One of the main directions in Christianity is Orthodoxy. It is professed by millions of people around the world: in Russia, Greece, Armenia, Georgia and other countries. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is considered the custodian of the main shrines in Palestine. Orthodox churches exist even in Alaska and in Japan. In the homes of Orthodox believers, icons hang, which are picturesque images of Jesus Christ and all the saints. In the XI century, the Christian church split into Orthodox and Catholic. Today, most Orthodox people live in Russia, as one of the oldest churches is the Russian Orthodox Church, led by the patriarch.
Priest - who is it?
There are three degrees of priesthood: deacon, priest, and bishop. Then the priest - who is it? This is the name of the lower-ranking priest of the second degree of the Orthodox priesthood, who, with the blessing of the bishop, is allowed to independently conduct six church ordinances, except for the ordinance of the ordination.
Many are interested in the origin of the title of priest. Who is this and how does he differ from the hieromonk? It is worth noting that the word itself from Greek is translated as "priest", in the Russian Church it is a priest, who is called a hieromonk in the monastic rank. In an official or solemn speech, priests are usually referred to as "Your Rev.". Priests and hieromonks have the right to lead church life in urban and rural parishes and they are called rectors.
Feats of the priests
Priests and hieromonk in the era of great upheaval for the sake of faith sacrificed themselves and all that they had. That is how genuine Christians held onto the saving faith in Christ. The church never forgets and honors their true ascetic feat with all honors. Not everyone knows how many priests-priests died during the years of terrible trials. Their feat was so great that it is impossible to even imagine.
Holy Martyr Sergius
Priest Sergius Mechev was born on September 17, 1892 in Moscow in the family of priest Alexei Mechev. After graduating from high school with a silver medal, he went to study at Moscow University at the medical faculty, but then transferred to the historical and philological faculty and graduated from it in 1917. During his student years, he attended the theological circle named after John Chrysostom. During the war of 1914, Mechev worked on a medical train as a brother of mercy. In 1917, he often visited Patriarch Tikhon, who paid special attention to him. In 1918, he was blessed to receive the priesthood from the Optina Elders. After that, being already the father of Sergius, he never abandoned his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the most difficult times, having gone through camps and exile, even did not refuse her under torture, for which he was shot on December 24, 1941 in the walls of the Yaroslavl NKVD. Sergius Mechev was counted among the saints of the New Martyrs in 2000 by the ROC Council of Bishops .
Confessor Alex
Priest Alexei Usenko was born in the family of the psalmist Dmitry Usenko on March 15, 1873. After receiving a seminary education, he was ordained a priest and began to serve in one of the villages of Zaporozhye. So he would have worked in his humble prayers, if not for the 1917 revolution. In the 1920-1930s, he was not particularly affected by the persecution by the Soviet government. But in 1936, in the village of Timoshovka in the Mikhailovsky District, where he lived with his family, local authorities closed the church. He was already 64 years old. Then Priest Alexei went to work on a collective farm, but as a priest he continued his sermons, and everywhere there were people who were ready to listen to him. The authorities did not come to terms with this and sent him to distant exiles and prisons. Priest Alexei Usenko meekly endured all hardships and bullying and until the end of his days was faithful to Christ and the Holy Church. He probably died in BAMLAG (Baikal-Amur camp) - the day and place of his death are not known for certain, most likely he was buried in a mass grave in the camp. The Zaporozhye diocese appealed to the Holy Synod of the UOC in order to consider the issue of reckoning Priest Alexei Usenko as a locally revered saint.
Holy Martyr Andrew
Priest Andrei Benediktov was born on October 29, 1885 in the village of Voronino in the Nizhny Novgorod province in the family of priest Nikolai Benediktov.
He was arrested along with other clergymen of the Orthodox churches and laity on August 6, 1937 and was accused of anti-Soviet talk and participation in counter-revolutionary church conspiracies. Priest Andrei did not admit his guilt and did not give evidence against other evidence. It was a real priestly feat; he died for his unwavering faith in Christ. The ROC Council of Bishops was reckoned 2000 year.
Vasily Gundyaev
He was the grandfather of the Russian patriarch Kirill and also became one of the most striking examples of the true ministry of the Orthodox Church. Vasily was born on January 18, 1907 in Astrakhan. A little later, his family moved to the Nizhny Novgorod province, in the city of Lukyanov. Vasily worked in a railway depot as a mechanical engineer. He was a very religious man; in fear of God he raised his children as well. The family lived very modestly. Once, Patriarch Kirill said that, as a child, he asked his grandfather where he had done the money and why he had not saved anything either before or after the revolution. He replied that he sent all the funds to Athos. And so, when the patriarch appeared on Mount Athos, he decided to check this fact, and, which, in principle, is not surprising, it turned out to be true. In the monastery of Simonometr there are old archival records of the beginning of the twentieth century for the eternal commemoration of Priest Vasily Gundyaev.
During the years of revolution and cruel trials, the priest defended and maintained his faith to the end. He spent about 30 years in persecution and imprisonment, during which time he spent time in 46 prisons and 7 camps. But these years did not break the faith of Vasily, he died eighty years old on October 31, 1969 in the village of Obrochny, Mordovia Region. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, being a student at the Leningrad Academy, participated in the funeral of his grandfather along with his father and relatives, who also became priests.
"Priest-san"
A very interesting feature film was shot by Russian filmmakers in 2014. Its name is "Priest-san." The audience immediately had a lot of questions. Priest - who is it? Who will be discussed in the picture? The idea of the film was suggested by Ivan Okhlobystin, who once saw a real Japanese among the priests in the church. This fact plunged him into deep reflection and study.
It turns out that in 1861, during the time of persecution of strangers from the islands, at the risk of his own life, hieromonk Nikolai Kasatkin (Japanese) came with the mission of the spread of Orthodoxy. He spent several years studying Japanese, culture, and philosophy, in order to translate the Bible into this language. And now, a few years later, or rather, in 1868, the priest was trapped by the samurai Takuma Sawabe, who wanted to kill him because he was preaching foreign things to the Japanese. But the priest did not flinch and said: “How can you kill me if you do not know why?” He offered to tell about the life of Christ. And imbued with the priest's story, Takuma, being a Japanese samurai, became an Orthodox priest - Father Paul. He went through many trials, lost his family, his estate and became the right hand of Father Nicholas.
In 1906, the Holy Synod of Nicholas of Japan elevated him to the rank of archbishop. In the same year, the founding of Kyoto Vicarism by the Orthodox Church in Japan took place. He died on February 16, 1912. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas of Japan is ranked among the saints.
In conclusion, I would like to note that all the people discussed in the article kept faith as a spark from a large fire and carried it around the world so that people would know that there is no greater truth than Christian Orthodoxy.