We believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ is the true God<... >In two natures are inseparable, inseparable, unchanging, inseparably united. Therefore, when we pronounce His Most Holy and Divine Name, i.e. Jesus Christ, we imagine the invisible presence of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ Himself, the second person of the Most Holy Trinity, not separating His Name from essence and not merging Him, but in Him, according to the Apostle, it behooves us to be saved, but to honor Him and worship Him the Lord God Himself [1102].

In August, Hieromonk Alexis (Kireevsky) and Hieroschemamonk Kirik went to Constantinople to Patriarch Joachim III to seek the condemnation of the imiaslavtsy. Upon learning of this, Fr. Anthony (Bulatovich) wrote to the Patriarch with a request to defend imiaslavie [1103]. Patriarch Joachim III, although he did not accept Fr. Alexis, nevertheless took the side of the opponents of imiaslavie. He instructed the theological school of the Patriarchate of Constantinople on the island of Halki to consider the imiaslav teaching: on August 27, the school recognized the teaching as heretical [1104]. On September 12, 1912, the Patriarch sent an epistle to Mount Athos prohibiting the reading of the book "On the Mountains of the Caucasus" [1105]:

"To those of the monks," writes the Patriarch, "who senselessly theologize and spread the erroneous theory of the divinity of the name "Jesus," we advise and command them to immediately and strictly abandon the soul-damaging error and to cease arguing and interpreting about things they do not know. They must first of all be concerned about the salvation of their souls, and they must seek and find the solution of any of their perplexities in the teaching of the Church handed down, beyond which and apart from which no one is allowed to innovate or use new expressions. Otherwise, against those who spread this senseless, blasphemous teaching and disturb the Holy Mountain, the Church will take the strictest measures, such as are indicated by the sacred canons against the impious and disobedient, and which are required by the tranquility and order of your sacred place. And since the beginning and cause of the temptation is the book of the monk Hilarion "On the Mountains of the Caucasus", which was inattentively and unfounded in many places, we, condemning and condemning the incorrect and dangerous expressions in it about the name "Jesus", forbid the reading of this book to everyone on the Holy Mountain, as a book containing much that is erroneous and leading to error and heresy [1106].

Immediately after receiving the Patriarch's message, Fr. Anthony (Bulatovich) made an analysis of this document and sent it to the Patriarch. At the same time, he submitted a complaint to the Patriarch against Archbishop Anthony (Khrapovitsky). A similar complaint is sent to the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod of the Russian Church [1107]. Not limiting himself to complaints, Bulatovich also composes a detailed commentary on the epistle of Patriarch Joachim, questioning the legitimacy of the epistle.

Touching upon Patriarch Joachim's attitude to the book "On the Mountains of the Caucasus," Bulatovich notes that the Patriarch "does not express exactly what expressions he finds incorrect, does not discuss the entire book, does not call it heretical, but condemns only some "certain expressions." Among these expressions, however, His Holiness the Patriarch could hardly understand the words "The Name of God is God Himself," for the Holy Fathers also spoke of the Name of God in this way. The Patriarch, in Bulatovich's opinion, "condemns those who introduce a new teaching about the Name of God. But the Athonite confessors confess not a new, but an old patristic teaching about this." The commentary to the epistle ends with the thought that "one should not exaggerate the official authority of Patriarch Joachim's letter, nor attach to it a decisive dogmatic significance, which, apparently, His Holiness did not intend to give to his conciliatory instruction" [1108].

