Foundation of the Valdai Iversky Monastery

The foundation of the Valdai Iversky Monastery is associated with a miraculous appearance to Patriarch Nikon. In 1652, he ordered the relics of Ivan the Terrible, killed by order of Ivan the Terrible and buried in, to be transferred to the Kremlin Assumption Cathedral. Metropolitan Nikon, accompanied by a large retinue, was ordered to go for the remains of the saint. According to legend, during this “there and back” journey, Metropolitan Philip appeared to Nikon in a dream vision and blessed his intention to build a monastery on Lake Valdai.

In the summer of 1653, work began in Valdai, and in the fall two new churches, smelling of fresh wood, already stood here. One of them, a warm one, was consecrated in the name of St. Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow, the other - in honor of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God.

Valdai Lake has long enjoyed a bad reputation among the surrounding residents. They said that from time to time unclean spirits rise above the surface of the lake, taking the form of disgusting monsters, and in the surrounding forests one can hear either whistling or laughter.

The Patriarch took on the Valdai evil spirits with his characteristic energy. On one of his visits to the monastery under construction, he went ashore with all the clergy, served a prayer service, immersed the cross and the Gospel to the bottom of the lake and renamed the lake. Now it was to be called Holy. The name didn’t stick, but the lake’s notoriety faded. Moreover, now phenomena of a completely different kind have begun to be observed here.

There is no one like him in the world

The monastery was being developed rapidly. In 1654, the Patriarch ordered the relics of the righteous Jacob of Borovichi to be transferred here from the relatively nearby village of Borovichi, and at the same time he transported silver reliquaries with particles of the relics of the Moscow saints Peter, Alexy, Jonah and Philip to Valdai. And in 1656, the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God was solemnly welcomed at the monastery.

By this time, a magnificent stone cathedral dedicated to the Iveron image of the Blessed Virgin Mary was already being completed on the island. Construction proceeded at a truly “Nikon” pace. The foundation stone for the cathedral church was laid in May 1655, and it was consecrated in December 1656. The building amazed the imagination of contemporaries: in a hitherto remote area, in the middle of a lake, a five-domed temple rose, which would be fitting to see in a capital city.

Especially for the consecration of the Iveron Cathedral, master Alexander Grigoriev cast a thousand-pound bell, commissioned by Nikon, on which the Patriarch himself was depicted, and inside the new cathedral was decorated with a five-tier carved iconostasis (Belarusian carvers must have worked on it) and a “yellow copper” chandelier ordered abroad, “the size of a large tree, with flowers, birds and indescribable wonders.”

First class monastery

The second stage of landscaping work in the monastery dates back to this period. Under Nikon, all the buildings of the monastery, except for the Iveron Cathedral and the warm Epiphany Church with the refectory chamber, remained wooden. In the 1670s and 1680s, stone construction continued, and by the beginning of the 18th century, the monastery as a whole looked about the same as it does now.

The main income for the monastery came from pilgrims, who flocked in large numbers to the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, which, when it was not carried around the surrounding villages, was in the Assumption Cathedral. By Tuesday of Bright Week, the day of honoring the Iveron Icon, up to fifteen thousand people sometimes gathered in the monastery. The attention of pilgrims to the Valdai Monastery became especially zealous after 1848, when the Iveron Icon became famous as the deliverer of Valdai from the cholera epidemic.

By the beginning of the 20th century, there were about seventy inhabitants in the Valdai Iveron Monastery, and the monastery itself presented a gratifying picture of well-being. The domes of the Assumption Cathedral were visible in the distance (not gold, they were gilded only in modern times), and the monastery bell sounded far over the water.

Valdai Monastery after the revolution

During the revolution, the communists took everything they could see from the monastery. The monks were deprived of the keys to all storerooms and barns. From now on, bread was distributed to the inhabitants by members of the committee, and the abbot had no right to take any actions without the knowledge of the proletarian authorities. Since December 1918, committee members forced young monks and novices to work in logging for the benefit of the state. The old and poor also found work: they worked at the water pump and in the kitchen.

In 1919, the monastery was transformed into a labor artel, the charter of which was registered in accordance with Soviet rules. It existed for eight years, after which it was closed.

After the dispersal of the artel, the monastery was first a museum, then workshops. During the war, the monastery buildings were occupied by a hospital, later - a home for disabled veterans and, finally, a forest school for children suffering from tuberculosis. In the 1970s, they decided to set up a recreation center on the picturesque island. All these successive owners did not care too much about preserving the monastery churches. The Assumption Cathedral lost its iconostasis and almost completely its paintings. Only the oak carved doors and the front forged gates have survived from its original decoration.

