Protodeacon Herman Ivanov-Treenadzaty
This Sunday, we commemorate another anniversary of the
uncovering of the incorrupt relics of our holy Metropolitan PHILARET, which
took place on November 10, 1998, and present to our readers a translation of an
article we wrote at that time for the French-language journal La Voie
Orthodoxe, No. 23, on the occasion of this event…
* * *
The Uncovering of the Incorrupt
Relics of His
Eminence Metropolitan PHILARET
Metropolitan Philaret (George
Nikolaevich Voznesensky), the third First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox
Church Outside of Russia, was born on March 22, 1903, in the city of Kursk, in
Central Russia. This is the very city that was illumined by the Hodigitria
of the Russian Emigration—the wonderworking Kursk Icon of the Mother of God,
the 700th anniversary of whose appearance we commemorated in 1995. It was also
in this city that Father Lev Lebedev, another pillar of Orthodoxy, carried out
his ministry until his recent and sudden departure to the Lord.
In 1920, the future Metropolitan
emigrated with his parents to Harbin, another major center of the Russian
Emigration in China, alongside Shanghai. There, he enrolled in the
Russian-Chinese Polytechnic Institute, from which he graduated in 1927 with a
degree in electromechanical engineering. In 1931, he completed his theological
studies, and in the same year was tonsured a monk with the name Philaret and
ordained to the priesthood as a Hieromonk. In 1934, he was elevated to the rank
of Hegumen, and in 1937, to that of Archimandrite.
Despite his youth, he quickly
became known as an exceptionally zealous and loving pastor, and a fearless
defender of the purity of Orthodoxy. It was during this period that he
published his Outline of the Law of God, a textbook of religious
instruction for students in the upper grades of secondary school, which was
republished in 1971.
The Communist takeover of China
found him still there in 1950, but he refused to emigrate again so long as some
of his spiritual children remained in Harbin. It was only in 1962, after
numerous petitions from the Synod, that Father Philaret was able to depart for
Hong Kong, whence he proceeded to hospitable Australia, where he was reunited
with a considerable portion of his former flock.
In 1963, he was consecrated
Bishop of Brisbane. A year later, like all the Hierarchs, he received an
invitation to come to New York to participate in the Council of Bishops of our
Church, which was to elect a successor to the elderly Metropolitan Anastasy,
who had reached the age of 91.
Our Church, which until then had
been governed by two outstanding Hierarchs whose authority and reputation were
undisputed far beyond the confines of the Russian Church Abroad—Their
Beatitudes Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) and Metropolitan Anastasy
(Gribanovsky), both of whom had been proposed as candidates for the Patriarchal
Throne of Russia at the All-Russian Local Council of 1917—was undoubtedly
standing at a momentous crossroads in her history. And the unanimous choice of
our Hierarchs, who displayed remarkable spiritual discernment, fell upon the
Vicar Bishop Philaret of Brisbane, the most recently consecrated Bishop among
all the participants in the Council.
Immediately after his election,
which took place on May 14/27, 1964, on the Feast of Mid-Pentecost, the new
First Hierarch demonstrated how well-founded the confidence of his brother
Hierarchs had been, and how worthy a successor he was to the two preceding
First Hierarchs.
The first act of the new First
Hierarch was his decision to solemnly glorify, on October 19/November 1, 1964,
the Holy Righteous Wonderworker John of Kronstadt, venerated throughout all of
Russia.
This first glorification among
the Saints was subsequently followed by the glorification, in 1970, of
Venerable Herman of Alaska, the Wonderworker and Russian missionary to the
Aleutian Islands, and, in 1978, of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg, the Fool-for-Christ,
who had already been venerated in Russia itself for more than two centuries.
However, the crowning
achievement, which will forever remain in history and undoubtedly define the
entire period of Metropolitan Philaret’s primatial ministry, was the solemn
glorification, in 1981, of the multitude of Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia
and the Russian Imperial Family, who were murdered in 1918.
Alongside this prophetic act, the
consequences of which are felt to this day, the name of Metropolitan Philaret
has been inscribed in golden letters in the history of the Church, owing to his
resolute actions in defense of Orthodoxy against the numerous assaults aimed at
undermining the foundations of our Holy Faith, and especially against the
pan-heresy of Ecumenism, which represents the culmination of all the heresies
that have shaken the Church throughout the past twenty centuries.
The Anathema against Ecumenism,
solemnly proclaimed in 1983, was preceded by a whole series of acts and
documents of immense spiritual and theological significance, imbued with truly
Patristic boldness.
Although the most humble of
Hierarchs, he did not hesitate, in his two “Sorrowful Epistles” (1969 and
1972), to address all the Patriarchs, Metropolitans, Archbishops, and Bishops
of the Orthodox world, warning them against the pernicious deviations that were
becoming increasingly entrenched in certain Local Churches and which could
ultimately undermine the doctrinal integrity of Orthodoxy as a whole.
Thanks to these Epistles, the
name of Metropolitan Philaret became, for all conscientious members of the
Orthodox Church, and especially on the Holy Mountain of Athos, a symbol of the
contemporary confession of Orthodoxy.
