The Catalog of Good Deeds

The holy Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev was the first bishop to be tortured and slain by the Communists at the time of the Russian Revolution.

Basil Nikephorovich Bogoyavlensky was born in the province of Tambov of pious parents on January 1, 1848. His father, a priest, was later murdered. The young Basil graduated from the Theological Academy in Kiev in 1874, and taught in the Tambov seminary for seven years before he was ordained to the holy priesthood.

His wife died in 1886, and their only child died shortly thereafter. The bereaved widower entered the Kozlov Monastery in Tambov and was given the name Vladimir. In 1888 he was consecrated bishop of Staraya Rus, and served as a vicar bishop of the Novgorod diocese. In 1891 he was assigned to the diocese of Samara. In those days people of his diocese suffered from a cholera epidemic and a crop failure. Bishop Vladimir devoted himself to caring for the sick and suffering, inspiring others to follow his example.

In 1892 he became Archbishop of Kartalin and Kahetin, then in 1898 he was chosen as Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna. He served fifteen years in this position.

Metropolitan Vladimir was distinguished by his compassion for the poor, and for widows and orphans. He also tried to help alcoholics and those who had abandoned the Church. The Metropolitan was also interested in the education of children in school, especially those who were studying in the theological schools.

In 1912, after the death of Metropolitan Anthony, he was appointed Metropolitan of Petrograd, administering that diocese until 1915. Because he disapproved of Rasputin, Metropolitan Vladimir fell out of favor with the Tsar, and so he was transferred to Kiev. On November 5, 1917 he announced that St Tikhon (April 7) had been elected as Patriarch of Moscow.

The "Ukrainian Congress" was also calling for an autonomous Ukraine and for the creation of a Ukrainian Church independent from the Church of Russia. Metropolitan Vladimir suffered and grieved because of this question, warning that such a division in the Church would allow its enemies to be victorious. However, at the end of 1917, a Ukrainian Dominion was formed, and also a separate Ukrainian church administration ("rada") led by the retired Archbishop Alexis Dorodnitzin. This uncanonical group forbade the commemoration of Patriarch Tikhon during church services, and demanded that Metropolitan Vladimir leave Kiev.

In January 1918 the civil war came to Kiev, and the two forces vied for control of the city. Many churches and monasteries were damaged by the cannon fire. The Bolsheviks seized the Kiev Caves Lavra on January 23, and soldiers broke into the churches. Monks were taken out into the courtyard to be stripped and beaten. At six thirty on the night of January 25, five armed soldiers and a sailor came looking for Metropolitan Vladimir. The seventy-year-old hierarch was tortured and choked in his bedroom with the chain of his cross. The ruffians tortured the Metropolitan and demanded money.

When they emerged, the Metropolitan's cell attendant approached and asked for a blessing. The sailor pushed him aside and told him, "Enough bowing to these blood-drinkers. No more of it." After blessing and kissing him, the Metropolitan said, "Good-bye, Philip." Then he walked calmly with his executioners, just as if he were on his way to serve the Liturgy.

Metropolitan Vladimir was driven from the monastery to the place of execution. As they got out of the car, the holy martyr asked, "Do you intend to shoot me here?"

"Why not?" they replied.

After praying for a short time and asking forgiveness for his sins, Metropolitan Vladimir blessed the executioners, saying, "May God forgive you." Then several rifle shots were heard.

In the morning, some women came to the gates of the Lavra and told the monks where the Metropolitan's body could be found. He was lying on his back, with bullet wounds near his right eye and by his right collarbone. There were also several cuts and gashes on the body, including a very deep chest wound. The hieromartyr was carried into the Lavra church of St Michael, where he had spent his last days at prayer.

In Moscow, the All-Russian Church Council was in session when word came of Metropolitan Vladimir's death. Patriarch Tikhon and his clergy performed a Memorial Service for the New Martyr Vladimir. A commission was formed to investigate the circumstances of Metropolitan Vladimir's murder, but it was unable to carry out its duties because of the Revolution. The Council decided that January 25, the day of his death, would be set aside for the annual commemoration of all of Russia's martyrs and confessors killed by the Soviets.

