On August 15, 1917, the Local Council of the Russian
Church opened in the cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow attended by 564
delegates. Metropolitan Tikhon was elected president of the Council by 407
votes to 33.
The first major question before the Council was the
restoration of the patriarchate, which had been abolished by Peter the Great in
1700. 200 delegates participated in the Section on the Higher Church
Administrationwhich was to decide this question, and for a long time the
opponents of the patriarchate, led by the future renovationist Professor Titlinov,
waged a bitter struggle against its restoration. However, the Bolshevik coup on
October 25 changed the mood of the Council, and on October 31, at the
suggestion of Count Paul Mikhailovich Grabbe, nominations of candidates took
place.
On the first secret ballot, Archbishop Anthony
(Khrapovitsky) of Kharkov received 101 votes, Archbishop Arsenius of Novgorod -
27 votes, and Metropolitan Tikhon - 23 votes. On the second ballot, only the
first three candidates on the first ballot were considered. Archbishop Anthony
got 159 votes, Archbishop Arsenius - 148 votes, and Metropolitan Tikhon - 125
votes. These three names were then put in a blessed urn and placed before the
famous wonderworking Vladimir icon of the Mother of God. On the following
morning, after the Divine Liturgy and a moleben served to the Holy Hierarchs of
Moscow, Elder Alexis of Zossima hermitage drew out one of the names and handed
it to Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev, the future hieromartyr. Metropolitan
Vladimir crossed himself and read out: "Tikhon, Metropolitan of Moscow, Axios!"
After a moleben had been served, the Patriarch-elect
said: "Your news about my election as Patriarch is for me that scroll on
which was written: 'Tears, groans and mourning.' Such was the scroll that the
Prophet Ezekiel had to eat. How many tears I shall have to swallow and how many
groans let out in the patriarchal service that is set before me, and especially
at such a terrible time! Like the ancient leader of the Hebrew people, Moses, I
shall have to say to the Lord: 'Why dost Thou torment Thy servant? And why
haveI not found mercy before Thine eyes, that Thou shouldest lay upon me the
burden of the whole of this people? Did I bear this people in my womb and give
birth to it, that Thou shouldest say to me: bear it in your hands as a nanny
bears a child? I alone cannot bear all this people, for it is heavy for me'
(Numbers 11.11-14). From now on the care of all the Russian churches is laid
upon me, and I must care for them every day. And who could be happy with that,
even if he were among those who are stronger than me? But may the will of God
be done! I find strength in the fact that I did not seek this election, and it
came in spite of me and in spite of men, in accordance with the lot of God. I
trust that the Lord Who has called me will Himself helpme through His almighty
grace to bear the burden laid upon me and will make it light. A consolation and
encouragement for me is the fact that my election has not taken place without
the will of the All-Pure Mother of God. Twice she, through the presence of her
honourable Vladimir icon has been present in the cathedral of the Saviour at my
election. This time the lot was drawn from her wonderworking image. I have as
it were come under her honourable omophorion. May she the all-powerful one
stretch out to me, the weak one,the hand of her help, and may she deliver this
city and all the Russian land from every need and sorrow."
Soon the word went through Moscow that God had chosen,
not "the cleverest" (umneyshij), Anthony, or "the
strictest" (strozhayshij), Arsenius, but "the kindest" or
"the quietest" (tishayshij), Tikhon. And on November 21/December 4,
1917, Metropolitan Tikhon was enthroned as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
in the Kremlin Dormition cathedral to the sound of gunfire from the battle of
Moscow raging outside.