For many centuries, the Iveron Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, which, according to legend, survived the iconoclastic era, was the main shrine of the Athos Iveron Monastery, its guardian. But only in the 17th century did the list from it reach Moscow - in order to become one of the most famous and beloved here too. The legend about the discovery of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God on Mount Athos. The famous Iveron Icon of the Mother of God. . .

There are many buildings on the monastery island. The first among them, both in seniority and importance (after the Iveron Cathedral, of course), is the warm Epiphany Church with a refectory chamber. It was built under Patriarch Nikon, in 1657-1658. On the second floor of the temple, a chapel was consecrated in 1747 in honor of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, and in the porch - the chapel of St. Neil Stolobensky. As for the Holy Spiritual chapel, it was notable for its royal doors, sent at one time by Patriarch Nikon for the wooden Iveron Church.

A little further, above the internal monastery gates, rises an elegant church in the name of the Archangel Michael, built, like most of the buildings of the Iversky Monastery, at the end of the 17th century. During its existence, the church has undergone quite significant alterations. It is known that it was originally crowned with a wooden tent, and not with a baroque “lantern” with a bulbous dome. Everything inside has also been changed: partitions, new doors and stairs have appeared. In addition, considering the interior of the temple to be too high, it was divided in two by a wooden ceiling.

Above the outer monastery gate is a church in the name of St. Philippa, heiress of the warm wooden church that has been in the monastery since its foundation. The current building was built in the last quarter of the 17th century and, like the Archangel Michael Church, has survived to this day not without changes.

The “change” in appearance is also noticeable in the church in the name of the righteous Jacob of Borovichi, which occupies the north-eastern part of the monastery complex. It is in one connection with a two-story hospital building. Both the temple and the hospital cells, being the same age as the Archangel Michael and Filippov churches, were rebuilt, perhaps even more actively than they were, and now have a very contradictory appearance.

Of the “civil” buildings in the monastery, the abbot’s cells (last third of the 17th century), which form a single ensemble with the bell tower, deserve the most attention. Currently the building has two floors and a basement. There is a ravine on the south side of the building, so the walls of the basement rise approximately three meters above the ground and are perceived as another full floor.

The abbot's cells are of particular interest due to the surviving fragments of tiled frames discovered during the restoration process. As we were able to establish, once upon a time, superbly executed tiles decorated the facades of many monastery buildings. The technology for their production was brought to Valdai by Orsha monks.

In the first years of the existence of the Valdai Monastery, the production of “tiles” was constantly expanding. The craftsmen tested new technologies and achieved true perfection in the manufacture of tiles. Decorated with convex floral patterns and brightly colored, they had an exceptionally elegant appearance.

Patriarch Nikon soon took the best Valdai tile-makers to the New Jerusalem Monastery, and after some time the production of tiles in Valdai completely died out. And today only the platbands of the rector’s building remind of the original Valdai “tile school”.

The Valdai Monastery today is one of the most comfortable within the Novgorod region. But twenty years ago it would have made a completely different impression on the visitor.

In the early 1990s, it was scary to think how much money and effort would be spent on restoring the monastery. Many of those who came to the monastery at that time admit that they simply did not believe that anything could be done with these ruins. The buildings were in complete disrepair: the cathedral was being destroyed, the monastery bell tower had stood without a roof since the 1960s.

At the end of the 1980s, the idea of ​​​​returning the Valdai Monastery to the Church had many opponents. It was supposed to make the island a resort and tourist area, and, apparently, only the calculation of the costs associated with the restoration of monastic monuments and the creation of appropriate infrastructure forced the authorities to abandon this idea.

Be that as it may, in 1991, His Holiness the Patriarch blessed the revival of the Valdai Iveron Monastery and served a prayer service in the cathedral church of the monastery before the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God.

The history of the monastery begins in 1652. Then Patriarch Nikon was attracted by the beauty of Lake Valdai and he decided to open a monastery on the coast. Tsar Alexei Romanov personally allocated money for the construction of the monastery. And a year later two wooden churches appeared. At the same time, the lake was renamed Svyatoye, and the village Bogoroditskoye. Two years later, the Assumption Cathedral was built next to the brick churches.

