognized them. Then things changed a little, because over time some ways out were found. There were people who understood, recognized and in communication began to appreciate what a Russian intellectual is. In the last pre-war years, young Cossacks managed to receive a university education. But, despite this, the guys became ordinary workers, because they came to another country and their diplomas were not accepted there. But almost all the emigration was already educated and all the children received higher education.

E.Nikiforov:- And this without a penny of money?

Archbishop Michael:- Yes, absolutely without a penny. Welfare level family life was not far from the monastery, but with kindness. And despite the modesty of life, the French even envied that the Russians lived “like princes” - we always do something on holidays, everything is always in order, and even after the war, when everyone became poor, everything remained at the same level. Before the war, Russians worked hard jobs everywhere. These were French mines or narrow valleys of the Alps, into which the sun never penetrated, not only from the Alpine fog, but also from the smoke of mines and factories. But the Russians were often of heroic build and somehow withstood all this and built temples. And the churches were usually modest; if they were attached to a factory, then the factory provided an old barracks. Or the owner was building a barracks for the Russians. So, the director of an enterprise that produced the best steel in Europe set up such a barracks for the Russians, and there was a huge congregation there.

E.Nikiforov:- Amazing! Apparently, the same fate was prepared for all Russians. Because what you are telling is practically the way of life of the builders of Magnitogorsk or some other huge “communist construction projects”, where people lived in the same barracks conditions...

Archbishop Michael:- The difference is that the director of this enterprise in France was building a temple for the Russians. Churches were not built in the Soviet Union. This is a significant difference, although in other respects it is quite similar, really. And a lot of such temples were built, it’s impossible to even list them. I remember I participated when two such temples were dismantled. And we cried when we took the icons off the walls; they were all paper, sent from Pochaev, Athos, Valaam, who were abroad at that time, and even from Pechory. We received it by mail in envelopes with a blessing, with the seal of the abbot, and it was molded onto plywood, and these were our icons. There were even large icons for the altar, which Athos sent in rolls. When we dismantled the altar wall of one church, we were simply amazed how one could serve in such churches. It was rubbish that was literally picked up on the street: pieces of wood, pieces of iron, rags with resin... Even in one temple the Shroud was painted in watercolors on newsprint, but no one doubted that this was the Shroud when it was carried out on Good Friday. We cried when we had to burn it, because it was no longer possible to consume it. Like this. And the utensils themselves were sometimes made like this - they found pieces of a cylinder somewhere in a factory, and soldered a leg to it to make a Bowl.

E.Nikiforov:- I remember that I also found such a temple in Paris, maybe it still exists. He was at the Renault factories. Many Russian people worked at the Renault factories, and the workers carried various iron into the temple; candlesticks were made almost from cardan shafts.

Archbishop Michael:- You named the temple in which I spent my childhood, the Church of St. Nicholas. By the way, a bomb fell on this temple. Not like the one you saw, in its place there was a barracks made of boards - the Church of St. Nicholas. I was born on March 29, 1943, and on that day an American bomb fell right on the temple; they tried to bomb factories, but missed. And past - it was the entire Russian quarter, there were houses and a temple. There are 2-3 bricks left in its place. The old women prayed at this place and when my father and I passed by, I could not understand what was happening and asked: “Dad, what is this?” He answered: “This is a church.” And further, in the depths of this area there was an old house, in which no one lived, so the Church of St. Nicholas was moved to it. The first years of my childhood passed there. Such temples represent the power of tradition, the power of faith and the incredible understanding that a believer cannot be led astray. If you take one thing away from him, he himself, with his own hands, will do everything again, and until he does this, he will not even sleep at night. My father was the headman almost all his life, he was always moving around at night, this annoyed my mother, because he was always preoccupied with something. And many Russians lived like this, they tried, first of all, to provide something social, while they themselves had practically nothing in the house. This was the case before the war, but only later, when the Americans left, after the war we began to live much better. They began to build everything around, and within two years they raised the city from the ruins. I remember the first time my mother gave me money to go buy a steak (before that we only ate meat from huge American cans, they saved us), my whole life suddenly changed.

Now, when I see events in Ukraine, I remember the events of 1968, the events of the so-called “student revolution”. We were students at that time, but we did not organize revolutions. These were other people, much older than us. We picked up wounded people who were about 45 years old; they had pistols, not passports, in their pockets. When we bandaged them and treated them, they disappeared within 15 minutes. Obviously, there was a structure that led them. They were hidden by the structures that organized all this in France. We all understood this; students are not the stupidest people after all. And we, students, began to ask each other questions: “Do you think it’s not us who are organizing the revolution?” But everywhere they talked about the “student revolution”, everywhere there were posters that students were protesting. And we have to take exams in June, if you don’t pass, then you have to either stay for a second year or join the army at age 20. Those. the fate of the entire French student body was in doubt. The students did not immediately realize that they could do something. At first we were simply surprised that there were no professors, no rectors, and we began to follow them, straight to their apartment. We came to the rector, and he said to us: “Have they come to kill me?” - “No, we came to ask you to come to us. If we don’t have exams at the institute, we’ll be done for!” He refused, showing a paper where it was written: “If you come out, we will kill you!”

.Nikiforov:- That is, practically in Paris in 1968 there was a Maidan?

Archbishop Michael:- Yes. When I watched the news about Maidan in Geneva, shivers ran down my spine, I remembered Paris in 1968! This is the same tactic: first bring people into poverty, then take out those who are dependent and they will do anything if you pay well. In France, the situation was not as severe as in Ukraine, but we all had a subconscious feeling that someone was destroying us here.

E.Nikiforov: Amazing! I was sure that the whole thing was started by leftists, that the students were captured by the red idea, that they were Maoists. But it turns out that these were not Maoists, but someone’s, as they would now say, geopolitical games, where students were extras.

