The figure of Patriarch Tikhon (Bellavin) is largely iconic, key in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th century. In this sense, its role is difficult to overestimate. That person was Tikhon, the patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, and what his life was marked by, will be discussed in this article.
Birth and education
Tikhon, the future head of Russian Orthodoxy was named during the monastic tonsure. In the world, his name was Vasily. He was born on January 19, 1865 in one of the villages of the Pskov province. Belonging to the clergy, Vasily quite naturally began his church career with admission to the theological school, and after graduation he continued his studies at the seminary. Finally, after completing a seminar course, Vasily leaves for St. Petersburg to complete his education at the Theological Academy.
Return to Pskov
Vasily graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy with a degree of candidate of theology in the status of a layman. Then, as a teacher, he returned to Pskov, where he became a teacher of a number of theological disciplines and the French language. He does not accept the holy dignity, since he remains celibate. And the unsettled personal life according to the canons of the church prevents a person from becoming a clergyman.
Monastic tonsure and ordination
Soon, however, Vasily decided to choose a different path - monasticism. The tonsure was committed in 1891, on December 14, in the seminar church of Pskov. It was then that Vasily was called a new name - Tikhon. Passing the tradition, already on the second day after the tonsure, the newly-made monk is ordained to the rank of hierodeacon. But in this capacity, he did not have to serve long. Already at the next episcopal service, he was ordained a hieromonk.
Church career
From Pskov, Tikhon was transferred in 1892 to the Kholm seminary, where he served as inspector for several months. Then, as rector, he was sent to the Kazan seminary, at the same time receiving the rank of archimandrite. Tikhon Bellavin remained in this position for the next five years, until by the decision of the Holy Synod he was elected to be assigned to the episcopal ministry.
Bishop's ministry
The episcopal consecration of Father Tikhon took place in St. Petersburg, in the monastery of Alexander Nevsky. The first department of the ruler was the Kholm-Warsaw diocese, where Tikhon served as vicar bishop. The next major appointment was only in 1905, when Tikhon was sent to the rank of archbishop to manage the diocese of North America. Two years later he returned to Russia, where the Yaroslavl department was placed at the disposal. This is followed by an appointment to Lithuania, and finally in 1917, Tikhon was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan and appointed manager of the Moscow diocese.
Election by the patriarch
It should be recalled that from the time of the reform of Peter the Great to 1917, the Russian Orthodox Church did not have a patriarch. The formal head of the church institute at that time was the monarch, who delegated supreme authority to the chief prosecutor and the holy Synod. In 1917, the Local Council was held, one of the solutions of which was the restoration of the patriarchate. According to the results of the vote and the drawing of lots for this ministry , Metropolitan Tikhon was elected. The intronization took place on December 4, 1917. Since that time, his official title has become such - His Holiness Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
Patriarchal ministry
It is no secret that Tikhon received the patriarchate in a difficult time for the church and state. The revolution and the resulting civil war split the country in half. The process of persecution of religion, including the Orthodox Church, has already begun. The clergy and active laity were accused of counter-revolutionary activity and subjected to brutal persecution, executions and torture. In an instant, the church, which has served as a state ideology for centuries, has lost almost all of its authority.
Therefore, St. Tikhon, the Patriarch of Moscow, bore enormous responsibility for the fate of the faithful and the church institution itself. He tried with all his might to ensure peace, calling on the Soviet government to stop repressions and a policy of open opposition to religion. However, his exhortations were not taken into account, and Saint Tikhon, the patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, often could only silently watch the cruelty that manifested itself in all of Russia towards believers, and especially the clergy. Closed monasteries, temples and educational institutions of the church. Many priests and bishops were executed, imprisoned, sent to camps or exiled to the outskirts of the country.
Patriarch Tikhon and Soviet power
Initially, Tikhon, the patriarch of Moscow, was extremely decisive against the Bolshevik authorities. So, at the dawn of his ministry as a patriarch, he made harsh public criticism of the Soviet government and even excommunicated his representatives from the church. Among other things, Tikhon Belavin, the patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, said that the Bolshevik managers are doing "Satanic affairs", for which they and their offspring will fall a curse in earthly life, and in the afterlife - waiting for "hellish fire." However, this kind of church rhetoric made no impression on the civilian authorities, most of whose representatives had long and irrevocably broken with all religiosity and tried to impose the same godless ideology on the state they created. Therefore, it is not surprising that the authorities did not react to the call of Patriarch Tikhon to mark the first anniversary of the October Revolution with a cessation of violence and the release of prisoners.