The beginning of the 18th century was marked by decline for the monastery. Prayer services stopped, and the buildings were given over to the management of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. They even transported a huge bell from Valdai. Further, the buildings almost completely collapsed. Restoration of the shrine began in 1991. The monastery was restored and the doors were opened to visitors. The last work was completed in 2011. In addition to cathedrals and temples, a museum dedicated to Patriarch Nikon was created on the territory of the monastery.

Coordinates: 57.98861100,33.30416700

Valdai Iversky Bogoroditsky Svyatoozersky Monastery

Valdai Iversky Bogoroditsky Svyatoozersky Monastery is a male Orthodox monastery. It was founded by Patriarch Nikon with the approval of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. This is the first monastery built in Rus' after the Time of Troubles.

In the autumn of 1653, two wooden churches were built and consecrated: the Cathedral Church - in honor of the miraculous icon of the Iveron Mother of God, and the warm one - in the name of Metropolitan St. Philip of Moscow. Nikon renamed the Valdai settlement into the village of Bogoroditskoye, consecrated Lake Valdai, lowering the Gospel and the cross to the bottom, and named the lake Holy. Therefore, the monastery has an additional name - Svyatoozersky.

To glorify the monastery, the holy relics of Jacob Borovichsky were transferred to the monastery. A copy of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, which amazed with its unprecedented splendor, was delivered here from Moscow.

In Soviet times, on the territory of the Valdai Iversky Bogoroditsky Svyatoozersky Monastery there was a historical and archival museum and a museum of local history. During the Great Patriotic War there was a hospital, then a home for the disabled for war veterans, as well as a forest school for children with tuberculosis. In the 70s of the twentieth century, a village was built on the island, and a recreation center operated on the territory of the monastery.

Coordinates: 57.99936600,33.29818700

Within the framework of the XIV Znamensky educational readings - the regional stage of the XXV International Christmas educational readings “1917 – 2017: lessons of the century”, at the section “The Church in Interaction with Law Enforcement Agencies,” held on November 22, 2016 at the Sunday school of St. book Alexander Nevsky of Veliky Novgorod, Konstantin Vladimirovich Zilinsky, representative of the Commission for the canonization of clergy and laity of the Novgorod diocese who suffered for their faith in the 20th century, delivered the message:

The Bolsheviks, who came to power in 1917, did not hide the fact that their goal was not just a social reorganization of society, but a complete change in human consciousness, the education of a new person, a person “free” from any, as they said then, “religious prejudices.” "

Already in one of the first Soviet decrees - the “Decree on Land”, adopted on the second day of Soviet power, large-scale anti-church measures were envisaged. The nationalization of all lands was proclaimed: along with landowners', appanages', monastic and church lands with all "living and dead inventory", manor buildings and all accessories. That is, already on the second day of Soviet power, all church property with one stroke of the pen was taken away from the Church: initially, however, only on paper, and from January 1918 in reality.

How this happened on Novgorod land, in particular in Borovichi and Valdai districts, is given by the reports of deans in 1917 - 1918.

“...Looting, seizure of someone else’s land and even robberies are now commonplace. They justify their pogrom actions by the right “given” to them, but at the same time they think about this right: “We wouldn’t have to answer for this later,” they often say. Hence, lies and hypocrisy became an ordinary phenomenon...” (from the 1917 report of priest Feodor Kondratov, dean of the 2nd district of Borovichi district).

“...Recently the state of piety has changed for the worse. Soldiers returning from the war, having been shaken in their faith by various renegades, have a bad influence on the rest of the population...” (from the 1917 report of the dean of the 5th district of Borovichi district, priest of the Tikhvin church in the village of Lyuboni, Vasily Krasnopevkov).

Priest Mikhail Zimnev, dean of the 1st Valdai district, in a report for 1918, reports: “...The situation of the clergy is difficult. The high cost of living, material deprivation. Many clergy were in dire need of bread and were starving. Plus moral tests. The Orthodox faith was persecuted, and the ministers of the Orthodox faith - the pastors of the church - began to be persecuted. Slander, mockery, verbal and printed abuse began to be heard against the shepherds... Many shepherds were arrested, others languished in prison, and some were shot. The priest of the Vvedenskaya Church has been in prison for some unknown reason since August 23. The priest of the Borovenskaya Church, Sergei Mikhailovsky, was accused of inciting the people against the Soviet regime and was almost sentenced to death by the court... Many psalm-readers in the district left their places due to difficult material and moral living conditions. The psalmist of the Zimogorsk Church, Ivan Romanovsky, died from constant malnutrition...” But the priests continue to carry out their pastoral duties, “dearest and highest of all, they consider their very service of love for their neighbors to be their salvation.”

