Metropolitan Stefan Yavorsky: biography, views

An activist of the Russian Orthodox Church, Stephen Yavorsky, was a metropolitan of Ryazan and a locum tenens of the patriarchal throne. He rose up thanks to Peter I, but he had a number of disagreements with the king, which eventually turned into a conflict. Shortly before the death of the locum tenens, the Synod was created, with the help of which the state completely subordinated the Church to itself.

early years

Future religious figure Stefan Yavorsky was born in 1658 in the town of Yavor, in Galicia. His parents were poor noblemen. According to the terms of the Andrusov Peace Treaty of 1667, their land was finally transferred to Poland. The Orthodox family of Yavorski decided to leave Yavor and move to the left-bank Ukraine, which became part of the Moscow state. Their new homeland was the village of Krasilovka near the town of Nezhin. Here Stefan Yavorsky (in the world he was called Semyon Ivanovich) continued his education.

In his youth, he had already moved to Kiev, where he entered the Kiev Mohyla College. It was one of the main educational institutions in Southern Russia. Here Stefan studied until 1684. He drew the attention of the future metropolitan of Kiev Varlaam Yasinsky. The young man was distinguished not only by curiosity, but also by outstanding natural abilities - a grasp of memory and attentiveness. Varlaam helped him to study abroad.

Study in Poland

In 1684 Stefan Yavorsky went to Rzeczpospolita. He studied with the Jesuits of Lvov and Lublin, got acquainted with theology in Poznan and Vilna. The Catholics accepted it only after the young disciple converted to the Uniate. Later this action was criticized by his opponents and ill-wishers in the Russian Orthodox Church. Meanwhile, Uniates became many scientists who wanted to access Western universities and libraries. Among them were, for example, the Orthodox Epiphany Slavonetsky and Innokenty Gisel.

The study of Yavorsky in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ended in 1689. He received a Western diploma. For several years in Poland, the theologian has learned rhetorical, poetic and philosophical art. At this time, his worldview was finally formed, which determined all future actions and decisions. There is no doubt that it was the Jesuit Catholics who instilled in their pupil a strong dislike of the Protestants, against whom he would later perform in Russia.

Return to Russia

Returning to Kiev, Stefan Yavorsky renounced Catholicism. The local academy took it after the test. Varlaam Yasinsky advised Yavorsky to accept a monastic order. Finally, he agreed and became a monk, taking the name of Stefan. At first he was a novice in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. When Varlaam was elected Metropolitan, he helped his protege to become a teacher of rhetoric and rhetoric at the Academy. Yavorsky quickly received new posts. By 1691 he had already become a prefect, and also a professor of philosophy and theology.

As a teacher, Stefan Yavorsky, whose biography was connected with Poland, used Latin teaching methods. His "pets" were future preachers and government officials of high rank. But the main student was Theophanes Prokopovich, the future chief opponent of Stefan Yavorsky in the Russian Orthodox Church. Although later the teacher was accused of disseminating Catholic doctrine within the walls of the Kiev Academy, these tirades were groundless. In the texts of the preacher's lectures, which have survived to this day, there are numerous descriptions of the mistakes of Western Christians.

Along with teaching and scholarly studies on books, Stefan Yavorsky served in the church. It is known that he held a marriage ceremony for nephew Ivan Mazepa. Before the war with the Swedes, the priest spoke positively about the hetman. In 1697, the theologian became hegumen in the St. Nicholas Desert Monastery in the environs of Kiev. This was an appointment, which meant that soon Yavorsky was waiting for the rank of Metropolitan. Meanwhile, he helped Varlaam much and traveled with his assignments to Moscow.

Unexpected turn

In January 1700, Stefan Yavorsky, whose biography allows us to conclude that his life was approaching a sharp turn, went to the capital. Metropolitan Varlaam asked him to meet with the patriarch Adrian and persuade him to create a new Pereyaslavl cathedra. The envoy carried out the commission, but soon an unexpected event occurred, which radically changed his life.

In the capital, boyar and warlord Alexei Shein died. Together with the young Peter I he led the capture of Azov and even became the first Russian generalissimo in history. In Moscow, they decided that the recently born Stefan Yavorsky should say the funerary word. Education and the ability to preach this man showed up in the best way at a greater confluence of high-ranking individuals. But most importantly - the king's guest was noticed by the king, who was extremely imbued with his eloquence. Peter I recommended to the patriarch Adrian to make the envoy of Varlaam head of some near-by Moscow diocese. Stefan Yavorsky was advised to stay in the capital for a while. Soon he was offered a new priest of the Metropolitan of Ryazan and Murom. The waiting time was brightened up in the Donskoy monastery.

