Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Ancient or new? In what languages are services held in Local Churches?

In this film I will talk about Orthodoxy in Romania. Together with the film crew, we will visit Bucharest, Iasi, and other cities of Romania, we will visit the famous painted monasteries of Bukovina, we will see how monks and nuns live, we will visit the famous Neametsky monastery, where the great elder Reverend Paisius Velichkovsky lived and labored. Romania is often called the most religious country in the European Union. Almost all Romanians - 92% to be exact - consider themselves believers. According to recent sociological surveys, about 87% of the country's population professes Orthodoxy. The Romanian Orthodox Church traces its history back to ancient times. It is believed that the Apostle Andrew the First-Called himself brought the Good News of Christ to the Roman province of Dacia, which was located on the territory of modern Romania. The Romanian Orthodox Church is an apostolic church. A large number of archaeological, literary, ethnographic evidence indicates that the holy apostles Andrew and Philip preached the Gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ near the mouth of the Danube, in today's Dobruja. Unlike other peoples, the Romanians did not have a one-time mass baptism. The spread of Christianity here proceeded gradually, in parallel with the process of formation of the Romanian ethnic group, which arose as a result of the mixing of the Dacians with Roman colonists. The Romanians became the only Romance people to adopt the Slavic language in church and secular literature. Of course, although we are a local church from the large global Orthodox Church, we also have some peculiarities. And the most important of them is that the Romanian people are the only people of Latin origin and of the Orthodox faith. The first dioceses in the Romanian lands are known from the fourth century, and in the fourteenth century a church hierarchical structure was established in Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania. In the seventeenth century, after the signing of the Union of Brest, pressure increased on Orthodox Christians in Eastern Europe from both Catholics and Protestants. In 1642, a council was convened in the city of Iasi, which was supposed to give a theological response to the challenges of Western propaganda. Here, in this Gothic hall, in the monastery of the three saints of Iasi, the famous Iasi Cathedral took place in 1642, in which local, as well as Russian and Greek hierarchs took part. At this council, a confession of faith was adopted by Metropolitan Peter of Kyiv Mogila, which was written in refutation of another confession of faith circulating under the name of Cyril Loukaris, Patriarch of Constantinople. Summing up the results of the Council of Iasi, Saint Peter Mogila wrote: “At the insistence of our Russian Church, the Church of Constantinople pronounced a curse on all heretical - Calvinist articles of faith, published falsely under the name of Cyril, Patriarch of Constantinople, to seduce the faithful children of the Eastern Church. At different periods of history, the Romanian lands were in ecclesiastical dependence on different Local Churches. We became the first Orthodox Church to have the Holy Scriptures in the national language. It was fully translated and published in 1688. In 1865, shortly after the formation of the Romanian state, the local Church declared itself autocephalous. In 1925, the first Romanian Patriarch was enthroned. In 2007, Metropolitan Daniel of Moldova and Bukovina was elected as the sixth Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Situated at the crossroads between Eastern and Western civilizations, Romania has been a meeting place for different cultures for centuries. In the architecture and decoration of Romanian churches, Byzantine influence coexists with Western influence, the cross-domed design coexists with the basilica, and spherical domes coexist with pointed spire-shaped tops. The painted monasteries of southern Bukovina represent a very interesting unique phenomenon in the Orthodox tradition. The peculiarity of these monasteries is that their churches are painted not only inside, as is customary in the Orthodox Church, but also outside. The inscriptions on these paintings are always in Slavic, because at the time when these monasteries were built, and this is the end of the 15th, the end of the 16th centuries, the liturgical language in the Romanian church was Church Slavonic. The subjects of painting are very diverse. If the twelve feasts, scenes from the history of the Passion of Christ, and the Resurrection of Christ are depicted inside the churches, then other themes dominate the exterior paintings. Very often the apostles and prophets are depicted, as well as those Christians before Christ, as they were called, who were considered the ancient Greek philosophers. Therefore, we see on these wall paintings images of Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Porphyry and other Greek thinkers. All these paintings have a deeply edifying character. For example, in the Sucevita Monastery, where we are now, one of the frescoes is called Ladder. It depicts a ladder of virtues. In accordance with the book of St. John Climacus, where the entire life of a Christian and the entire spiritual struggle of a monk is presented in the form of 30 steps, at each of which the monk either acquires some virtue or renounces some vice. The image of a ladder on the outer wall was typical for churches whose patron was the metropolitan. And the fresco with the plot of the “Tree of Essene” was usually depicted on temples, the patron of which was the prince. In the Sucevita Monastery, this encyclopedia of wall paintings in Romania, both images can be seen. In the Voronets monastery, one of the frescoes depicts the Last Judgment, and here we see a space divided by a fiery river. On the right hand of Christ, who is presented as the judge of the Universe, is the space of heaven, where the saved righteous are, and on the left hand is the space of hell, where the condemned sinners are. In this fiery river itself there are well-known negative characters, such as King Herod, who condemned the Savior to death, the high priest Caiaphas, who had the Savior at his trial, the heretic Arius, who denied the deity of Jesus Christ, and also Magomed. But not Magomed is the founder of religion, the founder of Islam, but Sultan Magomed the second, under whom Constantinople fell. This event was still alive in the memory of those people who created these frescoes, since they were painted in the 15th century. According to a number of art historians, the painting of the external walls was also a kind of political manifesto. A message directed against the oppression of the Turks. A discreet message, but one that everyone saw. Throughout these paintings, among other scenes, there is the so-called fall of Constantinople. But what connection can there be between the fall of Constantinople and Moldova? According to some art historians, the image of Constantinople was a hidden protest against the power of the Turks. The largest monastery in the country, Putna, is popularly called the Romanian Jerusalem. This monastery was founded by Saint Stephen the Great, the legendary commander and builder of the Romanian state. During his reign, Stephen the Great won 34 of the 36 battles for the independence of Romania. In memory of each victory, he founded a monastery or founded a temple. This pious ruler remains Romania's beloved national hero. Here, near the mouth of the Danube, he managed to stop the onslaught of the wave of paganism. All of Europe recognized that he was a warrior of Christ, as Pope Sixtus the Fourth, a contemporary of Stephen the Great, said. Moldova is dotted with churches and monasteries. This is an expression of the love that Stefan had for God. On the day of the patronal feast, thousands of believers come to the Putna Monastery to venerate the relics of the most revered Romanian ruler. In recognition of the outstanding role of St. Stephen in the history of Romania, pilgrims wear national costumes on this holiday. We come in folk costumes, this is a sign of gratitude. Folk costume is our tradition, the heritage of our ancestors. These are outfits left over from grandmothers. Or even new ones. They are woven, embroidered, and shirts and blouses are made. Once upon a time, clothes like the ones I’m wearing now were worn every day all over the country. At home, at work, but there were also festive clothes. Today there are regions of the country, such as Maramures, where in some places such clothes are worn every day. In general, these are now clothes for holidays, for the National Day of Romania, for weddings, when they are held according to folk customs. Stephen the Great is revered here both as a brilliant ruler and as a national saint. For Orthodox Romanians in general, love for the Motherland and love for Christian values are inseparable. Stefan is loved because he managed to penetrate the hearts of these people. How did he do it? After all, the heart of a people is perhaps the narrowest gate of all, as our poet says. He sacrificed himself for everyone. Like our Savior Jesus Christ, who sacrificed himself for everyone, Stefan understood and managed to support everyone, both big and small - boyars, warriors, monks, and laity. I think that’s why Stefan is loved. We have no other hero higher than him. The day of the Assumption of St. Stephen the Great is celebrated very solemnly. In honor of the holiday, they even organize a military parade with the laying of wreaths at his grave. The tomb of Stephen the Great is called the altar of national identity. Throughout Moldova today we see buildings built by Stephen the Great - fortresses for defense, churches, monasteries. Fortresses that defended the country. They also defended the faith of their ancestors. And our soldiers and officers today pay tribute to the memory of the one who devoted his entire life to serving the Motherland. Another one of the most beloved and revered saints in Romania is Saint Paraskeva, who lived in the eleventh century and accepted martyrdom for her faith. Paraskeva's relics were kept in Constantinople until 1641, when they were transferred to the ruler of Moldova, Vasile Lupu, for the nearby Monastery of the Three Saints in Iasi. Since the end of the nineteenth century, the relics of Saint Paraskeva have been in Iasi Cathedral. Up to two hundred thousand believers gather for solemn services on the day of memory of Saint Paraskeva. And a line of people reaches out to her relics, without stopping, day after day. Thousands of pilgrims from all over the world come to the shrine of St. Paraskeva. So powerful is the gift of Saint Paraskeva and her prayer before the throne of the Lord. There are a lot of people who have received healing, who have received blessings, who come with fervent prayer, as if to a friend, to the pious saint Paraskeva. Some people call her “my friend.” For us, the servants of the cathedral, Saint Paraskeva is like our mother. She helps us, guides us, teaches us and protects us in our lives. Monastic life has transformed this land for many centuries. Particularly populous and numerous monasteries have been located on the territory of the Moldova-Bukovina Metropolis since ancient times. There are a lot of monasteries in this part of Romania. Here on the roads there are as many signs pointing to monasteries as there are signs pointing to towns and villages. Moreover, it is not always possible to distinguish a monastery from an ordinary village by its appearance. For example, the Agapia Monastery, where we are now, is a convent with more than three hundred nuns. Most of them live in ordinary houses located around the main monastery complex. In each of the houses there live three or four sisters, one of them is the eldest, like an abbess. They do handicrafts, sew vestments, paint icons, and thereby earn their living. One of the most honorable and responsible obediences in the monastery is carpet making. The nuns of Agapia have been famous for their art of carpet weaving for several centuries. By the way, in many Romanian churches the floors are covered with carpets, because many believers pray on their knees during worship. Varatek Monastery also resembles an ordinary village. The houses where the nuns live are located right along the road. The nuns of the monastery greeted us in the evening, with candles in their hands, as if thereby reminding us of the meaning of monastic life - to be like a candle, illuminating the path for other people. The most famous monastery in Romania is Neametsky, or Neamtsului. It was founded at the beginning of the fifteenth century and became one of the largest centers of book writing, culture and education in the Moldavian lands. Neamtului Monastery is the oldest in Romania, or rather, in the Principality of Moldova. It has been mentioned since 1270. Then, in our country, as in any Orthodox country, monasticism began with hermits. In this part of Romania, the monks went into the forests growing on the Neamtsului mountains. Where the Neamtsului Monastery is located today, then, according to documents, there was a wooden church where hermits from the mountains came once every forty days and participated in the Holy Liturgy. One or two fathers took care of this temple. In 1376, the Prince of Moldova, Petru I Musat, learned of the existence of these hermits. To help them, he built a stone church to replace the wooden one. From that moment on, a communal structure of life was organized in the Neamtsului monastery, which exists here to this day. In 1779, Abba Paisiy Velichkovsky, a renowned ascetic and translator of patristic literature, moved to the Nyametsky monastery along with a group of disciples. Throughout his life, as hegumen