One of the most prominent confessors of the Faith of Christ on the Novgorod land was, without any doubt, Bishop Joseph of Valdai, dean of the monasteries, the last abbot of the Valdai Iversky Monastery. His reports to the Novgorod Spiritual Consistory recreate the picture of the revolutionary events of the first years of Soviet power.

On February 26 (this is 4 months after the October Revolution), Bishop Joseph reports:

“I have the honor to inform the Consistory that peasants, with the permission of the Volost Land Committees, have already begun to cut down forest in the monastery dachas of the Korotsky, Uspensky and Borovichi monasteries, and the fishing grounds in Lake Uzhinskoye, which belongs to the Iversky Monastery, have been leased by the Committee in addition to the monastery, and does not accept any monastic protests.”

And a few days later, on March 1, 1918, he describes in detail what happened in the city of Borovichi:

“As a result of the Decrees of the Consistory of February 12 and 23 of this year, Nos. 1454 and 1971, I have the honor to inform that I and the Rector of the Borovichi Holy Spiritual Monastery promptly informed that the commissioners of the city of Borovichi on January 19 are going to the monastery to describe all the property of the monastery and the church, that the people committed violence against them and beat them. This beating of the commissars was the reason that the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies of the city of Borovichi imprisoned two hieromonks and a monk on the mere suspicion that they allegedly incited the people; and the Abbot was kept under house arrest for several days. But this Council had already decided to close all monasteries and churches in Borovichi district. The people knew this, and therefore, when all the commissars and the police came to describe the monastery, the people, probably thinking that they had come to close the monastery, arbitrarily knocked down the locks on the bell tower, rang the alarm bell and beat up the commissars. By this untimely act, the people did not provide assistance to the monastery and only caused one disaster. The Bolsheviks became angry and ordered the monastics and novices to find occupations and places for themselves and to clear the monastery by February 23. Based on this instruction, three hierodeacons had already left the monastery to look for another place, and the novices also left. Petitions were raised for the release of the hieromonks from prison, but the Bolsheviks put the intercessors themselves in prison. Many citizens were also imprisoned. Now one hieromonk - treasurer Veniamin has been released from prison, but the Bolsheviks forbade him to serve and sealed his cell for no reason, simply out of their own arbitrariness. Hieromonk Misail is still in prison. At present, only one sacristan, Hieromonk Pavel, serves in the monastery; the rector is in poor health; Hierodeacon Joasaph also refuses to serve due to illness, and monk Anatoly, also recently released from prison to serve as a sexton, reads and sings in church. Bread and potatoes were taken away from the monastery and complete famine set in. There is almost no income, since pilgrims are afraid to go to the monastery for fear of going to prison. Notarial documents were taken away by the Bolsheviks and tenants do not pay rent. Although February 23rd has passed, the Bolsheviks have still not done anything in relation to the monastery and the position of the monastery remains uncertain. Since the same fate awaits the Zhelezkovskaya hermitage, I ask the Consistory to indicate where to place the brethren of the hermitage in case they, too, have to leave the hermitage. Currently from Valdai to Borovichi by train. They don’t let you in on the road, and they don’t give you tickets, and riding a horse is very difficult and dangerous; and in the spring, due to the lack of bridges, it’s impossible to get to Borovichi at all, so I don’t have the opportunity to travel to Borovichi often and come there when exceptional circumstances immediately require.”

Dean of monasteries, Iversky Monastery

Rector Archimandrite Joseph

On July 17, 1918, the brethren of the Iversky Monastery sent the bishop a report that he had received on July 20:

“We have the honor to most humbly inform Your Eminence that on July 2 (15) at four o’clock in the morning the Soviet authorities arrived at our monastery to requisition bread. Taking the bread, they invited Fr. The rector accompanied the bread to the city of Valdai across the lake by boat, and near the shore near the city of Valdai, citizens opened gun fire, during which Fr. The abbot was wounded by a bullet in the left side, below the heart. The patient’s situation is considered serious by doctors, and he is currently in a hospital in Valdai.”