Archbishop Michael:- Some marginal groups fell for this (in church terms, we would say “sectarians”) - nihilists, anarchists immediately joined this, showed their long hair, nose rings, etc. They were very comfortable for those who arranged it because it was a good mask. But when it became political, it became clear: these were not ordinary students opposing de Gaulle. The vast majority of students looked with weariness at these characters who signed up at the university supposedly to study. We, the students, understood well that this was done by those who arrived at the University with their eccentricities. One day I was returning home, the seller Titov lived near us - a simple man, sitting on a chair in front of his store. He was our neighbor, I knew him since childhood, I went to school with his grandson. I pass by and say hello to him. He detains me and says: “Tell me, what is happening there is not what is written in the newspapers? You have nothing to do with it?” Those. he understood everything simply by common sense. I stayed with him to talk for an hour, it was somehow amazing, like looking in a mirror, you know. No one explained anything to him, he himself, in the simplicity of his life, so thoughtfully, sitting in his shop, preparing bouquets, understood everything and returned everything to me as if in a mirror, but in simple language. Everything became completely clear to me. I was delighted: it means everything is really as we suspected!

Everything might have been much more complicated, but over time the overall picture finally became clear to me. This tactic is repeated everywhere - to lead people to self-destruction. And if not self-destruction, then they can be helped with this from the outside - this is what is happening today in the world order.

E.Nikiforov:- I simply did not know such an interpretation of the events of 1968, because for us in Russia this period was a period of thirst for freedom, we listened to the “wind of change”, we listened to “Freedom”. But it turns out that young people were exploited by people who had completely different goals...

Archbishop Michael:- By the way, the consequence of May 1968 was the final collapse of the French Communist Party, which was liquidated immediately. While the Americans paid, they acted, and when the students themselves decided on their own issue and saved the University, then our communists simply disappeared from the horizon, even all these left-wing intellectuals straightened up a little. I don’t know what happened in their thinking, perhaps they realized that they, these philosophers, would not have readers.

E.Nikiforov:- How is Christian France? How did this all turn out for Christianity in general in France? After all, the “student” revolution of 1968 was under red banners and largely godless, as I understand it?

Archbishop Michael:- At the University I met few believers. Some said: “I was a believer until I was 12 years old.” This made them cry, in most cases they realized that they had lost something. People came up to me and asked (I have a Russian surname): “Are you perhaps Orthodox? And I lost my faith..." - like that. And it was neither a triumph nor a joyful exclamation. We had a small circle of Catholic Christians, they invited me, but from childhood I knew that if there was a conversation, we still wouldn’t understand each other, because we had different interests, different knowledge. I had a rule not to discuss this topic at all. If they asked a question, I answered very carefully. Godlessness was present at the University, which upset me a little. And in the end, in order not to offend those who constantly invited me to this Catholic circle, I went there. When we entered the room, there were Marx, Engels and an icon on the wall - a Russian icon of the Mother of God. I asked: “Did you invite me to join the CPSU cell?” “Yes, no.” “Why do you have these bearded men?” - “Does this bother you? We don't care." Apparently, someone was working on them too. Obviously, they were told that leftism was closer to Christianity, but they did not understand that this only led them away from Christ. They were the nicest, most friendly people, I said goodbye to them very carefully, and said that I couldn’t do this. They understood and didn’t invite me to their circle anymore. It was very difficult because these young people had already broken away from the Church. Now these are people my age.

E.Nikiforov:- From your words it follows that the first color revolution in Europe occurred in 1968 in France. Aren't these the same forces organizing color riots all over the world?

Archbishop Michael:- Just my experience tells me that when world events and movements occur, it is a big mistake to try to embrace the ensemble of these phenomena and understand what is happening there. This is tantamount to throwing a bucket of garbage into the sea and trying to understand what, where, how and where it dissolved. You'll never understand. The only path is the path our parents took. They went through great sorrow and suffering. I never dared to ask my father too frank questions, even about my stay on the island of Lemnos, where the tragedy of the Russian exodus took place. I always had some mystery about what he experienced, what he went through. I simply knew my father as he was and what he tried to convey to me. But they went through events that when you read about, you can’t help but shudder, i.e. in their lives there were two world wars, plus a civil war, plus massacres and kidnappings, i.e. a complete nightmare if you look at it now. But looking at it like that is a mistake, because if you only see a nightmare, you won’t understand anything. Because we not only survived, but also lived well, by the way. My childhood was happy. We had nothing, but we were happy. We had maternal and paternal love, we had the pride of being Russian and loving the French. So if you look at it, it’s a complete ideal. How can a nightmare and an ideal be combined in one story? - This will come out stupid. Life mixes everything, like a vinaigrette, but the same taste comes from it all. But the main thing is that a person goes through it and comes out dry. Or maybe this is only the person who belongs to God and cannot move away from this, i.e. won't even want to, ever. Those. he could, but he doesn’t do it, even in the most terrible moments, when sometimes the whole world becomes sad. You know, when there were massive defeats and destruction on the Don, people remained alive, they emerged from the ashes alive and spiritual. This is a lesson from Russia for everyone. When you look at a swamp, and there is life there: such a green frog or a cute heron comes out of this swamp. Life does not arise in the purity of marble. You look into the raging mixture, seething and dirty-looking water, and there is life. So it is in human life. Creatures emerge from the swamp that even scientists admire, this is how the Lord created - such beauty, such rightness, such an ideal state.

This is the meaning of life - despite all the events, you yourself must remain clean, i.e. this may be exactly what a person should do - maintain his connection with God, which will preserve him, no matter what. Any situation, even the most terrible, even in battle, in war, in all life events which are sometimes cruel, a person, when he remains a man, himself emerges as the image of God, and then he will endure everything. Our parents taught us this - you have nothing, but the Lord is with you, be as it will, and you be patient.

E.Nikiforov:- Now everyone has become “experts” in geopolitics, everyone is wondering what America wants there, whether Israel is provoking it, what Saudi Arabia wants there, etc. We, Orthodox Christians, also worry about the whole world. What should we do?

Archbishop Michael:- I will tell you this: give diplomats the freedom to do their work with prudence, common sense and faith. There is an old saying: leave the shepherds to guard the cows - and everything will be fine. The main thing is that the shepherd does not engage in surgery and that the shoemaker does not engage in politics. In the world everyone has his responsibility, his position, his craft. Do your job carefully and honestly, and the Lord will guide you.

E.Nikiforov:- You lived a long pastoral life, observed the spiritual life of thousands of people. Many people count the collapse of morality in Western society since 1968, which you spoke about. Of course, this begs the question: will the end come soon or will we wait a while?

Archbishop Michael:- They talked about the end already in the time of Christ. Apocalyptic thinking should be left to the elders who see this ray of light, but others cannot see, therefore, it seems to me, there is no need to enter into a discussion of these issues.

E.Nikiforov:- After all, you want to slow down the destruction of the world a little?