in various monasteries, he collected patristic writings like precious stones. He himself copied the works of the holy fathers and blessed his disciples to do the same. Absorbing the experience of the ancient ascetics, Abba Paisius gradually turned into a wise mentor. Under Saint Paisius Velichikovsky, monasticism in this monastery reached its apogee. He breathed new life and reorganized the life of Orthodox monasticism throughout Europe. The monk's flock quickly multiplied, and within ten years about a thousand monks labored here. Among the monks there were representatives of twenty-three nationalities, and two liturgical languages were used - Church Slavonic and Moldavian. Although the Moldavian language was then written in Slavic letters. Two choirs sang in two languages at the service. The Monk Paisius paid great attention to translating the works of the holy fathers into Slavic and Moldavian languages. Several translation teams worked in this monastery, and a huge amount of work was done to translate the works of the holy fathers. The influence of St. Paisius was truly enormous. His disciples dispersed to different countries and founded or re-established more than a hundred monasteries in Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Greece. The Optina elders were also disciples of St. Paisius, thanks to whom the eldership was revived in Russia in the 19th century. Russian monks from Optina Monastery and other monasteries of the Russian Empire began to come to the Neamets Monastery for apprenticeship, staying here for several months, learning the secrets of art, and participating in the spiritual life of monasticism. They became imbued with the religious and cultural life of the monastery. And going to Russian monasteries, they enriched the monastic spiritual life of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Monk Paisius Velichkovsky is rightly called the “father of Russian elders.” Spiritual leadership, eldership is the tradition on which Orthodox monasticism has relied for many centuries. Without an experienced senior mentor, confessor, it is impossible for a monk to overcome all the difficulties and temptations of monastic life. After all, by taking monastic vows, a person consciously and voluntarily renounces not only marriage, but also many other things available to ordinary people, in order to focus as much as possible on God and devote his entire life, all his thoughts and deeds to Him. Monasticism has existed in the Christian Church for more than 16 centuries. And again and again in every century new generations of monks come. How are they reproduced? After all, monks have no families, they have no children. And yet the monasteries are not empty. Monasteries are filled again and again with monks and nuns. What attracts young people to monasteries? Why are people ready to leave ordinary earthly life and enter this narrow and cramped path? First of all, it is the grace of God. That supernatural grace that is given to a person from God himself. It is no coincidence that the holy fathers called monasticism a supernatural way of life. But the great elders also play a significant role in the reproduction of monastic life in each generation. Such as the Monk Paisiy Velichkovsky. Here, in the Nyametsky monastery, he worked hard on translations of patristic works and created a Slavic codex of the Philokalia. The Monk Paisius carried out enormous systematic work on translating the works of the holy fathers into Slavic and Moldavian languages. But his scientific activity was only a natural complement to the enormous spiritual work that he carried out within the walls of the monastery. His main goal was to teach the monks to put into practice what the holy fathers wrote about. In the library of the Nyametsky monastery, precious books from the time of St. Paisius have been preserved, including this manuscript, which belongs to him. Here, in his own calligraphic handwriting, is the preface to the Philokalia, the book he translated. It begins with the following words: “God is the blessed nature, the most perfect perfection, the creative principle of all good and kind, most good and most good, having eternally given to His God-originating form the deification of man.” Paisiy Velichikovsky attracted a lot of monks of Slavic origin here. Initially, in our monasteries - be it Putna, Voronets or Sucevita - there were few monks. The Slavic system, the influence of Russia was expressed in the fact that the number of monks began to increase significantly - according to the Russian model. Romanian monasticism in the 18th - 19th centuries felt the very powerful influence of the Slavic world, the Russian world in particular. In the twentieth century, the most revered spiritual father in Romania was Elder Cleopas Ilie, who lived in the Sihastria monastery. His sermons, advice and spiritual care, compassion and love for people were talked about throughout the country. He was a spiritual father with unquestionable authority. He was called the Romanian Seraphim of Sarov. Father Cleopas was a special spiritual mentor. He confessed to the metropolitans and hierarchs of the Church. One of his students is Patriarch Daniel. He tonsured Patriarch Daniel as a monk. Father Cleopas became a blessing from the Lord, a special gift, for the Romanian people. In the monastery, his teachings and his life remain an example to follow. The communist dictatorship that established itself in Romania in the late 40s organized persecution of the church. Elder Cleopas also suffered from them - he was imprisoned more than once and wandered for a long time in the mountains. Father Cleopas was inconvenient to the communist authorities. A case was opened against him by the security authorities. He was summoned, interrogated, and just before his father’s arrest, Cleopas was warned by one believer. He received a blessing and went into the desert. Father Cleopas was a perfect person, because he went through all possible tests, through all obediences, through the school of hermitage. Once again, Father Cleopa had to go to the mountains of Moldova in 1959, when all monks under the age of fifty-five were ordered by government decree to leave the monasteries. Then the police expelled more than four thousand monks from the monasteries. In forced solitude, Elder Cleopas wrote guides to spiritual life for priests and laity, which later became very famous throughout the Orthodox world. The monasteries lost most of their inhabitants, and a number of monasteries were closed. With the help of the Lord, the Sikhastria monastery did not close. A shelter was set up here for elderly monks from various monasteries who were awaiting closure. Even during the years of the communist regime, the Romanian people remained religious and pious. Most Orthodox Christians continued to go to church and baptize their children. Villagers have always been especially devout. In Romania it was possible to preserve religion in the villages. That is, churches were not closed. The only thing that, of course, put pressure on the community was that in schools, precisely when there were religious holidays, various events were organized along the pioneer line, so that the children would not go to church. Not far from the Neamet Monastery, in the village of Petricani, in an ordinary private house there is a museum, which is considered one of the most interesting in Romania. Collector and artist Nicola Popa began collecting objects of Romanian folklore and traditional life back in the 70s of the twentieth century. But the main thing is that the creators of this museum managed to save many icons from destruction and desecration and thereby preserve the material memory of the deep religiosity of the Romanian peasants. When my father started creating his own museum, he began collecting things that people threw away, for example, irons and others. This seems paradoxical, but there were also people who threw away old icons. And my dad said that all these icons must be preserved, these shrines must be saved. In total, we have about a hundred icons from different centuries in our museum. The peasant could not imagine his life, his home without an icon. And it is with the help of these icons that we can understand how deep the spirituality and religiosity of the Romanian people has always been. Among the many Romanian traditions, the “serut myna”, which translates as “kissing hand,” is still preserved. Kissing the hand of a priest or nun, even when meeting on the street, is a completely common form of greeting for Romanians. Since 1990, new monks and nuns simply poured into the monasteries in an avalanche; many young people who could not take monastic vows under the communist regime did so immediately after its fall. Church art began to develop - new workshops of icon painting, mosaics, embroidery, church vestments, and silversmithing appeared in many monasteries. New parish churches were built in residential areas with tens of thousands of families, where previously there were not even chapels. In Romania, the church is separated from the state. But at the same time, the state provides various assistance to religious denominations. All clergy, Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestant pastors, as well as clergy of other religious denominations, receive financial assistance from the state. The state returned to church organizations the property they had owned before 1945. Therefore, some dioceses have their own forests, their own agriculture, their own land. The community of Russian Lipovans, descendants of Old Believers who fled Russia at the end of the seventeenth century and settled in Moldova and Wallachia, also receives state support from the Romanian authorities. The name Lipovane is not completely established where it came from. There are several options from the most popular ones, according to etymology, supposedly the name Lipovans came from the word linden, because they hid in linden forests or painted icons on linden trees. Most likely, this word is associated with the name Philip. Probably there was some kind of leader of the Old Believers, Philip. And from Philip came the Philippovans and Lipovans. For three centuries, the Lipovans have preserved the language and religious customs of their ancestors. Today the community numbers about thirty thousand people. Russia for us, if I can say in one word, Russia for us is a prayer. And Romania is the country that adopted us. We were born here, we studied here, we live here, we continue our lives, we work. Of course, we value Russia very much, because our roots are from there. And for us, Russia is not only a historical homeland, it is also a spiritual homeland. One of the largest Lipovan settlements in Romania is the village of Kamen on the banks of the Danube. Here, Old Believer traditions are observed especially strictly. For local women and girls, a sundress remains an Easter outfit, and men do not shave their beards and wear their shirts untucked, always with a belt. Lipovans sing at the service. The Lipovans have also preserved the ancient tradition of hook - or znamenny - singing, which is based on the monophonic choral performance of compositions. Lipovans sing at the evening service. The Romanian Orthodox Church is active in social work. In Romania, there are also public organizations of Orthodox believers that help a variety of people in trouble. Alexandra Natanie, a student at the University of Bucharest, initiated the creation of such a humanitarian organization when she was only sixteen years old. I was working as a volunteer and one day I received an email from a young woman; she wrote that she was pregnant, that her parents were pressuring her to have an abortion against her will. I decided to go with her to her parents to talk to them. Her parents said that they had no home, no food, no work, and gave many reasons why the child could not be born. I took a piece of paper and wrote down all the difficulties that interfere with the birth of a child. I posted this list on my blog. People appeared who decided to help, giving her food every month. They helped her build a house. So she kept that child, got married and had two more. For me, this story was an amazing change in fate. I realized that the most wonderful thing about volunteering is helping to save lives. Alexandra, together with other students, opened a branch of the international organization Students for Life in Romania. We provide support to pregnant young women and teenagers. We organized the first such structure in Romania. We come up with legislative initiatives and try to participate in the education of young people and popularize family values. There are a lot of young people in Orthodox churches in Romania today. They continue the traditions of piety of their people - both internal and external: long services, scarves on the heads of women, frequent confession, congregational singing of prayers. Our stay in Romania ends with a visit to the Cetatutsa Monastery. We only saw a fraction of what we could have seen at the Romanian Orthodox Church if we had stayed longer. But during these five days we saw a lot - both the ancient painted monasteries of Bukovina, and new monasteries being built and restored. We got acquainted with the social activities of the church, visited the church hospital, kindergarten, and publishing house. We saw the life of the church in all its diversity. It is often said in the West that we live in a post-Christian era. In order to make sure that this is not so, you can come to countries such as Romania, take part in an ordinary Sunday service or the service of the patronal feast of some monastery, and see thousands of people who gather for the holiday. You can visit other Orthodox countries to make sure that we live in the Christian era. That Christianity continues to live and continues to illuminate millions of people with its light.

ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

According to legend, Christianity was brought to the Roman province of Dacia, which was located on the territory of modern Romania. Andrew and the disciples of St. ap. Pavel. The Romanians became the only Romance people to adopt the Slavic language in church and secular literature. This was due to the dependence of the Romanians on the Bulgarian Church at a time when they did not yet have their own written language. The autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church was proclaimed in 1885, as evidenced by the patriarchal synodal tomos, signed and sealed by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Since 1925, the Romanian Church has had its own patriarch.

HISTORY OF THE ROMANIAN CHURCH: CHURCH ASPECT

According to Hippolytus of Rome and Eusebius of Caesarea, Christianity was brought to the territory between the Danube and the Black Sea, then inhabited by the tribes of Dacians, Getae, Sarmatians and Carps, by the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. In 106, Dacia was conquered by the Roman emperor Trajan and turned into a Roman province. After this, Christianity began to actively spread north of the Danube. Written and archaeological monuments testify to the persecution that Christians endured in these territories.

Unlike other peoples, the Romanians did not have a one-time mass baptism. The spread of Christianity proceeded gradually in parallel with the process of formation of the Romanian ethnos, which arose as a result of the mixing of Dacians with Roman colonists. Romanians and Moldovans make up the two easternmost Romance peoples.

In the 4th century, a church organization already existed in the Carpathian-Danubian territories. According to the testimony of Philostrogius, Bishop Theophilus was present at the First Ecumenical Council, to whose authority the Christians of the “Getian country” were subject. Bishops from the city of Toma (now Constanta) were present at the Second, Third and Fourth Ecumenical Councils.

Until the 5th century, Dacia was part of the Archdiocese of Sirmium, subject to the jurisdiction of Rome. After the destruction of Sirmium by the Huns (5th century), Dacia came under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Thessalonica, who was subordinate either to Rome or to Constantinople. In the 8th century, Emperor Leo the Isaurian finally subjugated Dacia to the canonical authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

The formation of Romanian statehood was delayed due to constant raids on this territory by various nomadic tribes. At the end of the 3rd century, the Goths and Gepids invaded here, in the 4th-6th centuries - the Huns and Avars. Since the 6th century, the Slavs became neighbors of the Romanians. From the 7th century, the Romanians gradually began to lose ties with the Romanesque peoples and experience Slavic cultural influence.

Historically, Romania is divided into three regions: in the south - Wallachia, in the east - Moldova, in the northwest - Transylvania. The history of these lands developed differently.