The testimony of the famous Russian journalist M.O. is very important. Menshikov (1859-1918), who lived in Valdai during this period. On July 16, 1918, he writes in his diary:

“Yesterday a popular riot broke out in Valdai, which was extinguished by the evening. The Red Army soldiers, discharged from Demyansk, decided to take away the monastery’s supply of bread. They arrived at night with machine guns, began to smash the gates, fire at the bell tower, assuming that the bell ringer was ringing from above (and he was pulling the rope at the small bell from below). When shots were heard, the lakeside population woke up and rushed to the rescue. It was not so much the Valdai people, but, it seems, the Zimogors and men from the nearby villages who were zealous. ( True, by shootingThey blame the publicist M.O. for organizing an uprising that had absolutely nothing to do with it. Menshikov, General V.A. Kosagovsky, as well as the merchant son N. Savin, who was among the rebels.) Weapon depots were looted, though not guarded by anyone... It was late in the day, around 3, when I was walking from the post office... I saw gangs of 15, 20 people carrying guns (some two, some three) with bayonets and without bayonets, old, rusty, broken, obviously unfit for use, and at the same time there was a general complaint that there were no cartridges. Eh, Roseya! It’s hard to imagine something more curious than this “uprising,” but the matter was complicated by a bloody incident. The people forced the Red Army soldiers to return 48 p. of bread to the monastery, but when they were traveling on a boat and carrying the archimandrite, so that, using him as cover, they would safely get out of trouble (they told him to stand on the boat: they would not shoot at you, they say), the archimandrite), from the shore, the defenders of the monastery fired a machine gun, and poor Fr. Joseph was seriously wounded in the side. He’s unlikely to survive... In the evening, Latvians arrived as pacifiers, today martial law was declared, there will be searches, searches for stolen weapons and executions...”

On the same day, in a letter to O.A. Fribes M.O. Menshikov writes about the bloody events in Valdai and “a small popular uprising in a common folk style,” reporting quite a few details of this day. Regarding Archimandrite Joseph, among other things, he notes that during the shootout, three ribs and a lung were broken.

There had been attempts to requisition bread from the monastery before. On the eve of the fatal uprising, a crowd of thousands of women and men defended the monastery bread, which fed the entire district. The monastery gave bread to everyone in need. Including the family of M.O. Menshikova saved herself from hunger by feeding at the monastery. The publicist notes that the archimandrite dreamed of feeding the people until July 25, if the remaining bread was not requisitioned. Father Joseph said that the people's bread, the peasants donated it to the monastery with the condition that it feed the pilgrims. The abbot did just that. (Let us remember the above message from Archimandrite Joseph about the famine in the monastery - Comp.)

In a letter to O.A. Fribes dated July 17, 1918 M.O. Menshikov, in addition to the previous message, reports that the archimandrite, whom he visited in the hospital, is alive and there is even hope for his recovery if there is no pericarditis. And then he continues: “If he recovers, then you must come to Valdai and visit this righteous monk, who almost became a martyr for the people and the church.”

A very characteristic postscript made by M.O. Menshikov to the previous letter addressed to O.A. Fribes: “People are already saying that the archimandrite was not wounded from a machine gun, but a Bolshevik (who was in the boat with him) hit him in the side with a revolver. They are very sorry."

People pitied him both as a beloved shepherd and as a passion-bearer, namely “a martyr for the people and the church.” True, at the same time an element of legend is added to the biography of Father Joseph. Already during his lifetime, multivariate folk legends began to emerge about the events of July 15, 1918 and about the role of the Iveron archimandrite in them.

Over time, when there were no more direct eyewitnesses of what happened, versions of the legends became more and more fantastic and contradictory. So, according to one version, the archimandrite was arrested, sent in a boat to Valdai, wounded and thrown (?) by the Bolsheviks into the water of Lake Valdai. According to another, he was wounded by stones (?) during a religious procession and sent to the hospital.

Of particular interest is the point of view of people who saw with their own eyes what happened that day in Valdai.