Archbishop Michael:- So slow down the destruction of the world within yourself and everything will go well.

E.Nikiforov:- You said that you lacked shrines in emigration, and after the devastation we lacked tradition. And we have always looked at the Russian Church Abroad with the hope that it will be preserved there. How do you think it was possible to preserve the tradition and how successfully it is being restored now in Russia?

Archbishop Michael:- I prefer the word “legend” to the word “tradition”. Tradition is living, but it is not in a chair, not in a table, it is in a person. Those. Where one person prays, the world is saved. These are not simple phrases, these are not simple words, this is reality, this is what truly exists. There is no need to move away from this. Many people don’t have the strength to focus on this, it’s just spiritual laziness! People say: “Yes, yes, God exists, we know that”... Yes, if you know, but you don’t fear God, it means you don’t love Him, then what will happen to you? - The evil one will eat you up. That's the question. A person only discovers in confession and communion the concept that he is by nature a sinner. This concept does not prevail in the world today; it prevailed before the revolution. That is why Russia is considered a Christian country all over the world, although many people do not go to Church, but this tradition exists. And subconsciously a person knows this and sometimes feels it, but does not always accept it. And in France on the street (maybe in Moscow too) if you ask: “Are you a sinner?” - he will immediately give you a slap in the face: “Why are you insulting me?” Those. They convinced people that they were gods, that’s the whole problem. And when a person knows that by nature he is sinful and that it is impossible to fight against passions, and repentance is resurrection, then he is saved.

E.Nikiforov:- What would you wish now to all Russian people in the Fatherland and the diaspora? After all, there is insurance all around, anxiety, fears of war, but somewhere is it going on?

Archbishop Michael:- Do not be afraid. God bless you!

Introducing the hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Diaspora

One of the most prominent hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad - Archbishop of Geneva and Western Europe Mikhail (Donskov) has turned 70 years old. He told us about his life, memorable meetings and events.

Strange meeting

All my life I dreamed of visiting the village of Zotovskaya on the Don. Where my ancestors lived. And where I've never been. Based on my father’s stories, I had a good idea of ​​both the area itself and my parents’ house. Therefore, when I finally got to these places, I navigated quite confidently. And I found a house quickly.

Ahh, Mikhail has arrived.

It turned out that this was my relative. But how did he recognize me? After all, I didn’t announce my arrival. And we had no contact with him. We went into the house. We sat at the table. And everything became clear.

This man served in the army all his life. From time to time he was invited to a special department and asked if he had any contact with me. They showed photographs. Therefore, he knew my appearance quite well. And she did not evoke pleasant emotions in him. After all, because of me he had serious problems.

So we met a little coldly. Moreover, he was very wary of the Church. But we sat and talked about everything heart to heart. And yet they found a common language. We parted as relatives.

Icon

In this village in 1918, the Reds shot my grandfather Semyon Platonovich Donskov. And my father, one of the youngest Cossacks, went with General Krasnov to fight for the Don against the Bolsheviks.

My father left Russia with units under the command of General Wrangel. He arrived in Constantinople and went through hellish trials on the island of Lemnos, where Russian soldiers died from hunger and cold. Then there were painful wanderings around Turkey, Greece, European cities. Finally, together with my mother, they reached Paris, where I was born during the Second World War.

When leaving Russia, besides his uniform, my father took with him only two things - a photograph of my grandfather and a small icon of Tikhon of Zadonsky. Her grandfather brought her from Zadonsk after the glorification of the saint. One day this brass icon saved my father’s life: a bullet hit the pocket where my father wore the icon.

I was very surprised when one day my father suddenly gave this icon to me, and not to one of the older brothers. After all, I didn’t even think then that I would become a priest. But for some reason my father did just that.

Baptism under bombs

When I was born, a bomb hit the Parisian temple that our family attended. The building was completely destroyed. At this time, the Polish Orthodox Bishop Matthew (Semashko) visited us. He asked the father when the newborn son would be baptized? The father replied: “When the temple is restored.” Vladyka objected that we couldn’t wait 20 years, and baptized me at our home.

When I grew up a little, I began to study at a boarding school in the town of Meudon near Paris. Nearby was the Church of the Resurrection of Christ with amazing story. It was built by Russian emigrants in the late 20s. Opportunities were modest back then. One of our engineers made construction material made of straw and cement. He called him “straw.” The French could not understand what it was. The engineer warned that such a structure would last a maximum of 5-6 years. But the temple operated until 1981, until one boy leaned on the wall outside and fell right inside the temple. Now in this place there is a brick church, which completely replicates the appearance of the “straw” temple.

“Is this your Pac Ruess?”

In the mid-60s in France I went through military service. At Easter, I submitted a request for leave, although we were warned that if the reasons for the leave were unimportant, then a penalty would be imposed for the request. They said that the significant reasons are if the wife gives birth or the mother dies.

I came to headquarters and asked the sergeant for the petition form. He laughed:

What, the sun got hot on your head during the hike?

I answered sharply. We argued. The colonel came out of the office at the noise. Sternly asked:

What's the matter?

I want to be home for Easter.

You are Russian? Is this your Pak Russ? (That’s what they call our Easter.)

And suddenly he sent a sergeant for forms and stamps. He left in bewilderment. And the colonel pointed his finger up:

I have a superior, but above him there is also a Supreme Leader. And I cannot in good conscience refuse you.

So I haven’t missed a single Easter in my life.

Another life

When I first came to Russia, it was an indescribable joy for me that they spoke Russian on the street. It is difficult for a person who lives in Russia to understand this. Here everyone is familiar: I went to church, went out into the street, there were Russians everywhere.

And when we were abroad, we left the temple into a completely alien world. Usually on Easter you were Christed in church, and when you left, there was no longer such an opportunity. It seemed that somehow it was already impossible. And suddenly you find yourself in a country where you can say Christ on the street. This is joy and happiness.

5 facts about Bishop Michael

Born in Paris in 1943 in the family of Don Cossack Vasily Donskov.

Having taken monastic vows, he headed dioceses in America and Europe.

In 2004, he delivered the relics of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna to Russia and for 7 months transported the shrine to 71 dioceses from the western borders to the coast Pacific Ocean.

An active supporter of rapprochement with the Moscow Patriarchate, participant in the signing of the Act on the Restoration of Church Unity in May 2007.

