Patriarch of All Rus' Alexey. Alexy II

Exactly 4 years ago, in the early morning of December 5, 2008, Patriarch Alexy II went to where everyone, both sinners and righteous, went to the toilet when they woke up. To repose there before the Lord.
There is nothing shameful or unusual in such a death, and I have already recalled two similar deaths: and. And you can also remember that kings George III and Louis XIV, billionaires Paul Goette and John Rockefeller, and many others also passed into another world. But the Russian Orthodox Church only remembered how one of the first heretics of Christianity, Arius, accepted death, and was afraid.
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John Rockefeller. I dreamed of earning $100 thousand, living to be 100 years old and dying in my sleep.
Earned $192 billion, lived to 97 years old and died in the toilet. Not all dreams come true.

They missed the Patriarch at about 8 o'clock in the morning - he did not come out at the usual time for the ordered breakfast. They began knocking on locked doors and shouting, but no one responded. They called the guards, who broke down the door to the chambers, and discovered the already cold body of the Patriarch in the restroom. He lay in the middle of a spacious restroom, decorated with artistic tiles and marble, on which bloody traces from Alexy’s hands could be seen. Most likely (either from a heart attack, or from loss of coordination of movements), the Patriarch fell and hit the back of his head on the back of a hard chair, and then tried to get up. Since Alexy had two cardiac stimulators, they expelled blood from his wound for a long time until he died. There was a lot of blood in the restroom, the back of my head was covered in blood, and my face was as pale as a sheet.
With such an injury, even one associated with a heart attack, the Patriarch could have been saved. If only someone knew that he needed help. But the double doors to the inner chambers, with complete sound insulation, were always locked by the Patriarch from the inside at night. And no one had a duplicate of this key, not even the security.
I repeat - there is nothing obscene in such a death, and none of us knows how and where he will meet his last hour. The obscenity began later.

After the death of His Holiness, the highest hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, out of harm’s way, agreed to remain silent about the real circumstances and cause of the death of the patriarch, and at about 11 o’clock on December 5, 2008, through the mouth of the head of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate, they voiced a streamlined official lie about “the cause of death - heart failure.”
It became clear immediately that there was something fishy about the circumstances surrounding the death of Patriarch Alexy. The patriarch lived according to a clear schedule - and no one noticed that he did not get up? As they wrote in the media, a team of doctors was constantly on duty with him - and they did not have access to him? A version immediately appeared in Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Novaya Gazeta that the Patriarch died in an accident, and the Patriarchate immediately denied these reports: “The versions that appeared in a number of media outlets that the patriarch was involved in an accident are in no way true.”
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photo Sergey Ilnitsky/EPA

However, for almost a year, rumors surrounding the death of Patriarch Alexy continued to circulate and multiply, up to the version that Patriarch Alexy was ritually killed on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. And their culmination was the sensational version of Stas Sadalsky, according to which the Patriarch was killed at the hands of Ossetian militants because he did not support Russia’s military actions against Georgia in August 2008. It became clear that the Russian Orthodox Church found itself in a disadvantageous position, which in chess is called “zugzwang” - no matter what move a chess player makes, it will be unwinnable for him. Continuing to lie is bad, revealing the true circumstances of the Patriarch’s death is also bad.
And only almost a year after the funeral of His Holiness, his former assistant and very close to Patriarch Kirill, Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev, finally received the blessing to tell the truth about the head injury as the cause of death, and about the toilet, and about the blood in it, and about the locked doors to the bedroom . As Kuraev said, the church leadership refused to immediately publish the real picture of the death of His Holiness for moral and ethical reasons: “It is clear that it was difficult for the Patriarchate to say that the Primate met with death in the restroom. What would be bitterly ordinary for a simple person could be perceived as a scandal when applied to the Patriarch.” But what was perceived as a scandal when applied to the Patriarch was not the truth about the circumstances of his death, but the official lie of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Kuraev then said: “Afraid to tell the unseemly truth about the circumstances of the death of His Holiness, the Patriarchate received a vile rumor.” But he did not say that by lying about the circumstances of the death, the Patriarchate received not one vile rumor, but many vile rumors. Which immediately stopped as soon as the truth emerged about the details of the last hours of Alexy’s life. Well, a person died one way and not another - there is nothing shameful in that, no one is free to choose the place where he will suddenly die. People are often better and smarter than the clergy think about them...
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Within the clergy, it’s probably not the evil wolf fighting against the good one, but the Devil fighting against God.

The highest hierarchs of the Church were also once children, and their mothers probably also told them: “Son, it’s not good to lie. The lie will be revealed, and then it will be a shame.” Well, okay, older people may not remember what they were taught in childhood. But life constantly teaches them the same thing - whenever the Church hierarchs lie, they get “vile rumors” and scandals. And small lies sometimes grow like a snowball, turning into a huge lie.
Well, like in the story with “Kirill’s watch”:
1. If you wear an expensive watch, don’t lie that you don’t.
2. If you were caught lying with the help of photographs, do not try to commit a new deception by editing them.
3. Caught with inept editing - don’t call it a “ridiculous mistake” and persecution of the Church.
After all, if Patriarch Kirill had not lied the first time, denying the obvious, he would not have had to lie further. And there would not have been a scandal with the watch, and there would have been no shame before God and people, and the Church would not have lost its authority.
Because telling the truth is not always pleasant, but sometimes it is useful.

He headed the Russian Orthodox Church for 18.5 years, and during this time he did so much that future generations have yet to fully appreciate the deeds of His Holiness.

The patriarch himself, apparently anticipating his imminent departure to another world, said in an interview published after his death: “I had to establish completely new relations between the state and the Church, which had not existed in the history of Russia, because the Church was not separated from the state, the emperor was the head of the Church, and all decisions that were made on church issues came from his office. And now a completely new relationship has been established, when the Church makes its own decisions and is responsible for its actions before its conscience, history, and people.”

About childhood, youth, adolescence. About what he was like Alexey Ridiger(secular name) until the patriarchal election. People who knew him well told us about all this. Including at home in Estonia.

He was involved in rowing and liked to watch figure skating

To answer the banal question beloved by many journalists: “What profession would you choose if you had not become a priest?” - Alexy II had no answer.

“From childhood,” he said, “I could not imagine any other service for myself other than the church.”

His parents had a two-story wooden house with two verandas and a garden in the Tallinn suburb of Nõmme, she recalled cousin of His Holiness Elena Kamzol. “It even seems to me that he was born there... But at the beginning of the war, the family sold the house in order to somehow exist.” And now it stands there, all overgrown - no one remembers that the future Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church lived in it.

Parents of Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II Mikhail and Elena Ridiger with their son Alexei. 1929 Photo courtesy of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate. Photo: RIA Novosti

Alyosha and I talked a lot as children, especially during the war. My brother started studying at a bourgeois Estonian school and ended up at a Soviet one. Although I know little about his school years - in childhood, the difference of seven years (I am younger) is quite noticeable, and we never talked about school. He often teased me, hid my toys, and then told his dog to look for them and bring them. He is a man with a great sense of humor. At the same time, he always joked in a good, kind way. He didn't allow any rudeness. I had long braids as a child, but he never pulled them.

We met very often. I didn’t have a dad - in 1941 he was shot in Leningrad. I lived with my mother and grandmother, and Alexey often came to us with his parents. You could say we had one very religious family. But there were no clergy there for a long time. The first was Uncle Misha (the father of the future patriarch. - Ed.). First as a psalm-reader, then as a priest. Our whole family often went to his services. Later, his example was followed by my brother, who lived in America, and then Alyosha.

As a child, Vladyka built a “church” in a barn and loved to play there. I remember asking for a long time to show me the “altar”, my brother didn’t want to let me in, he said: “Women are not allowed!” And only when I was very offended did I take pity: “Okay, I’ll let you in as a cleaner.” As a child, he already began to serve in the temple. At the age of six, he fulfilled his first obedience - pouring baptismal water. And soon I learned the entire Liturgy by heart.