To those who condemned him for
“excessive rigorism,” or even for what they called his “fanaticism,” he
replied: “I have sufficient grounds for maintaining my position, for I rely
upon the authority of the most eminent teachers of the Church… Such, for
example, is St. Gregory the Theologian—meekness itself personified, filled with
Christian love for all, especially for those who have gone astray. And yet he
tells us quite plainly that not every form of peace is to be valued, and that
not every division is to be feared…
“What, then, are we to think of
the fact that many ‘Orthodox’ indiscriminately attend all manner of churches?
Only one thing: these people have ceased to cherish the Truth. That is why they
do not trouble themselves with further questions. ‘Why worry? Everyone serves
in the same way; it is all one and the same. And God is the same everywhere!’
they invariably add.”
“But if people loved the Truth
and held it dear, could they possibly be content with such indifference?! No,
and a thousand times no! Their souls would suffer and could find no peace until
they had discovered where the genuine Truth was to be found—a Truth that can
only be one, for there cannot be two truths.” (Letter of December 9/12, 1979,
to Abbess Magdalena, Abbess of Lesna Convent.)
In justifying his uncompromising
stance and refusal to make any concessions to the Moscow Patriarchate and the
“official” Churches, which had profoundly compromised themselves through
Ecumenism and Modernism, Metropolitan Philaret could have appealed to the
position and words of St. Mark of Ephesus, spoken shortly before his death
concerning his own Patriarch of Constantinople, and published in this same
issue of our journal, La Voie Orthodoxe [The Orthodox Way].
Our present First Hierarch,
Metropolitan Vitaly, a worthy successor to Metropolitan Philaret in confessing
the unity and uniqueness of the Church, says the following concerning the
Anathema of 1983: “By proclaiming the Anathema against Ecumenism, the Russian
Church Abroad protected her flock from this apocalyptic temptation, but in so
doing, she placed upon the conscience of all the Local Churches a most serious
question, which sooner or later they will have to resolve in one way or
another. Their future spiritual destiny within the Universal Orthodox Church
will depend upon their answer to this question.”
Thus, the acts of the
ever-memorable Metropolitan Philaret stand as veritable cornerstones for every
Orthodox conscience that faithfully adheres to Holy Tradition, while at the
same time constituting a stumbling block for many Orthodox Christians, and above
all for the hierarchy of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Are not the condemnation of
Ecumenism and the glorification of the Holy New Martyrs of Russia precisely the
principal points of contention troubling the Moscow Patriarchate, and the
persistent demands of that healthy portion of its members which seeks the
revival of the Church?
And it is no coincidence that two
important decisions adopted at our most recent Council of Bishops, held in May
of last year, were the reaffirmation of the Anathema of 1983 and the
reiteration of our traditional position, which prohibits relations of any kind,
at any level, with the Moscow Patriarchate so long as its hierarchy persists in
its former positions and refuses to repent of its many years of service to the
God-fighting regime.
After twenty-one years of service
at the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Metropolitan
Philaret departed to the Lord on November 8/21, 1985, the day on which the
Church celebrates the Holy Archangel Michael, the Chief Commander of the
Heavenly Hosts.
For practical reasons, which
nevertheless proved to be providential, the body of the reposed First Hierarch
was never committed to its final burial, but rested in a chapel in the cemetery
of Jordanville Monastery.
On November 3/16 of last year, on
the eve of the thirteenth anniversary of his repose, his remains were to be
transferred to a new burial place.
The opening of the coffin by
Archbishop Laurus, in the presence of several priests, revealed this
extraordinary sign of Divine favor toward His faithful servant: the entire
body, the vestments, the mitre, the green prayer rope, and even the Prayer of
Absolution—a simple sheet of paper, folded and placed in his hand—all remained
completely incorrupt.
Only the metal clasps of the
Gospel Book had crumbled to dust, proving, if any proof were needed, that the
extraordinary phenomenon of the body’s incorruption could not be attributed to
special atmospheric conditions or any other natural causes.
This new sign, manifested by God
to our Church, especially in such troubled times and after all the trials that
have befallen us of late, is yet another testimony to Divine mercy toward us
sinners. It is an extraordinary Grace, wholly undeserved by us, but at the same
time, and above all, a clear indication to each of us, a guide for our conduct
amid the troubled times through which the Church and the world are passing.
This twenty-third issue of The
Orthodox Way had been intended, long before we learned the extraordinary
news of the uncovering of Metropolitan Philaret’s incorrupt body, to be
dedicated to St. Mark of Ephesus.
That these two pillars of
Orthodoxy should be brought together in the same issue is certainly no
coincidence, but an act of Divine Providence.
Here we see further confirmation
of what we wrote concerning the great Russian theologian A. S. Khomiakov
(1804–1860): “The Fathers and Teachers of the Church belong not so much to a
particular age as to a particular spirit, and it is entirely possible to belong
to their world even today, provided one possesses their spirit, their boldness,
and their love of the Truth.”
Most Blessed Metropolitan
Philaret, pray to God for us and for Thy Church, that He may preserve her
forever upon the straight path which Thou didst mark out, in obedience to Thy
two glorious predecessors!
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