In December 2008, he received Russian citizenship and lives and serves in Geneva.

An encounter with holiness is always a unique experience; often it is not immediately perceived as it should be, but later it can turn your whole life upside down. About yours personal experience says Archbishop Michael of Geneva and Western Europe, who for several years had the opportunity to communicate closely with, glorified among the saints.

Saint John of Shanghai came to France in 1950, at that time I was seven years old. Then I studied at a Russian boarding school in the name of St. George, which was located in the town of Meudon near Paris. Not far from our school there was the famous Church of the Resurrection of Christ, built by the first wave of emigrants in 1927. The Russian engineer who built it made the walls from a mixture of straw and cement, calling the material “straw” - not a single Frenchman could understand what it was, but at that time it was not possible to build a more monumental building. The engineer warned that our strawmite church could stand for no more than seven years. However, it lasted until 1981, until one of the school students accidentally leaned against the wall outside during the service and fell right inside the temple. Now there is already a brick church on this place, which in architecture completely recreates the appearance of that “straw” temple.

Vladika John often visited that church. He also had a residence in Paris at a temple, which he built in the 16th quarter of the city. Then the ruler bore the title of Brussels and Western Europe. He visited Russian schools, in particular ours, and the cadet corps in Versailles. He devoted a lot of time to raising the children of immigrants, since he considered this task one of the most important.

Somehow I had to confess for the first time. I remember that the realization of this fact puzzled me very much, because before that I was used to just taking communion every week. On Tuesday of that week, without warning anyone, Bishop John came to us. He announced to the schoolchildren that tomorrow evening there would be all-night vigil and everyone will confess. When I came to the temple, there were two lecterns. A long line of my classmates lined up at one of them, where the priest who had served in this church for many years, Archimandrite Sergius (Pfaserman), was confessing. Mostly adults approached the other, where Bishop John stood; here the line moved very slowly: while the priest had time to confess to ten children, only one person in the “adult” line received permission.

Since this was my first confession, I was very excited. I remember Vladyka turned to us children and beckoned someone with his finger. My classmates pushed me and said: “Go, he’s calling you!” I was confused and focused on my feelings and therefore believed them and boldly approached the bishop. He asked me sternly: “Have you come?” I knew the rules of good manners and understood that it was impolite to answer that you yourself called me, so I answered: “Vladyka, I came to confess.” And he answered me: “You don’t know what confession is!” But I stubbornly said: “I know, this means talking about your sins.” The Bishop said: “You don’t know what sins are,” but I again insisted: “I know.” "Well?" – the Bishop asked sternly. I began to say, as children usually say, that I did not listen to my elders and so on. Then the bishop took me under the omophorion. I don’t know how long I stayed under it, but I can only say that it was light there. And the elderly bishop there seemed both handsome and young to me, and I felt great joy. "Say what you want. Say everything that’s on your heart, and I will explain to you what sin is,” I remember the words of Bishop John. It was the first time any adult had said something like that. He then began to explain to me what God’s love is, that sin is when you refuse this love, when you leave Him. And then you are unhappy, because you yourself left love, you are already without love, you are already abandoned, because you yourself left. For me it was something new and amazing, and I felt that the boundless love that I hear about from Vladika John was present here. I cannot say how long our conversation lasted, and when the archbishop told me: “You know, you and I are left alone here,” I think I said that I did not want to leave, since I had not experienced such a state before. I felt that it was impossible to escape from this state. Vladyka explained to me the meaning of the prayer of permission and then began to pronounce it - he had a very clear syllable, every word was understandable. Later, I noticed more than once during his sermons that what he said easily entered the heart of everyone who listened to him, regardless of education and degree of church affiliation. Then the bishop said: “Now I will take off the omophorion, but keep in mind that it will be dark.” It really turned out to be completely dark in the temple; only one lamp remained unextinguished. Since everyone had already left, Bishop John offered to accompany me to school. He asked several times and insisted. But I refused all the time, and I clearly understood then that it was pride speaking in me, and I felt very ashamed, but I was able to overcome myself and still refused, and Vladyka kindly let me go alone. At the exit, my older classmate stood - a boy of about nine years old, he scolded me all the way that I was delayed, and he was forced to wait for me. He expected that his ridicule would hurt me and that I would cry, and he was very surprised that this no longer bothered me - I had such a joyful feeling. I remembered this confession for the rest of my life.

Something similar happened later. I remember how some time later we went to Brussels and decided to look at the new temple built in honor of Job the Long-Suffering, it was a temple - a monument royal family, to all the new martyrs and those who suffered during civil war and persecution in Russia. It began to be built before the war, but was completed only in 1950. It was in winter. Then there was quite a lot of snow in Brussels, and we even went sledding. It was little warmer inside the church than outside. We stood frozen, the inside of the room was damp, since the plaster on the walls had not yet dried, but everyone was amazed by the appearance of the temple. Children born in a foreign land or who came abroad in infancy saw Russian church architecture for the first time. Suddenly we heard stomping and knocking - it was Bishop John who knocked his staff on the floor (there were no doors yet) to attract our attention, and angrily said: “Is this how you meet the bishop?” We were scared, but he said he was joking, came up and blessed everyone, calling us by name. We all turned to the east, and the bishop began enthusiastically telling us what and how would happen in the new temple. We looked at his feet in only sandals - they were blue from the cold. “There will be plaques here with the names of all those killed and tortured during the revolution! Patriarchs, metropolitans, bishops... There are many of them, and we will mention each name and pray for the repose of their souls,” he said. He hugged us by the shoulders, and gradually we became carried away by his story, we felt warm and even hot, despite the frost.

Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco, wonderworker

We knew about his spiritual gifts. When Vladyka John visited us, students of the Russian school, he was already known as the Shanghai miracle worker. Refugees who moved from China to the Philippines and then to France spoke about him. When the communists came to power in China, all borders were closed. The archbishop gathered his flock in the temple and ordered them to take the most necessary things. His authority was enormous, and people obeyed him unquestioningly. They told us that after the service, the bishop led them all to the port, together they calmly boarded the ship and sailed away, without encountering any opposition from the authorities - it was a miracle. Then on the island of Tabubao in the Philippines, where the refugees were evacuated, there was not a single natural disaster during the long period of their stay, although storms and hurricanes are very frequent in these places. Thanks to the active petitions of Bishop John, and he secured a meeting with the President of the United States, some of the refugees managed to move from the Philippines to America, some ended up in Australia, and others in France.