However, like any boy, Alexey Ridiger was also interested in sports. While doing rowing in the Kalev sports society, he even received a junior rank. I was kicking a ball with my peers. He played chess with varying success. “I beat someone, someone beat me,” Vladyko later recalled. “I took losses calmly, and I took victories joyfully.” He was very fond of motorcycle racing and knew all the athletes by name. I enjoyed watching hockey and figure skating - I could admire the art of ice for hours, forgetting about everything in the world. However, I never dreamed of becoming a sports star. As a child, Alexey often suffered from tonsillitis, which caused complications in his heart. But, of course, that was not the point...

Childhood photo of Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II (c. 1929-1933). Photo courtesy of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate. Photo: RIA Novosti

Traveled with my father to Hitler's concentration camps

Father of the future Patriarch Mikhail Ridiger began studying in St. Petersburg at the Imperial School of Law, but due to the revolution of 1917 he was forced to interrupt his studies and emigrate to Estonia. In 1926 he married Elena Pisareva, and three years later the couple had their only son, who was called “the man of God” - Alexei. The deeply religious Mikhail never returned to law. He completed theological courses in Reval (now Tallinn) and became a priest.

“In pre-war Estonia, my parents could profess their faith without hesitation and raised me in what they themselves lived,” His Holiness later recalled. — I remember the pilgrimages to the monasteries - to Pyukhtitsa, to Pechory and to Valaam - to the temple where I served at the altar as a boy... Then the war burst into our lives, and with it a very real awareness of innumerable human suffering. On trips to Hitler's concentration camps together with my priest father, I had the opportunity to come into contact with the torment of my compatriots doomed to death. I early felt the calling to devote my life to serving God and the Church; it finally became stronger precisely during this terrible time.”

Alexey Ridiger will never regret his chosen path.

“His parents brought him here as a baby,” she said. nun Irina, nun of the Pyukhtitsa Assumption Convent, - and our sisters swaddled the future patriarch. At this time, my father served, my mother sang in the choir. And when Alyoshenka grew up, he began to learn to read in church. In the summer he never rested: he went with his sisters to haymaking, to the potato field, and harvested grain with them. When they return, he will run into the forest, pick up a basket of mushrooms and take them to the common meal.

The patriarch's future was predetermined - he literally grew up in the church. Modest, tall and thin beyond his years. The sisters were even worried: was his mother really not feeding him? Or maybe he's sick? Alyosha knew himself and prayed.

Childhood photo of Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II (c. 1934-1941). Photo courtesy of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate. Photo: RIA Novosti

Treated parishioners to tea and buns

Whether he wanted it or not, Alexey Ridiger moved up the career ladder rapidly. Already at the age of 16, he, a subdeacon, was tasked with putting in order and preparing for divine services the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Tallinn, destroyed during the war. In the restored temple, the future head of the Russian Orthodox Church served as psalm-reader and sacristan. In 1946, at the age of 17, he passed the exams at the Leningrad Theological Seminary, but was not accepted due to his age. The next year he was enrolled there straight into the third year. Then he entered the Theological Academy in Leningrad, was ordained a deacon, in whose rank he remained... 1 day. At the age of 21, Alexey Ridiger became a priest and was appointed rector of the Church of the Epiphany in the Estonian city of Jõhvi.

“He took his first steps here,” he recalled Pyotr Sirotkin, who served as a choir singer in the church. “But he conducted the services as befits a real priest.” He was educated, sociable, read good sermons and was immediately liked by all the parishioners. We traveled with him to parishes, to Lake Peipsi, and often held rehearsals in his house. He treated us to tea, buns...

And he organized pilgrimages to his beloved Pukhtitsa Monastery, although in those years such an initiative could have ended sadly.

In his first parish in Jõhvi, Father Alexy will serve for 7.5 years, after which he will be appointed rector of the Assumption Cathedral in Tartu. By that time he will become a candidate of theology, and soon he will take monastic vows in the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. After 29 years, there, in the main monastery of Russia, he will be elected Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.

In the photo, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II in his youth (ca. 1942-1947). Photo courtesy of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate. Photo: RIA Novosti

But first he will be appointed Bishop of Tallinn and Estonia, then manager of the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate and a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. 4 years before death Patriarch Pimen he will become Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod with the responsibility of managing the Tallinn diocese.

I wanted to feed the animals and ran away from the guards

“When His Holiness was still a metropolitan and manager of affairs, he often came to us,” she said Abbess of the Pukhtitsa Monastery Varvara. - And almost always with guests. He showed them the monastery and picked mushrooms with them. This is his favorite activity. We nicknamed the place where he especially loved to go “Vladykin Bor.” Usually he himself got behind the wheel of his Tallinn diocesan ZIM and drove everyone to Lake Peipus. The sisters always looked forward to his arrival. And when he left, they blocked his way - they didn’t want to let him go. The Patriarch was not angry - he even joked: “Well, okay, I’ll get out of the car now and stay here. Let them work there without me...” Oh, how we regretted it when he was taken from Tallinn! We were both pleased and sorry. Then he could no longer come so often - in 9 years he could only visit four times. But, if he did arrive, he immediately went to the barnyard. He loves animals. In the monastery he even had a favorite horse, Inga, which, as soon as it heard the Patriarch’s steps, began to beat with its hooves. The cemetery, the Holy Spring and the barnyard were his favorite places in Pyukhtitsa.

In the photo from the archive (c. 1948-1955) Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II in his youth. Photo courtesy of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate. Photo: RIA Novosti

One day - he was then the manager of the Moscow Patriarchate - he saw on the road how a chicken flew out of a passing car. I was not too lazy to stop, pick up the bird, and get out. He even taught me to drink tap water. And then he brought me to Pyukhtitsa. But she could no longer eat and drink with other chickens - she kept asking to be held by the henkeeper, drank water only from the tap and was happy when His Holiness came.

There were always dogs in the house of Alexy II. In recent years, little Chizhik lived with him. In general, on the farm in Peredelkino there were chickens, cows, and large dogs. And the Patriarch loved to feed everyone himself - food was specially left for him. I was fiddling with the newly born calves.

“Once I came to visit him, and Vladyko wanted to feed the animals,” recalled Elena Kamzol. “But there are always two people with him.” Somehow we managed to escape from them. “Let’s go quietly while no one sees,” he said. It's hard with security all the time. That's why he loves to holiday in Switzerland. I think he can easily walk there alone, in civilian clothes.

Photo of Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II in his youth (ca. 1948-1955). Photo courtesy of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate. Photo: RIA Novosti

It is known that in addition to Elena Kamzol, the patriarch had a cousin Alexander, who lived in Germany, and a second cousin in Australia, about whom Vladyko learned already as Patriarch: for a long time everyone thought that she had died. Their fate is now difficult to trace. Yes, and Elena Kamzol passed away into another world several years ago. And once upon a time, His Holiness greatly appreciated every opportunity to meet with his sister living in neighboring Estonia. He liked to treat her with delicacies, walk with her around Moscow and in Peredelkino. They told each other about their affairs and remembered their parents. He always gave her something as a farewell gift. Once, Elena Fedorovna recalled, it was a Gzhel jug with the patriarchal monogram and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

The patriarch’s cousin Elena Fedorovna was on first name terms with her brother, but still called him “Vladyko.” When he was a metropolitan in Tallinn, she ran to him; then they met in Pyukhtitsa. In addition, he is her daughter's godfather. In Tallinn, Elena Fedorovna and her husband shared a house with another family; in recent years, her husband worked as an electrician in the port. “Everything is fine,” said a relative of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. — A person like His Holiness should not help his loved ones. Let him help strangers."

Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Pimen, catalycos, Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II, manager of the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Alexy. Photo: RIA Novosti

Strict, demanding, but kind

And the patriarch helped. Only he saved the Pyukhtitsa monastery three times. The first time was when they wanted to give it to the miners as a rest home... In 1990, with the election of Vladyka Alexy to the Patriarchal throne, the monastery received stauropegial status.