At the end of the 8th century, Wallachia became part of the First Bulgarian Kingdom. At the beginning of the 10th century, Romanians began to perform divine services in the Church Slavonic language, which was in use here until the 17th century. The Wallachian Church submitted to the canonical authority of the Bulgarian Church (Ohrid and then Tarnovo Patriarch).

In the 11th-12th centuries, Wallachia was attacked by the Pechenegs, Cumans and other Turkic peoples, and in the 13th century, part of its territory came under the rule of the Mongol-Tatars.

Around 1324, Wallachia became an independent state. In 1359, the Wallachian governor Nicholas Alexander I obtained from the Patriarch of Constantinople the elevation of the Church on the territory of his state to the rank of metropolitanate. Until the 18th century, the Wallachian Metropolis enjoyed the rights of broad autonomy. Its dependence on Constantinople was nominal.

Metropolitans were elected by a mixed Council of bishops and princes. The right of ecclesiastical trial over metropolitans belonged to a council of 12 Romanian bishops. For violation of state laws, they were tried by a mixed court consisting of 12 boyars and 12 bishops.

From the beginning of the 15th century, Wallachia became a vassal of the Turkish Sultan. However, it was not part of the Ottoman Empire, but was only its tributary. Until the 16th century, Wallachian governors were elected by the highest clergy and boyars, and from the 16th century they began to be appointed by the Sultan from among ethnic Romanians.

The history of Moldova turned out somewhat differently. Its territory, although not part of the province of Dacia, nevertheless experienced strong Roman influence in the 2nd-4th centuries. From the 6th century the Slavs began to settle here. Since the 9th century, the Slavic tribes of the Ulichs and Tivertsi lived between the Prut and Dniester rivers. Since the 10th century, these lands entered the sphere of influence of Kievan Rus. However, the invasions of the Cumans and Pechenegs led to the disappearance of the Slavic population here by the end of the 12th century. In the XIII - early XIV centuries, Moldova was under the rule of the Mongol-Tatars. In the first half of the 14th century, the Tatar-Mongol yoke was overthrown and in 1359 an independent Moldavian principality arose, led by governor Bogdan. Bukovina also became part of this principality.

Due to numerous invasions and a long absence of national statehood, the Moldovans did not have their own church organization until the 14th century. Divine services were performed here by priests who came from the neighboring Galician lands. After the founding of the Moldavian Principality, by the end of the 14th century, a separate Moldavian Metropolis was established within the Patriarchate of Constantinople (first mentioned in 1386).

The young Moldavian state had to defend its independence in the fight against the Poles, Hungarians and Turks. In 1456, the Moldavian rulers recognized vassalage to the Turkish Sultan. Moldova, like Wallachia, until the beginning of the 16th century retained the right to choose its rulers. From the beginning of the 16th century they began to be appointed by the Sultan.

Despite the dependence on the Ottoman Empire, the position of the Church in Wallachia and Moldova was much better than in the neighboring lands. Under the patronage of local rulers, complete freedom of worship was maintained here; it was allowed to build new churches and found monasteries, and convene church councils. Church property remained inviolable. Thanks to this, the Eastern Patriarchates, as well as the Athonite monasteries, acquired estates in these lands, which were one of the important sources of their income.

In 1711, Moldavian and Wallachian governors opposed the Turks in alliance with Peter I during his Prut campaign. Russian troops were defeated, after which relations between the Romanians and Moldovans with the Ottoman Empire deteriorated sharply. In 1714, the Wallachian ruler C. Brancoveanu and his three sons were publicly executed in Constantinople.

The Moldavian ruler D. Cantemir fled to Russia. Since 1716, Phanariot Greeks began to be appointed governors in Wallachia and Moldova. The process of Hellenization began, affecting not only the state, but also the Church. Ethnic Greeks were appointed bishops to the Wallachian and Moldavian metropolises, and services were performed in Greek. Active emigration of Greeks to Wallachia and Moldova began.

In the second half of the 18th century, the Wallachian Metropolitan was recognized as the first in honor among the hierarchy of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and in 1776 he was awarded the honorary title of Vicar of Caesarea in Cappadocia, a historical see headed by St. Basil the Great in the 4th century.

As a result of the Russian-Turkish wars of the second half of the 18th century, Russia received the right to patronize Orthodox Romanians and Moldovans. In 1789, during the second Russian-Turkish war, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church established the Moldo-Vlachian exarchy, the locum tenens of which on December 22 of the same year was appointed by the former Archbishop of Ekaterinoslav and Tauride Chersonese Arseny (Serebrennikov). In 1792, Gabriel (Banulesco-Bodoni) was appointed Metropolitan of Moldo-Vlachia with the title of Exarch of Moldavia, Wallachia and Bessarabia. But already in the next 1793 he was transferred to the Ekaterinoslav See, retaining the title of Exarch. During the war of 1806-1812, Russian troops controlled the territory of the Moldavian and Wallachian principalities for four years (1808-1812). Here the activities of the exarchate were resumed. In March 1808, Metropolitan Gabriel (Banulesco-Bodoni), who had been retired since 1803, was again appointed Exarch of Moldavia, Wallachia and Bessarabia. In 1812, according to the Treaty of Bucharest, Bessarabia (the lands between the Prut and Dniester rivers) became part of Russia, and the power of the Phanariots was restored in the rest of Moldova and Wallachia. The Chisinau diocese was formed from the Orthodox parishes of Bessarabia that found themselves on the territory of the Russian Empire. On August 21, 1813, it was headed by Gabriel (Banulesko-Bodoni) with the title of Metropolitan of Chisinau and Khotyn. The Moldo-Vlachian exarchy was finally abolished on March 30, 1821.

In 1821, during the uprising of the Morean Greeks, the Romanians and Moldovans did not support the rebels, but, on the contrary, supported the Turkish troops. As a result, in 1822 the Sultan restored the right of the Moldavian and Wallachian boyars to independently elect their rulers.

After the Russian-Turkish War of 1828-29, Wallachia received autonomy, the guarantor of which was Russia. In 1829-34, the Wallachian Principality was under direct Russian control. In 1831, the Organic Regulations, drawn up by General Kiselev, were put into effect here and actually became the first Romanian constitution.

As a result of the Crimean War (1853-1856), the Russian protectorate over Moldova and Wallachia was abolished. In 1859, Colonel Alexander Cuza was elected ruler of Wallachia and Moldova simultaneously, which meant the unification of the two principalities into a single state. In 1862, a unified National Assembly was convened in Bucharest and a unified government was created. The new state became known as the Romanian Principality.

The Romanian government began to actively interfere in church affairs. First of all, in 1863 the secularization of the monastery property was carried out. All movable and immovable property of the monasteries became the property of the state. This measure was dictated by the government’s desire to finally deprive the Greek hierarchs, who had significant property in Moldova and Wallachia, of the opportunity to influence the Romanian Church.

In 1865, under pressure from the secular authorities, without preliminary negotiations with Constantinople, the autocephaly of the Romanian Church was proclaimed. Its management was entrusted to the General National Synod, which included all the bishops, as well as three deputies from the clergy and laity of each diocese. The Synod was to meet once every two years. His decisions received force only after approval by the secular authorities. Metropolitans and diocesan bishops were appointed by the prince on the proposal of the Minister of Confessions.

Patriarch Sophronius of Constantinople did not recognize the act of declaring autocephaly and sent protests to Prince Alexander Cuza, Metropolitan of Wallachia and Locum Tenens of the Metropolis of Moldova.

In the wake of the fight against the “Phanariot heritage,” the Romanian government began to introduce elements of Western culture into church life. The spread of the Gregorian calendar began, the use of an organ during worship and the singing of the Creed with the Filioque were allowed. Protestant confessions received complete freedom of preaching. The interference of secular authorities in church affairs caused protests from a number of Romanian and Moldavian hierarchs.

