Filaret, Metropolitan of Moscow
Encyclopedia
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
of Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
(26 December 1782 – 1 December 1867) was the most influential figure in the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
for more than 40 years, from 1821 to 1867. He was canonized on 13 October 1994 and his feast day is celebrated on November 19.
Life
He was born in KolomnaKolomna
Kolomna is an ancient city and the administrative center of Kolomensky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated at the confluence of the Moskva and Oka Rivers, southeast of Moscow. The area of the city is about . The city was founded in 1177...
as Vasily Drozdov . He was educated at the seminaries of Kolomna and Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra
Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra
The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is the most important Russian monastery and the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is situated in the town of Sergiyev Posad, about 70 km to the north-east from Moscow by the road leading to Yaroslavl, and currently is home to...
, and on the completion of his studies was at once appointed professor in the latter. He became preacher of the lavra in 1806, and four years later was appointed professor of theology in the ecclesiastical academy of Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg supposing that that was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Alexander Nevsky, a prince, defeated the Swedes; however, the battle...
in St. Petersburg, becoming archimandrite in 1811 and director in 1812.
The Events of 1812 produced a strong impression on Filaret; he explained the success of the Russians by moral reason and read a lecture on this theme in the "Society of friends of the Russian word". In 1813 he declaimed his famous speech on Kutuzov
Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov
Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov was a Field Marshal of the Russian Empire. He served as one of the finest military officers and diplomats of Russia under the reign of three Romanov Tsars: Catherine II, Paul I and Alexander I...
's death.
He took monastic vows in 1817, and after being bishop of Reval and episcopal vicar of St. Petersburg, became, in 1819, archbishop of Tver
Tver
Tver is a city and the administrative center of Tver Oblast, Russia. Population: 403,726 ; 408,903 ;...
and a member of the Holy Synod
Holy Synod
In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod...
. In the following year he was archbishop of Yaroslavl
Yaroslavl
Yaroslavl is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historical part of the city, a World Heritage Site, is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl Rivers. It is one of the Golden Ring cities, a group of historic cities...
, and in 1821 was translated to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, also becoming metropolitan in 1826.
His daring utterances, however, brought him into imperial disfavor from 1845 until the accession of Alexander II
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
. In 1855 he was restricted to the limits of his diocese. He is said to have prepared Alexander's proclamation freeing the serfs, and he enjoyed the reputation of being one of the leading pulpit orators of his time and country.
He was the spiritual father of missionary hieromonk Makarii Glukharev (1792–1847), canonized in 2000 for his role as "Apostle to the Altai".
Filaret was responsible for some of the worst offences towards the Old Believers
Old Believers
In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...
, including the misappropriation of churches and the sealing of the altars at the churches of the Rogozhskoye Cemetery
Rogozhskoye Cemetery
Rogozhskoe cemetery in Moscow, Russia, is the spiritual and administrative center of the largest Old Believers denomination, called the Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church. Historically, the name cemetery was applied to the whole Old Believer community, with living quarters, cathedral, almshouses,...
, which was the administrative and spiritual center of the Belokrinitskoe Soglasie
Belokrinitskoe Soglasie
Belokrinitskoe soglasie is the largest and one of the most 'temperate' and 'optimistic' denominations among the Popovtsy Old Believers. The name derives from the name of the village Belokrinitsa, where the full hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Oldrite Church was established.From the end of 1840,...
Old Believers. Filaret was also directly involved in the imprisonment of Old Believer hierarchs and monastics.
Works
Filaret was a prominent figure in preparing a Russian translation of the BibleRussian Synodal Bible
Russian Synodal Bible is a Russian non-Church Slavonic translation of the Bible commonly used by the Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Baptists and other Protestant, as well as Roman Catholic communities in Russia....
(until his time, only a Church Slavonic version not readily understood by the general populace was available), and wrote many volumes of theological and historical works collectively known as the Filaretica. They include the Colloquy between a Believer and a Skeptic on the True Doctrine of the Greco-Russian Church (St. Petersburg, 1815); Compend of Sacred History (1816); Commentary on Genesis (1816); Attempt to Explain Psalm lxvii. (1818); Sermons delivered at Various Times (1820); Extracts from the Four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles for Use in Lay Schools (1820); Christian Catechism (1823; Extracts from the Historical Books of the Old Testament (1828–30); Principles of Religious Instruction (1828); and New Collection of Sermons (1830–36). Filaret also wrote spiritual poems from an early age; his poetical correspondence with Pushkin is well known.