“When the monastery was being restored, His Holiness helped a lot,” said Abbess Varvara. — He came, watched how the construction was going, and advised. He could not say: “Not mine!” or “It doesn’t concern me.” He is only seemingly unapproachable. And so - strict, demanding, but kind. He is very easy to work with. All his sisters love him very much, greeting him and seeing him off as if they were their own father. He even tonsured us all into nuns himself.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II. Photo: RIA Novosti / Dmitry Donskoy

He also spoke about the attentiveness of His Holiness to people Metropolitan of Tallinn and All Estonia Cornelius:

“It’s very difficult to get through to him - he’s always busy, but if you do get through to him, there’s never any refusal like: “Call me later.”

“He had already come to us as a man of enormous hierarchical experience,” recalled rector of the Kulich and Easter Church in St. Petersburg, Archpriest Viktor Golubev. — Calm, balanced and at the same time very firm. I served as secretary of the diocesan board for 4 years when Father Alexy was appointed Metropolitan of Leningrad. Before that, he had been in Estonia for a long time - a financially extremely insecure diocese - and had to calculate his every step. In his position as administrative manager, he often traveled around the diocese, resolving controversial issues. At that time, many problems arose with the authorities - until 1988, they did not take the church into account. And Father Alexy will definitely do whatever he has planned. He achieved that Xenia of Petersburg was canonized. Local rulers created all sorts of obstacles, but he said: if you don’t allow it, I’ll go to Moscow. All the time there were clashes with the Commissioner for Religious Affairs at the Council of Ministers...

Patriarch Alexy II and Vladimir Putin. Photo: RIA Novosti / Sergey Velichkin

Recipe for salted saffron milk caps from His Holiness

“The last time I visited my brother was about five days,” recalled His Holiness’s cousin Elena Kamzol. — Usually before the trip I buy him some Tallinn souvenir. For example, we make old Tallinn houses from ceramics. And I found a chapel in the form of a candlestick in the store. The Bishop was so happy about the gift: “Yes, this is our old chapel!” After so many years I recognized her... At that time there was a fast, and the Patriarch treated me to fish and all sorts of Lenten dishes. By the way, his mother was a very good housewife, a cook, an excellent cook and, apparently, passed on her talent to her son. Previously, Vladyka always made all the preparations for the winter himself - he collected, peeled and pickled mushrooms, salted cabbage. For example, I first tried salted saffron milk caps from my brother. Then he taught me, and now I don’t do anything differently. The recipe seems to be simple, but there is a secret: mushrooms cannot be picked in wet weather and washed - you can only wipe them. And my brother’s salted whites are always surprisingly tasty. When he was not yet Patriarch, he loved to vacation in the south of Estonia, where his father’s friend, also a priest, lived. So, they went deep into the forest and held competitions to see who could collect the most mushrooms. Everyone had their own places... And Vladyko even brought milk mushrooms from Switzerland.

Perhaps, mushrooms were Patriarch Alexy II’s only food addiction. Otherwise he was unpretentious. I could eat both porridge and potatoes. Loved the pies. Because of a bad heart, he rarely drank coffee, preferring tea. But he didn’t drink wine at all - at the table he was usually poured a decanter of plain water. This was the only way the Patriarch could preserve his already fragile health. He slept very little, besides his aching heart, his veins tormented him.

“When His Holiness was sick, I prayed for him every day,” she admitted parishioner of the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow Alexandra Matveevna. — I lit candles and wrote notes about my health. I think any Orthodox Christian will agree with me: the government, the Duma and the president were given to us for our sins, and Patriarch Alexy II - for prayers, faith and repentance...

Childhood years (1929 - late 30s)

His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II is the fifteenth Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church since the establishment of the Patriarchate in Rus' (1589). Patriarch Alexy (in the world - Alexey Mikhailovich Ridiger) was born on February 23, 1929 in the city of Tallinn (Estonia) into a deeply religious family.

Patriarch Alexy's father, Mikhail Alexandrovich Ridiger (+1962), a native of St. Petersburg, came from an old St. Petersburg family, whose representatives served in the glorious field of military and public service (among them Adjutant General Count Fyodor Vasilyevich Ridiger - hero of the Patriotic War of 1812).

Mikhail Alexandrovich studied at the School of Law and graduated from high school in exile in Estonia. The mother of His Holiness the Patriarch is Elena Iosifovna Pisareva (+1959), a native of Revel (Tallinn). In pre-war Europe, the life of the Russian emigration was low-income, but material poverty did not prevent the flourishing of cultural life.

The emigrant youth were distinguished by a high spiritual spirit. A huge role belonged to the Orthodox Church. The activity of the Church in the life of the Russian diaspora was greater than ever before in Russia.

The religious community in the Russian diaspora has created an invaluable experience for Russia in the churching of various forms of cultural activity and social service. The Russian Student Christian Movement (RSCM) was active among young people. The movement had as its main goal the unification of believing youth to serve the Orthodox Church, set as its task the training of defenders of the Church and faith, and asserted the inseparability of genuine Russian culture from Orthodoxy.

In Estonia the Movement operated on a large scale. As part of his activities, parish life actively developed. Russian Orthodox people willingly participated in the activities of the Movement. Among them was the father of the future His Holiness Patriarch.

From a young age, Mikhail Alexandrovich aspired to priestly service, but only after completing theological courses in Revel in 1940 was he ordained a deacon and then a priest. For 16 years he was rector of the Tallinn Nativity of the Virgin Mary Kazan Church, was a member, and later chairman of the diocesan council.

The spirit of Russian Orthodox churchliness reigned in the family of the future High Hierarch, when life is inseparable from the temple of God and the family is truly a home church. For Alyosha Ridiger there was no question about choosing a path in life.

His first conscious steps took place in church, when, as a six-year-old boy, he performed his first obedience - pouring baptismal water. Even then he knew for sure that he would only become a priest. At the age of eight or nine, he knew the Liturgy by heart and his favorite game was “to serve.”

The parents were embarrassed by this and even turned to the Valaam elders about this, but they were told that if everything was done seriously by the boy, then there was no need to interfere. Most of the Russians living in Estonia at that time were not essentially emigrants. Being natives of this region, they found themselves abroad without leaving their homeland.

The uniqueness of Russian emigration in Estonia was largely determined by the compact residence of Russians in the east of the country. Russian exiles scattered all over the world sought to visit here. By the grace of God, they found here a “corner of Russia”, containing a great Russian shrine - the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery, which, being at that time outside the USSR, was inaccessible to the godless authorities.

Making annual pilgrimages to the Pukhtitsa Holy Dormition Women's Monastery and the Pskov-Pechersk Holy Dormition Monastery, the parents of the future Patriarch took the boy with them.

At the end of the 1930s, together with their son, they made two pilgrimage trips to the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery on Lake Ladoga. The boy remembered for the rest of his life his meetings with the inhabitants of the monastery - the spirit-bearing elders Schema-Abbot John (Alekseev, +1958), Hieroschemamonk Ephraim (Khrobostov, +1947) and especially with the monk Iuvian (Krasnoperov, +1957), with whom correspondence began and who accepted the boy into my heart.

Here is a small fragment from his letter to Alyosha Ridiger: “ Dear in the Lord, dear Alyoshenka! I sincerely thank you, my dear, for your greetings on the Nativity of Christ and the New Year, as well as for your good wishes. May the Lord God save you for all these spiritual gifts.<...>

If the Lord would vouchsafe all of you to come to us for Easter, it would increase our Easter joy. Let us hope that the Lord, in His great mercy, will do this. We also remember all of you with love: for us you are like our own, kindred in spirit. Sorry, dear Alyoshenka! Be healthy! May the Lord bless you! In your pure childish prayer, remember me, the unworthy. M. Iuvian, who sincerely loves you in the Lord.”

Thus, at the very beginning of his conscious life, the future High Hierarch touched with his soul the pure spring of Russian holiness - the “wonderful island of Valaam.”

Through the monk Iuvian, a spiritual thread connects our Patriarch with the Guardian Angel of Russia - Saint John of Kronstadt. It was with the blessing of this great lamp of the Russian land that Father Iuvian became a Valaam monk, and of course he told his dear boy Alyosha about the great shepherd.