In 1866, as a result of a conspiracy, Alexander Cuza was removed from power. Prince Carol (Charles) I from the Hohenzollern dynasty became the Romanian ruler. In 1872, the “Law on the election of metropolitans and diocesan bishops, as well as on the organization of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Romanian Church” was issued, which somewhat weakened the dependence of the Church on the state. In accordance with the new law, only bishops could be members of the Synod. The Minister of Confessions received only an advisory vote in the Synod. Prince Carol I also began negotiations with Constantinople regarding the recognition of the autocephaly of the Romanian Church.

After the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War on May 9, 1877, the Romanian parliament declared the country's full independence, which was recognized at the Berlin Congress in 1878. After this, Patriarch Joachim III of Constantinople issued an act granting autocephaly to the Romanian Church. At the same time, Constantinople retained the right to consecrate the holy world. The Romanian church authorities refused to grant Constantinople the right to create peace and, without the blessing of the patriarch, solemnly performed the rite of consecration of the world in the Bucharest Cathedral. After this, Patriarch Joachim III again interrupted canonical communion with the Romanian Church.

The final reconciliation of the two Churches took place in 1885. On April 23 of this year, Patriarch Joachim IV of Constantinople issued a Tomos recognizing the full autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The Tomos was solemnly read in Bucharest on May 13, 1885.

The territory of Transylvania was conquered by the Hungarians in the 11th-12th centuries. Orthodoxy in the Kingdom of Hungary did not have the status of a legally recognized religion (recepta), but only a tolerant one (tollerata). The Orthodox population was obliged to pay tithes to the Catholic clergy. The Orthodox clergy was considered an ordinary tax-paying class, which paid state taxes, and if the parish was located on the land of a landowner, then also dues in favor of the latter. In 1541, the Principality of Transylvania was formed, which emerged from the rule of Hungary and recognized the suzerainty of the Turkish Sultan over itself. During the reign of the Wallachian prince Mihai the Brave (1592-1601), Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldova briefly united into one state. As a result of this unification, a separate metropolitanate was established in Transylvania in 1599. However, Hungarian rule was soon restored here. In the middle of the 16th century, Hungarians living in Transylvania adopted Calvinism, which became the dominant religion here.

The Orthodox metropolitan was subordinate to a Calvinist superintendent. Throughout the 17th century, Calvinist princes sought to introduce customs into the life of the Orthodox that would bring them closer to the Reformed churches. In 1697, Transylvania was occupied by the Habsburgs. After this, in 1700, Metropolitan Athanasius and part of the clergy entered into a union with the Roman Catholic Church. The Romanians who remained faithful to Orthodoxy received priests from Serbian bishops located in Austria. In 1783, a separate Orthodox diocese was again established in Transylvania, but this time as part of the Serbian Metropolis of Karlovac. Until 1810, bishops in Transylvania were appointed by the Metropolitan of Karlovac from among ethnic Serbs. In 1810, the Austrian government granted the Transylvanian clergy the right to elect their bishops from among ethnic Romanians. Since the beginning of the 19th century, the residence of the Romanian bishop of Transylvania was in Hermannstadt (now the city of Sibiu). On December 24, 1864, by imperial decree, an independent Romanian Orthodox Metropolis was established in Sibiu, to whose canonical authority all Romanians living in Austria were subject. After the creation of the dual Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1867, Transylvania became part of the Kingdom of Hungary.

Bukovina, which had been part of the Principality of Moldova since the 14th century, was subordinated to the Austrian crown after the Russian-Turkish War of 1768-1774. A separate diocese, which existed here since 1402, became part of the Karlovac Metropolis. In 1873, by imperial decree, the Bukovina diocese received the status of an independent metropolis. The Dalmatian diocese was also included in its composition, so the metropolis began to be called Bukovinian-Dalmatian or Chernivtsi (after the place of the metropolitan residence).

As a result of the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed. Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia became part of the Romanian Kingdom. The metropolises and dioceses located in these territories became part of the single Local Church.

On February 4, 1925, the Romanian Orthodox Church was proclaimed the Patriarchate. The legality of this decision was confirmed by the Tomos of the Patriarch of Constantinople dated July 30, 1925. On November 1 of the same year, the solemn enthronement of the first Romanian Patriarch, His Beatitude Miron, took place.

After the outbreak of World War II in June 1940, Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina were annexed to the Soviet Union. The Orthodox parishes located in this territory came under the canonical jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.

On June 22, 1941, the Kingdom of Romania, together with Germany, entered the war with the USSR. According to the German-Romanian agreement concluded in Bendery on August 30, 1941, the area between the Dniester and Bug rivers was transferred to Romania as a reward for its participation in the war against the Soviet Union. The Romanian zone of occupation received the official name Transnistria (Transnistria), it included the left bank regions of Moldova, the Odessa region and part of the territory of the Nikolaev and Vinnitsa regions. The Romanian Church extended its canonical authority to these territories. In September 1941, the Romanian Patriarchate opened an Orthodox mission in Transnistria led by Archimandrite Julius (Scriban). With the support of the Romanian military authorities, churches and monasteries that ceased their activities under Soviet rule began to open here. Romanian priests were sent to empty parishes. The main attention was paid to the restoration of church life on the territory of Moldova. But even on Ukrainian lands, the Romanian Patriarchate sought to retain control over Orthodox churches. In Transnistria, the activities of the Ukrainian Autonomous and Autocephalous Churches, which existed freely in the Reichskommissariat Ukraine, were prohibited. On November 30, 1942, the Theological Seminary was opened in Dubossary. On March 1, 1942, theological courses for students of all faculties began at Odessa University. In the future, it was planned to create a separate theological faculty in Odessa. Since January 1943, the Orthodox Theological Seminary began operating in Odessa.

The Romanian government, with the help of the Church, sought to Romanianize all of Transnistria. Most of the clergy of Transnistria were of Romanian origin. The Romanian language, Romanian liturgical traditions, and the Gregorian calendar were introduced into worship. For monasteries and churches that resumed their activities, utensils were brought from Romania. All this caused protests from the Slavic population.

From the end of 1942, the mission was headed by the former Metropolitan of Chernivtsi Vissarion (Pui), a graduate of the Kyiv Theological Academy, who somewhat suspended the process of Romanianization of Transnistria.

In November 1943, Transnistria was divided into three dioceses. In February 1944, in Bucharest, Archimandrite Antim (Nika) was consecrated Bishop of Ismail and Transnistria. But already at the end of February, changes at the front forced the mission to leave Odessa and move first to Tiraspol and then to Izmail. On September 12, 1944, an armistice was signed in Moscow between Romania and the USSR, according to which the Soviet-Romanian border as of January 1, 1941 was restored. Thus, Moldova and Northern Bukovina again became part of the USSR. Southern Bukovina remained part of the Romanian Kingdom. In the territories included in the Soviet Union, the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate was restored.

On December 30, 1947, King Michael abdicated the throne. The Romanian People's Republic was proclaimed. Socialist transformations began in the country. This was reflected in the life of the Church. In October 1948, the Uniate Church was liquidated. It should be noted that during the interwar period (1918-1938), about 1.5 million Uniates lived in Romania (mainly in Transylvania). The Uniate Church, like the Orthodox Church, had state status in the Romanian kingdom. Now its activities in Romania have been completely prohibited. However, the reunification of the Uniates, initiated by the secular authorities, turned out to be fragile. After the fall of the communist regime, a significant part of the population of Transylvania returned to the union.

Despite the harsh socialist regime, the Church in Romania was not systematically persecuted. Legally, the Romanian Orthodox Church was not separated from the state. The Romanian Constitution of 1965 proclaimed only the separation of the school from the Church (Article 30). In accordance with the decree “On the general structure of religious confessions,” the Church had the right to create charitable organizations, religious societies, conduct publishing activities, own movable and immovable property, use state subsidies and subsidies for the clergy and religious teachers.

The Romanian Patriarch was a member of the Grand National Assembly. From 1948 to 1986, 454 new churches were built in Romania. After the 1977 earthquake, 51 churches were restored with government funds.

After the formation of the independent Moldavian state in 1991, some clergy and laity of the Moldavian diocese, which is part of the Russian Orthodox Church, began to advocate the transition to the jurisdiction of the Romanian Church. This position was most actively defended by the vicar of the Moldavian diocese, Bishop Peter (Paderaru) of Balti and Archpriest Peter Buburuz. At the congresses of the clergy held in Chisinau on September 8 and December 15, 1992, an almost unanimous desire was expressed to remain under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. Bishop Peter was banned from the priesthood for disobedience to his ruling bishop, Metropolitan Vladimir of Kishinev, and for failing to attend a meeting of the Holy Synod. Despite this, on December 19, 1992, Bishop Peter and Archpriest Peter were accepted into the jurisdiction of the Romanian Patriarchate without a letter of release from the Russian Church. On the territory of Moldova, the Bessarabian Metropolis of the Romanian Church was created, headed by Bishop Peter, who was elevated to the rank of metropolitan. This metropolitanate included a small number of Orthodox parishes from Moldova. Currently, negotiations are underway between the Russian and Romanian Churches to normalize the situation caused by the schismatic activities of Bishop Peter.

Today, the Romanian Orthodox Church includes more than 13 thousand church units (parishes, monasteries, monasteries), 531 monastic communities, more than 11 thousand clergy, more than 7 thousand monastics and more than 19 million laity. The Church is divided into 30 dioceses (25 of them are located in Romania and 5 outside it). There are two theological institutes (in Bucharest and Sibiu) and seven theological seminaries. Due to the fact that Romania unites territories that have long existed as separate political entities, the Romanian Orthodox Church has a special structure. Its dioceses are divided into 5 autonomous metropolitan districts. The jurisdiction of the Romanian Orthodox Church also extends to Romanians living in Western Europe, North and South America, Australia and New Zealand. Since 1929, the Romanian Orthodox Missionary Archdiocese has been operating in the USA and Canada, with its center in Detroit. In 1972, the French Orthodox Church with several thousand believers became part of the Romanian Church as an autonomous bishopric. Romanian bishoprics also operate in Hungary and Yugoslavia.

Bibliography

Vladimir Burega. Romanian Orthodox Church.

Dracula doesn't live here anymore!

According to legend, Christianity was brought to Romania by St. the Apostle Andrew and the disciples of St. Apostle Paul, who preached the word of God in the territory of the former Roman province of Scythia Minor between the Danube River and the western coast of the Black Sea. The Romanians became the only Romance people to adopt the Slavic language in church and secular literature.

The autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church was proclaimed only in 1885, as evidenced by the Patriarchal Synodal Tomos, signed and sealed by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Since 1925, the Romanian Church has had its own Patriarch.

Romania is an Orthodox country; more than 21 million people live in it, 87% of whom are Orthodox Christians. The Romanian Orthodox Church has 660 monastic institutions, in which more than 8,000 monastics work.

The pilgrimage center of the Moscow Patriarchate has developed a new direction for Russians, based on the wishes of not only experienced or novice pilgrims, but also business people involved in trade. After all, they also have their own saint, to whom they pray for good luck in trading matters. This is the Great Martyr John of Sochava the New. This saint of God lived in Trebizond in the 14th century and often traveled by ship to sell and purchase goods. Trade matters took up a lot of his time, but he did not forget his Christian duties. When the time came to firmly confess himself as a Christian and resist the Gentiles, he suffered torture for the faith of Christ in Crimea at the end of the 14th century. His relics in 1402 were transferred to the capital of the Moldo-Vlachian principality of Sochava and placed in the cathedral church. Saint John the New became the patron saint of Moldavia and an assistant to business people who today flock to his holy relics. He patronizes those who are engaged in trade, having pure intentions, working for the benefit of their neighbors and for the glory of God.

The pilgrimage center of the Moscow Patriarchate offers to make a pilgrimage to Romanian shrines - to visit a country that hides its Orthodox monasteries and churches among forests and hills, the Carpathian slopes and the Danube banks, to discover a land that has carefully preserved the priceless heritage of Orthodoxy.

Pilgrimage program to Romania

8 days/7 nights

1st day: Meeting the group at the Chisinau airport (Moldova). Trip to the Holy Dormition Capriana Monastery. Departure to Albica-Leuseni (crossing the border with Romania). City of Suceava, accommodation and dinner at the Caprioara 3* hotel.

2nd day: Breakfast. Excursion around the city of Suceava, the monastery of St. John the New, Soceava (where the relics of the saint are buried), visit to the Church of St. George the Victorious (Mirauti). In the afternoon, a trip to the Dragomirna Monastery (1609), visit to the Church of St. Paisiy Velichkovsky. Return to Suceava and dinner at the Caprioara Hotel.

3 th day: Breakfast. A trip to the Putna Monastery (1466) with a visit to the tomb of St. Stefan cel Mare (the Great) and the cave of St. Daniel the Hermit. Monasteries: Sucevita (1586) and Moldovica (1532), monuments with external frescoes included in the UNESCO heritage. Return to Suceava and dinner at the Caprioara Hotel.

4th day: Breakfast. A trip to the Voronets Monastery (1488) and the Khumor Monastery (1530), monuments with external frescoes included in the UNESCO heritage. Return to Suceava and dinner at the Caprioara Hotel.

5th day: Breakfast. Departure to the city of Targu Neamt. Visit to the Neamt Monastery (1497), which houses the miraculous icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A trip to the Seku Monastery (1602), where the miraculous icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, brought from Fr. Cyprus in 1713. Visit to the monastery of Sykhestria (1740). In Sikhla there is a cave where Saint Theodora of the Carpathians lived and prayed (XVII century). Visit to the Agapia Monastery (1644), one of the most famous convents in Romania, and the Varatec Monastery (1781). Return to Suceava and dinner at the Caprioara Hotel.

6th day: Divine Liturgy at the Monastery of St. John of New Soceava (Suceava). Visit to the Arbore Monastery (1503). Free program, purchase of souvenirs. Dinner at the Caprioara Hotel.

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Prepared by Vladimir BuregaHistory of the Romanian Church: ecclesiastical aspect Today, the Romanian Orthodox Church includes more than 13 thousand church units (parishes, monasteries, monasteries), 531 monastic communities, more than 11 thousand clergy, more than 7 thousand monastics and more than 19 million laity. The Church is divided into 30 dioceses (25 of them are located in Romania and 5 outside it). Due to the fact that Romania unites territories that have long existed as separate political entities, the Romanian Orthodox Church has a special structure. Its dioceses are divided into 5 autonomous metropolitan districts.

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Historically, Romania is divided into three regions: in the south - Wallachia, in the east - Moldova, in the northwest - Transylvania. The history of these lands developed differently.

In the 11th-12th centuries, Wallachia was attacked by the Pechenegs, Cumans and other Turkic peoples, and in the 13th century, part of its territory came under the rule of the Mongol-Tatars.

The Romanian government, with the help of the Church, sought to Romanianize all of Transnistria. Most of the clergy of Transnistria were of Romanian descent. The Romanian language, Romanian liturgical traditions, and the Gregorian calendar were introduced into worship. For monasteries and churches that resumed their activities, utensils were brought from Romania. All this caused protests from the Slavic population.

Prepared by Vladimir Burega

The editors have received the 3rd part of the research material by Metropolitan Alexander of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky and Vishnevsky on the language of worship - as part of the discussion that is being conducted on the Kievan Rus website.

Doubts about the legality or expediency of using the Ukrainian language in Orthodox worship are often argued by the fact that services in ancient languages are a common practice in Local Orthodox Churches. However, this statement needs clarification.

Ancient Eastern Patriarchies. Worship at ancient Greek(which we wrote about above in connection with the practice of the Greek Orthodox Church) is celebrated today in the Ancient Eastern Patriarchates: Constantinople, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Antioch, as well as in the Cyprus, Greek and Autonomous Sinai Churches. At the same time, in Antioch And Jerusalem In patriarchates, the majority of whose flocks are ethnic Arabs, worship is also performed on Arabic(book language, which is an analogue of book English and is understandable to modern Arabs, since in Arabic-speaking countries this language is not only the sacred language of the Koran and worship, but is also used in the media, books, school textbooks, etc.).

While caring for the Orthodox diaspora in the USA and Western Europe, the Patriarchates of Constantinople and Antioch sanction the use of national languages in worship, first of all, English. English is also the main liturgical language of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA, English Orthodox Church in America), which, thanks to its fidelity to the ecclesiological principles of protopresbyters Alexander Schmemann and John Meyendorff, largely managed to overcome the format of the “Church of the Russian minority” and approach the format of the “local Church” of the American continent. On Finnish And Karelian Divine services are performed in languages in the autonomous (as part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople) Orthodox Church of Finland, which traces its history back to the Valaam Monastery, whose monks preached Orthodoxy to the pagan tribes of Karelia in the Middle Ages.

The linguistic situation in ancient times is interesting Patriarchate of Alexandria. “By the beginning of the twentieth century, the number of Orthodox Christians here was about one hundred thousand people (63 thousand Greeks, the rest are Orthodox Arabs of Syrian and Lebanese origin).” However, thanks to active missionary activity on the African continent in the second half of the twentieth century, the situation in the Patriarchate changed radically. In 1963, the Orthodox Christians of Uganda and Kenya came under the jurisdiction of this Local Church, and new dioceses were established in other African countries. As a result, today the Patriarchate has more than a million believers and is growing rapidly. It is important to note that the missionary activity of the Patriarchate of Alexandria is facilitated by its flexible, creative policy regarding liturgical languages. Divine services are held here not only on ancient Greek And Arabic, but also on modernAfrican languages. So, in particular, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom has been translated and published by the Church of Alexandria in 50 African languages. In addition, books containing all the liturgies of the Orthodox Church, other sacraments and services are published in these languages.

IN GruzinskOth OrthodoxOth ChurchesAnd There is an ancient tradition of translating liturgical texts into the national language. The first translations of liturgical books into Georgian have been known since the 5th century. The Georgian liturgical language has overcome a long path of development. Its modern edition was formed in the second half of the 18th – 19th centuries. At this time, the Orthodox Church in Georgia came under strong Russian influence. Catholicos-Patriarch Anthony I (Bagrationi, 1720-1788) played an important role in this process. He edited Georgian liturgical books according to Church Slavonic models that were in use in the Russian Empire. In particular, he edited the Missal, the Octoechos, the Book of Hours and the Lenten Triodion. In these books, not only the headings changed, but also the texts themselves. New chants were added that were previously absent from the Georgian tradition. Despite numerous shortcomings in the books prepared for publication by Catholicos Anthony and his collaborators, it is this edition of liturgical texts that still prevails in the Georgian Orthodox Church.

The language of the liturgical books of the Georgian Orthodox Church is qualified as drevnegeorgian. But modern Georgians understand it more than, for example, the Church Slavonic language - modern Ukrainians. The fact is that the ancient Georgian language contains, first of all, archaic vocabulary. And Church Slavonic retains grammatical and syntactic norms that do not exist in the modern Ukrainian language. There are almost no initiatives to translate divine services from ancient Georgian into modern Georgian, since the Church does not see any particular need for this.

Language situation in Serbscoth OrthodoxOth ChurchesAnd has its own specifics. Traditionally, in the Serbian lands, services were performed in Church Slavonic. Until the 18th century, there was a Serbian version of this language (in Serbian scientific literature it is usually called the “Serbian-Slavic language”). However, in the 18th – early 19th centuries it was supplanted by the Russian version of the Church Slavonic language (or “Russian-Slavic language”, as it is called in Serbia). This happened as a result of powerful Russian influence on the church life of the Serbs. In church communities both on the territory of the Serbian state and in Austria-Hungary and Montenegro, liturgical books published in Russia are distributed. Most Serbian bishops and clergy (especially in the 19th century) received their education in theological academies of the Russian Empire. All this leads to the gradual displacement of the “Serbian-Slavic language” from liturgical use.

At the end of the 19th century, there were already calls for both the revival of the traditional liturgical language of the Serbs (“Serbian-Slavic”) and the translation of liturgical texts into modern Serbian. As a result, the first Serbian translations of liturgical texts appeared in the first half of the twentieth century. For example, back in the 1930s, the famous Serbian ascetic of piety, the Monk Justin Popovic, translated the liturgy of John Chrysostom into modern Serbian. By the beginning of the 1960s, the Service Book, the Small and Large Trebniks, and certain parts of the Oktoechos had already been translated into Serbian. In the early 1960s, some Serbian bishops and clergy advocated the official introduction of the modern Serbian language into worship. Finally, in 1964, the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church officially sanctioned the liturgical use of modern Serbian. In fact, this meant the recognition of Serbian and Church Slavonic as two equal languages of worship. This approach has been repeatedly confirmed by the highest authority of the Serbian Church. In particular, on May 23, 1986, the Council of Bishops of the Serbian Church determined that the liturgical languages in it are Church Slavonic and modern Serbian. Today, every parish of the Serbian Church can freely choose one of these languages of worship. At the same time, church authorities are taking measures to ensure that the introduction of the Serbian language into worship does not lead to the complete displacement of Church Slavonic. Thus, on July 20, 2012, His Holiness Patriarch Paul of Serbia issued an order that in all parishes in the territory of the Belgrade-Karlovac Archdiocese, the Divine Liturgy should be celebrated at least once a month in Church Slavonic.

Over the past decades, work has been underway in Serbia to translate liturgical books. Although there is still no complete corpus of liturgical books in the Serbian language. Depending on the locality and the characteristics of parish life, either Serbian or Church Slavonic languages may be used in worship. It is common to see both languages co-existing in the same worship service. Some texts are read (sung) in Serbian, while others are in Church Slavonic.

Romanian Orthodox Church. Until the 17th century, in Moldavia and Wallachia (from which the Romanian state was formed in the 19th century), it was used in worship. Church Slavonic language. Work on translating the Holy Scriptures and liturgical texts into Romanian began in the 17th century, since the local population did not understand Church Slavonic well. By the beginning of the 18th century, thanks to the works of the outstanding hierarch, publisher and church writer, Hieromartyr Anthimus of Iveron, Metropolitan of the Ugro-Wallachian Church, the translation of the service was completed. In fact, Saint Anthimus revived Christian identity in Wallachia and Moldavia. Since then and to this day, worship in the Romanian Orthodox Church has been performed on literary Romanian language. Since the Slavic language was used here as a liturgical language for several centuries, many Slavicisms are found in modern Romanian church vocabulary. It should be noted that in order to replace outdated and obscure words and expressions, liturgical texts are regularly edited in Romania. This work is carried out by the Biblical Institute of the Romanian Patriarchate, which prepares liturgical texts for publication. The last revision was carried out in 2009, so that ordinary Romanians perfectly understand their liturgical language.

BulgarianIOrthodoxIChurchov. The beginning of translations of liturgical texts into modern Bulgarian and their use in worship dates back at least to the beginning of the twentieth century, when Metropolitan Boris of Ohrid (Georgiev, 1875-1938) published the Trebnik (1908) and the Service Book with parallel Church Slavonic and Bulgarian texts (1910). The decision on the desirability of holding services in modern Bulgarian was made by the IV Church-People's Council (July 2–4, 1997), which issued a resolution: “To encourage the use of modern Bulgarian in worship.”

Currently, in most churches of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, both Church Slavonic and Bulgarian languages are present in divine services, and these languages are distributed, as a rule, as follows: what is read (and, above all, the Holy Scripture, i.e. the Gospel, Apostle and proverbs), sounds in Bulgarian, what is sung is in Church Slavonic. This way of coexistence of two languages is explained primarily by the fact that practically no hymnography has been translated into Bulgarian (Minea, Octoechos, Triodion [Lenten and Colored]). As in the 18th–19th centuries, today Russian editions of these liturgical books are used in Bulgarian churches. The described state of affairs is violated in some cases: for example, in Sofia there are churches where services are performed exclusively in the national language; at the same time, there are parishes where the Church Slavonic language predominates (however, Scripture is read almost everywhere in Bulgarian).