The holy New Martyr Vladimir of Kiev was glorified by the Orthodox Church of Russia in 1992. On the Sunday closest to January 25 (the day of Metropolitan Vladimir's martyrdom) we also observe the Synaxis of Russia's New Martyrs and Confessors.

Source: www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2012/01/holy-new-martyr-vladimir-metropolitan.html

“We are fools for Christ’s sake” (1 Corinthians 4:10).

Thus speaks the great Apostle Paul who in the beginning was guided by worldly wisdom, which is against Christ, until he recognizes the falsehood and decay of the wisdom of the world and the light and stability of the wisdom of Christ. Then, the holy apostle did not become angry with the world because they called him “a fool for Christ’s sake” neither did he, in defiance of the world, hesitate to be called by this name.

It is not of any value to us how the world is going to regard or call us. However, it is important, and extremely important, how the holy angels in the heavens will regard and call us when, after death, we meet with them. This is of crucial importance and everything else is nothing.

St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Either we are fools for the world because of Christ or we are fools for Christ because of the world. O how short-lived is the sound of a word of the world! If the world would say to us “fool,” the world will die and its word will die! What then is the value of its word? But if the heavenly, immortal ones say to us “fool,” that will neither die nor is it removed from us as eternal condemnation.

Whoever does not believe in the Living God, nor in eternal life, nor in the Incarnation of the Lord Christ, nor in Christ’s Resurrection nor in the truth of the Gospel nor in God’s eternal mercy and justice – is it any wonder if he considers that one a fool who does believes in all of this?

O, may every one of us who cross ourselves with the Sign of the Cross not only find it easy to endure but with satisfaction receive the name “fool” for Christ’s sake! Let us rejoice and be glad if the non-believers call us such, for that means that we are close to Christ and far away from the non-believers. Let us rejoice and be glad and repeat with a powerful echo in the ears of the world: yes, yes, indeed we are fools for Christ’s sake!

O Lord Most-wise, strengthen us by Your power that we not fear the non-believing world neither when they lash us with whips nor when they insult us with words for Your sake.

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Homily for February 22, Prologue of Ohrid

Source: http://www.orthodoxchurchquotes.com/2013/09/10/st-nikollai-velimirovich-it-is-not-of-any-value-to-us-how-the-world-is-going-to-regard-or-call-us/

The value of tradition as the best experience of our ancestors, accumulated, refined, and transmitted, has been, alas, devalued in our days. The modern Orthodox family, the husband and wife of which are often not brought up by faithful parents, is compelled to seek new ways to orient their everyday life.

Over the course of the many centuries of Christian history, the Russian people created a universal system of family values, which, having moral categories, is always clearly manifested externally: in expressions, relations, and organization of space. We will try to speak a bit about this in the present article.

The typical conversation on the patriarchal Russian family by and large begins with the Gospel and ends inevitably with The Domostroi.[1] The work of Sylvester, written in the long-ago sixteenth century, until now partially, and sometimes wholly has a place to serve as a guide to family life. Of course, a full-fledged application of the rules of this monument of ancient Russian literature is extremely rare, often in the closed communities of the Old Believers, living far from civilization in rural areas.

In Edinovertsi families today you can find various situations of home structuring: Society invariably influences us all. Although patriarchy has persisted, certainly not every woman is just a homemaker, and can stand with her husband among the bread winners; but such situations are the exception rather than the rule.