This connection was recalled half a century later - the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1990, which elected His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, glorified Righteous John of Kronstadt as a saint.

Youth. Study, beginning of ministry (late 30s - late 50s)

The path that the saints of the Russian land traversed for centuries - the path of pastoral service, originating from a church-going childhood in Christ - was banned under Soviet rule.

God's Providence for our current Primate structured his life from birth in such a way that life in Soviet Russia was preceded by childhood and adolescence in old Russia (as far as this was possible then), and the young, but mature and courageous warrior of Christ met Soviet reality.

From early childhood, Alexey Ridiger served in the church. His spiritual father was Archpriest John of the Epiphany, later Bishop of Tallinn and Estonian Isidore (+1949). From the age of fifteen, Alexy was a subdeacon with Archbishop Pavel of Tallinn and Estonia (Dmitrovsky; +1946), and then with Bishop Isidore. He studied at a Russian secondary school in Tallinn.

His Holiness the Patriarch recalls that he always had an “A” in the Law of God. His family was his fortress and support both when choosing his path and throughout his priestly service. Not only ties of kinship, but also ties of spiritual friendship connected him with his parents; they shared all their experiences with each other...

In 1936, the Tallinn Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, whose parishioners were the parents of the future High Hierarch, was transferred to the Estonian parish. The history of this temple is long-suffering: immediately after the proclamation of the Estonian Republic in 1918, a campaign to liquidate the cathedral began - money was collected “for the demolition of churches with Russian golden onions and booths of Russian Gods” (Orthodox chapels) even in children’s schools.

But the public, Russian and international, as well as the Red Cross, opposed the destruction of the cathedral. Then a new wave arose: to demolish the domes of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, erect a spire and create a “pantheon of Estonian independence” there. Illustrations were published in an architectural magazine: a view of the city without “Russian onions”, but with the “pantheon of Estonian independence”.

These illustrations were preserved by the future His Holiness Patriarch Alexy and at one time were useful for saving the cathedral, when the authorities of Soviet Estonia intended to convert the temple into a planetarium (the demonstration of the intentions of the bourgeois authorities regarding the use of the cathedral discouraged the Soviet rulers).

In 1936, the gilding was removed from the domes. In this form the cathedral existed until the war. In 1945, Subdeacon Alexy was instructed to prepare for the opening of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in the city of Tallinn for the resumption of divine services there (the cathedral was closed during the wartime occupation).

From May 1945 to October 1946 he was an altar boy and sacristan of the cathedral. Since 1946 he served as a psalm-reader in the Simeonovskaya, and since 1947 - in the Kazan churches of Tallinn. In 1946, Alexy Ridiger passed the exams at the St. Petersburg (Leningrad) Theological Seminary, but was not accepted because he was not yet eighteen years old at that time.

The following year, 1947, he was immediately enrolled in the 3rd year of the seminary, which he graduated with first class in 1949. While in his first year at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, on April 15, 1950, he was ordained a deacon, and on April 17, 1950, a priest and appointed rector of the Church of the Epiphany in the city of Johvi, Tallinn diocese.

For more than three years he combined serving as a parish priest with correspondence studies at the academy. In 1953, Father Alexy graduated from the Theological Academy in the first category and was awarded the degree of candidate of theology for his course essay “Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov) of Moscow as a dogmatist.”

On July 15, 1957, Father Alexy was appointed rector of the Assumption Cathedral in the city of Tartu (Yuryev) and for a year combined service in two churches. He served in Tartu for four years.

Tartu is a university city, quiet in the summer and lively in the winter when students arrive. His Holiness the Patriarch retained a good memory of the old Yuryev university intelligentsia, who actively participated in church life. It was a living connection with old Russia. On August 17, 1958, Father Alexy was elevated to the rank of archpriest.

In 1959, on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the mother of His Holiness the Patriarch died. She had a difficult cross in her life - to be the wife and mother of a priest in an atheistic state. Prayer was a reliable refuge and consolation - every day Elena Iosifovna read the akathist before the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of all who mourn.” The funeral service for Mother Elena Iosifovna was held in Tartu, and she was buried in Tallinn, at the Alexander Nevsky Cemetery - the resting place of several generations of her ancestors. Father and son were left alone.

Episcopal ministry

On March 3, 1961, in the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archpriest Alexy Ridiger took monastic vows. Soon, by a resolution of the Holy Synod of August 14, 1961, Hieromonk Alexy was determined to become the Bishop of Tallinn and Estonian with the assignment of temporary management of the Riga diocese.

On August 21, 1961, Hieromonk Alexy was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. On September 3, 1961, Archimandrite Alexy (Ridiger) was consecrated as Bishop of Tallinn and Estonia, temporarily governing the Riga diocese.

It was a difficult time - the height of Khrushchev's persecutions. The Soviet leader, trying to revive the revolutionary spirit of the twenties, demanded the literal implementation of the anti-religious legislation of 1929. It seemed that pre-war times had returned with their “five-year plan of godlessness.” True, the new persecution of Orthodoxy was not bloody - ministers of the Church and Orthodox laity were not exterminated, as before, but newspapers, radio and television spewed streams of blasphemy and slander against the faith and the Church, and the authorities and the “public” poisoned and persecuted Christians. There were massive closures of churches throughout the country. The already small number of religious educational institutions has sharply decreased.

In February 1960, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I, in his speech at the conference of the Soviet public for disarmament, addressed millions of Orthodox Christians over the heads of those gathered in the Kremlin. Calling on them to be steadfast in the face of new persecutions, His Holiness the Patriarch said: “In this position of the Church there is much comfort for its faithful members, for what can all the efforts of the human mind mean against Christianity, if its two thousand-year history speaks for itself, if hostile against Christ Himself foresaw his attacks and made a promise to the steadfastness of the Church, saying that “the gates of hell will not prevail against Her!”

In those difficult years for the Russian Church, the older generation of bishops who began their ministry in pre-revolutionary Russia left this world - confessors who went through Solovki and the hellish circles of the Gulag, archpastors who went into exile abroad and returned to their homeland after the war... They were replaced by a galaxy of young bishops, among whom was Bishop Alexy of Tallinn. These bishops, who did not see the Russian Church in power and glory, chose the path of serving the persecuted Church, which was under the yoke of a godless state. The authorities invented more and more new ways of economic and police pressure on the Church, but the faithfulness of the Orthodox to Christ’s commandment became an insurmountable strength for it: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).

On November 14, 1961, Bishop Alexy was appointed deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. Already at the very beginning of his episcopal service, the young bishop was faced with the decision of the local authorities to close and transfer the Pyukhtitsa Assumption Monastery to a rest home. However, he managed to convince the Soviet authorities that it was impossible for the bishop to begin his ministry by closing the monastery. At the beginning of 1962, already being the deputy chairman of the DECR, Bishop Alexy brought a delegation of the Evangelical Church of Germany to the monastery. At that time, his father was lying with a heart attack, but the bishop had to accompany foreign guests - after all, it was about saving the monastery. Soon, rave reviews about the Pukhtitsa Monastery appeared in the Neue Zeit newspaper. Then there was another delegation, a third, a fourth, a fifth... And the question of closing the monastery was dropped.

Recalling those years, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy says: “God alone knows how much each of the clergy who remained in Soviet Russia, and did not go abroad, had to endure... I had the opportunity to begin my church service at a time when there was no longer any support for the faith. “We were shot, but how much we had to endure while defending the interests of the Church will be judged by God and history.” During the 25 years of Bishop Alexy’s episcopal service in Estonia, with God’s help, he managed to defend a lot. But then the enemy was known - he was alone. And the Church had ways of internally opposing him.

Having ascended the Patriarchal throne, His Holiness was faced with a completely different situation: the Church in the modern complex world, with its social, political and national problems, found itself with many new enemies. On June 23, 1964, Bishop Alexy was elevated to the rank of archbishop and at the end of 1964 he was appointed Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate and became a permanent member of the Holy Synod.