The memories of this event from the military commissar for economic affairs P.I. Sergeev, who took part in the requisition of bread from the monastery on July 15. He writes that the monastery gave residents 1-2 kilograms of bread daily. The executive committee, having learned about this, decided to “stop the piecemealing” and confiscated the grain in favor of the state. But the enemies of the revolution, as P.I. writes. Sergeev, they spread a rumor that the monastery was being robbed. When the boats set sail from the monastery shore, the food reserve workers noticed people gathered on the Valdai shore to hear the bell alarm and thought that they were being solemnly greeted. As a sign of greeting they fired a rifle volley upward. In response, a machine gun fired from the Valdai shore, while the archimandrite, according to P.I. Sergeev, was slightly wounded. The grain boats turned back to the monastery. P.I. Sergeev called in the troops. The arriving Latvians suppressed the uprising. (The firing range of the Maxim machine gun of the 1910 model, which was in service with the Russian Imperial Army during the First World War, was 2,700 meters according to its tactical and technical characteristics. From the Valdai to the monastery shore, assuming that the shooter was at the water’s edge and not further, the distance is greater, so machine gun fire from the Valdai shore could not cause any harm to the Red Army soldiers in the boat, for this reason nothing is said about the wounded or killed Red Army soldiers from the boat. Therefore, Vladyka could only be wounded by a single shot from someone of those who were in the boat with him - Compiler).

Naturally, at that time no one carried out any investigative actions on these facts.

In 1919, the construction of the so-called Nikon Museum began on the territory of the monastery. At this time, a campaign was carried out throughout the country to open the relics of the Holy Saints of God. The Valdai Iversky Monastery did not escape this bitter fate.

The name of Bishop Joseph is associated with one of the most tragic and not fully studied pages in the history of the Valdai Iversky Svyatoozersk Bogoroditsky Monastery, namely: the mysterious disappearance of the relics of the holy righteous Jacob of Borovichi the Wonderworker.

The conditions of existence of the monks are clearly visible from the report of the Rector of the Valdai Iversky Monastery, Archimandrite Joseph, to His Eminence, the Most Reverend Arseny, Metropolitan of Novgorod and Starorussky Arseny /Stadnitsky/ dated February 1, 1919.

“...At the monastery, a museum of church antiquities and art from monastic things is being established, of which I have been temporarily appointed as the curator. But from the attitude of the Soviet government towards the monastics, it is clear that the position of the Iveron Monastery and the monastics in the future is critical, unless the Queen of Heaven Herself preserves and intercedes...”

Thirteen days after this, Archimandrite Joseph writes the report below.

"To His Eminence the Most Reverend Alexy, Bishop

Tikhvinsky, Rector of the Valdai Iversky Monastery

Most respectful report

I dare to respectfully inform Your Eminence that, as I privately learned, representatives of the Valdai Soviet government will soon arrive at the Iveron Monastery to examine St. relics of Jacob the Righteous. The holy relics were wrapped by His Holiness Patriarch Nikon in white silk Chinese damask and are kept that way to this day, dressed over the damask in a children's surplice.

I earnestly ask for your instructions on what I should do with such an order from the secular authorities. I have received a certificate from the Novgorod Department of Public Education that all things and monuments, such as buildings, etc., of artistic and historical significance have been registered and protected by the Provincial Department of Public Education and no other records without the knowledge of this department are allowed. Perhaps this document can be presented when members arrive to inspect St. power.

Your Eminence, the lowest novice Archimandrite Joseph

February 14/27, 1919 No. 37"

The above document shows very well that Archimandrite Joseph, under the most difficult conditions, fulfilled the rule set out in the Nomocanon on the primacy of church authority over secular authority. This is what paragraph 2 of the Definition of the Holy Council of the Orthodox Russian Church “On measures to put an end to disorder in church life” of April 6 (19), 1918, said.

"2. Priests who oppose their diocesan Bishop, who is in canonical unity with the highest ecclesiastical authority, and in this case turn to the court of civil authority, or in their disputes with those in command in the church hierarchy on church matters who turn to civil authority for help, are prohibited from serving in the clergy, with surrender to the church court, and then, in case of unrepentance for the above-mentioned acts, they are deposed. (Ap. 55 IV Sun. 8;9 VI Sun. 34 Carth. 12:29).” (Collection of Definitions and Resolutions of the Holy Council of the Orthodox Russian Church 1917 - 1918 Moscow 1994. pp. 119 - 120).

A few days later, an examination of the relics of the Holy Righteous Jacob of Borovichi was carried out in order to eliminate reasons for mockery.