Feature Polish Orthodox Churches is that most of its flock are ethnic Belarusians and Ukrainians. Until the 1920s, the Orthodox population in Poland belonged to the Russian Church. Therefore, the traditional language of worship here was Church Slavonic. But in the 1920-30s, largely under pressure from the state, which sought to eradicate the Russian heritage in Poland, the process of “nationalization” of church life began. Already in 1922, the Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in Poland decided to introduce the Polish language into the educational process in theological seminaries and to encourage preaching in Polish. Soon after the Orthodox Church in Poland received autocephaly from the Patriarchate of Constantinople (1924), Metropolitan Dionysius (Waledinsky) of Warsaw created a commission whose responsibilities included translating liturgical texts into Polish. However, by the mid-1930s, the activities of this commission were not particularly active.

In 1935, a new translation commission was created, which included professors from the Orthodox Theological Studio of the University of Warsaw, as well as representatives of the Orthodox military clergy (they were subordinate not only to church, but also to state authorities; the mandatory introduction of worship in Polish in military churches was a requirement of the state ). Soon the first Polish translations of liturgical texts began to appear, which were used primarily in military churches. The state, when appointing Orthodox military chaplains, paid special attention to their loyalty to the Polish state and fluency in the Polish language. Therefore, in fact, in the introduction of the Polish language into worship in the 1930s, it was Orthodox chaplains who played the main role.

It should be noted that in the 1920-30s, as part of the “nationalization” of church life in Volyn, work was carried out to translate the Holy Scriptures and liturgical texts into Ukrainian.

In the second half of the twentieth century, the Orthodox Church in Poland almost did not translate liturgical texts. Therefore, today in most parishes in Poland the Church Slavonic language is preserved. At the same time, certain parts of the service are sounded in Polish (for example, certain litanies, Apostle, Gospel, etc.). However, there are also communities that conduct services entirely in Polish. For example, in Warsaw, services in Polish are performed in the chapel of St. George (rector - priest Henryk Paprocki). With the blessing of Metropolitan Sava of Warsaw and All Poland, active translation work is also underway at this parish. Many liturgical texts in Polish are posted on the parish website.

Particular attention should be paid to the language situation in Albanian Orthodox Church. In the Middle Ages, worship in Albania was conducted in Greek. At the same time, ethnic Albanians did not understand the Greek language well. By the beginning of the Ottoman conquest in Albania, the Holy Scriptures and liturgy had not been translated into the national language. As a result, the national Christian culture turned out to be quite weak. In addition, Albania was the area of traditional struggle between the Roman throne and Constantinople. The ratio between Orthodox and Catholics in Albania in the 14th-15th centuries was approximately fifty to fifty percent. The lack of a strong national church culture and the constant confrontation between Eastern and Western Christians, according to modern researchers, became the reasons for the mass Islamization of Albanians. During the Ottoman period (throughout the 16th and 17th centuries), the vast majority of Albanians (as opposed to Greeks, Serbs and Bulgarians) converted to Islam.

The first attempts to translate the Holy Scriptures into Albanian date back only to the 18th-19th centuries. After the creation of an independent Albanian state (which received international recognition in 1914), a movement began among Orthodox Albanians for the autocephaly of their own Church, an integral part of which was the desire to introduce the state language into worship. In particular, in the 1920s, the famous Albanian church and political figure Bishop Fan (Theophanes) Noli translated liturgical and other church texts into Albanian and insisted on introducing the Albanian language into worship instead of Greek. However, in the second half of the 1940s, the communist era in the history of Albania began, distinguished by brutal persecution of the Church. At this time, the service was not translated.

In the 1990s, the revival of the Orthodox Church in Albania began after its almost complete destruction during the communist period. Since 1992, the Primate of the Albanian Church has been His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios (Janulatos). Being an ethnic Greek, he, however, in his ministry in Albania relied on the development of Albanian church traditions. As a result, an extensive translation and publishing program was initiated. Today, in the Albanian Orthodox Church, the languages used in worship are mainly Greek and modern Albanian. The choice of language for worship depends on the ethnic composition of the parish. Thanks to the thoughtful missionary concept of Archbishop Anastasius, the active development of Orthodoxy in Albania has continued over the past two decades. In fact, a new Albanian church tradition was born, an integral part of which is worship in the Albanian language.

Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia. Eastern Christianity was brought to the territory of modern Czech Republic and Slovakia by the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius back in the 9th century. But later the Western rite won here. Therefore, Orthodox worship in the Czech Republic was almost unknown until the 19th century. In the second half of the 19th century, Russian Orthodox churches appeared on the territory of the Czech Republic in Prague, Karlovy Vary, Marianske Lazne and Frantiskovy Lazne. From this time on, ethnic Czechs raised in the Catholic tradition began to convert to Orthodoxy. They almost do not understand the Church Slavonic language. That is why, at the end of the 19th century, Russian priests in Prague began to carry out the first translations of liturgical texts into Czech.

Orthodoxy developed most actively in the Czech Republic in the 1920-30s. It was then that Hieromartyr Gorazd (Pavlik), Bishop of Czech and Moravian-Silesian, translated the corpus of main liturgical texts into modern Czech. He also developed original chants for church voices, aimed at ethnic Czechs. Thus was born the modern practice of Czech Orthodox worship, which takes into account both the liturgical traditions of other Local Churches and the peculiarities of the Czech mentality. Today, worship in the Czech Republic can be performed both in modern Czech and in other languages. In particular, in parishes that unite ethnic Russians, the Church Slavonic language is used. There are also Romanian-speaking parishes.

As for Slovakia, the linguistic situation in the Orthodox Church here has its own specifics. The place of compact residence of the Orthodox population is Eastern Slovakia (the so-called Pryashevshchyna, bordering Transcarpathian Ukraine). Here, the Church Slavonic language with a special local pronunciation is preserved in worship. The Slovak language as a liturgical language is not widely used here.

As you can see, modern languages are used in worship in almost all Local Orthodox Churches. Moreover, the nature of their use is determined both by the peculiarities of local liturgical traditions and the specifics of the current state of affairs in each individual Church, in particular, by the missionary tasks facing it.

It should be noted that non-recognition autocephaly For the Orthodox Church in America (this autocephaly was granted by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1970), the Patriarchate of Constantinople complicates the process of consolidating Orthodoxy in America and creates certain diplomatic difficulties for the OCA, but does not violate the grace-filled life of this Church and does not interfere with its main mission: preaching The Gospel and the creation of the Eucharistic life.

Alexandria Orthodox Church // Local Orthodox Churches: Sat. - M.: Sretensky Monastery Publishing House, 2004. - P. 28.

See: Orthodox Encyclopedia. Volume 12. - M., 2006. - pp. 88-92.

[Ill.: Ancient "Euchologion" in Arabic].
[Ill.: December 6, 2015 in the Patriarchal Church of St. Nicholas in Cairo, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa Theodore II committed the chitonia of Bishop Athanasius of Kisuma and Western Kenya (in the world - Amos Akunda Masaba)].
[Ill.: Rev. Justin Popović, translator of the Divine Liturgy into modern Serbian].
[Ill.: Mosaic image of the holy martyr. Anfim Iverskogo, through whose work the translation of liturgical texts into Romanian was carried out].
[Illustration: Boris (Georgiev), Metropolitan of Ohrid. He worked on the compilation of the synodal missal and took part in editing the synodal translation of the Bulgarian Bible. Together with Met. Strumitsky Gerasim translated the Bulgarian Service Book (1908), compiled and published the collections “Christian on St. Liturgy" (1935) and "Prayer Treasure" (1937)].
[Ill.: Holy Martyr. Gorazd (Pavlik), Bishop of Czech and Moravian-Silesian, who translated the corpus of main liturgical texts into modern Czech].

Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Ancient or new? In what languages ​​are services held in Local Churches?

Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Ancient or new? In what languages are services held in Local Churches?