Trying to summarize the main principles of Edinovertsi families, we note such features as soundness, rigor, and responsibility in the approach to literally everything. Spoiling children in such families is unacceptable; they are acclimated to prayer and labor from an early age. In our pampered society, among Orthodox you can often find opposition to the methods of their ancestors in matters of rearing, as antiquated and even inhumane, to which Edinovertsi always unhesitatingly reply: Strictness in childhood helps to easily overcome challenges in adulthood. Additionally, such an approach more easily makes children true, independent helpers of their parents, allowing fathers and mothers to save energy, money, and time in solving family issues. For example, I once saw how a three-year-old son helped his father do some repair work. This boy was well-versed in tools, not whiny, and was very quick to respond to his father’s request for a hammer. I know of one case where a dinner prepared by their teenage daughter always awaits both working parents, and the apartment is always maintained in good order. Edinovertsi believe that a child’s energy needs to be channeled in a constructive direction from an early age, not corrupting the tender soul with excessive baby talk. They look at boys and girls as men and women from birth, weaving gender-exclusive elements into their upbringing. Surviving Edinovertsi folk traditions (now available in many forms online) help with this. Thus, they can sing short lullabies to boys, which somewhat differ in content from those for girls.

The family is perceived as one whole, where the husband is the head, and the wife and children a part of the body, which must be taken care of. On serious family questions, the husband and wife, of course, take counsel with one another. There is no bawdy authoritarianism in the governance of the family on the part of the husband to speak of, as it was presented and successfully planted in the heads of the intelligentsia in the Soviet era. Polite, respectful communication, soft speech, and striving to refrain from yelling in difficult moments are all important values for daily Edinovertsi life.

Inasmuch as worship occupies the central place in the life of a Edinovertsi family, morning and evening prayers, as a rule, become the most important family ritual. Prayer corners, and sometimes entire prayer rooms, are arranged quite carefully. Electric lighting is not used during prayer, but lamps and candles are lit. Depending on the decision of the head of the family, passages from the morning and evening prayers (Midnight Office and Compline) can be distributed between the children to be read. In the evening, as a rule, there are soul-profiting readings from the Gospel and other spiritual books with incumbent interpretation and discussion.

It is important that meals in Edinovertsi families do not begin until the head of the family has come to the table. This seemingly very simple ritual forms a sense of understanding of family hierarchy in children.

Everyday clothes may differ from the folk clothing worn in church, but there is a clear tendency among young Edinovertsi families to wear the national dress at home, or to strive to maintain a specific style. Morning gowns, shorts, and crop tops will not be seen on the adult members of the family. Children, of course, are also habituated to a certain style of dress: skirts for girls, pants for boys. Clothing itself is not sacralized in Edinovertsi families, but there is homage to tradition and the belief that the inner man will certainly be expressed in the external—after all, we are creatures of flesh and blood.

Edinovertsi strive to teach their children Church reading and handicrafts from an early age. Some are brought onto the kliros, some freely read the psalms already from the age of seven, some master iconography, and some help their mothers make lestovkas (the Old Believer version of the prayer rope). Work is elevated to a cult, in a good sense; children are raised with diligence, which is a good tool in the struggle with the passions. A man who can work, according to the Edinovertsi, will be alright.

Edinovertsi strive to teach their children to take a blessing from their parents in all matters. In any case, the whole family is blessed by the father after a meal and before bed. The relationship of children with their parents is very close. Here again it is necessary to dispel the myth about some petty tyranny in relations with children; everything is based on the principles of love, evangelical laws, communication, and involvement in the problems and interests of the children.

The order and cleanliness of Orthodox Old Believers’ homes catch your eye. The families are very thrifty and prudent in their spending. A certain taste is always felt in their interior, with elements of folk culture.

Of course, the everyday life of the Edinovertsi is not just a copy of the lifestyle of Russian Christians of the seventeenth century. However, valuable experience, regardless of historical age, remains valuable experience at any time, in our view. It is also worth noting that in the same seventeenth century, people’s daily lives were immersed in the Church. This of course emphasizes a certain wholeness and integrity to their worldview, which certainly cannot be ignored.

Experience in structuring a family, raising children, and also of running a household, passed on from generation to generation in Edinoversti families will undoubtedly be valuable to all children of the Russian Orthodox Church. When the world literally gangs up on faith in Christ and traditional values, it will be vitally important to have powerful protection, through which the enemy will not be able to inflict spiritual harm upon us. The family is the foundation of the state. The traditional family is its reliable foundation.

By Vladimir Basenkov

Source: http://orthochristian.com/106428.html

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