" Act

1919 March 9/February 24. We, the undersigned: the rector of the Valdai Iversky Monastery Archimandrite Joseph, the rector of the Valdai Trinity Cathedral Mikhail Nikolsky, the abbot of the monastery hieromonk Arkady, the treasurer of the onago hieromonk Serapion, hieromonk Jonah and (inaudible - K.Z.) monk Benjamin according to the resolution of His Eminence dated February 18. This year, 1919, No. 434, they examined the relics of Jacob the Righteous Borovichi Wonderworker and found: the relics, resting in a silver shrine, are dressed in a white satin surplice, and (inaudible - K.Z.) sewn into white damask. Upon opening the stone, they found lying bones of a young man, lined with cotton wool, and dried skin was clearly preserved on the skull and both ears, nose and eyes were missing. One hand, from which, apparently, part and four fingers were taken, has one finger, which, like the entire hand, is covered with dried skin, the other hand retains all five fingers folded for (inaudible - K.Z.) blessing, fingers, hand and part of the arm from the elbow to the hand is covered with dried body and skin, and the nails are clearly preserved on the fingers, other bones are located in the order in which they are located in the human body, only the feet are missing on both legs.

Valdai Iversky Monastery Rector Archimandrite Joseph

Rector of Valdai Cathedral Archpriest Mikhail Nikolsky

Viceroy Hieromonk Arkady

Treasurer Hieromonk Serapion

Hieromonk Jonah

Monk Benjamin"

On October 29, 1926, the secret Resolution of the Novgorod Gubernia Administrative Department No. 1045 was published with the following content:

“The Gubernatorial Administration Department reports that, in accordance with the resolution of the Novgorod Provincial Executive Committee of April 3, 1919, the relics located in the St. Sophia Cathedral of Novgorod and in some places of the Novgorod province, such as: Bologoe, Valdai, were opened […].

The Gubernia Administration Department considers it necessary, on the basis of a circular from the People's Commissariat of Justice dated August 25, 1920, to transfer the relics still located in the religious buildings of the Novgorod province to local museums: in the mountains. Novgorod - to the Museum of Church Antiquities, and in other points - to Historical Museums if the working masses express a desire for this.”

The following document speaks about the attitude of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon to the confiscation of church valuables during that period:

“We praise and kiss Archimandrite Nikodim, abbot of the Yuriev Monastery in Novgorod, who divinely gave away many millions of rubles worth of valuables from the monastery for the holy war against the Teutons (Germans).

We angrily reject and punish with excommunication even the voluntary donation of sacred vestments and cups: the important thing is not what to give, but to whom to give. Reading the lines of Our message, indicate this to your flock at meetings at which you can and should fight against the seizure of valuables. We allow you to give away only scrap and pendants from the images...”

The next test for Vladyka Joseph was the confiscation of church valuables in connection with the famine in the Volga region.

« Protocol

Meetings of the Commission for the removal of valuables from churches to help the Volga region, composed of pres. K.D. Mitropolsky, P.I. Krasavin and M.P. Nikolsky, in the presence of collaborators. Petrogr. music department, head Nikon. museum D.D. Franz, with representatives of the brethren of the Iversky Monastery, headed by Bishop Joseph of Valdai with the Council of the Collective of Believers of the Iversky Monastery (Comrade Bulyshkin (village Shuya), Iv. Ivanov, Al. Petrov (Dolg. Beard)).

Having examined all the church buildings of the Iversky Monastery with their valuables, as well as the Nikon Museum located in the Iversky Monastery with the aim of confiscating jewelry for the benefit of the Volga region, they found that all the things in the museum were not subject to confiscation according to the Instructions of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee dated 28/III - 22 as objects, having historical and highly artistic significance.

According to the instructions for representatives of the department of museums of the Main Science and its local bodies, acting on the basis of the decree on the liquidation of church property dated 2/I-22, published in the News of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee dated 6/I-22 for No. 5/1444 for $2 “Certainly unacceptable liquidation of valuables of antiquity, ending 1725" and $4 "Ancient churches with their interior decorative decorations, ancient iconostases, icon cases, lamps, chandeliers, etc. items that generally constitute an ensemble of artistic and historical significance must remain inviolable. In these cases, no separate seizures of museum objects are allowed. The meeting recognized that the churches of the Iversky Monastery as a whole represent highly artistic and historical monuments of the seventeenth century (1600 - 1700) and therefore, on the precise basis of the above $$ instructions, no seizures of values ​​that violate the general artistic historical ensemble of this monument can be made. » That is, Vladyka Joseph and the brethren of the monastery, in incredibly difficult conditions, tried to act in accordance with laws that did not contradict the canons of the Church. Metropolitan Arseny of Novgorod and Staraya Rus' at that time had already been expelled outside the Diocese and it was not possible to contact him.

Bishop Joseph actively opposed renovationism.