St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow, and the Renovationist Movement
One of the initiatives of the new government against religion was to initiate the so-called renovationist split. This was done in order to undermine church unity and divide the believers into warring factions. This subsequently made it possible to minimize the authority of the clergy among the people, and, consequently, to minimize the influence of religious (often politically painted in anti-Soviet tones) sermons.
The Renovationists raised to the banner the ideas of the reformation of the Russian church, which had long been in the air of Russian Orthodoxy. However, together with purely religious, ritual, and doctrinal reforms, the Renovationists welcomed the political changes in every way. They categorically identified their religious consciousness with the monarchist idea, emphasizing their loyalty to the Soviet regime, and even recognized terror as legitimate to some extent against other, non-renewed, branches of Russian Orthodoxy. Many representatives of the clergy and a number of bishops who refused to recognize the authority of Patriarch Tikhon joined the renovationist movement.
In contrast to the patriarchal church and other schisms, the Renovationists enjoyed the support of the official authorities and various privileges. Many churches and other church real estate and movable property were placed at their disposal. In addition, the repressive machine of the Bolsheviks most often bypassed the supporters of this movement, therefore it quickly became mass among the people and the only legal one from the point of view of secular legislation.
Tikhon, the patriarch of Moscow, in turn, refused to recognize his legitimacy on the part of church canons. The intra-church conflict reached its climax when the Renovationists at their council deprived Tikhon of the patriarchate. Of course, he did not accept this decision and did not recognize his strength. However, since that time he had to fight not only with the predatory behavior of godless authorities, but also with schismatics, co-religionists. The latter circumstance greatly aggravated his situation, since the formal accusations against him were related not to religion but to politics: St. Tikhon, the Patriarch of Moscow, suddenly turned out to be a symbol of counter-revolution and tsarism.
Arrest, imprisonment and release
Against the background of these events, another incident occurred that stirred up the public not only in Russia but also abroad. We are talking about the arrest and imprisonment suffered by St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow. The reason for this was his harsh criticism of the Soviet regime, the rejection of Renovationism and the position he took in relation to the process of seizing church values. Initially, Tikhon, the Patriarch of Moscow, was summoned to court as a witness. But then he very quickly found himself in the dock. In the world, this event caused a resonance.
Representatives of the Catholic Church, the heads of many Orthodox local churches, the Archbishop of Canterbury and others made harsh criticisms of the Soviet regime in connection with the arrest of the patriarch. This show trial was supposed to weaken the position of the Orthodox Church in front of the Renovationists and break all the resistance of believers to the new government. Tikhon could be released only by writing a letter in which he had to publicly repent for his anti-Soviet activities and support of the counter-revolutionary forces, as well as express his loyalty to the Soviet regime. And he took this step.
As a result, the Bolsheviks solved two problems - they neutralized the threat of counter-revolutionary actions on the part of the Tikhonovites and prevented the further development of renovationism, since even a completely loyal religious structure was undesirable in a state whose ideology was based on atheism. By balancing the forces of Patriarch Tikhon and the Higher Church Administration of the Renovationist movement, the Bolsheviks could expect that the forces of believers would be directed at fighting each other, and not against the Soviet government, which, using this state of affairs, would be able to minimize the religious factor in the country, to the minimum the complete destruction of religious institutions.
Death and canonization
The last years of the life of Patriarch Tikhon were aimed at maintaining the legal status of the Russian Orthodox Church. To this end, he made a number of compromises with the authorities in the field of political decisions and even church reforms. His health after imprisonment was undermined, contemporaries claim that he is very old. According to the life of Tikhon, the patriarch of Moscow, he died on the day of the Annunciation, April 7, 1925, at 23.45. This was preceded by a period of prolonged illness. The burial of St. Tikhon, the patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, was attended by more than fifty bishops and more than five hundred priests. There were so many laymen that even in order to say goodbye to him, many had to stand in line for nine hours. Like St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, he was glorified in 1989 at the Council of the Russian Orthodox Church MP.