Vladyka John came to our school often. He became my teacher. Probably, not all of us realized how important his visits could be for us, because in childhood many things are taken for granted. The attitude towards the ruler was mixed. The guys were afraid of the formidable, venerable bishop, but were delighted when he suddenly appeared. I will never forget how he grabbed me by the shoulder from behind when we met - his hand was as heavy as a shovel. At the same time, he communicated with children very simply, in a fatherly way; as soon as he spoke, the fear immediately went away, the ruler became completely “one of his own.”

He interacted with people a lot. I spoke briefly with adults. If his sermons after the Liturgy were very long and lasted at least forty minutes, then in personal communication he spoke only a few words. When I was 16 years old, he once came up to me in church and said: “Listen to me, after the Liturgy you must always gather parishioners for a meal, you must feed them, welcome them, and the table must be set, it must be bursting. Because the meal is a continuation of the Eucharist. And when it’s Christmas, you should put up a Christmas tree here, so that there are toys, so that the children dance and so that they all receive some kind of gift, so that they are happy and happy. Do you understand me?" I, of course, did not understand, since at that time I did not even think and did not intend to become a priest or monk. But the Bishop, apparently, had already foreseen that I would be a cleric. And when many years later I was ordained a priest in this church, I remembered these words and even shed tears. Vladyka knew how to help people in a completely incomprehensible way. It used to be that he would leave the church, and a Russian man would walk past, and the bishop would call him and give him a wad of money. “If you don’t pay the rent, they’ll kick you out,” he told the stranger, who was very surprised, since he didn’t even expect any help and was generally embarrassed to come up and ask for something. Moreover, they gave him exactly the amount that was needed. Vladyka, by the way, was very fond of such meek, shy people. He is known to have collected homeless young children from the streets and created a shelter for them. Very often people who were not entirely balanced and, in our opinion, even abnormal, appeared at our church services. They knew that Vladyka would help them and heal their mental illnesses, feed them and generally do everything for them; all of Paris knew about this.

We children probably understood his holiness. But we didn’t know how to handle it, we didn’t know how to approach him, but we felt it. And we felt that we were probably constantly doing something wrong when communicating with him. This sometimes tormented us. Once in the cadet corps, the boys in the choir, while Vladyka was serving vespers, shortened the stichera. The Bishop clicked his tongue reproachfully from the altar, but did not come out himself, and the children passed on the chants. When the stichera were sung, the bishop came out and demanded that all the stichera be sung from the beginning, without any omissions.

One of the main human virtues is prudence, and Vladyka John fully possessed this ability. He was a living lesson in moral theology for us. He told the man: “Do this or, on the contrary, do not do this in order to be with Christ.” Faith is not a philosophy. Although philosophy should not be neglected. Faith is a force that can move society forward. But faith can not only move, but also transform society.

After Bishop John left France due to duty in 1962, we, his students, of course, began to miss him, but I always felt that we all, and even I, a sinner, remained in his memory and in his prayers. After the bishop left, people often came up to me different people, even the atheists, and asked: “Where is your bishop?” They were perplexed and turned to me seriously: “How will we live without him?” Now the veneration of St. John is growing, especially in Russia. People coming to San Francisco can verify the incorruptibility of his holy relics. Many were repeatedly healed through prayers to him even before his glorification. The discovery of such a great saint of God became a clear sign of His mercy to foreign Russia and to the entire Russian Church as a whole.

Bishop of Geneva and Western Europe Michael (Donskov): Unanimity is more important than unanimity

Born on March 29, 1943 in Paris into a Russian family future bishop Michael of Geneva and Western Europe (ROCOR), who for 15 years represented the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in Russia as Bishop of Boston - suffragan bishop of the Eastern American Diocese. On December 13, 2008, Bishop Mikhail became one of ten laureates of an authoritative public award - the International Prize of St. Andrew the First-Called “For Faith and Fidelity,” which he was awarded “for his great personal contribution to the reunification of the Russian Orthodox Church and strengthening the unity of the Russian people.” From July 25, 2004 to February 28, 2005, accompanying the relics of the holy martyrs Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and nun Varvara, he visited 71 dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia (from its western borders to the Pacific coast), Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, and the Baltic countries. In May 2006, by decision of the Council of Bishops, Bishop Michael was appointed to the Geneva and Western European See, which had become vacant after the retirement of Bishop Ambrose, and on May 13, 2008, at the Council of Bishops of the ROCOR, he was elected a reserve member of the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR.

– Vladyka, I know firsthand how much of a contribution you made to the signing of the Act on Canonical Communion between the ROCOR and the Moscow Patriarchate on May 17, 2007, in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. On this significant day, for the first time I confessed not to a Russian, but to an English priest, and by the will of God I had the opportunity to receive communion from you.

– During trips with the relics of the holy martyrs Elizabeth and Barbara to the dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church, I prayed in the altar along with all the clergy of the churches, and some bishops offered me to vest and concelebrate, but I had to avoid this, since the act of unity had not yet been signed Churches. However, this did not detract from our joint prayer communication. Many bishops received me warmly. And there was a feeling that we were already on the threshold of the unity that we had been striving for for so long. I believe that the program of bringing the relics of the holy venerable martyrs Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and nun Varvara from Jerusalem to Russia and neighboring countries was of great importance for the preparation of Eucharistic communion between representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. This is one of the first programs conducted jointly by two parts of the Russian Orthodox Church. This great event was already perceived as the first step towards reconciliation and unification of the two branches of the Russian Orthodox Church. Precisely two branches, and not Churches, as they sometimes say. The Russian Church has always thought of itself as one body. This is not an organization, but an organism, the body of Christ. Communicating with people and priests in different parts of Russia, I was personally convinced of its spiritual revival. I realized that Russia had spiritually seen the light. Everywhere I saw complete unanimity of our Russian Church Abroad and the Russian Orthodox Church, and unanimity is more important than unanimity.

On May 17, 2007, I had the opportunity to take part in an epoch-making event that lifted a great burden from church life. On that day, I and other bishops of the ROCOR and the Moscow Patriarchate concelebrated for the first time at the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and administered communion to the believers.

– How did the laity abroad react to the signing of the act?

“Everyone happily accepted this, even those laypeople who previously thought that they were not yet ready for this.” There was no particular concern about this.