His Holiness the Patriarch recalls: “For nine years I was close to His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I, whose personality left a deep imprint on my soul. At that time, I held the post of Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate, and His Holiness the Patriarch completely trusted me with the resolution of many internal issues. He suffered the most difficult trials: revolution, persecution, repression, then, under Khrushchev, new administrative persecution and the closure of churches. The modesty of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy, his nobility, high spirituality - all this had a huge influence on me. The last service he performed shortly before his death was in 1970 on Candlemas.

After his departure, in the Patriarchal residence in Chisty Lane, the Gospel remained, revealed in the words: “Now do You let Your servant go, O Master, in peace, according to Your word...”.”

From March 10, 1970 to September 1, 1986, he exercised general management of the Pension Committee, whose task was to provide pensions for the clergy and other persons working in church organizations, as well as their widows and orphans. On June 18, 1971, in consideration of the diligent work of holding the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1971, Metropolitan Alexy was awarded the right to wear the second panagia.

Metropolitan Alexy performed responsible functions as a member of the Commission for the preparation and conduct of the celebration of the 50th anniversary (1968) and 60th anniversary (1978) of the restoration of the Patriarchate in the Russian Orthodox Church; member of the Commission of the Holy Synod for the preparation of the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1971, as well as chairman of the procedural and organizational group, chairman of the secretariat of the Local Council; since December 23, 1980, he has been the deputy chairman of the Commission for the preparation and conduct of the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus' and the chairman of the organizational group of this commission, and since September 1986 - the theological group.

On May 25, 1983, he was appointed chairman of the Responsible Commission to develop measures for the reception of the buildings of the Danilov Monastery ensemble, the organization and implementation of all restoration and construction work to create the Spiritual and Administrative Center of the Russian Orthodox Church on its territory. He remained in this position until his appointment to the St. Petersburg (at that time Leningrad) department.

In 1984, Bishop Alexy was awarded the title of Doctor of Theology. The three-volume work “Essays on the History of Orthodoxy in Estonia” was submitted to him for the degree of master of theology, but the Academic Council of the LDA unanimously decided that since “the dissertation in terms of depth of research and volume of material significantly exceeds the traditional criteria for master’s work” and “on the eve of 1000 anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', this work can form a special chapter in the study of the history of the Russian Orthodox Church,” then the author deserves a higher academic degree than the one for which he submitted it.

“The dissertation is a comprehensive work on the history of Orthodoxy in Estonia, it contains a wealth of church historical material, the presentation and analysis of events meet the high criteria for doctoral dissertations,” was the conclusion of the Council. On April 12, 1984, the solemn act of presenting the doctoral cross to Metropolitan Alexy of Tallinn and Estonia took place.

At the Leningrad department

On June 29, 1986, Vladyka Alexy was appointed Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod with instructions to manage the Tallinn diocese. Thus began another era in his life.

The reign of the new bishop became a turning point for the church life of the northern capital. At first, he was faced with complete disregard for the Church by the city authorities; he was not even allowed to pay a visit to the chairman of the Leningrad City Council - the commissioner of the Council for Religious Affairs harshly stated: “This has never happened in Leningrad and cannot happen.” But a year later, this same chairman, when meeting with Metropolitan Alexy, said: “The doors of the Leningrad Council are open for you day and night.” Soon, representatives of the authorities themselves began to come to receive the ruling bishop - this is how the Soviet stereotype was broken. Since January 24, 1990, Bishop Alexy has been a member of the board of the Soviet Charity and Health Foundation; since February 8, 1990 - member of the presidium of the Leningrad Cultural Foundation.

From the Charity and Health Foundation in 1989 he was elected people's deputy of the USSR. During his administration of the St. Petersburg diocese, Vladyka Alexy managed to do a lot: the chapel of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg at the Smolensk cemetery and the Ioannovsky Monastery on Karpovka were restored and consecrated.

During the tenure of His Holiness the Patriarch as Metropolitan of Leningrad, the canonization of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg took place, shrines, temples and monasteries began to be returned to the Church, in particular, the holy relics of the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, the Venerable Zosima, Savvaty and Herman of Solovetsky were returned.

International activities

During all the years of his episcopal service, the future His Holiness Patriarch Alexy took an active part in the activities of many international organizations and conferences.

As part of the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church, he participated in the work of the III Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in New Delhi (1961); elected member of the Central Committee of the WCC (1961-1968); was president of the World Conference on Church and Society (Geneva, Switzerland, 1966); member of the “Faith and Order” commission of the WCC (1964-1968).

As the head of the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church, he participated in theological interviews with the delegation of the Evangelical Church in Germany “Arnoldshain-II” (Germany, 1962), in theological interviews with the delegation of the Union of Evangelical Churches in the GDR “Zagorsk-V” (Trinity-Sergius Lavra, 1984 ), in theological interviews with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland in Leningrad and the Pükhtitsa Monastery (1989).

For more than a quarter of a century, Archbishop and Metropolitan Alexy devoted his works to the activities of the Conference of European Churches (CEC). Since 1964, he has been one of the presidents (members of the presidium) of the CEC; At subsequent general assemblies he was re-elected president. Since 1971, Metropolitan Alexy has been vice-chairman of the Presidium and Advisory Committee of the CEC. On March 26, 1987, he was elected chairman of the Presidium and Advisory Committee of the CEC. At the VIII General Assembly of the CEC in Crete in 1979, Metropolitan Alexy was the main speaker on the topic “In the power of the Holy Spirit - to serve the world.” Since 1972, Metropolitan Alexy has been a member of the Joint Committee of the CEC and the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe (SECE) of the Roman Catholic Church. On May 15-21, 1989 in Basel, Switzerland, Metropolitan Alexy co-chaired the 1st European Ecumenical Assembly on the theme “Peace and Justice”, organized by CEC and SECE. In September 1992, at the X General Assembly of the CEC, the term of office of Patriarch Alexy II as chairman of the CEC expired. His Holiness spoke at the Second European Ecumenical Assembly in Graz (Austria) in 1997.

Metropolitan Alexy was the initiator and chairman of four seminars of the Churches of the Soviet Union - members of the CEC and Churches supporting cooperation with this regional Christian organization. Seminars were held at the Assumption Pyukhtitsa Convent in 1982, 1984, 1986 and 1989.

Metropolitan Alexy took an active part in the work of international and domestic peacekeeping public organizations. Since 1963 - member of the board of the Soviet Peace Foundation, participant in the founding meeting of the Rodina society, at which he was elected a member of the society’s council on December 15, 1975; re-elected on May 27, 1981 and December 10, 1987.

On October 24, 1980, at the V All-Union Conference of the Society of Soviet-Indian Friendship, he was elected vice-president of this Society.

Delegate to the World Christian Conference “Life and Peace” (April 20-24, 1983, Uppsala, Sweden). Elected at this conference one of its presidents.

It was up to the future High Hierarch in his Patriarchal service to revive church life on an all-Russian scale.

On May 3, 1990, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Pimen reposed in the Lord. An extraordinary Local Council was convened to elect a new Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. On June 7, 1990, the bell of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra announced the election of the fifteenth All-Russian Patriarch. The enthronement of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy took place on June 10, 1990 at the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow.

The return of the Church to broad public service is largely the merit of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II. Truly providential events followed one after another: the discovery of the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov, their solemn transfer to Diveevo, when, according to the prediction of the saint, Easter was sung in the middle of summer; the discovery of the relics of St. Joasaph of Belgorod and their return to Belgorod, the discovery of the relics of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon and their solemn transfer to the Great Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery, the discovery in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra of the relics of St. Philaret of Moscow and St. Maxim the Greek, the discovery of the incorruptible relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky.

These miraculous discoveries indicate that a new, amazing period has begun in the life of our Church, and testify to God’s blessing on the ministry of Patriarch Alexy II.