On May 24, 1924, on behalf of His Grace Seraphim, Bishop of Krestetsky, temporary administrator of the Novgorod Diocese, a report was made to His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon on the state of affairs in the Novgorod Diocese, which said (Office of Patriarch Tikhon 218/310 - 311): “.. His Eminence Joseph, Bishop of Valdai - things are going extremely well. There were no renovationists in the district at all, except for Archpriest Zimnev, who was very soon frightened by the people’s anger and now does not show himself in any way...”

Until the very last minute of his earthly life, Vladyka steadfastly carried out his archpastoral service on Valdai land.

Father Joseph went to the Lord in the house of P.F. Vakhrushev on Exemplary Hill in Valdai, where he lived the last years of his life. From the window of his room there was probably the most beautiful view of Valdai Lake and the Iversky Monastery.

On December 4, 1930, His Eminence Bishop Joseph celebrated a service in Valdai in honor of the Feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple. Ten days later, on December 14, 1930, he blessedly reposed. Having truly Christian humility and modesty, he bequeathed to be buried as a simple monk. On the grave of Bishop Joseph at the Church of Peter and Paul in the city of Valdai, the words of Mikhail Osipovich Menshikov (1859-1918) were written: “Faith in God is confidence in the highest good. The loss of this faith is the greatest misfortune that can befall a people.”

Here it is appropriate to say a few words about the birthplace of Vladika Joseph.

The future Bishop of Valdai Joseph (Ioann Vasilyevich Nikolaevsky) was born in 1862 in the family of the priest of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ Vasily Petrovich Nikolaevsky, located on the estate of G.R. Derzhavin village of Zvanka, Novgorod district, Novgorod province, present-day Chudovsky district, Novgorod region. The place of Vladyka’s birth is indicated by the entry in the text from the protocol on the deprivation of his voting rights in 1925. His mother, Anna Andreeva, having lost her parents, was raised by her older brother, the sexton of the same church, Ivan Andreeva. John was the third child. He had two sisters Anna and Maria. This is the information about parents, grandfather, sisters and date of birth recorded in the “Gazette of the Zvan Church for 1864”. “... Priest Vasily Petrov Nikolaevsky Deacon's son, after completing a course of science in 1847, was dismissed from the Novgorod Theological Seminary with a Certificate of the II category on July 7, 1851 by the Most Reverend Anthony Bishop of Starorussky and cavalier, promoted to this Church of the Resurrection of Christ to the present place on August 31 days for diligent service and very good behavior are allowed by His Eminence to use a legguard during priestly service. He has a diploma and certificate for the award - 39 years old. His wife Anna Andreeva is 29 years old. Their children: Anna - 9 years old, Marya - 6 years old, John - 1 ½ years old. He dares to know his responsibilities well. Very good behavior. Sexton son-in-law. I was convicted and was not fined.”

On July 26, 2015, the remains of Bishop Joseph of Valdai, with the blessing of Metropolitan Leo of Novgorod and Old Russia, were solemnly, with a large crowd of people, reburied in front of the altar of the Iversky Cathedral of the Valdai Iversky Svyatoozersky Monastery.

At the end of the liturgy, a memorial service was performed in front of the ark with the ashes of the blessed Bishop Joseph, after which, under the singing of the funeral trisagion, he was transferred to the monastery cemetery, where he was interred.

At the end of the funeral litany at the monastery cemetery, Metropolitan Leo addressed the worshipers in the Iveron Cathedral with an archpastoral word.

The Bishop explained the meaning of the passage read during the service from the first letter of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, dedicated to the topic of division in the Church (1 Cor 1:10-18). The Apostle called on believers to unity and like-mindedness, recalling that Christ was not divided in Himself, and everyone was baptized in His name, entering through the doors of the baptismal font into the bosom of the one Church. The Lord Himself commanded the disciples to maintain unity when He warned: “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand” (Mark 3:24).

This is how it was in the times of the apostles, and this is how it is done today. When divisions occur, great sadness visits people, which was confirmed by the history of our Fatherland in the 20th century. Believers remember that division in the Church is a sin, which, according to the word of St. John Chrysostom, is not cleansed even by the blood of martyrdom and tears apart the unwoven robe of Christ.

Vladyka Leo noted the Christian feat of the vicar of the Valdai Monastery, Bishop Joseph of Valdai, who suffered for his faith and until the last minutes of his life remained faithful to Christ and his pastoral duty.