– Vladyka, you were one of 198 bishops who, on January 27, 2009, at the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church elected the 16th Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', Kirill.

– This was the first Local Council, when the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad together elected a new Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. This act is very great importance for the Church, for the entire Russian people and for the entire Orthodox world. Before the election of Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad as Patriarch, we also met with him in Smolensk during the bringing of the relics of Sts. Martyrs Elizabeth and Barbara, and at conferences in France, Switzerland, and other countries. No matter what you talk about His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, about the philosophical aspects of existence or about the social problems of our time, one can never disagree with him.

– Vladyka, you speak Russian more correctly and beautifully than some Russians today. How did you manage to master the Russian language so well while living abroad?

– Firstly, everyone in my family spoke only Russian at home, and secondly, the Church helped preserve their native dialect. Everyone went to the temple regularly, and I grew up near the temple from childhood. The priests cared for even the youngest parishioners, not only teaching us prayers, but also playing football with us. I hardly missed worship services, especially on Easter or Christmas, and I thank God for that. When I was born, both in Paris itself and in the suburbs there was already church life for emigrants - there were parish councils, elders, and priests. Small temples were built everywhere - from boards, from bricks, from whatever. In 1927, a temporary temple was built near Paris from a material invented by an engineer. He mixed straw with cement, and the material sold well. The engineer who made a large donation for the construction of the temple believed that it would last from three to five years, but it stood for more than half a century! The temple was dismantled and rebuilt only in 1980, when a boy leaning against the wall fell inside the church. And before that, no one wanted to touch this prayed-up temple.

I started going to church, located in a mansion near the ruins of a Russian-built temple, of which nothing remained after the bombing of 1943. I was born when an English bomb hit our temple directly. Therefore, Bishop Matthew, who was traveling through France from Poland, baptized me at home. And my first confession at the age of seven took place with St. John of Shanghai, who was confessing adults and suddenly called me over. Under the omophorion of John of Shanghai it was light and good. Communication with Vladyka John had a huge influence on me. We are spiritually strengthened thanks to his prayers and miracles.

– Tell us about your father. How did your family end up emigrating?

– My father Vasily Semenovich Donskov was born in 1898 in Russia, where he spent the first 20 years of his life in the village of Zotovskaya, Khopersky district. Our surname suggests that he was a Cossack of the Don Army. The experience of living in the Russian state could not but influence the formation of his worldview, his attitude towards Russia, towards his family. My father was one of the young Cossacks called by General Krasnov, ataman of the All-Great Don Army, to liberate the entire Don territory from the Reds. Then he traveled throughout the Don region. One day he was transporting 20 carts of wheat to Taganrog and crossed the Red Front. He was almost rewarded for the fact that he donated only two carts along the way and brought the rest. Then he commanded a platoon of officers. We had a very close spiritual connection. My father told me a lot about Don lands, and when I arrived in my native land, I recognized some places from his stories. Amazing thing- the power of legend!

Having left Russia with units under the command of General Wrangel, my father arrived in Constantinople and boarded a ship, where the passengers were starving, eating only wheat cakes that were fried on hot pipe, – there was nothing else. Many suffered from typhus. My father contracted malaria but survived. In Constantinople, the Russians literally flooded the city; there were more of them than the Turks, who, out of fear of infection, quarantined all these ships. Then my father moved to the island of Lemnos, where there were Cossack units. From there a small group of Cossacks returned to Turkey. My father spoke very little about his short life in Turkey, saying that it was not easy in both Turkey and Greece. In Greece, he ate only tomatoes, which was completely new to him. In 1922 or 1923 he came to Prague. In the Czech Republic thanks Russian Ambassador my father received a paper stating that he was a Russian refugee, which was very important.

It was the same in Paris. In all countries of the world, our ambassadors swore allegiance to the Provisional Government, but refused to swear allegiance to the Bolsheviks. All Russian embassies had seals recognized by states until their recognition Soviet Union. In France this happened in 1924. I know that the only state that provided benefits to Russian refugees was impoverished Serbia. This amazing fact! Thus, many Russians existed abroad quite legally and entered universities and agricultural schools. In Prague, my father entered the agronomic institute, where he met my mother Anna, who was born in the south of Moravia (this is between Slovakia and the Czech Republic, where the Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers Cyril and Methodius founded the first churches with worship in the Slavic language). There is a spring there where many pilgrims came. Mom was very pious and always prayed until the end of her life. After marrying her father, she converted to Orthodoxy.

In the summer, the Cossacks worked in the villages' mowing fields. Life was fun, but very hard, because they were paid very little for their work. In cities where there were universities, people were housed in barracks. In the camp, one Cossack was a tailor, another was a hairdresser, and the third was something else. It was a legal life in the community, although very meager.

After working in the fields for several years and making some savings, my father managed to go to Paris in 1928, which became the center of emigration.

By that time, Don Ataman A.P. had already moved there. Bogaevsky, and his office prepared papers for the Cossacks who came to France. Atamans, many of our writers, and Russian intelligentsia were already there. In 1929, my father sent my mother there, they got married in 1930, and I was born in 1943. Both my brothers lived in France all their lives. One died on Bose on May 16, 2009. He was an academician and entomologist. The second is a doctor of medicine, lives in a village in Normandy, he has a large family, many grandchildren.

– Were your parents believers?

“My father was a deeply religious man. Leaving Russia, he took with him, in addition to his uniform, only two things that survived - a photograph of his father (received by him during the retreat through Novocherkassk from one of his aunts) and a small icon of Tikhon of Zadonsk, which his grandfather brought from Zadonsk, when the saint was glorified. She was always in the red corner in our house. One day a bullet hit the pocket where my father wore this brass icon, and it saved his life. When my father gave me the icon, I did not yet think that I would be a priest, and asked: “Why are you giving it to me, the youngest son?” But for some reason he handed it to me.

– Were there priests in your family?

“My father didn’t remember that there were priests in our family.” But it is known that my great-great-grandfather, being a ktitor, together with the Cossacks of the village of Zotovskaya, Khopersky district, built a temple in the village in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God. A century later, at the expense of all the Cossacks of the Don region, the Ascension Cathedral was built in Novocherkassk. On May 23, 2007, I concelebrated here with Archbishop Panteleimon of Rostov at the Divine Liturgy. This was the first joint worship on the Don land after many years of separation. When I was in this cathedral 10 years ago, I could not even dream that I would serve here. My great-grandfather lived a very long time. In the 80s of the 19th century, my grandfather served under the ataman in a reserve unit in Novocherkassk, then their regiment was stationed in Poland. He died a very old man - at the age of 50 (at that time it was believed that 50 years was the limit), when the Reds began their reprisals on the farm. My father was then with Ataman Krasnov.