As a co-chairman, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy joined the Russian Organizing Committee for preparations for the meeting of the third millennium and the celebration of the two thousandth anniversary of Christianity (1998-2000). On the initiative and with the participation of His Holiness the Patriarch, an interfaith conference “Christian faith and human enmity” was held (Moscow, 1994). His Holiness the Patriarch presided over the conference of the Christian Interfaith Advisory Committee “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Christianity on the threshold of the third millennium" (1999); Interreligious Peacemaking Forum (Moscow, 2000).

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy was the chairman of the Patriarchal Synodal Biblical Commission, the editor-in-chief of the “Orthodox Encyclopedia” and the chairman of the Supervisory and Church Scientific Councils for the publication of the “Orthodox Encyclopedia”, the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Charitable Foundation for Reconciliation and Harmony, and headed the Board of Trustees of the National Military Fund.

During the years of his episcopal service in the rank of Metropolitan and Patriarch, Alexy II visited many dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church and countries of the world, and took part in many church events. Several hundred of his articles, speeches and works on theological, church-historical, peacemaking and other topics have been published in the church and secular press in Russia and abroad. His Holiness Patriarch Alexy headed the Councils of Bishops in 1992, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2008, and invariably presided over meetings of the Holy Synod.

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy paid great attention to the training of clergy for the Russian Orthodox Church, the religious education of the laity and the spiritual and moral education of the younger generation. For this purpose, with the blessing of His Holiness, theological seminaries, theological schools, and parochial schools are being opened; structures are being created for the development of religious education and catechesis. In 1995, the organization of church life made it possible to approach the reconstruction of the missionary structure.

His Holiness paid great attention to establishing new relationships in Russia between the state and the Church. At the same time, he firmly adhered to the principle of separation between the mission of the Church and the functions of the state, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs. At the same time, he believed that the soul-saving service of the Church and the service of the state to society require mutually free interaction between church, state and public institutions.

After many years of persecution and restrictions, the Church was restored to the opportunity to carry out not only catechetical, religious, educational and educational activities in society, but also to carry out charity towards the poor and the ministry of mercy in hospitals, nursing homes and places of detention.

The pastoral approach of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy relieved the tension between the institutions of the state system for the preservation of cultural monuments and the Church, which was caused by unjustified fears, narrow corporate or personal interests. His Holiness signed a number of joint documents with the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the management of individual museum complexes located on the territory of ecclesiastical, historical and spiritually significant monasteries, which resolve these problems and give the monasteries new life.

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy called for close cooperation between representatives of all areas of secular and church culture. He constantly reminded of the need to revive morality and spiritual culture, to overcome artificial barriers between secular and religious culture, secular science and religion.

A number of joint documents signed by His Holiness laid the foundation for the development of cooperation of the Church with health and social security systems, the Armed Forces, law enforcement agencies, justice authorities, cultural institutions and other government agencies. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, a coherent church system of caring for military personnel and law enforcement officers has been created.

During the political, social and economic reforms, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II constantly spoke about the priority of moral goals over all others, about the advantage of serving the good of society and the individual in political and economic activities.

Continuing the tradition of Christian peacemaking service, during the socio-political crisis in Russia in the fall of 1993, fraught with the threat of civil war, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II took upon himself the mission of pacifying political passions, inviting the parties to the conflict to negotiations and mediating on these negotiations

The Patriarch came up with many peacemaking initiatives in connection with conflicts in the Balkans, the Armenian-Azerbaijani confrontation, military operations in Moldova, events in the North Caucasus, the situation in the Middle East, the military operation against Iraq, the military conflict in South Ossetia in August 2008, and so on. Further.

During the Patriarchal ministry, a large number of new dioceses were formed. Thus, many centers of spiritual and church-administrative leadership arose, located closer to the parishes and contributing to the revitalization of church life in remote regions.

As the ruling bishop of the city of Moscow, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II paid a lot of attention to the revival and development of intra-diocesan and parish life. These works in many ways became a model for the organization of diocesan and parish life in other places. Along with the tireless internal church structure, in which he constantly called for more active and responsible participation of all members of the Church without exception on a truly conciliar basis, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church paid great attention to the issues of fraternal interaction of all Orthodox Churches for the joint witnessing of the Truth of Christ to the world.

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy considered cooperation between various Christian denominations for the sake of the needs of the modern world as a Christian duty and the path to fulfilling Christ’s commandment of unity. Peace and harmony in society, for which Patriarch Alexy tirelessly called, necessarily included benevolent mutual understanding and cooperation between adherents of different religions and worldviews.

Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne

Job(in the world John) - Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. On the initiative of Saint Job, transformations were carried out in the Russian Church, as a result of which 4 metropolises were included in the Moscow Patriarchate: Novgorod, Kazan, Rostov and Krutitsa; New dioceses were established, more than a dozen monasteries were founded.
Patriarch Job was the first to put the business of printing on a broad basis. With the blessing of Saint Job, the following were published for the first time: the Lenten Triodion, the Colored Triodion, the Octoechos, the General Menaion, the Official of the Bishop's Ministry and the Service Book.
During the Time of Troubles, Saint Job was actually the first to lead the Russians’ opposition to the Polish-Lithuanian invaders. On April 13, 1605, Patriarch Job, who refused to swear allegiance to False Dmitry I, was deposed and, having suffered many reproaches, was exiled to the Staritsa Monastery. After the overthrow of False Dmitry I, Saint Job was unable to to return to the First Hierarchal Throne, he blessed Metropolitan Hermogenes of Kazan to his place. Patriarch Job died peacefully on June 19, 1607. In 1652, under Patriarch Joseph, the incorrupt and fragrant relics of St. Job were transferred to Moscow and placed next to the tomb of Patriarch Joasaph (1634-1640). Many healings occurred from the relics of Saint Job.
His memory is celebrated by the Russian Orthodox Church on April 5/18 and June 19/July 2.

Hermogenes(in the world Ermolai) (1530-1612) - Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. The patriarchate of St. Hermogenes coincided with the difficult times of the Time of Troubles. With special inspiration, His Holiness the Patriarch opposed the traitors and enemies of the Fatherland who wanted to enslave the Russian people, introduce Uniateism and Catholicism in Russia, and eradicate Orthodoxy.
Muscovites, under the leadership of Kozma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, raised an uprising, in response to which the Poles set fire to the city and took refuge in the Kremlin. Together with Russian traitors, they forcibly removed the holy Patriarch Hermogenes from the Patriarchal Throne and took him into custody in the Chudov Monastery.” Patriarch Hermogenes blessed the Russian people for their liberation feat.
Saint Hermogenes languished in severe captivity for more than nine months. On February 17, 1612, he died a martyr from hunger and thirst. The liberation of Russia, for which Saint Hermogenes stood with such indestructible courage, was successfully completed by the Russian people through his intercession.
The body of the Holy Martyr Hermogenes was buried with due honor in the Chudov Monastery. The holiness of the Patriarchal feat, as well as his personality as a whole, was illuminated from above later - during the opening in 1652 of the shrine containing the relics of the saint. 40 years after his death, Patriarch Hermogenes lay as if alive.
With the blessing of Saint Hermogenes, the service to the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called was translated from Greek into Russian and the celebration of his memory was restored in the Assumption Cathedral. Under the supervision of the High Hierarch, new presses were made for printing liturgical books and a new printing house was built, which was damaged during the fire of 1611, when Moscow was set on fire by the Poles.
In 1913, the Russian Orthodox Church glorified Patriarch Hermogenes as a saint. His memory is celebrated on May 12/25 and February 17/March 1.

Filaret(Romanov Fedor Nikitich) (1554-1633) - Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', father of the first tsar of the Romanov dynasty. Under Tsar Theodore Ioannovich, a noble boyar, under Boris Godunov he fell into disgrace, was exiled to a monastery and tonsured a monk. In 1611, while on an embassy in Poland, he was captured. In 1619 he returned to Russia and until his death he was the de facto ruler of the country under his sick son, Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich.