Metropolitan and Locum Tenens

On April 7, 1700, Stefan Yavorsky became the new Metropolitan of Ryazan. The bishop immediately took up his duties and plunged into local church affairs. However, his solitary work in Ryazan was short-lived. Already on October 15, the aged and sick patriarch Adrian died. Approached by Peter I Alexei Kurbatov advised him to wait with the election of a successor. Instead, the king established a new position of the locum tenens. At this place, the adviser proposed to put the archbishop of Kholmogory Afanasy. Peter decided that the locum tenens would not be him, but Stefan Yavorsky. The sermons of the Kiev envoy in Moscow led him to the rank of Metropolitan of Ryazan. Now, in less than a year, he jumped to the last step and formally became the first person of the Russian Orthodox Church.

This was a rapid rise, made possible by a combination of fortunate circumstances and the charisma of the 42-year-old theologian. His figure became a toy in the hands of the authorities. Peter wanted to get rid of the patriarchate as an institution harmful to the state. He planned to reorganize the church and directly subordinate it to the kings. The first embodiment of this reform was the establishment of the post of the locum tenens. Compared with the patriarch, a person with this status had much less authority. Its capabilities were limited and controlled by the central executive. Realizing the nature of Peter's transformations, one can guess that the appointment of a literally random and someone else's for Moscow to the place of the head of the church was deliberate and pre-planned.

This is hardly an issue Stefan Yavorsky himself sought. The unity that he went through in his youth, and other peculiarities of his views, could have caused a conflict with the metropolitan public. The appointee did not want major trouble and understood that he was put on a "firing squad". In addition, the theologian missed his native Little Russia, where he had many friends and supporters. But of course he could not deny the tsar, so he accepted his offer humbly.

Fighting against heresy

Everybody was unhappy with the changes. The Muscovites called Yavorsky a cherkass and a litter. The Jerusalem Patriarch Dositheus wrote to the Russian Tsar that it is not worthwhile to push the natives of Little Russia up. Peter did not pay the slightest attention to these warnings. However, Dosifei received an excuse letter, the author of which was Stefan Yavorsky himself. Opal was clear. The Patriarch did not consider the Kievite "completely orthodox" because of his long-standing cooperation with Catholics and Jesuits. Dositheus' answer to Stefan was not conciliatory. Only his successor, Chrysanth, compromised with the locum tenens.

The first problem with which Stefan Yavorsky had to face in a new capacity was the issue of the Old Believers. At this time, the schismatics distributed leaflets in Moscow, in which the capital of Russia was called Babylon, and Peter - the Antichrist. The organizer of this action was a prominent book writer Grigory Talitsky. Metropolitan Stefan Yavorsky (Ryazan Department remained in his charge) tried to convince the perpetrator of the unrest. This dispute led to the fact that he even published his own book, dedicated to the signs of the coming of the Antichrist. The mistakes of the dissenters and their manipulation of the opinions of the believers were exposed in the work.

Opponents Stefan Yavorsky

In addition to the Old Believer and heretical affairs, the locum tenens were given the authority to determine candidates for appointments in empty dioceses. His lists were checked and agreed by the tsar himself. Only after his approval, the chosen person received the order of the Metropolitan. Peter created several more counterbalances, which markedly limited locum tenens. First, it was the Sanctified Cathedral - a meeting of bishops. Many of them were not Yavorsky's henchmen, and some were his direct opponents. Therefore, he had to defend his point of view every time in an open confrontation with other church hierarchs. In fact, the locum tenens were only the first among equals, so his authority could not be compared to the previous powers of the patriarchs.

Secondly, Peter I strengthened the influence of the Monastic Order, at the head of which he placed his faithful boyar Ivan Musin-Pushkin. This man was positioned as an assistant and comrade of the locum tenens, but in some situations, when the tsar considered it necessary, he became a direct superior.

Thirdly, in 1711 the former Boyar Duma was finally disbanded, and in its place appeared the Government Senate. His decrees for the Church were equated with the tsarist ones. It was the Senate who received the privilege to determine whether the nominee proposed by the locum tenens was suitable for the place of the bishop. Peter, who was increasingly drawn into foreign policy and the construction of St. Petersburg, delegated authority to administer the church to the state machine and now intervened only as a last resort.

The Lutheran Affair of Tveritinov

In 1714 there was a scandal, which even more widened the abyss, on different sides of which stood state men and Stefan Yavorsky. The photographs did not exist then, but even without them, modern historians were able to reconstruct the face of the German settlement, especially growing under Peter I. Foreign merchants, craftsmen and guests, mostly from Germany, lived there. All of them were Lutherans or Protestants. This Western teaching began to spread among the Orthodox residents of Moscow.

Especially active propagandist of Lutheranism was Freethinker Tveritinov. Stephen Yavorsky, whose repentance before the church occurred many years ago, remembered the years spent next to Catholics and Jesuits. They instilled in the locum tenens a dislike for the Protestants. Metropolitan of Ryazan began the persecution of Lutherans. Tveritinov fled to St. Petersburg, where he found patrons and defenders in the Senate among the ill-wishers of Yavorsky. A decree was issued, according to which the locum tenens had to forgive the alleged heretics. The head of the church, which usually went on a compromise with the state, this time did not want to give in. He appealed for protection directly to the king. Peter did not like the whole story of the persecution of Lutherans. Between him and Yavorsky broke the first serious conflict.