As he received the staff of St. Peter from
Metropolitan Vladimir, the newly elected Patriarch expressed his sorrow at the
tragic events that were taking place around him: "The patriarchate,"
he said, "is being restored in Rus' at a terrible time, in the midst of
shooting and weapons of death-dealing fire. Probably it will itself be forced
to resort more than once to bans in order to bring the disobedient to their
senses and restore church order. But as in ancient times the Lord appeared to
the Prophet Elijah not in the storm or in the earthquake but in the coolness
and the breath of a quiet breeze, so now to our pusillanimous reproaches:
'Lord, the sons of Russia have abandoned Thy covenant, they have destroyed Thy
altars, they have fired at the holy things of the churches and the Kremlin,
they have slaughtered Thy priests' - the quiet breath of Thy words is heard:
'Thereare still seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the
contemporary Baal and have not betrayed the true God.' And the Lord as it were
says to me: 'Go and search for those for whose sake the Russian Land still
stands and is maintained. But do not abandon the lost sheep who are doomed to
destruction and slaughter - sheep who are truly pitiful. Shepherd them, and for
this take this, the staff of goodwill. With it search out the lost sheep,
return the oppressed, bind up the wounds of the wounded, strengthen the sick,
destroy those who have grown fat and obstreperous, shepherd them with
justice.'"
After the Liturgy the Patriarch immediately went round
the Kremlin in a cross procession, sprinkling the wall with holy water.
Patriarch Tikhon immediately had to face a great test
of his leadership as the new Bolshevik regime passed law after law restricting
and robbing the Church, while excesses and murders of Church servers throughout
the country increased. He did not wait for the delegates to the Council to
return from their Christmas recess, but immediately took upon himself the whole
responsibility for rebuking the communists.
On January 19, 1918, he anathematized the Bolsheviks
and their co-workers, saying: "I adjure all of you who are faithful
children of the Orthodox Church of Christ not to commune with such outcasts of
the human race in any matter whatsoever". Addressing the pastors and
archpastors, he said: "Do not hesitate for a moment in your spiritual
activity, but with fiery zeal call your children to defend the rights of the
Orthodox Church which are now being trampled on. Immediately organize spiritual
unions, call on them to enter, not of necessity but voluntary, into the ranks
of the spiritual warriors, who oppose external force with the force of their
holy inspiration..." The decree ended with an appeal to defend the Church,
if necessary, to the death.
This was read out by Metropolitan Cyril of Kazan to a
closed sessionof the Council, which immediately supported the Patriarch with an
epistle ofits own.
In March, the Patriarch condemned the treaty of
Brest-Litovsk, which left millions of Russians in captivity and freed the
Bolsheviks to turn the war into a civil one. In July, he condemned the killing
of the tsar, and warned that anyone who did not likewise condemn it was also
guilty of this most terrible of crimes. And in October, he again condemned the
Red terror, saying: "It is not our task to judge earthly governments.
Every government allowed by God would attract blessing if it were truly a
servant of the Lord for the benefit of its subjects and were a deterrent not
for good deeds but for bad (Rom. 13.34). But now to you who use your powers for
the persecution of the innocent, we direct our word of warning. Celebrate the
anniversaryof your rule by freeing the imprisoned, cease the bloodshed,
violence, destruction, persecution of the faith, turn not to destroying, but to
maintaining order and laws, give the people their well-deserved rest from civil
war. Otherwise you will have to answer for all the righteous blood shed by you
(Luke 11.51), and you who have taken the sword will perish by the sword (Matt.
26.52)."
When this epistle was read out at a united session of
the Synod andthe Higher Church Council, many tried to dissuade the Patriarch
from publishing it, indicating that it would put him in great danger. The
Patriarch listened carefully to all this, but did not change his decision.
However, the Muscovites feared for the Patriarch's life, and organized 24-hour
guards at his residence so that the alarm could be sounded immediately if he
was arrested.
At one point shortly after the murder of the Tsar,
which the Patriarch openly condemned, some member of the Council suggested to
the Patriarch that he take refuge abroad, so that he not share in the fate of
the Tsar. "The flight of the Patriarch," replied his Holiness,
"would play into the hands of the enemies of the Church. Let them do with
me what they want."
An excerpt from:
http://www.orthodox.net/russiannm/hieromartyr-tikhon-patriarch-of-moscow-and-all-russia.html
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