– Did your father manage to return to Russia?

– He came once for a month in 1968. But there was never any talk of returning. He was unable to get into the village. Everything, he says, has been dug up, there are no Cossacks, the highest rank in the village is a tractor driver on a collective farm. He met only three people from his generation. He remembered their names and patronymics! And they didn't want to talk to him. Then, when he was alone, one of them approached him: “I live here in disgrace.” My father believed that he was at home here in France, but he was too old to travel to Russia, and he decided that he would not go again.

– Did you manage to find the graves of your ancestors?

- Of course, I looked for my grandfather’s grave, but I couldn’t find it. In the overgrown cemetery, everything was thrown down, all the crosses were broken. When I was there for the first time, I found a grave with an inscription that Donskov was buried here. On the grave in which the grandfather could have been buried, there is an unusual monument with a cross: on the sides are names, and at the top is a book. When I saw similar monuments in St. Petersburg, Feodosia, and other places, I was told that such monuments were placed on the graves of people of clergy. And on the farm where my grandfather lived at the end of his life, there are graves of relatives.

– Tell us about your life in France.

– I grew up in exile, in a special world, where I was surrounded by people, among whom were atamans, generals, colonels. We were given both great pride in the Cossack title and a special understanding of service. Usually it is very difficult for a Russian person abroad to find a suitable lifestyle for himself, but our people had enough flexibility and a keen sense of comradeship. When it was necessary to do something, we always got together and participated in local public organizations and in the construction of churches.

– Do you feel Russian or French?

– In addition to the French school, I also graduated from the 10th grade of the Russian school of Antonina Mikhailovna Osorgina (who later became a monk with the name Seraphim), where once a week we studied the Law of God, literature, the Russian language, and Russian history. Thanks to this, the feeling that we were Russian was strengthened in us. According to French law, a child born on French territory had the nationality of the father. So, I was born Russian. In the 1940s, when the Russians were under threat, the local police commissioner urged his father to tell all Russians to accept French citizenship. He brought a paper for signature, saying that they do not demand that we become French: “We know that you are Russian, and we will never demand anything. Just sign!” My father refused. After some time, the commissioner returned with the paper already filled out: “Sign, you have three boys!” Otherwise, we won’t be able to do anything administratively.” He signed. At the age of ten, the commissariat gave me my first document. This is how the French saved the Russians.

Throughout my school and student years, we had a very active social life, there were lectures, a volleyball team, an orchestra, and a choir in which I sang. In addition to studying and exams, we were always very busy: in the summer we vacationed in children's camps, and in the winter we studied Russian history and culture in depth. We had youth organizations such as, for example, the Knights organization, with which I was associated long years. From 1959 to 1966, in the summer and spring, he led the Vityaz camps in France, and in the winter in Austria. In 1965–1966, he served in the sanitary units, after which he received the so-called Diplome de Moniteur de Colonies de Vacances, which allowed me to conduct teaching activities in youth Orthodox camps, in which I myself had participated since 1950.

Having gone through the school of instructor and leader of the National Organization of Knights (NOV) directly under its founder N.F. Fedorov, in 1994–1995 he led two camps in Russia, on the Don. Since 1969, he worked in hospitals in Paris and its environs in intensive care and children's departments, and since 1978, along with his service, he taught respiratory physics in hospitals and medical schools.

– Have you dreamed of becoming a doctor?

– Even at school, I was oriented towards medicine, like one of my older brothers, who entered the medical faculty. After finishing my secondary education, I chose a mathematics class. Then he became an employee of a professor at the Institute of Physics at the Faculty of Medicine. I was attracted to emergency medicine - intensive care units, ambulances, breathing machines. Over the years of my work there have been three generations of these breathing machines. We were developing a field that was little known at the time, and this created a lot of medical conflicts because people were not yet ready to accept it. I was not a doctor, but a respiratory specialist in the intensive care unit.

I worked in hospitals for thirty years and at the same time served in the church. He began serving at the altar at the age of seven. Since 1951 he sang in the church choir of youth camps, and since 1960 he served as a psalm-reader and regent. In 1979 he was made a reader by Archbishop Anthony (Bartoshevich), and in 1980 - a subdeacon. In 1981, Archbishop Anthony ordained me a deacon, and in 1991, a priest. My father, who died in 1986, did not know that in 1996 I was tonsured as a monk by Metropolitan Vitaly (Ustinov) and elevated to the rank of abbot on St. Thomas Sunday. On the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul of the same year, he was consecrated Bishop of Toronto, Vicar of the Montreal and Canadian Diocese.

– Vladyka, you are always on the road – America, Europe, Russia... Where do you feel at home?

– Wherever there is a Russian Church, and the Russian Church is everywhere.

– Are Russian emigrants special?

– You know, Russian emigration is different from any other. Russian people are very different from Europeans in everything except clothing. It never occurred to us to dress up any differently; we dressed like everyone else. But Russians have specific features - tradition, culture and, first of all, the Orthodox worldview. Even if a person doesn’t visit church much, he still has an Orthodox worldview, absorbed through all of Russian literature. You can't force any Russian to be like a Frenchman. Some didn’t even eat oysters so as not to look like the French. Of course, there was little place for Russians in the French environment, but they always looked for and found their compatriots. Besides the church, there were a lot public organizations, for example, regimental associations. But people of different classes and ranks from all regions of Russia gathered in the temple. And everyone wanted to get a higher education.

– In Russia, the question of whether to introduce the subject “Fundamentals” in schools has been discussed for many years. Orthodox culture" He has a lot of opponents.

– If there were no opponents, it would even be suspicious. You know, where there is action, there is also reaction. If there is no opposition, then there is no action.

– Vladyka, how to raise a child if one spouse is a believer and the other is not?