Such an interpretation of the patriarchal epistle, however, is an attempt to pass off wishful thinking as reality. In fact, the position of the Patriarch is quite unequivocal, and his attitude towards the imiaslavtsy is quite negative. It should be noted, however, that the text of the epistle, completely devoid of theological content and built exclusively on general phrases without a single concrete indication of the erroneous opinions of the imiaslavtsy, testifies to the fact that its author was not familiar with the book "On the Mountains of the Caucasus" and in general did not know anything about the essence of the teaching of the imiaslavtsy, except for what he could hear through Hieromonk Alexis (Kireevsky). It is not surprising that the text of the Patriarchal Epistle did not make any impression on the monks of the Thebaid Skete. On December 2, 1912, the fraternal council of the skete unanimously recognized the opinions set forth in the book "On the Mountains of the Caucasus" as correct and condemned the opponents of Schema-monk Hilarion [1109]. According to the surviving protocol, more than 100 monks took part in the council. After a short prayer, the abbot of the skete, Hieromonk Seraphim, made an introductory speech and read out a note by Schema-monk Martinian [1110], in which he proved the falsity of the opinions contained in the "blasphemous review" of the monk Chrysanthos. Then a debate took place, after which the monks discussed the main provisions of Schema-monk Hilarion's book "On the Mountains of the Caucasus" and the reviews of the monk Chrysanthos. On all points, the monks supported the position of Schema-monk Hilarion and condemned the views of his opponent [1111]. The protocol is concluded by the following definition:

On the basis of the Holy and Patristic Scriptures, we confess that the name of God is God Himself. The name of Jesus Christ is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, equal to the other names of God. As for the review of the monk Chrysanthos, as not agreeing with the Holy Scriptures, we recognize as heretical, which we reject with its followers, and, as a sign of the firmness of our confession, we kiss the Cross and the Holy Gospel [1112].

At St. Andrew's Skete, where disputes over the veneration of the name of God continued throughout the autumn of 1912 and the winter of 1912-1913, the absolute majority of monks also adhered to imiaslavie. However, passions there are heating up every day. After Hegumen Jerome went to Macedonia on November 19, 1912, the situation became even more complicated. In December, a certain "seditious paper" appeared, which was circulating in the hands of the monks: it was announced that "during dinner, plates will be struck, and after that the beating of all Jerome's supporters will begin." The imiaslavtsy attributed the compilation of this paper to their opponents, and they considered it a provocation of the imiaslavtsy. As a result, most of the monks did not appear at the supper on the evening at which the beating of the supporters of Hegumen Jerome was allegedly planned [1113].

All these battles are taking place against the backdrop of real military operations that had a direct impact on the fate of Mount Athos. On October 9, 1912, the First Balkan War began between Turkey and the Balkan Alliance, which included Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece. As a result of the war, Turkey lost almost all of its European territories, including Mount Athos, which it had owned since the 15th century. On November 2, a Greek landing force consisting of 67 sailors under the command of Telemachus Kourmouris occupied Athos, expelling the Turks from there and raising the Greek banner over the protatus instead of the Turkish one [1114]. On November 3, a landing force of 800 infantrymen, artillerymen and cavalrymen of the Greek army arrived at the Athos pier of Daphni on a transport steamer. All this landing force was divided into detachments that made a tour of the monasteries. One of the detachments, led by Demosthenes Zantopoulos, arrived at the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on November 7, where it was solemnly greeted by the monks [1115]. In January 1913, Greek soldiers were accommodated in all the monasteries of Athos, including St. Panteleimon, under the guise of pilgrims [1116]. The monks of the Greek monasteries petitioned for the annexation of Athos to Greece; Russian monks, on the contrary, actively support the idea of transforming Athos into an independent monastic republic under the protectorate of Orthodox states. They motivate their position by the fact that there are more than 5,000 Russian monks on Mount Athos, while there are less than 4,000 Greeks [1117]. Nevertheless, since the capture of Athos by a Greek landing force in November 1912, Athos had already become the de facto territory of the Kingdom of Greece; de jure, this situation was enshrined in the Treaty of Bucharest of the Great Powers of August 26, 1913, according to which Athos was ceded to Greece [1118].