Meanwhile, the locum tenens decided to expound his criticism of Protestantism and views on Orthodoxy in a separate work. So, he soon wrote his most famous book, The Stone of Faith. Stefan Yavorsky in this work conducted a customary sermon on the importance of preserving the old conservative foundations of the Orthodox Church. At the same time he used the rhetoric, which was then widespread among Catholics. The book was filled with rejection of the Reformation, which then triumphed in Germany. These ideas were propagandized by the Protestants of the German settlement.

Conflict with the Tsar

The story with the Lutheran Tveritinov became an unpleasant little bell, signaling the attitude of the church and the state, who held opposite positions about the Protestants. However, the conflict between them was much deeper and with time only expanded. He was aggravated when the work "The Stone of Faith" was published. Stefan Yavorsky with the help of this book tried to defend his conservative position. The authorities banned its publication.

Meanwhile, Peter moved the capital of the country to St. Petersburg. Gradually all the officials moved there. The Locum Tenens and Metropolitan of Ryazan Stefan Yavorsky remained in Moscow. In 1718, the king ordered him to go to St. Petersburg and start working in the new capital. This caused Stefan's displeasure. The king sharply responded to his objections and did not compromise. At the same time he expressed the idea of the need for the creation of the Spiritual Board.

The project to open it was commissioned to develop Feofan Prokopovich, a long-time student of Stefan Yavorsky. The locum tenens did not agree with his pro-Moscow ideas. In the same year 1718, Peter initiated the name of Feofan by the Pskov bishop. He first received real authority. He tried to oppose Stefan Yavorsky. Repentance and swindle of the locum tenens became the subject of conversations and rumors that blossomed in both capitals. Against him were set many influential officials who made a career under Peter and who were supporters of the course to subordinate the church to the state. Therefore, the reputation of the Metropolitan of Ryazan was tried to be vilified by a variety of methods, including remembering ties with Catholics while studying in Poland.

The role of the Tsarevich Alexei in court

Meanwhile, Peter had to resolve another conflict - this time a family one. His son and heir Alexei disagreed with his father's policy and, in the end, fled to Austria. He was returned to his homeland. In May 1718, Peter ordered Stefan Yavorsky to come to St. Petersburg to represent the church in court over the rebellious prince.

There were rumors that the locum tenens sympathized with Alexei and even maintained contact with him. However, there is no documentary evidence for this. On the other hand, it is precisely known that the tsarevich did not like the new church policy of his father, and he had many supporters among the conservative Moscow clergy. At the trial, the Metropolitan of Ryazan tried to protect these clergymen. Many of them, along with the prince, were accused of high treason and executed. Stefan Yavorsky could not influence Peter's decision. The Locum Tenens himself served the funeral of Alexei, who mysteriously died in his prison cell on the eve of the execution of the verdict.

After the creation of the Synod

For several years, a draft law on the creation of the Spiritual Board was under preparation. As a result, it became known as the Most Holy Government Synod. In January 1721, Peter signed a manifesto on the establishment of this authority, which is necessary to control the church. The newly elected members of the Synod were swiftly sworn in, and in February the institution began a permanent job. The patriarchate was officially abolished and left in the past.

Formally, Peter placed at the head of the Synod Stefan Yavorsky. He was opposed to the new institution, considering him a coffin of the church. He did not attend meetings of the Synod and refused to sign the papers issued by this body. At the service of the Russian state, Stefan Yavorsky saw himself in a completely different capacity. Peter held him in a nominal position only to demonstrate the formal continuity of the institution of the patriarchate, locum tenens and the Synod.

In the higher circles denunciations continued, in which Stefan Yavorsky agreed. Moshenicism during the construction of the Nezhinsky monastery and other unscrupulous machinations were attributed to the metropolitan of Ryazan's evil tongues. He began to live in a state of continuing stress, which had a marked effect on his well-being. Stefan Yavorsky died on December 8, 1722 in Moscow. He became the first and last perennial locum tenens of the Patriarchal See in Russian history. After his death, a two-century synodal period began when the state made the church part of its bureaucratic machine.

The fate of the "Stone of Faith"

It is interesting that the book "The Stone of Faith" (the main writer's work of the Locum Tenens) was published in 1728, when he himself and Peter were already in the grave. The work criticizing Protestantism had an extraordinary success. His first circulation was quickly sold out. Later the book was reprinted several times. When during the reign of Anna Ioannovna, there were many favorite Germans in the Lutheran faith, the "Stone of Faith" was again banned.

The work not only criticized Protestantism, but, more importantly, it became the best at that time systematic presentation of the Orthodox dogma. Stephen Yavorsky emphasized the places in which it differed from Lutheranism. The treatise was devoted to the relation to relics, icons, the sacrament of the Eucharist, sacred tradition, attitude to heretics, etc. When the Orthodox party finally triumphed under Elizaveta Petrovna, the "Stone of Faith" became the main theological work of the Russian Church and remained so throughout the entire XVIII century .