– Everything comes from the family. And we are obliged to create conditions so that every child has a family home. And everything else is the grace of God. We must take into account that people are sinful, attached to earthly things - they want to have their own refrigerator, car... But you need to devote time to spiritual life. Man - believer or unbeliever - is still a creation of God. Try to find people without conscience. You won't find it! Even a child has a feeling of guilt. U small child there is no cynicism, but teenagers have it. Apart from love and justice, the teenager understands nothing. For him, the main authority is his friend, not his parents! Therefore, do not insult his friends, he will never forgive it. He hates injustice. He must be loved, respected and trusted in the will of God. Give him more love, attention, no matter how difficult it may seem. Taking on all this grief is a feat for parents; this is the most difficult moment for them - to be responsible for everything until the child becomes an adult. Children can behave very badly if they are not taken into account. You need to pray for them as much as possible. Since they make their own choices, they need to be supported in everything. And their conscience can speak on its own.

Only parents can church their little children, raise them morally, and instill in them a love for the church. When parents take their children to church, they have a living connection with the church. The teenager, on the one hand, wants to remain attached to his parents, on the other, he strives to move away from them and is looking for a friend. For teenagers, you need to look for non-church secular organizations. Here abroad these are the youth organizations of Vityaz, Sokolov, etc. This is a complex problem, but each person needs to become a church member himself.

– You have more than once participated in the religious section of the World Public Forum “Dialogue of Civilizations”, held on the Greek island of Rhodes.

– Rhodes is a place where representatives meet and discuss certain issues different nations, different religions. Communication is necessary to better understand both the other and yourself. When you see what is happening in the world, you come to the conclusion that blood is shed where there is pagan worship of the devil - there are terrorist attacks, robberies and murders. These are pagans.

– In Moscow school No. 717, since 2005, there has been a Children’s Charitable Society in the name of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, which, for example, holds annual charity events“The Road of Good” to help children with cancer. At the Robinson school theater, E. Podosenova staged the first children's play in Russia, dedicated to Elizaveta Fedorovna. What would you say to the guys, director and author of the play “White Angel of Moscow” R. Koshurnikova?

– I am very grateful to them. Both works of mercy and the performance are their contribution, their contribution to the education of children and adults who know little about the Venerable Martyr Elizabeth, who, by the way, founded the “Children’s Mite” circle outside the walls of the Martha and Mary Convent to help poor children. It is necessary to disseminate the experience of children's charitable organizations throughout Russia, it is necessary to remind that during the life of the Grand Duchess, student squads operated in different cities, helping the families of fallen soldiers and other sufferers. And such performances as “White Angel of Moscow” need to be shown not only within the walls of schools and other institutions, but also in the theater, and the recording should be broadcast on television. May God bless everyone who is engaged in such useful work.

– What is your opinion about the film “The Passion of the Christ”?

– Showing the beating of Christ is not realism... You cannot offend the feelings of believers, you cannot mock the Divine, or repeat what has already happened once. Isn't this clear?

– Dostoevsky said that he is “a child of the century, a child of disbelief and doubt.” Are you familiar with doubts about the existence of God?

“I don’t remember such a conflict in myself, although as a teenager I was like everyone else, but I always went to church, served and sang in the choir.

– Which work of Dostoevsky did you read first?

– The very first thing I read by Dostoevsky was the novel “The Humiliated and Insulted.” In Paris, where I lived then, they staged a play based on this novel. In our circle we were recommended to read the novel “Demons”. Although Dostoevsky has been translated into French, they don’t study it in school. He is respected everywhere, but the Russian people are more receptive to him. If Russians read Dostoevsky, they will come to the Church. It's my opinion.

- You are absolutely right. I experienced this myself. I thought about God while reading Dostoevsky. And for the first time I came to the temple, of which Dostoevsky was a parishioner. U miraculous icon The Mother of God “Starorusskaya” was healed of a stomach ulcer by a descendant of the writer Dmitry Andreevich Dostoevsky, who came to God as an adult.

– Yes, every person sooner or later asks himself questions of a spiritual and moral nature, and many suffer because they do not have answers to them. Dostoevsky, in my opinion, is the only writer in the world who not only poses these questions, but also gives an answer to them, and, what is especially close to us, gives an answer from the point of view of Orthodoxy. Dostoevsky is a preacher of Truth. He shows that a person, although a fallen sinner, if he loves God, can transform his life through repentance. This is especially clearly seen in The Brothers Karamazov, although there are many examples throughout his work. People are perplexed why Dostoevsky describes so much depravity, deceit, and various kinds of downfalls. But it is quite clear that he himself does not like it. He shows a person the path through which, through repentance, one can atone for one’s sins and become different. He openly says - just come to God, and everything will be solved for you.

Even Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky believed that Dostoevsky was able to touch the feelings and consciousness of people from all layers of Russian society, that the Russian people would come to faith through Dostoevsky. When you travel on a train with a Frenchman, he will talk about himself, his family, his life. And you get into the carriage with a Russian, and you find out what a “scoundrel and drunkard” he is. The main difference between Russians and foreigners is an open soul. A Russian will always open his heart without embellishment. I talked with one Russian from the USSR on the train for 13 hours! For me it was the discovery of Soviet society. He had Difficult life. And after 12 hours he suddenly asks: “What difference does it make to be a good Christian or a good communist?” I answered that a Christian is a person who accepts Christ into his heart. “It’s not so,” he said, and he jumped up and ran away, and five minutes later he returned and in the last hour has completely opened up. He looked 20 years older than me, but turned out to be 20 years younger.

– Archbishop Hilarion (Alfeev) of Volokolamsk admitted that he reread all of Dostoevsky at the age of 14–15. What do you think is the best age to read Dostoevsky?

– Dostoevsky is not a writer for a certain category of people. Anyone who picks up Dostoevsky's book will find answers to their questions in it. These are young and old, educated and not so well educated. There is no law here. This is a universal writer. Whoever gets into his soul will be able to draw something spiritually for himself.

– Are you close to the “symbol of faith” that Dostoevsky created for himself - “to believe that there is nothing more beautiful, deeper, more sympathetic, more reasonable, more courageous and more perfect than Christ, and not only is it not, but with jealous love I tell myself that there is no May be. Moreover, if someone proved to me that the truth is outside of Christ, then I would rather remain with Christ than with the truth.”

– I am sure that the world is divided into two parts – those who are with Christ, and those who are against Christ. And have no doubt that those who are against Christ are with the devil. It's better to be with Christ!

Interviewed by Irina AKHUNDOVA

Photos courtesy of the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation