Lord Hermogenes. The key to understanding the revelation of John the theologian - Hermogenes of Tobolsk

Hieromartyr Hermogenes (Dolganev), Tobolsk, bishop. HOLY MARTYR HERMOGENES, BISHOP OF TOBOLSK AND SIBERIAN, AND LIKE HIM, THE MURDERED JERY PETER KARELIN. Hieromartyr Hermogenes (in the world Georgy Efremovich Dolganov), Bishop of Tobolsk and Siberia, was born on April 25, 1858 in the family of a Edinoverie priest Kherson diocese, who later became a monk. He graduated from the full course of the Faculty of Law in Novorossiysk, and here he also took courses in the mathematical and historical-philological faculties. Then George enters the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, where he becomes a monk with the name Hermogenes. On March 15, 1892, he became a hieromonk. In 1893, Hieromonk Hermogenes graduated from the Academy and was appointed inspector and then rector of the Tiflis Theological Seminary with elevation to the rank of archimandrite. Not wanting to contribute to the anti-church and materialistic spirit of the times, he encourages the spread of missionary work among the population of the Russian outskirts. On January 14, 1901, in the Kazan Cathedral of St. Petersburg, Father Hermogenes was consecrated Bishop of Volsky, vicar of the Saratov diocese. In 1903, he was appointed Bishop of Saratov and was summoned to attend the Holy Synod. Vladyka’s service was distinguished by undiminished fervor of spirit: missionary activity flourished through his labors, religious readings and extra-liturgical conversations were organized, the program for which was drawn up by the bishop himself and he led them. Vladyka He often toured the parishes of the diocese and served with such reverence, awe and a prayerful attitude that people really forgot whether they were in Heaven or on earth, many cried with tenderness and spiritual joy. During the political unrest of 1905, Vladyka successfully admonished the intoxicated rebels with his sermons.C great love and the holy righteous John of Kronstadt treated Bishop Hermogenes with respect, saying that he was calm for the fate of Orthodoxy and could die, knowing that Bishops Hermogenes and Seraphim (Chichagov, commemorated November 28) would continue his work. Predicting the martyrdom of the Saint, the priest wrote to him in 1906: “You are in a feat, the Lord opens Heaven, like Archdeacon Stephen, and blesses you.” At the end of 1911, at the next meeting of the Holy Synod, the Bishop sharply disagreed with Chief Prosecutor V.K. Sabler, who, with the tacit consent of many bishops, hastily carried out some institutions and definitions of a directly anti-canonical nature (the corporation of deaconesses, permission to perform funeral services for non-Orthodox people). On January 7, the Right Reverend Hermogenes was announced a decree signed by the Sovereign on his dismissal from presence in the Holy Synod and departure to his diocese until 15 January. Unable to complete the allotted time due to illness, Vladyka was exiled to Blorussia to the Zhirovitsky monastery. One of the reasons for this exile was also the Vladyka’s sharply negative attitude towards G.E. Rasputin. The position of the disgraced bishop in the monastery was difficult. He was not allowed to serve often, and when he was allowed, he was not given due honors to his episcopal rank. Sometimes Vladyka was even forbidden to leave the monastery. The saint often grieved about the future of the Fatherland, and crying said: “The ninth wave is coming, coming; will crush, sweep away all rot, all rags; a terrible, blood-chilling thing will happen - they will destroy the Tsar, they will destroy the Tsar, they will certainly destroy him.” In August 1915, Vladyka was transferred to the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery of the Moscow Diocese, and after the February Revolution of 1917 he was appointed to the department in Tobolsk. The Bishop’s special concern was the Russian soldiers returning from the front, intoxicated by Bolshevik propaganda, and he created a special soldiers’ department under the John-Dimitrievsky Brotherhood. The Bolsheviks, who tried to embitter the soldiers in order to more easily control them, were beside themselves when they saw the church care shown for the soldiers. During this rebellious time, the Saint called on his flock “not to bend the knee to the idols of the revolution,” fighting against communism, denationalization and distortion of the Russian people's soul. While at the Tobolsk See during the stay of the Royal Martyrs there in captivity, the Abalatskaya Icon of the Mother of God was blessedly brought to them as a consolation. On December 25, 1917, in the Church of the Intercession in the city of Tobolsk, in the presence of the Royal Family, Deacon Evdokimov proclaimed many years to them - as it should be according to Liturgical Rules. This was followed by the arrest of the rector and deacon. During interrogation, the rector of the church, Archpriest Vasiliev, stated that “he is not accountable to the crab and dog deputies,” and Deacon Evdokimov said: “Your kingdom is momentary, the Tsar’s protection will come soon. Wait a little longer, you will get yours in full.” To a request about this incident from the local body of the Bolshevik government, Bishop Hermogen responded in writing, refusing any personal communication: “Russia is not legally a republic, no one has declared it as such and has no authority to declare it.” , except for the proposed Constituent Assembly. Secondly, according to Holy Scripture , state law, church canons, and also according to history, former kings, tsars and emperors who are not governing their country are not deprived of their rank as such and their corresponding titles, and therefore I did not see and do not see anything reprehensible in the actions of the clergyman of the Intercession Church “At the Liturgy, the Bishop always took out pieces for the Royal Family, sacredly preserving his love for Her. There is information that during the Sovereign’s stay in Tobolsk exile, Vladyka asked him for forgiveness for believing the slander against G.E. Rasputin, and the Tsar with a humble heart forgave him. In January 1918, after the Bolsheviks adopted a decree on the separation of the Church from the state, which actually placed believers outside the law, the archpastor addressed the people with an appeal that ended with the words: “Stand up in defense of your faith and say with firm hope: “May God rise again and let His enemies be scattered.” The authorities began to intensively prepare for the arrest of the inflexible bishop, but the Bishop, without embarrassment, scheduled a religious procession for Palm Sunday, April 15, 1918. He said: “I don’t expect mercy from them, they will kill me, moreover, they will torture me, I’m ready, ready even now. I’m not afraid for myself, I’m not grieving for myself, I’m afraid for the residents - what will they do to them?” On the eve of the holiday, April 13, armed Red Army soldiers appeared in the bishop’s chambers. Not finding the bishop, they searched his chambers and desecrated the altar of the house church. The religious procession gathered many believers. From the walls of the city Kremlin, the house where the Royal Family languished in prison was clearly visible. The Bishop, approaching the edge of the wall, raised the cross high and blessed the Most August Passion-Bearers, who looked from the windows at the Procession of the Cross. Accompanied by foot and horse detachments of militia, the Procession of the Cross attracted many believers, but on the way back (the procession ended at half past five) the ranks of people became thin out, so the police easily (at first with the help of deception) dispersed those who remained with rifle butts and arrested Vladyka. The alarm sounded in the bell tower next to the bishop's house. The Bolsheviks fired the bell ringers from the bell tower. The rest of the indignants were also dispersed. Vladyka was imprisoned in Yekaterinburg prison. While in captivity, he prayed a lot. In one of the letters that he managed to send to freedom, the saint wrote, addressing “the reverently beloved and unforgettable flock”: “Do not grieve for me because of my imprisonment. This is my spiritual school. Glory to God, who gives such wise and beneficial tests to me, who am in dire need of strict and extreme measures to influence my inner spiritual world... From these shocks (between life and death), the saving fear of God intensifies and is confirmed in the soul...” Having kept the Vladyka in captivity for several months, the regional Council of People's Commissars demanded a ransom - at first one hundred thousand rubles, but, making sure that such an amount he couldn’t collect it, they reduced it to ten thousand rubles. When money donated by local businessman D.I. Polirushev, were brought by the clergy, the authorities gave a receipt for the required amount, but instead of releasing the bishop, they arrested three members of the delegation: Archpriest Efrem Dolganov, Priest Mikhail Makarov and Konstantin Minyatov, about whose further fate nothing else is known. Apparently, their martyrdom preceded the death of the Bishop. Soon the Saint was transported to Tyumen and taken by ship to the village of Pokrovskoye. All prisoners, with the exception of the bishop and priest of the church of the Kamensky plant, the dean of the second district of the Kamyshevsky district of the Yekaterinburg province, priest Peter Karelin, were shot. Vladyka and Father Peter were imprisoned in a dirty hold. The steamer headed towards Tobolsk. In the evening, June 15, when the holy martyrs were being transferred from one ship to another, Vladyka, approaching the gangway, quietly said to the pilot: “Tell the whole great world, baptized slave, to pray to God for me.” Around midnight from June 15 to 16, the Bolsheviks first They took Priest Pyotr Karelin onto the deck of the steamer Oka, tied two large granite stones to him and threw them into the waters of the Tura River. The same fate befell the Vladyka (according to some information, the Vladyka was tied to a steamship wheel, which was then set in motion. This wheel shredded the living body of the Vladyka). The honorable remains of the Saint were carried ashore on July 3 and discovered by peasants in the village of Usolskoye. The next day they were buried by the peasant Alexei Yegorovich Maryanov at the place where they were found. A stone was also placed in the grave. Soon the city was liberated by the troops of the Siberian Government and the remains of the Saint were removed, dressed in bishop’s robes, and solemnly buried in a crypt built in the St. John Chrysostom chapel on the site of the first grave of St. John, Metropolitan of Tobolsk. Hieromartyrs Hermogenes, Ephraim, Peter, Michael and the martyr Constantine were canonized as holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia at the Jubilee Council of Bishops of Russia Orthodox Church in August 2000 for church-wide veneration.

Hieromartyr Hermogenes, in the world Georgy Efremovich Dolganev, was born on April 25, 1858 in the family of the priest of the Kherson diocese, Efrem Pavlovich Dolganev, and was named Georgy in baptism. Priest Efrem Dolganev and his wife Varvara Isidorovna had six children. The parish where he served was not rich, and the family had very limited funds. Father Ephraim tried to be an exemplary shepherd and taught everyone, as one of his sons wrote about it, by his “example of order, cleanliness, neatness, love for the splendor of the service, the beauty of the temple, vestments, vessels, lamps, the whole order of the church...”.
Georgy received his lower and secondary education in theological educational institutions of his native diocese. Wanting to receive, in addition to spiritual education, also secular education, Georgy, while studying in the 5th grade at the Odessa Theological Seminary, submitted a petition for his dismissal from the seminary; Having passed the matriculation exam at the classical gymnasium of the city of Ananyev, Kherson province, he entered the law faculty of Novorossiysk University, from which he graduated in 1889 with the right to submit an essay for the degree of candidate of law without additional exams.
Deeply religious from childhood, Georgy early felt an attraction to the ascetic life, but Archbishop Nikanor (Brovkovich) of Kherson helped him take a decisive step, and in 1889 Georgy entered the historical department of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. After graduating from the Academy in 1893, Archimandrite Hermogenes was appointed inspector, and then in 1898, rector of the Tiflis Theological Academy. During the years of the rector of Hermogen Dolganev, this outlying educational institution acquired the spirit of strict churchliness, creative search, and Orthodox spirituality. Not limiting himself to the walls of the seminary, he created church schools and missionary brotherhoods throughout almost the entire Caucasus.

The foresight of Hermogenes, who sought to free the seminary from everything unusual for the spirit of Orthodoxy, was manifested in the expulsion of Joseph Dzhugashvili from its walls in 1899, the ominous fate of the executioner of Russia was foreseen.

In the State Archives of the Saratov Region, among the papers of Bishop Hermogenes, there is an explanatory note from seminary student Joseph Dzhugashvili, justifying his late attendance at classes after the holidays.

Bishop Hermogenes remained at the Volsk See for two years, and this time was associated with a significant revival of church life in Volsk. The tireless bishop develops broad missionary activity, attracting to it many lay people who have the education and abilities necessary for the work of spiritual enlightenment. The earnest, lengthy, reverent services that the Bishop performed in the Volsky churches attract many parishioners who have already forgotten the way to the temple. He organizes extra-liturgical readings and conversations, develops programs Sunday schools for children and adults.

On October 27, 1902, His Grace Hermogenes consecrated a house church in the name of the Archangel Michael of God at the Volsky Real School. The headman of this temple was the famous Volsky merchant Nikolai Stepanovich Menkov. Divine services for the realists were performed by the teacher of the law, priest Nikolai Rusanov, who later became one of the prominent renovationist hierarchs.

On September 16, 1901, classes began at the Second Saratov Diocesan School, opened in Volsk.

The first academic year was spent in Melnikov’s private house, so cramped that it was not even possible to set up a house church. On August 24, 1903, His Grace Hermogenes served a prayer service at the foundation stone of the new building of the Diocesan School. Almost all the Volga clergy, secular authorities, representatives of the teachers' seminary and other educational institutions of the city arrived at the celebration. In the summer of 1905, 148 diocesan women moved into a beautiful three-story building with a house church. With moving to your new house the school became a six-grade school, in 1909 the 7th pedagogical class was opened, in 1915 another, 8th, pedagogical class.

Due to the outbreak of the First World War, the new school building was given to the military. Classes in 1915 - 1917 were held in two shifts, in the building of the parish school at the Intercession Church. In September 1917, classes in the lower grades had to be postponed indefinitely. In December, the school treasury was completely empty. From the beginning of 1918, pupils began to be called only for consultations and exams. 1918 was the last academic year not only for Saratov diocesan schools. All theological schools in Russia ceased to exist.

In the last year of the administration of the Volsky Vicariate, Bishop Hermogen began the construction of a new building of the Volsky Theological School. A resolution on this matter was adopted by the diocesan authorities on October 17, 1902. The contract for construction, which began in the spring of 1903, was taken by Nikolai Stepanovich Menkov. Soon the Volsk Theological School, which had been crammed into a mansion built in Zlobin since 1847, moved to a spacious building on the outskirts of the city, in which a house church was built in the name of three Ecumenical Saints: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. “Saratov Diocesan Gazette” in No. 18 for 1903 reported on the donation by Archpriest of the Volsky Cathedral School Matthew Vasiliev of silver-gilded liturgical vessels worth 153 rubles for the new Church of the Three Hierarchs.

The building of the Theological School has survived to this day. After the revolution, it was occupied by the Volsky Teachers' Institute, and currently it houses the Pedagogical School No. 2.

The Volskaya Annunciation Church keeps several icons brought by Bishop Hermogenes from Athos.

On March 21, 1903, His Eminence Hermogenes received a decree appointing him the ruling bishop of the Saratov diocese and ruled it during the most difficult years of the First Russian Revolution. During the revolutionary unrest of 1905, Bishop Hermogenes does everything possible to calm the disoriented population of Saratov. He performs almost daily services, during which he addresses the people with requests to move away from troublemakers and in no case use violence.

The Reverend Hermogenes invited the workers to gather with him to resolve issues of public life. The number of participants in these meetings constantly increased, and at one of them a decision was made to build a new temple.

Back in 1903, His Eminence Hermogenes founded the Nativity Brotherhood for mutual assistance of artisans and factory workers. Honorary members of this Brotherhood, in addition to Hermogenes himself, became the Most Reverend Paul, who lived in retirement in Balashovsky convent, Archpriest Ioann Ilyich Sergiev (Kronstadt), Governor Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin, Vice-Governor D. G. Novikov.

The Nativity Brotherhood created a savings and loan bank, an intermediary bureau for finding work, and a consumer shop. The Spiritual and Educational Union organized by the Brotherhood was located at the Upper Bazaar.

Despite the fact that Saratov was at that time a large industrial center and a university city, the revolutionary unrest there very soon ceased.

At this time, Bishop Hermogenes established the newspapers “Orthodox Russian” and “Brotherly Listok”, in which he published many of his articles. “Saratov Diocesan Gazette” is turning into the weekly “Saratov Spiritual Bulletin”. “Orthodox Russian” and “Brotherly Messenger” were intended for the widest distribution among the common people. The editors of these publications sent out hundreds of sheets of each edition, asking deans for a symbolic fee of a penny per copy.

At the beginning of 1906, under the editorship of the “Brotherly Messenger,” His Grace Hermogenes established a committee to provide assistance to the hungry in the Saratov diocese, the chairman of which was priest Sergius Chetverikov. The consistory sent decrees to all deanery districts so that all churches of the diocese on all Sundays and holidays would make a special collection in favor of the hungry, preceded by the teaching of the priest.

His Eminence Hermogenes ardently supported the patriotic movements that began in the midst of popular life. In 1905, branches of the Orthodox All-Russian Fraternal Union of the Russian People were opened in Saratov and district towns of the province. One of the first chairmen of the Saratov branch was priest Matthew Karmanov.

In Volsk, the chairman of the local branch for a long time was the rector of the Cathedral, Archpriest Modest Belin. In addition to this Orthodox Fraternal Union, branches of the All-Russian Union of the Russian People worked in Saratov and district cities, whose members were not only Orthodox citizens, but also, for example, Old Believers.

Thus, in Volsk, the permanent chairman of the local branch of the Union of the Russian People was the Old Believer-beglopopov merchant Alexander Yakovlevich Solovyov.

During the stay of the Most Reverend Hermogenes at the Saratov See, the work of the Saratov diocesan care for the poor of the clergy was also revived. According to the charter of this guardianship, the following had the right to receive regular benefits: 1) virgin orphans before entering an educational institution for government support, before getting married and up to the age of 21; 2) boys up to the age of entering a religious school or up to 12 years of age; 3) widows and unemployed persons until they receive a regular position or until death, if their favorable behavior deserves it; 4) families and children of persons removed from their places or sent to a monastery for correction until their parents are identified or returned to their places.

Bishop Hermogenes attached great importance to the educational activities of the Brotherhood of the Holy Cross, calling on the parish clergy to at least materially contribute to its work.

On March 1, 1905, the Consistory sent out a decree to all deanery districts of the diocese, which spoke about the proposal of the Right Reverend.

“In order to better familiarize the Orthodox population of our diocese with the activities of the renewed local Orthodox Brotherhood of the Holy Cross with its 3 branches and to attract Orthodox residents to active participation in fraternal activities, as well as to increase the funds of the Brotherhood, I propose that the Spiritual Consistory make an appropriate order on the annual production in all churches of the diocese of collecting donations in favor of the Brotherhood of the Holy Cross for two days - March 25 and September 14 during all services, while ordering the parish priests, before the start of the collection, to first familiarize parishioners with the activities of the Brotherhood in their sermons and invite them to join among the brother-members."

In the conditions of the rapid destruction of moral principles in the education of youth in secular educational institutions, His Grace Hermogenes attached special importance to the activities of church schools. At a solemn act held on June 13, 1904 and dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the transfer of zemstvo schools to the jurisdiction of the Church, it was decided to establish the Saratov Diocesan Society for Assistance to Teachers and Students in Church Schools of the Saratov Diocese named after Sovereign Emperor Alexander the Third.” It was decided to contribute 1,500 rubles from the interest of Zakharyin’s capital and a ruble from each church in the diocese to the initial fund of this society. Approving this decision, at the report of the Chairman of the Diocesan School Council, Archpriest Krechetov, Bishop Hermogen writes an order to the steward of the Bishop's House to contribute 400 rubles from the funds of the Cross Church, 200 rubles from the funds of Kinovia, 400 rubles from his own bishop's salary to the fund of the opening Society. In addition, the bishop asked the rector fathers not to limit themselves to the ruble contribution and to donate more to church schools, if possible.

As the ruling bishop of the Saratov diocese, His Grace Hermogenes did not forget his first cathedral city. He loved to visit Volsk and serve in the crowded Volsk churches. On June 16, 1912, Vladyka arrived in Volsk by ship along with the Miraculous Sedmiezern Icon of the Mother of God.

After the liturgy and prayer service before the holy image, celebrated together with the Volsky vicar bishop Dosifei and the council of the city clergy, Bishops Hermogenes and Dosifei went to Kazan and further to the Sedmiezernaya Hermitage, their place of permanent residence Miraculous Icon. The Right Reverend Hermogenes invited in advance all admirers of the Heavenly Queen to follow the image on the steamship “Udachny”, and the Volsky dean Alexander Znamensky specially inquired about the cost of travel to Kazan and back.

Bishop Hermogenes understood well that the Church was the only healthy moral force in the indignant Russian society. He tried to establish the authority of the Church with all his might. When in 1908 the Saratov Duma decided to name two primary schools In the name of L.N. Tolstoy (while the writer was still alive), Hermogenes turned to the governor with a request to cancel this decree, but was refused.

Defending his flock from the preaching of debauchery and godlessness that began to be heard from the theater stage, Bishop Hermogenes raised his voice against the staging of Leonid Andreev’s decadent anti-Christian, blasphemous plays “Anatema” and “Anfisa”, against the mediocre play “Black Crows” staged at the Saratov Theater in 1910 year and in the wrong sense exposed the Orthodox clergy.

“Speaking with a pastoral word against the play,” the bishop wrote, “I did not at all have in mind this or that literary value of it - and it is, admittedly, insignificant - I meant this play as an outrageous libel against Divine Providence and all dear and sacred objects of faith for every Christian..."

Those in power, fearing after 1905 to be branded as obscurantists and ignoramuses, did not take any action against the continued unbridled insult to the Church. The report of the Saratov bishop was met with the same silent indifference in the Holy Synod, who proposed, on the basis of canonical rules, to excommunicate several Russian writers from the Church, among whom were D. S. Merezhkovsky, V. V. Rozanov, L. Andreev.

The “advanced public” took cruel revenge on the bishop, calling the most educated clergyman an obscurantist and obscurantist, a persecutor of freedom and enlightenment, and a hater of the intelligentsia.

Hermogenes was accused of being the one who contributed to the resignation in 1910 of the Saratov governor, Count Sergei Sergeevich Tatishchev.

Having been initially fascinated by the folk truth of Grigory Rasputin, the Bishop of Saratov soon realizes what kind of adventurer is influencing the August Family and all Russian politics. The far-sighted Hermogenes clearly sees to what tragic end the pseudo-spiritual old man is bringing Russia closer. Bishop Hermogenes becomes an active opponent of Rasputin and uses all means available to him to expose the rogue and tramp.

The long arms of Grigory Efimovich turned out to be much more terrible than the entire “progressive community”, which fiercely hated Hermogenes. The Holy Synod was a toy in the hands of an unprincipled adventurer, and the ruler of Saratov felt this very soon.

At the regular session of the Synod at the end of 1911, Hermogen spoke out against the introduction into the Russian Orthodox Church of a previously unknown corporation of deaconesses and the rite of funeral service for non-Orthodox people. Not finding support from the permanent and temporary members of the Synod, he sent a telegram to the Emperor, who was seriously interested in what was happening in the highest body of church government.

Chief Prosecutor Vladimir Karlovich Sabler, who was entirely dependent on Rasputin, handled the matter in such a way that the Emperor saw in this quite ordinary defense of his opinion an attempt to discredit the Synod. On January 7, 1912, Hermogenes received the Highest Decree on his release from presence in the Synod and an order to immediately leave the capital. Hermogenes, feeling unwell, was in no hurry. Sabler reported to the Emperor about disobedience. As a result, on January 17, a new Imperial decree appeared on the dismissal of Hermogenes from the administration of the diocese and deportation to the Zhirovitsky monastery in the Western Territory.

Could the Emperor have thought at that time that in just six years, he, now only citizen Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov, or the former Tsar, as the Bolsheviks would deliberately stubbornly call him, would accept the blessing Bishop of Tobolsk Hermogene.

In Zhirovitsy, the gift of foresight, which Hermogenes had discovered back in Tiflis, was rediscovered. Often, covering his face with his hands, he cried inconsolably and said with contrition:

“The ninth wave is coming, coming; will crush, sweep away all rot, all rags; a terrible, blood-chilling thing will happen - they will destroy the Tsar, they will destroy the Tsar, they will certainly destroy ... "

The last protopresbyter of the Russian army and navy, Georgy Shavelsky, who visited the disgraced bishop in 1915, left interesting memories of Bishop Hermogenes’ stay in Zhirovitsy and the oppression he experienced from the Grodno bishop and monastery brethren. “The situation of disgraced bishops imprisoned in monasteries has always been difficult. Diocesan bishops often did not spare the pride of their brethren who fell into disgrace. But the heaviest of all was the oppression of the abbots of the monasteries, often semi-literate archimandrites, who pettyly and rudely exercised their power and rights, not sparing the episcopal rank of prisoners. In this case, the bishop’s position was complicated by the fact that he was imprisoned in a monastery by order of the Highest. The local diocesan authorities clearly tried to show that they were strict with those whom the tsar did not favor. Bishop Hermogenes had a bad life in the monastery. And the Grodno Archbishop Michael, and the ignorant archimandrite rector, and even the very kind and meek vicar, Bishop Vladimir, each in his own way pressed the unfortunate prisoner...”

But even in Zhirovitsy, His Grace Hermogenes did not lose heart. His table was always littered with books, papers, newspapers, and medicines. For local peasants, the disgraced bishop prepared healing infusions and decoctions of medicinal herbs.

Many high-ranking persons and even members of the royal family spoke with sympathy about Hermogenes. The head of the police department, Stepan Petrovich Beletsky, wrote that while staying in Zhirovitsy, “the bishop humbly endured all hardships, served in the church in the cold winter, with broken frames, lived, denying himself everything, and with the money occasionally sent to him by his admirers, he supported a paramedic and pharmacy, helping the paramedic, and providing medical assistance to everyone who came for it, without distinction of nationality or religion.”

Due to the danger from the advancing German troops, at the request of the Commander-in-Chief, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, in August 1915, Bishop Hermogenes was transferred to the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery near Moscow, where the revolution found him.

Hermogenes' prophecy came true. The ninth wave of the senseless and merciless Russian revolt swept away everything. But the Lord prepared a martyr’s crown for him himself.

In March 1917, the Holy Governing Synod dismissed Rasputin's protege, Bishop of Tobolsk Varnava (Nakropin). The meeting of laity and clergy of the Tobolsk diocese elected Bishop Hermogenes as its diocesan bishop. In September, Vladyka was already in Tobolsk.

“I sincerely, from the depths of my soul, thank the All-Merciful Lord for staying and setting me up in Tobolsk,” he wrote to Patriarch Tikhon, “this is truly a monastery city, shrouded in silence and tranquility, at least at the present time.”

As a representative of the Tobolsk diocese, His Grace Hermogenes was a delegate to the Local Council of 1917-1918. Here he worked as deputy chairman of one of the most important departments - the department of the Higher Church Administration.

Tobolsk calm did not last long. The Civil War also affected this city. Here the family of the last Emperor was imprisoned, and Nicholas, who was still allowed meetings with the clergy, asked the rector of the Cathedral, Archpriest Vladimir Khlystun, to convey a bow to Bishop Hermogenes and a request to forgive him for his removal from the Saratov see. The Bishop did not hold a grudge and he himself asked the Most August Prisoner for forgiveness.

In Tobolsk, Bishop Hermogenes organized the St. John-Dmitrievsky Orthodox Brotherhood, which aimed to work with soldiers who had returned from the front and were corrupted by Bolshevik propaganda.

The bishop's concern for front-line soldiers infuriated the Bolsheviks.

No less furious were aroused by numerous appeals calling on believers to defend the Church and church shrines, to spiritual resistance to atheism and violence, perseverance and patience. On April 15, 1918, the fearless His Eminence Hermogenes headed procession, in which all the city clergy and thousands of laity participated. For several hours, the procession with singing walked through the streets of the city, inspiring everyone who cared about the Russian Church. Immediately after the religious procession ended, the bishop was arrested.

Fearing popular indignation, the authorities secretly took the bishop to Yekaterinburg, where, being in strict isolation, he nevertheless conveyed letters, from which it was clear that the spirit of the archpastor had not faded. From prison, His Eminence Hermogenes wrote a letter to Patriarch Tikhon outlining the history of his arrest and a humble request to leave him at the Tobolsk See, and consider his stay in prison as a continuation of his ministry.

A delegation of the Tobolsk clergy that arrived in Yekaterinburg began negotiations with the authorities about release on bail. The authorities, well aware that they could immediately arrest the bishop again when released on bail, demanded unimaginable sums.

When the money was collected and transferred, everyone who worked for the release of the bishop found himself under arrest. A few days later, the bishop’s brother, Archpriest Efrem Dolganev, priest Mikhail Makarov and attorney at law Konstantin Minyatov were shot.

A few days later, His Grace Hermogenes, along with other prisoners, was taken to Tyumen. On June 13, 1918, the prisoners brought to Tyumen were immediately taken from the station to the Ermak steamship. In the evening next day The steamer stopped at the village of Pokrovsky and here everyone, except for the bishop and the priest Peter Karelin who was with him, was transferred to the steamer "Oka", then put ashore and shot.

According to the Bolsheviks, “Ermak”, in view of the upcoming clash with the troops of the Siberian government, was to turn into a real fortress. Dressed in a cassock and skufia, the physically exhausted bishop, showered with curses and beatings, carried logs and boards and built fortifications. His good spirits did not leave him; the crew of the ominous steamship heard the Bishop singing Easter chants all the time.

On June 15, at ten o'clock in the evening, the bishop and priest were transferred to the ship "Oka". Approaching the gangway and already sensing his imminent death, the saint quietly said to the pilot of the Ermak steamship:
- Tell, baptized servant, to the whole great world that they pray to God for me.
On the ship, those arrested were put in a dirty and dark hold; The steamer went down the river towards Tobolsk. Around midnight, the Bolsheviks took priest Pyotr Karelin onto the deck, tied two heavy granite stones to him and threw them into the water. At half past midnight, Bishop Hermogenes was taken out of the hold onto the deck. Until the last minute he said prayer. When the executioners tied the stone with rope, he meekly blessed them. Having tied the ruler and attaching a stone to him on a short rope, the killers pushed him into the water. The Lord glorified His saint. The honorable remains of the holy martyr did not remain in oblivion. Despite the granite stone, they were thrown ashore and on July 3rd they were found and buried by a peasant from the village of Usolskoye, Alexei Maryanov.

Soon after the Bolsheviks were thrown out of Tobolsk by the troops of Admiral Kolchak, the bishop's body was taken out of the ground and, with honors, was transported to Tobolsk on the Altai steamship.

For five days, the coffin with the body of the holy martyr, which showed no signs of decay, stood in the St. Sophia Cathedral. The Tobolsk flock said goodbye to their saint.

On August 2, Bishop Irinarchus, vicar of the Most Reverend Hermogenes, co-served with a host of clergy, performed the rite of burial. Hieromartyr Hermogenes was buried in a crypt built in the St. John Chrysostom chapel of the Cathedral, on the site where the first grave of St. Metropolitan John of Tobolsk was located.

On June 23, 1998, the Hieromartyr Hermogenes was glorified among the locally revered saints of the Tobolsk diocese, and on August 20, 2000, by the Act of the Jubilee Consecrated Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, his name was included in the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia for church-wide veneration. By the same Act, those who suffered along with St. were canonized for church-wide veneration at the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. Hermogenes the Hieromartyrs Ephraim, Michael and Peter and the Martyr Constantine. In the summer of 2005, during the renovation of the St. Sophia Cathedral of Tobolsk, a crypt was discovered in which the earthly remains of the new martyr rested, and on September 2-3, 2005, celebrations took place in Tobolsk on the occasion of the discovery of the relics of the holy martyr Hermogenes, Bishop of Tobolsk and all Siberia.

Icon of the Hieromartyr Hermogenes, Bishop of Tobolsk and Siberia

Prayer

History of the discovery of the relics

Akathist to the Holy Martyr HERMOGENES BISHOP OF TOBOLSK

In our church there is a particle of the relics of the holy martyr Hermogenes, Bishop of Tobolsk and Siberia.

Everyone who comes to the temple can ask for a prayer

help to the saint, order a prayer service.

Saint Hermogenes (in the world - Georgy Efremovich Dolganov, 1858-1918) ruled the Tobolsk diocese in 1917-1918. and accepted martyrdom from the Bolsheviks in the summer of 1918 in the village. Pokrovskoye near Tobolsk. St. predicted his martyrdom in 1906. right John of Kronstadt, who wrote: “You are in a feat; The Lord opens heaven, as it did to Archdeacon Stephen, and blesses you.”

At the Council of Bishops in 2000, Bishop Hermogenes of Tobolsk and Siberia was canonized as one of the holy new martyrs and confessors of Russia.

Prayer Hieromartyr Hermogenes, Bishop of Tobolsk and Siberia.

Particle of the relics of the Holy Martyr Hermogenes, Bishop of Tobolsk and Siberia

Oh, good shepherd, Hieromartyr Hermogenes, for you loved Christ Jesus with all your soul, and from your youth you served diligently, you labored well in teaching and received the episcopacy worthily, you served the Orthodox Church, you endured many sorrows, preserving the faith and glorifying God, and finally You were crowned with the crown of martyrdom and now remain in the Heavenly abodes, overseeing and spiritually nourishing your flock. Hear the prayerful voice of your children, standing before your holy image and honoring the place of your burial, and leading you as an intercessor and intercessor before the Lord, beg the Lord to establish the Orthodox faith in the Russian country, to grant the shepherds and flock zeal for piety and salvation, the youth who studied understanding of sciences, but love and harmony for each other, may He convert the lost and unite His Holy Church, may He abolish heresies, schisms, and may He save and have mercy on all Orthodox Christians and grant Him the Kingdom of Heaven, where you now rest joyfully after your labors and struggles, glorifying with all the saints God, glorified in the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to endless ages. Amen.

Troparion of St. martyr Hermogenes of Tobolsk, ch. 7
In the saints you seemed to be marvelous / inspired by zeal for God, the holy martyr Hermogenes. / And to the flock of Siberia, a guide in suffering, appearing / with the Sovereign, sharing bonds and imprisonments / and having painfully ended the path / in heaven, you accepted the reward of your labors / praying for our people to the Lord.

Kontakion of the saint. martyr Hermogenes of Tobolsk, ch. 4
The feat of the saint who accomplished good / and the course of martyrdom who courageously died / we glorify you, Holy Martyr Hermogene, as your representative before the Lord / for the Russian country.

Magnification:
We magnify you / Hieromartyr Hermogenes / and honor your honest suffering / which you endured for Christ.

Life of the Hieromartyr Hermogenes of Tobolsk

“Filled with deep, fiery faith, he is not an armchair administrator, not a scientist far from life, but a living, practical figure, sensitively and ardently responding to the spiritual needs of his flock, not finding a moment of peace for himself, eager to be among the people, to pray with them , to console him, to instruct him, to bear his infirmities and illnesses. This is the Archpastor, par excellence, of the people, and the people of Saratov loved and appreciated him...”

Archpriest Sergius Chetverikov, 1911

Future St. Hermogenes (in the world Georgy Efremovich Dolganev) was born on April 25, 1858. in the family of a priest of the Kherson diocese. Georgy graduated from the full course of the Faculty of Law in Novorossiysk, and here he also took courses in the mathematical and historical-philological faculties. Then he entered the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, where he became a monk with the name Hermogenes.

In 1892 he was ordained to the rank of hieromonk. In 1893 graduated from the academy and was appointed inspector, and then rector of the Tiflis Theological Seminary with elevation to the rank of archimandrite. Hermogenes’ activities in the Caucasus, which spread much further than the seminary walls, became preparation for his priestly ministry.

On January 14, 1901, the consecration of Archimandrite took place in the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Hermogenes as Bishop of Volsky, vicar of the Saratov diocese. Bishop Hermogenes remained at the Volsk See for two years, and this time was associated with a significant revival of church life in Volsk. On March 21, 1903, he was appointed Bishop of Saratov and Tsaritsyn and summoned to attend the Holy Synod.

The bishop’s service at the Saratov See was distinguished by an unflagging fervor of spirit: missionary activity flourished through his labors, religious readings and extra-liturgical conversations were organized, the program for which was drawn up by the bishop himself, and he also led them. Vladyka often toured the parishes of the diocese and served with such reverence, awe and prayerful spirit that many cried with tenderness and spiritual joy. A large number of believers gathered for Vespers with an akathist before miraculously of the Savior Not Made by Hands, performed by him on Wednesdays at the Trinity Cathedral in Saratov.

The bishop attached particular importance to the printed word. A commission was created in the diocese to publish brochures, leaflets, paintings and images of spiritual and religious-moral content for distribution among the people. The diocesan printed organ “Saratov Spiritual Messenger” was transformed and expanded, and the weekly “Brotherly List” was established. Charitable activities developed widely - helping the poor, the hungry, and orphans.

At the same time, churches, monasteries, parochial and missionary schools were intensively built. In 1903–1912 in the diocese, 50 churches were consecrated, 8 monasteries and farmsteads were founded or restored... It is difficult to name an area of activity where the bishop would not strive to use his characteristic tenacity, activity, and zeal for the good of the Church.

Concerned about the salvation of souls, the archpastor was not afraid of the world hostile to the Truth and, like St. Basil the Great and John Chrysostom, defended Orthodoxy from sermons of atheism and debauchery, which then began to be heard loudly from the theater stage. In 1907, the Saratov clergy protested against shows of an immoral and blasphemous nature, and was supported by His Eminence Hermogenes.

Righteous John of Kronstadt treated Bishop Hermogenes with great love and respect, saying that he was calm about the fate of Orthodoxy and could die, knowing that bishops Hermogenes and Seraphim (Chichagov) would continue his work. Predicting the martyrdom of the saint, he wrote to him in 1906: “You are in a feat, the Lord opens heaven, like Archdeacon Stephen, and blesses you.”

Archpriest Sergius Chetverikov recalled the service of the Right Reverend Hermogenes in Saratov: “From the very first days of my stay in Saratov, I recognized Bishop Hermogenes as a people’s prayer book and a people’s mentor. Then I recognized him as a generous benefactor... What was especially striking about him was his completely youthful responsiveness to every good undertaking and complete disregard for his own comfort and peace. He didn't belong to himself. At any time of the day, high school students came to him, and he went out to talk to them... he could go to visit some tradesman... When I, still barely knowing him, got sick, he came to visit me..."

In his life, Bishop Hermogenes was simple and non-covetous. He had nothing of his own; he wore common underwear with the brethren of the monastery where he lived; when his cassock wore out, he was given another of those used by novices; he received food from the common monastery meal; He gave all the funds assigned to him by law and those that were donated to him entirely to church needs and distributed them to the poor. He was called an ascetic bishop.

The bishop was not “easy” to communicate with for everyone. As a direct and impartial person, he always said what he considered necessary for the benefit of the matter, regardless of ranks, titles and the consequences that might arise for him. While defending the Church, he could be harsh, “unyielding” and uncompromising.

At the end of 1911, at the next meeting of the Holy Synod, the bishop sharply disagreed with Chief Prosecutor V.K. Sabler, who, with the tacit consent of many bishops, hastily carried out some institutions and definitions of an anti-canonical nature (the introduction of the rank of deaconesses and the liturgical rite of funeral services for non-Orthodox people) . On January 7, the Right Reverend Hermogenes was announced a decree signed by the Sovereign on his dismissal from presence in the Holy Synod; on January 17, 1912, he was dismissed from the administration of the diocese and sent to retire to the Zhirovitsky Monastery of the Grodno Diocese. One of the reasons for this exile was the ruler’s sharply negative attitude towards G. Rasputin.

The head of the police department, S.P. Beletsky, wrote that while staying in Zhirovitsy, “the bishop humbly endured all the hardships, served in a church that was not heated in winter, with broken frames, lived, denying himself everything, and on the money occasionally sent to him by his trustees maintained a paramedic and a pharmacy, helping the paramedic, and providing medical assistance to everyone who came for it.”

The saint often grieved over the future of the Church, the Tsar and the Fatherland and, crying, said: “The ninth wave is coming, coming, it will crush, sweep away all the rot, all the rags; a terrible, blood-chilling thing will happen - they will destroy the Tsar... they will certainly destroy him.”

In August 1915, the bishop was transferred to the NikoloUgreshsky monastery of the Moscow diocese, where his exile and forced “rest” continued...

Return of St. Hermogenes return to active work practically coincided with the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne: at the beginning of March 1917, Vladyka was appointed to the Tobolsk See and again became a diocesan bishop. Unshakably defending the truth during the monarchy, he opposed the lies and violence of state atheism with all the greater zeal. He called on his Tobolsk flock to “remain faithful to the faith of their fathers, not to bend the knee before the idols of the revolution and their... priests...” At that time, Tobolsk was a place of imprisonment for royal prisoners; the saint, as a shepherd, secretly provided them with spiritual support, and the Bolsheviks collected a “dossier” on him, intending to accuse him of a counter-revolutionary monarchist conspiracy - in the conditions of revolutionary Russia this could become the most serious crime.

The authorities were preparing to arrest the ruler, but he, despite this, appointed Palm Sunday On April 15, 1918, a religious procession, before the start of which he called on everyone to offer a national prayer to the Lord God for the salvation of the perishing Motherland... After the religious procession, he was arrested and imprisoned in Yekaterinburg prison. From arrest to martyrdom there was a short period of 2 months. In one of his letters the saint wrote: “Do not grieve for me because of my imprisonment. This is my spiritual school. Glory to God, who gives such wise and beneficial tests to me, who am in dire need of strict and extreme measures of influence on my inner spiritual world.”

Having kept the bishop in captivity for some time, the authorities demanded a ransom, but having received it, instead of releasing the bishop, they arrested members of the delegation: Archpriest Efrem Dolganev, Priest Mikhail Makarov and Konstantin Minyatov. Their martyrdom preceded the death of the ruler.

Soon, Vladyka, along with other prisoners, was transported to Tyumen and taken by ship to the village of Pokrovskoye. Everyone was shot, except Bishop Hermogenes and priest Peter Karelin. They were thrown into the hold, and the ship headed towards Tobolsk. On the evening of June 15, when the holy martyrs were being transferred from one ship to another, the Bishop, approaching the gangway, quietly said to the pilot: “Tell, baptized slave, to the whole great world that they pray to God for me.”

Around midnight from June 15 to 16, Priest Pyotr Karelin was first taken onto the deck of the steamer Oka, two large granite stones were tied to him and thrown into the waters of the river. The same fate befell the bishop, who until the last minute constantly prayed and blessed the executioners...

The bishop’s venerable remains, along with a stone weighing more than a pound, were carried to the river bank, discovered by peasants on July 3 and buried at the site of their discovery. On August 2, the ceremonial burial of Sschmch took place. Hermogen in the Sophia-Assumption Cathedral in Tobolsk.

Sschmchch. Hermogenes, Ephraim, Michael, Peter and Martyr. Constantine was canonized at the Jubilee Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in August 2000.

On September 3, 2005, the relics of Sschmch were found. Hermogenes and transferred to the Intercession Church of the Tobolsk Kremlin. In 2011, a particle of the saint’s relics was transferred to the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Saratov. Residents and guests of the city have a happy opportunity, coming here, to venerate the saint, who turned out to be ready to accept death in order to testify to his faith.

HISTORY OF ACQUISITION OF POWERS

October 3, 2005

The relics of the holy martyr Hermogenes, Bishop of Tobolsk and Siberia were discovered

As Archbishop Dimitry (Kapalin) of Tobolsk and Tyumen said, it was known that the saint was buried in the northern aisle of the Sophia-Assumption Cathedral of the Tobolsk Kremlin, but the exact place of burial was unknown. During the renovation of the cathedral in 1995, ten burials of archpastors dating back to the 18th-19th centuries were found, as well as a cement crypt containing a coffin sealed in metal. Here the assumption arose that this was the crypt of a holy martyr (since cement is a building material of the 20th century), however, to verify this, it took more than one year to study all the relevant archival materials, conduct research and studies in which students of the Tobolsk Theological Church took part seminary. The final identification of the burial site was helped by a crack in the wall of the cathedral, which, according to old descriptions, became the main feature of the desired place.

Having received the blessing His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus' for the opening of the burial, with a large gathering of believers, in the presence of bishops, the relics were opened. According to the Tobolsk bishop, all the details confirmed that the remains of St. Hermogenes had been found, and the body and vestments were well preserved, but were somewhat damp due to the work once carried out in the cathedral to drain the crypt. The last and final evidence was the teeth of the deceased: according to Archbishop Demetrius, “they were like a file” - it is known that when the archpastor was martyred, he sang “Christ is Risen!”, and the executioners hit him in the face with rifle butts, knocking off his teeth.

A fragrance emanated from the coffin with the body. In a procession of the cross, it was carried around the courtyard of the Tobolsk Kremlin and placed in the Intercession Church, where the Divine Liturgy was served. Now the relics are open for worship by believers.

Akathist to the Hieromartyr Hermogenes, Bishop of Tobolsk

For private reading

Kontakion 1
Chosen warrior of the Heavenly King / and mentor of Christ’s flock, / a kind and fair shepherd, Holy Martyr Hermogenes / who shone on the lands of Siberia like a God-bright star / in the same way, as having boldness towards the Lord, / grant us enlightenment, let us call to you: /
Rejoice, holy martyr Hermogene, / lamp of the Siberian lands.

Ikos 1
Creator of Angels, glorified in the Trinity, foreknown pure heart your will, showing you in the world to be a true zealot of piety and love of Christ incarnation. You are a glorious leader of a monk and a good shepherd, granting you the gift of fighting a good fight and courageously ending the course of temporary life, while teaching us to chant this:
Rejoice, chosen by God to be our shepherd;
Rejoice, crowned with bishop's grace;
Rejoice, lover of God with a pure mind;
Rejoice, thou who diligently served the Lord;
Rejoice, your heart guarded in kindness;
Rejoice, having accepted the yoke of Christ from youth;
Rejoice, blessed land of Siberia;
Rejoice, decoration of the Church's heaven with all the saints;

Kontakion 2
Seeing the kindness of your soul, the providential Lord of your soul, directed your thoughts to search for the only thing you need; Having desired the salvation of your soul, you have become accustomed to crying out to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 2
Having a divine mind, you despised all the vanity of modern life, thereby leaving the world and everything in the world, you accepted the rank of angels, having rejoiced your parent in the priestly rank who served God, this will of yours is praised by the verb like this:
Rejoice, you have walked the right path;
Rejoice, you have found the Kingdom of God;
Rejoice, you who left your parents' house;
Rejoice, thou who has followed Christ;
Rejoice, image of meekness and humility;
Rejoice, recipient of Christ's patience;
Rejoice, for you gave Isaac into the hands of God;
Rejoice, soaring to heaven with love;
Rejoice, holy martyr Hermogene, lamp of the Siberian land.

Kontakion 3
We strengthen you with the power of God, in your monastic asceticism you strove to please Christ God through an immaculate life; in the Trinity you sing to God, like a golden-stringed organ, you cried out: Alleluia.

Ikos 3
Having the grace of the priesthood, well carried in the fragrant vessel of your soul, in the city of Tiflis you taught pure morality and church piety, seeing you in the same way, with the zeal of flaming teaching, crying out to you:
Rejoice, constant invocation of God's help;
Rejoice, good upbringing of young students;
Rejoice, everlasting admonition to youth;
Rejoice, wise correction of her violence;
Rejoice, teach the fear of God,
Rejoice, fill young hearts with grace;
Rejoice, guide to eternal life;
Rejoice, save us from the death of sin;
Rejoice, holy martyr Hermogene, lamp of the Siberian land.

Kontakion 4
You endured heart struggles and spiritual sadness, Hieromartyr Hermogenes, remaining in the ascetic labor of teaching without laziness, preparing young men for church service and to succeed in living with good behavior, instructing them in a fatherly manner; in the time to come in their lives, they sang with gratitude to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 4
Seeing your many labors, our Eternal Bishop, the Lord Jesus Christ, entrusts the archpastoral rod and the Saratov flock to your supervision. We are having fun about this and say this:
Rejoice, you who have passed through all the degrees of monasticism;
Rejoice, thou seated on the holy throne;
Rejoice, undaunted guardian of the Church;
Rejoice, tireless worker of Christ’s grapes;
Rejoice, you who teach the words of life;
Rejoice, you who call the lost sheep to Christ;
Rejoice, you who enlighten those who sit in darkness;
Rejoice, having saved them from destruction;
Rejoice, holy martyr Hermogene, lamp of the Siberian land.

Kontakion 5
Showing thee the godly star in the heavens in the host of the holy martyrs, Lord Almighty, before and on earth you were a bright star, illuminating the Orthodox kingdom and guiding you to please the One God, in which you sing to Him: Alleluia.

Ikos 5
Having seen you, Russia, as a daring servant in difficult times for the Church and the Orthodox people, raising your voice for the faith and the Fatherland and preserving the purity of the apostolic covenants, marveling at your feat, for this reason we are illuminated by your light to this day, we cry out to you:
Rejoice, you who have sanctified your heart with prayers;
Rejoice, raising your clever hair to heaven;
Rejoice, you who proclaim eternal salvation;
Rejoice, good soldier of Christ who has appeared;
Rejoice, thou who loves heavenly glory above all else;
Rejoice, having achieved salvation in the One God;
Rejoice, you who spoke wisdom through your lips;
Rejoice, O lamp, who shone forth in the darkness of this age;
Rejoice, holy martyr Hermogene, lamp of the Siberian land.

Kontakion 6
Preacher of the Gospel and zealot of piety, you were St. Hermogenes in your word and life. You were not afraid of human reproach and enemy attacks. With meekness and long-suffering you accepted them as if from the hand of God, and you cried out to Him: Alleluia.

Ikos 6
You have shone in the firmament of the church as a lamp of God, Father Hermogenes; you have appeared in your flock as a teacher of faith, heights of spirit and the strength of piety. In the cities of Saratov and Tsaritsyn, you performed the processions of the Cross and incessant Divine Services in popular singing, having foreseen the troubled times. We honor you with the same dignity:
Rejoice, do not please the shepherd;
Rejoice, thou preservest the flock of Christ well;
Rejoice, having crushed wickedness with the rod of righteousness,
Rejoice, you who zealously denounced the enemies of the church;
Rejoice, strong fence for those unjustly offended; (or:
Rejoice, blessed by John of Kronstadt;)
Rejoice, protection, for the sake of truth, to those who are hated; (or:
Rejoice, zealous protection for the suffering;)
Rejoice, you who did not sheathe the spiritual sword;
Rejoice, you who have received the crown of martyrdom from the Lord;
Rejoice, holy martyr Hermogene, lamp of the Siberian land.

Kontakion 7
Although the Lord, the Lover of mankind, tested you like gold in a crucible, separating you from the Saratov flock and placing you in the Zhirovitsky monastery, where you were completely devoted to exploits and prayer, you were loved by the brethren, thanking God for everything and joyfully crying out to Him: Alleluia.

Ikos 7
A new and insurmountable wall and indestructible fence of the Zhirovitsky monastery was given to you by the Lord, as an ascetic of piety, to Reverend Hermogenes. In prayer and lamentation for the ignorant and lost, you labored unshakably, and you clothed yourself in the likeness of Christ. For this reason, through your prayers, free us from the work of the enemy and teach us to serve the One God, praising you:
Rejoice, surprising the angels with your life;
Rejoice, freeing yourself from passions;
Rejoice, thou who teachest the wisdom of the heavens;
Rejoice, glorifying humanity in Christ;
Rejoice, fulfiller of Christ's commandments;
Rejoice, zealot of piety;
Rejoice, unyielding confessor of Orthodoxy;
Rejoice, defender of monastic statutes;
Rejoice, holy martyr Hermogene, lamp of the Siberian land.

Kontakion 8
May the Lord allow the Russian people to experience troubled times of troubles and sorrows, although they may separate the wheat from the chaff and glorify their servants, but we learn their unshakable patience for the Orthodox faith, glorifying Christ God, wondrous in His saints, singing to Him: Alleluia.

Ikos 8
Having arranged everything wisely, the Lord, granting you the archpastor of the land of Siberia, to be the guardian of church statutes and in the days of troubles for everyone the patron, rejoicing in your coming to us, we sing to you like this:
Rejoice, affirmation of faith
Rejoice, infusion of hope;
Rejoice, show the love of Christ;
Rejoice, you who delight God-wise minds;
Rejoice, joy for God-loving souls;
Rejoice, healing of our bodies;
Rejoice, sad one for our fatherland;
Rejoice, priestly leader of the Tobolsk departments;
Rejoice, holy martyr Hermogene, lamp of the Siberian land.

Kontakion 9
All the people of the Tobolsk flock, seeing you, the saint, a silent preacher and a generous benefactor, filled with the love of Christ, like a father filled with his children, and a representative before the throne of God for us, unanimously hurried to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 9
Our song oratory is not possible according to our heritage; utter your labors, Saint Hermogenes, for you fought a good fight, performed Divine services, preached piety and sorrow for the love of the Lord Jesus, for this sake accept this praise from us:
Rejoice, perform holy prayers;
Rejoice, remain in non-slothful labors;
Rejoice, for you were zealous in your vigils;
Rejoice, for you have acquired the dispassion of Christ;
Rejoice, teacher of humility and kindness;
Rejoice, guardian of patience and peace;
Rejoice, teach your enemies to love;
Rejoice, conquer enmity with love;
Rejoice, holy martyr Hermogene, lamp of the Siberian land.

Kontakion 10
By arranging eternal salvation for everyone, the Lord will determine for you short time of your holiness on the lands of Siberia, where waves of unrest and internecine warfare were raised by the enemy of salvation. But you, like the adamant of faith, remained unshakable, singing to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 10
The wall is solid and the city is invincible, abiding by the rebuke of the tormentors, you were not afraid, O saint, in a procession of the cross the city of Tobolsk was sanctified and the royal prisoners were blessed from the heights of the Kremlin. We, marveling at the strength of your spirit, sing to you this:
Rejoice, kind warrior of the Heavenly King;
Rejoice, faithful servant of the earthly king;
Rejoice, taming of worldly rebellion;
Rejoice, exaltation of the Christian feat;
Rejoice, you who laughed at the tormentor;
Rejoice, you who have firmly taken up the feat of confession;
Rejoice, you who endured this to the end;
Rejoice, you who have shown a good image to your faithful children;
Rejoice, holy martyr Hermogene, lamp of the Siberian land.

Kontakion 11
You endured martyrdom, heavy chains, long exile and prison imprisonment, O holy saint, when you were taken to martyrdom by evil-tempered and unfaithful people in one city, at the same time as royal passion-bearers You remained until you reached the ascent of your suffering to Golgotha, singing to God who strengthens you: Alleluia.

Ikos 11
Hearing, your faithful children about your bonds in Ekaterinograd, longing for your liberation, but not being able to overcome the treachery of the tormentors, and having suffered from them with victorious honors from the Lord, they were naturally crowned, laying down their souls together with their shepherd. We, praising your feat, cry out to you: Rejoice, holy martyrs: Ephraim, Peter, Michael, who accomplished your feat; Rejoice, having neglected the tormenting deceptions.
Rejoice, martyr Constantine, who devoted himself to his heroic deeds;
Rejoice, holy martyr Hermogen, who suffered for the Lord.
Rejoice, for the Stone of Faith, Christ, cast into the water.
Rejoice, thou who was found with a stone on thy forehead;
Rejoice, for your body appeared incorruptibly; Rejoice, for the Kingdom of God is surely given to you;
Rejoice, holy martyr Hermogene, lamp of the Siberian land.

Kontakion 12
Giving thanks to God and ending the path of earthly life as a martyr, you meekly prayed with those who suffered with you in the River Tura and in a short time, your body is found incorruptible on the river breeze and is honestly brought to the city of Tobolsk and buried in the tomb of St. John, and is now glorified by Christians generations crying out to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 12
Accept the singing at your tomb, O saint of God, Saint Hermogenes, from us who commemorate your memory, even though your memory has been hidden for many years, but it is impossible for a lamp to hide under a bushel. To God, who wisely arranges all things and sets the lamp of your faith in the canopy and first aid who appears to us, let us cry out to you like this:
Rejoice, thou who has accomplished a good deed;
Rejoice, thou who hast revealed an imperishable body through grace;
Rejoice, for this was more honorably buried in the church; ,
Rejoice, for this has been given for healing to the faithful;
Rejoice, for you demonstrate the power of the resurrection of Christ;
Rejoice, for you show the dawn of the general resurrection;
Rejoice, undoubted assurance of the truth of Orthodoxy;
Rejoice, unfalse information from the grace-filled faith;
Rejoice, holy martyr Hermogene, lamp of the Siberian land.

Kontakion 13
O sacred head, holy martyr Hermogenes, you loved the Lord Jesus Christ with all your soul and you deigned to suffer for the Orthodox Faith and the Holy Church and in heaven you accepted the reward of your labors, but you did not leave us on earth who honor you, hear us glorifying and those who pray to Thee: may the grace of God multiply in us, purifying and sanctifying our souls, and having received eternal salvation, we cry out to God in gratitude: Alleluia.
This Kontakion is read three times. Therefore Ikos 1 and Kontakion 1

Prepared from materials.

Family

Born into the family of a priest, who later became a monk and was elevated to the rank of archimandrite in the Saratov Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery. From childhood he was a deeply religious person.

Education

He received his secondary education at a theological seminary and passed the matriculation exams at the classical gymnasium in the city of Ananyev, Kherson province. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of Novorossiysk University (1886), also took a course in the Faculty of Mathematics, and attended lectures at the Faculty of History and Philology of the university. He graduated from the St. Petersburg Theological Academy (1893) with a candidate's degree in theology.

Monk and teacher

He repeatedly interrupted his studies, got a job, tried to engage in arable farming, and traveled. In a state of mental crisis, he subjected himself to self-castration. In 1889 he was admitted to the St. Petersburg Theological Academy.

In 1890, he was tonsured a monk, ordained to the rank of hierodeacon, and on March 15, 1892 - to the rank of hieromonk.

Since 1893 - inspector, since 1898 - rector of the Tiflis Theological Seminary with elevation to the rank of archimandrite. At the same time, he was appointed a member of the Georgian-Imereti Synodal Office and chairman of the school diocesan council. He was the editor of the “Spiritual Bulletin of the Georgian Exarchate”.

During his period as rector of the seminary from this educational institution Joseph Dzhugashvili was expelled, whom he personally expelled from the seminary for absenteeism and low academic performance.

Bishop

He launched a wide missionary activity, in which he also involved laymen. Organized extra-liturgical readings and conversations, developed programs for Sunday schools.

By his own example, as well as by frequent conversations with the diocesan clergy and special circulars, he called on the clergy to earnestly, unhurriedly and strictly in accordance with the regulations, performing church services. He paid considerable attention to the fight against sectarianism, within the framework of which he organized non-liturgical pastoral conversations. In Saratov, they were held under the leadership of the bishop on all Sundays and holidays, preceded by a short prayer service, alternated with spiritual chants performed by the bishop's choir, and ended with the singing of all those present. To promote Orthodox ideas, he transformed and expanded the diocesan printed organ - “Saratov Spiritual Messenger” and created the weekly “Brotherly List”, established weekly printed organs were established in Balashov, Kamyshin and Tsaritsyn. During his service at the Saratov See, over fifty churches were built, and the number of parochial schools increased significantly.

Political Views

One of the most conservative Russian bishops of the early 20th century. He sharply criticized contemporary trends in literature and theatrical life. Thus, he assessed Leonid Andreev’s play “Anatema” extremely negatively, in his sermon calling on the governor to protect Russian youth from dark and evil forces, and sent a petition to the Holy Synod to ban this play. Author of the brochure “Current Researchers of Anathema and Its Sedition.” The bishop’s public statements were “extremely harsh and often violated the provisions of Russian legislation.” He proposed excommunicating Leonid Andreev, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, and Vasily Rozanov. Canceled the appointment cathedral a memorial service for the famous actress V.F. Komissarzhevskaya and asked Tashkent (where she died during a tour from smallpox), what she was sick with, whether she was Orthodox and when she confessed.

Conflict with the Synod and exile

At a meeting of the Holy Synod at the end of 1911, Hermogen spoke out against what was proposed by Moscow Metropolitan Vladimir (Epiphany) and Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna introduced the rank of deaconesses in the Orthodox Church. He appealed sharply on this issue to the emperor - he sent him a telegram in which he claimed that the Holy Synod was establishing in Moscow “a purely heretical corporation of deaconesses, a false forged institution instead of a true one.” Also in this telegram, he criticized the project to introduce a special rite of funeral prayer for non-Orthodox people, saying that this turns out to be “open connivance and unauthorized, disorderly indulgence towards opponents of the Orthodox Church.”

At the same time, the bishop came into conflict with Grigory Rasputin, whom he initially supported. For the sake of fighting the “lascivious old man,” he formed an alliance with the Black Hundred hieromonk Iliodor (Trufanov), which was initially supported by church and secular authorities who saw him as a successful anti-revolutionary propagandist. At the bishop's apartment on December 16, 1911, Hermogenes, Iliodor, the holy fool Mitya, the writer Rodionov and others began to denounce Rasputin and, threatening him with a saber, forced him to kiss the cross. As a result, Rasputin was forced to swear that he would leave the Tsar's palace.

At the beginning of 1912, the Synod began the persecution of Iliodor and Hermogenes. The latter was dismissed by the emperor from attending the Synod on January 3; he was ordered to go to the diocese entrusted to him. Refusing to obey this order, the bishop gave interviews to newspapers in which he criticized the members of the Synod. As a result, on January 17, he was dismissed from the management of the diocese and sent to the Zhirovitsky Monastery. In August 1915 he was transferred to the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery of the Moscow Diocese.

At the Tobolsk department

Since March 8, 1917 - Bishop of Tobolsk and Siberia; appointed to this post as a “victim of the old regime.” He retained his monarchical convictions and called on his flock to “remain faithful to the faith of their fathers, not to bend the knee to the idols of the revolution and their modern priests, who demand that the Orthodox Russian people weatherize, distort the Russian people’s soul with cosmopolitanism, internationalism, communism, open atheism and bestial vile depravity.” He sharply criticized the Decree on the Separation of Church and State. and the lives of the saints, prayed and sang church hymns.

The Tobolsk diocesan congress sent a delegation to Yekaterinburg, which asked to release the bishop on bail. The delegation included:

Archpriest Efrem Dolganev, brother of Bishop Hermogenes;
priest Mikhail Makarov;
attorney at law Konstantin Aleksandrovich Minyatov.

The delegation paid the established bail of ten thousand rubles (initially the authorities demanded one hundred thousand), but the bishop was not released, and the members of the delegation were themselves arrested and soon shot.

In June 1918, the bishop and several other prisoners (priest of the village of Kamensky Ekaterinburg diocese Pyotr Karelin, former gendarmerie non-commissioned officer Nikolai Knyazev, high school student Mstislav Golubev, former police chief of Yekaterinburg Genrikh Rushinsky and officer Ershov) were taken to Tyumen and delivered to the Ermak steamer. All the prisoners, except the bishop and Fr. Peter were shot on the shore, near the village of Pokrovskoye. Bishop Hermogenes and Fr. Peter died a little later. At first they were forced to work on the construction of fortifications near Pokrovsky, then they were transferred to the steamer Oka, which headed to Tobolsk. On the way to this city, the clergy were on the orders of Pavel Khokhryakov with the inclusion of the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia and the establishment of the memory of June 16.

In August 2000, by the Act of the Jubilee Consecrated Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, his name was included in the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia for church-wide veneration. By the same Act, the victims along with St. were canonized for church-wide veneration at the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. Hermogenes, holy martyrs Efrem Dolganev, Mikhail Makarov, Peter Karelin and martyr Konstantin Minyatov.

On May 4, 2017, by decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, he was included in the council of “Fathers of the Local Council of the Russian Church 1917-1918.” (Comm. November 5/18).

Essays

“To our young spiritual environment,” Spiritual Bulletin of the Georgian Exarchate, 1898, Part unofficial, No. 24, 2-10.
"Essay on the activities of the Diocesan Missionary Spiritual-Educational Brotherhood in Tiflis for two years of its existence (from October 19, 1897 to October 22, 1899), "Spiritual Bulletin of the Georgian Exarchate, 1900, Part unofficial, No. 6 , 7-23.
“The struggle for the truth of our theological school: Review of the project for the new organization of this school,” Saratov Spiritual Bulletin, 1908, No. 44, 3-10.
"Indignant condemnation of permitted blasphemy: (The true image of Tolstoy's death), "Saratov, .
"From the “true” light into “utter darkness”: ( Open letter to Russian people), "Pg., 1916.
"Interpretation of the "Revelation" of John the Theologian," First and Last, M., 2003, No. 2(6).

Awards

Notes

Orthodox Encyclopedia“The ABC of Faith” - “The Hieromartyr Hermogenes (Dolganev), Bishop of Tobolsk and Siberia.” Link.

Hieromartyr Hermogenes of Tobolsk (in the world Georgy Efremovich or Dolganev; April 25 (May 7), 1858, Kherson province - June 29, 1918, near Tobolsk) was born into the family of a priest, who later became a monk and was elevated to the rank of archimandrite in the Saratov Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery . From childhood he was a deeply religious person.

In 1890 he was tonsured a monk, ordained to the rank of hierodeacon, and on March 15, 1892 - to the rank of hieromonk.

From 1893 - inspector, from 1898 - rector of the Tiflis Theological Seminary with elevation to the rank of archimandrite. At the same time, he was appointed a member of the Georgian-Imeretian Synodal Office and Chairman of the school diocesan council. He was the editor of the “Spiritual Bulletin of the Georgian Exarchate”. During his service as rector of the seminary, Joseph Dzhugashvili was expelled from this educational institution.

He launched a wide missionary activity, in which he also involved laymen. Organized extra-liturgical readings and conversations, developed programs for Sunday schools.

By his own example, as well as by frequent conversations with the diocesan clergy and special circulars, he called on the clergy to earnestly, unhurriedly and strictly in accordance with the regulations, performing church services. He paid considerable attention to the fight against sectarianism, within the framework of which he organized non-liturgical pastoral conversations. In Saratov, they were held under the leadership of the bishop on all Sundays and holidays, preceded by a short prayer service, alternated with spiritual chants performed by the bishop's choir, and ended with the singing of all those present. To promote Orthodox ideas, he transformed and expanded the diocesan printed organ - “Saratov Spiritual Messenger” and created the weekly “Brotherly List”, established weekly printed organs in Balashov, Kamyshin and Tsaritsyn. During his service at the Saratov See, over fifty churches were built, and the number of parochial schools increased significantly.

During the revolution of 1905, he spoke from a pronounced anti-revolutionary position, often gave sermons, showing himself to be a convinced and consistent monarchist. One of the organizers of the branch of the Union of Russian People in Saratov.

One of the most conservative Russian bishops of the early 20th century. He sharply criticized contemporary trends in literature and theatrical life. Thus, he assessed Leonid Andreev’s play “Anatema” extremely negatively, in his sermon calling on the governor to protect Russian youth from dark and evil forces, and sent a petition to the Holy Synod to ban this play. Author of the brochure “Current Researchers of Anathema and Its Sedition.” He proposed excommunicating Leonid Andreev, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, and Vasily Rozanov. He canceled the memorial service scheduled for the famous actress V.F. at the cathedral. Komissarzhevskaya and asked Tashkent (where she died during a tour from smallpox) what she was sick with, whether she was Orthodox and when she confessed.

He took part in a meeting of the Holy Synod, in which he spoke out against the introduction of the rank of deaconesses in the Orthodox Church proposed by Moscow Metropolitan Vladimir (Epiphany) and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. He appealed sharply on this issue to the emperor - he sent him a telegram in which he claimed that the Holy Synod was establishing in Moscow “a purely heretical corporation of deaconesses, a false forged institution instead of a true one.” Also in this telegram, he criticized the project to introduce a special rite of funeral prayer for non-Orthodox people, saying that this turns out to be “open connivance and unauthorized, disorderly indulgence towards opponents of the Orthodox Church.”

On January 3, 1912, he was dismissed by the emperor from attending the Synod; he was ordered to go to the diocese entrusted to him. He refused to obey this order and gave interviews to newspapers in which he criticized the members of the Synod. As a result, on January 17, 1912, he was dismissed from the administration of the diocese and sent to the Zhirovitsky Monastery.

Two other factors contributed to his dismissal. Firstly, he supported the activities of the Black Hundred hieromonk Iliodor (Trufanov), who was initially supported by church and secular authorities, who saw him as a successful anti-revolutionary propagandist. But then they distanced themselves from his demagoguery (later Iliodor removed his rank and announced a break with the church). Hermogenes remained an ally of Iliodor until he took office. Secondly, the bishop came into conflict with Grigory Rasputin, whom he initially supported.

In August 1915 he was transferred to the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery of the Moscow Diocese.

From March 8, 1917 - Bishop of Tobolsk and Siberia; appointed to this post as a “victim of the old regime.” He retained his monarchical convictions and called on his flock to “remain faithful to the faith of their fathers, not to bend the knee to the idols of the revolution and their modern priests, who demand that the Orthodox Russian people weatherize, distort the Russian people’s soul with cosmopolitanism, internationalism, communism, open atheism and bestial vile depravity.” He sharply criticized the Decree on the separation of church and state.

Accused Soviet authorities in sympathy for Nicholas II, who was in Tobolsk (there is evidence that the former emperor and bishop forgave each other for previous insults), as well as in attempts to organize assistance to former front-line soldiers (the Bolsheviks regarded this as an attempt to organize them for counter-revolutionary purposes). April 15, 1918 in Tobolsk A large religious procession took place, after which the bishop was placed under house arrest. Then he was sent to Yekaterinburg, where he arrived on April 18; was imprisoned, where he read the New Testament translated by Konstantin Pobedonostsev and the lives of saints, prayed and sang church hymns.

The Tobolsk diocesan congress sent a delegation to Yekaterinburg, which asked to release the bishop on bail. The delegation included: Archpriest Efrem Dolganev, brother of Bishop Hermogenes; priest Mikhail Makarov; attorney at law Konstantin Aleksandrovich Minyatov.

In June 1918, the bishop and several other prisoners (priest of the village of Kamensky of the Yekaterinburg diocese Pyotr Karelin, former gendarmerie non-commissioned officer Nikolai Knyazev, high school student Mstislav Golubev, former chief of police of Yekaterinburg Heinrich Rushinsky and officer Ershov) were taken to Tyumen and delivered to the ship "Ermak" . All the prisoners, except the bishop and Fr. Peter were shot on the shore, near the village of Pokrovskoye. Bishop Hermogenes and Fr. Peter died a little later. At first they were forced to work on the construction of fortifications near Pokrovsky, then they were transferred to the steamer Oka, which headed to Tobolsk. On the way to this city, the clergy were drowned in the Tura River.

The body of Bishop Hermogenes was discovered on July 3 and buried the next day by the peasants of the village of Usolskoye. On August 2, 1918, the bishop’s remains were reburied in a crypt built in the St. John Chrysostom chapel of the Sophia-Assumption Cathedral in Tobolsk (the crypt and relics of the new martyr were discovered during the renovation of the cathedral in 2005).

In October/November 1981 he was canonized by the Council of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.