Joasaph I- Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, notifying the four Ecumenical Patriarchs of the death of his father, also wrote that “Pskov Archbishop Joasaph, a prudent, truthful, reverent man and taught all virtue, was elected and installed Patriarch of the Great Russian Church as Patriarch.” Patriarch Joasaph I was elevated to the chair of the Moscow Patriarch by with the blessing of Patriarch Filaret, who himself designated a successor.
He continued the publishing works of his predecessors, doing a great job of collating and correcting liturgical books. During the relatively short reign of Patriarch Joasaph, 3 monasteries were founded and 5 previous ones were restored.

Joseph- Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. Strict adherence to church statutes and laws became a characteristic feature of the ministry of Patriarch Joseph. In 1646, before the onset of Lent, Patriarch Joseph sent out a district order to the entire clergy and all Orthodox Christians to observe the upcoming fast in purity. This district message of Patriarch Joseph, as well as the tsar’s decree of 1647 banning work on Sundays and holidays and limiting trade on these days, contributed to the strengthening of faith among the people.
Patriarch Joseph paid great attention to the cause of spiritual enlightenment. With his blessing, a theological school was founded in Moscow at the St. Andrew's Monastery in 1648. Under Patriarch Joseph, as well as under his predecessors, liturgical and church teaching books were published throughout Russia. In total, under Patriarch Joseph, over 10 years, 36 book titles were published, of which 14 had not been published previously in Rus'. During the years of Patriarchate Joseph, the relics of the holy saints of God were repeatedly discovered and miraculous icons were glorified.
The name of Patriarch Joseph will forever remain on the tablets of history due to the fact that it was this archpastor who managed to take the first steps towards the reunification of Ukraine (Little Russia) with Russia, although the reunification itself took place in 1654 after the death of Joseph under Patriarch Nikon.

Nikon(in the world Nikita Minich Minin) (1605-1681) - Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' since 1652. The Patriarchate of Nikon constituted an entire era in the history of the Russian Church. Like Patriarch Philaret, he had the title of “Great Sovereign,” which he received in the first years of his Patriarchate due to the special favor of the Tsar towards him. He took part in solving almost all national affairs. In particular, with the active assistance of Patriarch Nikon, the historical reunification of Ukraine with Russia took place in 1654. The lands of Kievan Rus, once seized by Polish-Lithuanian magnates, became part of the Moscow state. This soon led to the return of the original Orthodox dioceses of Southwestern Rus' to the bosom of the Mother - the Russian Church. Soon Belarus was reunited with Russia. The title of the Patriarch of Moscow “Great Sovereign” was supplemented by the title “Patriarch of All Great and Little and White Russia”.
But Patriarch Nikon showed himself to be especially zealous as a church reformer. In addition to streamlining the divine service, he replaced the two-fingered sign with the three-fingered one during the sign of the cross, and corrected the liturgical books according to Greek models, which is his immortal, great service to the Russian Church. However, the church reforms of Patriarch Nikon gave rise to the Old Believer schism, the consequences of which darkened the life of the Russian Church for several centuries.
The high priest encouraged church construction in every possible way; he himself was one of the best architects of his time. Under Patriarch Nikon, the richest monasteries of Orthodox Rus' were built: Resurrection Monastery near Moscow, called the “New Jerusalem”, Iversky Svyatoozersky in Valdai and Krestny Kiyostrovsky in Onega Bay. But Patriarch Nikon considered the main foundation of the earthly Church to be the height of the personal life of the clergy and monasticism. Throughout his life, Patriarch Nikon never ceased to strive for knowledge and learn something. He collected a rich library. Patriarch Nikon studied Greek, studied medicine, painted icons, mastered the skill of making tiles... Patriarch Nikon strove to create Holy Rus' - a new Israel. Preserving a living, creative Orthodoxy, he wanted to create an enlightened Orthodox culture and learned it from the Orthodox East. But some of the measures carried out by Patriarch Nikon infringed on the interests of the boyars and they slandered the Patriarch before the Tsar. By the decision of the Council, he was deprived of the Patriarchate and sent to prison: first to Ferapontov, and then, in 1676, to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. At the same time, however, the church reforms he carried out were not only not canceled, but received approval.
The deposed Patriarch Nikon remained in exile for 15 years. Before his death, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich asked Patriarch Nikon for forgiveness in his will. The new Tsar Theodore Alekseevich decided to return Patriarch Nikon to his rank and asked him to return to the Resurrection Monastery he founded. On the way to this monastery, Patriarch Nikon peacefully departed to the Lord, surrounded by manifestations of the great love of the people and his disciples. Patriarch Nikon was buried with due honors in the Resurrection Cathedral of the New Jerusalem Monastery. In September 1682, letters from all four Eastern Patriarchs were delivered to Moscow, releasing Nikon from all punishments and restoring him to the rank of Patriarch of All Rus'.

Joasaph II- Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. The Great Moscow Council of 1666-1667, which condemned and deposed Patriarch Nikon and anathematized the Old Believers as heretics, elected a new Primate of the Russian Church. Archimandrite Joasaph of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra became the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.
Patriarch Joasaph paid very significant attention to missionary activity, especially on the outskirts of the Russian state, which were just beginning to be developed: in the Far North and Eastern Siberia, especially in Transbaikalia and the Amur basin, along the border with China. In particular, with the blessing of Joasaph II, the Spassky Monastery was founded near the Chinese border in 1671.
The great merit of Patriarch Joasaph in the field of healing and intensifying the pastoral activity of the Russian clergy should be recognized as the decisive actions he took aimed at restoring the tradition of delivering a sermon during the service, which by that time had almost died out in Rus'.
During the patriarchate of Joasaph II, extensive book publishing activities continued in the Russian Church. During the short period of the primacy of Patriarch Joasaph, not only numerous liturgical books were printed, but also many publications of doctrinal content. Already in 1667, “The Tale of the Conciliar Acts” and “The Rod of Government,” written by Simeon of Polotsk to expose the Old Believer schism, were published, then the “Big Catechism” and “Small Catechism” were published.

Pitirim- Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. Patriarch Pitirim accepted the rank of First Hierarch at a very old age and ruled the Russian Church for only about 10 months, until his death in 1673. He was a close associate of Patriarch Nikon and after his deposition became one of the contenders for the Throne, but he was elected only after the death of Patriarch Joasaph II.
On July 7, 1672, in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, Metropolitan Pitirim of Novgorod was elevated to the Patriarchal Throne; already very ill, Metropolitan Joachim was called to administrative affairs.
After a ten-month, unremarkable patriarchate, he died on April 19, 1673.

Joachim(Savelov-First Ivan Petrovich) - Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. Due to the illness of Patriarch Pitirim, Metropolitan Joachim was involved in the affairs of the Patriarchal administration, and on July 26, 1674 he was elevated to the Primate See.
His efforts were aimed at fighting against foreign influence on Russian society.
The High Hierarch was distinguished by his zeal for the strict fulfillment of church canons. He revised the rites of the liturgy of the saints and eliminated some inconsistencies in liturgical practice. In addition, Patriarch Joachim corrected and published the Typicon, which is still used in the Russian Orthodox Church almost unchanged.
In 1678, Patriarch Joachim expanded the number of almshouses in Moscow, supported by church funds.
With the blessing of Patriarch Joachim, a theological school was founded in Moscow, which laid the foundation for the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, which in 1814 was transformed into the Moscow Theological Academy.
In the field of public administration, Patriarch Joachim also showed himself to be an energetic and consistent politician, actively supporting Peter I after the death of Tsar Theodore Alekseevich.

Adrian(in the world? Andrey) (1627-1700) - Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' since 1690. On August 24, 1690, Metropolitan Adrian was elevated to the All-Russian Patriarchal Throne. In his speech during the enthronement, Patriarch Adrian called on the Orthodox to keep the canons intact, maintain peace, and protect the Church from heresies. In the “District Message” and “Admonition” to the flock, consisting of 24 points, Patriarch Adrian gave spiritually useful instructions to each of the classes. He did not like barbering, smoking, the abolition of Russian national clothing and other similar everyday innovations of Peter I. Patriarch Adrian understood and understood the useful and truly important initiatives of the Tsar, aimed at the good dispensation of the Fatherland (building a fleet, military and socio-economic transformations). supported.