Let us return to the events in St. Andrew's Skete. On January 8, 1913, Hegumen Jerome arrived at the skete after a long absence and immediately felt the hostile attitude of the imiaslavtsy monks, many of whom did not approach him for a blessing and demonstratively avoided him. The monks Clement and Mercurius, the most active opponents of the imiaslavtsy, reported to the hegumen about the discontent of a significant part of the monks against him and suggested that he expel from the skete the "leaders of the committee" for organizing the revolt. The abbot convened a council of elders, consisting of twelve of the most respected monks of the skete, for the trial of the monk Peter, the monk Victorinus and the hieromonk Iliodor, who were declared "leaders of the committee." However, its senior member, the ktitor of the monastery, Archimandrite David, who sympathized with imiaslavie [1119], was not invited to the council. The accused demanded his participation, to which Fr. Jerome was forced to agree. When Fr. David appeared, the abbot said to him: "I hear that you call me a heretic." Fr. David answered: "Not only do I name you, but here, at the council, I affirm that you are a heretic, a blasphemer of the Name of God." Fr. David's argument with the abbot ended with Fr. David leaving the courtroom with the words, "Brethren, run, your abbot is a heretic"; the other elders followed him [1120].

Then Hegumen Jerome convened a general council of the elder brethren, consisting of about sixty people. However, at this council it turned out that the abbot, who had previously been a supporter of imiaslavie, finally took the position of its opponents. The Council, which took place in a very stormy atmosphere (during the meeting, the younger brethren of the skete also entered the hall), ended with the fact that the monks began to demand a change of abbot. Fr. Jerome, saying, "Well, do with me what you want," was forced to leave the hall. Thus, the council convened to expel the "rebels" from the skete ended with the deposition of the hegumen Jerome himself [1121]. On the same day, Hegumen Jerome sent a complaint to the Vatopedi Monastery and asked for help from the Russian consul in Thessaloniki [1122]. The imiaslavtsy also sent a complaint to Vatopedi against Hegumen Jerome, who had "fallen into heresy," with a demand to bring him to trial together with his like-minded people [1123].

On January 10, Hegumen Jerome summoned to St. Andrew's Skete the pro-esto-owls [1124] of the Vatopedi Monastery to help in "quelling the revolt." Almost at the same time as the Vatopedi proestos, Hieroschema-monk Anthony (Bulatovich) arrived at the skete. The proestos went to the abbot's chambers, and Fr. Anthony went to the church, where the general council of the monastery brethren was meeting at that time. With the help of Fr. Anthony, the following "Confession" was compiled: "I, the undersigned, believe and confess that the Name of God and the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ are holy in themselves, inseparable from God, and are God Himself, as many Holy Fathers have confessed. I reject the blasphemers and despiseers of the Name of the Lord as heretics, and therefore I demand the replacement of Hegumen Jerome" [1125]. Confession" was signed by more than 300 monks of the skete, that is, more than 4/5 of all the brethren. After that, the election of a new abbot took place, which took place, characteristically, under the leadership of Hieroschemamonk Anthony (Bulatovich), who enjoyed the unconditional respect of the brethren:

They began to elect a new abbot," Fr. Anthony later recalled, "and I proposed to name several candidates and hold a secret ballot, as was usually done. But the elders and all the brethren unanimously objected: "What other candidates are there, we all ask Father David." "Whoever desires Father David, go to the right. Those who do not want to - to the left!" exclaimed Father Sergius, and all 300 people were on the right side. The voice of the people is the voice of God. The election was considered complete, and immediately a moleben of thanksgiving to the Lord God was served, and all the brethren, venerating the cross, the Gospel and the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, approached Father David, made him a prostration to the ground and received a blessing from him as from their new abbot. Thus, without a premeditated plan, the deposition of one abbot and the election of another was accomplished [1126].

Having finished collecting signatures in favor of the new hegumen, the monks went to the chambers of Hegumen Jerome, where the Vatopedi proestos were still sitting. The latter refused to take the papers with signatures from the monks, but suggested that they collect the signatures again and the next day come to Vatopedi themselves. On January 11, after Liturgy, a new collection of signatures began: 302 signatures were collected for Fr. David, and 70 for Fr. Jerome. The lists were attributed to the proestos, who recognized Hegumen Jerome as deposed. The proestos dined not with Fr. Jerome, but with the newly elected Hegumen David. After lunch, they left the skete.