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Tikhon of Moscow | |
|---|---|
 Saint Tikhon of Moscow. | |
| Confessor,Patriarch,Wonderworker and Apostle to America | |
| Born | Vasily Ivanovich Bellavin (1865-01-31)31 January 1865 Klin, Toropets District,Pskov Province,Russian Empire |
| Died | 7 April 1925(1925-04-07) (aged 60) Moscow,Russian SFSR,Soviet Union |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodoxy Episcopal Church (USA) Anglican Church in North America |
| Canonized |
|
| Majorshrine | Donskoy Monastery, Moscow |
| Feast |
|
| Patronage | Western Rite Orthodoxy[1] |
Tikhon of Moscow (Russian:Тихон Московский, 31 January [O.S. 19 January] 1865 – 7 April [O.S. 25 March] 1925), bornVasily Ivanovich Bellavin (Russian:Василий Иванович Беллавин), was abishop of theRussian Orthodox Church (ROC). On 5 November 1917 (OS) he was selected the 11thPatriarch of Moscow and All Russia,[Note 1] after a period of about 200 years of theSynodal rule in the ROC. He wascanonised as aconfessor by the ROC in 1989.
From 1878 to 1884, Bellavin studied at thePskov Theological Seminary. In 1888, at the age of 23, he graduated from theSaint Petersburg Theological Academy as a layman. He then returned to the Pskov Seminary and became an instructor of Moral and Dogmatic Theology. In 1891, at the age of 26, he tookmonastic vows and was given the name Tikhon in honor of St.Tikhon of Zadonsk. Tikhon was consecratedBishop ofLublin on 19 October 1897.
On 14 September 1898, he was appointed Bishop of theAleutian Islands and Alaska. He went to the United States, and eventually became a naturalized American citizen. The peripatetic bishop visited emerging Orthodox emigrant communities in various American cities, includingNew York City,Chicago and the coal and steel-making cities in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
As head of the ROC diocese in North America, in 1900 he reorganized the diocese and changed its name from the "Of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska" to "Diocese of the Aleutian Islands and North America". He had twoauxiliary bishops in the United States: Bishop Innocent (Pustynsky) in Alaska, andSt. Raphael (Hawaweeny) in Brooklyn. On 22 May 1901, he blessed the cornerstone forSt. Nicholas Cathedral inNew York City (fundraising for which had begun in 1894 and to which TsarNicholas II contributed $5,000 in 1900) in a great ceremony attended by New York MayorSeth Low, Russian diplomats and sailors, and enthusiastic worshippers. He celebrated the first liturgy in the new building's basement on July 20, 1902, and in the main hall on November 10, 1902.[2] Tikhon was also involved in building other churches in North America, and establishing a dialog with Greek Orthodox churches in America. On 9 November 1902, he consecrated thechurch of St. Nicholas inBrooklyn forSyrian Antiochian Orthodox immigrants.
While in the United States, Tikhon became aware of the country's tradition of religious diversity, as well as the growingecumenical andPan-Slav movements, and the needs of a wide variety of eastern and southern European immigrants. Before his arrival, in 1890, a delegation of Carpatho-Rusyns also had approached the Russian consul in San Francisco and requested a bishop, since the Latin Catholic archbishop of Minnesota,John Ireland was attempting to force their assimilation, althoughByzantine RiteCatholics had previously been accorded certain dispensations from theRoman Rite practices of theLatin Church. TheirByzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic priest,Alexis Toth, was formally accepted into the Russian Orthodox Church in 1892. In 1900, Tikhon attended the consecration ofReginald Heber Weller ascoadjutor bishop for theEpiscopal Diocese of Fond du Lac, though he was not one of the consecrating bishops (all Episcopalians).[3] More Byzantine Catholics joined the Eastern Orthodox fold, especially priests after 1907, whenPope Pius X publishedEa Semper, restricting their previously recognized right to ordain married men.
In 1905, the title of archbishop was bestowed on him, and he moved his formal residence and diocesan office from San Francisco to New York.[4] In June 1905, the new archbishop gave his blessing for the establishment of a monastery inPennsylvania, St. Tikhon's Monastery which in the 1930s supported the founding ofSaint Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary. On September 17, [O.S. September 4, ] 1905 The Holy Trinity Russian (Greek) Orthodox church was consecrated inWinnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on the corner of McKenzie Street and Manitoba Avenue by the new archbishop Tikhon, Head of the Russian Orthodox Mission in North America and soon to become Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. Ukrainian teachers studying at theRuthenian Training School sang at the consecration ceremony.[5]
In 1907, Tikhon returned to Russia, having been appointed to theSee of Yaroslavl. On 22 December 1913, he was transferred to the diocese ofVilno inLithuania.
However, theFirst World War and theRussian Revolution created turmoil in his native land. On 21 June 1917, the Diocesan Congress of clergy and laity elected Tikhon the ruling bishop ofMoscow. On 14 August 1917 (OS),[6] Tikhon was raised to the dignity ofMetropolitan of Moscow. On the next day, theLocal Council of the ROC, the first such convention since the late 17th century, opened in Moscow. The council's major decision that passed on 28 October 1917, days after theBolsheviks seized power in Petrograd, was to restore the Patriarchy in the ROC. On 5 November 1917, after his election by vote as one of the three candidates for the reinstated Moscow Patriarchate, MetropolitanVladimir of Kiev announced that Metropolitan Tikhon had been selected for the position after adrawing of lots as the new Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
During theRussian Civil War the patriarch, like the entire Russian Church, was widely considered anti-Bolshevik and many bishops were exiled, imprisoned or even executed by the new regime. Tikhon openly condemned themurder of the tsar's family in 1918, and protested against violent attacks by theBolsheviks on the church. In 1920, he granted autonomy to what became theOrthodox Church in America and other dioceses of the Church of Russia that were cut off from the governance of the highest church authority (i.e. the patriarch), until such time as normal relations with the highest church authority could be resumed.
In November 1921, many of the Russian bishops, who had fled Russia in 1919–1920, had gathered inSremski Karlovci, Yugoslavia, and adopted a number of anti-Bolshevik statements; in May relations between the two bodies became irregular. TheRussian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCOR) and theMoscow Patriarchate had no formal relations until2007.[7]
In 1922 Russia was afflicted withmass famine. The Communist government used the situation toconfiscate ecclesiastical property and to accuse the patriarch of being asaboteur. From April 1922 until June 1923 he resided underhouse arrest inDonskoy Monastery.[8] His public protest against nationalization of Church property was reframed as a criminal act. This caused international resonance and several countries sent formal protest notes to the Soviet government.
Under pressure from the authorities, Tikhon issued several messages to the believers in which he stated in part that he was "no longer an enemy to the Soviet power". Textual analysis of these messages shows considerable similarity with a number of documents exchanged in thePolitburo on the "Tikhon Affair". Despite his declaration of loyalty, he continued to enjoy the trust of theOrthodox community inRussia. In 1923 Tikhon was "deposed" by a Soviet-sponsored[9] council of the so-calledLiving Church, which decreed that he was "henceforth a simple citizen—Vasily Bellavin." This deposition has never been recognized as an act of the Russian Orthodox Church, and is therefore considered invalid by both the Russian Orthodox Church and theRussian Federation.
In 1924 the patriarch fell ill and was hospitalized. On 5 April 1925, he served his lastDivine Liturgy and died two days later on 25 March (OS)/7 April, the Feast of theAnnunciation. He was buried on 12 April in the winter church ofDonskoy Monastery inMoscow. From the time of his death, he was widely considered amartyr orconfessor for the faith.
Tikhon wasglorified (canonized) asaint by theSynod of Bishops of theRussian Orthodox Church Outside Russia in conjunction with the great glorification of theNew Martyrs and Confessors of the Soviet Yoke on 1 November [O.S. 19 October] 1981. He was later glorified by theMoscow Patriarchate during the Bishop's Council of 9–11 October 1989. This later canonization process is generally considered an example of the thaw inchurch–Soviet relations during theGlasnost era. The AmericanEpiscopal Church along with theAnglican Church in North America remember Tikhon with a feast day on their liturgical calendars on the anniversary of his death, April 7.[10]
St Tikhon'srelics were believed lost, but on 19 February 1992 his coffin was found in a hidden crypt in theDonskoy Monastery and on 22 February, the coffin was opened and his relics were discovered to be almost entirelyincorrupt.[11] The relics were placed in areliquary and on 5 April [O.S. 23 March] 1992, fifty bishops solemnly transferred them to theKatholikon (main church) of the Donskoy Monastery in a place of honour by thesoleas (close to the sanctuary).
St. Tikhon is the patron saint of theOrthodox Western Rite.[12]
| Eastern Orthodox Church titles | ||
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| Preceded by | Archbishop of North America 1898–1907 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Archbishop of Yaroslavl 1907-1913 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Archbishop of Vilnius 1913-1917 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Patriarch of Moscow 1917–1925 | Succeeded by |
| Diocese of North America |
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| Bishops of North America |
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| Archbishops of North America |
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| Orthodox Church in America |
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| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