(Yavorsky Simeon Ivanovich) - Metropolitan of Ryazan and Murom, patriarchal locum tenens of the Moscow throne.
He studied at the famous Kiev-Mohyla College, the center of southern Russian education at that time.
In which he studied until 1684. To enter the Jesuit school, Yavorsky, like his other contemporaries, converted to Catholicism. In southwest Russia this was commonplace.
Stefan studied philosophy in Lviv and Lublin, and then theology in Vilna and Poznan. In Polish schools he became thoroughly acquainted with Catholic theology and acquired a hostile attitude towards Protestantism.
In 1689, Stefan returned to Kyiv, repented of his renunciation of the Orthodox Church and was accepted back into its fold.
In the same year he became a monk and underwent monastic obedience at the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.
At the Kyiv College he worked his way up from a teacher to a professor of theology.
Stefan became a famous preacher and in 1697 was appointed abbot of the St. Nicholas Desert Monastery, which was then located outside of Kyiv.
After a sermon delivered on the occasion of the death of the royal governor A.S. Shein, which was noted by Peter I, he was ordained a bishop and appointed Metropolitan of Ryazan and Murom.
On December 16, 1701, after the death of Patriarch Adrian, by order of the Tsar, Stefan was appointed locum tenens of the patriarchal throne.
Stephen's church and administrative activities were insignificant; the power of the locum tenens, compared with the patriarch, was limited by Peter I. In spiritual matters, in most cases, Stephen had to confer with the council of bishops.
Peter I kept him with him until his death, carrying out under his sometimes forced blessing all the reforms that were unpleasant for Stephen. Metropolitan Stephen did not have the strength to openly break with the tsar, and at the same time he could not come to terms with what was happening.
In 1718, during the trial of Tsarevich Alexei, Tsar Peter I ordered Metropolitan Stephen to come to St. Petersburg and did not allow him to leave until his death, thereby depriving him of even that insignificant power that he partially enjoyed.
In 1721 the Synod was opened. The Tsar appointed Metropolitan Stefan as President of the Synod, who was least sympathetic to this institution than anyone else. Stefan refused to sign the protocols of the Synod, did not attend its meetings and had no influence on synodal affairs. The tsar, obviously, kept him only in order, using his name, to give a certain sanction to the new institution. During his entire stay in the Synod, Metropolitan Stephen was under investigation for political matters as a result of constant slander against him.
Metropolitan Stefan died on November 27, 1722 in Moscow, on Lubyanka, in the Ryazan courtyard. On the same day, his body was taken to the Trinity Church at the Ryazan courtyard, where it stood until December 19, that is, until the arrival of Emperor Peter I and members of the Holy Synod in Moscow. On December 20, the funeral service for Metropolitan Stephen took place in the Church of the Assumption of the Most Pure Mother of God, called Grebnevskaya.

Tikhon(Belavin Vasily Ivanovich) - Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. In 1917, the All-Russian Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church restored the Patriarchate. The most important event in the history of the Russian Church took place: after two centuries of forced headlessness, it again found its Primate and High Hierarch.
Metropolitan Tikhon of Moscow and Kolomna (1865-1925) was elected to the Patriarchal Throne.
Patriarch Tikhon was a true defender of Orthodoxy. Despite all his gentleness, goodwill and good nature, he became unshakably firm and unyielding in church affairs, where necessary, and above all in protecting the Church from her enemies. The true Orthodoxy and strength of character of Patriarch Tikhon came to light especially clearly during the time of the “renovationism” schism. He stood as an insurmountable obstacle in the way of the Bolsheviks before their plans to decompose the Church from within.
His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon took the most important steps towards normalizing relations with the state. The messages of Patriarch Tikhon proclaim: “The Russian Orthodox Church ... must and will be the One Catholic Apostolic Church, and any attempts, no matter from whose side they come, to plunge the Church into a political struggle must be rejected and condemned” (from the Appeal dated July 1, 1923 G.)
Patriarch Tikhon aroused the hatred of representatives of the new government, who constantly persecuted him. He was either imprisoned or kept under “house arrest” in the Moscow Donskoy Monastery. The life of His Holiness was always under threat: an attempt was made on his life three times, but he fearlessly went to perform divine services in various churches in Moscow and beyond. The entire Patriarchate of His Holiness Tikhon was a continuous feat of martyrdom. When the authorities made him an offer to go abroad for permanent residence, Patriarch Tikhon said: “I will not go anywhere, I will suffer here along with all the people and fulfill my duty to the limit set by God.” All these years he actually lived in prison and died in struggle and sorrow. His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon died on March 25, 1925, on the feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, and was buried in the Moscow Donskoy Monastery.

Peter(Polyansky, in the world Pyotr Fedorovich Polyansky) - bishop, Metropolitan of Krutitsky, patriarchal locum tenens from 1925 until the false report of his death (late 1936).
According to the will of Patriarch Tikhon, Metropolitans Kirill, Agafangel or Peter were to become locum tenens. Since Metropolitans Kirill and Agathangel were in exile, Metropolitan Peter of Krutitsky became the locum tenens. As a locum tenens he provided great assistance to prisoners and exiles, especially clergy. Vladyka Peter resolutely opposed renewal. He refused to make a call for loyalty to the Soviet regime. Endless prisons and concentration camps began. During interrogation in December 1925, he stated that the Church could not approve of the revolution: “The social revolution is built on blood and fratricide, which the Church cannot admit.”
He refused to relinquish the title of patriarchal locum tenens, despite threats to extend his prison sentence. In 1931, he rejected the offer of the security officer Tuchkov to sign an agreement to cooperate with the authorities as an informant.
At the end of 1936, the Patriarchate received false information about the death of Patriarchal Locum Tenens Peter, as a result of which on December 27, 1936, Metropolitan Sergius assumed the title of Patriarchal Locum Tenens. In 1937, a new criminal case was opened against Metropolitan Peter. On October 2, 1937, the NKVD troika in the Chelyabinsk region sentenced him to death. On October 10 at 4 o'clock in the afternoon he was shot. The burial place remains unknown. Glorified as New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia by the Council of Bishops in 1997.

Sergius(in the world Ivan Nikolaevich Stragorodsky) (1867-1944) - Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. Famous theologian and spiritual writer. Bishop since 1901. After the death of the holy Patriarch Tikhon, he became the patriarchal locum tenens, that is, the actual primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1927, during a difficult time both for the Church and for the entire people, he addressed the clergy and laity with a message in which he called on the Orthodox to be loyal to the Soviet regime. This message caused mixed assessments both in Russia and among the emigrants. In 1943, at the turning point of the Great Patriotic War, the government decided to restore the patriarchate, and at the Local Council Sergius was elected Patriarch. He took an active patriotic position, called on all Orthodox Christians to tirelessly pray for victory, and organized a fundraiser to help the army.

Alexy I(Simansky Sergei Vladimirovich) (1877-1970) - Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. Born in Moscow, graduated from the Faculty of Law of Moscow University and the Moscow Theological Academy. Bishop since 1913, during the Great Patriotic War he served in Leningrad, and in 1945 he was elected Patriarch at the Local Council.

Pimen(Izvekov Sergey Mikhailovich) (1910-1990) - Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' since 1971. Participant of the Great Patriotic War. He was persecuted for professing the Orthodox faith. He was imprisoned twice (before the war and after the war). Bishop since 1957. He was buried in the crypt (underground chapel) of the Assumption Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius.

Alexy II(Ridiger Alexey Mikhailovich) (1929-2008) - Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. Graduated from the Leningrad Theological Academy. Bishop since 1961, since 1986 - Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod, in 1990 elected Patriarch at the Local Council. Honorary member of many foreign theological academies.

Kirill(Gundyaev Vladimir Mikhailovich) (born 1946) - Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. Graduated from the Leningrad Theological Academy. In 1974 he was appointed rector of the Leningrad Theological Academy and Seminary. Bishop since 1976. In 1991 he was elevated to the rank of metropolitan. In January 2009, he was elected Patriarch at the Local Council.